Chapter 20
CHAPTER
“Put that down,” Malakai ordered, swiftly grabbing Eve’s rifle. “Or I’ll break it into pieces.”
Eve struggled against his grip, baring her teeth. “What!? You’re a Lieutenant of the Ashen Corps, and you want to keep a mage alive now!?” Eve shouted, half-feral.
“You’re right,” Malakai scoffed, snagging the rifle away from her in one sweep. “I’m the Lieutenant, and I’m failing to see why I’d need to explain myself to any of you. This mission is bigger than your small opinions.”
Eve’s eyes widened. “Then, what are we doing, sir?” Her voice was not as strong as before.
“We’re not attacking mages,” Malakai ordered, and I saw the relief on Mey’s face.
Nate however, still looked pale. The news of his sister being a mage must’ve struck him hard, but I worried for Mey more.
How was she going to cope with this? She had been raised like normal, thinking she was like everyone else, ungifted.
I turned my attention back to her, and was surprised, her skin looked healthier than moments ago, but her eyes glimmered as tears threatened her sight. They began slipping down her cheek, quietly, no sobs, no movement.
“Mey?” I whispered carefully.
“I’m… I’m not sick,” she chuckled quietly. “I… I feel great. Nate… I’m not sick.” Her words slammed against me, as I felt my lips trembling, she was glowing with relief. Nate must’ve seen it too, because it didn’t take long before he sprinted over and swung his arms around her into a tight hug.
“I’m not sick,” she sobbed, over and over and he began patting her head as his body shook, sniveling underneath her sobs.
Ashley slowly stepped in from my other side, one hand on each side of her hips with a small smile. “It’s hard not to be happy, even though this probably makes us traitors?”
“Are we, though?” I whispered quietly. “Powers or no powers… we’re all still human, are we not?”
Ashley gazed at me, her eyes calculating, studying, before her smile widened. “I knew I liked you for the right reasons.”
We both embraced Mey, who cried—almost screamed—her heart out, realizing she had never been sick. She wasn’t slowly fading away as she had thought for so many years. To her, becoming a mage was a relief, it meant she got to live, without the fear of going to sleep and never waking up again.
“Are you stupid?” Eve barked, destroying our happy bubble. “The mages brought the demons, they are slaughtering us because we’re lower on the food chain.”
“That’s where we went wrong,” I snapped at her, my blood boiling at her nagging. “We let the demons divide us, mistrusted one another. Tell me, if we’re too busy killing each other, who’s killing the demons?”
Eve was pissed off, her hands curled into fists as she stared at me in utter hatred. She was eager for a fight, but the truth was, no matter how much she hated me, or the other mages, my words were no less true.
“Stop yapping. We’re continuing with the plan whether you like it or not,” Malakai interfered. “You’ll shut up and help, or I’ll get to practice my aim on you… your choice.”
Eve slid her eyes to meet with his, defiance lingering inside of her. A beat, then she nodded, and he handed back her rifle.
“Just don’t come near me, freak,” Eve spit low towards Mey, as she took a few steps away.
Shit. I felt my blood itching, the flames pleading inside of me. My control was no longer an iron wall, I had played with the embers for too long, now they threatened to expose me. It was one thing accepting Mey, who knew nothing about it. But me? I was fully aware of what a liar I was…
Discreetly, I glanced down at my hands, small embers sparked around my fingers.
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit, shit!
Then, hands clasped around mine, hiding them. I glanced up at Malakai who was already meeting my eyes. He caught me off guard, the surprise making me freeze in place.
“Are you cold?” he asked flatly, bringing my hands into his jacket’s pockets. I furrowed my brows, prepared to attack, but he squeezed my hands firmly inside of the pockets, silencing me.
“Oh, this is… different,” Ashley mused, her teasing voice causing my cheeks to heat at her stupid assumptions.
“It’s not what you think,” I snapped, trying to tug my hands out of his grip, but it was firm. He was reveling in my reaction, that bastard.
“You’re right,” Malakai deflected, voice soaked in amusement. “She loathes me so much, she’d rather die than let me warm her hands up. Too bad; I’m not letting her escape so easily.”
“Aaand he’s back,” Ashley smirked, more at ease.
“Ethalyn?” A voice broke through and the sound sent shivers along my spine. My head swung around and there he was, clothes covered in dirt, smudges on his face, cuts on his lip and neck.
But he was alive.
“Lionel,” I breathed, ripping my hands back from Malakai and bursting into a jog. Lionel’s eyes softened, as a faint smile spread on his lips upon seeing me, his arms lifted, welcoming me. I threw myself into his embrace and he lifted me off the ground and spun me around.
“You’re here!” I said, relief coating my words. “Are you okay?” He placed me on the ground again and I began inspecting him.
“I’m okay,” he scratched his neck, apologetic. “At least, I am now.”
“Lio?” Eve sounded behind, as they gazed at each other, he simply nodded with a faint smile. “What about those mages…?” she continued.
His smile slowly disappeared, as he turned back to me. “Don’t worry, I handled it.”
The words made my stomach turn.
“Well, apparently we’re not killing them anymore,” Eve snorted, crossing her arms.
“What?” Lionel asked, confused, looking over at Malakai, who simply shrugged.
“We’re going to sneak into the mages’ camp,” I explained. “We’ll try to talk to them and—”
“No,” Lionel shook his head. “There’s no use talking to them, they will attack on sight.”
Eve chuckled dryly, her whole existence screaming ‘I told you so’.
My lips pressed together, trying to ignore her, as I took a step back. “Maybe, but if we don’t try… then we’ll die eventually anyway.”
“Yeah, because Mey is a mage, so we’re forced to play the traitor’s team now,” Eve scoffed, not helping my case at all.
Lionel paled as his eyes darted towards Mey. Nate studied him closely, ready to protect his sister with his life; her being a mage hadn’t changed a thing, not to him and not to us.
“She didn’t know herself,” I barked defensively. “She was never sick, her body was slowly dying because she never knew how to release her pent up magic.”
Lionel’s brows furrowed as he took my words in, before his attention slid back to me. “How do you know of all this?”
I tensed, not sure why I let my mouth run without thinking.
“The Lieutenant told us,” Ashley cut in, her words allowing me to breathe again.
“And you’re letting her live?” Lionel shot against him, his voice accusing. My pulse raced, fear of him hating it, the lack of understanding. If he wouldn’t accept Mey, he’d never forgive me.
However, I also feared that Malakai’s patience was running thin, all of us shouting and questioning him. Usually, he hid his emotions well, but irritation was written all across his face by now, and his eyes had found their target on Lionel.
“Lionel,” I pleaded, my hand tugging at his shirt, but his eyes were locked on the Lieutenant, not me.
I felt something closing in behind me, as I saw Lionel’s eyes follow the movement.
“Yes,” Malakai answered, right behind me. “Last time I checked, I get to decide who lives or dies in my team.”
Lionel huffed low, a taunting smile appearing on his face. “So, you take responsibility for all of us when the Ashen Corps declare us traitors for harboring a mage?”
No.
You can’t mean that.
Please stop.
From behind me, an arm stretched out, a gun pointing straight at Lionel’s face, and I froze, as I was standing right between them.
“I can take responsibility right now,” Malakai hummed behind me. “Accidents happen, especially to those who don’t fall in line when told to.”
“Lionel,” I whispered, but he didn’t hear me.
“Mey’s a mage,” Lionel continued, voice sharp. “She was sick when I last saw her, on death’s door. Now she looks alive, almost better than I’ve ever seen her… so tell me Lieutenant, how do you know a demon hasn’t possessed her?”
My hand gripped his clothes hard, my hand trembling. Malakai cocked the gun, the clicking sound echoing in the air, and I began holding my breath.
I knew, because I had seen it and I had felt it myself.
The relief once the magic was let out. How my fever had evaporated once I let my flames dance wildly.
I wanted to tell Lionel, I wanted to share the feeling with him.
How my fears of the powers taking over had subsided.
Tell him about my shame, that I still felt guilty for having the abilities, for hiding them from him all this time. I wanted to tell him, I wanted to—
“We should kill her, just to be safe.”
My hand stopped, as my grip slipped, my hand falling to my side.
It was as if his words had cut my hold of him off, shoved me to the side.
Even if he didn’t know about me specifically, it was as if he had denied me as well.
He wanted nothing to do with mages—they were unpredictable, unreliable and deceitful.
He was right, I had lied to him all this time, I was no better than his hateful words.
But it hurt.
Godsdamn, it hurt.
Because it was him, it was Lionel. The man I’d had a crush on since forever, and would never be able to confess to because of this moment right here.
My shoulders sank, I felt like I could disappear without even caring.
“I say she stays alive, so she does,” Malakai deflected, his voice firm, like usual.
“Then what? She turns on us? Gets us all killed?”
“Stop it,” I whispered, weakly, my hand nudging carefully against Malakai’s wrist instead, hoping that he’d spare him. “Please.”
“I thought our mission was to control the border, kill the mages that had crossed it and report back?” Lionel continued, voice rising in anger. “But this? It’s suicide, and sparing one mage won’t change that.”
“That’s my sister you’re talking about,” Nate shouted through his teeth.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Lionel said, his cool eyes looking at Nate, as if the execution had already been carried out.
I felt Malakai’s hand tensing, his finger moving around the trigger, itching for it.
Lionel’s hand wrapped firmly around my wrist. “Let’s go home.”
I ripped out of it, staring into the ground.
“Ethalyn?” he asked, confused.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, tears threatening to push through. “But I’m staying.”
Malakai’s gun slowly lowered at my words, as if rewarding me for taking a stand, sparing Lionel for now.
Lionel’s hands landed on each side of my shoulders, as he bent to meet with my eyes. “What’s wrong? Talk to me,” his voice grew desperate.
I met with his brown eyes, and no matter how much I wanted to tell him the truth, my heart couldn’t handle it. I already knew how he’d react.
He would hate me.
He would never look at me again.
He would turn his back on me forever.
So, like the coward I was, I kept it hidden once more. Because I couldn’t afford to lose him, I was scared of never seeing him again.
I was selfish.
“I want to talk to the mages.”