Page 103 of Feverburn

“I mean, eventually, yes.Deathis life’s only promise, aside from taxes. But no, I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.”

We both smiled in relief.

Suddenly, my instincts pushed me to slow down and really gather the details around me. The sunset in the kitchen windows lit the cabin in a warm light. Long beams cast on the river rocks of the fireplace as illuminated dust motes swirled in the air. The room got warmer while Viv stared at me, a distinct hum filling my ears. Suddenly, her little hand rested low on my womb. It was too low to be polite, damn near touching my mound over my leggings and sweater. Her voice was deeper now. Mixed with the ringing in my ears, it was powerful and steady.“You are safe. You can go on just loving him now, do you understand?”

The buzzing intensified as I bobbed my head. “Yes, I understand.”

She kept her hand on me.“You’re afiercewoman, Rosie. And I want to thank you for what you did for Carson.” She dodged a look at him and back at me.“Because you did do it for him, it is over. He is…”

“Free?”I whispered.

It was her turn to nod.

“You know, he freed me too.”

She licked her pink lipstick-stained lips.“Yes, I imagine he has. In his own way.”

A loud ringtone pierced our reverie, making me jump. It was, ironically, the song“Patience”by Guns-n-Roses. Anyone listening to it bleat out while she took two minutes to fish it out of her purse needed patience. She tapped the gold iPhone only to yell into it on speakerphone. Her husband was outside, ready to pick her up.

Getting up to leave, she observed the crimson outline of my tits and tummy on the wall. Since our naked art lessons, Carson refused to paint over it, claiming it was his best work yet.

“This all you, girl?” she pointed to it with a tiny arthritic hand.

“Yep,” I said with a smile.

She studied it longer. “Good for you.”

Before she left, she pointed to the sketchy brownies. I recited the mantra for her,“Sometimes thebestthings in life need to be kept asecret.” She held up a pointer finger in approval and left without another word.

With Carson still outside, I schlepped to the spare room with my stuff in it. I had secretly wanted to move into his cabin for a long time and was giddy that he took the initiative. Tyler mentioned moving in together but never made a real effort. My mom’s sage wisdom came to mind, ‘if he wanted to, he would.’

Digging through some of my stuff, I found my Bog Witch cardigan and my favorite fuzzy socks. Something round caught my eye: the stained-glass rose Viviane had given me months ago. A realization bloomed in my mind.

I asked Carson to help me bring it upstairs. I watched him stand with it, confusion crumpling his face. I pointed to the round window above his bed, urging him to slide the frame inside. A circle within a circle, hardly a sliver to spare. Like us, it was aperfectfit.

With the sun setting on the opposite side of the cabin, it was lit up almost like a spotlight. A grin split his face while he shook his head.“I can’t believe it.”

“It’s like it was always meant to be there,”I said, wrapping my arms around his waist.

It was too soon forsex, but I craved having him close. He could sense that, so we slowly undressed each other without a word and then settled on the bed. He hovered over me, kissing every inch of mynakedbody, peppering onextrakisses around my branding and the new scars from my accident. His mouth drifted back to mine while he rolled to his side, allowing us to lay chest to chest. I held the short hairs on his chin and looked into thegorgeouseyes I loved so much.“Carson, I want to thank you for saving my life. Not just with the accident but also by showing meunconditionallove. You never gave up on me.”

“You never gave up on me either,” he countered.

I brushed my fingers along his wide collarbone.“I have to believe there was a reason for it all. Something bigger than us. I was meant to find Kaylee; she was supposed to find Harley. That led me to you. I could help you break thecurse, and you could find me when I needed you most.”

“I agree, but a part of me feels guilty that thecursegot to you, and that’s why you collapsed.”

“Maybe it did. Or it would have happened regardless, and we’re just superstitious as fuck.”We both chuckled. I licked my lips, sobering,“While unconscious, I had this dream. We were in the hammock together, and you told me to come back, but I fought it. I wanted to keep snuggling with you. Then, it was like watching my higher self walk out of the lake on fire. She told me the feverburn had ended. Then I woke up.”

Carson blinked quickly, sitting up more.“Wait, feverburn?”

“Yeah, it’s a weird word. I think I made it up.” I scrunched my lips to my nose in consideration.

“I said the same word and kept using it. People corrected me, insisting it wasn’t a word.”We both smiled. His eyes glowed with intensity as he cupped the side of my face.“Wow,magissa, we are on the same wavelength.”

“We are, and Iloveit.”I nuzzled his nose before kissing him, urging him to lay back down.“But we got through it together, as a couple. I survived.”

“If you hadn’t. I was going to go to the forest and end it.”

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