When We Were Still Human Vaughn Foster (the kiss of deception read online .txt) đ
- Author: Vaughn Foster
Book online «When We Were Still Human Vaughn Foster (the kiss of deception read online .txt) đ». Author Vaughn Foster
âNot exactly.â
âWhat do you mean?â She shot upright. Had she missed something? All everyone had been saying since she woke up was that she was a monster that would kill everyoneâit was even cast onto stone in a prophetic cave painting. But Vladimir had spoken so matter-of-factly, without a trace of sarcasm or chicanery. Longing outpowered skepticism and she grabbed his arm, the first hints of hope glinting in her eyes.
âThe Mark.â He pointed to her chest. âIt suppresses the curse to an extent. If you wanna eat another old man, feel free. You just donât have to.â
âWhat?!â Val stood up and quickly started pacing the cave, hand to forehead. Could something like that be true? If it was, shouldnât she have known? But then again, Vladimir had screwed up the Mark. Plus, everyone had been too preoccupied.
âI have no reason to lie,â Vladimir interjected, bringing her to a halt. âIt would be very inconvenient for Michaelâs whole âcleanse the world with fireâ if his seven most valuable assets couldnât curb their⊠desires to focus on orders.â
âOkay⊠Thatâs good to know,â she said slowly. âThank you. ButâŠâ She clenched her fist. Tears stabbed at the corners of her eyes, but she held her ground. âIâm not going back.â
At this, Vladimir seemed genuinely shocked. The shadows on his skin slammed still and he stared her over intensely. âExcuse me?â
Val huffed out a breath and stomped up to the manâthe monsterâ so they were inches apart.
âI donât know what youâre playing, but it doesnât matter.â His face had relaxed, curiosity replacing surprise. He sized her up like she was no more than a pouting child, but she held her ground. âAs long as this is in my chest,â she placed a hand over the Mark. âYou people own me. Iâll find a way out on my own. Take me back to the castle.â
Chapter 18
âThis is unacceptable!â Paris exclaimed as Castorâs body trudged through the snow. âThe man has legions of angels on his belt, but nooo, he sends us to get a stupid book. I know I sound like Zadkiel right now, but seriously, what the hell?â
âPolliâŠâ Castor sighed, âthe âstupid bookâ is related to Kairos. Michael needed people he can trust to do this.â
âThen how come itâs only us three?! He sends the vampire and the ghoul on vacation, and where do you think our highnessâ favorite little soldier is? Probably laying on his ass somewhere, fast asleep. I swear, if Zadkiel isnât really Sloth, then I donât evenââ
âCan you two shut up for like two seconds?!â Avia snapped. Steam wisped around her body in smoky tendrils. âI donât know how you two could even live in the same house, much less the same head. Youâre giving me a migraine!â
âIâm sorry. Sheâs right, Cas,â Paris said softly. âMichael put her in our care and weâve been fighting for hours.â
âApologies, Avia,â Castor said. âEnough about us. There have been a lot of recent changes. How are you doing?â
âCold,â she said flatly, then continued marching ahead. Michael had given her a fur lined coat from Le Cielâs armory. They were soft and flexible, yet the exterior felt like solid stone. Supposedly, they were enchanted with runes to preserve heat, but they werenât doing anything against the South Poleâs icy gales. Internal complaints continued to stack in her mind, but she was interrupted by the crunch of ice under feet. She cringed when Castor finally fell into step beside her.
âWe understand, itâs a lot to take in,â he started. âPollux and I became Envy several hundred years ago and weâre still getting the hang of things. Living in Le Ciel, doing these missions, killing demons⊠itâs much different than living among the stars.â
âOh, killing demons is the best,â Paris said wistfully.
âIt really is,â Castor said. âOne time, Zadkiel and I were in Amsterdam andâ"
âStop!â Avia stomped in front of himâthemâ it, whatever they were, eyes ablaze. With clenched fists, she raised herself on her toes to meet his eyes. âStop. I donât need you two trying to be my friends. What I need is to get out of this fucking hellscape. Iâve lived in South America and Florida for the past seven yearsâI donât do cold. And I donât hike either, but look where your brilliant directions brought us. When we get back, I would love to discuss killing demons. God, I need to kill something. But right now, I just need you two to shut. The hell. Up.â
Before he could respond, Avia fumed off, snow melting in her wake. Sheâd thought the adventure would be exciting. On the contrary, it had only yielded the twinsâ incessant arguing and attempts at small talk. Furthermore, theyâd been trekking through flurries for hours and were seemingly no closer to their destination.
The Selkie Southern Kingdom was supposed to be known for its beauty and crystalline sky towers. Yet, the only thing for miles was white. Castor had sworn that theyâd crossed from the South Pole into the Annwn at arrival, but he had obviously screwed up.
Avia huffed a smoky breath and channeled more fire out of her fingertips. If not for her flames melting a path, they never would have made it as far as they did. But even still, she was sore and sick of stomping around in soggy socks.
âEnough,â she growled. She came to a stop, with Castor almost barreling into her back. She pulled a deck of cards from her inside jacket pocket and removed a three and a four of spades.
She had never used the technique outside
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