Page 149 of Cold-Blooded Creatures

Living in the exile

Strange moonlight

Drowns the firelight

Smoke curling our souls

Until no one controls

Our screamsin the shadows

Swallowed by the meadows

Pain of tomorrow

Today’s sorrow

We callfor the gods

With our lives at odds

Sail from the stars

Become our scars

Scorch the land

Upon our command

Blood and bones

Our tombstones

“What was that?”I whispered, not daring to disturb the silence enshrouding us in a comforting blanket.

Damia smiled lovingly at her daughter. “It’s a song I used to sing to Nara when she was little. My father taught me it. But everyone knows it. It’s something we have carried on with us from the past.”

Malaya murmured something to Nara, and she threw her head back, laughing, just like before, just like her mother.

“Would it be okay if Malaya moved here?” I asked warily, hoping she’d agree. “After the birth, I mean. The baby would probably stay with us.”

“Of course. She’ll always have a place here, like anyone willing to come,” Damia assured so warmly the weight on my chest eased.

Eagerly nodding along to a story Nara was sharing, Malaya appeared to be at ease. Happy.

A moment of that was all you could get in this world, but it was worth everything.

And I was going to fight for mine.

48

KALI

Snuggling in my cocoon of fluffiness, I pulled the duvet up to my chin. Damia had provided me with the softest bedsheets and a mattress to die for. Or perhaps the twenty-six years I’d spent in the city had crippled my joints bad enough for them to rejoice in the tiniest bit of comf?—

A hand clamped over my mouth.

It muffled my scream as my eyes bugged out. The fallen night drenched the room, obscuring whoever had crawled on top of me in my sleep.