Chapter 18 Peter
PETER
When Peter came up for air, Benedict had already walked away. Peter considered calling after him, but they both needed time.
Taking the opportunity to cool off, he drifted downstream until he reached the short pier where Faye and her friends used to hang out during their school days.
Luckily, Faye had waited for him; after he’d kissed her so abruptly, he would have understood if she didn’t want to see him.
She sat at the edge, her knees tucked under her chin.
At this late hour, it felt like they were the only two people in the world.
Again, he’d underestimated her. From what he had seen at the temple tonight, she wasn’t the same Faye he’d left two months ago. Her dreams, when she was at her most vulnerable, had concealed how far she’d come in her healing.
“When you said to wait for you at the lake, I didn’t think you meant in the lake,” Faye chuckled, watching him float by on his back.
“After getting scolded by my older brother, I fancied a late-night swim,” Peter said, staring up at the stars, enjoying the cool, calm water. “I can’t recall the last time I swam here and stared up at the stars.”
“I’m sorry you fought with Benedict because of me.” Faye pushed herself closer to the edge and let her feet dangle in the water.
“Our fight had less to do with you and more to do with me trying to stake your ex. In fact, if I hadn’t run into you, Ian might be a pile of ash now, and I’d be in a lot more trouble,” he confessed.
Faye hung her head. He swam over and stared up at her, making her smile as he refused to let her hide.
“I should’ve staked him before you arrived,” she said, rubbing her arms.
“Ian didn’t escape completely unscathed.” Peter placed the pliers beside her, and she let out a sigh.
“I wanted to hurt him, not kill him.” Faye stared at her hands as if she couldn’t believe what she had done.
“Death would be a kindness. Maybe I’ll find the courage to stake him when his sentence ends.
But for now, knowing he’s trapped, alone, afraid, and hurting is enough for me to sleep easy at night. ”
She dipped the pliers in the lake to wash off the blood. Watching her, Peter realised that the light had returned to her eyes. He let her process in the silence; sometimes the best thing to say was nothing.
“Can I ask where you’ve been recently?” she asked. “You left that morning without a word. I didn’t get to thank you for putting my bed together – I really appreciate it – and I didn’t even get to treat you to breakfast.”
He wondered if she was prying about the dreams. One night she believed him when he said they were real, and the next she didn’t. He wasn’t sure which he preferred.
“I’m sorry for leaving so suddenly; I didn’t plan on it.” He didn’t offer any other excuse. He didn’t want to lie to her. “But I never would turn down your breakfasts, even if you’ve already thanked me.”
“The dreams?” Faye’s eyes narrowed as she leaned over the pier’s edge.
“I told you I wouldn’t leave your side that first night, and I meant it.
” Mostly he spent the dreams chasing away her monsters, keeping her mind free from memories of Ian.
Other nights, they walked through the woods or sat by the lake, not even speaking.
Her mind needed peace and rest to heal, and he was happy to stand guard and keep the skeletons in the closet and the monsters under the bed.
Faye nodded shyly. She seemed more curious about the dreams than about the kiss in the dungeon. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed.
“You certainly look at home in the water. Maybe you’ve been hiding here all this time?
Though I thought the myth was the Lady of the Lake, not the Reaper of the Lake,” Faye teased, moving the topic away from their nights together.
What had happened was between them, their own secret world, and they didn’t need to discuss it.
To bring it into this reality only felt like tainting it.
“You’ve discovered my secret. I’ve been sword-hunting this whole time, but haven’t found a thing.” He pointed below the surface, earning a small smile from her, though it didn’t last long.
“Are you really not going to tell me why you left?” she asked softly.
“Gregory, my mentor, needed me to return to Purgatory urgently. I’m sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye.”
“Why are you here now?”
“I didn’t have much choice. Benedict pushed me into the lake,” Peter pointed out. Faye kicked some water at him.
“I’m not talking about swimming in the lake. Why did you go to the temple tonight?” She frowned. “You suddenly appear on the night I’m attacked and know exactly where I am?”
Peter pushed his hair out of his face, trying to come up with an excuse that wasn’t I’ve been assigned to collect your soul, so I can sense where you are and how you’re feeling and when you’re in danger and/or close to death.
“I got back from Purgatory and went to Stoker’s to apologise for leaving without a word, but you weren’t there,” he said, pulling himself up the ladder to sit beside her.
“Grams told me what happened, that you were safe, but I couldn’t stop myself from going after Ian.
” He couldn’t reveal their souls’ connection without letting slip that she was his charge.
“You’re soaking. Aren’t you cold?” Faye asked, giving up on prying, though she didn’t look convinced. He tried not to feel so pleased by her concern for him.
“I feel dry as a whistle. I think your eyes might be tired.” Peter smirked, glancing down at his wet clothes. “Close your eyes.”
Faye didn’t hesitate to obey.
“Ta-da!” Peter exclaimed.
Faye opened her eyes to find that his clothes and hair were completely dry.
“Another perk of being dead?”
“One of many.”
Silence filled the air as they avoided discussing topics they didn’t want to address, including the kiss in the temple.
“Stupid question, but how are you?” Peter asked, nudging her gently.
Her lips parted, but no words came out. He waited patiently for her to find them.
“I’m… numb. I don’t know how to process not being afraid. Its absence is frightening. Does that make sense –that I’m afraid of not being afraid?”
“Considering everything you’ve been through, I think it makes perfect sense.” Peter’s hand grazed hers on the walkway. She didn’t move away.
“I used to be afraid of what would happen to him if the coven ever found out, afraid that I’d lose him.
But when Benedict took him away, all I felt was relief.
The person I loved no longer existed.” Faye touched her fingers to her bandaged neck.
He hoped she wasn’t in too much pain. He couldn’t believe, after the Hunters’ warning, that Ian had dared to go after her, let alone bite her in public.
“I’m sorry for leaving you,” he said, taken aback when she rested her head on his shoulder. “I should’ve been there for you. Please forgive me.”
“There’s nothing to forgive; none of this is your fault,” Faye said, wiping some stray tears. “I’m the one who fell in love with a monster.”
“You wanted to believe the best in him. We all do when it comes to the people we love. Don’t blame yourself for a second.” Peter scooted closer as she shivered, wrapping an arm around her. She snuggled in to him.
“I’m so glad Gwendoline happened to be walking by and stopped him.
He couldn’t feed on me properly, thanks to Grams’s potion.
He was utterly repulsed once he took a bite.
Still, I dread what he would’ve done had your family not come along.
Hunters had him for weeks, which is why he didn’t come after me sooner.
He thought I sent them after him – they starved him, so he was in the throes of blood rage.
I wouldn’t have lasted long…” Her words trailed off.
“He never should’ve had the chance to bite you,” Peter muttered, pulling her close so she was practically on his lap.
Resting his chin on the top of her head, he never wanted to let her go.
The hunters captured Ian? He recalled his conversation with Lucy.
They had driven the vampire mad and set him loose.
He regretted ever thinking they could help instead of making it worse.
Anger swelled in his chest, and he reached into his pocket for the fangs. “I figured you’d want these back.”
“I don’t want them, and I don’t want you to get caught with them. You’d get in serious trouble for having them.” Faye took them from his hand and tossed them into the lake, never to be seen again.
“You were attacked, and you’re worried about me?” Peter chuckled.
The way she looked at him told him he wasn’t the only one feeling things he shouldn’t.
“I’m the one who pulled them out, and now Benedict’s mad at you.” Faye shrugged. “Ian attacked me. I got my revenge, and he won’t be free from that coffin for a long time. You’re free from my mess.”
“I’m afraid tonight’s mess is my fault.” He refused to let her blame herself for his terrible plan. “Ian blamed you for sending the Hunters his way. But it was me.”
Faye listened silently as he explained.
“I thought the Hunters would dissuade him from returning, and without any protection from Foxford or any other sanctuary, he’d move on with his life.
I didn’t think he’d be bold enough to break his banishment and risk his own neck.
I’m sorry you got the blame and that my actions put you in more danger.
I promise it wasn’t my intention.” Peter left out how he had shared his plan with Lucy.
He didn’t want the High Priestess to get in trouble because of his scheming.
He wished she would say something. “You’ve every right to be mad at me. I stirred up trouble and then left you in terrible danger.”
Faye’s kiss silenced him. He froze as her lips crushed his desperately.
She leaned back, looking into his eyes. “I’ve wanted to do that since the night on the couch, and then when you kissed me in the cell, I knew you felt the same way,” she confessed quietly.