Page 101 of The Gathering
“I see,” she said, still leading this hike. “The confused deviant.”
He hung his head.Just confess it.“I have a… unique condition that is deviant.”
Her rocking stopped. “And this condition is provoked when you look at me. What exactly about me provokes it?”
“Every. Single. Thing.”
She was suddenly next to him, leaning over the rail to see his face. “So, I captivate youandprovoke you?”
He looked at her surprised that he was surprised. “You’re entertained.”
She hopped onto the rail, holding his arm for balance, putting herself right in his air. “I’m very flattered,” she said, wide open.
“You wouldn’t be if you understood my condition.”
“Help me understand it,” she urged with a quiet eagerness. “You can speak plainly with me. I don’t fear truth in any of its forms.”
“You never heard a truth like this one.”
She gave a tiny laugh. “That only excites me.”
“Of course it does. My condition affects a particular aspect of my mind. And body.”
“They are intrinsically tethered,” she said, fondly. “What aspect of your mind?”
“The one responsible for merging.”
He nodded when her silence became extended.
“Now you’re seeing,” he said.
“You want to merge with me,” she said very quietly. “And… find this… deviant?”
He nearly panicked at how she took that. “Thisconditionis deviant,” he said. “It cares only about having what it wants and what it wants is… not somethingremotelysane.”
She eased off the rail, and he forbid his gaze to follow. The sound of the rocking chair loosened his muscles.
“Insane implies a mental condition,” she mused, on to gathering data for an accurate diagnosis.
He turned and leaned against the rail, crossing his arms. “It is the result of an experiment. One of the Marsh Kings was bitten by bats.”
Her gaze flew up to his. “Nitro,” she said. “I heard he nearly died.”
“He did nearly die. Lesion gave him something to help utilize the bat saliva and he overdosed and it permanently changed his DNA, making him more bat than human.”
“Lesion?” she whispered, her face softening with a dreamy smile. “He’s another I would merge with.”
“Well, he’salreadymerged with another woman,” he happily informed.
“I know,” she said simply. “I was just adding him to my types.” She returned to the rail and perched on it, holding the post this time. “So what does all that have to do with you?”
“Would you like me to skip to the end?”
She nodded quickly. “Then you can give meallthe middle after,” she sacrificed.
“The Creole Kings were celibate and one of my brothers fell in love and his… merging tripled his gifts. The Belle Eveque concluded that the merging—”
“I told you!” she exclaimed, leaning to shove him. “Themergingis part of thedesign!We are humanbloomswhen we merge!” Her mouth hung open as she logic-lusted with the airbefore her. “A King merged and his gifts tripled!” She snapped her gaze to him. “This is why the merging became required!”
