Page 213 of Incompatible

The way he says it, with the emphasis, sends a chill down my spine. One word, yet it carries so much. I turn my head andglance toward Mark Ferguson dancing with poor Jared, and my heart tightens. That boy has endured far too much.

Jared is smiling with that innocent hope of someone dreaming of a better future without noticing how many stumbles might wait for him.

Is that hope making him blind?

The music fades, and I walk Ennio back to the table, feeling awful.

"Thank you for the dance," I say politely, giving a small curtsy because that is what etiquette requires; the one who issued the invitation should offer thanks.

I lift my gaze, and my eyes meet the strange mismatched eyes of the omega with the silvery hair.

They stare at me with such intense focus that I freeze for a heartbeat. Suddenly he spits out one word, a terrifying one I know too well from my darkest thoughts.

"Revenant!"

Now every eye turns toward him.

"Don’t… don’t come close! Anzo, don’t let him touch you!"

"Are you alright, Moon?" Anzo Ferro asks, leaning in slightly with a puzzled glance.

"He’s an undead. A revenant. An energy vampire!"

Anzo gives him a strange look. "What do you mean by that?" He cannot be taking him seriously. No one takes words like that seriously, right?

"I should probably go," I blurt out in a nearly apologetic tone. I can only imagine how red my face must be. Most people get embarrassed when someone accuses them of lying or cheating or scheming, but here I am feeling ashamed because someone accused me of…? Being what, exactly? An undead?

The others at the table look at Moon with amusement or mild pity. Young Eliano in particular seems delighted by whathe just heard. I cannot blame him, it does sound completely fantastical, so I quickly say,

"Playing undead is always my first choice in every video game. Excellent intuition," I add with a friendly smile toward Anzo and Moon.

Eliano leans toward Moon slightly and mutters, "Last time it was a fallen angel and now it’s a revenant? Where do you even get these ideas from?"

Yup, not sticking around for that conversation. After another small curtsy, I slip away as quickly as I can.

But as I walk away, I almost regret it.

Because for the first time I meet someone who knows something about me that is actually true.

True?

The question is whether I want to follow that truth at all, the ugly version I already rejected, the one I dismissed while talking to Lake, almost accusing him in my mind of making things up.

Well, one thing I do know is that this is not something that should ever surface in casual conversations with strangers. Especially thugs from the mafia, duh.

But it is still there, vivid and sharp in my mind, the damn fact that I am different, that I once took another man’s life force.

With a frown, I go back to Kay’s table, even though Moon’s eyes keep following me across the full length of the banquet hall.

When I sit down again, I notice Maurice’s outraged stare on me. He looks at me with barely hidden disgust and makes sure to place himself between me and Kay, a living wall meant to keep my dirt from spilling onto his innocent beloved.

"You know those people?"

"I only met Ennio once, when he helped me in a very difficult situation and saved the life of someone close to me."

Maurice and Kay both fall silent, and for the rest of the wedding celebration we do not speak at all. They see me as aleper, and maybe rightly so. I am one of those people who can no longer claim to stand fully on the side of good.

Nuances, nuances.