Page 56 of The Black Lotus
“What do you want to know?” she asks, letting the silence build between us.
“Will you answer both questions if I ask?”
She shrugs, sitting back to get comfortable. “Depends on what you want to know.”
“Are you only into girls or men too, and why only hunt men?” I blurt out before I Iose the courage.
“That’s it? Seriously?” she scoffs, sucking her teeth. “That was the question that made you a nervous ball of energy?”
Was I really putting off that much nervous energy?Shifting uncomfortably, I jam my hands under my thighs to hide their shaking.I thought I was holding myself together better.My nerves are from wondering if we will find Aster in time, but she doesn’t like when I doubt her. She covers it up with jokes and heavy flirting, but I can tell she’s just as worried.
I nod as she lets me sit in the deafening silence. She swallows, blowing a raspberry and looking up at the ceiling “I like both, but I prefer girls. There has only been one boy and one girl who I have ever been interested in, butno oneis privy to that information.” She levels me with a glare that says ‘don’t ask, because I’m not telling’. So, I don’t. I motion, zipping my lips closed and pretend to hand her the key as she takes it gratefully, tucking it in her bra and patting it, which makes me chuckle.
She takes a deep breath. “As for the other question…” She nibbles on her bottom lip, her hands balled into fists. “I grew up similar to Aster, except I was placed in a foster care where a bad man did bad things to me. He’s dead now, but him and his sons are the reason why I bathe in men’s blood.”
“What do you mean you bathe in their blood?” I ask, with wide eyes as my mouth hangs open, my body frozen by this new information.The more I learn about her, the more amazed I am.I shake my head and blink a couple of times, excited to learn more about not only Zephira, but the Man-Eater.
“After I make my newest victim eat my previous one, I drain them of all their blood and bathe in it. Makes me feel powerful. Godlike. No longer the helpless girl I once was. I reclaim a little of what I lost with each kill.” She thrusts her arms in front of me. “Plus, look at my skin; I’malwaysglowing like the goddess I was born to be.”
My face falls, wanting to know more but knowing I shouldn’t press. I need to let her open up to me when she is ready.Baby steps.Getting to learn about her rituals is making me excited, but what happened to her, the horror that made her who she is makes my heart ache. I place my hand on my heart as the two emotions battle inside me. As much as I want to learn more about her rituals and past, I need to keep my mouth shut.
She holds her hand up, her face hardening. “Don’t. Don’t give me that face or feel sorry for me. My past made me who I am today. And I like being the bloodthirsty Man Eater.”
“Wait… you drink their blood?” I ask, trying not to make a what-the-fuck face.
“Sometimes,” she shrugs, “but I’m not fond of the taste of iron.”
“Then why do it?”
“Why do anything? Because I can and I want to; simple as that.”
Something tells me it isn’t as simple as that, but we all have our secrets, and I’ll let Zephira keep hers.For now.
THIRTY-ONE
ASTER
Ineed to figure out a way out of here.There is nothing sharp for me to rub my restraints on. Nothing I can grab to cut them. Even the stupid chair is bolted to the ground.If I don’t get out soon, I will die. I’ll never get to see Serena again.I pull against my restraints as a new sense of urgency hits me from fear of never getting to hear her laugh again. Never getting to feel her touch. Never getting to see her beautiful face.My last resort. The only thing I can do.
Before I can put my plan into action, the familiar creak of the door breaks the silence, the lights flickering on as Kara walks into the room. My fingers twitch against my restraints as irritation thrums through me.Of course she comes in right when I was about to escape.
Instead of taking a seat, she stands in yet another kimono with two katanas strapped to her back.She always has one, why would she bring two?My chest tightens, my breath catching in my lungs.Is she planning on decapitating me?That would be a way to go out, but she doesn’t seem like she would make my death quick.
“I did some research on your little girlfriend.” My body locks at her words. “I’ve decided that after I’m finished with you. I’mgoing to pay her a little visit and send her to hell right after you. Can’t have the lovers being separated.”
I clench my jaw, my teeth nearly cracking from the pressure. “If you so much as touch a single hair on her head, I’ll kill you.”
She tilts her head with a crazed look in her eyes. “How will you do that when you’re dead?”
If she would just leave, I can get one hand out and free myself. Distracting her won’t be enough.
“Has she always been a killer like you? Actually, don’t answer that.”Does she not want to know?My eyebrows scrunch together, her indecisiveness confusing me. “Let me take a wild guess; she has and, based on the locked files I found, she had a hand in her friend's disappearance. Right?”
I stay silent, not giving anything away. She’s going to think what she wants regardless of what I tell her. From how she’s watching me, I fear she could spot a lie a mile away.
“She killed her, didn't she?” She peers at me, her eyes flashing. “I knew it. You know the night you met her, the night you planned to make her your next victim? I watched her, too. She was talking to herself, but as I got closer, I realized she was talking to someone who wasn’t there.”
A dry cough leaves me as an invisible noose chokes me.How the fuck does she know so much?The way she watches and observes and figures things out is unnerving. I didn’t even realize Serena was crazy when we first met. I’d assumed her mumblings were just drunken ramblings. But her crazy is something I admire most about her; it’s what made me fall for her.
