Page 56 of Facade

“A human slave?” I offered, tone hostile.

He sighed and pushed off. I turned slightly, watching as he ran his hands through his thickening, black hair.

“You’re different. Easy to be around. I don’t want to make things uncomfortable or more difficult for you. I can’t do anything about your appearance without Cressida,” The blonde hair I loathed seeing, “but I can respect your wishes and stop the role-playing of husband and wife. And you can ride with Malachai. I meant what I said about Dimitri. He has to be able to shift and—”

“Will you tell me what sort of beings you and Malachai are?”

He looked at me for a moment before he dropped his gaze. “I can’t.”

I clenched my jaw, the cold seeping deep within my bones as I turned my back to him once more. My breath stalled in my chest as he moved close and draped his coat over me, the warmth an instant reprieve from the chilled air. However, I wouldn’t let him see the shudder that tried to snake through my body from the heat his coat provided.

“I truly am sorry, Evanee. Can you forgive me?” His breath caressed my ear as he remained directly behind me.

“Fine,” I said, barely above a whisper. “But that’s twice in one day you’ve apologized to me.” I turned, forcing him to step back. “I may be a slave, but I do have limits, Aiden.”

“You’re more than that, Evanee.” He stretched his hand toward me, but I pressed back, hands clenching around the edges of his coat as I pulled it closer, putting a boundary between us. His hand stilled, fingers curling inward as he lowered it back down. Still, a traitorous part of me didn’t want that boundary.

“I don’t need to ride with Malachai tomorrow. He… I don’t think he likes me," I admitted instead.

“Malachai makes everyone feel that way, but he’d protect you.”

I grunted, not sure I believed that either. “And I don’t mind playing the role of husband and wife… if it keeps things simpler. Just in the towns.”

His unwavering regard held me there, steady and unyielding.

“The choice is yours,” he said, his voice an octave deeper. A fang grazed his lips, drawing my attention to their fullness. My throat dried as my resolve wavered.

“We still have daylight left. Would you like to explore Brixton?”

I didn’t trust myself to respond. My voice would have betrayed me. So I nodded. Relief washed through me when he stepped away—until the absence of him settled in its place.

We walked side by side silently, perusing the shop fronts. As Malachai had said, most were closed down, with signs stating they would reopen in the spring. Dessert shops, hat shops, and even a toy shop—despite there being no other evidence of children in this town—remained open, with shoppers scurrying along. An ache built in my chest at the normalcy in which the beings ambled about. Of course, I still wanted to roll my eyes at how absurdly bright everything was. However, Brixton as a whole was like being in one of my dreams. Beautiful, unmarred, and a far-fetched reality.

My shoulder brushed against Aiden’s, and he smiled down at me. The corners of my mouth lifted in response, though a battle raged within me.

Aiden tugged me to a stop in front of a shop window with colorful dresses, winter boots, and fur-lined coats on display.

“Mind if we go in here?” he asked, gesturing toward the door. I nodded, and he led me inside, a bell ringing out above our heads.

The shop was charming and intimate. A table with winter gloves of all different colors, arranged in tidy little groups—light pinks, white, pale blues, and dark green—was front and center. To the right of that, a stunning dress was put on display—beautiful enough to steal my breath away. Dark blue with white specks that resembled snow toward the bottom and clear beading that caught in the soft glow of the light. The cut was lower, and the gauzy sleeves were a contrasting light blue. I lingered a moment before following Aiden to a wall with coats of every color. Most people kept their colors bland so they could match anything. Plus, the cost of colored thread was expensive.

Green, red, pink, yellow, blue, and purple. That’s what Aiden pulled out one by one, asking me with each option what I liked. I didn’t know, though. I’d never had anything new or anything that I could remember.

“Pick one,” Aiden insisted, gesturing to the wall. My breath stalled.

“I couldn’t possibly—”

“Yes, you could and will,” he breathed. “Think of it as my apology. Now pick one,” he demanded. The material was velvet-soft beneath my touch as I drifted across the display, eyeing the myriad of colors. Until I stopped at the end, where one coat had been stuffed unceremoniously behind the bright blues. Plain black, but the buttons were a shimmering silver with bright white fur lining the inside. It looked similar to the one I'd selected at Thaddeus’, but thicker.

“This one.”

“Are you sure? There are lots of other colors to choose from. What about the blue?” he asked, reaching for the dark navy coat closest to him—I shook my head.

“No, this one. It’s perfect.”

It was strange to feel pulled toward a coat, but I did. To this coat.

He started to say more, but I didn’t hear as I pulled the coat down, slipping his from my shoulders to replace it with the glimmering black one. The fit was slender and hugged me perfectly. As if it had been made just for me. I lightly brushed my fingers over the diamond-like buttons—smooth, despite the illusion of sharpness. I pulled the hood on, the fur tickling my cheeks.