Chapter 24 - Failure to Communicate

Robert strummed a song on his guitar. It was Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter. I found it to be strangely soothing and relaxing. Not only that but, oddly enough, the music helped to quell the burning hunger eating me alive. Almost enough to make a girl forget all about her problems. When finished, he looked directly into my eyes. "Which do you think Vycandor associates with more, his angelic side or his beast?"

That was easy since I'd never seen Vycandor shift. "Angel."

He tilted his head thoughtfully to the side. "That is true for most therianthropes. They generally identify with a mixture of both human and animal for spiritual and psychological reasons. Although they don't always have to feel a connection to, or even like their animal."

Why did it sound like he was referring to himself?

I narrowed my eyes. "I know where you're going with this. You make it sound like it's okay what the Dark Ones did."

"No, I didn't say that. You're not a therianthrope, so you can't know what it's like to be cursed."

I leaned forward on my bean bag chair, pointing at his chest. "Ah, ha! See, that's where you're wrong. I am cursed. That's why I'm here."

His brow furrowed deeply. "Your cursed?" He made it sound more like a statement than a question.

I clapped my hands together. "Yup." We were finally starting to make some progress.

He gave me a look that clearly said he didn't believe me. "Lisette placed a curse on you?" Again, he made it a statement.

I was starting to get annoyed, so I did my best Joker impersonation. "What we have here is a failure to communicate." It didn't sound anything remotely close to the iconic Heath Ledger, but I think he got the point.

"Okay." Robert paused to carefully put down his guitar, giving me his full attention. "Maybe I should ask you this...exactly what kind of curse did Lisette place on you and why?"

Cradling my head in my hands, I racked my brain to find the best way to explain it. It might have been easier to think if he didn't smell so damn good. The scent was woodsy and warm, with notes of cinnamon, Sage, salt, and earth. Soft and comforting without being too overpowering, yet when combined with the scent of his blood, well...let's just say it was a good thing I considered Robert as more of a brother. Otherwise, he was the one in danger. Not me.  

I decided the best thing to do was to start at the beginning. Meeting his eyes once more, I took a deep breath and went for broke. "Lisette cursed me to become a sin eater."

He blinked in surprise. "Come again. Why would she do that?"

"Because she's a terrorist who's trying to rope me into consuming the sins of her father so his soul can rest in peace for all eternity."  

Robert scratched his head. "Um, isn't that what Jesus does?"

I lifted my brow dramatically. "This is so much bigger than Jesus."

He wagged a finger at me. "Correction. Nobody is bigger than Jesus."

That earned him my best scowl. "Trust me, I know." Who could forget the drifter?  "I actually met him once. On the other side. At least, I think it was him. He didn't really say. Nice guy though. But that was before. And now I'm back..." I let my voice trail off with the memory. So much had happened since then. I'd found Thomas. We'd formed the perfect bond. Now I'd gone and lost him again.

That reminded me. It was also because I shared a bond with both Thomas and Vycandor that I'd refused to choose between them. That was the other part of Lisette's curse. Crap. Robert was probably going to need to know that too. I took another deep breath and blew it out slowly as I prepared to surrender the truth. I'd never told anyone before. Besides, it was way too personal. In fact, I didn't even tell my mom. And I tell her everything. Well, mostly everything. Word vomit usually played a larger role.

"Is there anything else I should know?" Robert pressed, breaking into my thoughts.

I wriggled around in the bean bag chair to get more comfortable. Mostly to cause a delay. And also because my legs had fallen asleep. There was just no easy way to say it. I opened my mouth and then closed it. I opened it again, but the words refused to come out.

"C'mon," Robert said. "It can't be that bad, can it?"

I gave him a grave look. "Oh, trust me. It's bad."

"What could possibly be worse than being cursed? Lisette can't curse you twice."

"She can. And she did."

He was starting to become impatient with me. "Look, Chaos. I can't help you if I don't know all the details."

I heaved a sigh. "Have you heard that when two angels fall in love they form a bond that will last for all eternity?"

He nodded. "Yes, I've heard that."

"A bond that can never be broken?"

That made him laugh. "That's generally how a bond works. Why do you ask?"

"I have one with Thomas."

"Well, that explains why he's so protective." Pausing to mull it over, he added, "What about what's his name?"

I crinkled my brow. "You mean Vycandor?" He nodded. "I formed a bond with him too."

At first he didn't say anything, but I could almost see the wheels turning in his brain as he started to make the connection between what I'd done and how he was supposed to fix me. Cocking his head to one side, his mouth dropped open in disbelief. "You're in a legit love triangle?" His mouth slowly closed as a frown swapped places with it. "And not the good kind, I must add."

"There's a good kind?"

His gaze rested briefly on my neck before he had to look away. "Chaos, what were you thinking?"

"Hey. It's not like my past isn't all tied up with a great big bow of gut wrenching guilt, ya know. I tried to warn you. I told you it was bad."

Robert got up and started to pace. The hut wasn't very big so he didn't have far to go. "You're right, this is bad. This is very bad."

Clearly I'd gone and wrecked his day. Now I was about to wreck his entire year. Go me. "Do you want to know the other, other bad part?"

He stopped pacing to stare at me. "What could possibly be worse than forming two entirely different bonds, and then leaving them open to cause an enormous blockage of energy?"

"I don't know about any blockage of energy," I admitted. "But the curse turned on something far worse."

"Wait, don't tell me." He paused to sit back down. "Okay. Tell me."

I licked my dry lips and pulled on the collar of my shirt. Whatever small benefit I'd gained from Vycandor to appease the hunger was gone. My need for blood became an ache so strong that I was afraid I wouldn't be able to contain it much longer. An agonizing pain bloomed along my jaw and I felt my pearly frights start to poke out through my gums. I actually had to force myself not to inhale too deeply. In such a small confined space without much air circulation, it's like I could already taste Robert. "Let's just say I know what causes a feeding frenzy."

Robert looked confused. "What?"

"Bloodlust."

His eyes opened wide. "Tell me you did not form a blood bond with one of those dimwits!"

I shushed him. "Careful, they'll hear you."

"No they won't."

"Ah, yes they will. They're standing right outside"

"Trust me, Chaos," he said, pointing over his shoulder. "Nobody can hear you. You could scream at the top of your lungs and nobody would come to save you. It's the lights. They're special. They make things soundproof. Pretty neat, huh?" Clearly, he was proud of himself. The lights weren't the only things in here that were special. "Which one? he added, almost as an after thought."

It was my turn to be confused. "Which one what?"

"Which one of your dimwitted boyfriends did you form a blood bond with?  Although I think I can guess."

I rolled my eyes at him again. "Why does it matter?"

Leaning back in the chair, he folded his hands together interlocking his fingers. "Lisette likes to take a weakness and use it against you in order to get what she wants."

"Well, she's not getting what she wants from me," I protested. "I don't negotiate with terrorists. That's why I came to see you. I flat out refuse to consume her father's sins, and I can't drink my boyfriend's blood even if I wanted to."

He snapped his fingers together. "Your aversion to blood is your weakness. I take it you don't care for the taste?"

"It's not that. It's more like you don't know until you try it. And then when you try it, you know. Know what I mean?"

"I think I'm starting to understand. Lisette gave you an ultimatum. Since you refused her demands to help dear ole' dad, she used the blood bond against you and now you must feed on blood in order to survive. How absolutely diabolical."  

"Yeah," I groaned. "She's a real gem."

He picked up his guitar again and started to play Hedwig's theme song again, but not loud enough that we couldn't still carry on a conversation. I got the distinct impression that strumming the notes helped him think. "Maybe it's just because I'm a Drinker too, but I'd pick consuming blood over consuming sins any day."

"Ya know what? I probably would too. Just to defy her. But Lisette couldn't stop there. Oh no. Because that would be too easy. Instead, she had to go and add a little twist to the curse that basically makes things impossible."

He stared at me like I was a zoo animal. "What's so impossible about drinking blood? I do it everyday."

"First of all, eewww! Second, it has to be my boyfriend's blood. And third, I have to drink from them at the same time except, newsflash, they don't get along. They can't even stand to be in the same room as each other."

"So," he countered. "Switch back and forth between them. What's so difficult about that?"

My breath huffed out. "Can't. I tried that already. If I drink from just one, I get sick. We're talking majorly, violently ill. The stuff of crime scenes. I think I even hurled my lunch from last week."

"Stop. I get it." He placed a hand over his mouth and dry heaved repeatedly before coming up for air. "If I even think about puking, I will puke."

I don't quite know why, but seeing him react like that was strangely satisfying.

Turning around, he fished for something behind his chair before thrusting an object at me. "Here, take this. It was left over from a party, but it should do the trick."

I held up a fluorescent pink baseball cap with two pop holders attached to the sides. It came complete with a long plastic straw for drinking from both cans at the same time, also known as a guzzler helmet. "I know you're not for cereal." I threw it back at him. "A novelty item? Is this what you think I came here for?"

His voice turned grim, forehead etched with worry. Was it just my imagination, or was it great gobs of concern that slid behind the silvery grey in his eyes? "If I decide to help you, there's no going back. You do know that, right?"

My eyes widened with every word. I felt a line of sweat drip down my spine. "Wait. What exactly do you plan to do to me?"

A small smile played at the edge of his lips. "I could tell you. But then I'd have to kill you."