Orange Roses - REVAMPED

Chapter Thirty-One: Burn Witch Burn

"You're calm." Fingers drift down my arm. They're not as rough as Drake's. 

Oh shit. 

I opened my eyes and met Erasmus's gaze. We both laid on a bed with Erasmus rolled to his side to look at me. He held his head up with one hand as he rested most of his weight on his elbow. I jumped off the silk sheets. I looked around. This looked like his room from the Nightmare Court that I stayed in. I looked down and realized I wore some white lacy bra and bright orange bottoms that hugged my ass in a weird way.

"What the hell am I wearing?" 

"Something that fits you for once," Erasmus responded. 

My cheeks burned and I folded my arms over my chest. 

"Erasmus, what do you want?" I asked. 

"Your mind was calm so it was a lot easier to walk into your dreams. I wonder why that is?" Erasmus asked me with a curl of his upper lip. I couldn't tell if it was a smile, snarl, or smirk. I didn't like it either way. 

"I figured out some stuff," I said. 

"Does it have to do with the dead faeries?" Erasmus asked as he sat up. I relaxed a little. His interest in the murders meant that he might give me a break.

"I think so," I said. I tugged on the shorts I wore to somehow make the fabric stretch. 

"What have you learned?" Erasmus asked. "And what would you wear if you were trying to seduce me?" 

"Not the subject we were talking about. FOCUS!" I said, throwing my hands up in front of me. "I don't want to seduce you, I want you to leave me alone." 

Erasmus laid back down and folded his arms behind his head. "Not going to happen. I've invested a lot of time and energy into you." 

"And I'm not in love with you." 

"Yes, I figured that out a long time ago," Erasmus said and he sounded almost bitter. He kept his eyes closed and he looked way too relaxed in my head. "Now what do you know?"

I remembered the rotting faerie from the other night.  

"And why did you send that weird rotting faerie after us!" I yelled, ignoring him. 

"I'm making a point," Erasmus asked. "I apparently need to." 

"What point?" 

"The human world is rotting. You're running out of time." 

"What are you talking about?" I asked. 

Erasmus sat up and looked at me. I sat on the bed and glared at him. He really needed to relax. He needed to realize that this stupid plan wasn't going to work. I didn't want him. I didn't love him. He's not even on the list of people I wanted to be with. 

Erasmus took my silence as an opportunity to reach out and cupped the right side of my face. I jumped. 

"I'm coming for you, Matty. It's either going to be me or the Rose Queen at this rate," Erasmus leaned over and whispered in my ear, "and trust me, you'd rather it be me." 

I smacked his hand away. 

"I'm going to handle her," I said. 

"Oh really? Have you found the murderer yet?" 

"No, I'm working on it," I said. For a bunch of people that lived forever, they weren't very patient. 

Erasmus grabbed my chin, hard. "Come on, tell me what you know." I turned my body and lifted my left foot, popped the ball of my foot into his chest. Erasmus hadn't been fighting hand to hand combat so my teep sent him stumbling back a bit. I made sure to use the strength in my hips to add an extra oomph to it. Erasmus made a grunting noise and touched his chest.