Part 11 (2/2)
Rhea looked at her steadily, until Rosalind dropped her eyes. ”Go ahead. Go ahead and tell her everything, not just the ancient bond. Remind her of what you, Rosalind, did to her last time around. I guarantee that you will lose her in the next breath. I don't think you're willing to risk that. You have a set amount of time with her, Rosalind, as do I. I will allow you your time. Allow me mine. Accept what Fate has given you. Silence is the price of love. I will be kind. I have prepared it so that you won't remember this talk with me.” Rhea blew out the red candle.
Footsteps came creaking down the back stairs. Joe ambled into the room, his masculine presence altering the s.p.a.ce that had grown up between the women. He waved at Rosalind, then crossed behind Rhea, lifting her hair and kissing her neck. ”You were up early,” he said in his burring voice.
”Couldn't sleep,” Rhea said, accepting his caress.
”The season's changing. It always affects you,” Joe said, smiling at Rosalind. He took over the s.p.a.ce in front of the stove, moving into his accustomed place as if it were his kingdom. The skillet began to heat, the knife danced in his fist, the edge blurring with the speed. Rhea sat down at the table again, watching Joe.
Rosalind saw her face soften, saw the hard lines ease away when she looked at the man cooking breakfast. It was a look of love, of relaxation, that she was starting to recognize. Joe gave Rhea a place in the world to rest; she could see it. Rosalind shook her head, not sure where her headache was coming from. She and Rhea had been talking about something. It had gotten her upset, but she was having trouble remembering exactly what it had been. It was about Taryn, it had to be. There was a picture in her mind of a handsome black-haired girl leaning in a doorway, smiling with an arrogant charm.
The thought of Taryn asleep upstairs made her ache. She wanted Taryn next to her; she needed to feel Taryn's living warmth after everything Rhea had said. The feeling became intense, as if she wouldn't survive if she didn't have Taryn's skin on hers. Rosalind pushed back from the table, fighting down the rising panic. Taryn was fine. She was just upstairs asleep. What Rhea had told her might be true, or it might not. But Rosalind refused to believe it until she saw for herself. A door might open at any moment, sweeping the girl away from her, into the darkness. She had to get to Taryn before she woke without her and thought she was gone. She headed for the stairs, starting to run. Rosalind rounded the corner to the back stairs and came cras.h.i.+ng into Taryn, who had just descended them.
Taryn rocked back on her heels from the impact. ”Whoa! What's the hurry, chief?” she asked, holding the wall to steady herself.
Rosalind saw her, heard her voice, but it wasn't enough. She threw her arms around Taryn's long body, burying herself against her chest. Her head burrowed into her neck, seeking the warmth of her skin over the collar of her flannel s.h.i.+rt, lips parted, seeking the life vein. She felt the hot tears against her eyelids, moved beyond reason at the thought of Taryn being alive, here, now.
Rosalind collapsed against Taryn and just clung to her, not speaking. She felt Taryn close her arms around her, exerting her strength. She felt safe here, in the circle of Taryn's arms. Rosalind didn't know why it mattered so much, but when Taryn flexed her arms, drawing Rosalind in, she gave a small, choked sound that might have been a sob.
”Don't cry, angel. Whatever it is, I'll fix it,” Taryn said, brus.h.i.+ng her cheek against her lover's hair.
It was too much-the confirmation of Taryn's warmth, the pulse of the blood in her veins, the sound of her voice, pitched low and close. It undid Rosalind. ”I just love you too much,” she said into the front of Taryn's s.h.i.+rt.
She could hear the smile in Taryn's voice when she responded. ”Never too much. Not from you.”
”How can you know that?” Rosalind asked, raising her head. She saw Taryn's face suffused with emotion, like the light of the sun showing through clear marble. It trembled on her lips, the whole story that Rhea had pa.s.sed on to her, the history of love and death, betrayal and sacrifice. She couldn't bear the thought of the love in Taryn's eyes turning into something else. The words died on her lips. Silence is the price of love, Rhea's voice said to her. A haze-like smoke filled her head. She couldn't think. What had Rhea been saying to her? ”Sorry. Guess I'm just feeling a little emotional this morning,” Rosalind said, wiping tears away with the back of her hand.
”Guess I'm a little emotional too,” Taryn said, kissing her. They leaned against the wall, blocking the narrow staircase, until Joe poked his head around the corner.
”Breakfast!” he called over them, up the stairs.
”Don't you ever knock?” Taryn complained, tearing her lips away from Rosalind's.
”On a staircase? Please. You have public s.e.x, you invite public partic.i.p.ation.” He managed to duck back around the corner before Taryn's las.h.i.+ng hand caught him.
Footsteps answered his shout, and Goblin came down the stairs. She saw the obstacle in her way, saw that neither woman looked like she was going to move, so she stepped over them, squeezing between Rosalind and the wall. ”Gangway.”
”Can somebody use the front stairs, please?” Taryn yelled, her head back against the peeling plaster wall.
Laurel, from the top of the stairs, stopped in her tracks. She turned around with a reproving look and headed down the hall.
”We should move, baby,” Rosalind said, leaning back against Taryn. She didn't want to move. She wanted to stay suspended with Taryn in the hallway.
”I'll move when I d.a.m.ned well feel like it.” Taryn tucked her lover into her arms and closed her eyes, ignoring the noise and chaos of the house. Moments like this needed to be stolen from the day at all cost. They wouldn't last forever.
They ate in the kitchen, at last. Taryn stood in her accustomed spot with her back to the counter. Rosalind sat on a stool next to her, one hand hooked in Taryn's belt loop. She felt more normal now, convinced of Taryn's presence. The mundane world was pus.h.i.+ng the conversation with Rhea away. The witch gave her a single look when she came back into the kitchen, seeming to read something in her face, perhaps seeing the complicit silence. Neither woman looked at the other again.
The mystery was hard to hold on to, in the warm kitchen full of people talking and eating. Joe continued to provide a mix of food and entertainment, handing off plates as he got them filled. Taryn made a move toward the stove for coffee, but Rosalind's hand on her belt loop restrained her. Taryn looked at her, quizzically.
”I have your mug,” she admitted, holding up the blue gla.s.s.
”We can share,” Taryn said. She raised an eyebrow at Joe, who immediately strolled over with the coffee pot.
He refilled the mug without comment, but Goblin, seeing this, stopped eating. ”You're sharing your coffee mug?” she asked, fork frozen in midair.
”Yeah,” Taryn said, letting Rosalind sip from it.
”Great G.o.ddess! Taryn's in love!” Goblin crowed.
”Knock it off, Goblin,” Laurel said, elbowing her.
”Come on. Has Taryn ever, in the forever she's lived here, let anyone ever touch that mug? You know I'm right. It must be love. It's a sign, like the Virgin Mary appearing in a doughnut,” Goblin said to Laurel and Rhea.
”It is. She's my girl,” Taryn said quietly. All other sound in the room abruptly stilled. She took the mug from Rosalind's hands, sipping her coffee in the silence of the kitchen.
Goblin got up from the table and went over to Rosalind. She threw her arms around the surprised woman, hugging her. ”Welcome to the family!”
Joe patted her on the back. ”Honey, go sit down. We don't want to overwhelm Rosalind,” he said, looking at the woman. He knew it was sudden; he didn't want to scare her off, push her too far with their welcome.
To his relief, Rosalind smiled at him from over his daughter's narrow back. ”It's fine. Thank you, Goblin. That means a lot to me,” she said, returning the hug.
Goblin smiled at her before sitting back down.
”Wow, T,” Laurel said, looking to her housemate.
”You people act like I've never said that before,” Taryn said, hiding behind the mug. She raised her arm and wrapped it around Rosalind's shoulders, a gesture not lost on anyone watching.
”You haven't,” Rhea said, in a tone that brooked no argument.
Rosalind could read the look on her face and tried to understand the mix of grief, affection, and weariness. It was a hard combination to face, but Rosalind didn't look away.
”Oh, no,” Goblin said.
”What's wrong?” Joe asked her, his attention pulled away from the look pa.s.sing between Rhea and Rosalind.
”T, have you forgotten about the auction?”
”s.h.i.+t,” Taryn groaned, and closed her eyes.
It was a welcome distraction from the depths of Rhea's eyes, from the pain that was starting to knife into her head whenever she tried to think. ”What auction?” Rosalind asked.
”It's a fundraiser for Community AIDS Services. Egyptia and some of the queens came up with the idea. They're having this Bachelor Auction. You know, bid on a date with some volunteers, the money goes to CAS, the highest bidder gets a date with their choice. It's mostly guys, but with the way people have been responding to me at Marcella's, she wanted to try a drag king,” Taryn said, trying to sound offhand.
”They're auctioning you off for charity?” Rosalind asked, in the most interested tone of voice.
”A night with me. Not like that! Just a date. Dinner,” Taryn finished weakly.
”I know how dinner with you can go, Defiler,” Rosalind said, her tone dipping into dangerous territory.
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