A Heart Of Bitter Poison by Brynne Weaver

Author:Brynne Weaver [Weaver, Brynne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-01-26T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 21

I spend most of the day alone once Bianca leaves. I’m not really in a sociable mood. Plus, I’m hungry. Like, really hungry, which has become hangry. I take all that hanger out on the bathroom, scrubbing my bloody, confusing message from the mirror until it’s streak-free and gleaming.

I move on to tackle the wall with every cleaning product I can find. The smell of chemicals and fake fragrances burns my nostrils but it reminds me of Sanford, of the simple life I once had cleaning rooms at the Swan and playing Scrabble with Andy and cribbage with Peter and marveling at Bian’s ferocity. It makes me a little homesick, actually. They must be worried. I took off with some strange, broody, tattooed dude and haven’t come back. As far as they’re concerned, I’ve probably been murdered and left in some shallow grave somewhere, leaving a room of meager belongings behind. Even my epic Rocket Appartmento espresso machine is still there. Damn it.

These thoughts consume me so thoroughly that I don’t notice Ashen at the door until I turn to grab the spray from the counter. I catch sight of him in the now pristine mirror and startle a little, which he seems to find endearing, judging by that warmth in his face. I level him with a glare and turn back to the wall.

“Creeping again?”

“Bianca stopped by,” Ashen says. He takes a step into the bathroom and lays a strip of paper on the counter. “She found Valentina. We should leave tomorrow.”

I lean backwards and read Bianca’s flowery script. “Magura?.. Seriously?.. Fuck.”

Ashen nods and I turn back to the wall and scrub it with renewed vigor. “When was the last time you were in Romania?”

“You already know the answer. When your idiot Reaper friends stole Vlad’s soul.”

There’s a long beat of silence where the only sound is the hard brush scraping at the wall. “Vlad was out of control,” Ashen says in a low and serious voice. “He was drawing attention to himself, killing far more than he needed to. You know as much as I do that he had to be stopped.”

My hand falls away from the wall and I turn slowly, red light consuming my pupils as I catch my own reflection. I cast my gaze to Ashen in the mirror.

“Were you there?”

“No, Lu. I wasn’t there and I wasn’t part of the decision to reap Vlad’s soul.”

We stare at one another for a long moment as I look for the truth in his eyes. I guess it shouldn’t matter anymore, it was so long ago. The Reapers that ambushed Vlad on that cold day in January have long since moved on to other prey, and Vlad’s spirit has been in their realm ever since. Somewhere.

I turn back to my task, glaring at the bloodstained plaster. “You sure are good at telling me all the things you didn’t do, Reaper,” I say, my gaze darting to meet his in the mirror. “I wonder if you’ll ever tell me about the awful things you did.

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.