Page 117 of Above
“Of course not. You were right about one thing, you’re all I have.” And stars, if that wasn’t the worst thing in the world. To only have him. To be so alone that I was now forced to recognize that the murderer of my family was the only person in the entire world who loved me. At least, he said he did.
“I love you,” he whispered, kissing me again.
“I love you, too,” I lied.
Cheers erupted around us, the dining area bursting into applause and whoops of congratulations. Our meal was brought out with wine, the waiter calling our union a gift from the stars. A divine sign of greatness coming.
I was forced to accept all of the thanks and well wishes, biding my time. Each bite of the food brought me closer to vomiting, my mind drenched in imagined images of Talon slaughtering our families and then blaming Altair.
Why would Altair not deny it? Why had he been covered in blood? What did he gain from it all?
Or, perhaps, Talon had something on him. A truth that Altair would rather take to the grave than have come out. Maybe.
Talon prattled on about our wedding, discussing where we might hold the ceremony and telling me about the traditions that we’d need to incorporate. He said I would need to get off my tonic as soon as we were wed, because it was tradition for core families to begin having children early. He smiled and laughed, leaning over the table to kiss me every so often. All smiles, I was quiet and reserved, ever the joyful and proper future bride. Internally, I plotted my escape.
When we had finished eating, my food sitting heavy in my stomach, Talon looked at me and asked, “Dessert?”
Finally, my moment had come.
“Actually, what if I go home and pack? Your speech about family had me thinking a lot. My home feels so empty now without them. Everywhere I turn, all I see are their memories. Now, I know this isn’t traditional, but we have already lived together before. So what if I just moved in?” Talon looked at me with wide eyes and a slack jaw, but the stitch of his brows had me adding in some more of my normal hesitation. “Unless you don’t want to, of course. I won’t take up a lot of space or anything, though I’d like to bring over some of my family’s things. But I understand if this isn’t what you’d prefer.”
After another second of hesitation, Talon grinned. “I’d love that, Supernova. You have no idea how much I’d love that.”
“Perfect,” I cheered, this time meeting him halfway for a kiss. His hands slipped into my hair, holding me still as our lips connected, the kiss hard and his tongue greedy. For a second I feared he knew, but then he released me, pecking my nose. “I’ll head there now and meet you back home.”
“Home, I like the sound of that,” he admitted, cheeks heating to a deep red.
“Me too.”
After at least ten more minutes of goodbyes and Talon’s eager planning, I escaped his hold. My shadows took me to my real home, allowing me to breathe fully for the first time. Then I threw up on the floor of my kitchen, my body convulsing and snot pouring out of my nose. Sobs began, my heaving body giving way to a pounding headache.
It took far too long for me to steady myself, the clock tickingominously on the wall. Wasting what little time I had was not an option. So, I wiped my mouth on the sleeve of my dress and stood tall, giving myself one last second to close my eyes and break. When they opened, I was ready.
The first thing I went for was my bag, my magic seeping into it and willing the nearly endless charm. Then I tore through the house, shoving Celeste’s book of portraits she had gifted me into my bag, along with small trinkets of theirs that I couldn’t part with. My parents’ wedding bands, Mama’s favorite green scarf, Dad’s tiny wooden horse, Celeste’s most used paint brush. With time dwindling, I began hastily snagging items of use as well, such as some of my books, all of Mama’s tonics, any of my already made potions and elixirs, all of their most recent journals, and bundles upon bundles of coin.
Death watched curiously, unusually silent as she followed me around. When I swiped her up and brought her into my lab, she remained still and quiet, not needing an explanation apparently. Still, I gave her one as I cloaked the door and rushed down the stairs, swinging my bag onto my back.
“We’ve been lied to, Death, and now we need to leave.” I kept her in my hand, using the other to begin tearing down my maps and shredding them. Hiding any and all information I had gleaned. “Everything is going to be okay, but we’re low on time. Talon has already been here before, and he could—”
A loud bang silenced me, my feet stilling in front of the final map. The one I had bought from Artie where I had circled the islands I believed Altair to be on. Death meowed for the first time since I had gotten home, and I had to hastily shush her. She hissed, bolting out of my hand and to the opposite corner of the room. Slow and steady creaks came from the floor above us. I froze, not willing to make a sound.
“Nova,” Talon yelled, drawing out the syllables of my name. Something loud cracked, a violent smash following suit. A tearbegan beading on my lower lash line, my hand flying to my mouth to refrain from crying out. “Nova, where are you?”
“What a persistent boy.”
Of course they’d speak now.
Talon continued breaking things, screaming out, “Nova, come here right now! Let me explain myself!”
How did he know? What had I done wrong? It hadn’t been that long.
“He has been waiting for you to realize, paying close attention to your every reaction and word. He hoped it would be after your wedding. So deliciously manipulative. What fun!”
Ignoring them, I tried to focus. Now would be my only chance to run. Where would I go? How would I get away from him? Maybe another planet? No matter where I went, I needed to grab that last map.
Then the wall where my lab door normally was burst.
I crouched down, shielding my head and hoping Death had tucked herself somewhere safe. A piece of the wall hit my arm, the chunk of wood digging into my flesh and tearing a yelp out of my throat. When the dust settled, I dared to look up.
