Why Are All the Good Guys Total Monsters? by De-Ann Black Read Free Book Online Page B

and wrapped a white wool cape around my shoulders.
    But I didn’t feel cold.
    I just felt hunted.
     
     

     
    Snow lay all around. We stood at the
edge of the city whose spires towered into the stormy sky. The skyline seemed
familiar.
    ‘Is this Edinburgh?’ I said, hearing my voice sound clear in
the freezing air. All was quiet. No people, no fae, a city of silence and
beauty and danger. I sensed the danger wrap itself around my chest and tighten.
    Sabastien stood beside me, his long coat touching the deep
snow. ‘It used to be, of sorts, a long time ago.’
    ‘What does that mean?’
    ‘Fae don’t feel the urge to change things continually as
humans do. Sometimes a city, its buildings, is ideal, so we keep it like that.’
He looked around. ‘This is Edinburgh, our version of it, over two hundred years
ago. Change isn’t always progress.’
    I recognised the ancient spires, and rooftops, iced white
instead of dark slate. Lights shone in some of the windows. But the silence was
overwhelming.
    ‘Where is everyone?’
    ‘Unseen by mortals, even one like you with faerie blood.’
    That’s when I noticed the purple thorns around the edges of
his coat. Against the snow, they looked purple tinged with blue. Perhaps I
hadn’t noticed. Then I looked at the wound on my hand, purple and now tinted
blue.
    Sabastien saw what I was looking at, and anger swept across
his face.
    ‘What’s happened? The colour’s changed.’ Even Sabastien’s
eyes were lilac–blue.
    ‘It doesn’t concern you.’
    ‘Yes, it does.’ I showed him the purple–blue wound on my
hand.
    He looked away, drew a long breath, and then said, ‘Blame
the Cupid’s darts. My coat cut through the flowers when I was fighting Daire.’
    ‘I remember. The flowers scattered across the grass. But why
would that affect you? And me?’
    ‘The Cupid’s darts tainted me, and I later tainted you.’
    ‘Orlaith warned me not to touch the flowers because of the
lore. She said they could make me vulnerable to someone’s romantic wishes.’
    He looked at the thorny edges of his coat. ‘I will never be
susceptible to love or romance.’
    ‘Everyone falls in love.’
    ‘I don’t love anyone any more. I will never choose to do so
again.’
    ‘Love doesn’t always let you choose.’
    He nodded and his thoughts seemed far away, dwelling on
something that clearly disturbed him. ‘I chose once a long, long time ago. I
will never do that again.’
    ‘Who was she? What happened?’
    He breathed in the snow cold air. ‘My heart was broken by a
girl like you a long time ago.’
    ‘Broken hearts can mend.’
    ‘Yes they can, but I decided not to fix mine. A broken heart
can be useful in my world. Mine doesn’t work any more. I’m immune to love and
all its trials and fickleness. It’s easier not to love. Life is less
complicated and infinitely more fun. I’m happier not being in love as it
invariably causes pain and distress and longing and strife. A broken heart, an
empty one that cannot be filled with love until it’s mended is a lightness that
I enjoy far more. So you see, I prefer to keep my heart broken. It’s a huge
advantage.’
    I understood. I did, but it seemed so sad. I’d gone from
being angry with him to feeling sorry for him. ‘So you fell in love with a
human?’
    ‘I did. She was nothing but trouble. But that was almost a
hundred years ago. She went back to her own world, and to the man she really
loved. I was…what was it she called me? Oh yes, a beautiful distraction.’
    He focussed his fascinating eyes on me, and I sensed the
partial blame for his torment being aimed at me.
    ‘Don’t blame me for something she did.’
    He blinked, and a moment later, he smiled. ‘How perceptive
of you, Vesper.’
    A surge of air swept past me and I heard the sound of wings
beating, strong and powerful. I gulped when I saw a large moth flying overhead,
followed by other moths of various colours, mainly white and grey.