Page 104 of Above
I let out a piercing wail, the cry of someone so broken they might as well be dust rather than shards of glass. Crawling to my mother, I grabbed onto her body, which was still warm. My fingers clawed at her, wishing I could somehow tear her back from the sky.
“Please, Mama! Please! Wake up! You’re not dead, Mama! You can’t be!”
“Nova?” came a broken and raspy voice. I whipped my head to the left, seeing Talon’s bloody body from where he lay on the floor beneath the long oak table.
I didn’t think, didn’t so much as mourn the absence of my mother’s hand in mine as I got up and ran to him, dragging his body out and falling back, pulling his head into my lap. He sputtered and coughed, nearly gagging on the blood that was coming up his throat.
“Who did this, Talon?” I asked. No,begged.
“Azazel,” he whispered, his head falling to the side.
Chapter Forty-Three
Nova
“I can’t live without them. I won’t. But first, the snake has to die.”
-From the journal of Nova Tershetta, 9282 AS
Azazel Altair sat in the corner of a cell within the military dungeons, his face unreadable. He looked far more comfortable than I wished, and I found that I was more disgruntled than he was.
I grabbed the parchment in my hand, trying not to crumple it, though too overwhelmed to stop myself. I could feel the tears welling behind my eyes, a slight frown pulling my lips down as I tried to fight off the tremble, but I needed to do this.
His eyes seemed to glow in the light, my heart racing as I grew closer. “Hello, Little Void, so glad you decided to see me.”
“Cut the bullshit, Altair,” I shouted, reflexively smacking my hand against the thick iron bars. What were they using to fortify this? How were they preventing him from getting out? I’d need to check. His escape was not an option.
Shaking my head, I tried to focus.
“Do you know what I have in my hands?” He stared on, unblinking and silent, his face calm and unfeeling. “I went toyour room. Surprisingly enough, they left everything there. Even the blood.” Still, he said nothing. “I found these on your desk.”
I held up the letters, wishing that he would show some kind of reaction to the things that he said meant so much to him. Then again, everything had clearly been a lie. I pulled out one from the stack.
“Dear Az. I’m glad to hear that you enjoy history. My Nova loves it as well. She studied our known lineage not long after getting magic. She talked about it for weeks.” I paused, trying to control the emotions that were surfacing. “Speaking of which, I don’t recall you saying much about your family and its history. You seemed very nervous to speak about them. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I want you to know that I am always here for you, as is Nova, I’m sure. Families can be very hard and complex things. Our own struggles often. We’ve had a very rough go of it lately.”
Choking on a sob, I fought to continue, hating that there was no hiding it now. Taking a deep, fortifying breath, I read on.
“I do find that we always work it out together, because we love one another unconditionally. I hope your family does as well. Despite what I can tell you think about yourself, I believe you to be a very bright young man with a beautiful future ahead of you. I know life can seem scary and some burdens are heavy—so heavy that it feels like we can’t carry them anymore—but you don’t have to do it alone. As a wise and old woman, I feel comfortable saying that there will come a day when you’ll look back and proudly say you survived. Love, Octavia Tershetta. P.S., don’t forget to take care of my Nova.”
I trailed off, my tears too hard to control. While I’d been planning on reading the others too, I wasn’t sure I could go on without absolutely losing it. So instead, I waved the parchments out again, smacking the iron bars once more with my free hand.
“How could you do this to them? Toher?She had been nothing but nice to you! What have they ever done to deserve this?” His eyes finally moved, falling to the floor, guilt coating his face. “We welcomed you into our home. We fed you. We cared for you. She wrote to you. And you fucking killed them! You killed them all! You slaughtered them!” I was screaming now, making me hiccup between my angry shouts, and I no longer cared what he thought of me.
Only that he understood what kind of monster he really was.
“You took away the only family I’ve ever known! The only people I’ve ever loved! For what? What did this get you? How could you take away somebody’s family?”
“Is that any different than you?” he asked, his voice hollow. He didn’t look up at first, his eyes still on the ground, his legs splayed out in front of him. His shoulders were slouched forward, as if he were trying to protect himself from my shouted words. I stilled, eyes going wide. “Think of all the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, daughters, and sons you killed.”
Backing away, I shook my head, bringing my fingers to my lips to try and somehow get the words out of my head. He was right, and I knew it. This was hypocritical of me in a way, because I had slaughtered an entire world. I had killed more than I even knew. But beneath the agony, I was fucking angry, and I wouldn’t let him win this.
“I hope they choose a horrible, slow way for you to die.”
“Oh, you think they’ll kill me?”
“They better, because if they don’t, I will.” He looked up at me, the expression on his face one of complete shock. I couldn’t believe he’d expect anything less.
“If they don’t kill you where you stand tomorrow, then I will do it myself. If you dare run, I will hunt you down. I’ll rip your skin from your body while you’re still alive. I’ll pull out your eyes and force you to eat them. I’ll rip out your teeth and your nailsandyour precious hair.I will tear you apart limb from limb. I will slaughter you like you slaughtered them.” I walked forward, grabbing the bars with my free hand and bringing my face to the opening. “I will make sure you live in agony, fear, and pain for the remainder of your very short life. You will wish they killed you if they don’t.”
