I ran a finger along the rim of my tumbler, keeping my eyes on the strange human before me.
“Well, Thane. We all make mistakes, don’t we? I know I’ve made my share—dangerous ones, even—but what’s important is that we learn from them. From what you told me, you’ve lost most of your memories. And just because I found you soaked in blood doesn’t make you a killer. Even if you did burn those men alive and tear off their limbs. I believe in second chances. Don’t you?”
He looked like he was going to throw up.
So goddamn weak.
But between you and me, I lied.
I’ve never given a human a second chance in my life. And if there’s even the slightest possibility he’s connected to the Disciples, I couldn’t let him go.
The next few days dragged on, mostly spent getting to know my new houseguest while helping him settle into life in Lorewood.
He wasn’t a friend, but I tolerated him more than any human I’d ever met.
In small doses.
I even offered Thane a job at the bookshop, just to keep him close.
The manager before him had a sudden, terrible accident.
Totally unrelated, of course, to the fact she’d been stealing from my register and scamming customers.
I may be a monster, but I’m an honest monster.
I spent five years watching him from the shadows.
And in the end, I learned exactly dick.
He’s a mystery I’ll unravel eventually.
Time’s one thing I’ve got in abundance.
And I’m nothing if not persistent.
Ezra
It’s been five years. Not a twitch, not a chant, not even a citrus-scented sigh.
Nothing but invoices, book sales, and inventory.
Thane breathes life into the shop. I’m just the shadow on the lease.
But apparently, that’s not enough. Lorewood wants its shopkeepers to be visible.
So, some days I button up the human exterior, curl my lips into a smile, and pretend I give a shit.
Today, unfortunately, is one of those days.
I’m restless.
In dire need of distraction.
The kind that burns hours or centuries. It doesn’t matter.
As the millennia bleed together, everything dulls.
Stories repeat themselves. Art blurs into imitation. Music is just the same tired notes rearranged.
