Chapter 8 #2
“Really, though, why do you like shooting so much?” I asked Eve, and even Lionel shifted to look at her, waiting for her answer. Eve stilled, her whole body hesitating.
“I… Well, my father always wanted a boy,” she began slowly. “He loved hunting in the woods, and had this dream of taking his son with him to hunt…”
She lowered her head slightly, letting her ponytail fall forward. “He didn’t get a son… he got me instead.”
Ashley snorted. “So what?”
“My mother died,” Eve continued, voice still firm as if rehearsed. “And his dream was gone forever, so I began training, wanting to fulfil it for him, but he got sick or something. One day, he just stopped hunting, just sat in front of the fireplace each day—staring.”
I swallowed hard.
“I’m not sure if he gave up on life because he lost his wife or…” She stopped herself, clearing her throat. “Anyway, I had to hunt by myself to get us food and I got real good at it. Now I’m here and whatever money I make through the military I send to him.”
“It’s his loss,” Ashley snapped, too quickly to let any emotion into the words. “It doesn’t matter if you have something swinging between your legs or not, you’re a… good sniper”
“Ashley!” Eve hissed, embarrassed.
“She’s right… in her own strange way,” Lionel muttered while nodding.
“Enough about that,” Eve snapped, straightening herself as if shrugging off the weakness she had dared show for a moment. “What would you do, if the war ended, Lionel?”
“I’d help the villages before settling down,” Lionel said, staring down at his hands. “It wouldn’t sit right with me to live my life in comfort while others suffer.”
Eve nodded at his words.
“Wouldn’t we have done enough by then?” Nate interrupted, all of us turning to him. “Sacrificing ourselves against the demons… for what? To go back and help even more people?”
“Well—” Jaden began but was cut off.
“Maybe,” Lionel raised his voice. “But I’d rather spend my life giving my all, than ignore those suffering in silence.”
Nate bit his lower lip, averting his eyes. “At some point people have got to start handling things for themselves, or they’ll end up spoiled and take everything for granted. Isn’t that how all of this began?”
Silence slithered around us, biting into each and every one of us like a snake. I shivered, embracing myself, and Malakai shifted, draping his jacket over my shoulders, observant as always.
“What about you, Ethalyn?” Ashley asked.
I hadn’t really given it much thought; the only thing I knew was that my life would never return to what it had once been. ‘Normal’ felt strange, considering I had never been normal. I was a fire mage, falling for a half-demon. Perhaps I wasn’t destined for normal things…
I shrugged my shoulders slightly. “I don’t know.”
“Well… that’s disappointing,” Eve snorted.
A dry chuckle left me as I looked up at her.
“For once I agree with… ugh, Eve,” Ashley waved her hand lousily at Eve. “You could’ve said anything, become a monster hunter or a demon-tamer—”
That made Malakai arch an amused brow at her. “Or perhaps just an adventurer,” Ashley continued, clearly not satisfied with my reply.
“Well, sorry to disappoint you guys, but some of us don’t have it all mapped out,” I muttered bitterly.
“What about you, Malakai? You got something you want to do?” Nate smoothly pulled the attention away from me.
I glanced up at him curiously, realizing I knew nothing of what his goals and dreams were. At least, I thought so, until I saw that smug and dark smirk spread on his lips, and his eyes slid right to me.
Instincts kicked in, I shoved an elbow right into his side, and he chuckled in response.
“I’m not the type to plan that far ahead,” Malakai redirected easily. “Even if I survive this war, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m half-demon. Once the world is rid of the purebreds, surely, we half-demons will be next in line.”
His smile shifted, turning into something polite but fake. The bittersweet taste of knowing all too well that for most people, good deeds didn’t wash one’s origin off that easily.
I leaned my head against his shoulder. “They can certainly try.”
“Now I kind of wish they do, if only to watch how far you’ll go to protect me,” Malakai teased, his smug smirk remaining.
“She’s right, you’re part of this… weird ass family, and we will protect you.” Ashley smiled, nudging Nate with her shoulder.
“Uh, yeah, of course,” he added quickly.
I really appreciated how they were trying to come around to trusting him again.
They had before, when he was simply our Lieutenant, giving orders that they followed without hesitation.
It would’ve been a lie to say that I wondered if it was because of their own ideals or if they trusted me enough to give him a shot as well.
“Gods I wish I had a sob story now,” Nate sighed. “Having everyone swoon and protect me. But my life before was pretty ordinary.”
“How about settling for protection?” Eve snorted.
“What?” Nate complained. “That was the lesser choice, I’d settle for the flirty option every time.”
Not that it really mattered how, but the fact that they always came through, they always kept their word… my life couldn’t have been in better hands than theirs; this squad, this family that we had molded ourselves into. It belonged to us and no one else.
And I would die fighting to protect it.