I stayed beneath the hot spray for ages, curled upon the floor with my arms wrapped around my knees. Mud and soil from the graves siphoned down the drain, swirling around like dead souls.
So much had happened, so much that would’ve broken the old Nila.
But this was just another hurdle—another obstacle to clear in my quest for victory. My essence had been infused with the lingering spirits of my ancestors. They lived within me now, wanting the same thing I did.
The clock hanging above the fish tank in my sewing room announced the witching hour as I climbed exhausted into bed.
Three a.m.
The time when ghouls and demons were thought to roam the passageways of homes and terrorize helpless sleepers.
I’d always been superstitious about keeping my wardrobe doors shut against night monsters. Vaughn used to laugh at me, saying beasts and night creatures didn’t exist.
But now I knew the truth.
Theydidexist, but they didn’t come out when the witching hour opened a portal from their world into ours.
They weren’t called werewolves or vampires.
They were called Hawks.
And I lived with them.
* * * * *
The next morning, I woke to a text.
A single message from the crux of my annihilation.
Kite007:I feel what you feel. Whether it be a kiss or a kick or a killing blow. I wished I didn’t, but you’re mine, therefore, you are my affliction. So, I will feel what you feel, and I will live what you live. You won’t understand what I mean.Not yet. But it’s my best sacrifice. The only thing I can offer you.
I waited for my heart to spike.
I held my breath for a sparkle of desire.
Jethro had just shown me the truth. In his cryptic, almost poetic message, he’d torn aside the mysterious curtain of who Kite was—fully admitting something that only he would know. There was no way a message like that could come from Kes. I doubted the middle Hawk was deep enough to pen such a complex riddle.
If such a message had come yesterday, I would’ve tripped from lust into love. I wouldn’t have been able to stop my heart from unfurling completely and letting my enemy nest deep inside.
But not now.
Not now that I’d seen the heinous truth.
With steady hands and an even steadier heart, I sent a single message to my brother.
Needle&Thread:I’m living a nightmare, V. I...I can’t do this anymore. I miss you.
Once it had sent, I deleted Kite’s message and turned off my phone.
Chapter Five
Jethro
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A NEW MORNING, yet I felt older than I’d ever been.
Every part of me ached.
