Chapter 53: Besties! (2)
"Oh," Nova muttered rather awkwardly as she looked away, feeling irritated by how she held onto such hope in a girl she didn’t know. Sure, Aiyana was showing her glimpses of kindness, but that didn’t mean anything. They weren’t close and barely even acquaintances.
"Why help me at all." Nova offered up the fabrics in her hands. "If you have no intention of seeing me get stronger?"
"Do you secretly want me to die?" Aiyana surprisingly growled at Nova’s question. It didn’t stop her from pushing, demanding answers whether her questions were crazy or not. "Is this the perfect time for an accident to occur?"
The anger Nova had seen in Aiyana’s gaze trickled out, replaced with amusement as she watched Nova. "Believe me, if I wanted you dead, you’d be dead." She walked past Nova, hips swaying lazily like a cat unbothered by Nova’s little outburst.
Unbothered and bored. "It wasn’t only for Yoa’s sake," she said quietly, hopping up to one of the ledges on one side of the walls that were scattered with them and reminded Nova of cat owners who had them running up the sides of a wall for their cats.
Aiyana perched up on one, legs dangling over the sides, hands clutching at the edge by her knees as her sharp gaze fell on Nova again. "The lake brought you here for a reason. Or maybe it brought you here to entertain us beasts," she continued in that amused tone that almost sounded like a purr. Nobody could ever deny this woman was less than a jaguar. Not with her behaviour, skills or even the way she spoke.
A shiver ran through Nova at the way Aiyana’s gaze had swept over her like she was nothing more than a toy to play with. She leaned back, crossing one long leg over the other as she considered Nova again. "I’ll guide you in the right direction."
Nova’s brows shot up at that.
"I will not help, though. Your journey is your own—just as ours were during our rite of passage."
Rite of what now? Nova stared up at Aiyana, taking in her words.
"So that’s what this is? A tradition that stops you from helping me?"