Page 118 of King of Hollywood
Counted Felix’s freckles too.
Finally kissed the little mole beneath his eye.
And together, tangled beneath the covers, we decided what I was going to say when my coworkers asked me what I’d done for the weekend. Which ended up being that despite its hiccups, tonight could not have been a more perfect night.
Felix and I may not have deserved to rest after what we’d done, but we rested anyway. Content to be selfish. Content to slumber. Content to live happily ever after.
Four eyes, four hands, two grins.
Two monsters.
Forever.
Soon.
Was it cowardice, that I dared not kill him?
Was it perversity, that I longed to talk to him?
Was it humility, to feel so honoured?
I felt so honoured.
8. D. H. Lawrence, “Snake”.
Epilogue
Soon ended up being farther away than I anticipated. Not because I wasn’t ready to join Felix in our shared, bloody forever—but because he had informed me, quite seriously, that he loved the gray in my hair. That he wanted to see more of it. That we should wait till the front had entirely shifted—and then…then—I’d take the change.
You know what really blows my stack?
The fact that I found out halfway through my fucking life that there is apparently a secret supernatural government. And said government apparently operates—on occasion—delivery vans that bring sustenance to frightened little ex-movie stars. Ex-movie stars, who, even after nearly ninety years in hiding, were still terrified of being found out.
I told Felix that it would be easy enough to just tell people he was Lucky’s grandson, should they question him, and the look he leveled me with was so flabbergasted I almost felt bad. Like it had never even occurred to him to claim to be related to himself.
He’d told me he’d had no children, and I’d told him that people didn’t know that.
Not for certain.
And that uncertainty would be what would lead them to believe him.
Bit by bit—little by little, I helped coax Felix out of his shell.
The sun was a no go. Garlic was fine—though he didn’t eat anything other than blood. We didn’t know if holy water was an issue, and though I was curious, I wasn’t curious enough to try on the off chance it did hurt him. He couldn’t enter homes without permission—a fact that became quite annoying because the first time we visited Winnie in her apartment in the city, I’d had to all but force her to do it.
“Let him in,” I’d demanded, hands on my hips.
Winnie had stared at me, her dark eyes dancing with the mischief they were always full of. She stood in the doorway, gesturing down the hall as if to say “after you.”
“No.” I huffed out, annoyed. “Invite him in.”
She cocked her head at me, then laughed—luckily not catching on.
“Felix…” she said, addressing my tiny, hat-shrouded lover. “Would you like to come in?”
Felix perked right up, his metaphorical tail wagging, and I had to bite my tongue so I wouldn’t reach out and squeeze the absolute shit out of him, he was so damn cute.
“Why Winnie, I thought you’d never ask.”
