Page 69 of Florescentia

To add insult to injury, the star on his forehead, where the beast’s third eye usually was, mimicked the vitiligo on my chest specifically. I knew I was unique; my markings were one of a kind and ever changing. He couldn’t take that from me.

A sharp sound of someone’s nose in a handkerchief in between conversation made every muscle in my body tense. In my panicked state, I grabbed him, burying my face in his chest.

He lurched forward, his hand slapping against the wall beside my head.

I shrugged my shoulders, attempting my best mournful posture.

“Oh! Apologies, I’m so sorry,” a nasally, tired-sounding woman said. There was an awkward silence, the sounds of crunching dirt under shoes. I couldn’t hear if she had fully walked away, so I just stayed there.

“Do you ever get tired of performing?” It sounded like a joke.

I reached down between my skirts to pull a spring-loaded blade from my tie-in pocket, the pop of the blade opening before it reached between his legs.

I looked up at him, my chin almost touching his chest from the proximity. “Laugh at me again. Do it.” I pressed it harder, high between his legs.

“I don’t know what that would do—”

I held it against his thigh. “That is your femoral artery,” I interrupted. “If this shape of yours functions like a real person, you’ll bleed out right here.”

“And if you do not get the reaction you desire, what then?”

“It would be greatly cathartic.”

He clenched his fist by my ear, then leaned down. I thought his illusion faltered, a flash of white in his eyes, a certain muscle in his face twitching that did not belong. Even the sharp whispers jolting in and out of my audible purview. His words were smooth and clear. “Do you really think you can threaten me?”

I could feel my nostrils flare, a frustrated shove of breath from my lungs, but I did not concede my weapon. “The night is your territory; daylight hours are mine.”

“The natural laws of the cosmos have no clock.” He cocked his head, leaning down as if we were sharing secrets. Our lips were close; he glanced at mine twice before his smirk only grew. The only thing between us was the veil, my only mask giving me any sort of coverage. It was like every time he looked at me, really looked at me, I was naked.

Ironically, I had been in the nude during previous encounters. But not this—this was different. Now the beast was collecting my insecurities.

“One thing I can admit is that you are interesting to watch,” he purred.

“What an honor to be your little study,” I whispered, “or is it more like stalking prey?”

“Do you want it to be?” His gaze flicked from my lips to my eyes. “To be my prey?”

“That depends on the reason for the hunt.” It was like the words fell from my lips, no thought behind them.

My taunt made him exhale, then lean closer.

But I’d already slipped away from him, my neck and face hotter than before, and it wasn’t from the sun.

Chapter Twenty-One

The Nova

I thought if I stared at the Treasury shelves long enough, the answers would jump out in front of me. It wasn’t as though I thought that would happen literally, but more like I hoped by being in a setting that inspired thinking, it might come to me naturally.

“Lucia?” A voice up on the skywalk overhead.

Calum was leaning against the railing, his sleeves rolled and suspenders exposed.

“I nearly didn’t recognize you in such casual clothing,” he commented, tucking a pencil behind his ear while he shifted folders under his arm. “Is Maxim helping you, or do you need assistance?”

A darkness formed on the ceiling.

My gut sank.