This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham

Author:Kayla Cottingham [Cottingham, Kayla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2023-01-03T00:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

The night I got home from the facility for young Hollow people started out on a quiet note.

My father was the one to pick me up. Once he was done signing the paperwork, we loaded into his Toyota without saying a word. I buckled into the passenger seat while he fiddled with the radio. He wrinkled his forehead as he twisted the knob left and right until he finally found NPR.

“They had an interesting interview with a Hollow person on here the other day,” he said as he backed out of the parking spot. “She’s a speechwriter for the president. Said that SynFlesh has really changed the game for her. She’s able to sleep in the same bed as her human husband again and everything.”

“Oh.” I swallowed thickly, staring at my sneakers. “That’s, um, cool.”

That was the last conversation we exchanged the rest of the car ride to Aspen Flats. I leaned my head against the window, watching the desert pass by, the mountains nothing but shadows in the distance. It was the most I’d seen of the outside world in weeks.

When we pulled up to the house, all of the lights were on. My parents and I lived in a fairly sizable farmhouse, with two floors and enough space that both of my parents had their own offices, plus a guest room. When Dad and I stepped over the threshold, the dining room table was set with one plate and one set of silverware.

Mom bolted up from the living room couch at the sound of the door opening. She was a bird-boned woman, slight and somewhat gaunt with blond hair and blue eyes. She smiled at me, but it didn’t crease her crow’s feet.

“Mom!” I shouted. I grinned and ran toward her, holding my arms out. “I missed you so—”

Before I could reach her, though, she sidestepped, face pale.

My words died in my throat.

“W-Welcome home, Zoey,” she said, wrapping her arms around herself. She folded and refolded her hands in front of her. “You’re looking…well.”

I sputtered a laugh. “Uh, thanks? I mean, I haven’t really seen the sun in three months, but I haven’t turned into a cave fish quite yet.”

She didn’t laugh. Instead, she cleared her throat and said, “Are you, ah, hungry, dear?”

“Oh.” I crossed my arms, rubbing the upper part of one with my open palm. “Uh—sure. I could eat.”

My parents exchanged a look. Mom’s eyes were rounded and huge, while Dad just squared his shoulders. I wondered how many conversations they’d had about this moment since they found out I’d become a ghoul.

I swallowed thickly. “You two don’t need to stay here to keep me company while I eat. I know it’s, um, sort of uncomfortable. I can handle it myself.”

“Are you sur—?” Dad started to ask.

Mom cut him off. “Great! Well, there’s plenty of SynFlesh in the fridge. It’s all in the drawer on the left. Help yourself. I’m actually going to run to the store and get more.”

“Kathleen—” Dad started to say.

But she didn’t respond.

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.