Page 9 of Nix and Tell

“I imagine so.”

“Well, you can just drop the compulsion on her right now, thank you very much. I have no interest in sleeping with anyone who doesn’t want to sleep with me.” There’s something that twists inside me as I say that. I don’t have much space for any emotion other than fury right now, but there’s a tiny droplet of sadness that I try to ignore.

“But shedoeswant to sleep with you. Very much so.”

“Not like this, she doesn’t. Stop interfering. It’s rude.”

The Goddess finally steps out from behind the column, and I try not to gasp at the pressure that overwhelms me. It’s a lot, a bit like the headache you get after staring at a lamp slightly too long. She doesn’t say anything, but her very presence is warning to me.

I swallow back my next words. Close my eyes, breathe, and try again. “Look, I don’t understand why you need to her to havesex with me so much. But if it happens, it’ll be happening on our terms–not yours.”

Her voice is thoughtful, as she flows around the columns, moving back and forth so swiftly that when I blink she’s ten metres away. “I wanted the energy from the sex, as a tribute. She won’t come to my waters, but I want an offering. Ineedan offering.”

I dust off one of the pews and sit. “Well, let’s talk it out then. But drop the compulsion. Now. Or you get nothing.”

7

Chlo

Waiting feels like torture.

In no small part because the compulsion tugs at me constantly. The only thing that keeps me calm is running the onyx beads through my fingers.

“What’s that?” asks Hazel, curiously. She’s cast an illusion over the two of us, so that passers-by can’t see us sat, slumped against the door of the church.

“A bracelet Violet gave me.” I lift my wrist so she can have a look, but pull my arm back when she goes to take it off. “Please don’t. It’s the one thing that’s keeping me sane right now.”

Hazel looks impressed. “So your witch has more innate magic in her than we thought.”

“Huh?”

She has the good sense to look slightly guilty. “I might have mentioned her to Trisantona. Not–” she adds hurriedly “–because I thought anything like this would happen. She was just curious about you, and it seems like Violet is a big part of your life these days.”

“Yes, just as Finn is a big part of your life.”

Colour washes from her face and I instantly feel regret. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

“It’d serve me right if you did. I am sorry, Chlo. I didn’t think that…” Violet’s voice trails off when I start coughing. A hacking cough that threatens my lungs and my stomach andurgh.

“What isthat?”

It’s a piece of paper, screwed up tightly, and as I flatten it out, I see that it’s been torn off one of Hazel’s paintings. I just about make out the corner of Hazel’s studio by the river. It’s from a painting of the Riverside Shops.

Hazel’s shoulders hunch, but I’m not angry with her. I understand.

Not all families are as understanding as mine are, about wanting to work amongst humans. I’ve never seen Hazel’s parents acknowledge her existence since she set up in the Riverside Shops, creating art and selling paintings to mortals. She works with Trisantona, yes, but it feels symbiotic. Each painting is an act of worship to a goddess starved of such for centuries; and in return, as an acolyte, she’s protected from her family’s scorn.

They might not acknowledge her, but they can’t endanger her–not without pissing off Trisantona.

“She wanted a painting of Riverside Shops?”

Hazel nods. “I’m not sure what she does with them exactly, but… it’s tribute.” I join in with the last two words and we smile weakly at each other. “Is the compulsion gone?”

I stop playing with the onyx beads and blink rapidly. “Yeah.” The weight in my chest is lifted and I’m no longer having to fight an unwavering need to proposition Violet. Shit.Shit. “It’s gone.”

Any relief evaporates as my breathing shallows, and I struggle to my feet, pressing my fist tightly against my chest sohard I can almost sense the pain. The onyx beads fall to the floor, forgotten in my panic, as I hammer against the church door.

I’m aware of the irony, of the fact that Violet was here just minutes earlier, doing exactly the same thing, but I can’t have this happen.

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