Page 47 of Above (Darkness Reigns #1)

Azazel

“How is it that in a world full of people, I still feel so fucking lonely?”

T ershetta’s house was far worse than I could have imagined. It was smaller than my room in Castle Altair, not to mention it was crumbling and cracking, as if ready to implode.

Stumbling due to my lack of focus, I did my best to right myself, not eager to look a fool even if it was just the akhata who would see.

I had drank double what I normally did, and the haze in my head was causing me to feel disjointed.

It was as if my mind was thinking one thing but my mouth was saying another.

To combat the confusion and utter helplessness, I took another swig of the whiskey in my pocket, the coal black flask not easy to spot in the darkness around us.

In fact, I was utterly perplexed by such an unsettling blackness.

Where were the lights? The sounds? The people?

I dared to attempt tech, demanding the silver magic show me the clock in my barracks room.

The image came quickly, though it shook and shimmered from my lack of focus.

It was only half past nine, and yet no one was around.

Shaking the magic off my hand, I took another gulp.

“A candle is burning, which means they’re awake,” Tershetta groaned, wiping something I couldn’t see off her face.

Wait, no, that wasn’t right. She was odd.

A perpetually stressed person from what I could tell.

She often flinched and fidgeted, constantly moving and thinking.

How Talon could stand to be around her was beyond me, but it was obvious she had a plethora of nervous habits.

“Did everyone in this odd little village die recently?” I asked, my words slurring now. I had been smart enough not to take drinks in front of her, but she was sure to notice I was growing more intoxicated. Or maybe I was playing it off well.

“Stars, have you been drinking since I found you?” she asked, her voice shrill. Then she stepped toward me, her hands tugging on my hideous plain clothing from the sad excuse of a shop. She slipped her hands into the button up shirt, her warm fingers feeling as if they burned my icy skin.

“Personal space!” I shouted, shoving her off me. She only seemed to grow more determined as I attempted to fight her off, her hands quickly searching my body until she found my flask in the pocket of my now dry cloak. Damn her.

“You’re absolutely idiotic, do you know that?

” she asked incredulously as she held out the flask.

I attempted to swipe it out of her hand, but the world suddenly spun, and I was stumbling.

She caught me, likely more to prevent her own embarrassment rather than save me.

Still, it wasn’t a great feeling to owe her any sort of debt, or even gratitude.

“Last I checked, I was fairly smart, thank you very much,” I murmured into her hair. She smelled like herbs and cool breezes. A forest in the fall beneath the veil of darkness. Without thinking, I sniffed deeper, welcoming the scent into my body as my fingers tangled into her hair.

Palms met my chest, and then I was stumbling back, her boiling honey eyes demeaning me. Stars, I was drunk.

“Sure, Altair. Now focus, okay? You will not say anything rude or prejudiced in front of my family. You will not attempt to hurt them. And you will not, under any circumstances, tell them who you are. Call yourself Az, but don’t share your last name with them.

They cannot know who you are. Do you understand? ”

No, I didn’t. But I still nodded slowly. Yes, the world was definitely spinning. Tershetta groaned, the sound guttural, and then stepped toward me again. Her arm wrapped around my waist, steadying me.

“Great. We’re going to go inside, probably be forced to eat with them, then I’ll take you down to my lab, give you a tonic, and get us both home. Okay?”

This time, I did understand. And I was not about to agree.

“Absolutely not,” I argued, trying to stand on my own. She let me, this time stepping away as I swayed. “I will not be dining with a bunch of eadi like some animal.”

With that, I promptly tripped, fell to my knees, and vomited. The acid-like liquid burned its way up my throat, pouring out of my mouth and nose.

“Good luck finding a way home then,” Tershetta gloated, turning on her heel and heading up the stairs to her shack of a home. When I was done, my head pounding to a war drum and my insides raw, I wiped the sweat off my forehead and stood.

“Fine, I’ll be good,” I vowed. She smiled, her bright teeth shining in the light of the candle that lit her home.

Her hand lifted before I could blink, the burning sensation of magic sizzling against my skin making me more nauseous.

When she had finished healing me from a few feet away—an abysmal attempt if the ache in my smashed nose was any sign—Tershetta nodded and turned.

“Excellent, now come on.” Before I made it up the steps, she was knocking, bouncing on her toes like a child on their birthday. Eadi were so very odd. It was only a few moments until footsteps could be heard from inside, a lock clicking followed by the door swinging open.

A woman that looked remarkably similar to Tershetta was there, her brown trousers stained and her pale pink shirt worn.

Her hair was above her shoulders, sporting the same curls as Tershetta, but her face showed clear signs of age, small wrinkles and slightly sagging skin making me aware of just how mortal they were.

“Starlight?”

“Heavens!” Tershetta screamed, leaping into the woman’s arms. Her mother, perhaps? I couldn’t remember how old eadi usually were when they had children.

“What are you doing home?” The woman asked, grabbing Tershetta’s cheeks and staring at her as if checking for abnormalities. While I was fairly certain the akhata looked the same, the woman seemed to disagree. “You’ve changed so much.”

“I know, but I wanted to come home and see you all. We had a…short day. We’re celebrating our progress, and I thought I’d come home for dinner.” What were we celebrating? I couldn’t remember anything exciting.

No, she was lying. Peeking up from Tershetta’s swirled hands, the woman gave her a skeptical look. Ah, she knew a liar when she heard one. But then her eyes caught sight of me, and I found that I was far less intrigued by the deep grey of hers. They were off, somehow. Unsettling.

Don’t vomit, Az. Have some decorum.

I was definitely going to vomit.

“So you brought some random man with you to see your family?” The woman stepped away from Tershetta, the loving moment gone as tension thickened the air. Seemed that even eadi hated one another. Lovely.

“That’s not what happened. My”—she seemed to choke on the next word, her shoulders rolling back—“ friend was having a bit too much fun, and I didn’t want him to get hurt, so I figured I’d bring him just to get a tonic in his system. He’ll leave as soon as he’s sober.”

Twice she called me friend tonight. She must have been close to a stroke by now. The thought brought a smile to my face, and suddenly, I was more than ready to play my part. Stepping forward, my foot slipping slightly, I reached out my hand.

“Hello, my name is Az. It’s lovely to make your acquaintance.” The woman only stared at my hand, her lip curling in disgust as she crossed her arms. Had I slurred the words? Was it my hideous clothes? Did I not fully wipe off the blood on my face?

“Can we come in now, please?” Tershetta asked, her voice turning almost shrill. How much more obvious of a liar could she be?

“Celeste, who’s at the door?” came a lovely and soothing voice from somewhere in the house. In moments the door was swinging open further, revealing the source.

A woman with light blonde hair that had become slightly grey at the roots stood before me.

Her pale skin was wrinkling on her forehead and at the corners of her soft grey eyes.

She had a wide smile and a startlingly thin frame, as if she were terribly unwell.

She wore equally worn and old clothing, but hers were so big they hung low on her bony frame.

“My Starlight!” she shouted, jumping forward and wrapping her arms around Tershetta.

I watched in bafflement as the woman burst into tears, holding on so tight it must have hurt.

Tershetta at first didn’t react, the surprise evident, but soon she too was crying softly, her arms securing around the small woman.

“Hi, Mama.” Ah, her mother. Then was the other woman her sister? They looked alike, but that didn’t always mean much. Mother said all eadi were similar in appearance, and I so rarely looked at their kind.

At their backs, Celeste—her sister?—glared my way, not so much as blinking.

What was with her?

Had I gotten vomit on my shirt? Or worse…was my hair a mess?

I quickly reached up, knocking my hood fully off and righting the strands. Celeste’s eyes grew wide, shock stretching her face. But the surprise lasted only seconds, followed closely by suspicion.

“Nice hair,” she seethed.

Somewhere in my mind, a little voice screamed the word trap . Tershetta had said they weren’t to know who I was. While I was loathe to listen to an akhata, I didn’t have many other choices to make. So I shrugged, leaving my hood off and remaining calm.

“I pay good coin for the bleach.”

As if our conversation had suddenly drawn attention to my presence, Nova and her mother broke apart, facing me.

“I am so sorry for my rudeness,” their mother said. She wiped Tersehtta’s tears with the back of her hands, heaving a deep breath and smiling wide. “My name is Octavia, I’m Nova’s mother.”