JENNIE

Another glance back at the staircase, and I frowned. No way it should've taken that long. Manoban was too much of a neat freak to have to rummage through a car for ten minutes. Or maybe it just felt like ten. Either way, I wasn't sitting around any longer.

I tied my boots, after having stuffed my bloody foot into my white sock, and hobbled my way back up the staircase. It mostly just stung, anyway. Not like I needed surgery on the thing.

When I reached the top of the stairs, I nearly fell backward on seeing Lisa next to her car.

Her body twitched and convulsed, and ignoring my foot, I darted toward her. A sharp sting streaked through my knees as I skidded across to her.

"Lisa! Lisa!" Like last time, I turned her on her side and looked around for something to place under her head.

Jumping to my feet, I noticed her coat lying in the backseat, and I snatched it up. As I attempted to crumple it, I felt a hard object inside, and rummaged through the pocket.

A syringe filled with the purple substance.

Breaths heaving, I stared at it in my hands and looked at her, unconscious and seizing.

I could've called emergency, but they might not have gotten there in time.

"Fuck!" I took hold of her trembling arm, studying the map of veins sticking up. "Fucking drug addicts do this shit, Jennie. Just give it to her!"

Using the sleeve of her coat, I tied the fabric around her arm like a pathetic tourniquet. An emergency kit lay scattered over the passenger seat, and I rifled through it for an alcohol swab. With trembling hands, I swallowed back the thought that I was too late. That she'd been seizing too long. That her heart may have long since clocked out.

Panic goaded me as I tore open the alcohol packet and scrubbed it over a vein in her forearm. Breathing hard through my nose, I popped the cap of the syringe and lined the needle to her pulsing vessel, the tip of it bouncing with both of our shaking. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Please.

Through a mist of tears, I pushed the needle, praying I hit the spot, and dispensed the fluid into her arm, as I'd watched her do that night in her office. Seconds ticked by, her body still wracked with tremors.

"C'mon, Lisa, please. Please!" I ran my hand over her damp hairline and choked back a sob. "You can't leave. I won't let you. You hear me? I won't let you fucking die. You are my most important thing, and I swear, if you don't come out of this, I will fucking hunt you down in the afterlife." More seconds. "Wake up, Lisa!" I scrambled for my phone, tucked inside my bag that I'd left in the car, but by the time I returned to her side, she'd stopped shaking.

A cold hollow expanded inside my chest as I stared down at her lying so still on the ground. No. "Lisa, wake up. Please."

She didn't move. Her chest didn't move. Eyes didn't flutter. There was nothing but a sickening stillness that tore at my ribs.

Dread stirred in my gut. It slithered up into my chest and wrapped its cold fingers around my heart, squeezing until I couldn't breathe. I shook my head, falling beside her once more. "No. No!" I punched her chest.

Her lips parted for a loud gasp of breath. Another gasp. And another. Eyes still closed, she rolled her head to the side, and on a terrified wheeze of relief, I zeroed in on her chest, clocking each rise and fall that told me she was breathing. It was then I noticed the sweat sticking to her face and neck.

With the inner part of my wrist, I felt her forehead and cheek. "Oh, God, you're burning up."

I needed to get her somewhere I could administer some water and something to bring down her fever. My dorm certainly wasn't an option, and I'd never been to her staff apartment on campus. The hospital maybe, but what if they did a blood test and found the toxin? Could she have gotten in trouble for that?

She let out a quiet grunt, but when I lifted her eyelid, her eyes remained staring, pupils constricted. Unconscious.

I shoved my arms under her armpits and lifted her upper half. She was so bulky and heavy, I could hardly manage, but after a few deep breaths, I strained my muscles and turned her just enough to pull her into the backseat of her car. Awkwardly fumbling to heft her onto the seat, I heaved out of breath with the toil, and shifted her legs over the seat to close her in.

It'd been a few years since I'd driven a car, and as I slid into the driver's seat, anxiety coiled itself around my nerves. I fired up the engine and drove back toward Emberwick, which we'd passed on the way. In the backseat, Lisa groaned and grunted, and when I peeked in the rearview, I caught the shine of sweat thick on her body. Minutes later, I finally reached the downtown area and pulled into a spot in front of the apothecary I'd visited weeks back. Leaving her in the car with the windows cracked, I jumped out and dashed into the shop, where the older woman who'd helped me before greeted me with a smile.

The smile faded as she seemed to catch on that something was wrong.

"I need help! My … my … professor. She's got a fever. She's burning up pretty bad."

"Oh, my!" She shuffled around the shop, grabbing various things from the shelves. My mind was so wired and wound around Lisa's condition, I didn't even notice what she'd grabbed. The two of us dashed out into the parking lot, and she opened the door, sliding into the narrow space between her and the front seats.

"Oh, she is very warm. Very warm."

I waited outside the car, pacing, biting my nails. I'd always put a lot of faith into holistic medicine, but what if it didn't work? What if the toxins screwed with the healing properties of the herbs?

She dragged a cool cloth over her brow and left it there, before crawling her way back out of the vehicle. "I'm going to make her some iced black rock tea. It sometimes helped bring my son's fever down. Just cool her with the cloth. I'll be right back."

With a tearful nod, I slid between the seats, as she had, noticing that she'd unbuttoned her shirt and rested her head on her crumpled coat. It took me back to the day in her office, when she'd yelled at me for using it. The thought somehow managed to break through my fear, and I chuckled.

"If you don't come out of this, I'm burning all of your expensive coats."

"You're not … burning … my coats," she mumbled, and a wheeze of elation shook my muscles.

"Lisa? Open your eyes. I need to see that you're okay."

She squinted and grimaced, as she shifted on the seat, but she opened her lids to show those beautiful, fiery eyes. Though her pupils were blown, she seemed to have awareness. Lucidity.

I brushed the hair from her damp forehead and shuddered out a panicked breath. "You scared the shit out of me. What the hell happened back there?"

"The … toxin … stopped working."

Disappointment loomed like a dark cloud between us. "Why? I thought you figured out how to make it sustainable?"

"I … was wrong."

"I administered the dose in your coat. Are you mad?"

"Mad … that you … saved my life?"

A frustrated chuckle escaped me. I didn't want to laugh, damn it. That whole scenario still had me shaking.

"Here," the woman said, as she passed me a tall glass of black liquid whose surface sparkled as if there were diamonds in it. "Have her drink some of this."

"What is it?" Lisa asked, her voice delirious.

"It doesn't matter. You're drinking it whether you like it, or not. I saved your life, therefore you have to listen to what I tell you."

"Fuck. You're going to … hold this over me. Aren't you?"

"For as long as necessary. Now, drink." Steadying her arm, I helped her as much as I could, as she scooted herself to a sitting position.

She frowned, as if still in pain, and the sweat still clung to her chest and neck. With an unamused expression, she took the drink from me and sipped it. With a slight raise of her glass, she nodded at the woman. "Thank you."

"I'll be back to check on you in a minute, okay?"

"Oh! What's your name?" I asked, before she walked off.

"Francesca."

The sound of that name rippled across my heart, and I wondered if she'd been the one to inspire my mother's alias. "I'm Jennie. Thank you."

With a wink, she hustled into the store, and I turned back to Professor Manoban.

"So, what … you can't feel anymore? Is that why you've avoided touching me today?"

Brows lowered, she stared down at her drink. "Perhaps the most vindictive torment was having a brief moment of knowing what you felt like."

"So, what does this mean?"

"Back to the drawing board." On a sigh, she took another sip, longer than the last, and handed me the glass. "Not a fan of tea. Not even your disturbing gothic variety."

Through an uneasy smile, I accepted the glass and stared down at the sparkling fluids. "It's black rock. And it's apparently very hard to come by, so I'm not letting this go to waste." I chugged the rest of it, which wasn't a whole lot, and wiped my mouth on the back of my hand. Another failure meant that she was at risk again. That she might've died in my arms back at that cove. I didn't even want to think about what might've happened back there. "I think it's pretty good, actually." Pushing away those somber thoughts, because goddamn it, she'd be fine, I smiled. "How does it feel to know I just swallowed your spit?" I asked and forced a chuckle, desperate for distraction.

"You've swallowed worse." She groaned and pushed herself forward, toward the passenger door. "Let's get out of here before she brings more of that shit."

"Be nice. She's the reason you're not having a febrile seizure right now."

"The toxin is the reason. But I suspect this dose won't last more than a couple days. The seizures will get worse. So, I should get back to the lab."

I scrambled out of the backseat, allowing her to stand up alongside the car, and when she did, she tottered to the side a step. "Maybe I should drive?"

"Maybe not. I just need a minute."

"I'm going to thank Francesca again and let her know you're okay. You're sure you're okay to drive?"

"I'm fine."

"Okay, be right back." I jogged back into the shop, where Francesca greeted me with a smile, and as I handed off the empty glass, she held up a bag for me. "A bit more black rock tea."

"Oh, no. I can't. You've given me so much already."

"Please. In case her fever returns." As she handed it off to me, she clutched my hand in hers. "She's a Manoban."

"Yes." I hesitated to admit it, though, already suspicious of her opinions.

"They've lived on this island a number of years. Just be careful, dear."

I offered a smile, in spite of the urge to tell her that what she'd heard about Lisa was nothing but gossip. "I will."

"Take care."

When I exited the store, Manoban was already in the driver's seat, the car revving as she teased me to hurry up. I slid into the passenger side, and she took off back toward the university.

"I have to leave on business for a couple of days," she said, glancing over at me.

"Oh. Okay." Man, today turned out to be a roller coaster, what with Gibson's visit and what'd happened at the beach. Now the disappointment of her leaving.

"Have you registered for next semester?"

I'd gotten the email from Lamore, but hadn't taken the time to do that yet. "No, not yet. I will."

"Good. I'm going to pre-approve you for the second semester neuroparasitology. And my gross anatomy lab."

"I thought that was reserved for med students," I countered.

"It is. But I'm the professor. I can add whoever the hell I want, if I think they're smart enough to keep up. So, make sure to add that one."

A smile teased my lips. "What if I don't want to take it?"

"You'll take it whether you want it, or not." She gripped my thigh and quickly recoiled, jerking the car with her movement. Frowning, she held up her hand, twisting it around as if it were something foreign in front of her.

"What's wrong?"

"My sense of feeling's returned."

I glanced at her hand and back. "That's fantastic."

"That's impossible." She pulled the car over, off the main road, and down some obscure little side street. As the car skidded to a stop, she depressed the lighter. When it popped, she held the heated end of it near her skin, and her frown deepened. "It's reversed."

"The toxin is working, then?"

"I don't think so." She flexed her hand and curled it into a fist. "I was still numb after the injection."

Puzzled, I shook my head. "Then, how?"

"What did she give me back at the apothecary?"

"I didn't see everything, just kali phos, I think. And elderflower. And the tea, of course." I tugged the small satchel she'd gifted from my bag and handed it to her.

She snatched it out of my hands and held it up to the light, where the sparkling surface glinted through the bag. "Jennie … this might be what's been missing. This might be what can sustain the toxin."

"I mean … it would make sense, right? The birds that don't get infected. The … the … the … natives who used the black stones as teeth." I gestured toward my own, noticing the tremble from excitement running through me.

"I have to test it. To make sure it doesn't degrade the toxin, at all. But you might've just figured out a brilliant complement."

"Well, technically, I didn't–" Before I could finish, she dragged my face to her, crushing my lips with a kiss.

"Get over here," she said, pushing the seat back to a lying position. "Get the fuck over here." The rough and needy tone of her voice mirrored the need pulsing through me. After the stress of earlier, I'd had a rush of pure adrenaline pumping through me. The prospect of burning it off enticed me enough to move without thinking too much about how the hell we were going to do so in her car.

I climbed over the console and straddled her knees in the cramped seat, the steering wheel pressed against my back, as she hustled to unbuckle her pants.

With hasty hands, she sprang herself free and hiked up my dress. "The condom," she said, staring up at me. The dangerous turbulence in her eyes sent my heart in a frenzy. she looked at me as though she were fantasizing her baby in me, then quickly blinked out of it.

Groaning, she lifted her hips just enough to nudge me upward. She stuffed her hands down into her shrugged pants pocket, and after tearing it out of the package, she smoothed the condom over her jutting shaft.

I only just pulled my panties aside, before she took hold of my hips and brought me down over her groin. Already wet, I sank onto her with ease, biting my lower lip as her cock filled and stretched me.

"Fuuuuck!" she tipped her head back, eyes lost to ecstasy.

Hand to my nape, she dragged me in for a kiss and pressed our foreheads together.

My hand shot out against the window, fingers scratching at the glass, desperate to clutch something. To tear and scratch and claw. My hands longed to destroy, the way she destroyed me from the inside, turning me ravenous and greedy for her.

"You're the fever in my veins," she said through clenched teeth, as she drove into me with furious determination. "An incurable madness I can't shake. Fucking you is the only thing that keeps me sane, Jennie." She fused our lips together, stealing my breath, and when she broke away, her hand moved to my throat, squeezing just enough to part my lips and trap the next breath. A dizzying euphoria swept over me, and my body jostled as she tore the bust of my dress down, exposing my breasts so they bounced and jiggled with every decimating thrust. "This pussy is all I think about. All I crave. You've infected every part of me, and I can't stop. I can't stop this obsession."

The lack of air, her words, and the feel of her cock filling me had my head in chaos, my body in a state of paralysis. She squeezed tighter and a mewling sound spilled from my lips.

"No. No quiet sounds from you. I want to hear you fucking scream. You're in the throes of fire now, Little Moth. Show me how much it burns." She loosened her hold just enough that I let out a hoarse and throaty moan.

I gripped the seat behind her and rode her hard, relishing the pained look of ecstasy on her face when she tipped her head back, jaw tight, veins popping from her neck.

"Ahhh, fuck!" Her fingers dug into my hips, as I upped the pace, the wet sounds a testament to how hot she made me.

"I want to feel you come all over my cock." She rasped.

The car jerked and bounced with her aggressive thrusts.

My moans escalated as a hot, coiling pleasure surged through me.

I clenched my eyes, but opened them at a grip of my nape.

"Eyes on me. I want to watch you come."

A bolt of lightning struck my muscles, pulling them to a wire of tension, and her name reverberated inside my skull as I screamed it over and over.

She crushed her lips against mine and bit my lower lip as she pulled away. "You are a merciless vision of perfection."

Her hips shifted below, urging me up, and she lifted the hem of my dress as she pulled out of me and slid off the condom, tossing it into a trash receptacle beside her. While I settled back on her thighs, she continued to thrash her cock, and seconds later, hot jets painted my thighs, as she directed her release across my flesh.

With her lip caught between her teeth, brows pulled tight, neck shimmering with the sweat of her rough and overworked body, she grunted, watching herself come all over me. As if she was marking me. Making me as her.

The sight of it made my womb clench.

She pulled me on top of her, holding me there, and I rested my head against her marble chest, hearing her heart beat a wild cadence. Such a beautiful sound after what had happened earlier. "We probably shouldn't have done this here. Out in the open."

I smiled, my cheek still pressed to her warm skin. Although I hadn't seen another car, or house, in sight when she'd pulled off, she was probably right. We needed to be more careful, though admittedly, that had been part of the thrill for me. My hair lay plastered to my damp skin, the windows fogged with our intense fucking. "Lisa," I said breathlessly, every muscle spent and liquefied. "I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"This is beginning to feel like more than just sex for me."

"So, why does this scare you?"

"Because I can't see past the void, and it feels like this is when things fall apart." The sting in my eyes was an irritating nuisance. I didn't want to cry in front of her. Not after this. My emotions felt like livewires bouncing on hot sparks. "If you ditch me now, if you cast me aside–"

"Hey." Fingers tangled into a tight grip at my crown, and she pulled my head back, staring down at me. "You don't have to be scared. I will never hurt you, Jennie. In fact, I'll rain hell on anyone who ever hurts you again."

I loved her. Every cell, every fiber of my being couldn't hide that truth. Even if I wasn't bold enough to say it or brave enough to risk the universe stealing it away from me, the words were as real as my fears.

The words I kept secret like all my other trinkets–safely tucked away.