Sterli

and gave no warmth. I had slept in piec

bedroom door

blanket over the back had been fol

tumbler sat in front of him, full of something thick and

rning. Do you want breakfas

d. Those eyes hel

eat bre

moved to the fridge to

the skillet and let the butter and the noise fill the room. Then I talked

k the almond milk they ship in from California

rms crossed, watching me the way a

d it across the counter. "Here. Eat so

omething tightened alon

ou I'm no

ace went hot. I took

e stayed where he was, unblinking, and

my hands busy. On the shelf in the living room, a row of old books sat

ou read these? They lo

ow came ove

He took the book out of my hands, his fingers brushing

id, without any edge at

back. "No need t

didn't turn pages at a normal speed. He walked into the woods without a coat i

room, got out my cracked phone, and held i

I'm settled in. The husband

truth. I couldn't tell anyone that I was sharing a house wit

screen, and the back

ned a

he trees outside were b

watched was so strong m

Beaum

idden in the rain, looking straight th

ear the hum of her phone, the uneven trip of her p

ze

he crossed my threshold, the cold in

nom glands ached with a hunger I had not felt in three hundred years. When she set that plate of burnt eggs in front of me, the instinct to put her

. It alwa

ood that kept me in

s her

e. Their small greeds, their wanting, the things they keep f

ept

whisper. No stray thread of a thought. A blank, whole a

mell her fear. I cannot hear

me. She believes I am some

ngs have never been careful with theirs. I let her sign the other name anyway.

e hundred years. She is the f