Beasts and Burdens (4 page)

“You said that, not me,” he scolded her, but held his lascivious smirk. “As I recall you objected to the idea anyway.”

She stood and started to walk away. “Fine.”

He grabbed her quickly and carefully. She squealed as he tripped her back into his arms. Her heart was beating fast from the scare, but her eyes weren’t fearful of him. She wanted him. It made him grin all the more. He loved bringing her desires alive. It was one of his favorite past times.

Since she had her experience with the genie, she had been far more receptive to his playful side. He was curious what had happened to her, to make his aggressive play more palatable, but he wasn’t about to ask. He just wanted to enjoy it.

He laid her down in their bed and slipped in beside her to admire and caress the bulging mass that appealed to his primal instincts. She of course considered the changes to her body to be hideous, but he found the entire process mesmerizing. He hated to miss any part of it, but if he had to, he was going to make sure she was taken care of.

7

Cori yowled in frustration at the truck distancing itself from the main dock. The cold air whipped through her hair violently as the outer door slipped shut. “Why am I always on this dock saying good bye to him?”

Belus glanced up at her, but didn’t offer an explanation. There either was none, or she should have known it already.

“Give me one good reason, that I shouldn’t hate all of you right now!” She stared him down point blank, but he didn’t flounder under her gaze. In the end, it was her that winced and looked away. “Why can’t you humor me Belus?” she grumbled as she headed off the dock.

“I am amused by you, does that count?” Belus said following her.

She sighed as she entered the hallway. “I guess it will do. Where is Danato? I’m surprised he didn’t come see Ethan off.”

“He is taking the morning off to rest his leg,” Belus said casually like it was an everyday occurrence.

“I don’t think Danato has taken a minute off since the day I arrived. Is he really in that much pain?” Belus nodded. “Can’t the doctors do something?”

He paused before answering. “They will. Come on, time to see Cleos again.” Belus passed her up when they reached the main foyer.

“Great, the cherry on my week.” Cori followed Belus to Danato’s office where Cleos was waiting in his hooded robe. He always looked worldly and benevolent in his robe. It made Cori smile, since she knew Cleos was anything but benevolent.

“What are you doing here?” Cleos eyed Belus with unfounded disdain.

“Monitoring your services, what do you think?” Belus said with a snarl, but Cori thought she detected a little amusement in his tone. “Cori, take a seat. Let’s get this over with.”

Cori sat down in the chair next to Cleos and offered her hand to him. He looked over her proffered hand carefully. “And the other?” He nodded to her other hand. She rolled her eyes and held up her other hand for him to inspect. Even though she hadn’t worn her rings since Belus took them away six months ago, he still insisted on checking her.

“Are you really that afraid of me reading you?” She asked.

“We’ve been over this. You have no understanding of the barriers that shouldn’t be crossed in the mind. Your amateur explorations are an invasion.” Belus snorted and Cleos offered him a fiery glower. “Something funny, Belus?”

“The pomposity of that statement; like rules for a cat burglar.”

“Indeed,” Cleos agreed though Belus was making a joke. He turned his look to Cori. “Just remember it’s
my
services that are required here. If you take issue with my rules, than you can take your request to another psychic, though I doubt you will find any like me.” His eyes sparkled with amusement.

Cori offered her hand again, but Cleos reached for her face instead. She tried to pull away, but the second he gripped her she was lost in a flood of memories. He was searching for the erroneous ones—the memories of Dr. Frank that didn’t belong in her head.

He had been removing them slowly so he didn’t harm her, though she suspected that he was enjoying getting a break from his prison cell as well. So far, with each
treatment
she was feeling herself again, but Cleos was also concerned about the vacancy in her brain scan. He hadn’t offered any explanation for it, but again he was taking his time.

His mind latched onto her with such force, she could only describe it as painful. Whatever he was doing, he wasn’t being gentle about it. Then it all stopped. She opened her eyes to see what had changed, but she didn’t see Cleos, she saw herself. The mirror image—that wasn’t a mirror—opened her eyes and the connection broke like the whiplash of a rubber band.

Cori flew back grasping at her body and cradling her stomach. She was panting heavily, and ready to run, but she was okay otherwise. Cleos on the other hand looked livid. He was on his feet towering over her with teeth bared.

“You!” He seethed. “You are an endless reign of bad luck!”

Cori wasn’t particularly mad about him yelling at her, but what she was mad about was the last six months of passive aggressive attacks on her, and his refusal to offer her any leniency for ignorance. She stood so suddenly that Cleos drew back.

“What the hell do you want from me?” She yelled.

Belus stood up to break them apart. It wasn’t there first argument, but it was the first time they were head to head preparing blows.

“I want you out of my mind!” Cleos yelled back.

“I’m not in your mind! I can’t undo what I’ve done! Why can’t you just let this go? I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!!!” Cori panted and took a step back. She felt Belus pressing his hand against her back. Consoling her? Pushing her forward?

“Stupid, stupid girl!” Cleos groused.

“Go to hell!” She screamed so loud her throat hurt. “Get off me!” She shoved against Belus’s hand, but he pressed back keeping her trapped between him, the desk, the chair, and Cleos.

“Are you finished or not?” Belus asked him.

“I’ve gotten all of Dr. Frank’s personal memories out, but I can’t fix the vacancy,” Cleos answered Belus with a good deal more respect than he had offered her.

“Why not?” Belus didn’t hide his distrust of his conclusion.

“Because she did it to herself.”

“What?” Cori balked. “I didn’t—”

“What did she do herself?” Belus interrupted.

“She put her unconscious mind in mine.”

“What does that mean for her?” Belus asked before Cori could formulate a question.

“It means her mind is vulnerable to being encroached.”

“How vulnerable?” Belus asked drawing her back behind him by the arm since she was no longer going to be helpful to this conversation.

Cleos rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “The vacancy in her brain is like a flood plain. Any extraneous memories that aren’t readily absorbed, will pool there. That’s why she was getting confused between herself and Dr. Frank. She couldn’t distinguish.” Cleos glared at her like that was somehow something she should have read in the handbook that came with her brain.

“So she should avoid absorbing anymore memories?”

“To say the least; I would also advise that she doesn’t use her rings on anymore psychics.” Cori felt uncomfortable under Cleos’s scrutiny, but all she could do was cross her arms and pretend that it didn’t hurt like hell.

“Can we undo this?” Belus glanced back at her, probably checking if she had run out of the room.

“No, the only one who can undo it is her, and she is far too under qualified to do such an extraction.”

“You can’t do it?” Cori asked.

“Since I would be the one that requires the extraction, no. And just so we are
all
perfectly clear, you will never be allowed back in my brain, certainly not to do anything as complex as removing your own subconscious.”

Cori shook her head. She didn’t really understand what he was saying, but she didn’t dare fertilize his condescension.

“What about long term effects?” Belus asked, indifferent to Cori’s heart being ripped out right before his eyes.

“I don’t know. I imagine with Cori’s luck, we’ll be in for a few surprises.” His lips curled in a smirk that faded as soon as he looked at her. She closed her eyes and tipped her head back so the tears that she couldn’t hold back, trailed down her temples instead of her cheeks.

“What about you?” Belus mumbled as if he didn’t really care about the answer, but felt obligated to ask. “What effect will this have on you?”

Cori looked back to see his answer, and she found his eyes boring into her. “Let’s just say it’s a good thing I’m such a nice guy.”

“Nice?” Cori scoffed.

“Yes,” Cleos pulled back the chair to get around Belus. She backed herself into the wall. He put one hand up on the wall behind her. “I have part of you in my mind, Cori. Do you have any idea how easy it would be to puppeteer you with it? I could ruin you.”

Cori shook her head. It was too much. She shrunk down the wall to the floor in tears. “Please, stop. Please just stop.” She buried her face in her hands since she couldn’t reach her knees anymore. “I hate you. I hate you so much.”

“Enough, Cleos,” Belus threatened, too little too late.

“Yes, it is,” he said, his voice reeking with the pride of breaking her.

8

“Cori you have to understand Cleos,” Belus said hanging up his coat before he joined her in the living room. She half expected Danato to be home in bed, but he wasn’t. He must have been receiving some kind of treatment in the infirmary.

“I do understand him. At least I thought I did.” She sat down on the couch and put her feet up on the coffee table. The instant she did, she took them off again.

“You understand the Cleos that has spent the last few years beating himself up for his perceived sins.” Belus helped himself to the liquor cabinet as usual. “You never knew the asshole he was before he walked through our doors.”

Belus set out two glasses on the coffee table. Cori furrowed her brow. “Belus I can’t drink with you.”

“Sure you can.” He smirked playfully. “I’m having a gin and tonic. You’re having a tonic.”

She smiled and reached for the glass of tonic he poured her. She couldn’t quite reach. She tried again, but was still too far back on the couch to make the reach over her belly. “What’s wrong there humpty dumpty?” Belus grinned at her.

“You could just bring me the glass,” she scolded.

“I don’t know. This is pretty entertaining to me.”

“Yeah, I know how you like big women.” She smiled at her joke, but instantly blanched from panic. She wasn’t sure if he would take offense to it. “Sorry.”

He eyed her suspiciously, but didn’t lose his amusement. “Don’t be.” He brought the glass of tonic to her. “It was funny.”

“You were saying about Cleos,” Cori said desperately trying to change the subject so she didn’t put her foot right back in her mouth.

Belus finished pouring gin into his tonic and sat back in Danato’s chair. “Cleos isn’t the type of man to keep friends. His vulturine business tactics tend to scare aware associates. He may have been your fall back friend here, but out there…” Belus motioned his drink to the proverbial
out there
, “…he’s not going to help anyone, but himself.”

“What does that matter while he’s in here?”

“Because he isn’t going to be in here much longer. He’s going to get a parole review and given your admission about the circumstances that put him in here, we may release him.”

Cori frowned. She didn’t know what to feel about that. Part of her relished the idea of having him out of her life, but the part of her that held onto hope far too long, wanted to repair their friendship. “If he’s going to be rid of me anyway, why is he running me into the ground first? Why can’t he just cut his losses and forget about me?”

“I think he’s about to leave behind the only friend he’s ever had in his whole miserable life, and the only way his demented little brain can deal with it, is by making you hate him.”

“You mean that was all an act?”

“Cori,” Belus’s voice was soft, but he was scolding her with it. “There is a reason that Danato didn’t want you socializing with him. There is a reason I didn’t attempt to intervene today. He is not a good person. He may not be as evil as we all thought, but he is definitely not someone worth keeping as a friend. Please let this be the end of your relationship with him.”

“Is that an order?” She said swirling the liquid in her glass.

“No,” Belus said. “Just friendly advice.”

9

Danato breathed in the smell of chicken and mashed potatoes when he came through the front door. Cori smiled at him from the stove where she was sautéing onions. If he had to guess it was probably for the green beans she had on the platter off to the side.

“Oh, sweetheart, if you knew how beautiful you are to my stomach right now.” He patted his stomach and she giggled.