Beasts and Burdens (6 page)

Belus jumped back stunned by the sudden upheaval of his evening plans, but not paralyzed by it. He barked at Danato to set her on the couch, while he ran to his bathroom. A moment later, he returned with a first aid kit the size of a briefcase. Belus hated infirmary paperwork more than anyone.

“What happened?” He sat down on the coffee table before Cori and laid out alcohol pads and needles.

“The house tried to kill me!” Cori bellowed.

The look Belus gave him was a combination of “I told you so” and “how could you let this happen.” He stowed the accusing look behind his usual hardened exterior. He proceeded to cut open Cori’s pant leg and swab the area around the shrapnel.

“Hello?” Cori shrieked. “Isn’t anyone shocked that the house tried to kill me!?”

“Yes, Cori,” Belus said calmly trying to exert his composure onto her. Danato nearly smirked since he knew this was one time even Belus’s cool demeanor and stern looks wouldn’t pressure her into silence.

“Why did the house try to kill me?” She smacked her fists into the couch.

“Get her some water please,” Belus instructed him. He stepped into the kitchen area just off the entryway, which was much like his own house only smaller, and pulled a glass from the cupboard for water.

“Forget the water! I want answers!” Cori yelped as Belus injected her with three tiny shots around the wound to numb it.

“Hold still,” he griped.

“Bite me!” she yelled.

Belus chose that moment to rip out the five inch piece of shrapnel from Cori’s shin. Danato cringed at the cry that Cori let out, and wondered how Belus could stand to be the cause of it. The wound gushed and Belus pressed gauze against it.

He returned with the water and despite being so vocally against it before, she took a long drink of it. He looked at Belus who was only occasionally glancing up at him from his stitch work. He was mad, but he wasn’t letting that get in the way of what needed to be done.   

“First the elevator, now this.” Cori panted over her loss of breath from drinking. “What is going on? Someone tell me the truth for once in my freaking life.” She implored both of them, but it was Belus who spoke.

“The house, the elevator, and Danato’s office are all manifested by the same being.” He threw the information at her like it was nothing of consequence, but her awe stricken face said otherwise. “The two incidents aren’t just related, they are caused by the same entity. You are
officially
in danger, Cori.”

“Why?” Her eyes pleaded with no end to their disillusionment. “Why would she try to kill me? I thought I was keeping things tidy,” she whimpered thoughtfully, as if she was counting every mismanaged piece of laundry.

Danato shook his head. “Oh, sweetheart, this has nothing to do with tidiness. This is a being of complex emotions, but it can only express it in simple actions. Unfortunately, the slew of emotions she’s expressing now is turning violent.”

“What is she trying to express?” Cori asked him.

Danato glanced at Belus, but he only shrugged. “It’s complicated,” he said weakly.

“Complicated?” Cori’s eyes screamed, long before she did. “She’s tried to kill me twice! Why is she doing this! Ouch!” She yelped as Belus stuck her in the thigh with another needle. “What the hell was that?”

“Sedative,” he answered blandly. “I want you to calm down.”

“I want answers!”

“We have bigger concerns than your edification!” Belus finally broke and yelled back at her. Despite it being aimed at Cori, Danato knew it was meant for him. “Hold this!” She growled through clenched teeth and replaced Belus’s hand putting pressure on her calf. “Outside.” Belus pointed to the door and Danato led the way.

“You were right,” Danato said as Belus shut the door behind them. “I should have listened to you this afternoon.”

“I was just guessing,” Belus contested. He paced back and forth trying to get a grip on the situation, as well as his temper. For a change, Danato was too anxious to be mad.

“I need to go back,” Danato mumbled.  

Belus froze and his jaw clenched tight before he answered. “I know.” He rubbed his face peevishly. “What are you going to do?”

“I have no idea, but we have to keep Cori away from her.”

“That’s going to include the prison now. The proximity to the—”

“She’ll have to stay here.” Danato didn’t offer any exception to the statement.

Belus glanced at his door, no doubt already imagining what odd roommates he and Cori would make. “Short of locking her in, she isn’t going to stay. You know that.” Belus looked down to the ground. “Not unless I tell her the truth.”

Danato didn’t answer right away and Belus took it as a negative.

“She will never stop asking the questions now. And we won’t be able to protect her if she seeks out the answers herself.”

Danato felt ill, his past and present were finally colliding. It was inevitable. He knew it was time to let go of his secrets, but he was going to need help. “Would you tell her?”

Belus’s concern faded into indifference, as if he had just shut off his heart for good. “Yeah, I’ll tell her.” 

“You can decide how much she needs to know.” Danato walked away. He should have walked back inside and told Cori himself. At the very least he should have apologized to Belus for being a coward again, but he didn’t. Instead, he went back home to have a long talk with his wife.

12

Cori bandaged her own wound while Belus was outside talking to Danato. She had too much experience to lay in wait for nurses. She twisted open a package of pain killers and popped them down her throat with the last of her water.

She stood grimacing at the pain, but she refused to give into it. She’d had worse, much worse.

Her head was woozy from the sedative, Belus had given her, but she wasn’t giving into that either.

She marched confidently to the door, but it opened before she could make her dramatic exit. Belus came back in and saw her standing. He glanced at her bandage, quickly evaluating it as acceptable before offering her a curious look. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I want answers from Danato.”

“He’s gone back to the house,” he said bitterly.

“What?” Cori took a step forward, but Belus shifted announcing his intention of stopping her. “He can’t go back there, Belus. She…it…that thing wants to hurt me. What makes him think it won’t do the same to him?”

“She won’t hurt Danato,” Belus said it confidently, but she could see part of him was questioning it.

“Why do you say that?”

“She’s permanently imprinted on him.” Cori scrunched her face in confusion. “Let’s not get into that just yet.”
“No! No more placating! No more treating me like an outsider! I have a right to know what the hell is going on!”

“You need to calm down, or I’ll give you another sedative.”

“You need to move, before I make you move!” Cori fumed.

His brow perked. “Why don’t you go ahead and try that, kid? I think we both know that I’m not afraid of you.”

Cori clenched her teeth and let out an aggravated growl. “If I weren’t pregnant, I would slam you up against a wall.”

“I’m not sure you’ve ruled it out yet,” Belus mumbled as he shut the door.

Despite his concern for her temperament, she was already losing steam, either from the sedative, or her hormones were nose diving into a different emotion. “Just tell me what’s going on.”

“I will,” Belus said clearly and Cori’s mouth drifted open in surprise. “I’ll explain everything in the morning, I promise, but for now, you’re going to bed.”

“What here?” Cori stumbled as she tried to look at his house. The conjoined living room and kitchen reminded her of an apartment more than a house. The furnishings were plush and neutral toned, but they felt more like props for a model house, than anything personal to Belus.

“Easy, kid, let’s get you to bed before you pass out. I have no intention of carrying you anywhere.” Belus left the door unmanned, but her desire to escape left with his promise to give her answers.

She followed him to a bedroom adjacent to the bathroom. There appeared to be a third room, but from what she could see, it was being used as an office.

Cori paused in the doorway and looked over the caramel walls accented with sinuous, black, hanging sculptures, and several oversized frames exhibiting unabashed female nudes. The focal point in the room was a king sized bed with an ebony and gold comforter. The rich décor contradicted the blandness of the rest of the house, but in many ways this room felt more like Belus than the others.

She was reticent to enter the room. She had never been through the threshold of Belus’s home before tonight, and now faced with the seclusion of his bedroom, she felt as if she were trespassing.

“You want a night shirt?” he asked rummaging through the bottom drawer of an antique chest of drawers. The reddish wood should have clashed with his motif, but it came off as an eclectic pop.

He tossed her a t-shirt that was a few sizes too big for him. She wondered if it belonged to one of his lady friends. “You mean for me to sleep here?” She nodded at his bed.

“It’s the only bed.” Belus pulled a pair of reading glasses off the night stand by the bed and hung them on his lapel. She had never seen him use glasses, but she didn’t want to bother with unnecessary queries. 

“Can’t I just sleep on the couch?” She murmured, trying not to sound insulted by his offer.

“No, because I’m not going to sleep just yet, and I don’t want to keep you awake.” When she didn’t move further into the room he tipped his head sympathetically. “Cori, you’re injured, you’re pregnant, and I know you are just seconds from passing out, please, put on that nightshirt and crawl into bed.

He moved passed her as she stepped inside. He reached back to shut the door. “Please don’t go yet.” She knew he had higher priorities, but she wasn’t ready to be alone yet. “Please,” She added when he didn’t acknowledge her plea.

“Holler when you’re tucked in,” he said before he shut the door.

13

Cori yawned and sunk down into Belus’s bed. The sheets were soft as kittens and the mattress was just supple enough to sink into.

“Comfy?” Belus leaned on the jamb with the door half open. He had a slight smirk on his face, no doubt amused by her bathing in the glory of expensive sheets.

“Mm-hmm.” She blinked sleepily. The sedative was taking a strong hold on her brain.

“Okay, stay here, I’ll be—”

“Belus,” She reached out to him, but let her hand fall. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.” He nodded. He either didn’t think the apology was necessary, or he didn’t want to talk about it. “I was just so scared. I’m trying to understand, and be respectful of Danato’s privacy, but I’m just so sick of the secrets.”

He moved into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. She rested her fingers on his. “This all has something to do with her, doesn’t it?” she asked cautiously. “Olivia.”

Belus’s eyes flashed up at her, but it wasn’t anger, just surprise. He looked back down at her hand and took hold of it. He stroked his thumb hypnotically over the back of her hand. “Yes, this particular ‘Once upon a time’ does start with Olivia, but we don’t have time for all that now. We’ll talk tomorrow, okay. Just sleep.”

Cori yawned again, and giggled. He perked his brow in question to her outburst. “I’m part of a pretty elite club to make it into this bed aren’t I?”

“Cori,” he shook his head scolding her for the inappropriate humor.

“Oh relax Belus. You know I’m just jealous,” she mumbled.

He smiled and a quiet baritone chuckle vibrated in his chest. “Is that so?”

She smiled back at him, but her feigned flirtation made her think of Ethan, and her playfulness faded. “I wish Ethan was here.”

Belus squeezed her hand. “I know, kid. I do too.” Cori wasn’t sure he thought one way or another about Ethan’s presence, but given the situation, it would have been easier on him to have someone to share the burden of fixing this melee.

“Are you going to go help, Danato?” Cori asked barely keeping her eyes open. He nodded at her. “Will you wake me when you get back so I know your both okay?” He shook his head slowly, without anything to qualify his answer. “Be careful,” she murmured. He nodded and lifted her hand to his lips for a kiss before leaving. She wasn’t awake long enough to hear the front door close.

14

Cori bolted up out of bed when she smelled something burning. “Belus,” she whispered into the dark. The room didn’t have any windows, so she couldn’t tell if it was night or day.

She slipped out of the bed and opened the bedroom door, prepared for nothing and everything. The bright sunlight of the morning streamed in through the high windows surrounding the main room.

“Good morning.” Belus smiled warmly at her from the kitchen where he was making breakfast. She cocked her head to one side seeing him move deftly around the kitchen that was custom made for his height. “Hungry?” he asked when she didn’t offer him any greeting.