Page 54 of Bones
“Anyways, I just wanted to see how you were doing.”
“I’m fine,” I said, but more weary than snappy. I met her eyes and let a tiny bit of vulnerability show. “It’s nothin’ new.”
We exchanged a look that spoke more than words ever could. She understood, and so did I, and we both hated it.
“I know you don’t know me that well,” she said in a low voice, “but Icanvouch for my brothers. They’re good men.”
I looked away again. “If anyone is ever hurt at the brothel, just send for me. Doesn’t have to be an emergency.”
She paused for a moment. “I will. Thank you, Bones.”
After Clarity left, I had a few moments of silence before a woman came in. Griz followed her inside, and the way he watched her made me tense. She looked harmless—thin, and frail—but she watched me hungrily with a strange light in her eyes.
“You have a gift,” the woman said before I could say anything. She tilted her head, a birdlike movement.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
She smiled, and I noticed her pupils were blown wide like she was high on something.
“Angel,” the woman murmured reverently.
I felt the blood leave my face so fast the room swam. “Don’t call me that.”
“The Voiceless were right.” Her face shone with awe. “The gods have sent their Angel to save us.”
“The gods sent you to me, Angel. You are mine to wield how I see fit; you hear me?”
I sucked in a desperate breath through my nose, trying to quell the nausea.
“I seek your blessing, Angel!”
The woman started toward me and I retreated quickly, but Griz grabbed her before she got more than two steps in. He had to carry her out as she fought, but he managed.
“No!” she wailed. “Angel, please!”
As soon as the door shut behind them, I fled up to the loft and tucked myself into my corner, my back to the wall and my knees drawn up to my chest. My hands trembled as I fought waves of nausea.
Angel.
I hated that Juck still had so much power over me. I wanted him to be gone, out of my memories, my fears, my nightmares. I hated that one word could reduce me to this because I could only hear his voice saying it. I wasn’t sure if most people knew Juck had once been a part of the Voiceless. He often fervently talked to me about the Voiceless and the gods when we were alone. He said he left due to a disagreement, but sometimes I wondered if that was true. He seemed to go out of his way to keep the Reapers and the Voiceless from crossing paths despite believing he had been chosen as a new god by finding me in the desert.
Angel.He’d groaned it in my ear when?—
I clapped a hand over my mouth again, determined to not be sick.
Griz’s head popped up over the side of the loft and I jumped with a gasp.
“Sorry,” he said, “you ok?”
I nodded, wiping my wet cheeks and hoping he didn’t notice as he pulled himself up the rest of the way into the loft. He sat against the wall several feet away from me.
“Don’t know why I keep asking you that when I know you’ll just lie,” he said, but he didn’t sound mad.
I tried to take a deep breath, tried to fight off the tears that welled in my eyes and tried to pretend he wasn't there. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him watching me.
“You run into the Voiceless before?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Just seen ’em from a distance. And heard things.”
