I quickly put on a knitted cap on my head to hide the faint outlines as I unlocked the door to the room, still dressed in pink pyjamas and a black top.
There, in front of stood Noah, with eyes as wide as saucers as he rapidly shook my shoulders.
"Pixie—The holl–hollows...
THEY'RE BACK!!"
***
I froze. Noah's words hit like a blade. His voice wasn't angry, not yet, but the way his face morphed made feel a pain in my chest.
I felt sothing shift inside him, as if he had noticed who I am, and for a mont I couldn't help but widen my eyes.
And in that mont, I panicked.
My feet betrayed , sliding a shaky step backward. It wasn't on purpose.
My body just moved on its own, like a scared child caught red-handed. I didn't even realize how obvious it looked until I saw his brows pull together, his eyes looking surprised at my ability to escape his strong hold.
Noah's stare locked onto my retreating step, and for the first ti since I t him, he looked…weird.
Not because of the usual danger we faced from enemies outside. But because of .
And that made my stomach twist painfully.
He didn't chase .
He didn't yell.
He just stood there, his breathing still heavy.
Then, with a voice that carried both hesitation and sothing raw beneath it, he spoke.
"Pixie…yesterday…at the auction house…I saw a Kalki."
I swallowed, my hands curling into fists by my sides. My throat felt tight.
'How is that possible?' Weren't all of them supposed to be extinct?
What did he an?
He continued before I could think of a way out.
His tone grew sharper, like a blade being dragged against stone. "It tore people apart without rcy, and laughed at the face of sorrow."
I felt my pulse spike. My horns twitched faintly, hidden but trembling as if they knew the weight of his words.
"I stood there, Pixie," he said, his voice breaking just a little, enough to cut into , "I stood there and I couldn't do anything.
Do you get it?
I was helpless.
Like so useless bystander while everyone else bled around ."
My chest hurt listening to him. Noah never admitted weakness.
Never.
Even when he was half-dead from exhaustion, he always smiled like he had it handled. But right now, his voice cracked under the truth.
"And that thing," he spat the word like poison, "that Hollow… it made hate. I've never hated anything like that in my life. Just the thought of it makes my blood boil. If I could've killed it with my bare hands, I would have."
His eyes burned with rage.
Pure, uncontaminated loathing.
And all I could do was stare back at him, my lips trembling. Because while he talked about that Kalki…I couldn't stop myself from hearing sothing else.
He was talking about .
I knew it wasn't fair to think that way, but the words stung because they mirrored the truth I kept buried inside.
My father's voice echoed in my head like a curse I could never escape.
"They will fear you. As they feared us. Even those who claim to love you. Even those who raised you. When everyone knows the truth…no human could possibly love you."
I had hated him for saying that. I had hated him because I wanted to believe, no, I needed to believe that he was wrong.
That Noah wasn't like the rest of them. That if anyone could see and not turn away in fear, it would be him.
But hearing Noah's voice now, filled with hatred for my kind, I felt sothing inside break.
My heart whispered questions my mind was too afraid to answer.
If he knew what I was…would he still love the sa?
The silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating.
I forced myself to look at him, even though my chest scread for to turn away. His hands were clenched, his jaw set tight.
He wasn't thinking about , not really. He was thinking about that night, about the blood and screams.
About everything the Kalki had taken from them.
But I couldn't separate it. I couldn't untangle myself from them, no matter how hard I tried.
Because I was one of them.
And if he ever found out…
I hugged myself, wrapping my arms around my body as if that could keep from falling apart right there.
"Noah…" My voice ca out smaller than I wanted. "You're not useless. You're not helpless. You—"
But he cut off with a bitter laugh, sharp and humorless.
"I felt helpless, Pixie. And that's worse than being useless. Because when it mattered, I couldn't protect anyone. Not even you."
The words hit harder than he knew.
'Not even ?' I repeated his words in my mind, I knew for a fact that if it wasn't for the fact that Noah was very close to , Grandpa Venus would have killed by now.
He said it with pain, but to , it felt like a blade pressed against the truth I'd been hiding.
Because what if the day ca when he realized he needed to be protected from ?
I lowered my eyes, unable to et his anymore. My throat burned, but I forced myself not to cry. Not here. Not in front of him.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, though I didn't even know what I was apologizing for.
For being born this way? For the blood that ran through ? For not telling him the truth sooner?
The words slipped out on their own, fragile and useless.
He didn't question it. He just ran a hand through his hair and sighed, exhausted.
"I just…I don't ever want to feel like that again," he muttered. "I don't ever want to see that kind of monster standing in front of ever again."
Monster?
The word lingered in the air like poison.
And though he wasn't looking at when he said it, it felt like he had branded it across my skin.
I bit my lip hard, so hard it almost drew blood, just to stop myself from breaking down.
Inside, a part of scread that this was my chance, that I had to tell him now, before it was too late.
Before he heard it from soone else. Before my silence beca another kind of betrayal.
But then my father's words echoed again, louder this ti, drowning out everything else.
"No human could possibly love you."
And so I stayed quiet.
I forced a smile that didn't reach my eyes and nodded like I understood, like I agreed with him.
Like I wasn't standing on the edge of a cliff with my heart about to shatter.
Because if he knew…
If Noah knew what I really was…
Then perhaps the boy I loved would grow up to be the monster who hated .
***
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