Page 59

Malia

Earlier

I wake up with a mean headache.

A head splitting, nauseating kind of ache throughout my skull.

Love that.

"Took you long enough." I recognize the grumpy voice of Flint in an instant and force my eyes to open a crack.

I have no idea where on earth I am or how I got here.

The last thing I remember was leaving the club with Flint, and then there was Keahi? But that can’t possibly be true, I know it can’t.

"What happened?" I ask before my eyes start scanning my surroundings.

I’m on a bed in a neat room.

There’s a big window opposite me, which allows way too much sunlight to stream in, and a dresser is placed in the corner. The room is neat and spacious and certainly not mine. Hang on, fucking Sunlight?

"What time is it and where on earth am I?" I ask over the pounding in my head.

He settles down at the foot of the bed and hands me a water bottle with a small pill.

"Take that for the headache.

We were at a club with my friends, I assume you remember that?" Flint starts.

I sit up to take the pill and nod once. "Apparently, someone messed with your drink there. I’m really sorry about that. You passed out on me in the car, so I brought you to my place. Figured it would be a little more comfortable to sleep it off here than in your cell. And to answer your last question, it’s 7 pm."

"Seven?" I exclaim.

"What on earth did they give me? The amount you’d need to sedate a horse?"

"No idea, I can’t even imagine who of my friends would have spiked your drink in the first place." There’s a short moment of silence, then, "What do you remember?"

"We were in the club, we left in your car and anything beyond that is blurry or gone." I’m not even going to tell him that I had a dream about Keahi.

After all, it must’ve been a dream since there is no way he was actually in the car with us.

"Why, did something else happen?" I ask when Flint’s a little too quiet.

He hesitates, and a knot of unease starts growing in my stomach.

I can’t help but lift the blankets that are draped over me to check if my clothes are still on. They are, thankfully, and my nerves calm the slightest of bits. When I see Flint’s expression, something tightens my stomach.

"Do you really think that little of me?" he asks, and I can’t tell if he’s joking or actually offended.

"I mean, we were talking about leashes before." That’s my best attempt at lightening the mood.

Truth is, while I don’t think Flint is the kind of piece of shit that would take advantage of someone unable to give their consent, it’s in my nature to be suspicious.

Plus, I have a history of being let down. I’m not going to apologize, but there’s no point in making him feel unnecessarily bad. It appears he did take care of me yesterday.

"Nah, I’d like you conscious when I take you up on that offer." I just brush him off with a chuckle.

"You know, I could get used to an actual bed," I trail off while brushing my hands over the blanket.

"Keep proving to me you can be trusted, and everything can be arranged.

By the way, you’ll start teaching tomorrow since you’ve slept through today."

"Now you’re just making me sound lazy.

Besides, how much reassurance do you need before you’ll stop keeping me locked up?" I try my best to keep my tone light, though I’m really hoping I can make a deal here.

"Where would you even go?"

"I could get my own place? I’m almost nineteen, so why not? I promise I’ll be the best teacher you’ve ever seen!" I barely have to fake my own excitement at the thought of some freedom.

"That sounds nice, but how would you pay for it? As far as I’m concerned, you don’t have a job." That kills my hope quickly and efficiently.

"I could get one.

Or you could pay me like an actual employee rather than a slave.

Just an idea though." I wait for Flint to brush me off and decline my idea, but he’s quiet for a good minute.

"I guess that sounds fair.

But, don’t get excited.

I’ll have to talk to some people before I can promise anything."

"Wait, seriously?" I try my best not to get my hopes up, but damn I really wasn’t expecting this to go so well.

I thought maybe he would shut my idea down and settle on a compromise instead.

It might be the fact that I got drugged on his watch. Whether it’s pity or a guilty conscience that motivates his actions, I don’t even care.

"I can try, but don’t get excited yet," he insists, but seeing my stupid smile, he sighs exasperatedly.

"Too late, I see."

I don’t know why, maybe after last night and with this conversation, Flint almost feels like a friend, or maybe it’s just the joy of hopefully being free soon, but I pull Flint into a bone-crushing hug.

When his whole body seems to tense, I just laugh a little more.

"Relax, I’m not going to kill you," I say as I pull away from him.

"Well, I sure as shit wouldn’t hope so.

I’m your ticket to some freedom and a job right now, after all.

Now, you really don’t remember anything more about our drive home?" Home, that sounds nice. Maybe I’ll get to call something that soon.

Arcane might’ve felt like my home once, but now I know it was more like a prison.

The camp surely never earned that title, so the only place I’ve ever lived at that’s left is Keahi’s house.

That was pretty close, I guess, though I was always worried about the Dark Fraction finding me and hurting Keahi.

For once I’d like a place to let my guard down and feel safe.

A place to go to after a stressful day and one I can leave and do with whatever and whenever I want to.

It doesn’t have to be fancy or big, just mine.

"Nope, what happened?" I answer.

Flint swallows audibly which makes me roll my eyes.

"Just spit it out."

"You kind of tried to kiss me.

Well, you did kiss me along my jaw and neck but then you tried to really kiss me.

Oh, and you kind of gave me a lap dance in my car. We almost crashed." A lazy smile rests on Flint’s face as he tells me, and it only widens when he sees my mortified face.

"No way.

I would never-" my voice trails off when I see his expression, and I sigh dramatically.

"I am so sorry. That was truly not my intention, I’m really not looking for anything like that. I don’t know why I would do that" Please don’t get ideas now, please don’t get ideas now. The last thing I need is for things to get awkward between us.

The only reason I went with him yesterday was to make him forget about using Keahi as leverage so he could be on his good side again.

That doesn’t mean I forgot about him though.

I certainly didn’t forget about him.

Never.

I want him to be safe and happy, and since I can’t give him that, I need to stay away.

That doesn’t mean I want anyone else.

Least of all Flint, who’s partly the reason why I can’t be with Keahi. But maybe, after I come to an agreement with Flint and if the people of Arcane could grow to trust me, I wouldn’t be a burden anymore. Maybe Keahi and I will get our happy ending at some point.

But that’s just wishful thinking so I should really stop and focus on the next thing to do.

"It’s fine, relax." We’re interrupted when Flint’s phone starts buzzing.

He answers the call, and any trace of humor leaves his features the longer the conversation goes on.

When he ends the call, he turns back to me.

"Something’s going on in the city, rogue Shadow Handlers or something like that, so I need to go.

You can stay here until I come back or go to the guards’ facility already.

See you." He rushes off before I can even get a word in.

He didn’t tell me when he would be back, so I’ll definitely not sit here and wait for him.

That leaves me with the option of walking back to my cell, which is particularly great since I have no idea where I am.

Also; my head is still pounding.

I reluctantly get out of the comfort of Flint’s bed and head for the door.

I guess one good thing came from living with the Dark Fraction since I’ve definitely learned to find my way through foreign places.

Which, to be fair, doesn’t apply right now since Flint’s place turns out to be located nearby the motel I stayed at that one night, but still.

I’m not sure how to get to the academy from here, but I could probably find my way back to Keahi’s place and go on from there.

Okay, maybe a little part of me would also like to get a peek at what, or who, Keahi’s doing.

Please don’t be a who. I might or might not have to accidentally flood his house if he’s with someone else.

I walk for what feels like hours and it’s already dark by the time Keahi’s house comes into sight.

Despite the headache I woke up with and the sore feet that joined it sometime during my track, my strides get longer and quicker now that he’s so damn close.

I know I can’t go in to see him, not yet, but damn if my heart is not racing with anticipation, nonetheless.

I’m about 300 feet away when I see two cloaked figures rush out of the front door.

My steps falter, a rush of confusion falling over me.

Then the pieces come together; the black uniform and the rogue shadows Flint mentioned this morning. My blood freezes and I start running toward the house on instinct, pushing my body to the limit as I try to finish the distance that seems to go on forever.

When I finally burst through the door, my heart stops dead in my chest.

Keahi is lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood, unmoving and silent.

I kneel beside him, pressing two fingers to the carotid artery on the side of his neck to feel his pulse.

He’s still alive.

I try to calm myself, but when I take his hands away from his stomach to take a look at his wound, panic like no other takes over every cell of my body.

The cut is so deep I can see parts of Keahi that should never be exposed to me over the mass of blood still pouring from the wound. I place one of my own hands on the cut while the other gently cups his cheek. He doesn’t stir, so I give him a small slap, desperate for a reaction.

"Keahi, hey, open your eyes!" I order shakily as his eyes flutter.

They barely lock onto me he’s so far gone.

I’m trying to heal the cut as best as I can all the while cursing my body for being so damn drained and myself for never having learned how to do it properly.

While my parents were obsessed with making me the best fighter I could possibly be, they didn’t really care if I could heal wounds, so I barely trained it.

Now I hate myself with every fiber of my body for it.

And I hate my parents for not knowing the worth of that skill.

And I hate everything else because Keahi is fucking slipping away from me right now and I don’t know if there’s anything I can do.

"Keahi stay awake, please!" I beg.

He looks up at me with a weak smile on his lips, seeming almost content… At peace.

Oh, fuck no, he’s not dying.

"Keahi, don’t look at me like that.

You’re not dying on me, understood? You better fight for me here!" His wound is finally no longer bleeding and it’s all I can do to hope that’s a good sign.

The cut is still wide, but at least his organs still seem intact and untouched. Thank the stars for that.

When I feel my strength slipping, I resort to desperate measures, envisioning my soul’s water like I did in my first lessons at the academy.

It helped me then.

Maybe it’ll help me again. I try to tap into it, to draw strength from it or anything else, but there’s resistance, like my source doesn’t want to give me what I need. But I can feel that there’s something to take from it, more power than my physical body can come up with right now, so I keep pushing until I feel myself tapping into a large reservoir of power.

With the smallest amount of relief, I see that the skin around the cut slowly starts to stitch itself back together.

I can do this; I can fix him back up.

He just needs to stay with me, and I can fix this!

"You hate me," Keahi whispers so weakly I almost miss it.

I really wish I had missed it because the already fraying pieces of my mind seem to shatter into even tinier fractions.

What have I done? I can’t believe this is what Keahi is thinking about now.

"No, Keahi, of course, I don’t.

I don’t hate you, okay? Just stay with me and we can figure things out." A sob clogs my throat, but I seal my lips shut, determined not to let Keahi see me fall apart.

Not now. Not when he needs me and not when this could be the last thing he ever sees.

Stars, the thought alone makes my already-trembling hands shake obnoxiously more, so I dig deeper into my powers, willing myself to get this right.

"You said-" Keahi tries to go on but I need him to save his strength, so I cut him off.

"I lied! It was all a lie because I stupidly tried to protect you!" His eyes are drooping again, and his skin is still this awful grey color.

No, please, no!

"Don’t you dare close your eyes on me! I only said those things to protect you, Keahi, it was all a lie.

I don’t hate you! Fuck, I love you, so don’t you dare die on me right now.

Did you hear me? I love you. Please stay with me." I’m just barely getting the words out over the sobs that tighten my chest.

The cut on Keahi’s stomach finally disappears, but it’s the amount of blood he’s lost that’s worrying me.

Shit, shit, shit! His eyes are starting to close again, and I don’t know what to fucking do.

I place my hand on the shallow cut on Keahi’s arm and remove my hand from his cheek to hold it over his heart.

I scratch all of my damn power together to heal his other wound while trying to manipulate his blood.

I’ve never done this before, messing with anyone’s blood, but desperate times call for very fucking desperate measures.

I try to thin the blood inside of his body ever so slightly since I can’t just multiply his blood cells, anything to keep his heart pumping.

My hands are trembling and clammy by the time I take them away from the man’s body.

I quickly check him for any other injuries before sitting back on my heels and pulling him into my lap.

I feel his pulse with two fingers at his wrist but, it just seems so damn weak. Is it supposed to be this weak?

I did everything I could.

Now, I just pray to every deity that it was enough.

Please, let it have been enough.

I look down at the pale man in my arms and can’t hold my breakdown back any longer.

Ugly sobs rack my body as I gently wipe stray strands of his curly hair away from his face.

Even now he seems ridiculously beautiful. Too beautiful to be so hurt.

"You’re going to be fine," I whisper more to myself than him.

I try to take deep breaths to calm down, despite knowing I won’t breathe freely until he opens his damn eyes and tells me he’s fine.

I keep checking his pulse, desperate to feel it getting stronger and anxious to feel it falter or disappear.

His heart seems to be beating evenly, which must be a good sign.

Now, this might be wishful thinking, but his complexion seems to be regaining some of its tan color as well. This fills me with so damn much hope it almost hurts.

After holding Keahi for several minutes, I’m hopeful enough to loosen my grip on his poor hand and start cleaning him and his floor of all the blood.

When everything seems clean, I try to pick Keahi up as best as I can to drag him into his bedroom and onto his bed.

He’ll be fine, I repeat, and finally start believing it too.

As my adrenaline starts wearing off, an immense wave of exhaustion washes over me.

Never before have I had to pull my power from my source itself, and I might’ve overdone it slightly.

Usually, I take what it gives me. That’s what I’ve been taught. I’m not sure what the consequences of changing the natural order of things are, but it doesn’t matter if it means Keahi will be fine. I can handle some exhaustion. I’ll just close my eyes for a bit.