Page 23 of The Book Reader
I walk into the kitchen on autopilot. I turn the tap on and start to wash the sides clean of blood. I can’t think about anything else right now. I can hear Lucy and Mekhi talking, but I keep working.
“It can’t be true, Lucy. Can it?” Mekhi asks.
“I don’t know Mekhi, but let’s think about that later.” Lucy makes her way over to me, placing her hand on mine to stop me from cleaning. I glance at her, her eyes full of the pain she’s trying not to show. “Let us clean up, okay? You go and relax inthe living room, and I’ll bring you some tea.” She doesn’t give me a chance to say anything else before she’s pushing me out of the room.
I pause when Mekhi speaks. “I’ll get the hoover, this dust is giving me the creeps.” Mehki gives a whole-body shudder.
Wincing, I shake my head. “Just don’t hoover up my aunt, okay?” I say. He looks at me and nods, and I mentally applaud him for not laughing. But I can see him gauging if I was joking or not. Honestly, I’m not even sure myself.
I enter the living room, logging the mess I see—there was so much going on in the kitchen that I didn’t even think to check the rest of the house. They’ve turned the whole room upside down, all the drawers are open, the contents strewn all over the floor. Furniture has been pushed over, and the cushions are on the floor—torn to shreds. The TV is smashed. I lift my hand and whisper, “ite et corrige eam festucam.”
Vanish and set it right, mote it be.
The room shifts, tables righting themselves, broken glass floating from the floor back into the frame and solidifying once more. Flowers that have been strewn across the room fly back into the vase. Everything moves back into place within seconds..
I move over to the mirror. The person staring back at me isn’t the same happy woman I was a few days ago. This woman is barely holding it together. I walk over to the sofa and sit down, resting my head in my hands. I pull the necklace my aunt gave me from where I’d shoved it in my pocket and dangle it between my fingers. I study the carving. I’ve seen these gold eyes somewhere. And the dragon looks like he is staring at me.
“Hitch?” Mekhi’s voice breaks my thoughts. I look up and he offers me a hesitant grin. “I made the tea and added a little extratouch for you.” He winks. “You need it, hun.” He added brandy—I can smell it from here. Typically, I would’ve told him no, but he’s right—I do need it. I reach for the cup and take a sip, wincing at the burn.
He cringes. “Too much, baby girl?”
I shake my head and give a small smile, which I know doesn’t reach my eyes. “It’s fine. Thanks.”
He sighs and sits down next to me. “Hitch, I’m really shit at stuff like this, but you need Mekhi, so baby doll, I’m here and trying not to freak out,” he chuckles. I know he’s trying to make me laugh.
I lean against his side and close my eyes. “It’s okay, I just need a hug.” I feel his warm, big arms wrap around me.
“Hitch, you know Mekhi gives the best hugs.” He kisses the top of my head, and for a while we just sit there in silence. I want to speak, but I don’t really know what to say. Mekhi keeps squeezing me tight until I finally find my voice.
“Uh, Mekhi? What’s Luce doing?”
He chuckles lightly. “Angel in there is cooking up a storm. She’s making you food cause you need to eat.”
Lucy has slipped into mom mode, the way she always does when Mekhi or I are hurting. “I’m not hungry,” I tell him.
“I know, baby doll.”
I pull back from him. “I can’t believe this happened.”
“Hitch? What exactlydidhappen?” he asks.
I rise, moving over to the window and looking out onto the street. People are walking around like it’s a typical day. Blissfully ignorant of all the bad that’s just happened. “I came back from the memorial, and the cottage was already trashed. There were daemons in the house, three of them.”
Lucy enters the living room holding a plate of sandwiches and cake. She sets it on the coffee table and sits next to Mekhi, both of them silent, hoping for the rest.
“They had already attacked her, but they were looking for something.” Tears fill my eyes start to roll down my cheeks, flashes on my aunts face, and the blood that was coating her skin flashes in my head, making me wince. “This room was a mess, so I can’t imagine what the rest of the house looks like.”
Lucy sighs. “Ari, they’ve been through the whole house. Do you know what they were looking for?”
“No, I don’t, but whatever it was, they were ready to take me to the Underworld for it.” I sigh, moving to sit in the armchair by the fire. I lower my head into my hands again, so many questions and no one to answer them.
“Whatever it was they were looking for, they were going to take me with or without it.” I shrug, “My aunt was killed because of it.” My eyes find Lucy, but she appears to be deep in thought. “Luce?”
She looks up, sighing deeply, before she speaks. “They must have killed May because she knew what they were looking for. Did they giveanyclue as to what it was?”
I shake my head as my breathing speeds up.There’s too much to think about and with thinking comes feelings, with feelings come with panic attacks these days.
Lucy stands up and wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me close. “We’ll work it out, Ari.”
