Page 222 of Eternal
“I told you to leave her alone,” Viktor says after a beat, his voice low, almost tired. “I don’t know what the fuck happened yesterday but I don’t want to see her like that ever again.”
“I know.”
“Then you can leave, Damir. I’ll call you when you’re needed back.”
A few seconds passed and I murmured as if for myself. “I didn’tmeanto.”
“You did.” Vik says, like he knows something. Maybe she told them? I didn’t even think about that possibility coming in.
Silence stretches between us, thick and ugly.
I look up, eyes burning. “Where did she go?”
“She doesn’t want to be found,” Kat finally speaks, almost soft, almost like pity.
I shake my head. “I need a city.”
A long minute passes and then Vik says, “Vesper, she’s there with the Venom Reapers. I might have no clue what the fuck you did, but go there, find her; and talk to her.”
I nod, get up and thank him.
“Don’t thank me. Voron isn’t just a machine, she’s not what people are trying to make her seem like. Just be careful or I’ll fucking kill you.”
“She’ll kill me before.” I say before opening the door.
Being attached to someone like her feels like holding onto a blade and pretending the blood isn’t yours.
64
AZRA
“Fade into you” by Mazzy Star
Past
The kitchen was too quiet.
Mama always sang here, about olives and jasmine and wind, about home, her real home, the one I’d never seen. She used to show me pictures; it’s been so long since I saw this place again.
But today there was just the hum of the fridge and the clink of glass.
I watched her from the hallway, my bare feet cold on the floor. Her hair was messy. Not curly like mine anymore. I didn’t like mine; the kids at school said I looked like a witch. But she loved them. I didn’t like my eyes either, so I started wearing contacts to hide them. Alexei brought them to me cause I always cried, but my mom loved them.
Now I don’t know anymore.
She was staring at the counter, and the glass bottle next to her hand was almost empty. Her other hand shook, and she reached for a pill, popped it in her mouth, and swallowed it without water.
My baby brother started crying in the other room, and she flinched. “He won’t fucking shut up…” she whispered.
I held my breath.
Please don’t yell. Please, Mama.
But she didn’t yell, she just grabbed the bottle and poured another drink. Her fingers missed a little, and some of it spilled on the floor.
“Mama?”
She turned, her eyes looked red. Not from crying. From not sleeping, I think.
