Page 32

Malia

I catch up with the rest of my group as promised, my fists clenched at my side to hide the fact that they’re shaking.

No one talks or makes a noise at all, so my mind wanders off.

I just saw Keahi.

The first thing my stupid heart did when I saw him was skip a beat.

He’s alive, he’s well, he’s with me.

Then, he opened his mouth and acted like everything was how it used to be. It isn’t. I can feel it every second of every day that things aren’t how they used to be, with every twinge of the scars he couldn’t see.

I imagined my reunion with him a billion times in that first year after I was taken.

Each was similar; him saving me, holding me tightly like he did after I was shot.

I thought he’d make me feel better, make everything better. I’d finally be safe and cared for. Safe, something I haven’t felt since I arrived in this damn camp.

But things have changed since then.

He ripped my heart out and I’ll be damned if I don’t return the favor.

He’s alive, he’s well but he’s not with me. He turned eighteen two and a half years ago. Surely, he’s been on the force all this time. Even if he was unable to find a way to rescue me while being a student, he could have come for me months ago. But he didn’t.

I feel stupid for ever believing otherwise.

After all, he did tell me he didn’t care about me the very day I was kidnapped.

I feel even worse about keeping that ridiculous note he gave me that same day. I used to cling to it, used it as a reminder of who I was when I was close to giving up. Always so close to giving up. But now I know Keahi wasn’t misunderstood like I made him out to be. He was nothing more than a rotten bully all along, and he’d left me to die. There isn’t a single honorable bone in his body, and he’s proved as much. He owes me a life dept. He might have saved me after I was shot, but I pulled him up that tree trunk and I protected him from the dirt bullets. He owed me, but he seems to have forgotten that. Even in the Dark Fraction, a life dept is a binding contract. It’s a show of just how unworthy Keahi is.

At least now, I have a purpose again.

I will destroy Keahi and the whole lot along with him.

Arcane and the Dark Fraction. They all deserve my wrath.

I fantasize about ways to achieve my goal the whole way back.

I do know ways to physically hurt someone, many ways thanks to my parents, but I’ll need to do more than that.

Those wounds heal the fastest, so I’ll be sure to destroy what he loves most in right front of him.

Maybe he has a partner.

Or perhaps his priority is still his profession-

"Malia," my father repeats, and I look up to meet his eyes.

I haven’t even noticed that we were back at camp already.

"I asked for your report," he snaps. I tell him about the events of this mission, focused on keeping my voice even and cold as always. Still, my father narrows his eyes slightly at the mention of an Arcanian.

"Did you know him?" he asks, making it sound like a dare.

I command my heart rate to slow.

"No," I answer automatically.

I know he doesn’t believe me, see it in the small tick of his jaw, but I’m dismissed anyway.

It’s unusual for my father to let me off the hook, so instead of feeling gratitude, more worries invade my mind. What did my lie expose to him? What will he do with the information? I push them aside expertly and grab some bread on my way to my room.

The camp is bigger than I’d initially thought upon my arrival.

The houses are mostly built from natural resources since it is quickest to build them ourselves and it’s not unusual to abandon camp almost overnight for the fraction whenever Arcane comes sniffing too closely.

Like this, they don’t just leave cities behind in the forest with information to get on them. I lock my bedroom door and walk to my bed.

Most of the members here have real mattresses and other luxuries, but my parents don’t seem to think I need them.

I’ve been sleeping on a blanket on top of a pile of dirt for the past two years, and after the prickly chair they kept me on for one and a half years before that, I take it with no complaint.

I eat my piece of bread with a racing mind.

Too much happened tonight.

The cocky expression on Keahi’s face took me right back to my time at the academy.

My years there were the happiest of my life, but when I think about them now, it makes me feel so damn angry.

It was just an illusion, a lie. My friends, Kaz, and even Adira never actually cared. I was an experiment, nothing more.

Memories of my last night there flood my mind.

The way Keahi looked at me was so convincing.

I really fell for it. Fell for him. But these feelings are long gone like the rest of me. I don’t care about any of it anymore. I put my mask back in place and stride out of my room.

I am no longer being held on a tight leash as I used to be.

I tried to run away in the past but got caught every time and the price I had to pay was not worth it.

Now, I don’t even have anything to run away to. The illusion of a safe haven at Arcane is gone.

Some people are still up and outside as I pass by, but no one gives me so much as a second glance.

I weave through the ruins expertly, getting farther and farther away from the noise of the camp until I find myself deep in the forest.

Hearing the lapping of a stream nearby, I instinctively head toward it and crouch down to touch the cool water.

The steady pull of my element calms me as always.

I close my eyes, focus on the feeling, and listen to a gust of wind rattling some branches.

The forest ground is covered in fallen leaves, shades of brown and orange painting it.

I let my mind wander until I hear the snap of a twig.

I stand up and squint at the darkness, only barely able to make out a silhouette in the distance.

Someone is walking in my direction, and they’re not even trying to be silent. It makes me guess they aren’t aware of my presence. Great, I’m just in the mood to hunt.

I sneak up on the person with ease, my steps light even on the uneven terrain, and hide behind a tree nearby to watch them.

It quickly becomes clear that they’re walking rather aimlessly.

Seems like I’m not the only one that had to clear their head.

I pull myself up on some low hanging branches until I’m several feet above the stranger.

From there, I move onto another tree, this one placing me almost directly above the intruder, allowing me to take a closer look.

Finally, I can make out who it is. Surprise strikes me, having expected a member of the fraction this close to camp.

Instead, it’s none other than Keahi.

I can hardly believe my luck.

The calm I felt moments ago is instantly replaced by rage with a side note of sadistic glee I must have inherited from my father. I jump to the ground, purposefully making enough noise to make him whip around.

His eyes widen as he sees me and the dagger in my hand.

This time, it is my turn to smile as ideas come to my mind.

So many ideas about how to hurt him.

"Did you miss me already?" he asks, quickly recovering from the shock.

He grins at me again, and I grip my dagger tighter.

I want to retort something snappy but can’t find my voice, which makes me even angrier. I lunge at him.

He grabs my arm before my knife makes contact with his flesh and quickly slams me against a tree.

The breath gets sucked out of me as my back hits the trunk, and when I open my eyes, I see Keahi glaring down at me.

I’m about to push him away when I feel something cold against my throat.

My dagger is no longer in my hands, and I curse myself for having acted on emotions rather than focusing.

If it had been anyone else disarming me so quickly, I might have admired how fast they moved.

As it is, I’m unable of doing that when it’s Keahi.

I know what he is capable of.

Not much compared to me anymore but still something.

I chuckle to myself, and Keahi narrows his eyes. His body is pressed firmly against my own and now it’s me who has a déjà vu.

"How did you paralyze me earlier?" he asks so seriously I barely recognize his voice.

"A magician doesn’t reveal her secrets," I simply answer.

He looks perplexed for a moment before blinking it away.

"Give me a reason not to kill you right now." He is trying to scare me but fails.

I know he couldn’t go through with it.

Not because it’s me, specifically. He’s made it clear that he can live perfectly fine without me years ago. Still, I’m confident that his morals would keep him from killing an unarmed person. There’s an edge in his voice that nearly makes it sound like he’s begging.

With that in mind, I smile a little wider and turn my chin up.

My blade pushes harder against my skin at the movement, and I feel a drop of blood running down my throat.

Somehow, that makes me smile more. Keahi’s expression falters, his eyes dropping to the blood and coming up again filled with confusion and hesitation. Weakness.

"Do it," I whisper.

His eyes dart back and forth between mine, but he doesn’t move otherwise.

I take my chance and push him away from me, noting that my dagger flies elsewhere.

I give Keahi a moment to find his balance before lunging at him again.

With my fist this time, I want to feel his bones crack beneath my touch.

I am focused now, and my senses are not clouded by rage, so he can’t stop my attack. He ducks away just in time, and I stumble a little.

"Has the enemy taught you any other useful tricks?" Keahi asks while we circle each other.

"Plenty.

Do you want me to demonstrate?" He’s about to speak but ends up coughing instead.

"Lungs, 83% water." I stop, and he draws a deep breath. All the playfulness has truly left his features now and he’s staring at me with pure shock. Like he can’t recognize me and blames me for it. It makes me want to laugh, really.

His retaliation comes in the form of twitching hands at his side and a vicious burn in my veins.

I feel it but don’t react.

Meanwhile, Keahi is almost too easy to read. I can see the flash of confusion run through his eyes clear as day.

My shielding might still be weak but my resilience is unmatched.

If he knew what they’ve put me through, he wouldn’t look like that.

"How are you still standing?"

"Why shouldn’t I?" I play dumb.

Manipulation’s a good way to start my revenge.

Self-doubt is a great enemy. The pain in my veins becomes more intense, bordering uncomfortable so I snap two of his fingers, breaking his focus. He screams out in a mixture of pain and rage.

"Bones, 31% water.

Do you want me to show you more?" I say indifferently.

He stays silent, even though he clearly wants to snap. "Then take my word for it. There’s water in every part of your body. Water I can control. I can own you at a mere thought." I finish with a grin before knocking him out with the very method he already knows well. The good old headache before it gets too much. He falls limp to the ground, and weirdly enough, my body goes back to being cold.

I look at him lying in those colorful leaves.

With his beautiful brown skin, it looks like some fairytale shit.

Snow white waiting for a true love’s kiss. He gets a kick in the ribs instead before I head back to camp. We’re even now, I think with a tight chest, remembering the time he left me to wake up alone in the library.