Page 43 of The Harbinger
Sacha grabbed the bun from my hands and tore a piece off. “Open.” He pressed the sweet morsel to my lips.
I exhaled through my nose and opened my mouth, my hand gripping his as he pressed the airy bread into my mouth. Sweet and savory burst across my tongue, my lips closing around his fingers.
He lingered for only a moment, sending spirals of heat coursing through my body. Then, as if he could sense the effect he had on me, he pulled the tip of his finger from my lips, dousing the fire with his dark glare.
My heart fluttered in my chest as I chewed the bread, his gaze searching mine. “It’s good,” I said, bringing my hand up to my mouth as I chewed. “Probably notmyfavorite, but good.”
“Have more.” He tore off another piece and placed it in my mouth, renewing the ebb and flow of hot and cold when he touched me and pulled away.
I chewed, and he studied me.
The clanging of pots and pans drowned out and faded into the background as I stared into the immeasurable void of his eyes. Maybe he and I weren’t all that different. Our darkness ruled from different places, mine deep inside, whereas he’d inked it right into his flesh for anyone who may be lucky or unlucky enough to see it.
The world’s creeping sounds crawled back in as he tore off another piece. I put my hand over my mouth. “Maybe I could try some eggs?”
As if Albina had been listening in, her heels clicked again and stopped behind me. She reached around my shoulder, removed the plate Sacha had thrown my bun on, and replaced it with eggs.
She turned on her heel once more and vanished from the room.
“I have a feeling if I spoke to her, she’d stab me with a butter knife.” A sickening in my belly hit like a hammer when the words left my mouth.
“It’s possible.”
I swiped at the ghostly hand squeezing my throat and shoved in the first bite of airy eggs mixed with chives. I groaned at the taste of the first real food I’d had all week, then took another bite before swallowing the first.
Sacha kept his studious gaze on me while eating hisVatrushkabun, our breakfast weirdly domesticated.
“Do you have plans for after breakfast?” I picked up my coffee and took another sip, fulfilling the domestication requirement… small talk.
“I have something I need to take care of this morning.”
My shoulders sagged, and a disheartening gloominess swept over me. “Okay.” A placating smile pulled at my lips as I moved my eggs across my plate, my appetite depleted when a woman about his age walked in.
She saddled up beside Sacha, her glossy pink lips spread with a beautiful, bright smile that crinkled her freckled cheeks.
The woman wore her reddish-brown hair in two braids that hung past her waist, her dress a black and blue plaited pattern that sat just above her knees. The collar and cuffs of her long sleeves were bleached white.
“Kat’ka, this is Mia, as you well know.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Mia.”
I stared, the introduction catching me off guard and freezing my manners, but not the notation of her perfect English. Wasn’t I supposed to not speak to the staff?
“Mia?” Sacha waved his hand in front of my face as she rolled her lips and hid a smile that snapped me out of it.
“Uh… Hi.” I tossed a small wave.
“Katya will help you while I’m away.”
Katya sat beside Sacha and placed her hand on his arm. “I hope you liked the clothes I picked out.”
My chest burned as I stared at her hand on him.
She leaned forward and tilted her head, giving Sacha a look of confusion at my silence. My tongue sat heavy in my mouth as I fixated on her hand, and then, as if the green-eyed monster never seized hold of me, I smiled and glanced down at my shirt. “Oh yeah. Thank you.”
Sacha rolled his arm, effectively removing her hand.
Did he do that because of me?Could he taste the venom in the air, or was it because he didn’t like being touched. Because if I remembered correctly, he’d given me the same treatment…