AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My eyes lock with his, and I swear the whites are black half a second before they aren’t. He swears. His gaze falls hard on his daughter before I can so much as choke out a greeting. “Meda, what the—” He curses.
“What? Didn’t you sense us coming up the walk?” she squeaks. “Am I not allowed to invite Mrs. Role over for dinner?”
He sighs, seems to fortify himself against me, and jabs his chin toward the table. Glaring at the green onions he’s dicing on the island counter, he grumbles, “Place setting.”
Andromeda grins and bounds to a cabinet in order to get another plate for the obsidian dark table.
“Xios,” Pollux mutters, and Alexios freezes.
Shoulders bunching, Alexios faces Pollux. “Yes?”
“You haven’t had this before.”
“Will the torture never end?”
“You might like it.”
“I like cashews. I like figs. I like the unending distress of a minimum-wage employee. What else do I need?”
“A soul.”
Alexios breathes a laugh. “I have been trying to get one.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes, yes, Pollux. Your playground insults are very becoming of you, aren’t they?”
Pollux’s glare lifts, forceful. “Two bites.”
Alexios’s already pale face drains further. “Pardon?”
“The first is for science. The second is because you’re pissing me off.”
Unsure what I’m meant to do, I stand in the middle of the kitchen, holding my kitten carrier, and watch the innocuous family banter transpire.
Pollux is…cooking. A whole meal. There are multiple pots and pans on the gas stove. Blue tails of fire flick against stainless steel. It’s a disconcertingly quaint scene that comes nowhere close to matching the horrid images I have of him in my skull.
“Do you mind tofu?” Pollux asks me as he nudges a stir-fry in the largest skillet and sprinkles the green onions on top.
“Um. No. I’m vegetarian.”
His hard expression softens, if minutely. Gently, he murmurs, “Of course you are…”
My gut reaction is to snap what’s that supposed to mean, but I behave myself, bite my tongue, and stand weakly in whatever alternate universe I seem to have found myself in.
Andromeda places a fork on the table and cautiously calls, “Daddy?”
“What did you do?” he asks.
“What?” she squeaks, yet again.
“I can hear the guilt in your tone.”
She deflates. “I may have mentioned some things about Zy to Mrs. Role.”
Pollux sighs. “Meda… That entire situation is difficult to explain to someone unfamiliar with so many things about us, and I didn’t think you were even ready to try.”
“I’m sorry. Sometimes it just hurts inside, and I feel awful.”
