Turning back to me, she looks mortified. “Are you satisfied?” The question is for me to answer, but my response gets lodged in my throat, and I have an overwhelming sense of appreciation. So I nod my head, staring at her like she’s the light I’ve needed in this never-ending sea of darkness.
Odeyssa pulls me in for a hug, and my body locks up, stiffening under the foreign touch before I’m sinking into her embrace, wrapping my arms around her waist.
Pulling away, she squishes my cheeks with her hands. “Now dry those tears, buttercup. Don’t let anyone see you falter.” My cheeks push against her palms in an attempt to smile. I must look ridiculous because Odeyssa throws her head back in a full-belly laugh and lets go.
As I wipe the tears from my eyes with the sleeve of my shirt, she says, “This is Atticus. He looks all mean and burly, but he’s actually a forest bun.”
I’ll never not think about Benny when a forest bun ismentioned, and a little ember sparks within me to think if Odeyssa is safe, maybe they are too.
“I’m Kallie. I’ll let you know if it’s a pleasure to meet you,” I retort, looking at Atticus. He’s quite a bit taller than Dessa, standing around six feet to her five-four. His sandy-blond hair goes well with his cobalt eyes, and he has a very lean but muscular frame.
“Noted.” A man of very few words. I like it.
“Well, why don’t we get you back to Nefarium? I’m sure everyone will be excited to see you,” Odeyssa suggests, but my stomach falls to my ass, and I start shaking my head relentlessly.
“No. No.No.I can’t. I’m not going back there. Anywhere but there.” My words are choppy, anxiety prominent in each one. If they don’t find me soon, that will be the next place they’ll check.
Clearly seeing the panic written all over my face, Odeyssa offers an alternative. “Okay, okay. We don’t have to go there. Why don’t you just stay with Atticus for a few nights?” Atticus whips his head to hers in question, but she serves him a pointed look, hand on her hip, and he succumbs.
Beaming, she turns back to me. “Great!” She claps her hands. “It’s settled.”
Atticus’s house is a small cottage. A stone wall—about hip height—fences in the property, and a concrete walkway leads us to the front door. When we enter, it smells like a fire was recently burning, the smoke settling in the fireplace proof of that. A small loveseat and chair take up the majority of the small living area, but something about the way the dust has settled in some areas makes me think they haven’t been used in a while. Under the coffee table rests a mahogany rug that somehow really ties the place together. Just a glance away, I note a small bathroom off the entryway and another room just to the left. In the far rightcorner, there is a kitchen that’s only made up of one countertop, a stove, and a single-door fridge. Not much room to make more than a sandwich and certainty not enough room for more than one person to do anything useful.
Atticus doesn’t say anything as he makes his way over to said kitchen and pulls a can out of the fridge. Uncomfortable, I stay standing by the door while Odeyssa makes herself at home on the couch.
“You can sit down, you know,” she states.
Tentatively, I sit in the chair, placing my hands in my lap.
“So, now that I spilled my guts, it’s your turn.” Her smile is wicked, and I don’t know what kind of adventure she’s hoping I’ll give her. There’s nothing grand about my time away, only heartache.
My eyes bounce between her and Atticus, who is leaning against the counter. Sighing, she turns to look at him. “Would you mind giving us a few minutes?” Rolling his eyes, he doesn’t say anything and dismisses himself out the front door.
“Is that the only door?” I wait to ask until the door clicks shut.
“It is,” she says with caution, eyeing me suspiciously. Letting out a long, shaky breath, my hands rub up and down my legs before I’m able to meet her gaze.
All at once, everything I’ve been holding in spills out, flowing with every agonizing detail since the day I left Nefarium. There were details I chose to leave out—like the fact that I’m the princess of Astralis. Even with all that’s happened, it’s something that I haven’t been able to come to terms with myself.
At some point, our eyes locked, and I haven’t been able to look away, pushing forth every emotion I’ve been carrying. Odeyssa never seemed like one to cry over much, but when her eyes turn glossy and the tears break the surface, her gaze doesn’t waver. She grips my hands in hers, letting me know that I’m not alone when I start choking on my words.
When it’s all over, after I’ve finally let nearly every demon out of its cage, Odeyssa consoles me the best she can, repeating over and over again that I’m safe.
I keep telling myself I am, but maybe the hard truth is it’s not the monsters hunting me down that I should be scared of.
It’s myself.
NINE
Subject 763
The silence is deafening, standing mere feet away from a prisoner I should apprehend, punish, and stick back in the hole she escaped from. Perhaps I want to.
No, I don’t.
Yes, I do.
Yet I still make no move to do anything as a part of me screams to run to her, pull her into my arms, and never let her go. Kalliope screams profanities that don’t reach my ears. All of a sudden, her beautiful mouth stops moving, those luscious pink lips sit in a firm line across her face, and I stay unmoving as my eyes track her form disappearing through the door.
