People were shitbags, with their easy smiles and their cold eyes and brutal hearts. She knew that better than anyone. Knew, too, that the face she looked at wasnt ugly, that it was strong and it was Terribles. That meant it was hers to look at as much as she wanted, and that made something she thought might be genuine happiness ride higher in her chest.
Telling on getting shit done, he said, Bump got an ask for you. Whynt you come on out back, lemme give you the knowledge.
She shifted on her feet, glanced at the other guys still standing there, waiting to be included in the conversation. Cant it wait?
Could, aye, but might as well give it you now.
The song ended; she nodded in the second or two of silence before the next one started. Yeah, okay then. But lets make it fast. I dont want to miss the band.
He shrugged. Neither me. Longer you stand here, longer us take gettin back in, aye?
She cocked an eyebrow at him, still careful not to look him in the eye, and headed down the hall that led to the bathrooms and the back door. Technically it wasnt a back door. Technically it was an emergency exit. But the alarm wires had been ripped from the wall years before, and even if they hadnt been it wouldnt have mattered. Fire trucks didnt respond to calls from Downside in general; one too many false alarms that ended in muggings and murders had stopped that particular service, and there was little worth saving there anyway.
Terrible pushed it open for her. She ducked under his arm and stepped into the alley, the soft squelch of still-wet dead leaves and garbage under her shoes reminding her for one unpleasant second of the earlier fun in the construction swamp. She couldnt decide which one smelled better, but neither was pleasant.
But while the building had been full of people and ghosts, the alley was empty. Not even any light from the tenement windows behind occupied the space; only the dull glow of the gibbous moon overhead showed her that no living beingsno human ones, at leastwaited there.
Terrible obviously noticed that, too. The sound of the exit door slamming back into its frame hit her ears at the same time his body slammed her against the back wall, farther into the shadows where no one could see him kiss her long and hard.
Had she thought seeing him made her insides explode? Shed been wrong. This was an explosion. This was better than anything else; sometimes she thought it was even better than her pills. At his touch something inside her that had been tense and twisted and black finally relaxed. At his touch something inside her that was constantly terrified found a little security.
Security Chess hoped and hoped would last, despite the nagging voice in the back of her mind that insisted it couldnt, it wouldnt, she didnt deserve it, and she should just give up on the very idea.
Fuck that stupid voice. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pushed her hands down the collar of his shirt to feel his bare skin warm against hers. He was always warm. His palms left shivering trails of heat from her face to her throat, blazed up her thighs and ribcage, over her breasts.
Finally he pulled away enough to meet her eyes. That jolt of electricity, the one shed been so careful not to feel inside the bar, hit her. Her cheeks tightened, her mouth curved into a grin she couldnt stop. I was afraid I wasnt going to make it at all.
Aye, me too. Glad you did. Feelin like I aint seen you in weeks.
Its been three days.
Feels longer. We all clear now?
She nodded. The past week had been the first time in her life she wished she wasnt what she was, wasnt a witch, didnt have extra power in her blood that meant anyone coming in intimate contact with it would be affected by it; wished the Binding effect of that contact wasnt part of the marriage ceremony and so meant a commitment she didnt think either of them was ready to make.
If she wasnt a witch it wouldnt matter. Marriages were bound by blood and magic combined, not one or the other, so they required the Churchs assistance. But magic was in her blood, and that meant spending six days burning with frustration.
His eyebrows rose; his hands wandered with more purpose. You aint really wanna stay here, aye? Whynt we head on out now instead?
I thought you wanted to see the band, she teased.
Changed my thought. Lets us go. Back my place, aye? He was smiling, that smile shed always loved, while his hands distracted her and his body warmed her through her clothes. Summer drew closer every day, and the temperatures reflected that, but it seemed like she was always cold when he wasnt around. Cmon.
My place is closer.
Aye. He leaned in to bite her neck; she shivered. But mines got thicker walls, dig, an I plan on makin you scream a few times afore we get to sleeping.
It took her a minute to draw enough breath to speak, through a throat suddenly too tight for anything but a gasp. I thought we decided we wanted to actually get out tonight, though.
And done it. Now us can go back in.
I dont know, she managed to say. It was becoming more difficult to talk, especially since hed started sucking gently on her neck, making her dizzy.
Think on this one, then, Chessiebomb. Nobody seein us right here, aye? His nimble fingers popped the top button of her jeans. Then we still out.
No way. She giggled and swatted at his hands. Last time I got a splinter
The sound of his phone ringing, a loud jangly sort of ring, cut her off.
Ignore it, she suggested, but she knew he couldnt. They both knew he couldnt. Midnight was practically the start of a working day in Downside, yes, but she doubted anyone whod be calling him at that hour would have good news.
She was right. Within seconds of answering the phone his face darkened; darkened and took on that look shed only seen a few times before, that lowered-brow-narrowed-eyes look of absolute rage. The kind of look that would be the last thing the person who caused it would ever see. His fingers tightened on her waist.
Aye, he said. Get emaye. On my way.
Her heart sank. Looked like they werent going back to anybodys place, to anybodys bed. At least not for a long time.
His phone snapped shut. Pipe rooms burnin.
What?
He was already walking up the alley, back toward the street, holding her hand in an almost painful grip. Fuckin Slobag, swhat. Pipe room up Sixtieth, green one. On fire.
She didnt want to say What? again, but she couldnt help it. She couldnt seem to get any other words into her head. A pipe room burning? All those people, even on a weeknight. All that Dream, waiting to be smoked, waiting to send those people into a soft golden fog. Gone. What?
He didnt answer. She had to trot to keep up as he pulled her along, dropping her hand just before they emerged from the alley. She almost wished he wouldnt, wished they hadnt decided to keep everything secret. Certainly she could have used more physical contact at that moment. With every step the awful picture in her mind grew clearer: burning bodies in a pit of flames, exploding glass, storerooms full of Dream knobs, their smoke wasted. She wrapped her arms around herself to still the shakes.
Terribles car, a black 1969 BT Chevelle, waited for them in the circle of pale yellow cast by one of the few working streetlights. Waited being the operative word. To Chess, the car always seemed ready to leap from its resting place, ready to start mowing down pedestrians just because it could.