Fall of Venus by Daelynn Quinn

Author:Daelynn Quinn [Quinn, Daelynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-07-16T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

The flashlight clanks as it falls to the concrete porch and there’s a moment of complete and utter emptiness as I try to comprehend what is going on. Is this a dream? How can he be alive? He smiles and approaches me, extending his solid arms around me and squeezing the breath out of me. At first I’m petrified and keep my arms at my side, unable to flex a muscle. Then I relax, returning the embrace.

“I missed you, Polly,” says Glenn.

He pulls away from me, but keeps his hands on my shoulders grasping them snuggly. He lifts a hand to my chin and carefully tilts my face up.

“What happened to your face?” Even in the dark of night, my scar is a beacon. If I weren’t in shock right now I’d turn away to hide the hideousness of it.

“Glenn? Is it really you?” I ask, squinting my eyes, still skeptical of the sight before me. “I thought you died. It was in the paper.”

“Oh, that,” he says with a slight chuckle. “I paid off the coroner to put me on the dead list. He was sick, himself, and was trying to scrounge up as much money as he could for the so-called ‘cure.’” Glenn lowers his head and chuckles nefariously to himself again.

I’m still not sure what to make of the situation. Glenn is back. He is alive. I should be ecstatic. But something seems different. There’s an unexplained tension between us that feels…off. I hesitate to invite him inside when a dreadful thought occurs to me. If he is deceptive enough to pay off the coroner to list him as dead, might he be persuaded to join the bounty hunters? After all, why is he here, and not at Crimson? Sickness boils in the pit of my empty stomach and an icy chill shoots down my spinal cord. I reach down and pick up the flashlight I dropped and shine it into his eyes. He flinches and waves his hands in front of his face to block the glaring light. “Polly, stop. What are you doing?”

“Be still Glenn. I need to see your eyes, just for a second,” I say.

He removes his hands. “Why?” he asks.

“Just do it,” I order. He’s not used to me making demands of him. I’m usually the quiet wallflower around him.

“Okay, but stand back a bit,” he says, taking a step back himself.

I flash the light at him again. He squints at first, but draws his eyelids open with his fingers. They look normal – no marks. I lower the flashlight, releasing my tension in one deep, bone-crushing sigh. “Sorry, Glenn. I just had to see if …”

“If I’m one of them,” he interrupts. “I’m not.”

“I’m sorry. It’s so good to see you,” I say wrapping my arms around him again, trying to convince myself that I am glad he’s back. He smells good. Better than I do. Like eucalyptus and mint.

“Who’s that?” asks Glenn, looking behind me. Marcus. How could I forget about Marcus? I’ve got to be careful about what I say and choose my words carefully.

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