Dark Wings, Bright Flame by Zoe Cannon

Author:Zoe Cannon [Cannon, Zoe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zoe Cannon
Published: 2021-05-21T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

When I opened the apartment door that evening, heat from the oven billowed out into the hallway as I stepped inside, along with the aroma of baking bread. Danielle was standing at the stove, stirring something in the big soup pot. I leaned in for a sniff, and took the opportunity to kiss the hollow at the side of her neck. I breathed in the combined aroma of minestrone soup and Danielle’s honeysuckle perfume. Normally, the smell of the soup would have set my mouth watering, and the familiar scent of her perfume would have brought a soft smile to my lips. This time, though, I didn’t feel a thing.

Danielle turned to me with a smile of her own, still holding the soup spoon. As soup dripped onto the floor, she leaned in for a kiss, then pulled back with a frown. “Is something wrong?”

My emotions must have been showing on my face more than I had thought. That was one of the downsides of sinking so deeply into the human disguise, and for so long—it became almost impossible to keep what I was feeling off my features. Nevertheless, I tried to smile. “Rough day at work, that’s all.”

Danielle didn’t return the smile. “It seems like every other day is a rough day for you lately. You’re always complaining about your manager blaming you for something going wrong, or a customer going off on you, or just the gross smell of the crap they cook there. But you always smile when you tell me about it—did you know that? It’s like you don’t think you have the right to be upset. Like you don’t expect anything better from your life.”

I knew where this was going. It was an argument we’d had many times before. She wanted me to get a better job. A degree, maybe. I, of course, had my reasons for being happy where I was—but none of those reasons were anything I could share with her.

“But the way you looked when you walked in the door?” Danielle’s frown grew. “That’s new. No matter how bad your day is, I’ve never seen you come home looking like that before.”

“Is it that bad?” I resisted the urge to peek into the bathroom to get a look at my own face in the mirror. I hadn’t realized I was still that rattled. But despite the thick smell of tomatoes and yeasty bread on the air, I still felt like my belly was full of stones. Maybe she was right. Maybe I hadn’t put this afternoon’s encounter behind me as much as I liked to think I had.

Danielle nodded. “Have you looked at yourself? It’s bad. You don’t just look look stressed—your face is bone-white. What happened, did your manager pull a knife on you or something?” A second later, her frown took on a sharper edge. “Wait. Did someone threaten you? I don’t like the way you keep watching the window. If you’re afraid someone followed you, you need to call the police.

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