The Calyx Charm by May Peterson

Author:May Peterson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Carina Press
Published: 2021-04-23T13:55:02+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Tibario

The message came at the cusp of nightfall, stripes of gold and red yet ringing the sky. Martina bore news of Leo, speaking of a mutual friend. I didn’t need the message decoded.

It took me five minutes to straighten my tail and throw on something presentable, and Leo was waiting for me at a quiet corner of the city, and sure enough—Violetta was with him. She was draped in indigo, hair flowing free with a crest of pink flowers at her temple.

I’d woken up excited to see her again. Maybe it was cliche to think that after making love, I felt closer to her than ever. But it wasn’t only that. She had given me the chance to make something safe for her. She had once shielded the whole nation. Now I could be her calyx, her shield against the evil her life had been.

She hadn’t merely let me in. She had forgiven me. Time was rapidly drying like the residue of rainwater in the sun, evaporating into the dust and wind our lives would become when we were gone. And in this fading time, when I had no years left for dreams of redemption, she had forgiven me.

“Tibario.” Her voice scented the air with honey and regret. “You came.”

“I said I’d come.” Heat rushed to my face. “I’ll always come. As long as there’s something of me left to show up.”

Leo’s sigh was heavy with familiarity. “Before you start mooning, let’s go to the Rose where we can have some peace.”

“No.” Violetta shook her head. “We stay away from there. And you and I are parting ways after this, Leo. We need to minimize being seen together.”

Leo’s lips parted, but he offered no protest, as if this was an argument they’d gone through before.

Before I could respond, Violetta gripped the front of my jacket, leaning in with sudden urgency. “Father found me. He may have always been able to find me. I wasn’t sure where else to go, there are too many places he can follow me, too many places that aren’t safe, that stopped being safe—”

I squeezed her shoulders, made a gently soothing noise. Her speech was tipping into mania, the fervency I had once associated with her childhood prophecies. “It’s all right.” No seer needed to tell me why Casilio would disturb her like this. “I’ll find somewhere we can go. You don’t have to explain.”

She paused, took a deep breath, and nodded vigorous with appreciation. “Thank you.”

Leo clasped his arms over his chest, giving the impression of restraining another rebuttal. “I don’t like it, but I’ve learned not to argue with you about the future. I want you to come back to me if you need anything, understand? There are dozens of hidey-holes I can arrange. If I find out some new apocalypse is descending on our heads and you left me to sit on my thumbs, we’re talking parsnips. Got it?”

Uh, parsnips? Neither of them explained; Violetta said farewell with a hug and a kiss on the temple, and led me down the street.

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