Otherworldly by F.T. Lukens

Author:F.T. Lukens
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published: 2024-04-02T00:00:00+00:00

15 ELLERY

ELLERY WOKE UP WITH A stiff neck. They didn’t remember falling asleep, only the end of the first movie and the beginning of the second and Knox’s warm, dry hand clutched in their own. They groaned as they turned their head, eyes fluttering open, to find the spot beside them empty. A smile ghosted across their face as the words he likes me ran on loop in an intrusive drumbeat inside their brain.

Stretching their arms upward, they spied Knox on the other side of the couch. His bare back, and the muscles flexing beneath, was on display as he changed out of his bloodied shirt. Ellery’s heart quickened at the expanse of pale skin.

Knox shoved the ruined shirt into his bag, then slipped on a clean one. And Ellery could breathe again.

Knox turned and grabbed the journal teetering on the edge of the couch, then jolted when he caught Ellery’s gaze.

“Oh,” he said. “You’re awake.”

Ellery yawned, trying to act nonchalant and not at all like they’d just been caught creeping on him. Knox was back to his inhuman self; his nose was no longer purple, and the bruises and the blood from the day before had all disappeared. Ellery couldn’t help feeling like their fragile conversation from the previous night was in danger of fading away as quickly as Knox’s injuries.

“Yeah, I’m awake. Unfortunately. What time is it?”

The corner of Knox’s mouth quirked. “Later than you think. Charley and Zada have already left for the day.”

Ellery sat bolt upright. “What?”

“Charley said she’d tell Diego that you were ill after the game last night.”

“I hate missing work,” Ellery groaned.

Knox frowned. “Because you need the money?”

Ellery stood and scrubbed a hand over their face, wiping the sleep from their eyes. “Yeah. But I also don’t want the diner to realize that I am basically superfluous and that they could probably handle what I do with the current staff. Diego did Charley a favor hiring me, and I doubt I could find another job in this economy.”

Knox looked away, his hair falling over his eyes, his profile godlike. Ellery tucked their arms around themself.

“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely.

“Why? It’s not your fault. You didn’t cause this winter, and you certainly didn’t have to persuade me to stay up late last night watching bad movies.”

Knox paled; his lips went bloodless. His long fingers wrapped around the leather-bound spine of the book, and he gripped it tight. “Yeah. Of course.”

Ellery bit back a sigh at Knox’s abrupt turn of mood. “What’s that?” they asked, indicating the book.

“Arabelle’s journal,” Knox said softly. “I took it the night she… died.”

“Oh.”

“It’s mostly her work, but it also has her thoughts and some weird poetry.”

And that was something that Ellery hadn’t really asked yet: what Arabelle had sold her soul for. “What… what was her bargain?”

Knox ran his hand over the cover. “The knowledge of life.”

“The what?”

“Arabelle wanted to make a potion that would defeat death. But since that is the realm of the goddess, the shades wouldn’t allow her that.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.