Was I meant to clean her? It’d be rude not to, but what would she say if she found out I had seen her naked?
Well, it wouldn’t be the first time, but…
Captain Zade’s voice came out of the silence, a doting whisper that made my skin crawl.Take off your clothes, Azazel, or I’ll do it for you.
Okay, undressing her wasn’t an option. Not at all. Maybe just a rag then? Murder sat near Tershetta’s feet, her head tilted to the side as she watched me stand there like a fish out of water, bouncing from foot to foot as if desperate to run.
“I’m just going to clean her really quick.” Why the fuck was I talking to a cat?
Grabbing a rag from the small cupboard in the bathroom and filling a bucket with warm water, I brought it over to the bed and sat down. Again, I was hit with the terrifying truth that I didn’t want her dead. I didn’t even hate her anymore. I should have. Stars help me, I wished I did. It would make everything easier.
I allowed my hand a single pass across her cheek, noting how the blood clung to her skin in crusted flecks. Just as I had when she first appeared, I wondered who would attack her. Wasn’t Talon meant to protect her? That was all he seemed to do at Elite Academy. Where had he been?
Murder meowed, leaping over to me and sitting down near my hip, her tail swishing as she sniffed the rag. “I won’t hurt her.”
Strangely enough, I meant it.
Chapter Three
Azazel
“Father said that I need to have sex with a woman so I can be a man. He said that I can pick whichever woman I want, because they exist to serve. I can’t explain it, but that just sounds…wrong.”
-From the journal of Azazel Altair, 9225 AS
After feeding the cat, who somehow consumed more fish than I had, I got as comfortable as I could on the floor. The blanket did little to keep me warm when the wood below me was so crisp. Still, I did my best to close my eyes and settle my mind.
Deep breath in. Hold for five seconds. Long breath out.
My left eye opened, sight immediately locked on Tershetta. She hadn’t moved. Was she still breathing? Of course she was, I could hear her.
Once again, I closed my eyes, trying to coax myself into unconsciousness.
Deep breath in. Hold for five seconds. Long—
My eyes snapped open, gaze pinned on Tershetta again. I couldn’t stop myself.
What happened to her? Why did she come to me when she likely still believed I killed her entire family?
Celeste hadn’t.
Well, Celeste hadn’t been there.
Yet, she knew it wasn’t you.
Because I believed she was dead.
Talking to myself again. Great.
That was true, though. Celeste had only known it wasn’t me because of my utter bafflement at her presence. When she had first walked into my cabin the day I finished the cloaking, I had thought she was Tershetta.
“Tershetta?”I had gasped, sitting upright on my creaking bed.
Celeste had tilted her head, the scowl on her face slipping ever so slightly.“I have a feeling you mean Nova.”
That had ripped me out of my delusions.“Celeste?”
“You seem surprised to see me.”Her face had fallen, the clear anger draining from her as if a plug had been pulled.
