Page 59 of House of Pawns
From her bag she produces a rag. Carefully, she shakes out a dozen tiny glass vials.
My eyes rise up to hers and she places a single finger over her lips, commanding silence.
I understand it.
I live in a house full of vampires who have incredibly enhanced hearing. They’ve surely heard every word of our conversation thus far. They don’t need to know what Elle has just brought me.
A dozen doses of the vampire toxin.
I take them in my hand, wrapping my fingers tightly around them. “Thank you,” I say quietly. “I really appreciate it.”
Elle nods and climbs to her feet, indicating she’s ready to leave. Carefully, I slip the toxins into my pillowcase, determined to find a better hiding place later. I stand and we stall at my bedroom door.
“I really am sorry that things didn’t work out between you and my brother,” she says. “He…well. Ian always had a darkness about him, ever since our parents died, so that’s basically my whole life. He’s always been angry. But…he was different with you. I’ve never really seen him happy until he was with you.”
Crack.
Splinter.
“Thank you,” I say, my voice strained. “I’m sorry, too.”
She offers a little, sad smile. Hesitantly, she wraps her arms around me, taking me in a measured embrace. She steps away, tucking a strand of nearly white hair behind her ear. “Thank you, Alivia. I’ll let myself out.”
“Bye,” I say.
I lean my shoulder in the doorway and watch her go down the stairs.
“She’s a brave little waif, isn’t she?”
Raheem walks out his own bedroom door. I’m taken aback by his appearance at first. He wears a red beanie hat, a black leather jacket, and a pair of jeans. He looks so…normal. So…current century.
He must catch me staring, because a coy grin spreads on his face.
“She’s no one,” I say as the front door closes behind Elle. “No one at all.”
Raheem holds my eyes for a long moment, that smile lingering as understanding and knowledge plays through his expression. “Of course not.”
I stare at him, trying to puzzle him out. One moment he’s flirting and dangerous, the next I’m sure he’ll kill me because I’ve said the wrong thing.
“It’s for the best, you know,” he finally says when I don’t. “A broken heart is never an easy thing, but King Cyrus would not have taken kindly to a lover in the way of finding his Queen.”
“Then it’s a good thing he never could have accepted who I am,” I say. The hollow monster inside of me grows larger.
“A fault that is all his own and quite the shame,” Raheem says as his eyes do not leave me. They study me. The whole me. “You are a most extraordinary being, Alivia Ryan. And I say that having lived nearly a thousand years and having met princesses and assassins. You are a treasure.”
And his intensity and sincerity, it’s something that has impact. Something that catches me in a moment where I feel like I am freefalling.
“Thank you,” I say quietly. “If you’ll excuse me, I have things to take care of.”
I turn from him, ducking back into my room, ignoring the intense feelings running inside of me.
I dress in jeans and a sweater. I twist my hair up on top of my head and pull on thick socks and my boots. Descending the stairs, the small puddles of moisture on the floor draw my attention.
Opening the door, I wonder at the falling snow.
I did some research about a week ago. Mississippi’s annual snowfall is at most, half an inch. And here outside, it is a winterwonderland. I step out into it, off my front porch, out into the driveway. There’s at least four inches and thick, heavy flakes are still falling.
The fact that Elle drove here is impressive.
