Page 54 of Blackheart

My dark hair was unruly after being washed in the river, and although my sweater was new, it was very plain.

My sharp and narrow features had once again fallen into a resting face of misery. Usually Luna reminded me to soften my expression. Now I had to start reminding myself.

“What can I make for you?” the woman asked, poking her head up behind me. She was elegant, wearing an emerald green gown with intricate black lace. Her hair was braided from the roots, falling down into curls. She was gorgeous.

I had no reason in my life to be gorgeous.

“I’m leaving in the morning. I want something warm, maybe a cloak to go over what I have? Black is suitable, if you have the time.”

She eyed my outfit while nodding and rubbing her chin. “I’ll see what I can do.”

By the time she was done taking my measurements, she offered me three pastries and sent me on my way with a loaf of bread as well.

She probably thought I was wasting away. The food in the Waywards hadn’t been enjoyable beyond a means for survival. I wasn’t muscular at all, more so a frame of whatever fat my body could hold on to and an enclosure for the darkness inside of me.

Next, I stopped by a feed store to secure treats for Kostini, but the third stop was by far the most daunting.

A weapons shop.

I prayed to the Mother that the stone club I so heavily admired was inside and not just part of Zain’s twisted illusion. It hadn’t been gold and ugly like everything else. It was unique.

I reached into my pocket, feeling the weight of my remaining coin. I didn’t know much about the price of such things, but it should have been enough.

Inside the stone shop, a woman, blonde and petite, cleaned a blade. She smiled and set the sword on the counter. “My wife said you’d be stopping by.”

“Your wife?”

She pointed to a crocheted sun on the wall. “Sitara. Are you looking for a sword?”

She pushed her shoulder-length curls away from her face and gestured to the edged blades.

I half-heartedly smiled. “No, a club that was on the Warlock’s display. It had a thin black handle with a flat stone at the end and a violet gem in the center. Do you know where I might find it? I can pay for it.”

I hadn’t been able to say that in a long time.

“It’s interesting you want that one,” she said as she crouched down, rummaging behind the counter.

I lifted onto my toes, but couldn’t see what she was grabbing. “Why is that?”

She popped back up. “Because it was left here by a Blackheart.”

Sitara’s wife dropped a narrow black box on the counter. The casing had a silver outline of a bladebreather on top, all four of its legs visible, with grand feathered wings and scales lining its body. The box was still closed, but the stone club called to me, its energy singing through the walls of its enclosure.

Sitara’s wife sighed. “Her name was Viviana. She loved this thing. I was surprised she left it behind.” She opened the lid, revealing the unique weapon.

“I don’t want to take it from someone else,” I said. Even if it were perfect, it wouldn’t feel right.

She slid the box closer. “She’s not coming back. It’s been many years since anyone has heard from Viviana. She would want it to go to another Blackheart.”

Take me with you,the club seemed to say as the violet gem glimmered against the soft light from the window.

“How much do you want for it?” I pulled my coin pouch out of my sagging pocket, setting it on the counter.

“It is not mine to sell. Consider it a gift from your own kind. Viviana would want that.”

Her eyes softened, lips tight. If she was certain that Viviana would want me to have it, then who was I to refuse?

“Thank you.”