Page 8 of Jacinth

Poor useless Niko, nothing but a mouthpiece.

Spirits—male and female—had propositioned me since I hit puberty. All with the same objective.

“Fuck off,” I told her.

Orion let out a sigh, as though he were suddenly part of this discussion, and moved to help me off the floor. My whole body protested the movement.

“We need to invest in some comfortable rugs. The floor sucks,” I said.

“You vomited all over the last one. Stop drinking and then we’ll talk.”

My latest reason to drink bounced closer, inadvertently knocking into my brother as he was helping me attempt verticality.

“So, will you introduce me? I’m happy to be shared.”

Orion overbalanced and dropped me on my ass, completely unaware of the supernatural shoulder check. My spine protested the rough treatment, and I began my inventory of booze stashes that were accessible without too much effort. The trouble was that now I had two monkeys on my back, and neither would be easy to shake.

‘Dead like me’ bent in a way that I was sure was meant to be an attempt at seduction.

“I can see your vagina in those shorts.”

Harley gasped in mock offense, and Orion narrowed his eyes on me.

“Have you started using something else? You swore you were only drinking.”

“I am only drinking. I want to be drinking now so everybody can leave me alone and I can get nice, numb, and ALONE!” I winced as my own voice hurt my head this time.

“Nope, I need you sober... well... at least not actively drinking. Do you think you can watch Sky?”

Ugh. I couldn’t stand the holier than thou attitude. Just because my abilities weren’t flashy or, you know, common knowledge didn’t mean he was better than me.

No, my internal voice insisted,you make yourself worse than everyone. So useless you rely on the drink to function during the day.

“Umm...” Harley started from the corner of the room.

“I need to run some errands in town,” Orion continued, oblivious to the warning glare I sent the spirit.

“But...” she tried again.

Weak. The voice went on.So weak. You can’t help anyone, and you are nothing but a burden.I tried to cover my ears as the same old litany played out, trying to drown out both my brother and the transparent comic book character.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine just nursing your hangover. After his walk this morning, he should be asleep till noon.”

“He’snotinthehousehe’sintownwithyourmate,” she finished in a rush.

The internal monologue screeched to a halt, like a record needle hitting a scratch. With no conscious thought, I was on my feet, facing off against the female.

“What do you mean, he’s not in the house?” I demanded, forgetting Orion had no idea we weren’t alone. I paused, stumbled, and only narrowly avoided another trip to the floor.

“Wait... mate?”

CHAPTER 7

Jacinth

I would loveto say consciousness returned with some poetic comparison to a gentle breeze or some other boo sheet—heh, still got it—but really, I felt my body crumple like an old fold-up mattress.

I came to with a shout as the arms that were previously gently holding me aloft, slipped their grip. A knee in the spine kept me from breaking something on the stone walkway. I was unsure whether to thank my rescuer or curse him.

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