CHAPTER 83

"What happened, how did you win?"

Cecilia looked at Lily, then laughed. "One of the Shadow People broke Death's teacup. It was apparently one of his favorites."

"Shadow People aren't souls or spirits like you know them. His scythe didn't send them to the Underworld, it actually carved through them." Lily winced. "I'm fairly certain that he sent them to the Void. Utter oblivion."

"And they deserved it!" Death stormed in through the door, his eyes blazing. He still carried his scythe, which gleamed with its own supernatural aura.

"Sorry about your mug," Beth offered.

"Indeed." Death frowned. "I regret to inform you that the kitty from my mug is no longer hanging on. Though it was an old mug, I doubt that cat is even alive anymore." He turned his attention to the tub and let out a gasp. "I was unaware we had company! Where are my manners, I must look a fright!"

He tapped the butt of his scythe on the ground, then folded it into his robes. Beth watched him as he walked past her and sat on the edge of the tub.

"I am the Grim Reaper," he said, extending a bony hand. "Though you may call me Death. You look familiar, but I don't think we've ever met."

A translucent hand the color of emeralds appeared and shook Death's hand. The figure in the tub sat up, revealing hair that literally flowed around a feminine body. At first, Beth thought she was looking at Naia in her water form, but there were too many differences.

For one, the being wasn't made of water. It was a viscous fluid that rippled with every movement and made a sloshing sound. It was also feminine, and when it turned to face Beth, she gasped.

The mysterious creature in the tub looked almost exactly like her.

"What...how..." Beth sputtered for a few more seconds, then grabbed her face to make sure it hadn't, in fact, been stolen. Why did this thing look like her? It clicked that she was looking at the ooze that she had dumped in the tub, but it was a different color now and had taken on a human form. Her form.

The ooze turned toward Beth and moved its hands. Beth immediately recognized the movements as American Sign Language.

I'm just as surprised as you are, replied the ooze.

Mike had promised Dana twenty minutes, but it was a couple of hours before he and Velvet climbed out of the hot springs. His legs were weak beneath him, but he eventually got his footing and dried off with some towels that Velvet pulled from a nearby hut. She explained that her father had built it.

Once they were dry and properly attired, Velvet led him back up to the top of the ridge. They walked largely in silence. Velvet seemed to be deep in thought, and Mike's attempts to start a conversation yielded very little. The only talking he heard was the spiders around them that chattered incessantly to themselves.

Undeterred, he took Velvet by the hand. A thick bloom of red crossed her cheeks, and she smiled dreamily as they walked the rest of the way back.

What had happened to the two of them back there, Mike wondered. The intense feelings of longing had diminished, but it had almost felt like his magic had activated early. It wasn't something he could explain, as he was still writing the user manual on his own magic. Even now, the intense attraction he had originally felt for Velvet lingered.

Was it infatuation? A crush of sorts? It was unusual to contemplate feeling romantically inclined when he was surrounded by so many different women that he had sex with. Somehow, Velvet was amplifying those feelings of attraction to the point that he was already placing her above the others in his heart. He was already picturing those sweet moments of bliss with her in the spring, though the memories were so fresh.

It troubled him. He loved each of the women for different reasons, and the idea that he would suddenly like one above the others didn't sit well at all. What if Velvet wanted to be exclusive? Could he even say no?

These thoughts swirled through his head, and all he would ever remember from that walk would be the feel of her hand in his and the way the light bent through her auburn locks, giving her a halo.

Once the cabin was in sight, he knew that something was wrong. Dana was lying outside the cabin in her underwear while Yuki and Quetzalli stood by in concern.

"Dana?" He let go of Velvet's hand and ran the rest of the way.

"Stay back!" Yuki cast a small wall of ice between them. Mike slid to a stop, his hands on top of the ice.

"What's wrong?" He looked down at Dana, who was groaning and holding her stomach.

"We're not sure," Yuki replied. "But she may bite you."

"Bite me?" Mike looked over at Dana. Quetzalli was using a shovel to cover the zombie's limbs in snow. "What happened?"

"Bad...reaction." Dana looked up at Mike and coughed. "After eating my meal, I briefly..." Her eyes widened and she snarled, then lifted her hands. Shackles made of ice shattered, but were grabbed by more.

"It's the poison in her system." Quetzalli used the shovel to pin Dana down. "She came to life, we made out a bit, but then she freaked out and went to the fridge..."

"She ate her entire supply." Yuki looked up at Mike. "Your sperm is triggering her cells to live, and the poison is killing them off, making her even hungrier than before. I'm hoping that if I drop her body temperature, it will slow the poison down enough that she stabilizes. The poison doesn't seem to break down with time, which is a problem."

"So she's stuck like this?" Mike frowned.