Page 111 of House of Pain
When Alecto opened her eyes again, a flame waited for her, inches away from her face.
She could have said no, but she didn’t have it in her to fight anymore.
Not tonight.
She leaned in, letting the flame light her cigarette. When the smoke hit her lungs, she almost moaned.
“I didn’t know Miss Black smoked,” he said after a moment, plopping right next to her.
There was no mockery or amusement in his voice. He sat there, still as a statue, his face without a mask, black eyes boring into her as if he were trying to read her soul.
“You don’t know many things about me.”
He cocked his head, his eyes searching her face for a moment. “Indeed.”
Alecto brought the cigarette back to her lips.
Why the fuck he was here right now? Just a week ago, he drugged her and dragged her into the Cursed Forest to die. He made it very clear that she was nothing but trash beneath his shoe.
She tried to pretend she wasn’t hurt. But she couldn’t kill those feelings that had been suffocating her the whole week.
Him being here was confusing yet comforting at the same time.
“Thinking of pushing me off the cliff?” Blaze asked, lighting a cigarette. He tipped his head back, revealing a long neck as his throat bobbed, and then he glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
“Maybe.”
“It would be just,” he said, a smirk pulling one corner of his lips. “Do it if it’s gonna make you feel better.”
“Since when do you care how I feel?”
Blaze sighed heavily but didn’t say anything. They sat in silence for a long moment, both sucking on their cigarettes, watching the horizon.
Then, Blaze lifted a bottle he’d been holding, offering it to her. She eyed it for a moment before taking it and swinging it back, the whiskey burning her throat as she downed a few large gulps.
“That’s the spirit,” Blaze said when she returned the bottle and wiped her mouth with the back of her palm.
“What can I say? I’m thirsty,” Alecto said, already fishing out another cigarette.
She wasn’t allowed to smoke. Her father didn’t think it was appropriate for a lady like her. Mostly, he just didn’t like the taste of it on her.
A shiver passed through her.
“Why do you hate me?” The words came out of her mouth before she could think better of it. But maybe it was for the better.
Maybe tonight, Alecto was ready to finally stop playing and just get everything off her chest.
Didn’t she deserve at least that much?
For a moment, she thought Blaze wouldn’t answer. He sat there, watching the ocean for what seemed like forever.
“I don’t hate you,” he admitted. “Not anymore.”
“When did you stop hating me? When you got me detention or when you left me in the forest to die?”
“Somewhere in between.”
Her hand was up from her side, crossing the air between them and connecting with his cheek.
