*****
Silk
It had been a month since the slaughter in the forest. Silk had spent much of that time inventing a plausible explanation of how she and Nathan had managed to survive when her student's had died. In the end, the sheer ferocity of Nate Lee's slaughter had worked in their favor. She'd buried most of the weapons. There had been so little left of the enemy soldiers that the city elders had been forced to believe that they'd been taken by surprise by only two men who'd murdered the children and then been killed by her and Nathan in their turn. It had helped that the shock of the children's deaths had been out weighed by the shock of finding enemy soldiers so close to the city.
Silk still had her life, her job, and her apartment. She still had Nathan.
At times, visions of what Nate Lee had shown her troubled Silk. Today was such a day, so she was going home early to spend the afternoon with Nathan, to be sure that he was hers, utterly and completely. She needed to be sure that Nate Lee had kept his promise. She saw no trace, no remnant of the monster in the clearing in her Nathan. But still, she felt compelled to keep looking.
She let herself into the apartment and found Nathan napping in the bedroom. She undressed quietly, letting her clothes fall to the floor. Nathan stirred as she climbed on top of him and woke him with a kiss.
"Hey, honey, what are you doing home so early? I wasn't expecting to see you until this evening." He smiled the wide, friendly grin she'd grown to love.
She gazed into his blue eyes, searching for any trace of something other. But he was Nathan. Nothing more. No one else. He was her Nathan.
Silk smiled back.
"I just wanted to surprise you."
She kissed him again, and found his lips warm and mortal. All thought of Nate Lee fled from her mind, and when Nathan's arms went around her, it was as if the godling had never been.
The End
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