And, standing behind him was a figure of beauty.
Time seemed to pause for the woman draped in gold. Dark hair brushed her shoulders. A secretive smile touched her lips as her eyes reflected the blazing flames. My mind seemed to zone out of my body for a split-second and in that moment, I had a birds eye view of her, and she seemed to radiate - vibrate really - with light. Her movements were fluid, her very breath thrummed with the music from another world. Fear, so intrinsically ingrained, struck at my core and I trembled at the sight of her - at her beauty, at her power, and at her wrath. Because I had read the stories, and I knew what the deity before me was capable of.
Dimitri saw her in the mirror at the same time I did, his body stiffening further. That was something to note. She didn’t show herself to her followers very often, let alone their partners. Because that was what he was in this setting. As if sensing my thoughts, her smile turned to amusement.
She was mesmerizing. Breathtaking really. She was everything and nothing all at once. And, within the next breath, she was no longer there, a cloud of dark purple smoke hovered where she had once stood, the smell of honeysuckle lingering as a reminder of what we saw - as if we could ever doubt that Isis was here.
The flames did not settle in her absence, they remained blazing bright, and I knew that she would exact the vengeance I had asked for - my blood had made sure of that. She had answered my call, had deemed my blood enough of a price. My legs felt like jelly as I tried to still my quivering limbs. Despite the weight of it all, I stood there long after she had left, my short, heavy breaths echoing against the chamber of the bathroom, the tiled area somehow enhancing every movement, every sound.
Dimitri remained silent, allowing me time to wrap my head around what just occurred. His posture finally eased up, and somehow him being more relaxed - more at ease - in turn, relaxed me.
His eyes found mine in the mirror, and he was the first one to break the silence.
“That happen before?” he grunted.
“No,” I shook my head, my hair falling loose, the candle light tinting it a brighter blonde as the flames crept higher still. We both knew that tea-light candles shouldn’t be able to emit such a flame, but ours wasn’t fuelled by the Magick of this world, they were fuelled by a goddess. He grunted something unintelligible, turned on his heel, and walked out of the bathroom.
I held my own gaze in the reflection, the grey of my eyes sliding in and out of focus as I felt simultaneously both here and not. Both of this world, and of a different plain. Was this what Charl went through? It was dizzying and disorientating. With Isis’ blessing beating through me, I felt almost invincible, but then after seeing her - after understanding truly how powerful she is, I also felt very small - insignificant almost, much the same way I had felt as a child, before I had discovered Magick and it had discovered me.
My face shifted, my skin glowed, and I stared at myself, wondering who - or what - I was becoming? Or perhaps this was what I had always been?
Why had Isis decided to show herself now? In front of Dimitri? Had I done something that somehow made me more worthy of such a visit? Or was it simply long overdue? A million questions flitted through my mind, too quick for my anxiety to take root.
It wasn’t that I wasn’t grateful, it was just that I was… confused. Was this the sign I had been waiting for when it came to following my family’s chosen path for me? Or did the goddess disapprove of me assisting Dimitri’s criminal activity? Even the thought left me reeling, but my gut gave a solid tug in the ‘no’ direction - if she did not approve, she would not have allowed for vengeance to be exacted. And when I thought back to her - how she looked, felt even, I found that I couldn’t remember if she had wings, or even what color her skin was. She was everything all at once, leaving you blanketed in warmth and understanding. Which only made the lack of her presence cold in contrast. I clung to the remaining scent of honeysuckle, committing the smell to memory, wishing that I could glimpse her one more time. I exhaled in pleasure - in contentment and walked away, leaving the candles to burn down, cementing the spell and intentions for what they were.
I was surprised to find Dimitri sitting on the edge of my bed, waiting for me. I had expected him to flee, disappearing for hours, as seemed to be his custom. But after everything I had just experienced within the bounds of my spellwork, I was also simply too exhausted to truly question his intentions, or examine how his body set mine on fire.
“What now?” Dimitri looked up at me, expecting me to have all the answers, and I supposed in this context, I should have had them.
I should have had something to offer him. But I didn’t, I was just… tired. The connection, the rapture of the flames, the fact that Isis had presented herself to me, the drug peddling spells, Olek’s death, the fact that Dimitri’s ‘business’ was about to enter a war, and the notion that I didn’t know what the Voodoo Priestess wanted from us - it was all just too much. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I could offer Dimitri answers. Tomorrow I could text Charl and discuss what the hell was happening. It could all happen tomorrow.
But for right now, a dull ache had begun to build in my forehead, between my eyes, reminding me that there was only so much that a Magick user could do before they needed some level of restorative sleep.
Glancing back at Dimitri, I simply said, “Can we talk about this in the morning?”
As I took in Dimitri’s posture, the strong sinewy muscles of his arms, the way his hair occasionally fell into his eyes. The day’s worth of stubble that I fought the urge to feel against the palm of my hand, I finally noticed that he had a plaster between his forefinger and thumb. My heart ached with a longing so strong I had to fight to stay upright. How many people saw this side of him? Even knew that such a side existed?
He gestured for me to hand my thumb over. I lifted my hand towards him, obliging him as if I were in a trance. I watched in silence as he examined the slash across my finger, delicately pressing around it to examine how deep it ran, and if droplets of blood still rose to the surface. I shut my eyes at the feeling of his hands on my body - of the way he was taking such delicate care of my smallest scrape. It was too much, too confusing. Finally, he wrapped the plaster around my thumb, his calluses grazing against mine, and I kept my eyes shut, enjoying the simple feel of him.
“I know we haven’t said this, and that you’re technically contracted to us for the next few weeks, but you’re doing a good job, Corinne - far better than I could have anticipated, and the Olek thing wasn’t your fault, not really.”
Emotion clogged my throat, and I was so scared that if I tried to talk - tried to voice my thanks or offer any sort of explanation or defense, that emotion would present itself through a wobbly voice and some stolen tear, and so instead, I simply nodded slightly in agreement, swallowing past the building lump in my throat.
Dimitri thought that I was doing a good job.
“I think you need to sleep,” his voice rumbled through me, and I realised that I had closed my eyes, and it felt as if I were swaying on the spot.
“Hmmm,” I agreed, bending down to slide my shorts off, content to sleep in the t-shirt I was already wearing. There would be no proper nightwear tonight. On some level, I was aware that I was taking my shorts off in front of Dimitri, but even in my fatigue-addled state, I rationalised that I was still wearing panties, and honestly, I doubted he cared. By the time I had straightened, pulling myself to my full height, Dimitri had already turned down the covers, gesturing for me to slide into the plush bed.
I didn’t argue, I didn’t gripe or moan, I simply slid into bed, feeling the cool sheets press against me, the duvet comforting in its grip. As my head hit the pillow, I grappled with that euphoric state between sleep and not-quite sleep. Those delicious few moments before the darkness truly grabbed you down in its grip, where your eyes were closed, your mind was emptying, but you were still somewhat aware of what was happening around you. It was in this state that I felt a weight sink onto the bed. Struggling to open my eyes, I managed to crack them slightly to find Dimitri lying out on the bed next to me, his head propped up as he turned pages in my book.
“You shouldn’t be reading that,” I slurred, trying to muster up some sense of motivation to stem him from reading the beginning of this reverse harem trilogy.
“Go to sleep, Corinne,” Dimitri grunted, taking absolutely no heed of what I had just said, instead turning a second page, his eyes darting along the lines of text as he began reading the tale of Dani Dark. Sleep tugged me down before I could respond, and even in my dreams, I was deeply aware that Dimitri was reading my book that was filled with innuendo and sexual attraction, not to mention the three-guys-one-girl story premise. But there was nothing I could do about that now. Tomorrow. I would address the fact that he was reading Good Little Addict tomorrow.
Some time later, I felt his weight shift against me, the light in the room dimmed, but that memory was fleeting, and I slid easily back into sleep's firm grasp.