Page 305 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

I push him off me.

“What are you talking about? What ends the same?”

“I can’t say more. Not yet.” He shakes his head.

“I see.” Though I don’t. If anything, I’m more confused than ever.

If he’s not human, what is he? And if he is something else, how come I never sensed it?

Taking a step back, then another, I find my back slamming against the front door. Tense, Mine is frozen on the spot as he follows my every movement.

“I need space. I can’t think when you’re this close to me,” I mutter, seeking the doorknob at my back.

“Minnie, please.” He takes a step forward.

I give him a sad smile and shake my head. Opening the door, I run at full speed away from the house.

His voice echoes in my ear as I continue on, never once looking back. I keep thinking he might follow, that he might somehow reveal some unexpected abilities.

But he never does.

Only his voice follows, his anguished scream. Though perhaps that’s just my mind playing it on a loop as I feel more and more guilty about my departure.

Yet how could I stay?

How could I remain there and listen to his non answers, knowing that the more he talks the more I’ll overlook everything and go along with his nonsensical explanation.

Just being in his presence clouds my mind, and I need to be able to think clearly to make sense of everything.

Moments later, drawn by the bustling noise of the city, I reach Paris.

I stop in the middle of a busy road and barely avoid a moving car. Jumping to the side, I roll over on the pavement.

The sharp rocks dig into my elbows and knees, and I let out an annoyed groan of pain.

Someone asks me if I’m all right. Pulling my dress over my injuries to hide the healing flesh, I tell them I’m fine and thank them for their concern.

Nodding, they move along.

I remain behind, rooted to the spot.

More people move by me, talking animatedly about their day, about their hopes for the future. The war is ending, they say. The Nazis are defeated, they say.

The world is changing.

And I have a feeling my world is changing, too. I just wonder if it’s for the better or for the worse.

My feet eventually move, and I start walking slowly, mechanically.

The smell of fresh pastries wafts through the air, but instead of whetting my appetite, it only turns my stomach inside out.

What could Mine be hiding from me that he cannot possibly tell me? And how are his parents involved? It’s clear that his mother is not human, and by extension he is not human, either.

But what could he be?

Descendant of a deity? Other species?

There are so many supernatural species that live hundreds to thousands of years, and I’m not an expert on most of them. They could be anything for all I know. But he must know that wouldn’t change how I feel about him. So why all the secrecy?

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