NOMI
She wasn't what I expected. I expected another monster with glowing eyes and a cape. Instead, she was... beautiful. But it was a terrifying kind of beauty. Ageless, with skin like unblemished cream and eyes of the deepest blue. She wore a gown of deep charcoal silk that flowed around her like liquid smoke, and her hair was pinned up in a style that looked too intricate for human hands.
She stopped several feet away from me, her gaze sweeping over my silk slip, my bare feet, and finally, the gold pitcher I was brandishing like a club.
One of her perfectly arched eyebrows ticked upward.
"You're going to hit me with a water carafe, Nomi English?" her voice was a cool, melodic hum. "I suppose it's a more creative welcome than the last few humans we brought through the barrier. Usually
