“The name is Moxie, you arrogant ass, and I’m going to show you what good girls can do!” she said and threw herself into him, sending them both crashing through the window. The glass shattered, and the pair tumbled through the air, racing toward the ground.
Maxine watched him scramble out of the room, smiling placidly, then spoke in a slow southern drawl, “Gerard, darlin’, you simply must learn to mind your manners. When a lady says no, she means no. I could do with a nice cup of tea, however.”
“I want my wife back, Moxie. I want her back. She left me when she thought I’d died. In thousands of years, the things I’ve done, she always stayed. The one thing I never did was die.”
“Be careful with that powder,” Than murmured as he continued to study the substance. “Something about this…” He stopped talking as the sandy dust lifted from his fingers and spiraled upwards towards the watch.
For those few brief moments, as we walked and talked, everything seemed right with the world.
Maybe I couldn’t get through that door, but I knew who could. Leaning down, I kissed his cheek, “We’re bringing you home, Z.”
I smiled indulgently and wandered over to the table to gather a dozen candies for him. Wrapping them in a small parcel of soft cloth, I secured it with the last remnant of the red ribbon and presented the token to him.
“So, this is what it is like to die,” I thought, as numbness and cold seeped into her body, overtaking the excruciating pain that throbbed there only moments before.
“To the woods, my love, go now!” Spiros yelled out as he struck the beast on the head with his torch. The creature screeched in pain and anger as the flame lit its flesh.
It was as if he didn’t quite recognize her or had seen her for the very first time. He drew me to him and kissed me, first tenderly. Then he kissed deeper, passionately.
I followed and watched over them, and her grandchildren, and even her great grandchildren, as they lived, loved, mated and died. How could I be too young?
As the days grow shorter and the nights longer, we creep closer to Samhain and the veil between worlds grows ever slimmer. That means many of those in Hades’ care will be visiting soon.
“You were screaming about…” she stopped to gauge my reaction, “about Nightgoyles, Moo.”
I had to stifle my delight every time the angry sky spit out a rush of hailstones that pelted him mercilessly. It was about time that he got a taste of his own medicine.
She wondered where she was. Who was that guy leaning out of the window? Why did her hip burn? Why was there a bird in her hair? Where was her coffee?
