destination with the sanction of poetry, perhaps,” she said. “ ‘There with fantastic garlands did she come.’ And so I did.”
“Most certainly,” I said. “But before you could do it—you were going to say something, you were about to say something about someone. . . .”
Silence.
“Then Rowan came,” she said. “You don’t know my cousin Rowan.”
(I don’t?)
Flash of pain in her clear brilliant eyes.
“Yeah, well, Rowan came,” she said. “Rowan has this power. . . .”
“Was it for your sake or her sake that she was going to kill you?”
She smiled. “I don’t know. I don’t think she knew, either.”
“But she realized you knew and she didn’t use her power.”
“I told her, I said, ‘Rowan, you’re scaring me! Stop it, you’re scaring me!’ And she burst into tears. Or was it me? I think I burst into tears! It was one of us. I was so scared.”
“And so you escaped.”
“Yes, I did, indeed I did.”
“ ‘Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes.’ ”
She smiled again. Would she talk about the Woman Child? She lay very still.
I could feel Quinn’s anxiety, and the outpouring of his love.
All the while, he hadn’t moved the hand that lay on her shoulder.
“I’m not dying,” she said with a shrug. “I’m here.”
“No, you’re not,” I said, “that’s finished.”
“I’ve got to reach back and remember when I wanted things.”
“No, you don’t,” I said. “That’s mortal talk. You’re Mona—Born to Darkness now.” I tried to take it slowly, watching her smile come and go. Faint freckles on her face. The inevitable glister of her skin.
“That’s it,” I said. “Let your eyes drink me in. You’re seeing colors you never saw before. You’re realizing sensations you never even dreamt about. The Dark Blood’s a magnificent teacher. You shiver because you think the pain’s going to come back, but you couldn’t go back to that pain if you wanted to. Stop shivering. I mean it. Stop.”
“What are you asking of me?” she said, “that I surrender to you or to the Blood?”
I laughed under my breath. “I don’t know why women always surprise me,” I said. “Men don’t. I think I underestimate women in general. They distract me. Their loveliness always strikes me as alien.”
She laughed outright. “What do you mean, alien?”
“You’re the Great Unknown, Sweetheart.”
“Elaborate,” she said.
“Well, think about Adam in the Bible, I mean this guy is the Wimp of All Time saying to Almighty God, the Creator, Yahweh Who made the stars, ‘The woman gave me to eat!’ I mean the poor slob is just a spineless hopeless jerk! And this is Original Sin, no less! The Primal Catastrophe. Oh, I mean—pa-lease. BUT! When you see a magnificent woman—like you—with your green eyes just the perfect distance apart, tinsel voice giving out intelligent words, lying naked and staring with an expression of keen unerring comprehension, you can sort of read into Adam an inevitable bafflement in the face of Eve, something that defies clarification, and that’s how Adam could come up with such a ludicrous excuse! ‘This completely weird, way out, strange, mysterious inscrutable seductive being which you made out of my rib, gave me to eat.’ Get it?”
Quinn gave me a little laugh against his will. He was seething with possessiveness. Me and her on the bed. But this was nice, his laughter.
I locked in on her again. Enough about the Garden of Eden. (And enough about what had just happened downstairs on the front porch between me and someone infinitely better than any figment of my longing.)
Hell. It was the damned flowers all over the bed! She was patiently waiting, naked breasts against me, red hair snarled in the roses, just looking at me, green eyes and soft mouth actually sweet. A preternatural being, and I had known the most miraculous of them. What was getting to me? Kindly continue as if nothing was wrong.
As if you have not done
“Most certainly,” I said. “But before you could do it—you were going to say something, you were about to say something about someone. . . .”
Silence.
“Then Rowan came,” she said. “You don’t know my cousin Rowan.”
(I don’t?)
Flash of pain in her clear brilliant eyes.
“Yeah, well, Rowan came,” she said. “Rowan has this power. . . .”
“Was it for your sake or her sake that she was going to kill you?”
She smiled. “I don’t know. I don’t think she knew, either.”
“But she realized you knew and she didn’t use her power.”
“I told her, I said, ‘Rowan, you’re scaring me! Stop it, you’re scaring me!’ And she burst into tears. Or was it me? I think I burst into tears! It was one of us. I was so scared.”
“And so you escaped.”
“Yes, I did, indeed I did.”
“ ‘Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes.’ ”
She smiled again. Would she talk about the Woman Child? She lay very still.
I could feel Quinn’s anxiety, and the outpouring of his love.
All the while, he hadn’t moved the hand that lay on her shoulder.
“I’m not dying,” she said with a shrug. “I’m here.”
“No, you’re not,” I said, “that’s finished.”
“I’ve got to reach back and remember when I wanted things.”
“No, you don’t,” I said. “That’s mortal talk. You’re Mona—Born to Darkness now.” I tried to take it slowly, watching her smile come and go. Faint freckles on her face. The inevitable glister of her skin.
“That’s it,” I said. “Let your eyes drink me in. You’re seeing colors you never saw before. You’re realizing sensations you never even dreamt about. The Dark Blood’s a magnificent teacher. You shiver because you think the pain’s going to come back, but you couldn’t go back to that pain if you wanted to. Stop shivering. I mean it. Stop.”
“What are you asking of me?” she said, “that I surrender to you or to the Blood?”
I laughed under my breath. “I don’t know why women always surprise me,” I said. “Men don’t. I think I underestimate women in general. They distract me. Their loveliness always strikes me as alien.”
She laughed outright. “What do you mean, alien?”
“You’re the Great Unknown, Sweetheart.”
“Elaborate,” she said.
“Well, think about Adam in the Bible, I mean this guy is the Wimp of All Time saying to Almighty God, the Creator, Yahweh Who made the stars, ‘The woman gave me to eat!’ I mean the poor slob is just a spineless hopeless jerk! And this is Original Sin, no less! The Primal Catastrophe. Oh, I mean—pa-lease. BUT! When you see a magnificent woman—like you—with your green eyes just the perfect distance apart, tinsel voice giving out intelligent words, lying naked and staring with an expression of keen unerring comprehension, you can sort of read into Adam an inevitable bafflement in the face of Eve, something that defies clarification, and that’s how Adam could come up with such a ludicrous excuse! ‘This completely weird, way out, strange, mysterious inscrutable seductive being which you made out of my rib, gave me to eat.’ Get it?”
Quinn gave me a little laugh against his will. He was seething with possessiveness. Me and her on the bed. But this was nice, his laughter.
I locked in on her again. Enough about the Garden of Eden. (And enough about what had just happened downstairs on the front porch between me and someone infinitely better than any figment of my longing.)
Hell. It was the damned flowers all over the bed! She was patiently waiting, naked breasts against me, red hair snarled in the roses, just looking at me, green eyes and soft mouth actually sweet. A preternatural being, and I had known the most miraculous of them. What was getting to me? Kindly continue as if nothing was wrong.
As if you have not done
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