Page 84

Chapter

Fifty-Nine

Liv

My mother used to tell me stories of gods and monsters, great tales of heroes and evil. I knew what dragons, witches and demons were, but I had to learn on my own that my biggest fear should be someone who looked like me. I wish she had told me stories of mankind.

T his time, when I wandered alone in the streets, it was shame that sat heavy on my shoulders. Maev hadn’t returned for me. After a night of hiding in my room and denying the summons of the Elders in the morning, I snuck out to find her.

The Elders were having me followed. Even though I had my cloak on and hood up in a crowd of celebrators, eyes were always on me.

My first goal was to locate Maev’s university. It was time for us to see her friend and read those scrolls written in the language of Night. I was going to find a way to summon Mayra and Erabas before I lost all control of the magic consuming me.

The streets were so full of life, yet a dark cloud hung over me as I pushed through. The dark cloud was poisonous, reaching into my lungs and stealing my breath. I felt …

Alone.

I came to an open area amid the towering buildings with a circular garden and a fountain in the centre. The pouring water blocked the sounds of the festival beyond. Flowers made pathways around the fountain, and intricate wooden benches laid artfully under arches of bright-coloured blossoms.

I found a bench near the fountain and sat with my back to a large square building, watching how the sun reflected off the water, creating little explosions of colour where the mist hit the air.

I thought about all I had done, how my friends were hurting and how the whole world was waiting for the Aspis and the Ikhor to end their battle.

A young girl passed in front of me, running to the fountain and throwing a coin into the water. She wiped tears from her cheeks before she turned and found me behind her. Even with my hood up, she somehow recognized what my white hair meant. Her mouth hung open. “You’re?—”

“Shhh,” I said, leaning forward. “I am hiding today.”

She covered her mouth, and I waved my hand for her to come closer.

“You’re the Ikhor,” she whispered. She was at an awkward age between childhood and teen.

“Yes, my name is Olivia.”

The girl looked around the fountain and then back to me. “Dad said you were our saviour with the magic of the gods. Can you make magic?”

“I can. But it’s dangerous stuff. I have to be careful.”

Her face lit up as she drew nearer. “Wow. Your eyes are red and black.”

I snorted. “Yes. They are. Do they scare you?”

“No. My teacher at school has black eyes. She’s a Mount-leg. I’m a Sea-leg, see?” She leaned her head to show me her neck. “What are you?”

I checked the park to make sure we weren’t being watched. “I don’t know what I am.”

Her face scrunched. “How do you not know?”

“I come from somewhere far away where we don’t have gods.”

The light reflecting off the water behind her danced over her dark green hair. “Does that make you scared? To be away from home?”

“I was before. But not anymore.”

She was brave, hopping up on the bench beside me. “Why not anymore?”

Were children always this chatty?

“I made friends. Though they’re mad at me right now.”

She nodded. “My brother is my friend. We used to fight a lot.” Her smile faded, and her attention fell to her shoes.

“Used to?” I asked. I checked the park for the girl’s parents. “Are you here alone?”

She shook her head. “Mom and Dad are in the hospital behind us.”

I looked over my shoulder at the large stone building several stories tall. “Are they sick?” I asked.

“No, that’s a hospital for children. My brother is in there. My parents asked me to leave while they talked to the healer. They always ask me to leave when the healer comes.”

I stared at the building. A children’s hospital . And this girl had a brother in there.

“What’s wrong with your brother?” Would it upset her to ask?

“Mom and Dad think I don’t understand. But I do. He is sick. He told me he has bad blood. And with bad blood, you die.”

I held my breath. The child, who seemed innocent yet brave, was living through a nightmare.

The dark cloud following me sparked with lightning and thunder, and I scoffed.

The little girl’s brows drew together.

“I was here feeling bad for myself,” I said. “And I realized just now that I had no right to do so.”

The girl swung her legs, holding the edge of the bench. “My brother says it’s okay to be sad when someone else is the one who is hurting. He says my tears are okay, and that my sadness is just as important. So yours is too, Ms. Ikhor.”

“Olivia,” I reminded her. “Call me Olivia.”

Her cheeks went red. “Why are your friends mad at you?”

I leaned back against the bench. “Because sometimes I say things I shouldn’t. Sometimes, I don’t even mean them—I just can’t contain the hurt parts inside.”

“I yell at my parents sometimes. I don’t know why I get so angry.”

“We are alike then.”

Her face lit up, but I found it disheartening that she was happy to be like me. In her eyes, I was the saviour, yet I didn’t feel like I deserved that look of adoration.

“But I bet you aren’t as selfish as I am,” I said, finding an unusual camaraderie with this girl.

Maybe it was because life had given both of us difficult situations we couldn’t control.

“I can’t help thinking about myself now that this magic is inside me.

And I shouldn’t be that way because the Desert Eagle told me to stop being pathetic. ”

Her eyes went round. “The Desert Eagle? The legendary Mount-leg with wings?”

I nodded, pulling a pink blossom from the arch overtop our bench. “I met him.” I toyed with the soft petals between my finger and thumb.

“Wow. You should listen to him. He’s a protector. I sent a prayer to the gods to find a protector for my brother. His favourite legend is the Desert Eagle. But I don’t think the Eagle knows how to fix blood disease.”

My heart sank, and my dark cloud grew a little bigger. I stared at the child, understanding the harsh realities of her life more than she did.

She chewed her lip. “My brother said that he won’t have to go away if the Ikhor came back. That the hospitals would have medicine again. Is that true?”

I swallowed a hard lump in my throat and grabbed her hand, making her gasp. Mustering a kind smile, I said. “I made a promise to the Eagle to be better. And that I would fight for those that needed my help. For people like your brother.”

“Can you save him?”

Her eyes filled with tears, and I blinked away my own. She didn’t need to see the Saviour cry, not when she needed strength.

“I can try. I suppose I haven’t been trying, not well enough.”

“Your friends should know you are a kind person, too, Ms. Ikhor.”

A shadow blocked the sun as someone towered over us, making the girl and I both spin toward the intruder.

A dark hood blocked the man’s face, but when iridescence flashed, my heart soared.

“Olivia’s friends know the unique type of kindness she carries,” he said in his deep timbre.

The girl drew back on the bench, and I patted her shoulder. “That is one of my friends.”

“You’re friends with the Desert Eagle and a Night-leg?” she said in awe.

I stared up into the hood, my heart racing with joy, fear, nerves. “This is Brekt, and Brekt, this is my new friend …” I turned to the girl.

“Kat.” She swung down from the bench.

My skin prickled, and I was too stunned to speak.

“I should go see if the healer is done.” She gave me one last hopeful look. “I think you are nice, Ms. Ikhor. I don’t think the Desert Eagle would be friends with a bad person.”

She ran off, and it took me a moment to collect myself.

“Why did you make that face when she gave you her name?” Brekt asked.

On the steps of the hospital, young Kat was bounding up the stairs to the main doors.

“Because that was my mother’s name.”

“You’re here,” I said stupidly, unbelieving that Brekt was casually standing in the garden with me.

“I’ve been following you for the past hour.” His head dipped down. “The pull led me here.”

I tucked my messy hair behind my ear, and raised my hood that had fallen when I stood. I didn’t want any attention on the Ikhor.

Brekt stood rigidly, taking me in. “Are you upset I’ve come back?”

“No!” I shouted too quickly. “But I didn’t feel the pull. I didn’t sense you at all before you appeared.”

We stared at each other awkwardly. Unsure. We had kissed, and then I had hurt him with the Ikhor’s magic.

I couldn’t see enough of him. He wore an oversized green jacket with a large hood, and it did too good of a job of hiding his face. He wore black pants and boots, but it didn’t give him away as a Guardian.

“I thought it would take you a while to come back.” I played with the ends of my hair, embarrassed by how it was white and how my eyes had gone red and black.

Brekt grabbed my hand, stopping me. “You look beautiful, Liv. Don’t fuss.

” He dropped my hand. “I didn’t make it far, and the Aspis calmed.

You’re controlling the magic, controlling how strong the pull is from the beast.” He held himself back from me, and I got the sense he was going to pull away.

“And I’m sorry for the other night. It was selfish of me, and then I left, unable to explain myself.

I hope I haven’t done anything to push you away. ”

I twisted my hands together behind my back. “I wasn’t complaining. There are moments when you’ve been … more … demanding. But on the balcony wasn’t one of them.”

“Demanding?” Warmth gathered behind his shy smile. “Telling you how I’ve wanted you?”

“You said something along those lines. Maybe with more colourful words.”

“What colourful words were those?” Brekt folded his arms, waiting.

“I believe you once said, ‘I want to kill you as much as I want to fuck you .’ ”

Brekt coughed, and I wanted to laugh as he turned a dark shade of red. “As I said, when the Aspis feels you near, I am not fully in control.”

“So it wasn’t true.”

“I don’t want to kill you.”