Chapter 6 #2
I finished the chips and set my plate down. “Awesome. Just effing awesome. So this is actually my fault. I really am sorry, okay?” I buried my head in my hands. “You know, part of me was hoping I’d lost my mind that day at the Stone.”
Vergis narrowed his eyes. “What are you blabbering about? I take no responsibility if Inkiri’s mate was broken to begin with,” he added, turning to Lissir and pointing at me. “Maybe he can return him at the Store?”
I snorted. “You tell me how you cause the apocalypse and stop yourself from coming out broken at the other end.”
Vergis sat up straighter. “Hold up, hold up. Tell me how you think you caused the apocalypse?”
I looked at the ceiling and blinked away tears. I’d never actually told anyone this before. I’d been scared, much too scared, but it would feel good to just get it off my chest.
These monsters—or bagua—they wouldn’t blame me for killing people.
Maybe they didn’t even care what I had done.
Maybe…maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing after all?
Inkiri seemed to want me. And while he hadn’t been on a quest to discover my inner beauty, I needed to face reality.
A lot of people had just turned to ash between one moment and the next.
And the people left behind…not all of them were nice people, and anecdotal evidence suggested I had a penchant for crossing paths with all the assholes.
Maybe I was better off with the monsters I’d run into than the humans I preferred to run away from.
“We went to the Coronation Stone. That Stone of Destiny. It’s this thing—”
Vergis made a dismissive gesture. “Yeah, yeah, where the old kings of Ireland were proclaimed on the Hill of Tara. Moving on.”
“Right. We—that’s Cat and Jacob and me. They were a couple, it was Valentine’s, and they were so, ugh, just sickly sweet and loving all over, you know?”
Vergis nodded. “Makes your teeth hurt to watch. And the fucking marketing on top of it all.”
“Exactly. And this older guy, he was weird. The type of weirdo you don’t engage with.
But he claps me on the shoulder and says something about how the Stone used to be a wishing stone, how the worthy would just place their hand on it, say a wish out loud, and the wish would come true.
And I sort of did that and wished for all the lovers to just no longer exist.” I looked to the carpeted floor.
“And I’m sorry. I just didn’t know… Sorry. ”
Vergis went quiet and still. When I looked back up, he blinked at me. “You are saying you did magic.”
“I made a wish. And then I saw Cat and Jacob dissolve into black ash.”
“Did you feel heat? From them dissolving. Did that produce heat?”
I moved around on the floor. The carpets were soft, but the left side of my butt was falling asleep. “Uhm, maybe? I mean, my friends just disappeared, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t carry a thermometer on me.”
Vergis went very still for a second before speaking again. “Did you wish for other beings to come here? Did you visualize it? The monsters? Us? Or did you read about any tales of fae and think, oh, I’d like to meet a hot fae?”
I cackled. “You’re not a hot fae.”
Lissir sniggered. “I like you, Rory.”
“It’s not relevant how hot I am when I can slit your throat as easily as you might squish a beetle underfoot. Did you wish for anything else like I described?”
I thought back to that day—touching the stone, the rough surface of it under my palm, the sun brightening the February afternoon.
“No. I was just thinking about that particular thing.”
“Right. In that case…hmm. The good news is that I don’t think you directly caused this. Not the vanishing of most of the human population, not the fabric between places going permeable.” Vergis leaned back.
My mouth fell open. “I didn’t do it? It’s not my fault?”
He was leaning on his hands but still managed a shrug. “Like I said, not directly.”
I looked at my empty plate, tears filling my eyes and making my vision hazy. I’d thought it had been my fault all this time. If it hadn’t, then I wasn’t bad. I wasn’t accidentally evil like I’d thought.
Lissir clicked at me, and Vergis mumbled something about me being a crybaby. I didn’t care.
It wasn’t my fault. It wasn’t my fault directly.
After the tears had ebbed, I thought to ask the only relevant question. “Can I bring them back? Tell me how, please, and I’ll monster-marry your buddy. I mean, I’ll do anything. Just tell me.”
Lissir made a choked-off noise in the back of his throat and regarded me with sad orange eyes. Then he reached out and touched my hand, squeezing it gently.
Vergis looked at me, but he was quiet for so long that I could guess his answer before he spoke.
“No. Magic is balance. Whoever did this would’ve known that.
You give, it takes, and for the taking, it does something for you.
You burn wood so that you can enjoy the fire’s heat.
Extinguishing it doesn’t give you the wood back. But—”
Lissir hummed, a sound that reminded me a little of birds singing. “Someone made this happen, purposefully.”
“Yeah.” Vergis looked at me and stood. “Interesting. You will need protection. From the monsters. It might be that you smell of magic and they hunger for it. You should consider yourself lucky to have found a mate who will protect you from their teeth and claws.” He walked to the door.
“Oh, and don’t try running again. I’m good at tracking and hunting and taking down prey, but it’s boring.
” He looked over his shoulder. “Never any fight left in anyone I hunt after they get acquainted with my blades. Once more, welcome to the family, Rory.”
With that, he opened the door and walked out of the room. I was left with Lissir, who drew my attention back to him by squeezing my hand again.
“Vergis is a bit strange. And he’s not lying about being excellent at hunting and at taking people down, but he wouldn’t hurt you.” He tilted his head and gave me a bright smile. “You are family, and Vergis wouldn’t hurt family.”
Lissir probably thought he was right about that.
He seemed convinced Vergis secretly considered himself part of their family.
I wasn’t so sure. I didn’t understand what they meant about magic, but I could only accept that it was a real thing because I’d had to accept monsters and the apocalypse both.
Still, I didn’t know what to do. If I smelled of magic and really attracted monsters then…maybe that explained a few things. I didn’t want to think about it.
I looked at my plate. They had food here, so maybe staying for a little while wouldn’t be so bad. Especially if I could get seconds.