I could relate since there were times I liked my privacy, but part of me still craved the companionship of others. Life on the streets had been a lonely experience.
Blue noticed a lock of hair that fell in front of my face. “He cut off a lot.”
I touched the ends. “It’s cleaned up now, that’s for sure.”
She gave me an impish grin. “You can’t imagine how badly he wants to get his hands on my hair and how I torture him by trimming the ends with a blunt pair of scissors.”
“You’re a cruel woman.”
Blue’s locks fell past her breasts—the kind of hair most hairdressers dream about.
She held her index finger in front of her lips. “Shhh. Don’t let him know how much I enjoy it. Besides, they always take off too much, and I love my hair long. Have you seen the courtyard?”
“From the windows.”
Blue placed her hand on my back and led me away. “Come on and I’ll show you.”
We moved through a magnificent room with high ceilings and a fragrant array of flower arrangements. I could only imagine how beautiful the mansion looked when the sun was shining. Nothing about it was garish or showy, and every room was pleasant and homey in its own way.
Blue opened the french doors, and we entered a veranda with beautiful stone archways that ran in both directions. She drifted through an opening that led to the courtyard. The walkway expanded in some places and narrowed in others, curving around and creating space for the lush landscaping. Some areas had grass while others were covered in ivy or moss. There were a couple of trees, but not a lot as they would have obscured the scenic view and prevented sunlight from getting in.
The house that enclosed us seemed imposing, as if it were somehow a living entity that was watching us. Or maybe it was the voyeuristic reality that there was no privacy out here, and anyone within the house could see us through the windows.
A breeze picked up the ends of Blue’s long hair, and it floated like ribbons of silk. Her tall black boots clicked on the path, and nearly every time I’d seen her, she was wearing a hood of some kind. While one was attached to her shirt, she didn’t bother to cover her head, even when a little drizzle began to fall.
“How much did all this cost him?” I asked.
She found shelter beneath a tree and approached an old statue. “This estate has been in his family for over three hundred years—long before humans colonized this area. Viktor comes from a line of wolves, so his pack once lived here.”
I wondered if Blue was also a wolf. She didn’t seem to have the same mannerisms I’d seen in Shifter wolves. “Where are they now?”
She circled the statue while I sat on the bench, the air chilly against my legs. “Who knows? People move on. Shifters wage private wars and slaughter families for land. Viktor doesn’t talk about it, so I haven’t asked. Sometimes it’s better to let a scab heal than to keep picking at it.”
“That would be a pretty tragic story. This house could easily fit a hundred.”
“You have unusual eyes,” she said absently, not looking directly at them.
“Kids teased me with all kinds of names, but eventually I hit high school and liked standing out. People thought they were cool. Most adults don’t say anything, but they stare. I never wanted to hide them behind sunglasses until I became a Mage. It was like reliving elementary school all over again. I learned how to avert my eyes or show someone my profile so they don’t notice them right away. I didn’t realize how prejudiced immortals could be over something so superficial. It’s not like I have a nose growing on my forehead.”
“Some of the ancients are superstitious, but most are looking for anything that makes you inferior to them.” Blue looked up thoughtfully. “My tribe believes that people born with mismatched eyes were meant to be someone else—that their body was given one soul, which was quickly replaced with another.”
“So I wasn’t supposed to be here? That’s uplifting.”
“It means you were chosen for a reason—to serve the fates. Anyhow, that’s just what my tribe believed. Everyone has a different story.”
Blue draped herself over the back of the kneeling statue—another winged man, only this one had his face in his hand, as if grieving. “Isn’t he handsome?” She pressed the side of her face against the back of his head, her arms spread out as if she were embracing him from behind. “I think this is my favorite thing about this place.”
“He looks broken.”
Blue slowly stood up. “Maybe that’s why I like him the most.” She circled around it and sat to my right. “Is it true what Viktor says, that you’re a killer?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer that. While it was true, I was finally coming to terms with how other people saw me because of it. “He speaks highly of me.”
She turned to face me, bending her left knee. “Do you think the blade on my axe has never been stained?”