I’m walking out when Caleb snatches me by the arm, his touch setting off an alarm system in my body, red lights flashing, sirens blaring, and sprinklers spitting water. Shackled to him again, protest roars through me.
“Get your hands off me,” I ground out.
Maury pushes against his chest, but Caleb won’t let go, his fingers tightening painfully over my bruises.
“Iris, don’t leave me.” Desperation fills his eyes and some sick kind of sorrow, but no regret. “I …” His gaze dips to Maury’s face and then to his father, who stands by, disgust and disappointment marking his expression.
“I need you, baby,” he whispers. And I know it’s true. He needs something to control, to manipulate, to toy with when the pressure is too much, but I’m not his punching bag. I’m not his anything anymore.
“Get your fucking hands off me.” I jerk at my arm, but he refuses to let go. “Or the deal is off and your precious endorsements and your career—they’ll all be over.”
For a moment, just a flash, maybe a trick of the light, I think he’ll refuse. It looks like holding onto me means more to him than all I hoped he held more dear, but then the frigid calculation, the ruthless cannibal who ate my heart and nibbled on my soul, shuts off all emotion. The monster is back.
“You stupid whore.” He laughs, releasing my arm and sliding his fists in the pockets of his pants. “Like you can do better.”
A smirk tickles the corner of my mouth, and I can’t resist thrusting a sword through the one spot where I know he’s weak.
“Oh, you and I both know I can do much better, Caleb.” Butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth when I smile.
Seeing the smirk fall apart on his face is small comfort, but any comfort is better than nothing. I won’t be seeking out August anytime soon. I can’t. Not feeling stained and smudged and shamed the way I do. Rationally, I know what happened to me was not my fault, but shame doesn’t reason.
Where I’ll go, I don’t know yet. Caleb’s a demon constrained to hell with chains of gossamer. It’s a fragile exile I’m making for myself, but I’ll l take it and run for shelter while I can. And if he breaks free, I’ll run again, maybe for my life.
I slip on oversized sunglasses and a hat to cover my bruises, looking like a Lifetime movie cliché, I’m sure.
In the lobby, Lo holds Sarai in her lap. She looks chic, her long braids tucked into a snood. She wears skinny jeans, a leather blazer, and ballet flats. Caleb rushes past me, headed for Sarai. Before I can put myself between them, Lo points a slim finger at Caleb and squints one eye, as if she’s peering through a telescope. I wonder if she still sees the shadow on his soul because I may not have seen it then, but I can attest that it’s there. There’s latent power in her eyes, in the strong, slender arrow of her arm aimed at him.
“You’ll have to pay,” Lo says.
Caleb breaks stride, like her voice sprouted tentacles that slithered through the air and locked around his ankles. Something ominous hangs around Lo, and goosebumps pepper my skin.
“What the hell are you talking about?” he mumbles but doesn’t step closer.
A knowing grin blooms on Lo’s pretty face, and she opens her fist, revealing her gris-gris ring.
“These are your days.” She blows over the ring, eyes clinging to his face. “Scattered, and lost, and falling to the ground like dust.”
“Are you threatening me?” he asks, only half-laughing. I bet if I peeled his sleeve back, his arms would be covered in gooseflesh, too.
“No. A threat you see coming.” The smile drops from Lo’s face. “It’s not a threat. It’s real justice, and by the time it reaches you, it’ll be too late.”
Caleb pales under his tan, but while he stands there, no doubt considering the cryptic message Lo delivered, I rush past him and scoop Sarai into my arms. He approaches, but Lo interjects herself.
“Walk while you can, Caleb,” she says, her words in a lower register that sounds laced with danger.
With one frustrated look at me and Sarai, he moves on. The breath trapped in my lungs releases in a rush. His father and Maury emerge from the conference room, their heads bent together. They glance at me, and I don’t know if it’s pity or respect in Maury’s eyes, but I’ll take either as long as it means he executes the papers and keeps Caleb away from me.
“So what now?” Lo asks.
“What was that all about?” I ignore her question.
“What was what all about?”
“Um, the powerful voodoo priestess act.”
“I don’t act,” Lo says with a humorless curve to her full lips. “I am.”
Twilight Zone.