This Is Forever (16 page)

He had to tell her. Fuck her own little secret, which he was sure she was keeping from him for the exact same reason. Thoughts of that secret had bothered him, hiding on the edges of his consciousness, and while he didn’t acknowledge it, it was there and the curiosity around it was building. The trick was to find out about it before it grew to a level where he would obsess about it. Maybe telling her first, showing her that he could open up and trust her with this, would reward him and soothe what was left of his soul at the same time.

He would tell her tonight, he decided, after she met Murphy and Fiona, and they were back in the room. Nah, fuck telling her. He would
show
her. He smirked at the thought. Girl deserved the full experience. After all, he did it for
her,
she might as well enjoy what losing his soul could do for her.

Pleased with
himself, and lost in his own thoughts, he didn’t hear the door open so seeing Rhys standing there scared the shit out of him.

“There you are. I was going to leave you a note.”

Winter arched a brow. “In my locker?”

“Ass.
Murphy called Saffron. She put him and some chick on the AA list. I thought you might wanna know.”

Winter
nodded. “Just got back from eating with him.”

Rhys hopped the back of the couch and settled in facing
Winter. “I like him. Guys cool for a soul bargaining demon.”

“True, but he’s a rarity in his own world.”

“Anything good?”

Winter
shrugged. “Just shooting the shit. I think he enjoys hanging out with someone that knows what he is and doesn’t kiss his ass because of it.”

Rhys nodded. “Pretty sure that’s why The
Morrigan puts up with Dante’s shit too.”

“So
what’s good in your world?”

Rhys yawned. “Saffron is at the venue already,
and I’m bored as fuck. Where’s Lo?”

Winter
closed his eyes. “Spa day with Stoli and Gatsby.”

Rhys coughed. “You think that’s a smart idea?”

Winter nodded. “Neither of them are going to jeopardize their reputation by talking outta school.”

“You sure?
I mean dude, I haven’t had a problem having Saff meet the tail I have nailed, but I wouldn’t be cool with having them hangout.”

“You never went for the
collector’s man, they have a different code of honor. I’m expecting them to talk more about Stanton to Lo to give her ammunition on the bus than revealing all the crazy shit I have done to and with them.”

“Less Lola
get jealous. Hell, she still might. Reading between the lines was always one of her best qualities.”

Winter
frowned. “Lo, for all her bravado and shit, isn’t a deviant like they are. What I have gotten away with involving them would get me slapped by any other girl. With Lola? My balls in a vice. And it’s not like I did any of it was because I really wanted to. It was because I
could
.”

Rhys nodded. “Guy logic works with me man, but
Saff told me very few girls see it that way. Emotional messes, the lot of them.”

Winter
sighed. “I trust them enough to not fuck this up for me.”

“All I’m saying man is it’s not really wise hinging trust of your burgeoning relationship on two insane girls.”

“Okay, valid, but it can’t be helped now.” Winter sighed and threw his arms over his head.

“
Gonna tell her about your powers soon?”

“Thinking about it.
Toro said she’s got secrets of her own so maybe not.”

“Leave her secrets outta this. Your powers are more important.”

Winter frowned. “So you know what it is?” he opened his eyes and glared at Rhys.

“Just like I know what yours is. When
she’s ready she will say something.”

“I can’t believe you know and won’t tell me.”

“Not my place to tell you, or start that conversation before she’s ready to have it. Trust me when I tell you it will work in your favor if she doesn’t it in her own good time.”

Winter
rolled his eyes. It might be the right thing to do, but all this talk about it was getting him curious. Resolved to tell her about his powers for sure that evening, he stretched and regarded Rhys. “We should do something. I’m starting to feel like a slug after the meal with Murphy.”

“Gym?”

“Might as well. Work off some of this curiosity.”

TWENTY ONE

“Ms. Lola? Another detox?”

Lola looked at the waitress who was offering her a glass of the
heavenly fruit juice concoction she had been drinking and smiled. “Please, and thank you.”

The girl placed the drink on the side table to Lola’s chair and walked past her towards a far door. Stoli and Gatsby were sitting next to her, and all three were in bathrobes, waiting on their main treatments to start, their feet in a swirling pool of mineral water. The warmth penetrated, relaxing her.

Stoli sighed. “Dear god we needed this.” She wiggled her toes, freshly devoid of polish, in the water. “It’s been one fucker of a month.”

Lola cocked her head. “What is it that you two do, if you don’t mind me
asking. I remember at the show you said you would be in Vegas for work…”

Gatsby answered. “Several things,
Jill’s of most trades. But for the purpose of this visit we are with our Burlesque troop here for a convention of well to do business men. They got a taste for the strange.”

Lola frowned. “Please don’t tell me your escorts or something…”

Stoli laughed. “Not even close. Our burlesque troop is called Morbid Museum. It’s a cross between a dark carnival act, a burlesque show and a side show.”

That peaked Lola’s interest.
“Just the two of you?”

Stoli shook her head. “There’s between ten and fifteen of us at any given time. Most of the girls won’t be here till the night before our show, which is two days from now.”

“That’s awesome. What do the two of you do?”

Gatsby grinned. “I’m an aerialist, the silks. Stoli is a contortionist and she can swallow swords.”

“No shit.” and no wonder Winter thought they were cool. She snickered. “I hope that’s not just a euphemism, because that’s bad ass.”

Stoli turned to her and smirked. “
Both iron and pork… when the mood strikes me.”

Lola and Gatsby snickered. She relaxed a bit, liking that they were joking with her. Aside from Xxieda, Saffron and Nyx, Lola didn’t have female friends so while this was a bit different, it was kind of fun to just
hangout with the girls.

“So Lola, tell us, how’s it being back with
Winter?”

Well. It
was
fun.

She sighed and then gave them a small smile.

Gatsby raised her hands. “Hey if you don’t wanna talk about it, cool, I mean I’m sure I would be freaked out about my boyfriend’s once upon a time ass asking about my relationship, too. But we aren’t like that. Winter, well sure we have hooked up, but he’s a friend first and foremost, same with Stanton.”

Lola raised a brow. “So this is what, you guys making sure I’m good enough for him?”

Stoli laughed. “More like making sure he’s perfect for you. We love him, he’s a wonderful caring guy. I mean hell on my birthday he sent a huge box of pears to my loft with a wonderful card that said happy Birthday. Guys on the road don’t do that. He’s a good one, and your literal female perfection, we just wanna make sure that he’s grown up enough to give it the old college try so to speak.”

Lola blinked. Well that was odd. Normally girls get stuck with other girls that have fucked the guy you are currently screwing and they get all possessive. This was them trying to get rid of him, to see him happy--- with someone not them.

She considered their words. “Fair enough. Ok I’ll talk if you guys talk. Cool?”

Stoli turned and looked at her. “About?”

“Winter called you guy’s collectors. I want to know what that really means.”

Gatsby chuckled. “I wondered when it would get a label.”

Stoli gave her a sly smile. “There’s no easy way to explain it. Let me see.. Ok no bullshit, we collect beautiful men. Winter, Stanton, Rick Cage from
Pain and Suffering
, Leo from
Needful Things…
Guys that have that glimmer of something extra. We like them, are friends with them, and on occasion, sleep with them. But we don’t talk. Talking is for groupies, and groupies are just looking for the name drop. These guys we let into our lives, and vice versa. We hangout, we talk, we aren’t a nameless faceless girl to them. It’s got its perks.”

Lola considered this. “So the only thing that differentiates you from groupies is you don’t talk?”

Gatsby shook her head. “The guys know us, and we know them. There’s a friendship there, groupies are lucky if they get an email address. These guys stay with us, hangout with us off tour.”

Lola nodded. “And the sex is...?”

Stoli chuckled. “Both Gats and I are committed to each other. We are both bisexual, and it’s a fun way to mix it up, with people we trust, and love in a small way. Neither of us have ever been with any of the guys we have ‘collected’” she used air quotes, “alone. We are fun for them, but fun they don’t have to worry about clinging to them, becoming a problem. I like to think of us as passing fancies.”

Lola was all but horrified.
Passing fancies? “And you are ok with that?”

They both nodded. “We have each other. We are
forever; they are great memories waiting to happen.”

Realization struck her. “And that’s why you want to see them settled.”

Gatsby nodded. “They are good guys. Most are lonely. Like Winter. You know when we met him, he was so lonely.” She said softly. “I think it was just after you and he broke up the first time. So much despair surrounding him. His aura was… well it was poisoned with regret and hopelessness. We knew then he loved someone, loved them so strongly he wasn’t going to be whole without them.”

Stoli nodded. “We became friends, and lovers, but we were a distraction, one that he looked forward to.
And no, not in the physical sense. Just being friends. Then, he got worse, the stuff he was getting up to on the road… then, he just got numb. The holes remained in his aura. They are still there. Much like the ones in yours.”

Lola’s head shot up.

“Don’t be surprised. We both have a bit of the weird in us,” she said as she finished her drink. “You’re both missing pieces that you will need ultimately, though yours…”

Gatsby stood up and went the Lola and got down on a knee in front of her. “Yours is deeper, unsettled. It feels weird.” She frowned as she touched Lola’s hand. “You have a barrier on you. And
Winter doesn’t know.”

Lola pulled her hand away.

“Look it’s not my place really but, whatever it is, a barrier won’t keep it forever. You need to fill the holes with what you lost.”

She stood up and smiled.

Lola watched her wary. But the girl didn’t pry, and try to make her talk. She took Lola, and her issue, at face value. It was the decent thing to do. Lola nodded at Gatsby.

“Thank you.” She said and smiled.

Stoli rolled her shoulders. “Ok so spill!”

Lola, feeling the mood changing,
decided to file the information away for later. She was about to talk when three women came into their room.

“Ladies, your triple treatment room is ready.
If you will follow me.”

Lola
followed; a smile on her face. True, the conversation was frank and surreal, but they did have a point about a lot of things. The fact that they could sense auras… well if she wasn’t already embroiled in her own special supernatural hell she would have scoffed at it but as it was, she didn’t mock it. They made sense too. She knew she wasn’t whole.

Her phone rang and she picked it up, surprised to see Xxieda’s number on the other end.

“Hey Lo, you got a sec?” Xxieda’s voice was clear on the other end, but with a slight echo, like she was standing in a cavernous room.

“Sure.
I’m on my way into some spa room.”

“Well then you don’t have
that
much time. Lemme be quick. I’m with a friend, a witch named Astrid. She is looking into this Shesha bullshit. I’m going to put her on.”

Lola was interested.

“Hello Miss Lola.” She heard the voice on the other end, heavily accented English. “Xxieda has told me the problem, and it is grave. I would like to see you, oui?”

French?
A French witch? Where the hell did Xxieda dig these people up? “Um sure? That would be nice.”

“I think I know how to fix your little situation, but it
won’t be easy. Tell me, have you told your lover yet?”