Chapter 38
Braxton
She doesn’t notice, but I watch her walking away in the darkness. The shadows curling up around her as she disappears out of my view. A bubble of light getting sucked up by the endingless obscure. My throat goes dry and feels thick, making it hard for me to swallow.
She left me a compass.
A way to win.
But I am starting to realize there is more than winning.
More than proving myself.
There is her.
And I am not sure there is anything else I would want more.
She is soft because she chooses to be. She teaches me that softness can be strength.
She’s the most powerful of all, able to control the sun and light.
But even without her powers, she would still be my light in the darkness.
Her power doesn’t define her. She is joy.
She is brightness. She is the sunlight in the thunderstorm that I am.
She is the sparkle that makes me shine so bright like no one has made me shine before.
She is mine—she was mine all along.
But I can’t tell her that, and I never will.
I can’t drag her into the mess that I am.
I can’t let her lose her sparkle. All I want for her is to shine, and she will never be able to do that with me.
All I want to do is touch that pretty face or tickle her so she will scrunch up her nose the way she does.
But I can’t and I will never be able to.
But the thought of another man being allowed to do that with her, drives me insane.
Hearing her makes those sweet sounds for him through our bond.
I stamp forward as the thought of it drives me insane.
I ball my fist and my jaw hurts from the way I lock it.
Before I can stroll further into the woods, towards my light, the maze starts shifting again.
And before I know it, someone flashes before me and blue eyes meet mine. As the blur sharpens, I notice who is in front of me.
I am standing eye in eye with Ethan.
“Let’s finish what we started,” he growls.
He wants to fight, that is one thing that is clear. He raises his sword, and I follow his lead. Fighting is like dancing, but with the rising anger inside of me he doesn’t know what he just started.
I can kill him with ease.
He slashes forward, the cold metal off his sword brushing my neck as I dunk. I kick forward, aiming for his chin and block another sword slash. I slice back, cutting his shoulder open. A hiss follows and the smell of iron fills my nose.
“Do you have a dead wish?” I spit out at him.
His eyes are bloodshot, but he fights back, our swords clattering together. I hold my breath as we continue our fight.
Besides our swords and bodies colliding, something else fills my ears. He doesn’t seem to notice.
The maze is shifting again.
Two walls pressing towards each other.
I am not sure that if you get pushed between them you will survive.
I slice forward, conducting him further between the walls.
He doesn’t seem to know what I am doing.
“Fuck you,” he bites out.
Yeah, fuck you too, but words aren’t going to save you.
He is focused on blocking me with his sword. I let go of one hand and throw out a punch. His bones crack and his face turns as blood flies out of his mouth. I cut forwards again, slicing his chest.
He dunks forwards and I run back, not a moment of hesitation.
The walls move faster than they did before.
Screams come from between the walls. It is horrendous.
A dead scream.
I hear bones crack as I hear the wall fall into place.
I don’t have to look over my shoulder to check if he survived.
His screams told me enough.
I look down to my hands.
Blood, dirt, and sweat.
It makes me dizzy, and the smell fills my head.
Water.
I need to wash my hands.
My feet drag me towards a flowing stream as my sight gets blurry. I kneel down. My hands are shaking with doubt if I should wash them. My hands touch the stream, and I let the cold water brush my hands. I scrub them roughly and take them out as fast as I can.
I lean back, falling over.
I sit down, my gaze following the little creek streaming downwards.
It looks peaceful, but I feel nothing like peace.
I hate killing.
But somewhere in my heart I hope Ethan’s death killed Delilah.
With that in mind, I continue my journey. I let Eliane’s compass take the lead and follow it without another thought.