Page 17 of Blossoming Dahlia

“Oh, well, we had a case that had some ritualistic aspects to it,” he replied, taking the book gently and flipping through it. “Iended up falling down a bit of a rabbit hole, but it turned out the ritual was fake, just a smoke screen to hide the true motive of the murder.” He held the book open, showing the notes on one of the pages about Satanic symbolism.

“This is like… the bible of my field,” I told him, smiling. “My book is going to apply more recent findings and add to Delman’s original research. I reference this book constantly in my class.” His eyes lit up, and I took the book back from him, flipping through it as he had. It was well used, I could tell, as if he’d read through the entire thing several times. He was one of those people who defaced books, but I understood it when it came to textbooks. Highlighter littered the pages, notes scribbled in the margins, complete with his signature ink smears. For some reason, knowing that he had read this made me ridiculously happy. I looked up to find him watching me, gazing at me with a heat that had butterflies jumping around in my stomach.

“It’s like nerdy foreplay,” Amanda murmured, breaking the spell. I swatted at her with a glare, and she jumped away from me, smirking knowingly. I replaced the book gently in his collection, and Asher returned to his file sorting while we continued snooping through his small library.

“Hey baby girl, do you want me to do your makeup?” Amanda offered abruptly, and I remembered suddenly what we were doing here, my mouth going dry. I hadn’t put anything on this morning, mainly because all of my makeup was buried somewhere in a storage unit and I hadn’t been desperate enough to have Asher or Hunter stop off at a drug store so I could grab some. I chewed on my lip considering my options.

“Do you have stuff with you that would work?” I asked curiously. We had markedly different skin tones to begin with, but now that I’d just spent nearly half a year in a windowless basement I would probably cause a glare on the cameras if they used too many lights directly on me.

Amanda grinned and shook her giant purse excitedly. “I have some things that should do the trick. Although what you could really use is some direct sunlight and three to four days of sleep,” she mused, pushing me down into Asher’s office chair. He backed up against the wall to avoid being rolled into as Amanda wheeled me around to find some good light. She dumped her bag over Asher’s desk, random bottles and compacts tumbling out and rolling across his desk. I winced and mouthed a quick ‘sorry’ over her shoulder at him. He looked a little pained, but ultimately shrugged and got comfortable in the little corner he was now trapped in.

I let Amanda do her thing, trusting her not to make me look any worse than I already did. She did her best to cover up the dark circles that seemed to be permanently tattooed under my eyes and, once she was somewhat satisfied with that, she moved on to blush, testing a bunch on herself first before deciding on one to use on me. “Don’t worry baby girl, I’ll have you looking alive and breathing before you know it,” she promised. Her face was close to mine, so I was able to see the deep sadness that welled up in her eyes, and she bit her lip, clearing her throat as she continued on with applying powder to my cheeks. She kept things pretty simple, not going crazy with eyeshadow colors or heavy on the eyeliner. It was just enough to help me feel a little more put together—war paintas my mom had called it. Sometimes, when you were doing something you were scared of, you just needed a little bit of war paint to help you feel more confident.

“Perfection, as always.” Amanda grinned, looking over her work. “Fuck, I should quit my job and just do makeup full time,” she mused, and I laughed.

“You would hate that kind of work, you’d end up stabbing someone with an eyebrow pencil,” I replied with a smirk, and she just huffed and rolled her eyes, shoving her makeup backinto her bag as I did one last check in her little compact mirror. My cheeks were still too shallow, and I missed the softness I used to have. Even my eyes looked harder, like I’d aged ten years in the last month. I grimaced and snapped the mirror shut with a small click, tossing it back in her bag.

“I think you look really nice,” Asher said quietly, catching me off guard. “Not that you don’t usually look nice, you do, of course! But the makeup looks nice, I mean...” He trailed off, cringing, but it just made me smile.

“Oh Doc, I’m sorry, I completely forgot about you. Would you like a touch up?” she asked, brandishing a brush at him threateningly. He stared at the brush like it was a loaded firearm.

“I, uh, I won’t be on TV, or in the press conference. I’ll just be in the room,” he replied, his brow creasing, and we both laughed.

“Come on now, you don’t need to be on TV to wear makeup,” Amanda teased breezily, advancing on him with her brush. “I bet you’d look sexy with a little eyeliner, it would make your pretty blue eyes pop.” She grinned, popping thep, and when he tried to scramble out of the corner I stepped in front of him, blocking his route. He towered over me, and probably could’ve just lifted me up and moved me out of his way, but instead he stopped dead, nearly pressing against me. I put my hands on his chest and pushed lightly, directing him backward until he fell back into his chair.

“I really don’t think I need anything.” Asher laughed nervously as we advanced on him like wolves, Amanda digging through her purse for supplies.

“It’ll be great, don’t worry.” I smiled as Amanda held out the eyeliner. I pressed up against the edge of the chair, my legs brushing against Asher’s as I leaned forward to get a good angle. I tilted his chin up with my hand, and he shifted anxiously in his chair. “Hold still,” I instructed, and brought my knee up,propping it on the chair beside his thigh so I could get in a better position. I cupped his cheek and used my thumb to angle his right eye closer to me. “Look up and don’t blink.” He was very obedient, I’d give him that. My tongue poked out between my teeth as I gently added a light hint of brown along his lash-line under his eye. “Okay, other eye now.” I shifted until my other knee was up on the chair and directed his face in the other direction, doing the same to his left eye. Once I was done, I sat back a bit and looked over my handiwork. I felt Asher’s hands graze across my thighs, hovering in case I toppled backward suddenly.

“Ha, I was right. His eyes are popping now.” Amanda grinned, and she was right, his eyes were almost unsettlingly bright now, it was almost unfair that he was able to look so good with so little effort. Amanda nudged my foot silently, making me aware of the fact that I’d just been staring at Asher while practically straddling his lap for a little too long now. I slipped off the chair, handing Amanda her eyeliner back.

“You do look really good,” I told him, and he gave me a lopsided grin, his hand going to his hair and mussing it up further. I caught Amanda staring at me, questions shooting out of her eyes, and I realized that I was grinning like an idiot. Thankfully, the door opened and Hunter walked in, preventing her from saying anything.

“Hey, they’re starting to set up downstairs, we should head down now,” he announced, taking in the scene in front of him. Amanda and I were standing over Asher, who was hunched down in his chair looking like a hostage. He frowned as he stared at Asher in particular, his eyes narrowing slightly. “What’s going on with your face?” he asked, and Amanda and I burst out laughing. “Alright, well… come on then.” He waved us forward, still trying to figure out what was different about his partner aswe stifled our giggles. I was looking forward to getting this over with, hopefully the whole thing would be done in five minutes.

Chapter eleven

Dahlia

Breathe, just breathe, damnit!

I gasped for air, tugging at the bandage on my throat as it threatened to strangle me. Hands reached down to stop my hands from ripping it off, and I flinched away until I realized they belonged to Amanda. I let her tug my hands down from my throat, and she wrapped them around a coffee mug full of water instead.

Her eyes were red as she knelt beside me, rubbing my leg and murmuring soothing things to calm me down. We were hiding in an empty conference room after I had basically fled the press conference—or as Amanda had coined it, theFlaming Trash Fire. I had to admit, her name fit it better. I lifted the mug up to my lips, but my hands were shaking so much I ended up spilling half down the sides, splattering my skirt and the carpet underneath me. “I’m going to fucking kill him,” Amanda seethed as I let out a quiet sob.

We’d met the mayor’s media coordinator in this very same room just before the press-conference was to begin. Asher stayed with me while Hunter and Amanda went out to the main room where the press was waiting, finding an empty space close to the wall. The mayor had come in to greet me, his large sweaty hand swallowing up mine in a brutal grip, his smile feeling oily and fake as he looked me over. Against my better judgment, I’d let him lead me out into the main room, Asher quiet as a ghost as he slipped in behind us, taking a position along the wall, staying in my line of sight.

The mayor’s speech had started off innocuous enough, providing some background on the case and repeating the warning about Steve Curing, including the tip-line number people could call if they saw him. I’d fidgeted nervously, my palms growing damp as I felt the stares of a hundred people roving my body. I’d met Asher’s gaze, and he lifted his chin up ever so slightly, so I did the same, faking the confidence I didn’t feel. He’d given me a reassuring smile that I wasn’t able to return at the time, but it felt nice all the same.

“-our support for the families of the victims, as well as our living witness, our survivor, Dahlia Porter.” The mayor had announced, and this was my cue to look at him, giving a wane smile. A flash of light had momentarily blinded me, and I looked over my shoulder at the collage of women’s faces now being shown through the projector. Ice flooded my veins, realizing who these women were. They all looked so similar to me, we could’ve been blond sisters—or cousins at least—even down to the blue-green eyes and the heart shaped faces.

“We took your Doll away, Curing, and we’re not giving her back.” I’d whirled on the mayor, my mouth open in shock, not willing to believe the words I’d just heard. He was gesturing at me, his speech becoming more like a rally-cry with each passing moment. I glanced at Asher, who was glaring at him with adeadly look in his eye. The room began to feel too small, there wasn’t enough air in there. I’d heard cameras going off, flashes of light making me see stars.

“-tried to silence them, take away their voices. Isn’t that right, Dahlia?” he demanded, and I gaped out at the sea of cameras like a fish out of water, my hand going to the bandage on my throat. I’d felt like I was moving, or maybe everyone else was, the crowd swaying as everything started to blur. “Well, we’re giving you your voice back. What would you like to Curing right now?” the mayor continued, and that was when my lungs had seized up completely. This wasn’t part of the deal, I wasn’t supposed to have to talk.

My mouth opened and closed, but no sounds came out.What would I like to say to the man who hurt me, who was going to kill me like all those other women?I had no answer, my mind was a complete blank.

Hands had wrapped around my shoulders, and I flinched until I realized it was Asher. The mayor was saying something, gesturing wildly as Asher pulled me away from him. “-just try and take your Doll back, Curing, and we’ll drop you like the school bully you are.” The words became muffled as the door closed behind us, and we were back in the hallway once more. My vision was tunneling, my heart trying to restart my broken lungs.

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