Page 118 of Above
Talon stood at the top of the stairs, still wearing his finery, his eyes bulging and lips forming a snarl. With a fortifying breath, I grabbed the wood and ripped it out, tossing it to the ground and standing. Turning, I reached for the map, finding Talon before me.
“Please don’t make me hurt you,” he whispered, his hands going to my biceps, preventing me from shadow walking without him.
I lifted my knee, bringing it up between his legs. He yelped in pain, releasing me long enough for me to gather some hope. Then he tackled me to the floor. We slammed into the concrete, Death hissing loudly from somewhere not too far away, Talon’s body crushing mine.
“Nova, listen!” Talon ordered as I attempted to roll off my stomach. But he continued holding me down, unwavering.
“Murderer!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. He lifted slightly, letting me roll only to then straddle me, pressing his ass into my thighs, sinking his knees into my arms, and covering my mouth with a large hand.
“I had to do it! I could feel you slipping away!” he shouted back, his voice cracking. I stopped my fight, stilling so I could hear his pitiful excuses. “You were so focused on pleasing them and keeping them alive, but that wasn’t your job. You were called to a higher purpose, Nova. You’ve been put on a divine path. Of all people, I couldn’t letyouwaste your life on them. They had to go, they were stealing your future, and you didn’t even realize it. Please, understand, I only want what’s best for you. Forus.”
What a lunatic. He was a sycophant. All this time, he had been hiding what he really felt. Masking it with love and devotion, when really it was an obsession that—like everything in my life—led back to one thing.
“Us.”The stars’ giggles following the word were a startling sound as Talon continued on his rant.
“I have only ever wanted to take care of you and guide you to the top. Since the beginning I have worked hard to convince you that you needed to focus, but you wouldn’t listen. What else could I have done? I even killed my own family so you wouldn’t be alone in your suffering! I was willing to murder my father and sister for you! Everything I do is foryou!”
Blood began to pool beneath my arm, the sticky liquid keeping me present in the conversation. But it was so very hard not to wonder and speculate when he omitted the murder of his mother.
No longer willing to give him time to speak, I bit down hard on his hand, not letting go until I broke skin. His frustrated and pained scream gave me the chance to rip one of my arms frombeneath his knee, using it to scratch at his face. Then I pushed the heel of my palm into his nose. When he lifted up as a reaction to the pain, I pulled up my legs and rolled, standing.
Eyes locking on Death where she cowered in the corner, I snatched the map off the wall and ran to her. Her fur was just barely grazing my fingertips when I felt it. A slash of something into my back. The pain was all consuming. Fiery and bright, like lava flowing across my skin. I shrieked in pain, rotating to see Talon standing up, his face grim.
Help me!
My plea to the stars was answered with soft laughter, followed quickly by a burst of light out of my chest, the blast smacking into Talon and sending him flying backwards. The momentum from its strength had me careening forward, my knees hitting the ground with a crack.
A whimper left my mouth, my mind so chaotic that I was certain I wouldn’t be able to shadow walk properly. But it was that or dying. So I picked up Death and called to my shadows, trying to picture anywhere else, the map firmly in my other hand.
“Please don’t leave me, Supernova,” Talon begged, choking on the blood that squirted from his mouth as he coughed. “I love you.”
Then my shadows wrapped around me, my skin blazing and my heart aching.
My head swam as the magic seemed to overtake me, my unsure thoughts making the walk between shadows a dangerous and painful one. I appeared in front of a small cottage on a cliff, waves slamming against it from the piercing blue waters on my right. The air tasted salty and smelled like fish, the smoke from the chimney of the cottage burning my lungs. Grass tickled my legs, my bloody dress clinging to me, and I wondered if I was dreaming.
Death meowed softly, her scratchy tongue sliding across my finger. I tried to stand, but the movement sent a piercing pain into my head, my bloody arm aching as I gripped the map tighter. Vision swimming, I crawled instead, clenched fist aiming for the door. But the action was pointless, because the door swung open, slamming into my forehead and sending me to the ground.
Black spots consumed the scene, momentarily hiding the face of whoever had hit me as I rolled onto my back. The sky was such a lovely blue. Maybe I could just sleep there, beneath the warm sun rays and the trees that were unseasonably bare for early fall.
“You won’t want to miss this, sweet catalyst. Look.”
I listened to the stars, willing my eyes to focus on the towering black figure above me. Blinking, I watched with surprise and horror as a head of nearly silver hair came into view, the haunting grey eyes making my stomach twist.
“Little Void?” he whispered.
“Snake,” I offered back before releasing the map and letting the blackness take me.
Chapter Fifty
Azazel
“I dreamt of her again.”
-From the journal of Azazel Altair, 9282 AS
Tershetta lay limp in my lap, her heart so slow I could barely feel her pulse. She wore what was likely once a stunning gown, the silver silk stained with blood and what I assumed was vomit, rips exposing her flesh below. One of the sleeves was shredded, a gaping wound in her bicep that I was slowly attempting to heal. Her hair was littered with pieces of wood and dirt, the curls clinging to blood. My eyes stilled upon her left hand for a few seconds, the glittering diamond there making my ears ring.
But it was her back that made me nervous. I was no medic, and that looked to me like a slice inflicted by magic, which made healing it even more difficult. Her flesh had sizzled and burned, the cut so deep I saw bone, parts of her shadow marks cut off.
