What Crawls Below

16 § All Good Things

Cyrus hadn't left his room for more than a few moments at a time in days. He couldn't stop replaying the last time he'd seen Tuesday in his mind, forcing himself to relive the moment over and over.

He hadn't realized how much it would hurt her. To Cyrus, it was just a simple fact: if he had caved to his baser instincts one of those first times reconnecting with her, his life would never have gone so far off the rails.

Raziel had quickly gotten sick of the long self-pitying session and for the most part left Cyrus to his own devices. Nevaeh had seemed a bit more sympathetic; when Cyrus braved the kitchen for just a few seconds to get a drink of water, she'd stopped him, smiled, and said, "Blue isn't your color. Cheer up, who knows--things may change for the better very soon."

He had a very hard time believing that.

Evening had come, darkening the sky outside his window at which he sat for most of the day, when he heard a sudden thud from the other room. Cyrus crept out, peering around the corner tentatively--

--and saw Tuesday and Raziel.

Cyrus's chest tightened, a strange mixture of shock, confusion and relief coming over him. He stayed out of view for a moment, watching Tuesday rise shakily from the ground. She wobbled for a second before careening to the side, catching herself on the counter and placing another hand to her head.

"Put your head between your knees, you'll be fine," Raziel was grumbling.

With a low groan she slipped back to the floor and obeyed, rocking herself gently.

Raziel caught Cyrus's eye and beckoned him forward with annoyance in his eyes. "Right, yes, why don't you come talk some sense into her?"

Tuesday visibly stiffened but did not look up at Cyrus's approach.

"Your on-again off-again psycho girlfriend has resorted to totally ignoring her already dysfunctional moral compass," Raziel continued. "You know what she asked me to do?"

He paused for effect, and Cyrus had to bite back the string of curses that rose to his tongue. If there were any worse of a time to have to deal with the demon's unfortunate personality, it was now.

"She wanted to become like me," Raziel continued with a humorless laugh and his tone grew colder with each word. "And when I explained as politely as possible that isn't how it works--she decided becoming a reaper was the next best thing."

Feeling like the floor had dropped right out from under him, Cyrus glanced back to Tuesday, who had still not moved from her huddle on the floor. It was so far out of left field Cyrus couldn't make sense of the information--and then he remembered the dreams that had been plaguing him since the night on the beach.

Something had changed then. Something he himself had put in motion the second he decided to live.

Obsessing over the black-eyed girl from his nightmares, Cyrus turned to Raziel, a thousand things he wanted to shout grappling for his attention.

''Relax! I would never damn a child," Raziel said sourly. "Like I said, you need to talk some sense into her, stat."

At some point Cyrus hadn't noticed, Nevaeh had silently entered the room, spectating the scene with crossed arms. He noticed her when Raziel's eyes trailed from him to the hall behind him. Nevaeh glanced at Cyrus and said in a voice as sharp as he'd ever heard it, "Why don't you go to your room? The adults need to have a talk." Her eyes slid back to Raziel, who squinted at her with confusion evident in his own.

A shudder wracked Cyrus's body. Attempting to hide his sudden wariness, he hurried over to Tuesday. Ignoring the way she flinched at his touch, he grabbed her arm and lifted her to her feet, tugging her down the hall.