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CHAPTER FIFTEEN: PREPARATION
MARIE :
The sun seemed to arrive far too quickly, bringing forth the need to prepare for our Summer Solstice, the heat beating down against the backs of all those who fetched and carried with loyalty and precision, reminding us of the time-limit we were on.
And yet, I wasn’t present, at least not mentally. My grandmother’s grave seemed to hold my attention, my memory snagged on what I had done atop her newly turned grave. Shame flushed through my body at the memory, but I refused to bow down to my guilt - refused to allow it to control me.
Instead I slipped out of my tent, slipping away from all the preparations with my phone clutched in hand, desperately needing some distance from this village, my people and my sins.
She answered on the third ring, her voice far breathier than usual and I hoped that she hadn’t answered while Dimitri was still inside her. While it wasn’t Corinne’s style, I wouldn’t put it past her new husband to make her answer the phone whilst he fucked her.
“Mon Dieu,” I breathed down the line, already feeling far lighter than I had in days, even if she was being well fucked by her husband while she spoke to me. “Tell me your husband is not inside you while we speak.”
Corinne giggled. It was a girlish sound I had only recently heard her make - one filled with light and happiness that seemed to only ever be present when she was engulfed by the ominous presence that was Dimitri. I heard his voice grumble in the background and it made my smile widen. She deserved this happiness - deserve someone who would whisk her away from the dreadful path she was prepared to bow down to.
I could almost hear her bite down on her lip, fighting her giggle before she spoke.
“Tell me,” Corinne seemed to exhale, finally wrangling her emotions and desire under control, “since when do I receive phone-calls from you so early in the morning? I’m pretty sure it’s like, 6am by you.”
“It’s the Summer Solstice Ma Cherie, or is your husband so busy loving you that you have lost track of time?”
She moaned slightly, and I genuinely could not tell if it was because she was annoyed with the words I spoke, or if Dimitri’s hands were on her once more. It was only a matter of time between the two of them produced their own heir, the cards had already determined as much.
“I may skip this year’s festivities,” she breathed down the line and this time I heard Dimitri bark something in Russian, no doubt annoyed that his wife had answered the phone. I didn’t feel the least bit guilty.
“Tell me.” I spoke as my feet moved of their own accord, guiding me back to the village, the cobblestones uncomfortable beneath my feet. “If your family business was Magickally inclined, would you have taken a position with your father.”
She didn’t answer at once and I heard her move around, the rustle of fabric as if she were finally getting some distance from her husband, perhaps even dressing.
“I don’t know.” She answered truthfully. This was Corinne - she was neither overly optimistic, nor was she entirely negative. Her answers were always measured and thoughtful. “It would depend on a variety of factors.”
“Such as?” I pressed, needing to talk my current situation out with someone who was not from the village.
“Would I be happy there?” Her answer halted my steps, and I found myself lingering before the lip of an alley. “I mean, sure there’s Magick, but what about where you are - who you are surrounded with. Would that make you happy? Can you settle down there? Meet someone of worth there? I’m not sure, the answer is not a simple one.”
I shut my eyes at her response for I had lost my own sense of happiness. Sure, I enjoyed myself, but I was certain that I had never been unequivocally happy. I envied Corinne for the happiness she had found - not in Dimitri, but in her place in the world. She was grounded and centered in a way that seemed impossible to me, for I was bound and bargained for, with freedom suddenly such a far away concept.
“Sometimes I hate that you’re so rational.” I answered her carefully, staring down at the alley that seemed to beckon me forward.
“No you don’t, it’s the very reason you called.”
“Tell her not to call.” Dimitri’s voice echoed down the line from a distance and this time I could only chuckle.
“Bye Corinne, enjoy your honeymoon.” I hung up, unwilling to hear her moan or gasp down the line whilst she pretended her husband was not attending to her every whim and need.
I slid down the alleyway, my hand brushing the old stones that were melded together to form the wall by pure will alone. The history - the Magick - the memories pulsed through my veins. The throbbing in my jaw turned from a sparsal flicker to a roaring thud that did nothing to quiet my nerves as I fought the flood of emotions that arose each time I came to this town - each time U came home.
Worse still, I couldn’t even slip away discreetly, because I felt the shadow of his presence trail behind me. Did he think I was oblivious? That I didn’t know he was following me? It wouldn’t be the first time I was trailed by a demon.
“I can think of far more enjoyable ways to put that flush on your face.”
My feet stalled of their own accord as I came face-to-face with Cort. Sighing, I resigned myself to the fact that this conversation would probably go the same way every other conversation I had had with him over the past few days.
“What do you want?”
His dark hair looked almost windswept, his green eyes narrowing on me as if he were somehow concerned to find me wandering the alleyways at such an early hour. But, no good would come from blanketing the Demon with such human emotions.
“Let me buy you a coffee.” Cortland spoke with that same arrogant surety that I despised, yet my body still responded to.
