Page 99 of Pareidolia

ASPEN

A MONTH LATER

There’s a boy walking through the woods as we make our way back to our cabin. I can feel him now, can feel the pain and longing pouring from him as he looks to the sky and lets out a hiccupy sob that would probably make most people feel pity.

Sorrow.

Even before, I would have felt a level of excitement or worry that I’d get caught… but things are different.

The only thing I feel is a twist of hunger in my gut—the only thing I feel is Nox’s hand brushing against my back as he glances at me. His wings unfurl as he walks forward, and when his voice comes out… it’s a soft, coaxing rumble.

“What are you looking for?” The question spills through the air like a purr, and the boy looks up. His pupils blow wide when he sees Nox, when those wings start to flutter, and his hands drop to his side.

“My mother… I… she died.”

Needy, wanting. So sad… and…

“What’s your name?” Nox’s voice is still that same soft lure as his tendrils snake from his back, slipping across the distance to wrap around the boy’s legs.

“Malachi,” he answers as those shadows twist around his waist. Nox pulls him forward as I step up to stand beside him…

“Malachi,” I croon. “Did you hear the story of the beast that haunts the forest?” His eyes are wide as he shakes his head. “It’s a beast with wings. Enormous red and white wings, with black eyes in the center. Devil eyes, demon eyes. Dead eyes. It can smell your fear, your wants, your desires. It knows how to lure you in.”

I’m good at telling stories, and the soft lull of my voice makes his body relax as he listens…

Nox’s wings. My voice. Together, we’re inevitable. We’re eternal.

It’s unfortunate for Malachi that I’ve never written stories about heroes—only monsters. And in my books, the monsters always win. They win, and they thrive. Noah took the fall for killing his father, just like Nox told him to… and my monster and I slipped away together into Duskfen Forest.

Our love story is death. And tonight, Nox and I are writing another chapter together.

Never without. Never alone.