Persephone (The Lily Harper Series Book 4) (8 page)

“Oh, sure … An’ if some fucked-up thing attacks you an’ eats your brains, don’t say I didn’t try to warn you.”

“I won’t,” I answered as I thought better of it and reached for the whistle, which was still sitting inside the canvas bag. Better to be safe than sorry … or brainless, as the case may be.

***

It didn’t take me very long to find Tallis. Barely five hundred feet from our campsite, he was busily collecting stray pieces of firewood, just like he’d said he would.

“Tallis,” I called out, not wanting to alarm him since I was approaching him from behind. The last time I did that, I found myself up close and personal with the edge of his blade.

He turned around immediately with a scowl. “Whit are ye doin’ oop an’ aboot? Ye should be restin’.”

“I wanted to talk to you,” I answered nervously, seeing he was definitely in a bad mood, and much worse than usual. Tallis was intimidating in general, and so much more when he was angry.

“Aboot whit?” he demanded, eyeing me with a pinched expression.

“When was the last time you bled yourself?” I asked.

He blinked a few times, but didn’t say anything. It was fairly obvious that my question threw him. Seconds later, any surprise that might have shone in his eyes was now absent. But he still didn’t say anything—he just continued gathering wood.

“I know Donnchadh’s toxins must build up,” I continued, fidgeting because I felt so nervous. “So I thought maybe that could be one of the reasons that you’ve been seeing red lately.”

He nodded. “Aye, ye are observant, lass.”

“Then I was right in my thinking?”

He nodded again, then stood up and turned to face me. “Aye. When Ah cannae release Donnchadh’s toxins, he flavors mah mood,” he explained with a deep sigh.

“So, why haven’t you bled yourself lately?” I pushed.

“Ah cannae dae it here,” he replied as a few pieces of wood fell from his arms onto the ground. “Bludy hell,” he grumbled as he leaned over and started picking them up again.

“Why not?” I asked.

He didn’t answer and continued to collect the fallen pieces of wood, which were soon followed by new ones. It became quite clear that this subject was a sensitive one that he preferred not to discuss. Of course, any subjects involving Tallis were all sensitive ones that he never wanted to discuss. Calling him secretive was a feeble understatement.

He stood up and faced me, breathing in and out again audibly. “Ye are tae noosy fer yer own good.”

“Yes, and we’ve established that; now would you please answer the question?” I replied, my lips tighter.

He shook his head as a small smile seized his lips. But it vanished just as quickly as it appeared. “When Ah cleanse mahself o’ Donnchadh’s toxins, mah bluid also acts as an offerin’ tae the earth,” he started.

I remembered the first time I’d seen Tallis bleeding himself in the snow, the earth hadn’t accepted his blood. And when Donnchadh had taken control of him and I’d had to bleed him in his home, the same thing had happened. His blood just pooled until it finally disappeared into the ground as if the earth had swallowed it in one gulp.

“But it didn’t seem like the ground ever wanted to accept it,” I argued. “Both times that I’ve seen you bleed yourself, the earth always seems loath to absorb your blood.”

“When Ah ooffer mah bluid, Ah’m only oofferin’ it tae a particular plot o’ land,” he announced. “Not tae the land in general.”

“I don’t understand.”

He didn’t respond right away and turned around so his back was facing me. The black ink of his tree tattoo, which covered his entire back, seemed suddenly so stark against the warmth of his skin tone.

“Ah offer mah bluid tae this tree,” he explained.

“But how is that possible? Isn’t the tree just a tattoo on your back?” I asked, sounding as puzzled as I felt.

He turned around to face me again and shook his head. “The tree is real,” he announced. “The tattoo is merely a sign o’ reverence fer the real thing.”

“The tree is real?” I asked, feeling surprised, but I wasn’t sure why. “Where is it?”

“Aye, ’tis real; an’ it resides in the Dark Wood.”

“So what does the tree have to do with your blood offering?” I asked, still trying to fit the puzzle pieces together. But I sensed that the puzzle known as Tallis Black was missing so many critical pieces, it could never be complete.

“Ah dinnae want tae explain the history o’ the tree, nor why Ah pay homage tae it,” he announced firmly and quickly. “Boot suffice tae say in order fer meh tae make meh offerin’, Ah moost be in the same longitudinal line as the tree.”

He had to be in the same GPS line as the tree when he made his offering? I felt my eyebrows meeting in the middle of my forehead as I tried to register his statement. “So, the first time I saw you whipping yourself with the cat o’ nine tails, when you were outside in the snow, and your blood emptied into the river,” I started.

“Aye, the river woos at the same longitude as the tree; an’ therefore, it carried mah bluid tae the tree.” He took a deep breath. “That was why the earth wouldnae accept mah bluid. ’Twas not in the same longitude as the tree.”

I shook my head while trying to make sense of his words. “When I was in your house and Donnchadh took control of you, I managed to bleed you, and we were nowhere near the river!”

“Ah built mah cabin oan the same longitudinal line as the tree, lass,” he explained. “Oan purpose.”

“Oh.” I nodded and tried to understand why he would need to offer his blood to the tree in the first place, not to mention why he’d commemorated it on his back. “Why do you bleed yourself for the tree?”

He inhaled deeply and averted his eyes. “Tae make oop fer mah past wrongs, lass.”

Apparently, where Tallis was concerned, all roads led to his life’s quest for redemption.

“As soon as I was at the foot of his tomb somewhat he eyed me...”
- Dante’s
Inferno

EIGHT

“Does your blood do something to the tree?” I asked Tallis, only one of a million questions swarming through my mind. As soon as I thought I was close to unraveling the mysterious persona embodied by Tallis Black, another enigma would emerge, putting me right back to where I started.

“Aye,” Tallis answered as he headed for our campsite again. His arms were overloaded with large branches as well as smaller ones to be used for kindling. He marched ahead of me and it was all I could do just to keep up with him, feeling as fatigued as I did.

“How?” I persisted when it became pretty clear that he had no intention of further explaining. “What does your blood do to it?”

Tallis refused to slow down his quick pace. So naturally, I just kept falling farther and farther behind. Realizing I was basically easy pickings for whatever creatures might be lurking in the Dark Wood, I tightened my hold around my sword. However, the ensuing thought that my whistle might prove to be a better ally crossed my mind, and I placed it between my thumb and forefinger just to be prepared, should the need to blow it arise.

“Mah bluid nourishes the tree,” he answered succinctly while weaving in and out of the skeletal trees as I ambled on behind him, albeit much more slowly.

“I don’t know what that means,” I admitted in a winded voice. I started to feel dizzy and fought to catch my breath.

Tallis turned on his toes and faced me, his expression revealing his pure irritation. Maybe he realized how exhausted I was—which was entirely my own fault, since I’d come after him in the first place.

“Mah bluid feeds the tree,” he said. “It has kept the tree alive as long as Ah have been alive.”

“For what? … Two thousand … years?” I asked, my tone was sarcastic and incredulous as I slowed my walk to a dead stop after finally catching up with him. I couldn’t stop panting and my lungs burned with every effort to breathe. It soon became fairly obvious that I was fading fast. Coming so close to death at the claws of the Hanuush demon had really done a number on me.

“Aye,” he answered, glaring at me before turning back around and starting forward again. He barely took three more steps before he stopped again. Standing with his back facing me for a few seconds, he sighed and turned around, making his way toward me, albeit grumpily. “Ye are ah bludy nuisance,” he curtly announced. Dropping his armload of branches, he swooped me into his arms. I was careful to move my sword to avoid slicing him in the process.

“So, if the tree dies, does that mean you die too?” I asked, looping my arms around his neck and trying not to grin at the irritated expression on his face.

“Nae,” he answered while refusing to look at me. “The only way Ah can die is if Donnchadh leaves meh.” Then he speared me with a very cross expression, and added, “Boot ye already knew that.”

“I just thought I’d double-check,” I answered. My hesitant smile and tentative shrug earned one arched and furry, but quite unimpressed, brow in response.

I couldn’t say anything more because I suddenly became spellbound by his profile and, specifically, the scar that bisected his cheek. He’d never told me how he’d gotten it, but at the moment, I couldn’t have said I cared. Instead, I ached to run my fingers down the side of his face and revel in the sensation of his skin. I wanted to touch the stubble of beard on his jaw, cheeks and chin to discover whether his hair was soft or prickly. Usually, Tallis was always clean-shaven, and this rugged side of him was something rather new to me, although I couldn’t say I disliked or disapproved of it.

“Tallis,” I said without thinking that I wanted to say his name in the first place. I immediately bit my lip as soon as his name dropped off my tongue, and I wasn’t sure what to say next.

“Whit?”

“Do we have to go back yet?” I replied. The grim thought of returning to Bill didn’t sit well with me, especially since Tallis and I hadn’t really spent much time alone together at all. “Can we wait just a little bit longer?” I continued, trying not to whine. Of course, I cherished any alone time that I could share with him, since it was so rare.

“Whit are ye talkin’ aboot?” he snapped. His eyebrows knotted as his nostrils flared; and he looked, for all intents and purposes, like he intended to kill me.

“I have lots of questions for you,” I said in a sheepish voice. I wanted to save some face now that it seemed like the last thing he wanted to do was tarry in the woods alone with me. That cold fact wasn’t exactly good for my self-esteem.

“Ye always have questions, Besom,” he grumbled while shaking his head. Moments later, his eyebrows abandoned their furrowed expression. “Ah can nae longer remember whit silence sounds like mooch though Ah wish Ah could.”

“Ha-ha, Tallis,” I muttered, unable to stop my smile as soon as he grinned in spite of himself. It was an infrequent occasion when he dropped his wall of defense and allowed himself to become candid with me. Whenever he did, I found myself wishing he would do it more often. He was just such a pleasant sight to behold when he was smiling and happy.

“I wish you would smile more,” I said in a soft voice as I studied him. I had to fight the urge to touch him. “You’re incredibly handsome when you do.”

He cleared his throat and the smile on his face instantly faded. A sigh started from deep inside me as I realized I’d ruined whatever levity might’ve existed between us. Now Tallis looked about as uncomfortable as he could. A reddish hue began to overtake his cheeks, and he refused to make further eye contact with me.

Despite seeming to be completely out of his element, it wasn’t lost on me that he didn’t start walking back toward our camp. Instead, he stayed rooted in the exact same spot, almost like his feet were planted in concrete. And, yes, I was more than aware that he was doing this for me—simply because I’d asked him to spend more time with me … alone.

“Ye talk tae mooch, Besom,” he murmured at last, breaking the silence. “An’ ye have tae many opinions in that daft head o’ yours.”

I didn’t take offense. It was obvious he was trying to deflect his growing discomfort that had been building ever since I’d told him he needed to smile more. Tallis wasn’t exactly receptive toward constructive criticism. Not that he was any better with praise …

“Or maybe you don’t talk enough,” I pointed out.

“’Tis ah foolish conversation,” he ground out. “’Tis best we return tae the stookie angel an’ then be oan our way. The faster Ah can be rid o’ the both o’ ye, the better.”

I, again, opted not to take offense to anything that came out of his mouth. I did so by convincing myself that none of it was true.

You know he loves you, Lily,
I reminded myself.
You just have to somehow persuade him that he’s worthy of you loving him in return.

A wave of shock coursed through me as soon as the thought exited my head, soon replaced with a whole new one.
Do I love him?

Was it possible? Could I actually be in love with Tallis? I mean, yes, I could admit that I cared about him a lot, and I liked him (even though there were times when he drove me absolutely crazy). I figured that was just how men acted in general.

Do I love him?
I asked myself again while staring at the noticeable frown that now appeared to be permanently in place on his mouth. I also focused on the crease between his eyebrows; and the way his brows bunched together to further enhance his scowl. The redness in his cheeks and the tops of his ears only conveyed his obvious aggravation, something I found strangely amusing.

You already know the answer to that
, the voice in my head announced with surety. And, yes, I did already know the answer. I’d probably known it for a while now.

“Do you know why Bill thinks you’ve been so grumpy lately?” I asked, hoping to bring a smile back to his face or, at the very least, to lighten his mood.

“That cuddie is goin’ tae be the death o’ meh,” he grumbled as he shook his head. He apparently was not a fan of Bill’s at the moment. Although I couldn’t really say Tallis had ever been overly fond of the angel.

“Cuddie?” I asked.

“Donkey,” Tallis explained.

“Oh,” I answered with a smile, thinking how well the appellation fit Bill. “Well, he was already the death of me,” I added with another laugh. Tallis just continued to shake his head, as if he had no words. Moments later, though, he faced me curiously.

“Why does the stookie angel believe Ah’m groompy?” he asked.

I was surprised to find he
was
interested. “He thinks it’s because you haven’t been with a woman in so long.”

The redness in his cheeks instantly deepened into an all-out crimson, even spreading so far as the bridge of his nose and the tops of his ears. “The bludy bampot,” he said as he frowned; but then, he cocked his head to the side and appeared to further consider it. “Boot, ’tis mayhap correct,” he finished in a voice so soft, I barely heard him.

“How long has it been?” I had to ask even though I knew I was way beyond nosy.

“Ah dinnae want tae have this conversation, lass,” Tallis answered immediately, shaking his head as if his words weren’t strong enough.

“I’m sorry,” I said, my subsequent shame and embarrassment filling me from the toes up. “I just thought that maybe if Bill were right, maybe there was something you could do about it.” Then I nearly choked on my tongue as soon as I realized what I sounded like, and what I was hinting at. “I mean, you know, you could do
something
about it with
someone else
,” I added right away. My eyes widened as I thought better of what I’d just said because now it sounded like I was excluding myself. “Not that I want you to do that with someone else, but since you’ve made it abundantly clear that you and I can’t do it together …”

“Lass, say nae more,” he interrupted me, shaking his head for emphasis. And thank God he did! I was just burying myself deeper and deeper.

“Well, you get what I was trying to say,” I finished. The weight of my embarrassment burned my cheeks.

“Even if yer dunderhead angel is correct, an’ Ah am in need oove ah woman, Ah couldnae tempt Donnchadh so,” Tallis explained, shaking his head.

“What?” I started. “Why?”

“’Twould be near impossible tae rein Donnchadh in if Ah even tempted him with the sins o’ the flesh.”

“You mean having sex would unleash Donnchadh?” I asked, just to make sure I understood him correctly.

“Och, aye,” he answered with a hefty nod. “’Tis been tae long that Ah have not bled mahself; which means Donnchadh’s power keeps growin’,” he explained. “Any sorta temptation with ah woman would be tae mooch fer meh tae control.”

“Oh.” I started nodding because his explanation finally began to make sense. “So if you bled yourself first, then you’d probably be okay in that area?” I didn’t mean to sound like such a dumbass, but unfortunately, it couldn’t be helped.

“Aye,” he answered. “Bleedin’ mahself an’ riddin’ mahself of Donnchadh’s toxins is the oonly way Ah can keep him oonder control.”

I nodded, but wondered how to bring up the next point I’d been thinking about for a while now. This was one of those conversations that I knew we needed to have but, even so, it wasn’t exactly an easy one to start. “So, I’ve been thinking about something,” I said, dropping my gaze to the ground before losing my nerve altogether.

“Why am Ah nae surprised?” Tallis asked as he peered down at me with one arched brow. “The day yer mind is quiet is the day Ah will sell mah soul tae the devil, or Alaire, since they are one an’ the same,” he finished with a chuckle.

“The conversation I wanted to have with you is actually about Alaire,” I replied as the smile dropped right off Tallis’s face, only to be replaced by a glower.

“Whit aboot him?” he demanded.

“That undeniable fascination he has for me,” I started. I met his eyes with mine and watched his narrow further. “You said it was completely due to my innocence and his desire to see that innocence destroyed.”

“Aye,” he answered, eyeing me pointedly. He seemed a bit leery of where this conversation was headed. “Sooch is mah guess, lass.”

“So, looking at this situation from a logical standpoint,” I started, trying to sound scientific in my approach, “technically, if I weren’t actually innocent, Alaire shouldn’t give a rat’s ass about me anymore; right? I mean, he’d treat me just like he would any other Retriever, right?”