Chapter Four
Nova
“Today, I begged the stars to heal Dad. I don’t think they heard me.”
-From the journal of Nova Tershetta, 9242 AS
Azazel fucking Altair was making pancakes.
Pancakes.
How did he even know how to cook? And what the fuck was I doing in his…house? Cottage? Whatever it was, it didn’t fit the Altair I knew. The one who looked at my home in disgust. Who grew up in a castle, for stars sake.
He had insisted on bathing before we spoke. Then, after prancing out in a deep grey sweater and a pair of oddly well-fitting black trousers, he said he couldn’t possibly think on an empty stomach.
I hadn’t moved from his bed, though I had sat up. I’d never admit it to him, but I truly thought he was going to force himself on me. I didn’t know why that was what immediately came to my mind. It had sat there, festering as he stared down at me. Alongside that was the image of Talon’s face as he begged me not to leave him.
Core families doing what they did best: ensuring everyone but them was the loser—the underdog—the slave—the victim. Ihad grown angry once more as he dawdled around his home, my confusion paving the way for annoyance.
“Do you want two or three?” Altair asked, not bothering to turn around. He wasn’t even scared of me.
“Let me guess, not enough poison for one pancake to kill me?”
“Pretty sure I could kill you without the strain of cooking.”
Stars, he was right. Hecouldkill me. I’d probably even let him. Hadn’t that been what I was ready to do before?
“How long was I out?” If he noticed how I purposefully changed the subject, he didn’t say, instead choosing to follow my lead.
“Just a day.”
“And who cleaned me?”
“I did.”
The thought of him picking wood out of my hair and wiping blood from my skin had my empty stomach rolling.
“And who healed me?”
“This is going to sound surprising seeing as I have so much company here today, but also me.”
His sarcasm had my fists clenching, my entire body aching from the blows Talon had landed. “Why?”
“You sure do ask a lot of questions.”
“You evade even more.” I watched as he reached down and offered Death a piece of the pancake he had just flipped, the sound of the pan sizzling on the blacktop loud in my ears. Why was he feedingmycat? “That’s it.”
I pushed up to stand, finding more energy than I had thought existed within me. Stomping to my pack, which had clearly beenrifled throughbased on the slightly open zipper and the tousled contents, I grabbed one of the straps and swung it onto my shoulder.
“Death, come on. We need to go.”
“Where, exactly, do you plan to go?” At that, I stilled, my eyes squinting as my gaze flashed his way. He was facing me now, his head tilted to the side and his stare half-lidded. But his clenched jaw and fists gave away the tension he seemingly wished I wouldn’t see. “Clearly someone is after you. And, seeing as you’rehere,I assume you have nowhere else to go.”
He was right. Ihatedthat he was right.
“I have plenty of places.”
“Like where?”
