Page 48 of Above (Darkness Reigns #1)

Unlike the sister—potentially—the mother was eager to offer her hand in hello.

I tried to focus. To remember all I had been taught that the fog of liquor tried to hide.

Dipping low to grab her hand, I placed my free arm behind my back and brought our joined hands to my lips, offering the slightest ghost of a kiss to the back of hers and tasting Little Void’s salty tears.

“It is most wonderful to meet you, Mrs. Tershetta.” The quick change in stance made me dizzy, and I feared I would vomit if I didn’t stand upright.

So, though it wasn’t proper, I stood, smiling down at the woman.

Her cheeks had turned a violent red, the blood rushing to them and showing through her nearly translucent skin. “My name is Az.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you too, Az. I’ve never met one of Nova’s friends before.

” Never? How old was the akhata? Surely she had friends.

My gaze flicked to her, and I realized instantly that she was exactly the sort to never have a friend.

Even easy pickings like eadi. “Speaking of which, what on Dajahim are you doing home? We didn’t expect you for another month. ”

“We can talk more inside, Mama. I have a bit of a dilemma with… Az .” So odd hearing her say my name.

If her mother knew what the so-called dilemma was, she didn’t elude to it.

Instead she nodded, grabbed Tershetta and I by the arms, and pulled us past the threshold of the house.

Inside, I was met with the awful sight of peeling paint and what had to be mold on the ceiling.

The entryway was the size of a closet, barely a nook.

Only four wooden hooks decorated the wall, the stench of wet shoes strong.

Was this a home or a prison? My stars.

“You can keep your boots on if you want, we shouldn’t be here for long,” Tershetta whispered to me as her mother darted into the room to our left.

The Tershetta look-a-like continued to stare me down, refusing to move by the look of it.

Tershetta seemed to notice, because she groaned and waved toward her. “Also, this is my sister, Celeste.”

“Funny, Nova has never mentioned you in any of her letters.”

“How rude of her,” I retorted, taking off my cloak and hanging it on a hook, closely followed by my boots. I wasn’t a heathen.

“Just come on,” Tershetta said, her hand wrapping around mine and tugging me through the arched opening her mother had gone through.

An unmistakable shock shot up my arm, making my chest stir.

Had she just done something to me with her magic?

I felt fine, if not flustered. My head was spinning, but that was the liquor.

She didn’t look as if she were in pain, though I could see that the hairs on her exposed wrist were standing up.

“We have more than enough stew for everyone!” her mother chimed, clapping her hands together as she bent over and stirred something in a large black pot.

It hung within a hearth, the stones cracking and faded.

“Nova, whip up a tonic for Az. I brought some herbs home from the apothecary today, so we should have everything in the cabinet.”

“How can she tell I’m drunk?” I asked Tershetta, bending low to whisper the words into her ear. She shivered, letting go of my hand and stepping away from me. Cocking a brow, she eyed me.

“You are delusional if you think we can’t see you stumble and hear you slurring.

Plus, your breathing is so loud the neighbors could hear it.

” With that, she walked away, moving to open one of the wooden cabinets below the matching countertop.

It was such a small space. Where did they store everything?

“I’ll bring Az down to my lab so he can help me. ”

Again with my name, the single syllable slipping form her lips like a sweet curse.

“Nonsense! He can stay up here with us. It would be rude to make him work in his state. Now get going,” Mrs. Tershetta insisted, shewing her daughter away.

“No, I really think he should come with me.”

“Excuse me? Are you talking back to your mother?”

Terrshetta stared at her mother, large eyes somehow growing and her down turned lips parting. She looked ready to argue, but her mother only put one hand on her hip and used the other to point at the small hallway. I held back a laugh, but was unable to hide my smirk when Little Void looked my way.

Scoffing, she made her way to me and pushed onto her toes, mouth nearly against my jaw as she wrapped her arms around my neck. I froze, a bewildering sensation flittering through my stomach.

What was she doing?

“If you so much as look at them wrong, I swear to the stars that I’ll spend the rest of my life hunting you down until you’re dead at my feet.”

Then she released me from the feigned hug and flashed me her middle finger.

Stomping toward the hall, she promptly summoned a door and escaped inside, looking as if she were prepared to run.

Was I so drunk that I just imagined Tershetta cloaking?

How could an akhata do something like that without being taught?

A loud thumping began from further down the hallway, a strained cough lingering in the stale air.

From the shadows appeared a man, his hair made up of the same thick and winding curls as Tershetta’s, the shade noticeably darker.

But it wasn’t his sallow skin or hollow eyes that had me nearly choking on said air. It was the chair.

I had never in my entire life seen someone who couldn’t walk.

It wasn’t something that happened to people.

At least, not to shaytan. But there he was, his legs thin from disuse, his arms shoving his wheels forward to propel the chair.

His eyes, which were the same liquid honey of Tershetta’s, locked on mine instantly.

“Who is this, my love?” he asked, wheeling toward his flustered wife. She smiled, leaning down and placing a lingering kiss on his lips. Only in that moment was I free of his stare.

“This is Az, he’s Nova’s friend.” I heard the way she said friend. How she seemingly cooed the word. Without a doubt, Mrs. Tershetta thought I was her daughter’s lover.

Maybe it was the alcohol that coursed through my system, or perhaps it was the odd sensation of being around her family, but the disturbing sight of Tershetta atop me flashed across my mind. The sound of her moans and arch of her back there and gone. A blink of time that had me losing my balance.

“Are you okay?” Celeste asked, suspicion drenching the words and making them heavy as her hand reluctantly reached out to steady me. She continued to glare my way, her grip tight. I nodded, feeling queasy. I needed to get out of this madhouse.

“Nova’s here? Where? And why did she bring him?” the man asked, sounding just as suspicious as Celeste.

“He’s a bit out of sorts,” Mrs. Tershetta told who I assumed was her husband. “Nova is brewing him a tonic.”

He nodded, though I could see in his eyes the same inquisitive nature as Tershetta.

“Nova said they are celebrating some sort of success at the academy, Dad, which is why she has the chance to come home,” Celeste added, her voice full of distrust and suspicion. “I guess Az here had a tad too much fun.”

Oh yes, the lie. Focus.

I could charm them and be done with this. I had done so with all of our eadi servants back in the castle. Though, they were also raped, beaten, starved, and killed, so the bar was low. But I could manage.

“You have such a lovely home, sir,” I chimed in, walking over to him and offering my hand.

He, like his daughters, was inherently skeptical, staring at my hand before shaking it firmly.

I watched as his eyes caught on my shadow marks, the glower obvious.

“I apologize for intruding. I’m not usually such a mess. ”

“We’re glad to meet one of Nova’s friends,” Mr. Tershetta said, his deep voice unconvincing as he made his way to the long wooden table in the center of the kitchen.

Did they not have a formal dining room? “Please, sit, we’re eager to hear more about Nova’s time in Elite Academy. She’s been horribly vague about it.”

Odd. She seemed like she would be quick to brag about her survival and growing success. Why not? She was likely the most interesting part of her family. “Well, she’s learning quickly and moving toward the top of our class.”

Where such a statement came from, I didn’t know.

But I found myself wanting to say more. To discuss what they thought of her being shaytan.

To understand how they could justify allowing their daughter to even pray for magic.

I wanted to ask so many things, but I feared my mind was convincing me it was fine simply because I was inebriated.

So instead I followed Celeste to the table, opting to pull out their mother’s chair and help push her in.

She let out a low giggle, which her husband scoffed at.

That left only three seats open. One between Celeste and Mr. Tershetta, and then the two on the north end of the table.

I felt the way the three of them stared at me, waiting for my choice.

But really, there wasn’t one. So I walked around Mrs. Tershetta and sat down in the seat next to hers.

She was the least hostile of the group, at least.

“Okay, it’s ready!” Tershetta shouted as she burst through the once hidden door.

Everyone turned, watching as she held up a clear vial with some sort of dirt brown liquid inside, her face damp from sweat and her eyes manically assessing the scene.

At her feet was an oddly small black cat, the creature twirling around her ankles like it was performing.

“Let me give this to him and take him back to the academy, then I’ll come right back! ”

“Nonsense!” her mother shouted, waving a hand to dismiss the thought. “Az deserves a nice meal to help wash down that tonic. Plus, I’m not letting a friend of yours get away that easily. Now sit down and eat.”

“But Mama–”

“Sit,” Mrs. Tershetta demanded, leveling a glare her daughter’s way.

Groaning, Tershetta stomped toward us, her eyes darting across the table. She thought in silence, her steps slowing. What was going through her mind, I didn’t know, but whatever conclusion she came to had her making her way around the table and pulling out the chair next to mine.

Swiftly I got up, grabbing the back of the chair and holding it steady while she sat.

Her face of disgust stole a chuckle from my lips, which only left her mother sighing wistfully.

In the back of my mind, I wondered what they would think when they found out the man they fed and took care of killed their daughter.