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7
Homelessness didn’t exist in our world. Everyone was taken care of, no matter what.
For the past year, it had been my job to keep my family’s legacy, which reminded me of why I was here. I was the only one left to take care of my kin, well and Lachlan, but he had his own clan to protect.
Tugging off my hat, I pulled it onto his head, covering his ears from the chilled air the fog brought into the city and smiled at him. After I stood, I jogged over to the other side of the road before the light changed again, noticing the line of disciples that waited for the dungeon of worship to open.
I had never seen anything like it. The Harbinger of Justice was definitely powerful here.
The line at this time of morning went around the corner of the structure, so I stood behind the last person, idly walking as it moved along. I mentally prepared to do what I had come here to do once and for all.
During the past year, after Amma’s loss, things became increasingly worse for us. Raithian hadn’t been happy we’d wounded his four-headed beast, and every attempt to destroy us after that had been stronger, ruthless, just like he was. Thankfully, he hadn’t succeeded, and my aunt had bought us enough time to find a new place to settle where our people would be safe.
Raithian hadn’t been able to find us again, but how long could we keep hiding? Regardless of what I felt, I had to do what was best, and that brought me here.
“Central Park, Matcha smoothie please.” The young woman before me said, and I suddenly realized I had been so preoccupied with what I had to do, I hadn’t even noticed I’d already entered the dungeon.
When I looked ahead, the Harbinger was there. He received the offering from the woman, while the guys behind him kind of halted—staring at me, expectant. Frowning, I tried to hide from their gazes behind her, but she moved to accept her sacred drink of worship, leaving me wide open to the Harbinger’s gaze.
Of only one thing I was certain. If he gave me that unnerving smile that sent my stomach, breathing, and nerves into a frenzy, I was going to smack him. He had no right to use his powers on me. Not that I remembered if he was supposed to have actual magic. Never mind.
With my glaring, the men behind him turned abruptly, pretending they weren’t watching. I cleared my throat, and looked at the man who had abandoned his kind.
“Hey,” he greeted, surprised to see me.
I froze. Not because his presence made my heart do wild flips, but because before me was the broken man I had seen yesterday. The tiny smile he offered me didn’t reach his eyes, in fact, the light was gone from them and the defeat he felt shone through his irises.
“What is your destination today?” he asked in a grim voice, and my heart squeezed. Also, I freaked out a bit, because that was clearly some kind of chant and I couldn’t remember what the woman before me had replied.
“A Matcha Park, Central smoochie, please,” I replied, trying to seem like I knew what I was doing, even though I had no clue what that even meant.
Chuckles echoed behind the Harbinger of Justice, and to my surprise, his lips slowly tilted into a brilliant smile, though he tried to hide it. Instantly, my pulse picked up speed as his green eyes twinkled at me, and my stomach went into a frenzy—which wasn’t exactly good, because I was so hungry it hurt.
“You mean a matcha smoothie? Like the green tea?” he carefully asked, as though trying not to insult me again, or maybe he thought I wasn’t sure of what I said.
I wasn’t, but how dare he call me out on it??
“Sure...” I answered, not convincingly, and he chuckled. Strangely, I liked him smiling—if only because it drove away the sadness I’d seen in him earlier. Not that I was concerned with how the coward felt.
“You don’t know what matcha tea is, do you?”
Fine. Let the humiliation begin. That was the reason I came anyway. My people were worth everything. “No, I don’t. But it doesn’t matter. Just give me the worshiping drink and let’s get this over with. I don’t have much time left.”
At that he actually laughed, and my lips twitched. It was kind of contagious. Wait, he was laughing at me, wasn’t I supposed to get mad? Gods!
“Well, I sure do worship coffee based on how much I drink it,” the guy behind me added, chuckling.
My frown returned; people spoke so strangely here, but I just glanced at the Harbinger. “Can I just get the drink? And I’d like an audience afterwards, if possible. Privately…” There, I said it.
One of his brethren whistled behind him, wiggling his brows. “She wants totalk privately,” he whispered, but received an elbow to the ribs from another.
“I can hear you, you know?” I challenged, glaring at him and the guy turned to prepare a drink.
The Harbinger of Justice chuckled. “I’m sorry. Don’t pay attention to them. They are crazy,” he whispered the last part, moving his finger in a circle next to his head.
A small smirk tried to curve my lips with the silly gesture, but I didn’t let it.
Assessing me for a moment, he leaned over the short wall, as though to tell me a secret. “Okay, you don’t really look like a green smoothie kind of girl. What about if I give you a Coney Island with extra whip?”
