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“Did the blue-eyed one get what he needed? Must’ve left real late.”

We have a staring contest. Me, scowling, and him, grinning with his self-righteous bullshit.

“Thanks, as always, Cam.” I pat his head, and he grunts.

Stafford came by about Kate, and that could only mean that he’d found something out, or he knows I have the book. He asked if anyone has been around, which is also weird. It could also be a warning, but he would have to know that I would seek him out. He wouldn’t have come to find me if not. Briefly, I consider the possibility that Aedon has ulterior motives, but if that was true, he would have already killed me or abducted me. Just like I told Vivian.

I sit at my kitchen table thinking through my options. If he came here looking for me, surely I could stop by to see Staff at the pub. What’s the difference? Something about it gnaws at me. No one here knows about Kate. Staff carelessly throwing her name around to the town gossip is the worst way he could go about this. I burned her alive. It only means that someone stopped by to see him again, or that it’s important.

The book shoved in the back of my closet feels like a curse. I still haven’t told him I have it. I’m not sure what he would do if he knew. Vivian was adamant that I don’t. There are still too many unknowns. He might connect me to it, and I don’t know what it means. I would also have to show him my scars. At this point, Kate may have carved me up herself in some strange witchy ritual.

Around and around, I go in my head until night falls.

I long to go see Aedon again. I’m not sure he’ll want to see me after he left while I was sleeping. He’s addictive with his charm and wit, but he did tell me he’s interested in me and then took care of me. The idea forms in my mind before I have a chance to think it through. I run to the closet and grab the duffel. I’m not ready to tell Stafford about my discovery, but keeping the thing here feels like asking for trouble.

Aedon has seen my scars and the box. He hasn’t even brought it up that they match. I don’t think he’s stupid enough not to have noticed. The man is reserved, but he also says he’s obsessed with me. I don’t even have to tell him what’s in the bag. He might not even be there. I can hide it, and no one will be the wiser.

Laughter wafts in from the open window. Another night of revelry. The Remnant will celebrate any occasion and tonight being the full moon is always cause for celebration. Aedon had said the revelry sounded fun. He was right. It is fun. I miss my people. To be honest, I miss my village in the Republic. I miss Kate, even if she was crazy. Hell, I miss my sister. Most of all, I miss Killian. He was my best friend.

I want Aedon to show up and make me stop missing it all so much, but if he came here into the open it would be like a feeding frenzy. Since he isn’t Remnant it would be my personal nightmare. It would glue me to him, and we haven’t even defined anything. There’s nothing to define. Vivian bringing Bella in front of everyone had been an ordeal within itself, and she had Staff backing her. Add in the fact that Aedon works for Hades, and he might be killed on the spot.

I swear I’m going to marry you.

Something people mistakenly say during the throes of pleasure. I’ve never been someone’s girlfriend before, and I’m not the type you bring home to your mother unless you want to scare her. I push it off to the side. A ridiculous thought. A mistake is all I could be. Someone you keep hidden just like Killian did. And just like that all of the missing I secretly do has been cast aside.

If I do go down there, I’ll get to see some of my friends again.

Since Vivian left, I’ve avoided everyone. It also turns out my reputation is full of blood, not that I mind. It was always frowned upon that I worked with Stafford, but no one could say it to my face. I don’t think they hate me. I’m one of them, but it’s difficult to show my face now that I’ve avoided it for so long.

To clear my head and feel a little more human, I decide to join the party outside. Cam sits in his chair, watching the celebrations unfolding in front of him.

His eyes are glossy with ale. “Oye, Mizz Jozie, finally come to join?”

“I have,” I say anxiously.

Unlike Vivian I have no grace. I’m not social, and I can’t easily make conversation. Cam knows this.

“Josie?” Fiona, Caleb’s wife, shouts. The crowd pauses for a moment before erupting into shouts of acceptance. People run over and drag me in, battering me with coos of praise and confirmation that I’ve been noticeably missed.

The moon overhead bathes us in its magical light. Ale is shoved into my hands with a bowl of delicious smelling stew and a turkey drum. We mingle around splintered wooden picnic tables. As soon as I’m seated, I’m overwhelmed by the gossiping group of wives. My own personal torture.

“How’s Vivian?” Fiona is absorbed by her own question. The others around me puppet her.

“She’s well. I know you’ve been by to see her.”

Fiona is probably the only woman with no objection to leaving our community. She doesn’t approve of the rest of Asphodel, but she also seems like she understands our position in this city. That the world outside of our community exists whether we want it to or not.

The bowl of stew is gone in minutes. I didn’t realize I was starving for a good homemade meal. I haven’t eaten since Aedon made me dinner. It’s salty and the vegetables from our community garden are cooked perfectly.

“Tell her we miss her.” Another wife pats me on the shoulder in a show of pity. Family is valued in our culture. In their eyes, this was a drastic loss of it. They see it as me being abandoned and left alone when I hardly had anything to begin with.

“I’m surprised she hasn’t been ‘round,” one clucks.

“She’s probably workin’ at that infirmary,” a third adds. They all nod in agreement.

“Such a kind heart, that one.”

“A beautiful soul.”