Scrunching my nose, I leaned forward, accepting the food despite how degrading he made it feel. Of course he did, nothing came easily or freely from Azazel Altair. But I guessed I should have been grateful he was helping me at all. So I ate.
Silence twirled in the air like a tornado, sucking the sounds of my chewing, Death’s purring, and Altair’s breathing into a vortex until they couldn’t be heard anymore.
The butter was soft, the syrup sweet, making the slightly burnt pancake taste better than I’d thought it would. As I chewed, I thought of what Altair could gain from helping me. Rather quickly, I settled on the assumption that he wanted to use me. I had the stars after all. That was enough to have many teaming up with me when they would normally want me dead. Case in point: Iblis Altair.
“You know, Murder, begging is normally reserved for dogs from what I hear.” My eyes flicked down, catching the way Death stared at my plate. Murder?
“Her name is Death.” Altair tilted his head, the barest hint of a smile ghosting across his lips.
For the first time since waking up, I fully took him in. There was a bit of stubble growing on the bottom half of his face, his skin slightly less pale than it had been before. His hair was longer on the sides, with bits chopped in odd places, as if he had cut it himself. It was also lighter than I remembered, now closer to silver. He had purple shadows beneath his eyes too—worse than in Elite Academy. While I would have expected him to be leaner from seclusion, he wasn’t. His body took up an unnecessary amount of space, his arms and chest straining against the sweater.
“Who names their cat Death?” he retorted.
“Who names one Murder?”
We stared at one another, neither wanting to back down from the trivial argument. Probably because we both had questions that the other clearly didn’t want to answer. Luckily for me, he didn’t seem to enjoy the awkward silence.
“Do you want more food?”
“Where did you get the food? And why did you choose this place to live? How is it still intact when everything else is destroyed?” I practically vomited the words, desperate to understand what was right in front of me. My mind couldn’t reason with it all.
For a breath of time, he just stared at me, his face unreadable. In the months I had known him, he hadn’t shown that he had any nervous habits—especially none like I did—but I watched in surprise as he tugged his full button lip between his teeth, nibbling on it.
“I get a bit of my food from the island. Anything I can’t find here I outsource by shadow walking.” That made sense, though it was hard to imagine Altair hunting for food from the land. Even the idea of him getting dirty seemed impossible, despite the fact I’d seen him disheveled before. “As for the cottage, I chose the one in the best condition and fixed it up myself. It isn’t perfect and it wasn’t easy, but I managed.”
“Seems a bit meager and small for your taste.” A low blow, one I wished I could take back when he scrunched his eyes closed. Not that I cared if I hurt his feelings. He was, at best, a bigoted prick.
“It reminded me a little of your house. It felt…warm.”
With that, the cottage grew silent once more.
Chapter Five
Nova
“Today I went foraging for the first time with Mama. It took us an hour to get to the woods, but I found stinging nettle! Mama says I’m a natural.”
-From the journal of Nova Tershetta, 9239 AS
Thick snow pattered against the roof, echoing in time with the flickering candlelight and crackling fire, the wood freshly chopped by Altair only hours before. It was bizarre watching him work when I knew he’d likely never had to do such a thing before. Then he had insisted I sleep in his bed, which was just…unsettling.
We had spent the day before in mostly quiet following Altair’s comment about my family home, causing the hours to drag on. He had loaned me a long-sleeved black top and a pair of black cotton pants. I had bathed as quickly as I could, digging any remaining debris from my curls. When I had come out, Altair had momentarily stared at me, his eyes unblinking until they darted down as he had cleared his throat.Weird man.
Even the stars were too bored by us to make an appearance.
Sleep came fitfully, filled with nightmares that left me waking throughout the night. Altair was laying on the ground just beside the bed, his eyes glowing as they’d find mine in the dark.
He was so creepy. And…off.I almost missed his constant teasing and belittling. Though I wasn’t sure I’d be able to take it.
When I woke up to find the sun beginning to rise and casting a vibrant pink hue across the cottage, I decided I’d begin plotting. Altair was sleeping soundlessly, the pinks and purples highlighting his sharp features and casting odd shadows across his face. Something was wrong with him, but I didn’t have time to figure it out.
Instead, I crept towards my bag and snagged my journal, taking it back to the bed. The air was frigid, my breath visible as I settled back into the blankets. Death gave me what looked like an annoyed glance before digging her way beneath the covers and settling by my thigh.
Wasting no time, I opened my journal and began planning everything I’d need. Based on what Altair said, the island would be a great resource. And I’d needa lotfor the plan that was quickly brewing in my mind to work.
***
The small patches of forested areas beyond the ruins were rather impressive.
