“What if I were true-born?”
“You weren’t. If you were, you would have made that known obnoxiously early.”
Another pause at my discretion. I drew a long sigh, the icy air soothing my lungs in between drags.
“What were you before?”
“Just a boy.”
“You were turned as a child?”
“Barely an adult.”
“What happened?”
“Greed.”
“Tell me.”
“He was enlightened, and for a time, I got to be part of such a bright strike of glory,” I started, though I was undecided on how much detail to spare. “I served as a muse and a Host for him. Itgot me through one of the harshest winters I had ever seen. Not many of my foster siblings could say the same by the time the springtails spawned.” I tossed the roach of my cigarette on the ground, stamping it out. “He was brilliant. He taught me all that I know.”
“What happened after?”
“He was drunk, fed for too long.” I laughed. “It is troubling how one slight mistake can result in cursing another with something worse than death.”
“Luka.” I didn’t notice she had closed the distance until her arms wrapped around me. “I am sorry you had to go through that alone.”
“It wasn’t so bad.”
“You should write down all your stories. It sounds like you’ve lived a long and interesting life.”
“I would, but I don’t have a pen.”
“You’re an artist, and you don’t own a pen?”
“Not all stories deserve the decency of being written,” I laughed.
“Why not?”
“Because then we must acknowledge that they were real.”
“Excuses, excuses,” she muttered.
Instinctively, I tensed at the feeling of her squeezing me.
“No need to get all soft,” I grumbled, but I rested my arm around her shoulder. She didn’t let go, even when we stood for a while. A soft brush of ease washed over me, filling me with an unfamiliar peace; just one spark of bliss.
25
THE CREATURE
Dealing with the mess back in the city was cutting into my personal time.
I crumpled the small collection of messages, all from my father asking for correspondence in vain. There were too many things to do, instructions to send that wouldn’t fit on telegram cards. The pressure weighed so heavily that, if I wasn’t careful, I might fall to dust by the time I returned. It all went away with the help of distractions, including my favorite of all.
This was the only time I could spare to see her. Curiously, Alina did not go back to her beloved Nest after her errands; she went back to her makeshift lab late in the night.
Now, where have I seen that before?
