With her heart still pounding so hard it felt like it might burst from her chest at any moment, Lucía took a slow, measured breath as she surveyed the devastation around her. Tools flung across the room in a storm of fury. Cracks in the floor, climbing like vines toward the place where the salt circle once stood. Shards of glass litter the floor, the result of lightbulbs bursting like fireworks. It looked as if a particularly morgue-hating hurricane had just blown through.
Lucía tried to still the blood boiling in her veins, the adrenaline still driving her instincts and impulses, while she ran through everything that had just happened during those brief but harrowing moments. She failed at calming herself, but at least there were several clues to take note of, things that would simplify the work ahead.
A soft, shallow, exhausted breath reminded Lucía that simplicity was never something life gave her freely. The source of that warm but fragile breath was a redhead now resting in Lucía's arms, something she had been trying very hard to ignore.
The reason was simple: Katherine was precisely why Lucía couldn't calm down at all. The warmth of her skin against hers. The faint tickle of those red curls resting in the hollow of her neck. The way the redhead's small frame molded into her own.
Lack of self-control had always been Lucía's cross to bear, her greatest weakness and shame. No matter the source, the inability to resist certain impulses, instincts, and desires was something she battled more often than she liked to admit. Now, once again, she found herself fighting them.
The beast inside her had felt cornered for a moment, triggering wild survival instincts. Now she was safe. But the adrenaline remained, and when the fear of death faded into relief, that adrenaline fed a different craving, ot to survive, but to continue. To live.
Lucía's focus narrowed entirely on the girl in her arms. Long, fine lashes hid those spring-green eyes she liked so much. A small face dotted with pretty freckles. Soft, reddish lips like strawberries begging to be bitten. All framed by exquisite red curls. Add to that a petite but well-shaped figure, Kand atherine looked tailor-made for her. And Lucía hated how that made her feel.
She almost laughed at how perfectly the desires within her had found their ideal outlet. God knew how badly she wanted her at that moment. The way Katherine looked, so vulnerable, only awakened something more primal. Her scent, mixed with the strawberry perfume of her shampoo, did nothing to help quell the desire burning in her blood.
"I bet stealing a kiss wouldn't hurt… and it would feel like heaven."
The words escaped her lips before she noticed, her eyes locked in a trance on Katherine's reddish mouth. Her gaze glowed like two amber stones catching sunlight.
A hand reached up to gently stroke Katherine's unconscious cheek, so soft it might seem Lucía was afraid of breaking her. Yet the tension in her wrist, the dark veins bulging from her hand, revealed just how much strength it took to hold herself back.
In the end, Lucía was weak. Once again, she wasn't strong enough to cage the beast within. Her heart pounded so violently it felt as if it would erupt from her chest. Sweat covered her brow. Her jaw clenched. She was losing control.
But discipline, and her awareness of her weakness, had always been her lifeline in moments like this. Without even realizing it, her left hand found the small bottle of blue pills in her pocket.
Lucía only became fully conscious of her choice when that familiar burn coursed down her throat. Then came the pain, like acid rushing through her veins, followed by a crushing weakness that stripped every ounce of strength from her body.
It was like drinking poison to quench your thirst… no, it wasn't like that. It was that. But Lucía preferred it to the alternative. Of course, that did little to comfort the girl now lying on the cold morgue floor with the girl of her dreams cradled in her arms. Not only did she have to endure the touch of the redhead in complete silence, doing absolutely nothing about it, but now the other girl actually felt a bit heavy against her.
Her one saving grace was that the weakness was temporary. It took only a couple of minutes for her to recover more than half her usual energy, enough to carry a certain small redhead, though not nearly enough to consider fixing the disaster zone the morgue had become.
"Let the janitor handle it."
Those were Lucía's words as she stepped out of the building, piggybacking the redhead. She had briefly considered carrying Katherine bridal-style, but even she wasn't bold enough to parade like that through the middle of town. She'd already had enough embarrassment for one day after the first time she tried picking up the other girl, a move that ended with her own face slammed against the morgue's filthy floor.
"Next stop… my room."
Lucía muttered it more to herself than anyone else. But glancing at the still-unconscious Katherine on her back, and feeling temptation stir again at how adorable she looked, she changed her mind.
"Better take her home and avoid becoming a criminal."
The walk to the church where Katherine lived was uncomfortable.
Because the funeral home wasn't too far from the inn where she was staying, Lucía had walked there instead of riding her motorcycle, a decision that forced her to carry Katherine on her back across town to the church.
In any other small town, seeing a stranger carrying an unconscious local girl would have triggered all kinds of alarms. There'd have been no escaping questions or intervention. In fact, that's exactly what should have happened in Hertford too.
But Lucía received only strange looks, nd a kind of indifference she wasn't used to.
Being able to walk freely without concern was convenient, sure… but Lucía felt no relief from it. What she felt was anger.
She knew that the indifference was because of Katherine.
Most people in town saw her as some unstable girl they'd rather avoid, but this was too much.
With attitudes like that, Katherine could end up genuinely hurt or entangled with dangerous people, and no one would lift a finger to help her. Lucía knew it wasn't her place, and that her emotions weren't exactly unbiased, but she was furious with the townsfolk.
Lucía knew her time in Hertford would be short. Eventually, she'd leave, and all contact with Katherine would end, just as it should.
And to some extent, she wanted that. The redhead was far too great a temptation.
But knowing that did nothing to quiet the growing need in her heart to protect the girl resting on her back.
Don't get attached. Don't get involved. You'll only cause more harm than good. Any hope of romance, passion, or a relationship is just an illusion, and you know that.
Lucía had to repeat those words to herself every time she grew close to someone during a job.
It wasn't just the job or her constant need to travel that stood in the way. It was her nature. She knew that, and it still hurt every time.
Those thoughts kept circling in her mind, again and again, along with everything she had learned throughout the day.
And by the time she reached the church steps, Lucía had made up her mind.
"My work here will probably end soon… and I'll leave after the funeral.
Sorry for breaking your rules, Luke. I hope you won't blame me for enjoying this friendship just a little. I've felt really alone since you left."
There, standing in front of that stone building, heavy with history and faith, a place for prayers and confessions, Lucía let her bravado fall.
The smile she wore like an accessory was gone.
All that confidence she radiated so effortlessly had vanished.
She allowed herself, for just a brief moment, to feel her grief. Her loneliness. Her helplessness.
She would try to make the most of her time in Hertford and fill it with as many memories of Katherine as she could.
Lucía didn't just want that, she needed it.
It didn't matter that the redhead might not be romantically interested in her. Having a friend was enough.
But she didn't fool herself into believing she'd ever have more than that.
"A monster like me doesn't deserve anything more than that."
Words whispered in her heart, a quiet confession she allowed herself as she looked up at the cross above the threshold… and stepped into the building.