Page 16 of A Thousand Cuts

“We said we’d wait for me to retire before you poached me to be a full-time instructor,” he reminded her.

“Pfff, by the time you decide to retire I’ll be worm food. Don’t you miss Nexus?”

He looked around at the black marble and echoing vastness of the space he’d grown up in. He remembered running down these hallways until he was taught not to run. Laughing until he was taught to do it quietly. It wasn’t perfect, but there was a part of him that would always belong to the cold, detached mausoleum of the cursebreaker training facility.

“Sometimes,” he said softly. “But I’m happy where I am now.”

She held his gaze for a long moment before she exhaled and nodded.

“That’s the way it’s supposed to be, isn’t it?” she asked, voice quiet. “It’s what I wanted for you.”

“You don’t sound too happy about it.” He tried teasing, but he couldn’t help but think his response disappointed her somehow. It weighed heavy on him, the idea of not living up to who she wanted him to be.

“I’ll always miss having you around, Fix,” she said. “We aren’t supposed to get attached, but you were the closest thing to a son I’ve ever had. I had you for longer than I’ve had anyone else that’s gone through here. Part of being a parent means letting your children find their own happiness though. And being content in the knowledge that they did.”

Fix was beyond touched by her words. “I really like my life,” he assured her.

“Good.” She smiled, but it quickly morphed into a playful smirk. “Though I don’t know how. We really did a number on you with that team of yours.”

He let out a laugh before shrugging. “They’re all great once you get to know them.”

“I’ll take your word for it. They’re incredible cursebreakers, but we were all pretty pleased when they finally matched with a team and left this place.”

“They’ve grown up a lot.” He defended them, knowing deep down he was searching for her approval. “They’ve settled and calmed. You’d have a hard time recognizing them if you saw them now.”

“Last I checked, Ash is still a walking flamethrower, Hart is toeing the line of morality, Midas is more gone than he is around, Black is disturbingly gleeful about his job, and Wujia is as closed off as he always was—”

“Wren,” Fix corrected her. “His name is Wren.”

“Right,” she said, and he could tell she wanted to say more so he looked away before she could.

“You’ve been keeping tabs on us.”

“You’re the most volatile team that ever walked out of Nexus,” she said matter-of-factly. “I’d be horrible at my job if I just let you go. Not to mention the curious cases that have been coming out of your branch lately.”

“What about me?”

“You?”

“You know all about the others. What about me?”

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

“You’re still clinging on too tight,” she said. “I didn’t say anything that isn’t true about your team, or anything that would imply it was bad, but you’re ready to go to battle with me. You’re defending them against a nonexistent threat.”

She still had the ability to bring red to his cheeks like he was five years old. “They’re my family.”

“And nobody is calling that into question, Fix. Nobody is taking them away from you.”

“I’d like to see them try,” Fix said.

She rolled her eyes and chuckled as she directed them toward the classrooms. “You’ve got the younglings today. They’re so excited to meet a ‘real cursebreaker.’”

Fix laughed. “Do they think their usual instructors are fake?”

“Probably. Kid logic.” She stopped in front of a door, pointing to it. “Find me after?”

“Don’t I always?”