Page 85 of Broken Obsession

“Did you come running because you were worried about me?” He tried to hide his smile, but Eden saw it anyway. “I thought you’d avoid me.”

“You made it pretty clear I can’t avoid you.”

“I thought you’d be angry then.”

“I am angry.”

“But you still came to check on me.”

“Lucifer?”

“Yes?”

“Care to explain to me what this is?” Eden pointed a finger at the drawing, specifically at the odd shape sketched behind the bowl holding the fruit. He’d been working on an apple when Eden had arrived, so the figure had obviously been an early addition, but…

He doubted there’d been a legitimate shadowy figure posing for him.

Maybe he wasn’t fracturing entirely, but it was clear Ares wasn’t as unaffected as he made it seem.

Chapter 19:

When had he drawn Father?

Ares glanced down at the stack of discarded pages on the floor to his left, checking to make sure he’d turned them over when placing them there. Sure enough, no one could see the sides where he’d drawn Mother in thick charcoal strokes. When had that been? A couple of hours ago?

He’d skipped his first class with Fisher, coming straight here instead. There’d been another group led by some TA a half hour ago, but they hadn’t interfered with him, so he’d ignored them. They’d left the bowl of fruit behind, and he’d only just decided to switch to still life to distract himself.

This morning had been a setback. A mistake. It was too soon to make threats like that. He’d risked scaring the Starling off, and if Eden ran…

“You’re the one who wanted honesty.” Ares stopped drawing, took a breath. That wasn’t the right thing to say either.

“Lucifer,” Eden set a hand on his shoulder. “Focus. I’m asking you what that is. Why did you draw that?”

“Father used to call me the perfect specimen.” He stared at the smudged outline of the shadowy figure. “I had the best constitution, that’s why it had to be me. When I wasn’tenough, Mother brought Zar, but he didn’t bend the way I did. He struggled too much. Fought back. Father didn’t like that. Whenever I step off the correct path, he turns that disappointment on me.”

Eden was quiet for a moment and then asked, “Are you seeing him now?”

He glanced over at the empty space by the fruit bowl. “No.”

“But you saw him earlier?”

“He left as soon as you arrived. I don’t think he likes seeing us together.” Probably didn’t enjoy having to watch Ares screw Eden into oblivion. Was that proof that wherever he was, Father could see him back? Perhaps.

Perhaps not.

“Was he…here because of this morning?” Eden questioned.

Ares risked glancing up at him, finding the Starling's expression unreadable. “I don’t like that we fought. I don’t like that I felt cornered into saying those things to you.”

He scowled. “It isn’t my fault you said those things, Lucifer. You’re responsible for your own actions.”

“I’m aware.”

“Then don’t make it sound like the blame is on me.”

“That isn’t how I meant it.” How did he put it in a way that it could be understood? “Father used to call me the perfect specimen,” he repeated. “Until he stopped. Until I wasn’t so perfect anymore. By the time they realized what was happening, that the seams of our reality were shredding, it was already too late. The most they could do was halt the experiments to try and come up with a way around it.”

Those had been the best four days of Ares’ life.