“Not funny,” she sighed. “The ability to heal people is…cool. But when I think about my life as a street rat on Earth, my bitch mother who doesn’t give two shits about where I am or how I’m doing, and the fact that this planet wants to harvest me to fuel their light bulbs… I guess I just don’t feel like much of agoddess.”
My body tensed instinctively. I felt the need to pray for forgiveness on Vivian’s behalf for calling Goddess Eva a “bitch”.
Beyond my religious conditioning, I hated hearing that she felt undeserving, unloved, and exploited. We hadn’t talked much about her mother, but those feelings made sense with what was happening to her. As wrong as it may be, if I had to choose between siding with Vivian or all the deities in the heavens, I was beginning to think I’d choose her every time.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
She turned to her side, propping her head up on an elbow to stare down at me. “You don’t need to be sorry. There are more important things to me than whether I’m special.”
“Like what?”
She smiled softly. “Can you get the light? I’m exhausted.”
“Of course.”
The low glow of the lantern faded, bathing us in soothing darkness. I closed my eyes, sinking further into the pillow with all four hands folded onto my torso. I could feel her breath fanning over my upper arm. The faint taste of blackberries tingled my tongue.
“Hey Theo,” she whispered.
“Yeah, Viv.”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being you.”
There was a rustle of blankets. A palm rested over my shoulder, warmth seeping into my skin. The scars that always burned stung a little less. My heart thumped against my ribs, trying to escape its cage so it could be held in her hand. She wasn’t some stray beast. She wasn’t a rejected daughter. She wasn’t a battery. She was Vivian. A goddess in a world of devils. And she deserved a safe place to lay her head at night.
Vivian
“Yes, I promise I’ll stay nearby,” I laughed under the intensity of Theo’s stare.
We stood where the markets met the neighborhoods. Theo said he had some people to talk to, but seemed to be wrestling with whether to bring me with him or not. I touched the fabric clipped around my neck and winked at him, a reminder I was just one’s everyday Pyran out on the town.
My other hand clutched the list of items that would soon fill the satchel crossing my body. I hadn’t gone on a shopping spree since I was a kid. I was about to tear this town the fuck up withyearsof repressed spending urges. These heavy-ass Trebianna coins Theo gave me were burning a hole in my pockets—and weighing my dress down.
“Alright, I’ll find you as soon as I’m done.”
I saluted, turned on my heels, and made my way into the crowd of people—not giving him another moment to second guess himself.
It was pretty strange being surrounded by whateveryfiber of my being told me were monsters, but not as strange as I thought it’d be. Hell, I’d been so tired last night I’d barely noticed the werewolf—no,Lychan—manning the hotel check-in. Today, I felt like I was having a fun dream after smoking a post-work joint. If the paranormal locals weren’t enough, the overcast sky of muted violet and green added a sense of fantasy to everything the light touched.
I approached a stall containing overflowing shelves of spices. I recognized some of what I needed immediately from Ida’s pantry, but a few items were completely foreign. I tried to look natural as I perused the options.
“Need help finding anything?” the heavily horned and spiked person behind the counter asked. They must’ve been a Thornnnnn—something. Thornite? Thornish? Thornian?Thornian.
“Oh no, I’m just browsing,” I replied casually. This faking “normal” thing was easy.
“It’s buy two get one free on the yellow racks,” they said, sounding incredibly human.
“Thank you.”
My eyes flickered between the list and the shelves. Picking up an unfamiliar herb, I relaxed when I realized the names were painted on the bottoms of the containers, making it possible to identify what I needed. One at a time, I set jars and satchels and boxes of seasonings onto the counter face.
“That’ll be it,” I smiled.
The Thornian pointed at each item with a curved talon, silently tallying. “Two bronze and five silver.”
