Page 15 of Taming the Beast (Fairy Tales of New York)

Dawn looked at her shrewdly. “Did he actually say that, though?”

Mercy frowned, trying to remember the conversation from that Friday night three weeks ago. “Well, maybe not exactly,” she conceded. “But I put it to him, and he didn’t deny it.”

“That’s not quite the same.”

“Close enough.”

Dawn hmmed. “Did he try the same thing when you confronted him after the party?”

“No.”

“Why not?” she said. “Same circumstances, right?”

“More or less.”

“And he let you give him a piece of your mind?”

Mercy nodded. “All of it. Until I left.”

“Why didn’t he do that the previous time?”

Mercy opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again. “I don’t know,” she said, confused.

“Consider this, then,” said Dawn, evidently seeing the finishing line and going for it. “If Seb really hadn’t wanted to talk five years ago he could have simply thrown you out. He didn’t have to seduce you. And he didn’t have to carry on doing so. It’s a pretty difficult act to keep up if you’re not really into it.”

Yes, it was quite, wasn’t it? But – “You’re wrong.”

“I don’t think I am.”

Mercy frowned, now totally muddled. “Either way,” she said, trying to get a grip on something she did know. “I don’t have time for sex.”

“Everyone has time for sex,” said Dawn, who was clearly getting a lot of it. “Good sex, anyway.”

“Not me,” said Mercy, shaking her head and ignoring the stab of envy. “I’m six weeks into a tough two-year MBA program and I’m not going to screw it up for anything, least of all a relationship.”

“Who’s talking about relationships?” said Dawn. “Does Seb even do relationships?”

“No evidence of it,” put in Zelda, who stopped humming to contribute. “In the months I was living at the Mausoleum I never saw any sign of a date.”

So what was Dawn suggesting? “I couldn’t just use him for sex,” said Mercy, faintly appalled.

“Why not?” said Dawn bluntly. “Wasn’t that what he apparently did to you?”

“Well, yes, I suppose so, but-”

“Ah, revenge sex,” said Faith wistfully. “Could be good. That scar is sexy as hell.”

“I have to agree,” said Dawn. “So why don’t you take a moment to think it over, Mercs? And in the meantime, I’ll get some more drinks.”

*

A moment? A moment? Mercy needed a lifetime to sort out the mess in her head and even that wouldn’t be long enough.

Drinks were bought, conversation continued, laughter abounded, and it all went straight over her head because she could barely even think what with all the questions racing through her mind.

What had brought about Seb’s change of heart with regards to Zelda? she couldn’t stop wondering. How had he gone from so adamantly refusing to admit there was a problem between him and his sister to seeking a reconciliation? Did it have anything to do with what she’d said, or was it something else? And why did the reason for it matter when surely all that was important was that something which only recently had seemed utterly impossible was actually happening?

And then – and more annoyingly – she kept asking herself why had he slept with her all those years ago? Did Dawn have a point? Could he have taken one look at her and been overwhelmed with lust? Unlikely, but maybe it could have happened. After all, she’d taken one look at him and had wanted him. Or not. Was he merely the manipulative pendejo she’d always considered him?

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