As she and Brooks approached the steps, a small-framed daemon stood leaning against a fragile post holding up the roof of the porch. Her face was puffy and her hands were wrapped in linen that didn’t hide the blooming blood underneath.
“We need to talk.” Her voice was scratchy and the fury written across her brow looked like a permanently etched line. Brooks stepped forward and pulled Xia with him, but the girl stood straight and turned that hate-filled stare to Xia. “Alone,” she ground out.
A prickle of cold danced along her skin as the navy of Brooks’ eyes brightened to a defiant topaz.
“I’m not fucking around. You leave her outside or I keep my information to myself.” The girl had no sooner finished spitting venom before she winced and a trickle of blood dribbled down her lip and dripped to the rotting wood.
It took Xia a moment to catch on, but she was horrified when she realized it was his doing. “Brooks!” she shouted and shoved at his shoulder. “Stop!”
He turned that piercing gaze to her and her breath caught.
“You’re hurting her.”
A door slammed to their right and Brooks scowled as black crept up the column of his throat.
“She’s lucky I let her live.”
Brooks cleared his throat and shook his head, eyes narrowing as he battled his other half. “I’m sorry,” he said as navy bled back in to darken his irises.
“Well you don’t have to apologize to me you dickhead. But you really need to go say it to her.” She gave his shoulder a shove toward the door and he had the nerve to fake a stumble.
“Is this our first fight?” His smile made her want to punch him and kiss him all at the same time.
Xia crossed her arms and huffed. “You’re unbelievable.”
He looked at her for another moment before the smile fell, his eyes dipping down as he swallowed. Brooks exhaled a heavy sigh before finding her gaze again, and the fear and longing in them was a weight on her heart. She knew exactly what thoughts plagued his mind because they were running through hers too.
Xia stepped toward Brooks and cradled his jaw. “I’ll be okay,” she said gently. “This is real. We are here, together, and we don’t have to pretend anymore.”
The muscle in his temple jumped as his teeth clenched, but he gave a small nod and covered her hand with his own. “Okay. Just… Just don’t go too far, okay?”
“I promise to only go as far as your secret shadow spies will reach.” She touched the tip of her nose to his playfully and he leaned into her with the most beautiful smile plastered to his lips.
“Don't let them get handsy,” he teased. “They don’t think with their brains.”
She joined him in a laugh before stepping away. Xia was saddened to drop his fingers, but she did it for his sake. He would be leaning on her strength for even the smallest of separations.
What hell it must have been to live in an illusion where you couldn’t trust anything around you– including yourself.
“Go plan your battle tactics. I’m going to walk around the village, get to know this new world. Who knows, maybe I can be more than just a pretty face.”
His gaze dipped down her body and blood rushed to her cheeks. “I can think of at least ten more pretty things on your body, Sunshine. But go dazzle them with your smile.”
He winked and took the last few steps to the entrance of the house. With one more backward glance, he smiled in her direction and shut the door behind him.
Xia was left standing without a purpose and unsure what to do about it. She looked left and right, but the area was empty. A few empty fireplaces still smoked from the night before, and the makeshift shutters were closed on the two other houses at the end of the dirt road. They were on top of a small hill that overlooked a larger cluster of wooden buildings. The cover ofdarkness had hidden the bustling town below the night before, but with the early morning sun came a rustle of activity. Xia started down the path, eager to be among the crowd.
As she drew nearer, the smell of wood-smoke filtered through on the breeze as birds sang through the canopy.
Xia was enthralled.
Anthemoessa had been utterly silent until the Oneiroi moved in, then it was so chaotic with buzzing that not a moment of peace could ever be found. This place, however, was both of those.
When she stepped into the border along the first row of houses, a silence fell over those closest to her as they all watched her every move. Xia was all of a sudden too aware of the strappy nightgown she wore. Gods, how see-through and torn it must have looked. Her last altercation with the Devil had caught her unaware, and the last thing on her mind as she was lying on the floor was her clothes. She certainly hadn’t been thinking about it when she was raging on the beach.
Xia kept walking as she held her head high and fought the urge to cover herself. The fact that she thought she could stroll into this place unseen was stupid, and she chided herself for it.
Xia stepped to the woman closest to her and asked, “Do you know where I could find some clothes?”
