Cute but Creepy (Verfallen Asylum #2)

Epilogue

EPILOGUE

ZERO

T he solid wood door had an ornate, cast iron knocker designed to look like a fiery bird. I lifted the thick ring and hit the door. There was a cool breeze coming off the water, making the stoop a chilly windswept platform. My hair thrashed around as I stood there calmly.

A moment later, a man answered the mansion door. He had long orange hair in a braid down his back and ruby eyes. When he looked at the doctor’s coat, there was a flash of confusion he was unable to hide.

“Yes?”

“This is about your niece. May I come in?” I asked.

The Fury family all looked alike. Vernon was young for a phoenix, about two hundred years old--near the same age his brother would have been if he hadn’t had the misfortune of having a basilisk as a son.

Vernon narrowed his eyes but moved aside, letting me in his home. I never knew where Hazel had ended up. To think it was so close to Verfallen was ironic. A few states up, Vernon Fury had the type of home people toured—a Rhode Island Gilded Age mansion.

Inside, he watched me closely while showing me to a room off the front hall. We sat at a small, intimate table in his study.

“Did you want to hire her? She’s busy with something currently but should be free soon.”

“Could we have some tea?” I asked. Tea sounded disgusting. Dried leaves?

“Of course,” Vernon said. With a snap of his fingers, it was only a few minutes before a maid was bringing us cups. After she left the room, I looked straight into his ruby eyes. I fingered the little vial from my pocket and pulled it out. A drop of basilisk blood glittered in the bottom. Vernon eyed it curiously.

“What is that?” He asked. I smiled and popped the top. Then I bent over the table and let it slide into his cup.

“I don’t understand.”

“Drink it,” I said, rubbing my fingers on the rim of my cup before pulling back.

“You put something in my cup, why would I…” He was already lifting it to his mouth. He set it back down, and his eyes snapped back up to me.

“Who are you?”

“Don’t you recognize me? I thought you helped Hazel research Verfallen.” He still clutched the teacup. It shook in its saucer as he tried to get control back of himself. I smiled at him and gave him a break, pulling my influence back. He snatched his hand back.

“Doctor,” he sneered. I raised an amused eyebrow. He knew who I was the moment he saw me. Clever, not to give away what he knew, but no one could hide anything from me.

“What’s in the teacup?”

“Basil’s blood. You remember your nephew, don’t you?” I asked. His eyes drifted behind me, unfocused as he tried to think about what must have happened to lead here. All his plans had crumbled, and now his castle would too.

“His venom tastes very good,” I said. He licked his lips.

“What are you doing to me?” He asked, staring at the cup.

“Playing with my food,” I said. A smile stretched over my face as he slowly looked up at me. His eyes trailed over my wide-spread mouth, then slowly went back to the tea.

“Does it really taste good?” He asked.

“Amazing,” I purred. Vernon gritted his teeth. There was a war going on in his head. He struggled against my persuasion, trying to shove it away.

“You’re thirsty,” I said.

“I am,” he said.

“Dying of thirst.” I leaned closer and bent my head down so I could look up into his eyes. I laughed at what I saw.

I remembered now. This is why I had wanted to come to this world. There was food back in my world, but none as entertaining as humans. They’d sent me a sample through the portal, and I’d wanted a feast. I wanted to eat the entire world. That’s why I came here, but I had no desire to end worlds anymore.

I set my hand on top of Vernon’s. He flinched, and it broke my hold on him for a second. He ripped his hand back and stood up from the table.

“Where’s Hazel?” He asked. I dipped my finger into his teacup. He watched in horror as I brought a taste to my mouth. “Dear God,” he rasped as I failed to succumb to basilisk venom.

“I don’t understand. Have you created an immunity?” He was trying to put a polite storyline together in his head; Hazel showed up, realized there was a cure for basilisk venom, and the job became more complicated.

“No,” I said. My eyes started to split apart. “I haven’t.” My voice echoed in his head as if I was speaking down a long asylum hallway. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.

“What are you?” He gritted out.

“Your new nightmare. Sit down,” I said. He backed away another step and darted a look over his shoulder.

“Trying to run?” I was amused. Vernon was a very proud man. but he had a weakness. He was scared of Baz from the moment he was born. He didn’t want his nephew dead as revenge. If he had, he’d have killed him himself. No, he was terrified of Baz. Which is why he brainwashed Hazel into believing it was her duty.

“If you run, I’ll just have you dragged back,” I commented. He sneered and turned, running right into the barrel chest of a bald orderly.

“Thank you, Dale,” I said as he flung Vernon back in the chair. I hadn’t killed all the staff of Verfallen. Dale had kept my activities to himself at the very end instead of spying for Supra. For that, he kept his life.

Dale was still in the scrubs. They were bloody and burnt. Also, he wasn’t as spry as he had been before. He had a jagged line across the top of his head. The stitch job was sloppy. I’d left it that way to frighten people.

Vernon saw the orderly’s vacant stare, poorly stitched head, and bloody clothes. His eyes bugged, and his pupils dilated.

“You’re scared now. Good. You weren’t scared before. I understand why you weren’t. The only thing a phoenix has to fear is a basilisk. And I’m no basilisk.” I put my hand over his cup, my fingers covering the liquid inside. “Today, I’m going to teach you something important.”

“What?” he gritted out.

“The cost of Hazel’s retribution. Or… you can take a drink.” I picked up the teacup and held it out to him. He bent away, grimacing. I knew he wouldn’t, but it would be fun to torture him with this decision later. I pressed the cup to my mouth and drank it all. The tea tasted exactly as advertised. Revolting.

“You’re going to wish you drank it soon enough.” I picked up a cloth napkin and dabbed my mouth.

“No, I won’t,” he scoffed.

“Oh yes,” I laughed. “You will.”

Hazel

Zero had only been ashore for an hour when he came back to the boat. His helper, Dale, followed behind them at a shuffling, slow pace. There was a third person in tow. His orange hair was shiny, and his red eyes looked like gemstones. Clearly, he wasn’t entirely human.

I didn’t like him right away. Though, I couldn’t pinpoint why. He had the build of an assassin. I knew the look. Especially paired with something as stereotypical as all-black clothes. It was easy to sniff out my kind. I grimaced slightly.

“Who is that?” I asked.

His eyes bugged as if it was shocking I shouldn’t know him. I rolled my eyes. Assassins were poorly closeted narcissists.

“This is Vernon,” Zero said.

“Why’s he here?” I asked.

“What have you done to her?” Vernon hissed at Zero.

“You don’t want the details,” Zero said. He gave an uncharacteristic wink that had heat crawling up my face. Vernon’s body went stiff as if stunned.

“Zero,” I hissed. The man opened his mouth to say something to me.

“No,” Zero cut him off. “Come with me.” Vernon looked confused as he followed him, staring back at me with familiarity and concern. They disappeared below deck, and I marched over to Gonzo. He was getting everything ready to leave shore again. We’d spent the last few weeks taking our time going up the East Coast, collecting supplies before our transatlantic adventure.

“What’s that new guy all about?” I asked.

“Zero’s hungry,” Gonzo said with a cruel smile.

“He doesn’t like your pasta?”

“Actually, he said the gnocchi are his favorite. He asked me to make him more.” Gonzo beamed.

“They look a bit like little brains, don’t they?” I asked.

“That's why he likes them,” he sighed, rubbing his hand through his hair. “Of course, he couldn’t leave it at that. Had to say the texture reminded him of it too.” He rolled his eyes. I followed him as he went to turn on the engine and steer us out to the open water.

“So that’s his snack while we’re out at sea?” I asked. Gonzo looked at me silently for a while. He did this sometimes.

“What?” I asked. He sighed.

“Vernon can regenerate. He’s also a colossal asshole. So, Zero plans to keep eating on him.”

“Huh. That’s the same thing I thought Zero might do to me.” Regenerate from a missing brain? What on earth could do that other than a phoenix?

It was afternoon when we finally pushed our way out to sea. By the time evening came, I was already annoyed by the newcomer. Zero had finally come up from below after hours with Vernon.

“Can we soundproof the room you have that man in?” I asked Zero.

“But then you wouldn’t hear his screams,” he said, looking confused.

“You were doing that on purpose? Why would I want that?”

“Alright,” he sighed. “We’ll get Gonzo to soundproof it.” Zero looked out at the horizon. The sun had set over the sea not long ago. Dusk was slowly fading into twilight. In front of us, a thin line of orange faded to purple. Above us, stars twinkled in the sky.

We were traveling away from America for the combined reasons of wanting distance from Supra, and wanting to travel with each other. We also planned to take our sweet time enjoying the ocean by ourselves. Gonzo had already anchored us for the night.

“What are you thinking?” I asked Zero. I leaned on the railing, looking at him stare at the water.

“Same as you.”

“And what is that?” I asked with a grin.

“That I’d like to swim,” he commented. I laughed.

“Let’s do it.” I pulled all my clothes off and dove into the water. It chilled my skin, washing away the last remnants of the warm evening sun. Zero still stood on the deck.

“Well?”

“Okay,” he said hesitantly. He stripped off his clothes. Zero’s body was a marvel—all perfect lines, both lean and strong. His disposition for keeping clothes on made his nakedness an even more visceral experience. I bobbed my head under the water to relieve myself of the blush creeping up my face.

He climbed through the bars and leaned towards the water while holding on. The muscles in his body flexed. He was being so hesitant.

“Do you know how to swim?” I asked him.

“I swam most of my existence. How hard could it be as a man?” He leapt from the edge and hit the water. A huge splash and then nothing. I heard stomping on the boat as Gonzo came running, and then leapt from the boat. He dove in and, a moment later, pulled Zero up.

“I wasn’t drowning,” Zero said. His long hair stuck to the side of his face. It gave the illusion his eyes were even bigger than normal. He looked like a grumpy porcelain doll, absolutely vicious and yet oddly pretty.

“Oh?” Gonzo said and dropped him. Zero sank, and Gonzo huffed and dove under again, pulling him back up. I giggled at them.

“I’m not drowning because I’m immortal. I was sinking, though.”

“Sink less,” Gonzo sighed and then spent a good ten minutes helping Zero learn a dead man float. We all floated on our backs, looking up at the sky.

“I don’t think I could have ever imagined this. I always knew something was missing, and this was it. You two,” I said, smiling up at the stars.

“Want to stay at sea forever?” Gonzo asked, swimming up next to me. His charming smile said he already knew the answer to that.

“It’s lovely for a while…”

“Have you decided if you’ll keep being an assassin?”

“I love doing it. And when I’m not trying to kill someone that I care about, I’m actually pretty good at it.”

“What?” Gonzo asked, sounding shocked. “Wait, who do you mean?”

“You, of course. I mean, after I got to know you, obviously.”

“I see.” He smiled.

“This time, I’m trading in all the strict rules to have a little fun. I have no idea why I was like that before.”

“You aren’t anymore. That’s all that matters. And you’re happy. Right?” Gonzo asked. There was an edge of tension in his voice. Did he really think I wasn’t happy?

“I’m happier than I’ve ever been.” I stopped floating and wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

“Good. I can’t have an unhappy mate.” He pressed his mouth to mine.

“And you, Zero?” I asked him. He looked over at the two of us and then back up at the sky.

“You two taught me what happiness is. I was something else entirely in a different lifetime.”

“Do you ever want to go back?” I asked him, still hanging on to Gonzo as we treaded water.

“No,” he said quickly. His eyes flicked to us, and then he swam over to us with ease and grace.

“What was that?” Gonzo asked. “You just swam fine!”

“I just wanted you out here, too,” Zero said. He reached out, gripping Gonzo’s throat and pulling him closer. Gonzo smiled before Zero pressed their mouths together. Then Zero’s attention moved to me. He pulled me against his body.

“I want to give you another gift,” Zero said. His mouth pressed to mine in a chaste kiss.

“Another present? Is it another cat for Orange to play with?”

“No, he has me.”

“He’s terrified of you.”

“Who isn’t?” He whispered.

“The gift is something in here.” He pressed his fingertips to my head. “Something you forgot.”

“Interesting,” I said with a smile. “A cryptic gift.”

“But not yet.”

“Why not?”

“I haven’t figured out how to get it yet,” he said. “But I’ll never stop trying.” He kissed me, and then we floated while I grew tired. I woke up with Gonzo carrying me to our room on the yacht.

“Hmm. Where’s Zero?” I asked as he laid me down on the down comforter.

“Eating again.” He settled next to me, pulling me into his arms. I started to drift off.

“Hazel,” Gonzo whispered.

“Hmm?”

“What do you want to do when we get to Italy?” His arms were warm.

“Kill some people. Make Zero buy me clothes.”

“Zero has no money,” Gonzo chuckled.

“I’ll let him borrow mine.”

“What do you think Zero wants to do?”

“Kill some people,” I said. “Buy me some clothes.” Gonzo barked out a laugh.

“Where do I factor into all of this?”

“Who do you think we’ll be killing?”

“What does that mean?” He asked.

“I’m going to kill the people who want you dead.”

“The ones who hired you?” His eyes widened.

“Yes. You think I just picked Italy out randomly?”

“I thought you wanted me to whisper Italian to you and eat the world’s best food.” I patted him on the head.

“Sweetheart, I plan to kill all the people who want you dead.”

“Oh.”

“I even wrote up a list.”

“Of course you did.”

“I’ve got some great ideas,” I said. He sighed.

“Please don’t bring any corpses on the yacht. You have the cat to talk to.”

“I miss Elvis.”

“I’ll buy you another cat that we’ll name Elvis.”

“Thank you.”

“And?”

“And I promise not to keep bodies on the boat past the bloat stage.”

“That’s my princess,” he said warmly.