It felt odd to go to his room without him home.
Jane's early rustling woke me as I drowsed in the sitting room. It took everything in me to not carry the pendant everywhere; it now snug beneath the double layers of my mattress. Ezekiel advised me to be wary of the finish, the sharp sting still fresh in the room. I set the book back down with the stack on the dresser. If he didn't return soon, I would have to start exploring out of boredom. There was nothing new I could gather from the tomes, and I was chomping at the bit for anything with an ounce of storytelling.
My window was still barred in my room, and I frowned as I looked under my bed, trying to find Luther. Rhazien had seemed unbothered by it, but I heard the cars on the street during dusk, and I knew they were no match for a distracted feline. I chewed the inside of my cheek, deciding on prodding Rhazien in the morning.
I changed for the night, regretfully choosing a silky baby doll. With my curves returning, the fabric was starting to snag on my hips and bust, limiting my options by the night.
It was like an itch, and I found myself pacing, my gaze drifting back to my door, waiting to hear the front one unlock. It felt like my Beast was being stretched and drawn by the hum smothered underneath my mattress and Rhazien's return, the former siren's call winning as I regretfully tucked in for the evening.
֍ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ֍
The dull knock stirred me awake, groaning and rubbing the crust from my eyes, the small curse from the other side of my door hurrying my feet to answer it. Rhazien's hair was ruffled, and his shirt seemed rumpled; the combination made my stomach solidify, my ribs pinching my lungs as I sucked in. He looked like he hadn't slept, the hollows of his eyes unwavering in a frown as he examined his hand, a brown smear on his knuckles.
"Oh, yeah. Ezekiel said–" Rhazien grumbled, pushing past me in a huff, the sink turning on before I could blink. "Yes. Of course, you can come on in. Good morning to you, too."
Rhazien grunted from my bathroom, the sound desperate as he struggled with the stain.
I leaned against the doorway, watching his attempt, a sound from the hall stiffening my spine, dropping my voice, "What's with you?"
Rhazien spoke through gritted teeth, "We have a guest."
I heard then the tinkling of a glass being filled in the receiving room.
I held my gasp, pushing into the bathroom with him, my movements slow as I shut the door silently, immediately regretting how close I stood to him. My knees went weak with relief when I observed that the wrinkles were from long-term wear, not re-dressing; my breath catching as he reached for the towel behind me.
His blue swallowed my skin greedily in his scan, a flush creeping up his features as I crossed my arms, trying to avoid the shiver in my thighs that ignited from the movement.
I forced myself to swallow, huffing as I looked back to the door. "A friendly guest?"
"You could say that." His words were tight, his features set like marble. Rhazien started to splash his face, the water drowning out his voice from prying ears, or at least human ones. "I need you to be on your best behavior."
I hissed through my teeth, "I don't think I'm the one that's been annoying your acquaintances recently." I snatched the towel before he could take it, the water dripping down his cheeks and curling his beard. The corner of his mouth dipped in a frown.
"Now is not the time for you to throw a fit."
This fucking guy.
"Trust me, this isn't a fit." My hand hovered over the door, his eyes widening. "Do you want me to show you what one looks like?"
Rhazien's growl of surrender had me handing him the towel to wipe his face.
I continued in a rushed whisper, "I want honesty from you. I'm not doing this whole you 'just not telling me stuff, so I secretly fuck up' thing– Or whatever else goads the God damn superiority complex you have." I hissed, his face flushing. If it weren't for the fact that I had just woken, I would have thought his cheeks were filling out, the bags lightening their purple into a yellow that more easily blended against his tan skin.
"It's Estelle."
My arms felt heavy, the minutes only growing longer as the Warden was kept waiting.
I couldn't stop thinking of the papers. The papers he didn't know I read.
My hands broke out into a cold sweat. Rhazien huffing in satisfaction as if finally finding my reaction worthwhile. The jolt as he brushed past me causing me to finally look up at him.
"Like I said... Best Behavior."
֍ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ֍
I tried to still the hammering of my heart; my cheeks pinched at the smile that drew them. My Beast was restless with my anxiety, and it took everything in me to keep my teeth hidden as the onslaught of freshly poured vitae filled my nostrils.
I was skipping breakfast for this.
Estelle's dark eyes found me immediately, her smile radiant as it pushed her high cheekbones. She was dressed more casually, in a navy wrap suit that complimented her cool pale skin. Sat before the window, poised and perfect, the crystal next to her stained dark red, the smell sweet enough to make my mouth water, even from a distance.
Rhazien's clap startled me, my flush surging at how casual my attire was forced to be compared to the two Elders.
"Ah, there she is." My Sire stood, my eyes trained on the graceful woman before me.
Estelle radiated raw power, the movement so fluid it seemed animated as she stood. I flushed at the sharp fangs that were long in her mouth, saber-like and pencil-thin.
She held the airs of another of the ancients, stiff and too far removed from regular humanity, as she stuck out a hand. "The woman we've been waiting for." There was a twinkle in her eye as I bowed my head, taking her hand's palm gently and kissing the tips of her fingers in respect. She smiled wide, though her high cheekbones swallowed the joy. Dangerously beautiful. "So well trained," She chittered, looking back to Rhazien, who stood his eyes bugged by my gesture. Her words held a lilt of warning as she spoke of caution, "My advice? Don't perform that display of respect in front of our Prince." Her rich brown eyes crinkling in amusement like a demigod.
Her hand was cold as she pulled it back from my grasp, Rhazien's voice clearing the air from my stunned silence. "River, it is my absolute pleasure to properly introduce you to our Arlox Warden, Estelle." Rhazien gestured towards us, the woman's tight pin straight ponytail swinging with the bob of her head in a short bow.
Something about her made my toes freeze against the carpet, that chill slithering around my throat, making my words choke, driving the fire on my cheeks to burn hotter, "My apologies for any misinterpretation, Ma'am. I've been stuck here with only books for company for several weeks now."
Her thin smile grew, looking at my Sire through short lashes, the tilt of her head making my 250-year-old vampire Daddy blush in embarrassment. "He does us a disservice, your Master, keeping the hottest news in gossip locked away all for himself."
I understood how she earned her position as the Warden, the way her eyes didn't seem to miss anything, scanning knowingly between Rhazien and me. She challenged my Sire for height, turning in an ankle-booted heel to pour a full glass from a decanter I now realized was separate from the one Rhazien was drinking from. I could feel him bristle in the room, every movement of his making me so painfully aware of how dangerous this game was.
'Any kindred found sheltering these transgressors will face immediate termination.'
Fuckity-fuck-fuck.
Estelle held the glass before me, the liquid darker and more viscous than the shallow pool in Rhazien's. The scent was sweet enough to make my tongue water, forcing my mouth into a tight-lipped smile to hide my fangs, aching with want. "How rude of me..." She didn't blink, gesturing for me to take the glass. "To wake you without a sunfast meal."
Rhazien's brows drew together as he interrupted her, "No!..." Estelle's gaze was quick as she looked at Rhazien expectantly. "She... She's been refusing traditional vitae– the main reason I can't take her out anywhere." He scratched the back of his neck, the mask fitting poorly on his features.
I smiled sheepishly, Estelle's eyes pinning me to the ground. Just a fraction of a second, the purple that glowed around the black of her eye scanned quickly between Rhazien and me. A well-manicured brow arching in disbelief, the question directed to Rhazien, although her eyes remained fixed on me as if she was reading my skin, counting my cells by hand. "The main reason?"
I couldn't help but think it was purposeful, the way she positioned herself, leaning on her dominant leg so I could see the iconic sword she had propped against the chair. The words bubbled out in a smooth lie, "He would say the other is from how uncooperative I am." I rolled my eyes, slumping down onto the couch across from where the Warden stood. "I say he needs to develop a sense of humor."
Rhazien glared daggers at me as I thoroughly ignored him, trying to keep my face impassive. The act seemed to satiate something in Estelle as she sat, chuckling into her cup as she drank, swallowing the room's tension with her. The words escaped with a sigh, "After all this time, I've never known our Seneschal to be easily amused." She was teasing him, the laugh musical as it danced around the room, pirouetting between my ears. The clatter of Rhazien filling his own glass in a toast quelled the hammering in my heart. "I'm assuming our darling facilitator here has disclosed my position within the court to you?" Estelle leaned back into the chair, the movement casual, although I didn't doubt she could kill both Rhazien and me before her glass shattered on the floor.
I found Rhazien glaring at me from the corner of my eye, spurring the frustration in my gut to coax the words, "He hasn't."
Not only had he made it very clear what Estelle's role was within the court. I believe he'd even used her as a passing threat when I poked the bear too early one evening. I could survive a lecture from Rhazien. I couldn't survive crafted steel from dislocating my head from my shoulders.
Estelle's gaze dipped between us, not missing a beat of the conflict I laid there, polite enough not to provoke or comment on it. "My job is to ensure that nothing too excitable happens within our Prince's domain. In fact, even your Master is not immune to my inquiries." She crossed one long leg over the other, her head cocking to the side predatorily, Rhazien shifting in his seat.
"Sounds more important than the Seneschal." I threw a verbal elbow his way. He had promised me honesty from the very beginning, and what I had seen in his desk reflected everything else but that.
Estelle laughed into her glass, the crystal doing little to disguise the amusement that shone there. Her eyes glued to Rhazien, analyzing his reaction towards my outward defiance. "Not necessarily. Just different. I am sure with time, Rhazien will explain everything he's had a hand in around this city." She finished her glass, setting it down silently. "But do know, if he's up to anything..." She leaned forward, her words but a wind of clean and crisp air, like morning dew and granny smith apples, "... naughty– I am exactly the person you should call."
I swallowed glass, my neck stiff with my nod, "I'll keep that in mind, thank you."
Rhazien's brows furrowed as he shot me a sharp look, but Estelle's attention seemed to shift seamlessly back to him.
"That's why I like to keep you happy and fed." Rhazien had caught onto my ploy, the mask now properly secured on his features, though the smile did not reach his eyes.
"You've always known how to keep me on your good side." Estelle grinned, a coy smile not seeming to fit her face. "One of these nights, you must tell me how you get such a variable stock."
Rhazien was purposefully not looking at me now as he spread out on the loveseat, his knee just barely brushing the thin fabric on my thigh. The purr of his voice scratching beneath my Beast's chin, "Now, if I did that, how could I guarantee such lovely visits."
Estelle snorted, the sound making me flush. These fucking beautiful people, I swear. I much rather preferred Antonio's company, even with the stench; he made me feel more welcome than this weapon of a woman in my own home. I flushed with that thought, too: home.
"Speaking of... I wouldn't be surprised if Jasper dusted your doorstep sometime soon." A scoff slipped through her lips, her nose slightly upturned and crinkled at the thought.
Rhazien grunted in appreciation for the warning. "It's bound to happen. I'm shocked he hasn't sniffed around here sooner."
The woman shrugged. "You both took too long. You know him, not one for having much of an attention span." Rhazien grumbled again, making Estelle smile, her unabashed beauty making me blush. "Valentine's been keeping him busy with the Summit. I expect he's going to announce something again..." Her eyes slid to me, and I noticed Rhazien's knuckles lighten as he tightened his grip on his glass.
A shrug rolled through him, the words caught by gritted teeth, "What I know... She now knows."
Estelle laughed, her nose crinkling as she sucked a sharp snort from the look Rhazien gave her. I held my head high as she looked at me with that glowing mirth and sliver of pride, disregarding the only other man in New York who could give her an order. "I see you've made quick work getting the manners in this home straightened out."
I flushed, my tongue suddenly feeling too swollen, unprepared for the rampant praise from someone who seemed to play shotgun roulette with the Grim Reaper.
"Keep him running, girl." Estelle's eyes glinted. "Our Seneschal hasn't had something to chase for quite some time. He could do with the practice." She snickered, turning entirely to Rhazien.
Whether or not that was my dismissal, I ignored it.
Luther sat in the archway, his green eyes unblinking as he watched the three of us. I did not snatch the feline and sequester him to my room for a thorough snuggle and one-on-one processing time; my feet bolted to the floor instead. A woman in her early twenties stood beside him, her slippered feet dirty. I blinked. In all my nights, I had never seen her. I looked to Estelle, entirely engrossed in a conversation with my Sire.
Her face was plain and pretty, with wide doe eyes that trained on Estelle, looking both distant and forlorn. I could feel her feet brushing against the rug as she shuffled into the room, her steps absent of all sound. Rhazien and the Warden's voice ebbed as she stepped, her approach slow and cautious as if this human fawn could startle a woman like Estelle. Her hands were worn, scarred, and worked as she fisted them in the apron of her skirts.
Her mouth was moving, the words silent as they scratched my throat. I was desperate to get Rhazien's attention; the two Court Leaders heartily engrossed with each other. I was breathless as the woman stepped and took a knee, her hands hovering over Estelle's lap. Still, Estelle did not turn, did not look at the girl; leaning back into her seat instead, the woman's features hard-set from whatever silent words Rhazien was telling her.
My eyes watered. Salty, icy words gnawed through my vocal cords as they strained through my lips. I felt Rhazien stiffen from a million miles away, his shout a whisper against the whistling behind my eyes. My skin froze from the horror on Estelle's features; my eyes compelled to stare with the girl. Her hands slipping through Estelle's face over and over, her tears wet on my cheeks as she begged with words I couldn't hear, only feel. The burn of screaming into an empty room for a hundred years.
Round glassy eyes that attempted to hollow themselves out. Her shaky hands pushing them back into place as they threatened to fall out with the force of her cries. The force of her pleads. Her hands broke each time they reached for Estelle, desperately trying to hold something she couldn't touch, the snaps sparking remnant pain in my own hands. She was unraveling; the words coming quick, slicing my tongue, each swallow lemon juice on a thousand tiny wounds. Her wiry brown hair floated above her, the halo shocking my heart still. Turning my blood black as her back split, flaying before my eyes, the red oozing into the cream-white she wore, staining her in a floating pool of hurt. I stood, reaching for her, trying to pull her back down; she wanted to be here, she didn't want to be there. She couldn't go back. I can't go back. Please, God, don't let them take me. I can't...
I can't!
Black.
And then white.
Hazing into amber, the room spinning.
My head hurt.
My neck hurt.
I could feel the moon pulling the tides, the stinging of my scalp as rhythmically timed.
Words.
Muffled through water. Muffled through clouds. Muffled through time.
I blinked, the 4s becoming 3s, becoming 2s. My feet grazed the floor, my knees suspended just above it.
The light was bright as it winked against the steel on my cheek, forcing me to blink my eyes against the blinding. They were standing, Rhazien's eyes wide, his mouth moving.
I liked the way his throat bobbed as he spoke.
How it dipped and jumped in its own little dance.
I tried to form the words, 'thank you,' as the brush of crafted steel moved lower, pressing instead against my bruised voice box.
She padded her feet in my chest, my Beast, waking from a long nap, sending the feeling back to my bones as the visage of double-Rhazien morphed into a single panic-stricken one.
"Estelle... You can't..." Rhazien's arm outstretched toward me as if he could close the distance between us before she drew the blade.
"What is this bullshit!?"
I yelped, Estelle's hand tightening her grip on my hair, the steel at my throat glinting in the dim light, physical sensation just starting to creep back into my hands. The room became blurry as I concentrated; Rhazien and Estelle's voices static and fuzzy.
"She means no harm, I swear it."
Estelle's fingers creaked against the leather handle, my sweat sliding down the sword. I didn't dare move, my brain thawing to my surroundings; the colors somehow dampened in the room as if through a sheet of ice.
I heard her voice swear, my head pulled back so my chin bared the ceiling. Her eyes were glowing, two amethyst headlights that scanned my face, narrowing on my teeth. Estelle's look feral and nasty, poison dripping off the consonants, "Tell me why I shouldn't kill the both of you right now."
"She's not what you think." Rhazien stiffened, the surface of his skin rippling, toughening like a rock. Aegisform: The Rauvau's ability to harden their skin like steel, their bones dense enough to dent concrete. My Sire's voice had never sounded so cold, the could-be Prince's mouth set in a fixed-line. "I would never do anything to disobey my place. You know that." He took a step; her hands were shaking, my scalp burning from the effort of being held so still. "Let her go..."
I cried out as my knees hit the floor, my neck throbbing as a sharp pain splintered up my spine. Closing my eyes from the double-vision as I heard her blade return to its abode.
"This is low, Rhazien... I don't know what you think you're getting out of-"
"None of this was intentional–"
"Stop talking." If my Sire was cold, she was death incarnate. The fury clouded in her bleary eyes, the look she cast me one of pure disgust. The Warden was poised as if to flee, her body tense, my choking gasps plaguing the room.
Thirsty. I was so thirsty.
My skin ran cold when I saw what the others did, the black veins sinking back underneath my skin, hibernating until my next episode.
Shit-fuck.
There was a creaking, but I didn't dare move; watching Rhazien as he sat back down across from Estelle, his voice slow and cautious, "Valentine doesn't need to know what happened here today..."
A boon.
I was witnessing the only currency that immortals dared barter with.
One of favors.
The ground still rippled beneath my hands and knees as I attempted to shrink back, the air palpable with tension.
"How dare you..." Estelle's voice wavered, her eyes blazing as they glared at my Sire; Rhazien's expression still, like a businessman, back straight.
Rhazien's voice hollowed me, "I need to know that Valentine remains out of the equation."
"After all this time? All these years, and you think I'd rat you out so easily." Disgust laced her voice, her heels clicking against the rug angrily. She shook her head as if trying to brush off her disbelief, my arms shaking as I pushed myself off the floor.
"I need to know–"
"Fuck you." Her words were a whip cracking in the room, her steps clicking past my head as she stormed through the archway. A sigh escaping her as she shouldered her blade, "Just... Fuck you..." The words lingered, floating around us in a melancholic breath.
She took the black tinted helmet propped on the staircase, shoving it underneath her arm, ripples of anger still freshly visible in her muscles. I knew that feeling, unable to escape the compounding rage even when you wanted to.
It was like she could feel him inhaling to speak, her body stiffening before he could form the words. "Estelle..." He had to know. The words needed to be spoken and agreed upon before the Boon was cemented, before it became a tangible currency to trade in.
Estelle's eyes closed, tilting her chin to the ceiling as if she were finding the peace in herself to remain calm. I could hear Ezekiel unlocking the door, her words cold as she strode out the front,
"He won't find out."
I couldn't think as the door closed behind her, each lock feeling like another year added to my prison sentence. All the good behavior, all the reading just to...
I could feel his wrath as he glared at me, my head spinning as I rested my back against the couch. It was a low heat, the kind that cooked you alive without you noticing it. And I didn't dare look at him like this.
My Beast was too quiet as she continued to wake, drowsily numbing what I needed numbed.
"What. Was that?"
It hurt to breathe, even through my nose. I knew what it was like for that moment, to choke on your own blood– to feel your chin touch your shoulder blades. How the splitting headache from a broken neck differed from the one given by hitting the ground too hard.
Explosions vs Starbursts.
I knew that I was in a home I couldn't leave.
Couldn't escape without a punishment worse than death.
There was no room left to cry, to weep at this liveable, ironic joke. No room to process, empathize, or care.
So I shrugged.
All I could feel was anger, my Beast numbing everything else.
So. Much. Anger.
I closed my eyes, the room's lights too loud for me to focus, for me to think.
For me to feel.
I knew he watched me, but I couldn't care anymore. The words quiet and angry as they slipped from my tongue, "When were you going to tell me...?"
It's like I could hear the steam billowing off him, suffocating the room in his discarded heat.
He needed no clarification.
There would be no follow-up questions.
Rhazien knew what I asked.
And so, I waited, the seconds stretching into minutes of pure unadulterated silence. The nothingness stilling the hornets in my skull.
Rhazien's voice obliterating the peace, "When I could figure out how to..."
It was an earnest response that did nothing to damper my own rage. If he could be fire, let me be ice.
Let me show him how mean I could be.
It felt easy, too easy, to step back into that role, the one built on hate, despair, and unresolved personal turmoil.
If this is what made me go mad, let it.
I forced myself to breathe.
Even as the wind cut like knives. Even as my eyes watered.
I forced myself to breathe, to separate myself from him further.
I may be the mad one.
But I wasn't fucking stupid.
"I don't want to see you." I took another, forcing my lungs to hold onto every precious molecule, willing my muscles to numb themselves just enough for me to stand. He didn't understand how exhausting it was to fight her constantly. To have always had to fight her.
I pulled myself up with shaky arms, the words strained through gritted teeth, "I know you don't understand how important space is. But I do." I compelled my spine to stiffen, to stare him in his face, his features stern, his eyes a flurry of emotions that I was too exhausted to interpret.
My Beast was curling around my spine, supporting my defiance, supporting my anger, and hurt. "You will leave me alone. Or I will fucking kill you and all your friends." I pushed myself to look him in the eye, to tighten my jaw the way he did; how he commanded the rooms he entered. I made myself meet his eyes so he knew how serious I was.
Luther padded to me, his tail curling around my calf, his eyes glossy and unblinking as they stared between Rhazien and me.
Jane stood in the doorway, her hands white as they clutched the silver platter. But she did not stare at me with reproach. Instead, her attention was fixed on my Sire.
I took a step, suppressing my cries. Her back had felt like mine.
I felt like I had just fought for my life and lost.
Warm.
Jane's face was warm, supporting my body as she guided me through the double doors. Leading me away to the kitchen.
It was a small token of kindness, the kind that stemmed from heartbreak.
She did not scold me; she did not fret. Merely getting a glass from the cupboard and filling it for me.
Staring into the deep red, watching the ripples still... it was Luther's soft pads on the kitchen tile that finally burst the dam.
֍ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ⸸ ֍
The house had been peaceful with him gone.
Rhazien had done what I'd asked, what I'd demanded. The sounds of him rippling throughout the house in a wave as he paced, the steps thunderous and inconsistent; his footfalls as unsure as I felt.
I was terrified to be alone here, with no one who could help me if I lost myself to Frenzy... I had watched from the crack in my door as he left, taking nothing with him but his decorated fingers and sharp suit. I didn't want to think about where he was going, as Jane locked the door, who he could be seeing to fill his time with instead of me.
I thunked my head against the wall again, staring at the pendant in my palms, the shining gold desecrated with my smudgy prints. Rhazien hadn't noticed the safe before he left, and now I seriously had to come to terms with... everything.
It felt like every night that passed, I was running out of options, the doors snapping and locking shut.
The symbols were different from anything in the tomes Rhazien had given me. And in the following nights, I had already devoured everything else accessible to me in the house. He had gone to his office before he left, the door now locked.
The shapes seemed like a cross between French and Latin, the only two languages I came across that looked eerily similar as if overlayed within each other–
The ache of hunger gnawed at my side, forcing me to drop the precious trinket into my pocket. The first night Rhazien was gone, I had wandered, getting a sense for the rhythm of the home I'd never first appreciated.
Luther had been accompanying my romp when he suddenly stopped, the chilling creep knocking on my window. Since then, the constant hum of the pendant in my pocket had kept the ghosts at bay, providing the false sense of security I needed for my own body's sake.
It was like I had blacked out when we were with Estelle. The receiving room still giving me a chill as I passed by it to the kitchen. The woman. She had to be the same as the one the other night. The clothes were a match, just more collected than before.
Jane had left the kettle out for me; Rhazien's proposal to Estelle haunted my thoughts. I frowned into the eerie glow of the fridge; my supply was getting low. I poured one of the less favorable animals into the kettle; the click and whoosh of flame underneath the carbonized steel warming my skin.
Luther hopped onto the counter, watching me lazily as I pulled the papers from around my hiding spots on the lower level; the pages wrinkled and rumpled as I spun them, piecing the rough room schematics together. The low whistle of the kettle urging me to get a mug.
Thank God for Sundays.
If I was getting to the bottom of anything, it would be today. I frowned as I laid down the final piece I'd drawn when I'd first woken– the main entry hall. I hummed, curling my fingers around the mug as I rotated it, finally fixing it against the wall of my room.
I swallowed a mouthful, the taste bitter and burnt, my eyes watering slightly as it scalded my tongue. I looked through the archway of the kitchen– next to the workout room, between my room–
My feet were a flurry, my hand outstretched as I reached for the picture hung on the wall amidst the wooden panels, attached as if glued. I frowned; my touch gentle as I pushed on the wainscoting– the panel pressing inwards with a soft click. I pulled the section open, noticing the scuffs against the rug now, arcing outward from the trim.
Luther rubbed between my ankles, his grave meow echoing the anxiety in my gut as I stared down into the inky darkness. The hum of my golden pendant spurring the spark of courage as I let the shadows swallow me whole.