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"Other things. I see." Augustus's eyes had turned a deeper shade of green again, and they didn't look away from her as he sipped his tea and winced. "God above, I'm going to be aching tomorrow."
"Teach you a lesson for fighting and getting drunk for how many days?"
"Two. After I left you, I went home to see if the hole in the magic was smaller. It was. Seemed like a good excuse to go out for a drink. Fuck, I don't know how you are managing to do it. Maybeyouare a miracle."
"I don't think so. Grief is not the kind of miracle you would ask for if you had a choice. I make people cry, and then they forget me. It's thankless and…"
"Lonely," Augustus finished. He titled his head a little. "Am I your first friend, Mara?"
"Is that what we are? Friends?" Mara didn't want to tell him that it was true. She'd never been friends with anyone outside of the families.
"Close enough, I'd say." He touched his cheek and swore softly.
"I don't know how to feel about that," she admitted.
"Me neither. Nice to know life can still surprise me after all this time." Augustus spotted the rose he'd given her sitting on the kitchen table, and he smiled but didn't mention it. It was that smile that made Mara realize she needed to put space between them.
"I really should be going to bed. You're welcome to the couch if you want it."
"Are you sure Athanasius won't try and sleep on my face to smother me?"
"Live dangerously, sorcerer," Mara laughed softly.
"Okay," he replied.
She made to stand, but Augustus reached out and grabbed her, making her freeze. She knew he was drunk, and she wasn't much better, so she stayed still as he ran his stubble and lips up her bare neck.
The sensation surprised and paralyzed her, her treacherous head tilting to one side to expose more skin to him. He breathed her in, the tip of his nose trailing over her.
"Why do I dream of you, little saint?" he said, hot breath against her ear. Mara swallowed hard, reaching for words. She wanted to pull away and press closer to him simultaneously.
"I—I don't know, but you really should sleep it off, Augustus," she managed to say and gently moved his hands from her arms.
"You too," he said, leaning back in the chair.
Mara didn't look at him as she hurried upstairs and locked herself in her bathroom. Her face was red in the mirror, a line of heat still burning along her throat.
She quickly pulled off her clothes, pinned up her long braid, and climbed into a lukewarm shower. She needed to be sober. Fast.
She did her best to scrub away any traces of his blood and aftershave from her. The sensation of his mouth against her skin refused to go away.
"Something is seriously wrong with you, Mara Corvo," she muttered, even as a nonsensical part of her ached.
You definitely should've gone home with a stranger tonight, not played nurse to a damaged sorcerer.
After dressing in warm pajama pants and a loose T-shirt, Mara unraveled her braid and crept downstairs for a glass of water. She didn't want to see if he was still there and knew she would cringe in embarrassment if he was still awake. Common sense told her that she needed water and aspirin, so she'd just have to deal with it.
He's too drunk to remember it anyway, she reasoned.
Mara rummaged as quietly as she could for painkillers. She risked a glance over her shoulder. Augustus had fallen asleep in the armchair, the blanket tangled in his lap.
"What am I going to do about you always upsetting my life like this?" Mara whispered and lifted the blanket back up around his shoulders, tucking him in.
Something like a miracle was building low in her stomach, and before she could second-guess herself, Mara brushed his graying forelock back from his face and softly kissed Augustus's sleeping lips. They weren't sad or annoyed when he was asleep. They were curved and warm and fitted neatly against hers.
In the days that followed, Mara could never remember exactly why she'd done it. Perhaps it was to prove that she wasn't afraid of her mother's vicious ghost. Maybe this sorcerer wasn't as evil as all the others she had been warned about over the years.
She only knew that she wanted to kiss him despite those things, and so she did.
