Maeve
I spent the day mostly in Patton’s company. He’s a wonderful man. He reminds me of… well, honestly no man I’ve ever met before. He’s a domestic Goddess who keeps me fed throughout the day but also gives me a fair amount of space, and by the time the sun sets, I feel… better.
I sit on the edge of the bed upstairs, watching smoke curl between my fingers. That’s more than I’ve been able to summon in the days since following Soren’s train.
I close my eyes and sigh in relief, curling my fingers into a fist at the same moment Soren, who’s made himself scarce all day, walks into the room and spots me, spots the smoke.
He slowly closes the door behind him, those strange, multi-colored eyes locking on mine.
I wait for him to say something, anything, but he just stands there.
So, I say, “My powers are starting to come back, I think.”
“I can see that.” He crosses the room, rummaging in the closet… again. He finds what he’s searching for and slips what looks like money into his pocket. I want to ask where he got it, but… I don’t think I want to know.
“I think,” I begin, glancing toward the window with a frown, “I think in a few more days I’ll be able to go back to Moonrise.”
He stiffens, his back to me, but then relaxes and nods. “You can stay here until then. I think that’s the safest option as it stands.” He turns to me, but his gaze barely grazes my face.
“Are you upset with me for being friendly with Patton?”
Now he’s looking at me unwaveringly, his chestnut curls falling in loose ringlets over his forehead.
“No, but he’s going to be heartbroken when you leave.”
“I’m thinking about taking him with me, actually,” I quip, knowing it’s going to grind his gears. I can’t help myself, honestly, as his eyes narrow on mine. I cross my legs, stretching out my fingers and testing my powers again. “I’ll destroy his silver band, and he can come work at the castle. He’s an amazing baker.” I inspect the smoke curling around my nails.
“He’s also a highly skilled killer.”
A chill runs up my spine as I slowly meet his gaze again.
“And what are you highly skilled at, Soren?”
He smirks–that stupid, flirtatious smirk that immediately causes my whole body to warm.
“Don’t do that. Save your powers.”
“But you’re free of your band–”
“And I’m being hunted down as we speak.” He turns back to the closet and fishes out a coat as the last light of sun fades, casting a cool violet glow through the room. He slips something in his pocket–an envelope, I think–before turning in my direction.
“Where are you going?” I ask, rising.
“North,” he says on a breath, purposefully keeping his eyes on the window. “This is where we part, for real this time. You’re going to stay here with Patton. I’ve already discussed it with him. In a few days, when you’re well enough to–” he waves his hand, struggling with the words, “--to jump, or whatever you call it, just do it. You’ll be safe here with Patton until then. He won’t let anything happen to you.” He reaches into his pocket, thumbing through the contents of the envelope, and pulls out several large bills, extending them in my direction. “This is for the moonstone–”
I turn away from him so he can’t see the absolutely livid expression on my face. “I don’t want, nor need, your money.”
“I wasn’t asking.”
I close my eyes as he places the money on the bed beside me.
He leaves, again, and I feel the same way I did when he left the first time–like this is wrong. Like something is gravely wrong.
“Soren, wait–” I leap off the bed and follow him, but his stride is impossible to keep up with. Patton watches us with interest from his favorite chair at the kitchen table, his hand resting on a gossip magazine, but I don’t even glance in his direction as I follow Soren outside onto the porch.
“Soren!”
“Maeve,” he breathes, whirling around the second I step off the porch. “This is it, okay? I have to go, and you need to get well and go home.”
“But I–”
“This isn’t some grand adventure,” he says hoarsely, his voice just below a shout. “This is over. It ends here. I’m not going to risk you getting into trouble–”
“What if I can help you? I could help pay off your debt to the Viper!”
“I don’t want your help. I don’t need it. I’m not going to let you get yourself wrapped up in my mess–”
“What happened to you?” I shout, losing my patience. “You’re so–you don’t make any fucking sense.”
He stares at me, his face twisting in an expression I can’t decipher. His jaw tenses, clicking, like he’s debating his next words.
“I’m a criminal, Maeve. I’m a bad guy. I’m the worst kind of guy. Stay away from me. Don’t come looking for me. Go home.”
A shadow rips out of the darkness spreading through the forest, hurtling toward Soren. I have two seconds to come to terms with what, and who, I’m seeing before a flash of metal pierces the hazy violet light and… pierces Soren through the chest.
“SO–”
He falls to the ground with a grunt, his hand outstretched for me, but misses.
Duke, wild eyed, lunges at me with a long blade covered in dark red blood. Soren’s blood.
I duck, his blade narrowly missing the top of my head. I kick out, using my returning strength and height to knock him off balance, sending him toppling toward the ground, but he slashes his knife across my thigh.
My scream of pain and fury echoes through the air, waking the chickens in the nearby coop. Patton shouts from the porch, cursing as he thunders in our direction.
I’m wearing the dress Soren bought me a few days ago in the little village. Dark blood rushes down my thigh as I debate my next move. My heart pounds, my vision going momentarily hazy as my limited powers simmer. Overhead, the moon rises, but it’s not enough.
“MAEVE!” Soren bellows, just as Duke swings the blade toward my face. My powers roar in answer.
I catch his wrist, screaming as I send what little reserves I’ve built up cascading into his skin, burning him. He drops the knife, howling in pain and fury, and punches me directly in the jaw with his free hand, sending me careening backward.
My vision blurs. I struggle to catch my breath, to move, as a scuffle between Patton and Duke ensues nearby. I vaguely make out Soren’s outline in the darkness as he struggles to stand, falling over again, then crawling to me.
But Patton hits the ground with a crunch that reverberates through the grassy front yard, and Duke is on me again in an instant, his meaty hands curling around my neck.
“GET OFF HER!” Soren screams, grunting through the pain, but I can’t see him anymore. Duke takes up my vision, his eyes wild and dancing in the darkness as he practically foams at the mouth, squeezing my neck to the point I feel–I feel–
“MAEVE GET UP!” Soren’s voice is tinged with panic and… something else. Something deeper, something edging on despair as he shouts my name again, his tone laced with agony. “GET UP!”
My powers burn into Duke’s chest, sizzling through his shirt, but–but I can’t move past the numbness, the cold now starting to spread as I push what little powers I had to their breaking point.
I don’t have enough, and I’m going to die.
Soren's voice cracks as he claws his way to me, begging me to fight it. Patton groans nearby. Yet, all I see is Duke.
I’ve done too much, trained too hard, to go out this way.
I go completely still, closing my eyes. Duke laughs, rising up, loosening his grip on my neck. He thinks he did it. He thinks he just killed the future Queen of Eastonia.
But I recently fought with a man much stronger, swifter, and deadlier than him. I fought my equal, and momentarily came out on top.
I strike when Duke least expects it, slashing my nails across his cheek. He gasps in pain, rearing back in surprise, which gives me a chance to kick out from beneath him, sending my knee directly into his groin with a devastating crack. His bellow of agony vibrates around me, but I ignore it, my vision going red when I catch of glimpse of Patton on his hands and knees, trying to catch his breath while blood pours down his face and into the grass, and Soren–Soren unable to stand only feet away, clutching the growing red stain on his shirt, directly over his heart.
Soren’s eyes are wide as the scene plays out in slow motion. I tip Duke to the side, rolling with him, on top of him, plucking his blade from the grass and sending it… sending it directly into his neck.
“Have you ever seen the light fade from someone’s eyes?”
Soren asked me that once, on the train.
That’s exactly what this is. I look down at Duke, a man I don’t know, and watch as he dies by my hand, his blood pooling beneath him in a crimson tidal wave, gushing into the cool, bright green grass.
How many times have I threatened death to others? Dreamt of it? Wished for it? Wished to do this very thing to anyone who ever crossed or hurt those I love?
I thought I knew what it’d feel like. I thought–
A strangled sob works its way up my throat.
I drop the knife.
“Maeve,” Soren rasps, breathless, his hand coming down on my shoulders. He pulls me off Duke, falling with me in the grass, kneeling over me as I come undone.
Pain whispers over my body as what’s left of my already weak powers fade. Soren covers the slash on my thigh with his hand, ignoring his own wound as he shouts at Patton, who struggles to his feet and sways before rushing back into the house.
All I can hear is the gurgling, bloody sound of Duke dying mere feet away.
“Hey, look at me. It’s okay,” Soren says gently in a tone I’ve never heard him use before, smoothing his hand over my forehead, brushing my hair out of my face. “You’re fine. You’re okay.”
I look up at him, my lips parting in a choked cry. I can’t form words. All I see, and hear, is the knife puncturing Duke’s throat.
Patton returns, his body blocking the soft light pouring from the house. He kneels, speaking in a low, rapid tone as he wraps a thick bandage around my thigh. “You both need to get out of here, now. The Hounds will be here within an hour if he found them and alerted them to your whereabouts, I’m willing to bet my life on it. Your chest–”
“I’m fine,” Soren cuts in hoarsely, his hand still resting on my cheek. “Get her some warm clothes, whatever you have on hand. A coat, a blanket, a hat. Gloves.”
Patton leaves again, and the night erupts around us. Birdsong titters through the air, mingling with rustling leaves as a cool summer breeze skitters through the treetops swaying overhead.
“You’re okay,” Soren repeats, but his voice is pained. “Maeve, you’re okay.” He smooths his hand over my cheek again before leaning down, resting his forehead against mine.
I close my eyes, choking on sobs. I can’t stop. “I didn’t mean to…” I choke out. “I didn’t know–”
“It’s okay,” he says, over and over, so close our noses brush. He grits his teeth, his lips only centimeters from mine, and within moments I’m being lifted, a coat draped over my trembling body, and a hat stuffed on my head.
“Go, now,” Patton growls. “Go north for three miles. There’s a house in a grove of cottonwood trees. You can’t miss it. There’s a healer there. Go. I’ll find you.”
Soren lifts me into his arms. I feel nothing but ice as he carries me through the forest, his blood scenting the night air like iron.