22. Chapter 22 #2
“I am not sure. It’s unlikely it’s a curse.
We ran the diagnostics on you when we first patched you up, and nothing registered.
I have Erick researching the dagger; it’s unique enough that I'm certain it has a history. Until then, we’ll be observing you, and I’d like to ask you to submit to weekly diagnostic tests. ”
Yareli mulled over his words. She didn’t feel like anything was wrong with her, but it couldn’t hurt to be careful. She agreed to the weekly testing.
There was a pregnant pause as if August had more to say, but was struggling to find the words.
He ran his hand through his hair again—a habit she was starting to pick up on—and leveled his gaze at her. “I’m sorry.”
She cocked her head, confused about the sudden apology.
“I promised to keep you safe, and I failed. I should have been there to protect you from Tuom.”
His voice was hard, cut from the coldest steel, but the soft look in his eyes spoke of a different story.
He was like a caramel candy, hard on the outside with a soft inside.
Something about the apology made her uncomfortable, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
A memory bobbed at the surface of her mind, and she fished for it.
Her fingers brushed against it, feeling—rather than seeing—the sourness of disappointment.
Then, the memory slipped between her fingers, returning to the lake of locked memories.
She shook her head, clearing the remnants of the memory away, and shrugged.
“I shouldn’t have run away from Erick and Bri,” she said. “It was stupid.”
“Why did you?”
“I… was looking for you—to warn you about the incoming nox force.” Heat rushed to her cheeks.
Without the adrenaline pumping through her veins, the silliness of her decision was plain to see.
Her friends would have been able to find him faster and easier than she.
She’d been a human running through the thick of battle in search of one Fae. A foolish endeavor.
August looked surprised at her confession. “Thank you. Your warning was helpful. I ordered everyone to retreat in time to save most of our troops and civilians from slaughter.” A pause. “But I do advise you to stay with them next time. They’ll help you.”
“Even if I don’t want to run?”
“Moreso then.”
She bit her lip, a frown finding its way on her face. She didn’t like the idea of her friends endangering themselves for her.
August said, “Alright, enough of that. You did what you thought was right. There is no shame in that. Now, what question do you have for me?”
Yareli raised her head, relieved he wasn’t upset with her at all, but a smile refused to come to her face. August had been nothing but considerate toward her, but kindness wouldn’t protect her—truth would. She clenched her bedsheets in her fists.
“When were you going to tell me your real name was Augrys?”
August’s face lost its color; he looked away, staring at the bare stone wall for a long moment. Emotions warred on his face, and she thought she caught anger as one of them. He was getting easier to read.
His voice was tired when he spoke. “How did you find out?”
“Raf.”
He closed his eyes, nodding. “Of course.”
“Well?”
“I planned to reveal my real name as soon as your memories had returned. I thought it would be beneficial to use my old name.”
“To help prod my memories.”
“That was the intention.”
“I didn’t know your real name, did I?”
His face was answer enough. She had not. Once again, the gap in her memories reared its head. How would she have felt knowing he had lied about his name? How much had she truly known about her friend August?
“There’s another thing,” he started. He seemed hesitant, sighing before he said, “Something odd appeared in your diagnostic.”
This piqued her interest, allowing her to set aside her feelings about his real name. “What?”
“It’s your magic core.”
“My what?”
“You have magic,” he said.
Yareli laughed. “You’re joking.”
When he didn’t laugh—not that he often did, at least not in front of her—the sound died in her throat. He was not joking. The truth settled in her stomach like a puzzle piece fitting into place. It was there, buzzing under her skin as if waiting for her to let it out.
She swallowed. Power and truth. She had said she needed both to survive her journey in Izmari. For Tuom, however, only power was necessary. August would teach her. She only had to ask.
The door burst open, banging on the wall and startling them both. Erick strutted in with his chin held high. Bri was behind him, shaking her head but following nonetheless.
“Erick…” August said. His voice revealed he was anything but pleased to see his lieutenant.
“Before you get angry,” he said pointedly, “I gave you plenty of time already, and while your healing skills are commendable, I must take care of my patient, which—if I may remind you—requires me to be present in the room.”
Yareli stifled her groan. They didn’t have time to waste on diagnostics right now; August was leaving, and finding any time alone with him was almost an impossible task.
She needed a way to force him to be near her—something he seemed to avoid unless necessary.
An idea formulated in her head. A way to get August alone, to learn more about her magic, to acquire power.
“Erick’s right.” Leo’s voice came from the dark doorway.
Yareli’s heart skipped a beat—from guilt or excitement, she didn’t know.
Admittedly, she hadn’t thought about him since waking, having been too preoccupied with the more minute details of her situation, but knowing that she had been in a private room with August—Augrys, she corrected herself—made her feel unreasonably guilty.
She hadn’t done anything wrong. She and Leo didn’t have any sort of understanding.
But it didn’t stop her nerves from jumping when Leo stepped into the room, his gray eyes locked on hers.
There you are, they seemed to say.
Here I am, she thought, but she still didn’t have an answer for him.