Chapter 38 #2
“I’m not budging until you both say you're sorry and we can put this behind us.” I glanced through the wall of ice. “And if I were you, I’d hurry up. That thing is getting closer.”
With a disgruntled grumble, Sawyer turned to Sebastian, outstretching a hand. “Talk later?”
Sebastian glowered at the sapphire embellished skin, and to my utmost surprise, took Sawyer’s hand and shook.
Not exactly what I hoped for, but it was progress. “Now apologize. Please.” I batted my lashes.
As they glared at one another in confusion with my timing, I peeked back through the ice. The Hykah had vanished from view, which meant it was likely maneuvering towards another archway.
“I probably shouldn't have punched you in the nose,” Sebastian muttered with his teeth clenched.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sawyer’s shrug.
“Probably shouldn't have kissed your girl.”
Sebastian scoffed before words poured from his lips, but I blocked him out. They would both be pissed at me, but I owed them this. I owed all of my loved ones this.
Mid argument—or reconciliation—I tore my arm to the side and broke free from Sebastian’s death grip. My legs took off in a sprint down the corridor and I refused to look back as two sets of boots slammed against the marble floor after me.
“Fucking damnit, Maeve!” Sebastian called out, his irritation slipping free as the few seconds I granted myself put a great distance between us.
When I reached another archway that led outside, I paused to draw a deep breath, then I stepped into the open air, my dagger drawn.
The two controlling assholes made it to the archway just as I made my exit. I turned to them, holding a finger to my mouth, and despite the fear in their eyes, they didn’t move. They wouldn’t take any risks now that I was in close proximity to the creature.
The Hykah had its back to me, which I used to my advantage. I tiptoed sideways, keeping my back flush against the stone wall and a single palm extended outwards. I had the best chance at killing this thing, so if I didn’t try…
I took another step to the side, but lost my footing a bit in a rivet of cobblestone. My head crashed back into the wall, forcing my eyes to squeeze shut as I bit back a curse. When I reopened them, they were locked with a set of black ones.
The Hykah strode for me, its legs cracking and bending in unnatural angles. It screamed, spit flying from its mouth and landing in a glob in front of me.
Ew.
Using the godly power within me, I called upon the only star I could see. I sucked the sun into my veins, pulling as much in as I knew I would be able to control. When satisfied, I shot it free of my palm, aiming directly at the head of the Hykah.
My body burned with the blinding glow that emitted from my skin, but I held on to my power, drawing more starlight in and releasing it simultaneously.
I pushed my back deeper into the wall, using the pressure to ground myself and keep steady.
The Hykah’s growls weakened and its body began to stumble as it still tried to approach me.
With one last gush of power, it collapsed to the ground with a tremendous thud, splattering me with blood from its disintegrated skull.
Shaking from the expulsion of power, I dropped my arms, allowing the panic I’d been ignoring to at last flow in. I tucked my dagger away so I could rub my limbs in a feeble attempt to self-soothe.
Sebastian ran through the archway and, though I knew he was angry, he pulled me into an embrace. His rough palm held my head into his chest, cradling me. “You will pay for that later,” he hissed the promise when he released me.
Over his shoulder, Sawyer stood by the dead Hykah. He kicked its arm with his boot, just to be sure. “Why didn’t its whole body turn to ash like everything else you burn with starlight?” he asked without looking at me.
“My aim has gotten better.” I approached him, tapping his arm so that he spun to face me, then I pulled him into a hug as well. He needed it just as much as Sebastian did after everything I’d put them through lately.
“That was stupid,” he muttered.
“I know,” I answered, releasing him.
I exhaled over the Hykah’s body, then crouched down by its torso. I pulled my dagger from its sheath, then slid it over the creature's wrinkled flesh.
“Oh for the love of the gods, Maeve. What are you doing?” Sebastian’s voice conveyed his disgust.
I pointed the tip of my dagger at the Hykah’s chest, still subtly rising and falling as it expelled the last of its breath. “See. The muscles are still contracting, and I have a theory of my own to test.”
Crunching noises filled the courtyard as I cut through layers of muscle and cartilage, forcing my hands inside and tearing apart the Hykah’s flesh so I could see what resided in its chest cavity.
A heart, black and still subtly beating, laid within the four walls of the creature.
“How is its heart still beating?” Sawyer asked.
“I literally just told you,” I enunciated with a hint of attitude.
“No. You said its muscles were still contracting,” he corrected.
Painfully slowly, my head turned over my shoulder. “Sawyer Sinclair. Are you telling me you did not know that the heart is a muscle?” I was dumbfounded.
He granted me a sheepish grin as a reply.
With a shake of my head, I turned back to the organ and I stabbed my dagger into its center. The heart ceased to pump, proving my hypothesis. “It can be killed if we stab it in the heart,” I said simply in response to my observation as I yanked my blade free.
“How do you know?” Sebastian gagged, forcing himself to crouch down and take a look.
“Didn’t you guys take beastly anatomy in primary school?” I interrogated, looking up at the two men who shrugged.
“I never paid much attention if it didn’t involve reading or battle,” Sebastian replied.
“I didn’t pay attention at all,” Sawyer added.
Looking back at the Hykah, I gently prodded its static heart with the tip of my finger.
“Oh for the love of fuck, Maeve! Don’t touch it,” Sebastian practically squealed.
My eyes rolled into my skull. “Seeing as you both clearly forgot, any living thing that has a heart can be killed if the muscle is stopped. I wasn’t sure if something without a soul even needed a heart to survive, but I guess so.
Anyways, if the Hykah didn’t have a heart, then I would put more faith in the power of the gods theory, but this seems to be our lucky day.
” I guess the starlight was a bit much looking back, but better safe than sorry.
“So Kohen’s god theory was way off,” Sebastian stated, relief coating his tongue.
“Well, not entirely,” I countered, breathing out as I pushed to a stand.
“Sure, they can be killed by stopping the heart, but good luck getting close enough to one to do that.” In all honesty, I was so relieved that this was even an option as it took a small amount of pressure off of me, but it didn’t solve the problem.
“Soooo, he was right?” Sawyer asked to clarify.
“Yes and no. If you can get close enough to stab it in the heart, then you can kill it. However, chances that you can get close enough to kill it that way are next to none by the looks of the thing,” I began.
“Magic would give you the best odds, so Kohen was right in a sense. Kill it with a god. Kill it with godly power. Same difference.”
“It must have a brain then?” Sebastian asked. “I’d imagine it would be the same kind of deal. Right?”
I nodded, but there was no way to confirm. If it had a brain, it was burned to ash.
Sebastian and I turned to Sawyer as he shouted with his arms in the air, “I’m so fucking scared and confused right now! Explain this to me like I’m five. Please.”
“Stabbed in the heart? Dead. Stabbed in the brain. Dead. Easier and more reliable way is to use your magic,” I stated.
“Thank you,” Sawyer spat out with a bite.
“I guess they are more mortal than we thought,” Sebastian lamented, his surprise evident.
“It’s kind of sad the more I think about it,” Sawyer added, dropping back to sit and stare at the thing. “This was someone just like us at one point.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek. “Why do you guys think I want to do everything in my power to stop Beaumont? This,” I pointed to the Hykah, “isn’t fair. And I don’t want to become one of them. I’m sure you two don’t, either.”
Neither of them answered.
“Ready to hear my ideas yet?”