Page 124 of The Cannibal

Folding the tooth back required me to stretch my finger farther into his mouth.

The next few seconds were the longest. I half expected him to take my finger right there.

I shoved the cotton against the base of the tooth, removing my finger quickly as he closed his mouth.

“Bite or keep pressure on it so it won’t dislodge,” I instructed, immediately wiping my hands on my dress. “Keep the gold off until it is stable enough to hold the extra weight.”

“You look rather pale,” he commented.

“Would you like stitches or are we finished here?” I ignored the bait.

“So grim. Not even a smile?” He smirked. “Bedside manner is important, even for dentists.”

“I am no dentist.”

“You’re no doctor at all,” he laughed, “you’re a woman.”

“Then why request me? Luka could have done this perfectly fine.”

“Don’t worry, after the trial, you won’t have to beat yourself up trying to figure out what that nagging sense of uselessness is.” He stretched his elbow back to roll his shoulder, as if this were anything but a casual conversation. “You’ll be all right. More than most.”

I didn’t want to entertain him any longer. I dumped the milk into the liquid waste bin, then the glassware off to the side.

There was a wistful, breathless sigh. “You look just like her.”

There was a pause.

Did I hear him correctly?

I only spared him a sly glance. “Who?”

Levi held his hand out, forming an oval with his fingers. Only one striking eye through the view. “Your mother.”

No reactions, do not let him win.

“You should have seen her⁠—”

I couldn’t do it. It was too much. My feet were moving toward the door without thinking, the lab and man. The door hit a guard as I opened it, shoving harder when I felt the resistance.

Luka called for me, but he did not chase my long strides down the hall.

Every nerve in my body, from my metatarsals to my brain, was firing so hot I thought catching fire would be a kindness to me. A carbonated fizzing inside my skull I could not shake.

I yearned for the days when I could be alone, bothered by no one. Everyone was in a place they did not belong, myself included. Exhausted was far too weak of a word to use when every crevice of your new home was full of people you didn’t know, of conversations you wished not to have, and leeches that you had to just simply watch as they fed on every drop you had.

That thing was a poison in human form, one I refused to swallow with grace.

All I desired to do was to burn.

34

THE SOCIALITE

Every time I closed my eyes, the sound of my father’s fang snapping out of its socket rang in my ear. The blunt echo of hit after hit, so much blood I didn’t know how much he had to give.

I couldn’t rest, but tonight Alina did doze off on the sofa by my window. There was no need to bother her with my sleeplessness. At least she was getting rest, unlike the last night she spent in my room. The last couple hours I had gone down to the kitchen for some bites out of boredom and brewing more tea in hopes it would settle me.

The hallways were cold at this hour. A blue hue cast wherever the light invaded the home. Moonlight made everything look as if under water. If only my heart wasn’t so heavy, I could wade through it effortlessly.