The Night Sun by Zin E Rocklyn

Author:Zin E Rocklyn [Rocklyn, Zin E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

* * *

I am here again, my arm outstretched, my fingertip pressing gently against the tiniest sliver, the smallest of the teeth, the one most stained and—fuck, it’s sharp.

I bring the stain to my face. Smear it under my nose. Suck it from the prick.

It is blood. In the very center of the spiral, at the bottom of the staircase, at the back of the basement, at the end of the gravel, pavement, loose dirt, grass—

It is blood. And it is fresh.

* * *

It took longer than expected.

I’d grown tired of sitting with my back straight, so I leaned into the couch cushions. By the time the door opened, I was fading into another nap.

“What took you so long?” My voice was stronger, remarkably so considering the wrecked state it had been in last time I used it. The carved ivory felt lighter in my hand, the grooves becoming familiar with the whorls of my palm and fingerprints.

“What did he say to you?” Jonas asked instead of answering me. He stomped around the cabin, no intention other than to make the space thick with his anger. I slowly released a breath, not convinced.

“Nothing that concerns you,” I said, testing my eyelids. The swelling had gone down; the pain was subsiding. I peeled them back with the tips of my fingers and immediately hissed at the brightness. “Take off the fucking lights!”

A moment. A tick, really. But solid enough to poke at the base of my belly, followed by the instinct to press my thighs together.

“The fuck did you just say?”

And then it was over. My whole body drooped, my breathing slowing, my hands at my sides, one open, the other closed in a fist around the curve of ivory. I closed my eyes again, electric whispers ghosting over my skin, the hairs standing on end.

He took a step; I took a breath.

“What did you just say to me, Avery?”

All bluster, no might. I chuckled.

Like a wound-up clown, Jonas stomped over to the couch, then swung around, body swollen with ego. He leaned forward, grabbing my wrists and squeezing.

“What. Did. You. Say?”

The pressure increased with each word, the ivory deeply embedded within the fat of my palm, still warming, warming, warming until it became unbearable. I hissed and I saw him clear as day. I saw his smile …

And I twisted my left wrist, flesh burning as it rubbed away within his grip, my fingers clawing for purchase, beginning to squeeze back as one digit, two, three dug deep and hard into the tender, thin thew of his own left wrist, nails piercing, growing as I pulled down with all my might. Jonas screamed, yanking his left hand away, strips of flesh dangling in its wake. The move was so fast, he barely had time to bleed before I struck his nose with my forehead. He mewled and stumbled back, the hands cradling the center of his face barely hiding the shock of the hit.

I smiled and stood, my eyes still closed.

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.