Page 13 of A Heart Of Bitter Poison
“I know you’ve not had reason to trust anyone but each other,” Cole says, and we tear our tangled gaze apart to look at him.
Eryx places a hand on Cole’s shoulder and gives us both a hopeful smile. “We won’t ask you to trust us. But if you give us a chance to prove it, we will not let you down. There will never be peace between the Realms, but there is balance. Right now, the four of us are the best shot at keeping it and we’ll only manage if we work together.”
I shift my gaze to Cole. I stare into his eyes, trying to tunnel to the depths of his soul. If what he said is true, he gave up his wings for this. He gave up the life he knew for this chance.
I feel the heat of a tiny ember in my chest when I bore into the only thing I can find in his gaze. Hope. Maybe I don’t hope for the same things as he does. I might be a little more invested in becoming the biggest pain in the ass the Shadow Realm has ever seen. But still, it’s something I can grab onto. It’s a fire I can stoke and draw life from.
I nod.Okay, I mouth.
Cole’s face lifts into a grin. Eryx absolutely beams, the light from the kitchen fixtures glinting on his feathers and reflecting across his skin like a suncatcher. I lower my eyes from their enthusiasm but I can’t hide the faint trace of a smile on my lips.
I slide off the stool and give my unlikely companions a salute before pulling my thermos and mug with me, giving an apologetic parting glance to Eryx who tries valiantly to disguise his disgust at my cup of blood.
My feet feel leaden as I trudge up the stairs. My muscles ache from use after so many days doing nothing but surviving in a cell. Being this close to human is painful and the feeling of weakness is still foreign after five thousand years of near indestructibility.
I set my meal down in the bathroom and retrieve my bag from my room, then turn the shower on. I almost dance with glee at the thought of removing my clothes, which are now little more than shredded rags. I want to burn them, or flush them down the toilet. Maybe both.
As the water heats in the most anticipated shower of all time, I rummage through the main compartment of the bag Cole packed for something to sleep in. I pull out a tank top and a pair of sleep shorts and place them on the counter before moving on to search for a toothbrush in the smaller front section of the bag.
The first thing my fingers touch is cool metal wrapped in leather. The handle of mykaiken.
I pull the dagger free of the bag, holding my breath as though a wisp of air from my lungs could make it disappear. I slide it free of its sheath and turn it over in my hands, pressing my eyes closed. The weight the blade settles in my skin as though it’s a piece of missing flesh returned. When I can breathe again, I peer into the shadows of the bag, my fist still gripped around the handle of thekaikenas though something sinister might rush from the pocket to bite me. My fingertips graze a flat sheaf of leather and I know immediately what it is.
I pull out the leather journal that the Reaper gave to me.
My heart stutters in my chest and blood thrums in my ears, drowning out the sound of water hitting the bathtub and flowing down the drain. Tears sting my eyes. I swallow a sudden mace in my throat that feeds the ever-present flame.
I open the journal and flip through the pages. One-sided conversations stare back at me, and I hear the Reaper’s replies to every one. I smile through tears as I come across the page of ASSHOLE in different fonts. I read the note I tried to write in Cairo but couldn’t finish, the one about being trapped in the Realm of Light. The Reaper’s promise floats through my mind.I will still find you.
I read the last note I wrote to him. It’s next to the torn shreds of the page I ripped out and slapped to his chest before we kissed.
I’m not all vampires, it says.
A laugh bubbles up from my chest. I’mdefinitelynot all vampires, that’s for sure. I could never have known at the time just how true that statement would be.
I flip to the next page where there’s a bump, an irregularity on the paper.
There’s a note in a different ink, an unfamiliar script. Sharp. Precise. Careful. Every letter purposeful. Like every one was sacred when it was transferred from hand to page.
I’m sorry, it says. Taped next to it is my necklace from Ediye.
A long breath passes through my pursed lips, my eyes fixed to the note and everything those two words could possibly mean.
I tear the necklace free, shutting the book as though something else might fly from the pages to twist the blade already turning in my heart.
CHAPTER6
It’s the most glorious shower I’ve ever had in all my life.
Cole and Eryx have an assortment of soaps and body washes and shampoos and conditioners lining the shelves in the shower and the edge of the tub. I try every one. And I mean,Every. Single. One.I stand in the stream until my skin is scrubbed raw and the water goes cold.
I feel a little better when I get out, but even dripping wet and wrapped in a towel I can tell my body temperature isn’t quite right. Since my encounter with Semyon, my internal thermostat has been set to simmer. I’m just too hot. All the time. I haven’t grown accustomed to it and I don’t think I want to. The more I consider it, the more I don’t mind heading off to the Realm of Light with Eryx to get to Cairo. If Mr. Hassan can help me, I’ll do almost anything to get there. Even smell a dead hybrid’s dick again. Hell, I’d even smell alivehybrid’s dick. So you know, youKNOW, I am serious.
I dry my hair and get changed, heading back to my room with the intention of getting as many hours of rest as possible. The sound of conversation and laughter downstairs lulls me into sleep. Despite my hopes, however, I end up waking in the deepest night after a steady stream of nightmares. It seems that the Shadow Realm doesn’t want to let me go.
After figuring sleep is a lost cause, I decide to get up, wrapping myself in a crocheted throw and taking my journal and dirty clothes from yesterday with me. Fuck, they really stink. I feel bad now for poor Cole having to sit with me in that car for so long. Now that I’m clean, the smell is ten times worse than it was at the time.
I crack open my door, not wanting to disturb my new housemates. The lights are all off, everyone is now in bed. I hear the steady cadence of three pairs of lungs and someone’s gentle snore. Eryx’s hummingbird heartbeat outpaces the others. A little smile ghosts across my face. I drift soundlessly down the stairs and into the kitchen, rummaging until I find a barbeque lighter. Then I head out the back door with mykaikenstrapped to my thigh.
