When we entered the kitchen, Ian wasn’t there. The room smelled heavenly, and two plates piled high with food sat on the counter. My stomach growled louder, making my cheeks pink.
“Where’s Ian?” I asked curiously, as Rose walked over to the counter and took the same seat she had occupied when we first met.
“He’ll be back soon, he’s just surveying the area for what I need to work on tomorrow.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, confused, as I walked over to sit down next to her.
My plate was loaded with shrimp, steak, mashed rustic red potatoes, asparagus, and mushrooms with sautéed onions. It was my first real meal in a while; I hoped I could finish enough of it to not be rude.
I attacked the steak first, cutting it into small pieces on my plate. It was a perfect medium rare. I liked mine closer to medium, but I wasn't going to complain.
“Well, I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that there’s a spell making this place exist?” Rose asked before popping a piece of broccoli from her plate into her mouth.
I nodded as I finished cutting my steak. “Yeah, that much was obvious. This place has magic all over, and Ian mentioned it being easier to train someone here.”
Rose cocked her head to the side to look at me as she chewed delicately.
“Since we draw energy for magic from the earth, it would make sense that someone would draw it from this place,” I continued, arranging the morsels of steak on my plate.
“But if you guys are the ones maintaining the spell, then you would be able to direct or cut off the flow of magic. It’s actually a great tactic for trapping enemies too,” I finished.
“Yes, but keeping the spell up takes work. I have a natural affinity with paint. It happens sometimes, where a witch can specialize in—”
“I’m well aware. I’m a clairvoyant, remember? I can try to do all the stuff others do, but I’m not great at it,” I said, before finally taking a bite of food.
“It’s more than that. Sometimes, it’s like a calling, like how some specialize in water or rocks or something like that.”
My mouth was full, so I nodded, following what she was saying.
“My specialty has always been paint. I can manipulate it in ways others can’t. I’m alright at most things, but there’s a sort of magic to paint for me that others can’t comprehend.”
Upon swallowing my mouthful, I immediately shoved a big bite of potatoes into my mouth, shifting it into my cheek for a moment so I could speak. “So, this place really is made of paint and magic?”
“Yes,” she replied, pushing her food around a bit. “But I have to maintain it, so Ian is looking for faded areas.”
“Faded areas…like some of the rooms we passed?”
“Yeah, I have to revitalize everything with magic or eventually, the paint will fade and chip away into nothing. It takes time, but I never bothered to fix those rooms since they’re not used anymore.”
I heard her sigh deeply, but quietly.
“That, and the longer we’re here, the harder it becomes to—”
“Are you dying?” I asked bluntly, putting down my fork. I had to know what was going on with them. With her.
Rose was silent for a moment, still pushing around her food before she let out a loud, giant sigh.
“I was. For the last year, I have hardly been out of bed. To be perfectly honest, I know why you’re here. What you’re looking for. It’s simply not possible, though.”
I furrowed my brow, looking at her carefully as I speared some more food on my fork. I turned my whole body to look at her, pushing my plate toward hers.
I didn’t like to beat around the bush, and she sounded like she was attempting to.
“What do you mean it’s not possible?”
“I can’t live without Ian, and Ian can never leave this place. He’s physically incapable. Even though my life has extended a little just by your presence, I’m going to ask that you leave…”
She was staring down at her plate, her silver blond hair blocking her face. She couldn’t even look at me.
I stared at her and then felt a mixture of shame and rejection wash over me. She knew. She had known it the moment we first locked eyes and I was still trying to figure it out.
And she was rejecting me. My salvation, my chance to live was rejecting me…
For some reason, I think being rejected by her hurt worse than the impending doom of death.
I had smiled and joked with her. The few brief moments we had had together already had me feeling more like myself than I had in days. The depression that had taken hold of me because of knowing about my death didn’t seem as grim.
But here she was rejecting me, not meeting my eye; refusing to leave Ian.
The fact that she wasn’t willing to face me when she said it was what cut me to the core. I stared at her, willing her to meet my eyes, but she wouldn’t. She kept her head bowed for several moments.
“I never said you had to leave Ian,” I replied, moving my food around my plate, still turned toward her but looking down at my food now. My appetite had vanished. “To be perfectly honest, I only have a few days left to live.”
“I know and I can't help you… I know what it is, I saw it when I was younger, what they used to do to clairvoyants. It spreads faster with a younger vampire. It’s…” Her voice wobbled, fading here and there.
It sounded as if she were about to cry tears of frustration. Well, I was frustrated too.
“Terrifying. Yeah, I’ve gathered that. It’s painful,” I replied, hopping off the stool and wiping my mouth with the napkin that had held my cutlery before throwing it on my plate.
“I’m not here to break up you and Ian. I’m not here to beg you to save my life and have sex with you. I’ve never even done anything like that in my entire life. I don’t even know if I’m into girls despite fate throwing me at you.”
Rose still didn’t meet my eye. Most of her face was obscured by the curtain of her hair.
I continued adamantly, “I was looking for a chance to live and if this place is killing you, then maybe if we coupled even once—”
“I can't,” she stammered as she leaned down more, her frame shaking.
I didn't want to comfort her, she was choosing death. Now I saw this for what it was; she had wanted us to be alone without letting Ian know who I was. To speak with me one on one.
I wasn’t surprised she chose him over me, but I was upset she’d assume I was here to break them up.
Couldn’t we just do the deed and go separate ways? Extend our lives, reap the benefits... Being fated didn’t mean we had to spend eternity with one another, as a couple.
Then I remembered that vision I’d had. She said he couldn’t leave. I didn’t know why, but it was probably for the same reason he wasn’t allowed to enter the library. Was it guilt or love that kept them tied together?
“It’s fine if you don’t want to be with me in any way. I’m going to stay until I die, though, since I don’t have much time left. That’s not up for negotiation.”
Rose made a strangled noise, as though she was trying to hold back words.
“The least you can let me do is die with dignity and give you some more time with your husband,” I said coldly to her back.
Her body was shaking now; she was crying, sobbing as I stared at her.
The front door shut; neither of us moved even as footsteps began to approach the kitchen. “All right, dearest, I’m all done with the surveying. Who’s up for some chocolate—” Ian’s cheery tone faded the moment he saw us.
“What's going on?” he asked, confused, blinking a few times.
“There’s no cure for me. Rose just let me know,” I told him, tucking a stray bit of hair behind my ear. “I guess I should be the one crying... but I had already come to terms with it before I arrived.”
My voice sounded hollow and Rose simply kept her head bowed as Ian looked at us both carefully.
“Rose?”
She nodded, sniffling. “I-it’s true... there’s n-no cure.”
I nodded, crossing my arms. She was hiding it.
Despite Rose rejecting me, I wasn’t about to destroy their marriage. That had never been my intention.
“Ian, can you show me where to sleep? I’m going to live out my last few days here. If I’m going to die somewhere, it might as well be somewhere with a beautiful view.”
“Of course... I think we have a spare room overlooking the pond,” he said, a frown on his face as he looked at his wife with concern.
“Sounds great. Lead the way,” I said, walking toward the doorway. I didn’t look back at Rose; I couldn’t.
