Lord of Dust by Erme Lander

Author:Erme Lander [Lander, Erme]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781999745370
Published: 2019-12-07T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

“Where’s it gone?”

The grey filter of light coming through from the other room hasn’t changed, although Talia has said it’s afternoon. I’ve tried not to complain about her not coming back sooner, at least she’s come back.

Talia walks around me, close to the wall with a bucket in her hand. Water slops over the edges and I notice her knuckles, white on the rim as she puts it down. Another has been placed near the entrance. I flinch, a darker haze rises from the buckets. I know it’s only water and yet it raises a terror inside.

“It came back. I killed someone.”

I’d told her I’d made a grey man and that I was somehow responsible for all those deaths before. I was almost crying again. The fits of rage and fear had exhausted themselves through the long night and I’d spent the morning waiting in a fudge of tiredness. The thought of sleeping and what I might do in my half drowsy gave me the shivers, so I stayed awake, swaying slightly until I’d heard Talia’s light step outside.

She sits on the pile of rubble opposite, far enough away to run if necessary and puts her sharp chin into the palm of her hand. Studying me, she asks, “Can’t you control them? Stop doing it now you know how?”

“I don’t know. I caught myself doing it before I’d realised it was happening.”

“So maybe you could stop.”

Hope rears it’s head and plummets again as I felt something shift inside my chest. The thing inside had quietened down after its exploration. I daren’t tell Talia about it, I don’t want her to leave and I can tell she doesn’t want to stay.

“Maybe,” I mutter.

She huffs and begins taking items out of her bag. Food and her little brazier. “You need to eat.”

I watch as she cuts the vegetables, wiping her nose on the back of her hand, skinny legs akimbo in her baggy jeans. There is something else about her, something I need. The ghost of a whisper runs through my mind. I concentrate on the cooking and remind myself that I’d not eaten since the day before. Nothing comes from my stomach. I remember the feeling of Vihaan’s life force shooting through me and felt it lurch. I want more.

Before I can stop myself, I say, “I’m not hungry.”

Talia turns to give me another long look, “You prefer sucking the souls from people then?”

That was nasty and far too close to the truth. I find myself snarling back, “Tastes better than your cooking.”

“Fine.”

She flings the pot in my direction, water, carrots and lentils go everywhere. I cry out as my arms go up to shield myself from the wet. Water all around this fucking place – the thought isn’t my own. The pot hitting me is the final straw, I bury my face in my arms and dryly sob as the water is absorbed. I raise my face as Talia moves to touch me and stops at my hand rising to block her.

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