Bete Noire Read Free Page B

brown hair was thick and curled around her porcelain face like a doll. And her eyes, they were a brilliant blue, the color of the sky on a cloudless day. Something about those eyes haunted him, came to him in dreams. And yet, he had this overwhelming sense every time he remembered those eyes to see them again. But now, instead of getting a glimpse of blue there was only a strip of black cloth, blindfolding her.
    For some reason, he felt compelled to touch Ash. He reached out, stretching his arm to her and found her hand. She didn’t protest when he pulled her close, fingers still meshed together. “What is this?” he whispered to her.
    For once, she couldn’t read his mind, the mixed jumble of thoughts , and shook her head. “What is—”
    “Problem, Ryōshi-san?”
    Tristan licked his lips nervously, shot Ash a look and then looked back up to Yuki, trying hard to not look at the little girl now sitting on the low side of the sofa where the cushion was missing. His breath came out shakier than he would have liked. “I… I knew there was someone here, when we were in the bedroom still, something— someone not human. But this is nothing like what I feel with you vampires. She’s... I don’t know.” He stopped, rubbing at the back of his neck nervously. He wasn’t sure he should have even been saying any of this. “Warmer. I can just feel her. It’s making me dizzy, nearly nauseous. I can’t remember ever feeling like this in my life.” He looked down to Ash again and whispered, “Is she really a pythia?”
    Ash’s face was dead expressionless. She nodded once.
    “You’re sure?”
    “Undoubtedly.”
    “Yuki?” he asked looking to her. “Care to explain?”
    She put her arm around Lilith’s shoulders. “You are an enigma in yourself, Ryōshi-san.”
    “That’s not an answer,” he grumbled. He looked to the little girl even though she couldn’t see him through that blindfold. Why was she even wearing it? “Do you know, Lilith?”
    The little brunette said nothing, only moving her head up and down slowly once.
    “Really?” Excited, he took a step towards her, Ash heavy on his arm since he refused to let go of her hand—a comfort of any. When Lilith said nothing more, he asked, “Well, um, do you mind telling me?”
    “Sorry, Ryōshi-san,” Yuki said, “she will not speak.”
    “Since when?” Ash asked a little too quickly.
    Yuki tilted her head to the side, lips tight with something that might have been apprehension. “Shortly after I took her from Malik. The child spoke a cryptic message of crow, night and death... Since then, not a single word has been uttered...” Yuki reached behind the girl’s head, untied the blindfold and let it drop away. Ash and Tristan gasped together, their clasped hands squeezing tighter. “Two days later, I found her like this.”
    “By the Goddess,” Ash whispered. She tugged on Tristan’s arm, pulling him against her side. Her free hand came up and held onto his arm a little too tightly. “She… she did this to herself?”
    Yuki nodded, looking as dismayed as Tristan’d ever seen her.
    The skin around Lilith’s eyes was jagged pink edges of healing flesh, her eyes were missing. Yuki had been kind enough to sew the damaged skin back together but it still looked raw and painful.
    Yuki’s voice was soft and sad when she answered, “ Hai . She tore her own eyes out with her fingers. The same day, she refused to speak again, and she will not leave my side, not even for a moment. She will not even heal the damage with a spell. She’d rather walk around like this. I had to sedate her just to sew the holes closed…”
    A sh was moved to nearly tears. For all the time she knew the girl, she never imagined this would be her fate.
    “Why?” Tristan asked softly. He was more disturbed than should have been and couldn’t say why. Only just that it really bothered him, on a personal level. He felt like he needed to cry for the girl though he didn’t even