Chapter XIII #2
She’s still unsteady as Caedren charges at Mariam.
She starts to form a bolt of magic, but before she can, Mariam executes a perfect uppercut, just like Sable trained her, and Caedren is knocked flat on his back, bleeding from his lip.
It looks like he got cut on one of his own overgrown fangs.
Mariam looks as shocked at this outcome as Caedren does.
But he’s quick to recover. He rolls to his feet and sends a blue shockwave of pure magic in Mariam’s direction, sending her flying backward into the hallway. She lands hard on the ground.
“Don’t you touch her, bitch!” Sable shouts as she charges him.
~§~
Mariam feels Caedren’s magic hit her like a truck, and then she hits the floor just as hard. The wind is knocked out of her, and it takes a moment for her to come to her senses enough to sit up. Her whole body aches, worse than it did before. She feels like she might have cracked a rib or two.
Sable and Caedren are grappling. Sable is clearly stronger, but Caedren looks unhinged, and Sable looks tired.
Mariam is not going to sit back and watch Caedren kill someone again.
Especially not Sable. She has to help her, but how?
That punch was as much as Mariam had in her.
If she tries to get in on the fight, she’ll probably just be killed.
She spots a table across the room, covered in weapons and tools of torture…
including a shining dart gun. It must be the same one Caedren used at the apothecary’s shop.
Mariam doesn’t know what’s in it, but she knows that Sable and Caedren are both High Fae.
The substance that knocked out Sable before would probably knock out Caedren now.
Mariam struggles to her feet and scrambles to the table, ignoring the screaming pain in every muscle.
Caedren lunges towards her as she gets close to them, but Sable is on him, and then they’re both on the ground.
Mariam makes it to the table and grabs the dart gun.
Now comes the next problem: Caedren and Sable are intertwined and writhing.
She’s not confident enough in her aim, and if she hits Sable by mistake, it’s all over.
As Mariam is shakily lining up her shot, Caedren gets a good kick to Sable’s stomach with both feet, shoving her off of him and across the room.
Sable lands hard and coughs up blood. Mariam’s heart lurches, but she turns back to Caedren and takes the shot.
A dart hits him in the throat. He seems to immediately recognize what has happened and scrambles to pull it out of his flesh.
He gets it, but then he begins to seize and scream in pain.
Sable is pushing herself to her feet. She sees Caedren, and a wicked grin spreads over her face, blood dripping over her bared fangs. Then something happens. Sable changes. Her entire body explodes with dark gray magic, and then she’s gone, and something else is in her place. A wolf.
Mariam stares at Sable in this form she has never seen.
Three times the size of a normal wolf, Sable stands at her normal height, but now on four legs.
She turns, her own blood still dripping from her jaw and matting her coat.
Six amber eyes lock on Caedren’s contorted form.
Mariam lets her jaw drop in awe. It’s over now.
Sable saunters to Caedren’s side, taking her time.
Mariam doesn’t want to watch, but horror and fascination make it impossible to move her head.
And then she sees it—Caedren is moving, the dart she hit him with still clutched in his fingertips.
He must not have taken a very large dose, which means there might still be enough left to…
“Sable, watch out!” Mariam cries. Sable’s four ears perk up at Mariam’s voice.
“Fuck you, mutt,” Caedren rasps, as he uses the last of his strength to swing the dart in Sable’s direction.
Sable is just fast enough to rear back out of his reach, though not fast enough to avoid the dart nicking her paw as momentum flings it out of Caedren’s hand and it rolls across the room.
She bellows in pain, but she doesn’t go down.
She pounces on Caedren. Her massive maw clamps down on his head, crushing it like a spoiled grape.
Mariam shrieks as she’s splattered with blood and brain matter.
Then it’s really over.
Wolf Sable turns to look at Mariam, all six of her eyes focusing on her. Her ears perk towards her again, listening. Brain, blood, and slivers of bone slop to the floor from her jowls. Mariam realizes Sable is waiting for her reaction. She hobbles over to her until she stands within arm’s reach.
They watch each other, wondering who will move first. It’s Mariam.
Mariam reaches up a hand to gently stroke the fur on top of her head, making two pairs of her eyes close.
She can feel spines in her fur, but they don’t stick to her.
Perhaps they only open when she feels threatened.
She picks up a shred of Caedren’s shirt that came off in the fight and uses it to clean around Sable’s mouth, which earns her a gentle snuffle.
Then, another pulse of magic and a gray light, and Sable is back in her human form, a tattered shirt and pants hanging on her frame.
Sable cups Mariam’s face and pecks her forehead. “I’d kiss you, sweet, but I need to wash my teeth.”
Mariam laughs and chooses not to see the carnage behind her. “I’d appreciate that, thanks.”
A slow clap begins from behind them. Mariam whips her head around, finding a… familiar cloaked figure there, this time with her gloves off. It’s The Champion. “Bravo. You did it.”
“And what did you do?” Sable asks, half-growling. “Your people didn’t do shit to protect us.”
“Didn’t they? Will and Jimmy both gave their lives.” The Champion comes forward, stepping over Caedren’s corpse and giving the five-pointed stake circle and the pool of Sable’s blood in its center a wide berth. But Mariam hangs on to one thing.
“Jimmy’s dead?” she asks. After everything, she can’t stop herself from sobbing.
She feels terrible, recalling his kindness, thinking that even for a moment she had suspected him of working with Caedren.
Mariam only hopes he didn’t suffer. When the tears begin to flow, Sable gently cups her cheek and wipes them away with the pad of her thumb, quietly shushing her.
Mariam leans into her warmth, trying to ignore the blood that Sable just inadvertently wiped on her face.
“Yes, I found his body just a moment ago,” says The Champion grimly. Her voice sounds so melancholic. She must be taking her losses hard. “From what I could gather, Caedren killed him to gain access to your food. But he didn’t do it himself… That’s the piece I’m still trying to understand.”
“There was another man,” Mariam says, composing herself.
Now she understands what must have happened.
“He was under some kind of control spell, but he listened to me when I told him to take Caedren as far away as possible. He tore, and then Caedren came back alone. Wherever he took Caedren, he must still be there.”
The Champion’s head inclines. “Ah, so that’s why one of my Reapers just tore to the South Pole.
Excuse me a moment.” She tears away, and she returns only a moment later, her hand around the wrist of the young man from earlier.
He looks half-frozen, but he also looks like a person again. The life has come back into his eyes.
“Well. Shit.” The man looks between Mariam, Sable, and The Champion, a red flush rapidly creeping up his pale neck. “I am so, so fuckin’ sorry—”
The Champion holds up one hand. “Calm yourself, Darwin. We can speak of this later; preferably, when you are warmed, rested, and when I get our young friends here home.”
Mariam looks Darwin over. At least he survived. She doesn’t know if she could have lived with herself if her command had gotten him killed. “Thank you,” she says. “Maybe you didn’t really have a choice but to do what I said, but you saved us both.”
“Nah, ma’am, you saved us,” Darwin says to her, his sincerity almost searing her. “I’d still be under that fuck’s command if not for you. So, thank you.”
Mariam shifts awkwardly under the intensity of the compliment. “I’m just glad it’s over,” she says. “I have to say, though, it seems like it was always going to end like this, not with the Reapers capturing him.”
“So it was,” The Champion says. She sighs and clasps her hands together. “That is what Fate foretold for you both. It was Fate that led to your meeting, and Fate that foresaw Sable would be the one to kill Caedren.”
“So you let this happen?” Sable seethes. “He could have killed my—Mariam.” Mariam’s heart flutters at that, and she feels that funny feeling in her chest again, where it was burning earlier. Now it just feels warm.
“I did have men searching for him,” she says. “I simply knew they wouldn’t find him. If I could have, I would have done everything to ensure the most positive outcome, but I only know bites of what is to come, and many details only become clear in retrospect. Fate is fickle that way.”
Sable snorts. “Like I told you, I don’t believe in Fate.”
“You don’t have to; it believes in you.” Mariam can’t see her face, but she gets the sense The Champion is smiling wryly. “I have one last gift for you, wolf, and your lady. If you both will have it.”
“What?”
“I can take your wounds from this night away. You have had to spend enough of your time recovering recently as it is.” She extends both hands, one towards Sable and one towards Mariam.
Mariam takes it readily, but Sable hesitates.
Mariam looks from The Champion to her love, and watches Sable roll her eyes and take The Champion’s hand as well.
Both their bodies alight with silver magic.
It’s like the comfort of a warm blanket on a cold night.
It’s also the best painkiller Mariam has ever taken.
~§~
Sable hears a soft voice in her head while she and The Champion touch. You should tell her soon. That you are mates. It is best to say it sooner than later.
As Sable’s eyes widen, The Champion drops her hand and Mariam’s. “This should be the last you see of me, for a while. I’ll get you home in a moment, where your things are waiting for you.” The Champion chuckles. “By the way, tell your friend Leandra I said ‘hello.’”
“You know Lea?!” Mariam asks, staring wide-eyed at The Champion as silver magic begins to orbit her and Sable. Sable, personally, has no idea who the hell “Leandra” is.
“Indeed.” The Champion waves, and suddenly they are tearing through space and time. The wind howls in Sable’s ears, cold and intense—
And then they are in the middle of Mariam’s living room. “I never get used to that,” Mariam says, exasperated. As Sable turns to her, she sees her legs quivering, ready to give out.
“Okay, let’s go.” Sable scoops her up with ease, carrying her to the couch and gently setting her down on it. “You rest. She healed you, but clearly that damned sedative is still in your system and now the adrenaline is wearing off. I’ll put our things away.”
“Are you sure? You’ll still be here when I wake up, right?” Mariam yawns loudly, covering her mouth with a hand. “This wasn’t all a dream?”
“No dream, my love,” Sable soothes, kissing her forehead. “I’ll never leave your side.”
“That sounds very good to me,” Mariam replies, sleepily curling her hands under her cheek as a pillow. “Good night…” Her voice drifts off as does she, leaving Sable alone in her home. Our home now, I guess.
Sable drags their suitcases across the carpet and puts them in the bedroom, before pulling out her toothbrush, toothpaste, and a change of clothes. She needs to wash the blood off of her… and the gore out of her teeth.