#im trying not to get ahead until i read the chapter or read the following one | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fleetingpieces · 3 years

Text

My One in a Million Chapter 8

Hiiiii! I'm back from the dead and finally got back to writing again <3

Sorry it took ages—and sorry it's not a great chapter— but thank you so much everyone for the patience and support, it means so much!

Thank you @inloveoknutzy @donttouchmycarrots and @knittingdreams for beating, love y'all! <3

Tag list: @whataboutmyfries @justdyingontheinside @heyoitslysso @sunflowerfox87 @hereforwolfstarr @potterlocked24-7 @ttylfedora @domesticatedbeetlenamedjorge @lovemeleo @im-lana

CW: Mentions of food

Ao3

Masterlist

Chapter 8 - The morning after

Remus woke up the next morning with a splitting headache. He blinked a few times to get the tiredness out of his eyes—which seemed to want to stay glued shut—and stared at the ceiling for long moments.

His first thought was that, for a second, he thought he could hear Padfoot’s laugh. Vague images of a dream he’d had came flooding back to him; long corridors, empty beds and his gaming console. The sound must have been a remnant of that.

The second thought was that the ceiling of his room was weird. He couldn’t quite pinpoint where the bugging sensation came from, but something was off and he was way too tired to figure out what it was. Maybe he should just go back to sleep. Groaning, he turned around to do just that, and that’s when he got a good look at the rest of the room.

He sat up with a start, regretting it instantly when nausea hit him like a wave. Closing his eyes, he stayed still until the feeling ebbed away, then opened them again slowly.

This wasn’t his room. There was no sign of any of his stuff; instead, he saw a big mirror, a dark wood chest of drawers, and a trail of scattered things that either belonged to different people or to someone with diverse tastes: a blue hair tie, a black snapback, t-shirts that at a glance he could tell were of different sizes, with stamps that varied from Disney to Strand.

One by one, memories from the night before popped up as the fogginess from sleep left him completely. That’s right, Sirius had offered his home to him after he’d found Remus outside of his flat; he’d come in to take a shower and had sat on the couch as they watched a movie and drank. Things were a bit hazy from that point on.

Had he really pouted and asked Sirius to stay with him like a little kid? Fuck, please let that be a part of the drunk hallucinations. He turned around slowly, glancing to the other side of the bed with his heart beating fast in his throat, but the spot next to him was empty.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Remus threw the blankets to the side and planted his feet on the floor to get some resemblance of stability, but frowned when he stepped on something. Looking down, he noticed a pillow and a blanket lying rumpled on the floor, next to his side of the bed.

A pang of guilt made its way to his chest when he realised Sirius must have slept on the floor while Remus was on the bed, covered from head to toe and warm. Sirius had been so careful with him. Every touch had been gentle, not invasive but rather trying not to overstep, trying to comfort. So, so very careful.

Remus felt slightly ashamed for thinking Sirius would take advantage of him. Not to mention for the way he'd bawled his eyes out in front of the man. He’d made a fool of himself yet again, something that kept happening a lot as of late and to which he wasn’t used to.

“Oh, God.” He remembered how he’d felt his mother’s hand brushing his hair before he fell asleep and he desperately hoped he hadn’t called out for her in his dream. Bringing a hand to his forehead, he could almost feel that phantom touch, tracing fingertips over his hairline.

He rubbed his face in embarrassment. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to face Sirius after all that, but there was no way he could fall asleep again and a quick glance at the clock on the opposite wall told him it was barely eight in the morning. It was still too early to call Leo or go back to the clinic, plus he didn’t know how everything had panned out.

Remus glanced at the bedside table where his phone was lying face down and stretched over to grab it. He flipped it from hand to hand, back and forth, the small thing weighing him down every time it fell on his palm with a soft thud.

He could call.

He should call.

But what if something had gone wrong? What if Cocoa had had a complication during the night? Would they have notified him already if that was the case? Did he want to find out like this, far away from him and helpless to do anything? He didn’t want to show any more weaknesses in front of Sirius, he’d already shown more of his vulnerable side than he’d ever intended to.

Nodding to himself, Remus got up and threw the phone on the bed. He took two steps towards the door. The doctor had told him to go in the afternoon; he could wait a couple of hours before going back to the clinic and then he would know and—

A huff escaped him as Remus hurried back and dialed the number, plopping down on the mattress.

“Thank you for calling Mercy Animal Clinic. This is Jennifer, how can I help you?”

“Yes, hi, my name is Remus? I brought my dog in last night for chocolate poisoning and I—I was just calling to check on him?”

“Of course, Sir. What is the patient's name?”

“Cocoa,” said Remus, gripping his phone a bit tighter. Jennifer hummed and asked for a few more details to confirm his identity, to which Remus replied on autopilot, his mind going blank in a subconscious attempt to protect himself.

“Just a second, please.”

Remus busied himself counting the floorboards while he waited, trying to calm his nerves, but it had the opposite effect as he became very aware of how long Jennifer was taking to find what he wanted to know. He’d started tapping his foot when the receptionist finally came back on the other end of the line.

“Yes, everything was ok during the night and Cocoa will be ready to go home after lunch,” they said cheerfully.

Remus’ breath stopped completely and then he exhaled loudly. He could have sworn he felt his heart unclench, invisible fingers letting go of their painful grip and allowing blood to stream freely again. His shoulders dropped, releasing all the pent up tension that had been building there since he’d stepped into his apartment the night before, and he laid down, covering his eyes with his free arm.

“Sir?” Jennifer said hesitantly.

“Yes. Ok. Ok. Thanks, I’ll be there.” He hung up and let the phone fall at his side.

The silence of the room was an echo of his own head as Remus tried to let the words sink in. He peeked at the ceiling from under his arm. Cocoa was fine. The phrase repeated itself a few times until Remus took a deep breath and swung himself up.

The hall was quiet outside of the room, but he could hear some noises coming from ahead. Remus bunched the sleeves of the jumper he was wearing, not too willing to admit how comfy and warm he was in Sirius’ clothes. Especially not when he was assaulted by memories of Sirius helping him walk through this same corridor the night before and Remus almost gave in to the embarrassment. Sirius probably thought he was pathetic.

Groaning, he steeled himself as he padded the rest of the way, but his step faltered before going into the kitchen, a hand rising to settle on the wall. Something smelled amazing in there. Like melted butter and Saturday mornings back home, with his mom humming as she stood by the stove and the sun streamed in through the open windows. The sound of the sizzling pan was accompanied by a rock song playing in the background, a cool guitar distortion filling the room, followed by a gravelly voice singing a capella.

And there was Sirius in the middle of it all, moving around the kitchen gracefully, head bopping and singing into a ladle. He slid across the floor like Tom Cruise in that old movie as he moved to the fridge and a chuckle bubbled out of Remus’ chest, taking with it most of the heaviness still clinging to him.

Sirius jumped up, accidentally closing the fridge door with a bang, and turned to face Remus fully. It was only then that Remus realized what he was wearing: he had black ripped jeans and a black tee, his hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail; and on top of all that, he had one of those aprons that had a buff man printed on the front, that read “Kiss the chef”.

Remus stared for so long that Sirius followed his gaze and looked down, only to look back up quickly with a blush. “It was James’ idea of a joke.”

James, as Remus was quickly learning, took special pleasure in teasing his friends, although Lily claimed he always failed when it came to her. But Sirius clearly treasured anything that came from his best friend, no matter how silly or awkward.

Clearing his throat, Remus stepped into the kitchen and peered at the stove. “What are you making?”

“Pancakes!” Sirius exclaimed, seemingly glad for the rapid move of the subject. “I thought you could use some hangover breakfast,” he added with a shrug before turning back to the mixing bowl on the counter.

“Oh,” Remus said dumbly, taken by surprise. He scrambled for something to add. “Did you get the recipe from the same place as those cookies?”

Sirius spluttered and threw an offended look over his shoulder. “Mon Dieu, I’m never going to live that down, am I? I’ll have you know, these are my speciality. But I won’t give you anything if you keep that attitude up.”

Laughing quietly, Remus breathed a sigh of relief that Sirius wasn't looking at him with pity or mentioning his sorry state from the night before. So much had happened between them in just one day, he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to act anymore. He shuffled awkwardly to the island and, as he leaned on it, the name of the song Sirius had been dancing to dawned on him.

“I can’t believe you’re actually listening to Black Dog,” Remus said, covering his face, not sure if he wanted to laugh or cry.

“Hey,” Sirius turned to point at him with the batter-covered ladle, “Plant speaks to me on a spiritual level. I’m sending good vibes to Cocoa.”

Remus raised an eyebrow, making an effort to keep the corners of his mouth down. “You do know that the lyrics have nothing to do with dogs, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s the feeling that counts,” he waved his hand dismissively, sending a few vanilla-colored drops flying, “and the song title.” Smiling at that logic, Remus shook his head—as weird as it was, he found it reassuring. Sirius peered at him as he flipped the golden pancakes easily. “I’m glad you look better. How are you feeling?”

Remus tensed up, but it didn’t look like Sirius was making fun of him. Focusing on some point by his feet, he rubbed at his neck. "Yeah, um. Thank you for your help. And sorry about...everything. I guess it was one thing after the other and it was just too much.”

“We’ve been through this, you have nothing to be sorry for,” Sirius smiled tentatively. “Have they contacted you from the vets?”

“Actually, I called just now.” His heart rate picked up as excitement coursed through his body. Saying the words aloud made them even more real, allowed them to settle in and gave way to tiny pinpricks of impatience. “They said everything’s good. I can bring him home after lunch.”

Sirius turned to face him fully and his hand went to grip Remus’ forearm, his smile turning so bright it was almost blinding. “Remus, that’s great.”

Remus smiled too, staring straight at him. “Yeah,” he breathed. After a second too long, he coughed discreetly and moved back. “I just feel like I won’t be able to relax fully until I see him, you know? I wish I could go over now.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Sirius said as he leaned back too, fingers moving to play with the strings of his apron. “Just a few more hours, eh?” Remus hummed noncommittally and, sensing that he needed a bit of a distraction, Sirius turned his attention back to the food. “In the meantime, can you get the plates from over there?” He pointed at a cabinet as he got the pan out of the stove.

Remus did as he was asked and brought them over to the counter, where an array of toppings were waiting. His stomach grumbled as he watched Sirius cutting up some strawberries to place over the pancakes and then drizzling chocolate on top of everything, singing under his breath to the next song on his playlist. It was all oddly domestic. It was nice.

They sat in the living room to eat, though instead of sharing the couch like they had last night, Sirius—now without the ridiculous apron—sat across the coffee table on one of the armrests. Remus took a bite of the fluffy sponge and closed his eyes with a hum. “Ok, you were right. These are awesome.”

Sirius had just taken a mouthful himself, but he beamed before he swallowed and licked some of the chocolate off his finger. “Glad you like them, Re. I don’t think my reputation could have survived another fiasco.”

“Are you sure this wasn’t just a lucky mistake?” Remus joked, if only to ignore the way his stomach jumped at the nickname, prompting Sirius to throw a napkin at him.

For the next two hours or so, the conversation was light and easy while the music kept playing at a dim level. But, as time went on and the plates got piled up on the coffee table, Sirius started getting distracted.

He kept glancing at his phone like he was checking the time or waiting for a call. Remus would have thought that he was overstaying his welcome—Sirius had a life to get back to, after all—if it weren’t for the fact that the man kept the conversation going and going, asking questions and gesturing excitedly when he was telling a story about how he and his friends had once managed to get a flock of pigeons inside a train full of passengers. At this point, Remus was pretty sure that Sirius was not capable of lying.

A lazy breeze drifted in from the open window, bringing in the smell of morning dew and ruffling Sirius’ hair so that a few strands fell in front of his face. As he brushed them back, he raised his eyes and pinned Remus with a look that was slowly becoming very familiar. That look that said he wanted to say something but he was choosing his words carefully.

Remus was pretty sure he knew what that meant. So far, everything he’d blabbed about the night before had been skillfully avoided—mostly by Remus averting his eyes every time Sirius looked at him like that. He wasn’t looking away now though. Wasn’t sure he could, honestly; not with such intensity and thinly-veiled concern directed his way. Sirius opened his mouth, the words starting to form at the back of his throat when Remus’ phone pinged.

He jumped slightly and went to quickly fish it out of his pocket, holding on to the getaway it provided. Talking about his behaviour or the few hints he’d let slip about his past was not something he was ready to tackle. A quiet sigh dropped from Sirius’ lips as he got up to take the plates back to the kitchen, while Remus stared at the notification flashing on his home page. “Oh, Padfoot just uploaded a new video?”

The sound of ceramic banging in the sink startled Remus into looking up. “Um...you ok?”

“Yes! Too much soap,” Sirius’ voice came back, muffled slightly by the running water.

Remus snorted and got comfortable on one end of the couch, resting his back on the side and pulling his knees up. He wiggled his toes as he waited for the page to load, digging them into the plush sofa and then tapping his feet when the video finally started. It began like usual, with the starting screen of a game and Padfoot’s cheerful voice.

“Hello everyone and welcome! You’ve all been nagging at me to play with Prongs more often, so I hope you appreciate how much effort it took to get his ass out of bed.”

“That’s so not the introduction I was expecting,” another voice complained.

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you want to do it?”

“Why, yes, thank you. Hello y’all! By popular demand and because I know you like me more than this silly goose, I am here to play some games and have fun! Mostly at Padfoot’s expense.”

“You’re the only person in the world who could say ‘silly goose’ and not have everyone laughing at them.”

“I know, it’s a skill I honed for years.”

“What the hell,” Remus laughed, shaking his head fondly.

Sirius came back into the room, drying his hands absentmindedly on his pants as he took his seat back. He sat at the very edge of the cushion, leaning slightly forward with his hands clasped between his knees, eyes down.

Remus made a questioning sound, waving the phone in front of him. “Do you mind?”

“No,” Sirius croaked, gesturing with his hand for him to go on as he cleared his throat.

A small line of confusion pulled Remus’ brows together. Something was definitely going through Sirius’ mind. Deciding to give the man some time, Remus focused his attention back on the video and made a note to ask later if something was bothering him.

Padfoot was talking about the game they were going to play and Remus could feel his energy even through the screen. He always got like this when he was trying something new. Remus pictured him bouncing on his chair, waiting impatiently to start playing, tapping the buttons in anticipation. “He’s like a kid on sugar, isn’t he?” he said without thinking.

A cough came from Sirius’ spot. “Well, I… I think it’s...nice? He sounds happy.”

The corners of Remus’ lips tugged up in a small smile at that. “Yeah. That’s good.”

“Huh?”

“He didn’t seem his usual self in the past few streams. I’m just glad he’s ok, is all.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Remus saw how Sirius’ hands gripped his knees tightly, slipping through the holes in his jeans. Remus watched in silence but, just when he was about to ask what was going on, the video changed. A small square appeared on one of the corners, showing a man sitting in a chair, not much to see in the background, his face covered with the black dog that was his signature logo. Remus sat up straighter. It wasn’t often that Padfoot appeared in his videos and he couldn’t help the interest that sparked inside him whenever it happened. He scanned the small image until something caught his eye.

“Huh? ...Wait. That’s—” Remus froze for a second before promptly throwing his phone to the other end of the couch. “Oh my God.” He covered his mouth, feeling the pull of his mouth as a grin lit up his face, his wide eyes not leaving the small device lying innocently face up. “Oh my God, oh my God.”

“What happened?”

Remus turned to see Sirius looking at him with a confused little smile, probably wondering if he was still drunk or just bonkers.

“He...he’s wearing my merch. My merch.” And one of his favourite hoodies from the collection, at that. “How—How does he even know about me? I know he likes to keep in shape but…”

The faintest blush crossed Sirius’ cheeks. He rubbed his hands together, looking down at them and then back up at Remus’ still astounded face. He took a deep breath and exhaled in one go. “You know, I’m...” He trailed off, mouth opening and closing a few times.

Remus tried to bring his thoughts back to the room, to the man in front of him and not the one on the screen. He bent forward to grab the discarded phone, his mind still reeling as he paused the video. “Yeah?” he prompted Sirius to go on when he straightened back up, smile still in place—he wasn’t sure he could wipe it off even if he wanted to.

Sirius’ grey eyes roamed his face, then went to the phone in his hands before they finally settled on his bright expression and he sighed, smiling and shaking his head. “No, nevermind.”

Remus tilted his head, but Sirius simply shrugged. “Are you sure? You can say it, whatever it is.”

“I don’t think it’s the right time,” Sirius admitted, letting his head fall back as he worried his lip.

Curiosity flared up, dazzling and hot, and Remus tried to water it down, unwilling to trespass Sirius’ boundaries. Instead, he looked down and tried to organise his whirring mind, eyes going to the clock on his phone. “Fuck,” he muttered. He really wanted to finish watching and keep talking with Sirius, but it was getting late. “I should probably get going.”

“Oh,” Sirius blinked as he raised his head up. “You can stay if you want to.”

“No, I…” Remus stood up. “I should go get the key from Leo. I will probably see both his mom and mine, which means it won’t be a short visit and I’d like to be at the clinic as soon as possible.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

Stopping midstep, Remus turned to look at Sirius, eyebrows raised. “Come with me?”

“Yeah, to the clinic? You are not too fond of them.”

It wasn’t a question, but Remus replied anyway, surprised that Sirius had caught on to that at all. “No, I’m not,” he said, dumbfounded. He shook his head. “But it’s ok, you did a lot for me already.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “Remus, anyone in my place would have done the same.”

No, they wouldn’t.

“It’s fine, really. Leo will probably come with me,” he said. He wasn’t sure how Sirius could think that everyone was that selfless, that any person would have helped an almost stranger without thinking it was too much effort. Remus chose not to say anything about it, knowing fully well that was not the case.

#my one in a million #moiam #fanfic #remus x sirius #siriusxremus #sirius x lupin #wolfstar fic #wolfstar #remus lupin #sirius black

67 notes · View notes

wesimpforxiao · 3 years

Text

Say My Name and I’ll Be There: 10.3: The FINAL Chapter!

Author’s Note: IM SO SORRY IM A DAY LATE I ENDED UP BEING BUSIER THAN EXPECTED AND HAD TROUBLE WRITING BUT HERE IT IS!!!! THANK YOU FOR READING! Be sure to stick around for Inception(Childexreader) ;)

"Xiao! Come here real quick!"

The yaksha glanced your way but didn't bother to get up since you were the one approaching him. It took a moment to register that your hands were entangled in his hair, placing something in it. Your smile was unusually bright today--so much so that it was blinding. Not that he minded though; you've been through a lot these past few months. Maybe this was the happiest you've been in awhile.

"I knew it," you beamed as you admired the flower crown atop his head, "You look so cute!"

"C...Cute?" His gaze flicked away from you for a moment while the tips of his ears reddened. "I-"

"Oh, take the compliment already. We've been together for awhile now. You don't need to be so shy around me." You let yourself fall back onto the grass that was shaded by a large orange tree. Is it a gingko? I need to ask Aether next time he comes in here, your mind trailed.

"I..." Xiao returned his attention to you and lay down next to you, careful not to invade personal space and always leaving an inch or two of space between the two of you. He let his hands lay on his abdomen until he jumped a little from you scooting over without a word. When he looked at you, he was greeted by a cheeky smile.

"I know you're not used to this type of thing called affection, but I can tell you don't mind it."

"Hmph. You've gotten smarter."

"Hey, I told you I'm not a stupid human!"

"You're beginning to sound like Aether's companion."

"Okay, there is a huge difference between emergency food and a stupid human."

"So you admit it?"

"Ugh, keep this up and I'll have no choice but to put more flowers in your hair."

"Do you dishonor every adeptus you come across?"

"Well, you're the only adeptus I've met besides Rex--Er, Zhongli!" The filtered sunlight peeking through the leaves above blinded you when you broke eye contact with Xiao, so instead you propped yourself on your side and admired the view behind him.

Aether's Serenitea Pot was massive. It had to span a mile or two in every direction, and the entire territory sat upon five tall cliffs that were connected via wooden bridges and held flowing waterfalls. The weather was always pleasant day-round. There were several pets outside of the main house on the main cliff that you had befriended, while Xiao seemed to connect the most with one of the gray tabby cats near the entrance. You had caught them sitting quietly together on several occasions.

"Granny would've loved this place," you sigh.

"I shall go with you to visit her grave." He didn't look at you as he said this, but the sincerity of his words rang as clear as the sky above. "...She'd be happy to know you're safe."

"All thanks to you." Despite originally admiring the scenery, your eyes had drifted downward and landed on his stomach. Both of you were fully healed by now because of Bennett, and neither of you had any lasting effects from your battles minus the required resting time. Your side held a prominent scar both at your front and your back, but did Xiao even get scars? He never revealed the answer--mostly because you were too embarrassed to ask--and thus leaving the idea to your imagination.

"I should probably check on the situation outside soon; it's been awhile since Aether updated us." Xiao sat up and summoned his spear--he had mentioned a few times that it was difficult for him to relax here and needed to keep himself busy since a comfortable life is a foreign concept.

"Oh, right..." Your gaze followed his figure as he rose to his feet. Sensing your--what was it, disappointment?--Xiao turned to you and removed his flower crown before gently placing it atop your head. That action was followed by a faint smile, then his lips lightly pecked the tip of your nose.

"I shouldn't be long."

"You two love birds have made quite the nest here! I've gotta say, Aether's got great taste." A familiar voice caught both of you off your guard and Xiao's stance became aggressively defensive in an instant. You and Xiao were supposed to be the only ones in the teapot at the moment, and even then, those who did occasionally stay in here didn't greet you like this. The person that voice belonged to wasn't welcome--or at least, belonged to a presumably-dead man--regardless of that savior act he pulled in Snezhnaya.

"Childe?" More shocked than afraid, you too rose to your feet. "What're you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? I came here because I had something to say." The harbinger was as carefree as ever, but as he walked towards you a slight limp became noticeable in his steps. He was hiding an injury, but was it from Scaramouche or from Aether?

"What did you do to Aether?" Xiao's voice was as low as a growl as he raised his spear higher. He stood slightly ahead of you to ensure your safety since you no longer had a vision and couldn't use those mysterious anemo powers ever since the rescue. And knowing you and your idiotic tendencies, he had to make sure you didn't do something stupid like try to fight Childe if provoked.

"Haha! Relax! Aether and Mr. Zhongli are doing just fine; in fact, they allowed me to enter!" Childe hid a wince when he stopped walking, but noticed the flicker of recognition in your eyes. His lips curled upward with flattery. "Don't worry, ojou-chan. A little scuff isn't going to take me out."

"I-I wasn't worrying about you."

He seemed unconvinced but faced Xiao again anyway. "You'd be pleased to know that both Aether and Zhongli let me in on their own accord--no manipulation from me whatsoever." The fact that he had to clarify that! "Why don't we chat over lunch? I'll cook. Show me to the kitchen, girlie?"

.............

To say that you and Xiao were staring was a bit of an understatement. Here you were, both sitting at the dining table in the main hall of Aether's adeptal house watching Childe cook up a meal fit for a large family while expertly navigating the kitchen like it was his own. And when he served you, the delicious aroma that wafted into your nose was nothing short of enticing. You and Xiao withheld your utensils--one out of weariness, and the other because it's not almond tofu.

"What?" Childe let out a slight chuckle as he took his seat and dug into his plate. You have no idea how thankful he was that there were forks in the drawers instead of chopsticks. "Oh, perhaps you two already ate before my arrival? More for me then I suppose."

"Um, so why are you here?"

"I figured I'd give you an update regarding our little situation outside."

"'Little?'" Xiao couldn't contain his scoff. He hadn't dismissed his weapon either, and it levitated beside his seat.

"Seems like the quiet life hasn't changed you one bit, yaksha." The harbinger stopped stuffing his face and set his fork aside to look at you. "Regarding what happened with Scaramouche, I think it's safe to say I won."

"If it weren't for you coming here today, I would've assumed your untimely demise." Ignoring Xiao's look of disapproval, you reached for your utensils and started to eat. Both of you hadn't taken your eyes off of the harbinger as he cooked, so the chances that he may have tampered with the ingredients were low. Plus it'd be out of his character to go about eliminating enemies like that. "I'm grateful that you saved my life, but don't think for a second that that makes up for everything you've done to us."

"Oh, I wouldn't dare. I know I've been aggressive for lack of a better term, but I'd like you to know that I'm only like that when it comes to my duties as one of the eleven harbingers. Aside from that, I'm happy to call you a comrade just as I view Aether and Zhongli."

"Woah woah woah," you nearly choked. "I'm certainly not going to start viewing you as a friend now."

Childe simply laughed at your objection. "Think what you may, but I do respect you and the rest of Aether's party. As for my motherland and it's affairs, I think you'd be happy to know that the Tsaritsa has stopped her pursuit of you and Xiao. She's not exactly appreciative of you wrecking the palace and would like to avoid any further destruction that can hamper her current plans."

"That's all it took for her to leave us alone? You must be joking." The archon had spent so much time and resources on hunting and imprisoning you--the idea of her giving up just like that had to be unrealistic, right? And the fact that Xiao managed to bring the entire palace down...there's got to be some sort of bounty on your heads.

Childe met your gaze and held a level of sincerity equivalent to the time when he confessed his feelings and offered you a position among the harbingers on Dragonspine. "Not in the slightest. Regardless, you're free to lead carefree lives from now on. Though if you'd like to rejoin the Fatui I'm sure I can pull some--"

"Nope. I'm done with that."

"Ha! Very well then." Childe resumed eating with an amused grin on his face, but Xiao wasn't satisfied with this conversation yet.

"You've given us no reason to trust your words." His stare was hard and calculating as he tried to decipher any hidden motives behind Childe's friendliness. It wouldn't be unusual for this to be some kind of trick. In fact, he expected that there'd be some sort of catch.

The harbinger sent a brief glance Xiao's way before guiding another forkful of food into his mouth and shrugging. "...Like I said, think what you may. I don't care if you two choose to live in this realm or in Teyvat with the rest of us. But then again it must be incredibly boring for a guardian yaksha to be lounging around in this domestic place. I know I'd be driven mad if I had to live in such a quiet place for so long."

Xiao didn't flinch or give any indication that he was right, but your eyes briefly flicked his way. It was uncomfortable for him to be 'relaxing' here with nothing to do. It wasn't surprising that he'd be yearning to go out and uphold his contract with Rex Lapis again.

............

"Childe, wait." Your hand gripped his forearm rather aggressively as he reached for the door handle to take his leave. Xiao had heard a disturbance outside and went to check on the realm just in case, so it was only the two of you inside the mansion.

"What is it, ojou-chan? Miss me already?"

"Yeah right." As he turned to face you, your grip lightened until you let go. He hadn't called you 'Mezzetin' once since he got here, only referring to you with this nickname like old times...Childe raised a confused brow. "Why?"

"...Why? Why what?"

"Why did you save me? You could've just let Scaramouche kill me back there. So...why did you risk your life to save mine when you didn't care less when I was tortured?" Your stance was firm as you faced him head-on. "I need to know."

"Ah," Childe awkwardly scratched the back of his head, "that." Some sort of conflict flickered in those blue eyes of his as he formulated an answer he didn't quite know himself. "Like I said earlier ojou-chan, I've always seen you as a com--no. As a friend. Just as Zhongli and I converse despite the Osial controversy, I see you in the same light despite my loyalty to the Tsaritsa."

"That doesn't answer my question, though. You had several opportunities to stop what was happening, and it was only then when you decided to step in. So why then? What changed your mind?"

"I don't know."

"Bullshit, Tartaglia. There's got to be strings attached to this, right? You expect something in return from me? Just get on with it already and tell me."

"I doubt you'd be satisfied with my answer regardless," he muttered mostly to himself. "I may be kind of a bad guy, but I'm not completely heartless." He observed the stumped expression that sat on your face as the gears turned in your head. Then, he turned to the door again. "When you're ready, you should join Mr. Zhongli and I for drinks sometime. Farewell, girlie." He was gone.

Despite the deep-rooted grudge you held against the harbinger now, you couldn't help but still hold some sense of familiarity or gratitude for him. You might just take on that offer if only to purposely antagonize him at the dinner table.

......

"Xiao, how did you get your tattoo?" The two of you were sitting beneath another one of the many trees native to Liyue in the adeptal realm, still waiting for news regarding your return to the mortal realm. Several days have passed since Childe paid you a visit, and Zhongli and Aether still had yet to check in on the two of you. To keep Xiao occupied and keep him from worrying, you'd ask him questions. "I don't have any of your memories of it."

Despite his memories being shared with you due to your bond, the further back in time they're from, the blurrier they got. The oldest memory you could 'remember' dealt with the god that enslaved him, and even then, there was no mention of the mysterious green markings that sat on his arm.

"I've always had these markings," he answered gruffly. He had sat up a moment prior with the intent to exit the teapot out of concern for your companions, but your random question caught him off guard. His amber eyes narrowed cynically when your fingers traced them.

"Do they have a special meaning?"

"'Meaning?'" His gaze averted for a moment as he decided whether or not to indulge such a topic. But your eyes were so full of life as you traced his arm, and your touch was so warm... "They represent my true form."

"True form?" You tilted your head and attempted to picture whatever the heck he would be, but all you saw were a bunch of random shapes. The other adepti in Liyue are shaped like deer and cranes, but what the heck was this mosaic supposed to be picturing? "And, uh, what would that be?"

Xiao let out a tiresome sigh and realized he may have made a mistake in answering these questions. Now that he had told you, you weren't going to stop asking until you got to see for yourself. He never uses his true form; very few had ever seen it and those who have have already passed. Zhongli had only ever seen it once.

Seeing his apparent concern made you raise a brow. "No way. Don't tell me your true form is a bug or something!"

"Tch. Is that really what came to mind?" Xiao shot you a glare before standing. He was planning on walking away and ending the conversation, but your silent pleading made him reconsider almost instantly. We are alone, he thought. Perhaps I could show her once. "Fine," he grumbled. "Close your eyes."

You obeyed. He didn't exactly say 'no' when you asked if he'd be a bug. He wasn't going to appear as such...right? Butterflies fluttered in your stomach at the anticipation. And just as your excitement grew, so did the winds that brushed past you. Even the leaves in the tree above were shaking violently. Then, everything stilled. Something soft brushed your fingertips, which were resting on your knees. It was a cue.

"Hm?" Xiao was no longer standing over you. Instead stood a majestic bird with blue and green feathers that shimmered like glitter in the sunlight that filtered through the tree branches. "You're--!"

"--a bird," he finished. He didn't say anything for a moment and allowed you to take it all in, seemingly shy or even embarrassed as you instantly reached out to touch him.

The blush that rushed to your cheeks was ignored by the both of you while your fingers grazed over the feathers that stuck up from the top of his head. He was beautiful; as breathtaking as a peacock, even. Your fingers trailed down the back of his long neck, earning a rise of feathers as Xiao contemplated your movements. His feathers were softer than the finest textiles in Liyue! And the tail feathers he had must've been as long as you are tall. They glowed a light blue that's similar to the eyes of his mask.

"So beautiful," you whispered in adoration. Xiao shifted his wait to his other foot. "Thank you for showing me." The fact that he did showed how much trust he placed in you--

The sound of a twig snapping scared the crap out of both of you--so much so that Xiao immediately transformed back into his mortal self. Since he was so close to you though, it looked like he was sitting on you from the front angle.

"Hey guys! Sorry it took so long to check in--" Aether nearly stumbled when he approached you. "Um...am I interrupting?"

"No!"

"The Vigilant Yaksha is BLUSHING?!" Paimon squealed so loud that the three of you scowled. "And what's with that sitting position?! You--"

"Paimon!" Aether swatted at his companion before she could say something that angered the yaksha. "We came here for a reason!"

"Hey! Paimon is NOT a fly!"

"It's confirmed to be safe now. You two can come home!"

"Wait, really?" The two of you stood up. "Are you sure?"

"Yep! There's no issue with the Fatui anymore. Everyone's backed off. We'll see you at the Pavilion for dinner to celebrate, okay? Don't be late!" The two partners exited the realm in a flash.

"Ready?" Xiao turned to you.

"Right now?! It's so sudd--"

"You don't have any belongings here anyways." The statement cracked a smile on both faces. "Let's go." He reached to tap the symbol on his hand.

Your hand grabbed his. "Wait! Let me see you a little longer." He was confused to say the least, but you didn't bother explaining how gorgeous he looked in the light right now. Those amber eyes mirrored your own--though perhaps it'd be more accurate to say the opposite. This is the last chapter of the crazy 'adventure' and the dangerous waltz with the Tsaritsa. In just moments you'd be back in reality, return to Liyue Harbor, return to your Granny's grave, and he would return to his duty of protecting Liyue. One more moment in this peaceful environment is all you need to admire him before life got hectic again.

Now your new adventure will be permanently at Xiao's side for however long your lifespan is: training with him, supporting him at his darkest moments, and loving him. No matter what Teyvat brings next, you'll be able to take it on head-first despite lacking a vision and at his side. You'll both thrive, not just survive. And as you peered into his eyes, you could tell he felt the same. "Okay," you nod. "I'm ready."

#wesimpforxiao #wesimpforxiaoupdates #genshin x reader #xiao x reader #genshin impact #say my name and ill be there

95 notes · View notes

tobesobri · 3 years

Photo

Sorry this took me so long to get up 🙈It was a mix of being busy and also never being 100% satisfied with it. I’m pretty sure I spent more time editing this chapter than I did actually writing it lol but a lot happens (which is why it’s so long im sorry) and I’ve never really written so much action before (so im also sorry if it’s bad) but I just wanted to make sure it was at least decent ndkkjvfr anyway, thank you for reading if you do! i appreciate it 🖤

♠︎ warnings: death, violence, mentions of suicide, abuse, alcohol use, blood, sexual content

♣︎ word count: 15.5k

STORY TAG // PLAYLIST // MOODBOARD // CHARACTERS // MY MASTERLIST // ASK TAG // MY INBOX

She’s running. She knows because her lungs are burning and the bottom of her feet are thrashed but she doesn’t stop. Doesn’t stop because if she does, it will be over. She can hear them shouting her name, can feel the rope around her wrists as if it’s still tied to her. She can see a figure up ahead and she runs faster toward it, toward salvation.

But then she stops, the jolt sending her to her knees as rocks dig through her flesh. The figure becomes clear as he steps out of the shadows and all she can do is scream as he reaches out for her.

Ember’s throat felt like sandpaper as she jolted awake. The scream followed her into consciousness and as soon as she realized where she was, it stopped. Her ears rang, her mouth was dry and her eyes stung so badly she could hardly keep them open.

Then the headache settled in and she fell back onto whatever soft surface she was on. A bed? A couch? A cloud up in heaven because she was dead?

No. She would never make it upstairs if she was truly dead. And she was positive hell wasn’t this comfortable.

“You alright over there?”

She sat up despite the pounding, opening her eyes as wide as she could until it hurt and found who that voice belonged to sitting on a couch across from her, watching her carefully. He wasn’t familiar in the slightest. But the knife in his hand as he carried on sharpening it, was.

“That’s mine.”

He glanced down at the blade, considered it, then looked at her again, “You sure?”

“Yes.” She snarled. Her face was killing her. She reached up to inspect the damage only to find bandages and a single, small row of stitches along her left cheekbone.

“There’s some pills for you there. I imagine you’re in a lot of pain.” He pointed the tip of her knife at the coffee table between them, at the bottle of water, still sealed, and the small pile of pills sitting beside it. And just behind those, closer to him than to her, lay a myriad of weapons which also, in fact, belonged to her. “Advil and Tylenol. They work pretty well together.”

She ignored them and him. “Who are you?” Then she glanced around the room, realizing it was just as unfamiliar as he was. “Where am I?”

“I’ll answer your questions after you take those.” He motioned once more toward the pills and she saw no use in arguing any further. Especially since every time she glared at him, it felt like her face was being torn off. So, she grabbed all four of them, flung them into her mouth and swallowed them down with one giant gulp of water. Once she set the bottle back down, she gave him that same scowl but tried to be a little more cautious of the bruises and scrapes.

“Who are you?” She asked again.

He smiled and then proceeded to ignore her. “You sure this is your knife because… I’m not sure you know how to use it.”

“Of course I know how to use it.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, tilting his head curiously. “So then why didn’t you?”

She just looked at him for a silent moment, trying to piece together memories from last night, but there was currently nothing but a thick layer of fog surrounding them. Whatever she had done, and however he had become involved, she may not want to remember it. “What are you talking about?”

He sat forward, dropping his elbows onto his knees and letting the knife hang from his hand in between, his eyes darting around her face, probably trying to find an inch of skin that wasn’t a scarred mess to look at. But then she saw it.

Emerald green.

“I know you.” She nearly gasped once she realized where she’d seen him before. The lighting now was much better than it had been inside of Eden, but she had no doubts that he was the same man she’d seen on the balcony. Those harsh lights hadn’t done him any justice now that she was seeing him up close. He put every man she’d ever met to shame, including Ace. His short, dark brown hair had been combed back and styled at some point, but now the curls broke free and a strand fell onto his forehead as if he’d been running his hands through it all night. There were dark circles under his eyes but they didn’t even do much to disturb his beauty. They might have even added to it. His lips twitched into a smile when her roaming eyes had found his mouth and she sucked in a breath of air. “Are you following me?”

He didn’t say anything as he studied her, their gazes locked on each other and she’d never wanted to be able to read minds more than she did then—when he was quiet and had the best pokerface she’d ever seen, apart from her own of course. Being an emotionless statue came in handy more often than not, but she wasn’t sure why he was pulling it on now. What he was afraid of her reading on his face.

“Are you…” she glanced down at the coffee table, spotting both of her guns and the other two knives he’d pulled from her body at some point and then she looked down at herself, at the clothes that didn’t belong to her, that didn’t smell like her. In fact, that same smell from last night hit her when she lifted the collar of the shirt she was wearing to inspect it. It was a woodsy, masculine scent with a hint of vanilla and something else she couldn’t place. His cologne mixed with the sinful scent of his skin, she guessed. She was certain she could bathe in it for hours and never be satisfied. Distracted, she forgot to ask him what she’d originally planned to, if he was going to kill her, and instead she asked about a slightly more pressing issue.

“Where are my clothes?”

“In the garbage.” Her eyes widened. “I can get them back for you, but I don’t think the blood will come out in the wash.”

She just stared at him quietly again, trying not to be embarrassed by the fact that he’d undressed her. She wasn’t exactly modest, and as her eyes fell to his hands… she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

Her stomach twisted into knots though imagining his hands on her skin and she quickly buried that feeling deep within the trenches of her being and pretended it’d never happened. She didn’t even know him.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t see much.” The dig only made her want to punch him for a moment, because then his eyes travelled down to her left arm and as she followed his gaze, she realized what he was looking at. Ember was covered in various scars throughout the years of living the type of life she lived, but the one on her forearm, just below the crook of her elbow was different. It wasn’t there because she’d gotten herself stabbed or shot at.

It was there because of Dominic.

She quickly folded her arm towards her and blocked his view of the thing. The thing Dominic had put on her body when she was fifteen to remind her who she belonged to. Now, it was just a much more welcome reminder of her freedom. But, having some random man, regardless of his annoyingly beautiful face, see it would be giving away too much information.

Then again, if he knew what the brand on her arm meant, then he might already know too much about her.

He cleared his throat, “Besides, it’s very difficult to get blood out of these cushions.” He swiped one of his hands along the light material of the couch opposite hers and she was reminded of her earlier preoccupations. “So,” he began again, “it was necessary.”

The couch was already in a lousy state, but she imagined adding blood stains into the mix wasn’t exactly doing it any favors. When she remained quiet, he tilted his head, “Unless you would have preferred to sleep in the bathtub?”

Again, she did nothing but narrow her eyes at him and grump.

So after a few silent moments of just staring at each other, he moved on, gesturing toward the coffee table between them, “You had all of this strapped to you, and you didn’t use any of it to defend yourself.” It wasn’t a question, but she knew he was still asking one. One that she wasn’t about to answer anytime soon.

“I don’t need weapons to defend myself.” She purposefully skirted right around the hidden question he was trying to ask.

He lifted a brow and sat back again. “You weren’t exactly winning that fight you walked right into.”

“You were watching me?”

His jaw hardened. “That is hardly the point here.”

She wanted to punch him again. Instead, she nodded toward her knife he still held on to. “Are you planning on using that?”

“Depends.” He shrugged, still avoiding her questions just as she was his.

“On?” The rational part of her brain knew his threat was futile. He had plenty of opportunities to use any one of her weapons while she’d been locked away in her nightmares but he didn’t. It just bothered her that she didn’t know what he wanted, that he was too good at concealing things she was normally skilled at reading.

“On whether or not you’ll tell me what you were doing last night.”

She considered reaching for one of her weapons, not exactly sure she’d be quick enough in her current state, but it’d be worth it because he was beginning to annoy her. Deciding against it for the time being, she kept her eyes glued to his and waited for the right moment when he was distracted to make a move. “And if I don’t?”

He was quiet for a moment and then tossed her knife down onto the table with a sigh. “You were right.” He watched as her eyes widened slightly. He’d had the entire night to come up with something to tell her that she might actually believe. If she hadn’t seen him in Eden, he might get away with just being some random guy who saved her life. But she knew him, and she remembered him. And Ember wasn’t stupid, as much as he wished she was so he wouldn’t have to share so much about himself. But it was the only thing he could come up with that didn’t involve telling her he’d been hired to kill her. “I was following you.”

“What?” Her right hand moved a centimeter closer to a weapon, but when his eyes caught the movement, she froze.

He frowned when she looked up at him, then he sighed and stretched the truth, glancing once again at her arm even though the scar was still not visible to him. “I heard you were on your own now.” So… he knew who she was. “Me and my… associates were thinking about trying to recruit you. So, yes, I was following you to see if you were actually worth our time.” Even though it was all complete bullshit, he just hoped she ate it up and didn’t ask him too many questions. He hadn’t thought out everything yet, just the basic details. His so-called associates didn’t even know, but considering he planned on never seeing Ember again after today, he figured it wouldn’t really matter anyway.

“Who says I’d even want to work with you? There’s a reason I’m on my own.”

He tilted his head to one side and his eyes traveled across the scrapes he’d spent all night cleaning up. “Yeah, you seem to be doing perfectly fine on your own.”

When he met her eyes again, it was clear she’d just put up all her defenses. She avoided him, glancing around the apartment and her surroundings for the first time. He figured that was a good sign, some evidence that she believed him if she was willing to let her guard down a bit, to stop watching him like he’d attack her at any moment. “So where am I?”

He shrugged and followed her gaze. “A friend’s place. Not far from where you were getting your ass beat last night.”

“And where’s your friend?”

The corner of his lips turned upwards into a smirk. “Out of town.”

“That’s connivent.”

It really was. It was also convenient that Harry knew how to pick a lock, especially in a shitty building like the one his friend lived in. Sure, when Trevor got home in a few hours he wouldn’t appreciate the blood spots on the floor Harry still hadn’t mopped up, but he’d get over it. It wasn’t the first time Harry had inconvenienced his friends. It’d be pretty hard to explain that he’d done everything he did for a girl he was supposed to kill, however, but it also wasn’t his first time lying to his friends, either.

They’d never know the difference, and what they didn’t know couldn’t hurt them.

Her eyes fell from the secondhand refrigerator in the kitchen and back onto Harry expectantly. “And, for the third time now, who are you?”

He grinned, crossing his arms over his chest. “As far as you’re concerned, I’m the person who saved your life.”

She snorted. “I didn’t need or want saving, especially not by some prick who can’t answer a simple fucking question.”

His features hardened into sharp lines. Anger cracking open the unreadable stone of his face as his lips thinned and his eyes became icy shards ready to attack. “I imagine that mouth of yours had something to do with the ass beating.”

Then the memories came flooding back all at once. What Harry had said just then about her mouth. The man who had punched first said something like that too. And once she remembered getting beat up, it wasn’t long before she remembered everything else too. There had just been flashes of faces and feelings since she woke, hidden behind that fog, but now it was all being pieced together before her. The Palace, the rope, the alleyway, the voice… the girl. Tears stung her eyes almost instantly when the girl’s face flashed behind Ember’s eyelids. And once she realized she’d cracked, she hid herself away from him again, refusing to let the man sitting across from her see what she had just recklessly exposed as she stared down at her scarred hands, closing them into fists.

He leaned forward again, intertwining his fingers and watching her closely even if she wouldn’t look at him. “That’s what you wanted, though, wasn’t it?” His voice was soothing in a way that almost made her want to trust him. She swallowed that feeling as quickly as she could. “You didn’t defend yourself because you didn’t want to.”

She couldn’t help it then, her hand twitched toward a knife or a gun because she’d let herself become vulnerable and she’d sooner kill him than allow him to have that knowledge. Thanks to the pain lingering in various parts of her body, though, she was too slow and he noticed well before she could even reach out to grab the gun she’d been after.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He warned quietly but with enough threat in his tone that she glanced up at him again under furrowed brows. Once he met her eyes, he opened his mouth to say more but the second he saw the look on her face, whatever else he was about to say caught on his tongue. He supposed he’d wanted to tell her that if she did reach for a weapon, it wouldn’t go very well for her, but instead, he found himself getting pulled into her darkness, as if he’d just took a dive into the depths of her soul and there was just a vast, emptiness surrounding him. His mouth hung open still until she looked away in defeat and released her hold on him.

He strung himself back together and cleared his head. “Tell me what you were doing last night and I’ll let you go.”

“Let me go?” She repeated, flinching the second her face scrunched from confusion. It only made Harry want to know what her deal was even more. “I thought you wanted me to work for you?”

He tilted his head to one side as if the answer to her question was obvious. “Why would I want someone to work for me who purposefully puts themselves in harm’s way?”

She didn’t say anything; she didn’t argue. She just stared at a clear spot on the table as blankly as she’d stared at that wall in her apartment last night. The longer he watched her, the more he wanted to ask where she’d gone in her head—what she was thinking—but he imagined it was a nightmare he didn’t want to know about. He imagined her life was nothing but series of nightmares that followed her into her sleep, if the way she’d woken twenty minutes ago was any consolation.

“You should’ve left me there.” She whispered, barely even audible as she hung her head.

He should have and he knew that. Killing her—or passively letting her die—was what Dom had hired him for after all. Why he’d been following her the past few days. Why he’d been there last night in the first place. But… for the first time in his life, he couldn’t do it. Not when she seemed to be begging death to take her already. She’d changed—drastically—and he wanted to know everything.

“Why?” His curiosity got the best of him, even if it was a stupid idea to ask her.

But, he wanted to know how she went from that girl he’d seen in Eden just the other day, who could entrap, manipulate, overpower any man of her choosing to… to this. This broken shadow of that girl sitting across from him now.

The girl he desperately wanted to wrap into his arms and make sure she never got hurt again. The girl he’d just officially met, even though he’d already seen her half-naked and covered in blood. The girl who was his job… a job he was already planning to get out of, even though he knew he shouldn’t. Dominic Aldine wasn’t a very understanding man. Harry couldn’t just back out on the account that he may or may not like Ember more than he should. But he’d already decided that he was going to try because he couldn’t bring himself to kill her.

She didn’t say anything for a while, and he waited patiently. Although after a few minutes, he was beginning to assume he’d lost her to her nightmares again and he’d never get an answer out of her. However, moments later, her voice came in a strained mumble. “I messed up.” Her eyes wavered frantically like she was trying to push away whatever memories were haunting her but no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t escape it. “I deserved…” She shook her head and he understood, not that her brief explanation offered any sense of comfort, but he’d be lying if he said he never royally fucked up and felt like he deserved the same. Though, he imagined she would have let those men beat her until there was nothing left. He’d never really been that low in his life.

Had he purposefully gotten himself beat up as atonement? Sure. Had he wanted to die for it? No.

He didn’t know what to say. He wanted more information but it felt like he’d be torturing her for it and that was another thing he couldn’t bring himself to do.

“Can I leave now?” She asked, and he supposed it was only fair. She answered his question, even if it was the spark notes version of it.

“Will you be finding another way to off yourself as soon as I let you go?”

She shrugged and finally wiped the wetness from her face that Harry had been dying to reach across the table and do himself. It would have been a bad idea, if not solely for the fact that his calloused hands would have irritated the fragile state of her face. Then there was the fact that being that close to her, that intimate, would be the worst idea he’d ever had in his life.

Still, his fingers itched to touch her. His legs begged him to get up and sit next to her.

Thank god for his brain, though, as it kept his stupid ass planted where it belonged. Away from her.

He looked into her eyes again and tried not to drown in them this time, then said something else he probably shouldn’t have. “Please don’t.”

He was well aware his voice came out a bit more desperate than he planned, even if he did mean what he said, so he cleared his throat and tried to be a little less… emotional. “The hours of sleep I lost stitching you up, cleaning and bandaging your wounds would be for nothing.”

Although she tried to fight it, one corner of her mouth still curved up into a smile.

“Will you at least tell me your name then?” She bargained and it didn’t really feel like a fair trade. Her promise not to throw all his work down the drain in exchange for just his name. She wanted to know more of course, but if he was anything like her, she knew he would share as little as he could get away with. She did know, at the very least, that he was like her. Missing a few important morals if he’d wanted her to work for him.

“It’s Harry.” Even though his lips thinned like he wasn’t pleased with giving her that information, he had still answered her rather quickly. It was as if it came out of his mouth before he had a chance to think otherwise. Like maybe he’d regret telling her anything about himself later on.

She nodded, assuming he already knew her name. Then she sat forward to grab her belongings off the table. “And if I want to find you again?”

He shook his head, watching her hands carefully. “Don’t.”

There were three missed calls and seven texts when she found her phone on the floor of her bedroom. To her surprise, it was already three in the afternoon and, upon reading the angry texts, she was supposed to meet Zora and their clients thirty minutes ago.

Grunting, she dialed Z and tossed her phone onto the bed while removing her clothes.

Well… his clothes.

Which she folded into a neat stack on her dresser to be dealt with later. She wasn’t sure what she’d do with them yet but she didn’t exactly want to toss them.

Maybe he’d want them back and she’d have an excuse to see him again.

No.

No, she would not be seeing him again.

Maybe she’d just burn them and forget Harry even existed.

“Where the fuck are you Ember, I swear to god!” Z blared through the speaker while Ember slipped into her own, familiar, wardrobe; a pair of jeans ripped at the knees—but not purposely—and a fitted black long-sleeve. Most of her closet was filled with items that would allow her to blend in. The other twenty-five percent of it were things that did the exact opposite, like the dress she’d worn last night.

Cringing away from those memories that lingered tauntingly at the edge of her mind, Ember rolled her eyes and picked her phone up from the bed. “Calm down, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“You better hurry your ass up, I’ve already made enough excuses for you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ember ended the call and then turned back to her closet for the last thing she would need. Luckily, she’d sacrificed her least favorite coat last night, which had been left at The Palace, possibly belonging to someone else now. So, thankfully, her favorite leather jacket was still on its hanger, waiting for her. She pulled it on quickly, and as it embraced her like a warm hug, she hoped she wouldn’t also have to sacrifice it as well one day. She’d probably kill someone before she let the thing land into another person’s hands, though.

Besides, she had to make up for the fact that she currently looked like a punching bag and resembled Leatherface in a way. Making the rest of her body look good was a priority and if anything could manage that, it was the jacket.

“What the hell happened to you?” Zora probably would have shouted if she wasn’t currently whispering into Ember’s ear, trying to hide her shock and concern from their clients, who were both also eyeing Ember suspiciously since her late arrival.

They were in the typical meeting spot, the shipping docks in the southernmost point of Kypa. Not many ventured this far down unless it was for work, so it was perfect. They usually tried to limit the amount of witnesses to avoid killing innocent people, but there was still the occasional smoker who traveled down along the docks until they stumbled upon something they shouldn’t have and then Ember would have to take care of it. Those were the bodies that haunted her, whenever some unlucky soul got caught in the crosshairs.

Ember glanced at Z in her peripheral and smiled, “You should see the other guy.”

The clients, also both women whom went by code names Ember couldn’t quite remember, shared a look between them. A concerned look because—even though they had limited interactions with Ember—they had never seen her so beaten up before. No one had ever gotten any sort of upper hand on her, even if she ended up killing them in the end.

“Is it done?” One of the women asked hesitantly, one that Ember swore was named Venus. Actually, as she put more thought into it, she was pretty much certain that was her name, and the other one, who was shorter and red-haired, was named Gemini. She remembered thinking that they had some weird fixation with space when she first heard of them through Zora.

Ember met the blonde woman’s gaze and nodded a confirmation. “It is.”

A bitter taste flooded the back of her tongue because instead of seeing Edmond Wallis falling to his very deserving death, all Ember could see, all she could think of, was the girl. And the girl led her down a path toward Harry. Harry who she’d tried so hard to stop thinking of, but jesus christ he was hard to kick out of her brain.

Both women nodded as well, seeming pleased even though they said nothing else. The front runner, Venus, pulled out her phone and typed for less than a second. “Derek will bring the money shortly.”

Ember tried to hide her smirk, but it was useless. Derek had been another unfortunate male that found himself in her bed one night. It was actually the first night after they’d all met in person, when they had completed their first job for Venus and Gemini. Z hadn’t been around when he came to drop off their payment and well... Ember couldn’t be trusted alone around attractive men.

The three women surrounding her had no idea about it though, so she tried not to ruin the relationship they had by turning her terrible bedroom habits into common knowledge.

“We have another job.” Gemini spoke for the first time, staring directly at Ember and pointedly ignoring Zora. But, as Ember glanced at Venus, it seemed as if this other job was supposed to be kept a secret with the way Venus’ lips thinned and her body tensed.

“We’re not—“ Z began, but Ember was louder.

“What is it?”

Gemini stepped forward, ignoring the warning expression her partner shot in her direction. “His name’s Quin Stone. He’s—“

“That’s enough.” Venus cut in sharply. “We’ll find someone else to take care of him.”

“Why?” Ember asked incredulously. “I can do it.”

Venus and Zora shared a look and Ember immediately grew irritated. There was something her best friend wasn’t telling her and she had no clue what it was. The last thing Ember enjoyed was being left in the dark.

“E...” Zora sighed, turning toward Ember while running a hand through her hair to keep it tamed as the breeze from the water blew it into her face. “We just finished this job and you... you look like you just got done being someone’s punching bag. And I... we need to talk.” Z glanced warily sideways, at the other women who pretended to be minding their own business. Although Ember wanted to know what the fuck was going on right there and then, she let it go. She didn’t like turning down a job, but Z was right about one thing. She felt like a punching bag and would be no use in causing any harm for at least a few more days until she recovered.

Before more could be said, a familiar black Audi pulled up beside them, and even though the windows were tinted dark enough to not see inside, Ember knew it was Derek who was about to step out of the driver’s seat with a duffel bag of money in hand.

And, seconds later, that’s exactly what he did. Ember watched him the entire time, especially his muscles as she was reminded exactly why she’d taken him to bed in the first place. His eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses, but the way his jaw hardened made it obvious he was watching her too. It was probably really messed up that she enjoyed the power she had over men so much, but she couldn’t help it. She loved knowing Derek—and others like him—would undoubtedly be remembering what she looked like without clothes on and have to live with the fact that they wouldn’t ever be able to see it again.

Derek stopped beside Zora, still tense and visibly uncomfortable, possibly because the last time he’d seen Ember, he’d nearly begged to have her again and she’d just laughed in his face. He cleared his throat and handed the bag off to Z.

Zora didn’t bother counting it or even unzipping the bag. She trusted Venus because Venus, although quite terrifying herself, knew that Ember would be unleashed upon her if she ever short-changed them. And Ember, well… she wasn’t someone very many people messed with, not even Venus.

“You look like shit.” Derek’s voice was unexpected but still just as smooth as Ember remembered while he addressed her. While he pushed his sunglasses up onto his head, taming his medium-length black hair. His eyes traveled down the length of her body and then back up where he cringed at the sight of her face as if he’d just now seen it.

Ember smiled though, “Are you always so flattering, Derek?”

That muscle in his jaw hardened again as he met her gaze. “You would know.”

It probably wasn’t Ember’s best idea, but she was feeling reckless and if Venus or Gemini no longer wanted to work with her, then so be it. “The only thing I know is that your cock isn’t nearly as impressive as the rest of you.”

Zora flipped her head around to Ember so fast it might have given her whiplash and both of their clients glared at her as well. So, no, it was not her brightest move, but there was too much going on in her head and she wanted to hurt someone. Derek had just been the unlucky target.

“You didn’t.” Z gasped.

Ember just grinned at her best friend until Zora became very visibly disappointed and apologized to their clients and, most importantly, to Derek, although Derek was still staring at Ember, knowing that she’d never apologize and wanting to destroy her for it. Instead of letting violence overcome him, however, he replaced his sunglasses onto the bridge of his nose and turned back to his car after mumbling to Venus that he’d wait for them.

“Well,” Venus took a long, calming breath, “It’s best we don’t work together for a bit then, after all. Keep in touch, Z.” Neither women even gave Ember a second glance before they followed Derek’s path to the car. Zora waited until they were gone before she exploded.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? You show up here like... like this,” she motioned to Ember’s face, “late and wasting everyone’s time and then you say some stupid shit like that? They’re our clients and my friends, Ember, you can’t just treat them like garbage.”

“Them being your friends is your own fault, not mine. I told you plenty of times not to make friends.”

“I’m sorry that having you as my only friend sounds like the most miserable experience I could ever imagine!” Zora’s voice echoed through the entire port it seemed. And Z’s remark had its intended affect, to shut Ember up, and so silence surrounded them both. When Ember remained an unmoving statue, Zora groaned. “You didn’t always use to be this way, Em. It’s like the further we’ve gotten from him, the more you’re turning into him.”

“I’m not him.” Ember spat, her fingers twitching to punch Zora in the face for even brining him up but she quickly stopped herself before she did something stupid and irredeemable.

“It’s why I think we need a break. I... I need a break.”

“If you don’t want to do this anymore, then fine. Leave. I don’t need you anyways.”

Zora shook her head and turned to face the water, watching it as she calmed down again. “My dad, he... he was right. I’d never be like him or enjoy this life. And I don’t now either, even though we got away. I just want to feel safe. I want a family and I don’t want to feel so fucking alone all the time.”

Ember didn’t say anything, wasn’t sure what to say exactly. She wasn’t good at being vulnerable, not even with the one person in the world who knew her best. The one person in the world she trusted with her life.

“But I’m not just going to leave and let you dig your own grave.” Ember’s heart tightened in her chest when Z’s voice broke and, when she looked up, saw the tear falling down her cheek. “We both need to get out of this city. Please.”

Zora had never sounded so... desperate.

But the last time Ember had been anywhere besides Kypa had been the darkest time of her entire life. She wouldn’t leave even if her life depended on it. “You can get away, Z. I... This is the life I want.”

Zora turned back to face Ember. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Zora bit her tongue and, after a moment, shook her head again. “Forget it. Can we go get something to eat please? I’m fucking starving.” She didn’t give Ember a chance to backtrack as Z turned on her heel to leave, adjusting the duffel bag on her shoulder. So, Ember just sighed and followed, leaving all their unsaid words behind on the docks.

After dropping off the duffel bag at the safe house, where the rest of their most important possessions resided, in the outskirts of Southern Kypa, Zora drove west as they both sat in silence. Ember already knew where she was headed, and didn’t exactly want to delve back into their earlier argument when Zora had all the power and a million reasons to swerve the car into oncoming traffic and shut Ember up for good.

Lucia’s was in between the lunch and dinner rush when they’d arrived, so there were plenty of empty tables to choose from, even though the owner, Nico, took them to the same old booth in the back they were used to. The restaurant was in a more upscale part of the city, and Ember didn’t mind getting out of southeast Kypa for a few hours. She’d admit she needed it. Needed to forget the previous night. The girl she’d gotten killed. The man who’s voice still haunted her.

Him.

The green eyes and the way his touch lingered on her skin even though she’d been unconscious at the time.

Although, as Ember stood in front of the small bathroom mirror, she thought about Harry more than ever. She saw her face properly for the first time as she stared at herself while drying her hands. There was, in fact, quite a bit of damage. And as she traced her fingers along the line of stitches, she thought about him some more. First in ways that she shouldn’t be thinking about. Like what his touch actually felt like and why he even cared enough to save her when he knew who she was. Knew she’d never allow anyone to touch her in a way she didn’t want. He knew that and yet he still…

Then she cleared her head, dropped her hands, and made her way back out to Zora, considering how Harry might be useful to her. Maybe if she could find him and convince him to take her on after all, it would be what Z needed to get out. She wouldn’t have to worry about what would happen to Ember. Even though Harry was practically a stranger, she strangely trusted him a tiny bit. It could work, but she’d have to find him again and that was sure to be difficult.

Ember opened her mouth to simply suggest the idea to Zora once she’d returned to her spot, but a loud crash from the kitchen caught her off guard. Everyone in the room turned toward the sound and just as Ember began to write it off as a clumsy chef knocking over a pile of dishes, she was soon proven wrong. Several staff flooded through the doors, one tripping over themselves before scrambling away. Following right behind them, men, five or six of them, with bodies covered from head to toe in black, came storming out of the kitchen. Bullets began firing immediately and Ember ducked just as one whizzed by her head.

When a reprieve came, Ember wasted no time grabbing Zora’s hand and getting them both the hell out of there. They kept their heads down and Z took the lead as Ember drew her gun to hopefully take at least one of the shooters out. However, when she twisted around and aimed, she realized they were all staring directly at her. All of their guns aimed at her back.

They weren’t random shooters.

She was the target.

Even so, she let a few rounds of her own go flying, hitting one of the men in the chest before Z pulled harder on her wrist and they ran toward the rear exit at the opposite side of the restaurant.

Bullets began again and Ember dodged what she could. She already knew she needed to ditch Zora someplace safe, so once they turned the corner down a long hallway that lead outside and Ember had a moment where they were blocked off by a wall, she took control and shoved Zora through the door of the women’s restroom. Where she knew there was a window just big enough for Zora to squeeze through.

“What are you doing?”

“You go. I’ll distract them.” Ember nodded up toward the window, “Meet me at the safe house.”

“No.” Z glanced over Ember’s shoulder. “Go home. We can’t risk it. Call me when you get there. Here.”

She shoved her car keys into Ember’s open hand and neither of them wasted much more time that they’d need to make it out alive. In an instant, Ember turned and disappeared back out into the hallway, hesitating a moment before the men rounded the corner and began shooting again. As soon as they were in sight, she took off.

She zig zagged, dodging them once more, however one bullet still grazed her arm, nicking her skin just enough to leave a dent. A burning dent that would undoubtedly leave yet another scar on her skin. But as blood poured beneath her sleeve down her arm to her hand, she didn’t stop for even half a second. Not even to mourn the tear in her favorite jacket that couldn’t be easily repaired. She just pushed through the double doors at the end of the hallway and into the parking lot behind the building.

She raced toward Z’s car with only about a five second lead on the men, who came barreling through the door after her just as she reached the driver’s side and pulled herself in.

She kept her head down as she started the engine, while bullets planted themselves into the side of Zora’s poor Maserati. Ember had always loved the vehicle and hated these men even more now for destroying it. The second the car revved to life, however, she took off, speeding out of the parking lot and narrowly missing another car on her way out. Once she got onto the streets, she pressed the gas pedal all the way to the floor as she dodged traffic and ran red lights.

It wasn’t over yet—not that she had even considered it would be—so she got onto the highway and made full use of the car’s horsepower, going well over a hundred miles an hour. She didn’t even look to see exactly how fast she was going, just kept her eyes on the rear view mirror to check if they were following.

And, sure enough, a black SUV merged onto the highway, crashing into a smaller car and causing it to roll across the lanes. Ember cursed and drove even faster, as fast as she could go while swerving between traffic. She was willing to believe in miracles for the fact that the road wasn’t too crowded.

However, that bit of mercy shown to her didn’t last long as bullets struck the Maserati once more and she ducked down again to shield herself from them. Glancing quickly over her shoulder, she spotted the SUV behind her now, about a three car distance away, but close enough to do some damage.

Sloppily, and nearly slamming into the back of a station wagon, she grabbed the gun she knew Zora kept underneath the driver’s seat and pulled it out. She quickly checked the clip and then turned slightly in her seat to shoot out the back window. The first bullet shattered the glass and she mumbled an apology to the Maserati just as she shot off two more rounds into the driver’s side of the SUV. She’d missed, but it still swerved, causing another crash, and, most importantly, gave Ember enough time to escape. To gain her speed back and figure out her exit plan. Up ahead, traffic was slowing as nothing but brake lights flooded across all lanes, so she turned her wheel quick, cutting off a man in a Tesla who honked at her and gave her the middle finger as she darted toward the off ramp she’d narrowly missed. It would be the only one for the next few miles and there was no way she’d be getting out alive if she got stopped in traffic.

She sped right through the red light at the end of the ramp and onto a road she recognized. She was almost back in the southeast quadrant of the city, but she wasn’t quite headed home just yet. Not while they were still following her. She needed to lose them first.

She’d managed to put a decent distance between her and them, but she could still see the SUV in her mirrors and it wouldn’t be long before she caught the attention of the Kypian police. She needed to get off the road, to use the distance she’d gained and ditch the car someplace to make a run for it instead. She could disappear amongst the crowds.

Digging through her mental navigation of the city, she made a sharp turn down Clover Street, knowing it would at least bring her close to where she was planning on losing them.

However, when she glanced in her rear view mirror again, the SUV was nowhere to be found. She kept her pace and waited another moment before she checked again. Nothing. There was no way she’d lost them already. Had they stopped following her? And, if so, why?

Her heart pounded in her ears, and an uneasy feeling settled in her stomach because now she had no idea what to do. She had no control over the situation. They could have taken a different route and could come barreling out in front of her at any moment. They could do just about anything and she’d be blindsided.

She cut off yet another car in order to speed down a side street and then came to a stop along the curb where she waited for what felt like hours, but was, in reality, only a couple minutes. Her watchful eyes flipped back and forth between her mirrors, anticipating some kind of attack to come her way at any moment. But nothing ever happened. No black SUV turned onto her street either behind her or in front. No men with guns.

Nothing.

They were just… gone. And she almost wished they were still following her because this felt worse.

After another minute, she made a sharp U-turn and merged her way back onto Clover Street, headed straight into the Moon District of southeast Kypa.

It wasn’t her favorite place to be, but it was easy to disappear in. Not necessarily when you were driving a Maserati, but she still kept watch behind her to make sure she wasn’t being followed as she made her way home.

The Moon District was always busy, at every time of day. It’s how all the criminals that snuck around got away with their business. It also had an entire underground section, The Hallows, where the worst of the worst hung out. The buildings were all right on top of each other, compact to fit everything and everyone in. Most of it was storefronts, crammed into short, stone buildings with flat roofs. Given the set up, Ember had plenty of practice scaling the roofs across the district, going unnoticed as she stalked her targets, whom usually all tended to visit the Moon District at some point.

The Moon District emptied out into the heart of Southeast Kypa, where the buildings reached the sky once more and the streets were less busy. There was still some traffic since it was practically rush hour, but it wasn’t as easy to blend in. Still, she raced forward, trying not to draw too much attention to herself as she reached her building. She drove in circles for a bit, going around a few different blocks in different directions just in case she was actually still being followed before she pulled into her building’s underground parking. The other residents probably wouldn’t enjoy seeing the bullet holes in the side of Zora’s car, but Ember didn’t really give a damn.

Once she ditched the car, she ran up a couple flight of stairs, deciding against taking the elevators until she got a few floors up where she’d be able to hear if anyone had followed her. She dialed Zora twice, only to be left with her voicemail each time. She figured it was good enough, at least Z would know she’d made it back. It did worry Ember a bit, though, that maybe Z hadn’t made it out. But, right now, Ember had to be sure she was still in the clear, so she’d deal with Zora later.

Even after she reached the fourth floor and everything seemed safe, she still snuck through the door that led from the stairwell and to the elevators quietly, and with her gun drawn. While waiting, she hid halfway behind the wall in front of them, her gun aimed at the doors, just in case. It was all somewhat unnecessary—although in Ember’s book it was always better to be safe than sorry—once of the doors dinged open and she was able to verify that it was completely empty and devoid of any risks. After stepping inside, never once turning her back on the hallway, she swiped her card to take her all the way up to the penthouse, refusing to take her eyes off her surroundings until the doors were closed.

When she was alone and it was quiet apart from her erratic breathing, the wound in her arm made itself known again, burning as it got her attention. She shoved her gun back into place under the band of her jeans, hidden by her leather jacket, and pressed her hand to the wound, hoping to ease some of the pain. The blood that had reached her fingers was now dried and slightly sticky, making her uncomfortable, but she’d handled worse. At the very least, the bullet wound had stopped throbbing as she ascended through the top floors of her building.

She was still on edge the entire time, even as she reached her floor. Everything about the whole situation was weird and she just felt... a little bit off.

The feeling never went away even as her familiar space greeted her with open arms as she stepped off the elevator. She attempted to call Zora again once she reached the foyer, but to no avail. Something wasn’t right, she was sure of it. But she just didn’t know what.

She did nothing but listen to the silence surrounding her as she clicked her phone off. She glanced around the room, into the living area and the kitchen—everything that she could see from the foyer—to check if anything was out of place. A moment later, however, she realized her instincts had been correct, but it was too late by the time the sound of footsteps reached her ears, because when she turned toward it, reaching for her gun, the blast to the back of her skull sent her spiraling into darkness instead.

She woke to even more throbbing pain, but this time it was exclusive to the back of her head. She knew from how much is still hurt that she hadn’t been out for long, but as she looked up into eerily familiar faces of two men staring right back at her, she wished she could black out again.

The most she knew was that she was still in her apartment, in the middle of the open living room space, not far from where she’d been knocked unconscious, most likely from one of the two men standing in front of her. The other thing she knew was that they’d also tied her wrists and ankles to one of her dining chairs, tight enough that when she tugged against her restraints they didn’t even budge, just burned as the rope chafed against her skin.

She couldn’t exactly place where she knew the men from, maybe they were with the people who had chased her earlier. She’d been too busy outrunning their guns to have made out a face though. As she took them in, eyeing them from head to toe for any bit of a clue, her gaze snagged on one little detail. The man standing to the left of her clutched shiny metal in his fists and she prayed he never came near her with those brass knuckles, although she wasn’t sure she would end up being that lucky. As her heart raced, she investigated the man to her right, hoping he didn’t also have a similar weapon, but she couldn’t tell because he stood with his arms crossed, exposing a much more helpful piece of information: a circular scar along his flexed bicep.

Like the one she had on her forearm.

Her eyes widened in panic just as her worst fears were confirmed.

His voice came from behind her as he leaned onto the back of her chair, his lips at her ear. “You didn’t really think you’d get away from me forever, did you?”

She whipped her head around just as Dominic pushed himself upright from her chair, meeting her searing gaze with his same old narcissistic grin. The one he used when he knew he was getting his way. When he’d won.

She hated it. She hated him. Her top lip curled in disgust as he stepped around the the front of her, stopping in between the two men who she now knew were Dom’s henchmen.

He looked just the same as she remembered, even though it’d only been less than a year since she’d last been this close to him. His hair was still trimmed to perfection, with shaved sides and longer dark strands down the middle all pulled back into a bun how he normally wore it. He still didn’t show any signs of graying, which she might’ve attributed to dye if the scruff that was growing back along his jawline wasn’t just as dark as his hair.

Besides how he looked, though, how he made her feel was all the same too. He made her chest tighten like she couldn’t get enough oxygen into her lungs. He made her hands tremble and her skin grow cold and clammy. And none of it was in a good way.

Especially not considering he was holding onto a gun in his left hand.

He titled his head to one side, taking in the sight of her. “You look like shit, Lenny.” His voice, dear god, his voice was something she thought she’d never hear again except for in her nightmares.

And that name. Her real name.

She pulled against her restraints again, letting it burn and letting her anger show. “Don’t fucking call me that.”

He chuckled and stepped toward her until he was close enough to place the tip of the barrel of his gun underneath her chin and lift her defiant eyes to his. Being tied up made her completely helpless to him, just as he’d always wanted her to be. Just a thing he could control.

“Did I ever tell you how I came up with the name Ember?”

She didn’t say anything, just continued to look up at him like the second she was free she was going to rip him to pieces with her bare hands.

“Those eyes,” his gaze bounced between both of them like he was searching for something, “you always had a fire in you, Em, and I’m glad to see it’s still burning.”

“Fuck off.” She spat, literally, right up into his face. It wasn’t a smart move but it made her feel better. At least until he let go of her chin, lifted his hand, and brought the hilt of the gun down against her temple hard enough to send her spiraling back into darkness again.

She gasped the next time she woke and found herself drenched in freezing cold water. The man with the visible brand on his bicep fell back into his spot behind Dom, setting the now emptied glass onto the coffee table.

“So, Ember, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Dom went on as if no time had passed at all. He still stood towering in front of her, his hand still clasped firmly around his gun.

“How did you find me?” She asked instead, or rather, demanded.

“Ah,” he scrubbed at his jaw with his free hand then grinned at her sadistically, “so the hard way then.” Before she could even think of a response, he turned on his heel and wandered toward the kitchen, taking his time grabbing a chair and setting it up in front of her before he straddled it, resting his arms up on the backrest and sighing. “I’m not that surprised, you were never very easy, were you?”

She felt like spitting in his face again but he was too far away now.

“You’ve been getting sloppy, Em.” He finally spoke again, giving her a semblance of an answer to her earlier question of how he managed to find her. “I believe you ran into a colleague of mine recently.”

Her mind raced back to the previous night. To the man in the alleyway. The one who’d known who she was. Who’d given the final orders to kill that girl.

“He has a big mouth. Don’t care for him that much but he did mange to figure out where you were staying.” Dominic glanced around the room, at the nice appliances in the kitchen and the fancy leather couches Zora had picked out. “Nice place, by the way.”

“What do you want?” Ember cut to the chase before he could begin asking about his daughter. Ember would rather be beaten to death with a thousand brass knuckles than give up any information on Zora.

“I told you I’d find you Ember. And I don’t know where you’re hiding my daughter, but I’ll find her too soon enough.”

Panic rushed through her although she tried her damndest to keep her face and her body under control.

Dom knew her too well for that to work completely in her favor though. “You were always so good at hiding behind that face, weren’t you?”

“What. Do you. Want.” She repeated, much more threatening this time. Not that she could actually be much of a threat given her current state and given that Dom and his henchmen were some of the only people in the world not terrified of her. But, again, it made her feel better to release some of that anger.

“I want you to come back.” He paused to watch for a reaction from her but she didn’t give him the satisfaction, so he continued on. “Come back and I’ll forget about Zora. I’ll forget about what you did.”

She laughed almost hysterically and let her head fall back against the chair, staring up at the ceiling incredulously because Dominic had officially lost his mind if he thought she’d actually agree to that. “I’d rather get my head chopped off.”

“That can be arranged.”

She shook her head. “No. You wouldn’t kill me then and you won’t now.”

When she looked at him again though, because he’d been quiet, his smile grew and it terrified her so much that all amusement drained from her face and her skin paled. He wouldn’t actually kill her… would he?

“You were chased by men today, correct?” He asked, glancing at his fingernails as if he were bored.

Her eyes widened. “That was you?” It would make sense. He had every reason to want her dead after what she’d done. But if he did truly plan on killing her after all, she never thought he’d go and hire someone else to do it.

“No.” He shook his head, chuckling as if it were such a ridiculous assumption she’d made. “No, I’d never put a hit on you, Em… but you apparently pissed someone else off.” He leaned forward a tiny amount, “So, it seems to me that your only options are to die or to come back.”

“I already told you which I’d rather do, but thanks for the offer.”

Dom nodded at the man to his right, the one with the knuckles whose name she couldn’t recall. She fought against the ropes, against the chair, against everything as he came up to her. He had to be at least six foot seven with arms as wide as his head. He didn’t wait for any other orders, just peeled back his arm and struck her with the metal right across Harry’s stitches.

Stitches that she heard rip wide open as blood gushed down the front of her. She tasted it in her mouth too just before it dripped towards her chin.

“Keep up the smart ass remarks. There’s plenty more where that came from... even though it seems you’ve already fucked up your pretty face plenty.”

She spat the blood onto the floor and glared at him, hoping those flames in her eyes were visible to him now. “Go ahead. You think I give a damn?”

“The Ember I knew did. In fact, she gave enough of a damn to kidnap my daughter, murder my wife,” his eyes darkened, “and dozens of my men.”

She scoffed, “As if you don’t go through men worse than she did.” That remark cost her another blast to the face, but it was worth it, even if the crack of metal hitting bone that resounded through the room made her want to throw up. It was still worth it. Haven had been his second wife, technically, because Zora’s mother had died long before Ember came into the picture. And Dom’s second wife, whom Ember had plotted against every chance she got, was nearly as insufferable as he was. So really, she had it coming.

“Again.” She barely heard Dom give the order through the ringing in her ears, which only worsened when she was struck another time, on the other side of her face. And this one, she was not prepared for in the slightest, so it nearly had her slipping into darkness again and even though she fought it, there was still prominent blind spots in her vision when she lifted her head.

Ember just laughed through the blood and the pain and the spinning dizziness. “I enjoyed putting a bullet through her skull, you know. She was the reason...” Ember swayed a bit, her eyes fluttering shut as she lost herself for a moment before she came back, her words still just a slur of sounds mushed together. “She was the reason I even met Cam.”

At the sound of that name, Dom’s hands tightened into fists, his knuckles turning white as his pupils dilated and his jaw sharpened to a point. She’d never told Dom the full story about Cameron, but now seemed as good as any if she was truly about to be beaten to death.

“What are you talking about?” He demanded.

Ember titled her head back again, against the wood of the chair, smiling with bloody teeth as she stared up at the ceiling and ignored the horrible feeling of blood dripping down her throat. “She introduced me to him when I was fourteen. She’s the one who took me to his house and left me alone with him.”

“Why didn’t I know about that?” He nearly shouted.

She shrugged as tears mixed with the blood running down her face. “Does it matter? You still killed him for what he did.”

“Then I punished you for months because I thought you were stupid enough to run away from us!”

Again, she shrugged, knowing she was in a bad physical state by the way his raised voice didn’t frighten her as it used to. “You wouldn’t have taken my word for it anyway. You knew I hated her.” And he wouldn’t have. Haven had been the one to spin the lie that Ember had ran off and Dom was too in love with her to ever have believed the truth of what really happened.

Dom ran his hand down his face and then exploded form his chair, knocking it over with a loud, “Fuck,” before he paced through the room.

She lifted her head just enough to look at him, just enough so that the darkness didn’t seep back across her eyes.

Then he turned to face her and dropped the hard shell. Turned back into the Dom who sat at the head of the dinner table and told stories about his childhood. Who had killed for her and who had threatened several boys for her until they pissed their pants. He turned and looked into her eyes like he did when she had eventually found her way home after what Cameron had done, when he’d hugged her and told her he’d take care of everything. That was how he looked at her now. Like a father. “Why did you run from me Ember?”

His voice was quieter than it’d been the entire time and she knew he wasn’t playing games or in the mood for them either. She didn’t quite have the energy to muster up a smart remark, nor did she exactly want to be punched again at the moment.

“It wasn’t me who wanted to run from you.”

He froze. Didn’t say anything for so long, Ember thought time had slowed down. She had only done what she did to help Zora. It was the only reason she’d left. Dom terrified her, but he was the only parental figure she ever had. What came before him... were the furthest things from parents. Now, though, she didn’t so easily fall for his manipulations. He didn’t want her back because she was the daughter he’d always wanted Zora to be. No. He wanted her back because he’d lost his biggest source of income. And if he couldn’t have her, couldn’t control her, then he’d rather she be dead. She was sure of it.

He wasn’t her father.

But she wasn’t about to give up her freedom so easily now that she’d gotten a taste of it, especially not to him. Not to Dominic Aldine, who would force her to assassinate anyone with a high enough price tag. Who wouldn’t let her use her skills exclusively on people who actually deserved it. He would set the terms again, about everything in her life, and she’d rather be dead.

“I can protect you, Em.” He pushed back the strand of hair on his forehead that had fallen free of the bun. “Come back and I’ll take care of everything.”

She shook her head, her eyes fluttering shut as her consciousness finally stopped fighting to keep the darkness at bay. After a moment, though, and by some miracle, she blinked her eyes open slightly and saw him as he nodded in understanding. Her answer was clear and unchanging.

And his answer to that wouldn’t be one she’d like to hear.

“Ten days.” He spoke sternly. “My offer still stands but if you aren’t back by then—or dead—I’ll collect the money myself.”

The sun was just beginning to set on a new day when she finally woke. The pain was worse than it had been before—when she was tied to that chair—as she stumbled from her bed to the bathroom, nausea sending her to her knees in front of the toilet. When it was over, she fell back onto her ass, pressing herself against the opposite wall, letting her face fall into her hands.

It was then she realized her hands weren’t covered in blood as they had been the last time she’d been conscious. Investigating further, her shirt was clean and her jeans were gone. As quickly as she could manage, she got to her feet and rushed to the mirror only to find her face completely cleaned of blood as well. The cut on her cheekbone had been very sloppily sutured back together, although it was ten times worse than how Harry had left it. Other scrapes seemed to have been slathered in a healing ointment. The bruises were worsening by the second, but there wasn’t much she could do about them.

Dominic had ordered his henchman to beat her unconscious and then cleaned her up and tucked her into bed before he left.

And she hated it.

She would have rather been left in that chair.

A million different things ran through her brain. First was what to do about Dominic. How she was going to kill him. Or maybe she had better chances of just running further away. Then there was what to do about the hit placed on her. She had no idea who wanted her dead, besides Dominic, or why. Maybe it had something to do with their last job, or it was Venus herself getting back at her for what she did to Derek. It all led her thoughts back to Zora. How to keep her safe now that Ember was a target that would just get Z killed.

And then, of course, there was the fact that Zora had never answered her calls.

She raced out of the bathroom to find her phone, which Dominic had also taken care of as it sat plugged into its charger on her nightstand. Fuck him honestly.

The thought of him bugging her phone did, in fact, cross her mind. But there was nothing he could possibly trace, she’d made sure of that when she and Zora first got their new phones. Even so, she was going to make the call quick and then destroy the thing when she was done.

There were several missed calls from Zora which eased some of her nerves, but they just worsened again when she realized she’d been asleep for almost an entire twenty-four hours.

After dialing Z, she paced her bedroom and searched for other things Dominic might’ve done. The only other sign of him was her bloody clothing folded up on her dresser—and her leather jacket hanging on the back of her vanity chair—right next to where she’d left Harry’s things.

Harry.

“Em?” Zora’s shaky voice cut through the slightly insane plans Ember had been brewing. “Are… you okay?”

She turned away from the dresser, trying to focus. “Yeah, where the fuck are you?”

“Um, the safe house.” She cleared her throat. “No one followed me.”

“Good, stay there,” Ember demanded. “Don’t come back to the apartment.”

There was a brief pause, then, “Why not?”

“He found me.” They never said his name anymore, but Zora always knew what she meant.

The line was quiet for a while long, before Zora finally sighed. “What are you gonna do?”

“I don’t know yet. You should call Ace and get away. As far away as you can.”

“He’s already here. Ember... there’s something—“

“Just leave, Z. If he finds you too...” She raked her hand through her hair frantically, not even wanting to entertain that thought.

There was an eery silence and then Z inhaled. “Did he do something to you?”

“No.” The last thing she wanted was for Z to worry. Not to mention, what Dominic did to her was no worse than anything else she’d been through before.

“E, you can come with us. You don’t have to—“

Ember just groaned in annoyance and cut her off. “Look, we both know this life has always made you miserable and you’ll never get away from it if I go with you.” She’d wandered over to the dresser as she spoke, to Harry’s clothes specifically. He could help her, she was sure of it. He’d mentioned having associates, other people that could help her disappear. That was all she needed. Just to disappear.

And if the state of his friend’s apartment meant anything, then he could use the type of money she had. The type of money she could pay him to help her.

“Em...”

“I have to go.” Ember didn’t bother with goodbyes as she hung up and swiftly smashed her phone on the ground until it no longer had any chance of being brought back to life. She gathered the shirt and pants that still smelled exactly like Harry as those plans from earlier finally formed freely in her mind. And after she pulled on yet another pair of tattered jeans, black ones this time, she shoved as much cash as she had hidden in her safe into a backpack, along with Harry’s clothes right on top.

She just hoped it’d be enough.

Ember had always been good at directions. Maybe it was because Dom had let her start driving at thirteen, but she could get herself around Kypa pretty well. Even if she was in a hungover-type state, stumbling home with the scent of some annoying, green-eyed prick’s scent filling her nostrils.

And as such, she was able to find her way back to that building without too much trouble. It also helped that she’d committed the address to memory... just in case. But she knew for a fact she was in the right place when she got into the elevator and found the blood stains that still hadn’t been cleaned up and undoubtedly belonged to her.

There were only a few doors to chose from once she got to the correct floor, going off of memories alone. But, again, the blood led her right up to the correct one. Room 159. Except the nine was missing and all that was left was the discolored wood in its place.

When she knocked, she knew Harry wouldn’t be the one answering the door, but she hoped whoever did, whoever the so-called friend of his was, would be able to lead her to him. She also hoped they weren’t still out of town, if Harry had even been telling her the truth about that.

Luckily enough, she heard footsteps on the other side, and after listening to the click of the lock being undone, she took a step back as the door opened in front of her.

Most definitely not Harry, and not really someone she would have expected him to be hanging out with, either. He seemed kind of... normal. With a five o’clock shadow and short blonde hair. Normal. Like he had a nine to five and drank black coffee every morning.

“Can I help you?” He asked before his eyes had really searched her face. Before he’d really seen the shitty state of it. When he finally did though, he cringed just as everyone else had. But once he got past the initial reaction, his eyes narrowed as he looked at her like she was the bane of his existence. “Let me guess... you’re the one who bled all over my apartment.”

So she was in the right place. Thank god.

“I need to find Harry.”

The guy shifted his weight as if he was bored. “Yeah, he told me you might come looking for him. And he also told me not to tell you shit.”

She took a step closer to him and he took an equal step back, eyes widening as his gaze drifted down to where she pulled a knife seemingly out of nowhere. “Trust me, whatever he threatened to do to you will not be nearly as bad as what I will do.”

He held up his hands in surrender, muttering, “Okay, okay,” and refused to take his eyes off her knife until she put it away. Which she didn’t. Not until he gave her the information she wanted. She arched an eyebrow expectantly and he finally sighed and told her. “He’s probably down in The Hallows.” He swallowed thickly. “Off of Clover and tenth.”

She sheathed her knife into its hiding spot and stepped back, smiling innocently. “Was that so hard?”

“When you find him,” the guy took a deep, relieved breath as he dropped his hands to his sides, “tell him I said to go fuck himself.”

The Hallows were the part of Southeast Kypa most normal people never ventured into. All sorts of shit happened above ground in the Moon District, so below it... Ember had never even wanted to know what went on down there.

And the fact that Harry went there often enough that it was where his friend thought he could be found kind of terrified her. And not many things did.

Even so, she located the club on Clover and Tenth by sunset, bypassing some of the shadiest people she’d ever seen as she made her way down the stairs in near a pitch-black hole in the ground, as it seemed. There was just a faint, red light emanating from the bottom of the stairs. It got colder as she went down, too, as if she was stepping farther and farther into a damn crypt, and the metallic scent of blood became more potent. The electronic music from above began to fade as voices took its place. Loud voices, shouting all sorts of shit as she neared the bottom of the stairs. The floor was sticky when she reached the short hallway, but that was hardly a concern at the forefront of her brain.

Because mostly, it felt like she’d just stepped foot into hell.

She trudged on through the nearly empty hallway, which was lined sporadically with people who all eyed her up and down like they knew she didn’t belong. And comparing herself to them, she really didn’t. They all had multiple piercings, tattoos, other body modifications that looked painful. They all had bloodshot eyes as if they hadn’t seen the light of day in quite some time. Regardless, they all looked at her like they might eat her alive, and not in a good way. Ignoring them, she let the voices guide her until the hallway opened up into a crowded room where the shouting became a million times louder.

There wasn’t even anything in common they were all shouting, just a loud jumble of various phrases she could barely parse out from the rest, such as, “Make him bleed!” Or the slightly more concerning, “Kill him!” It was obvious they were all watching something in the middle of the crowd, but Ember wasn’t positive she wanted to know what.

It was still dark in the room, but the red light that came from a variety of neon signs on the back wall mixed with the sparse overhead lights—which flickered from time to time—was good enough to at least make out faces. It was mostly all men, she couldn’t see a single female anywhere, in fact, which also was slightly unsettling to her already shaky nerves.

Mixed in with the heavily masculine cheering was screaming rock music that seemed to propel everything faster and faster, including the pounding in her chest. She wasn’t exactly sure if it was from being afraid necessarily or from an adrenaline rush.

Because… she wasn’t exactly afraid. Nervous to have walked into some sort of lion’s den? Yes. But scared? Not exactly. Not like she thought she might be.

So, she made her way through the crowds of people, sneaking through gaps and shoving her elbows into rowdy men who wouldn’t move. Quicker than she expected, she was near the center of the pit, close enough to peer over some lanky, underweight man’s shoulder and see what all the commotion was for.

And there, in the middle of a makeshift ring—that was less a ring and just an open space surrounded by shirtless, sweaty, bloody men—was Harry.

Who was also shirtless, sweaty, and bloody.

The blood was mostly exclusive to his hands though, hands that weren’t covered by anything besides a useless band of tape around his knuckles as he went on beating the shit out of his opponent.

She watched as he threw fist after fist, some being blocked, others meeting their target on the other man’s ribs. Before Harry managed to make a winning blow, however, his opponent got one sloppy hit in and sent Harry back a few steps. She also watched as Harry swiped the blood off his lip on the back of his hand and then beckoned the other man forward tauntingly. The ends of his hair were damp with sweat, and clung to his skin, and a few curly strands fell onto his forehead which didn’t seem to bother him.

And god, it was hot. Both Harry and in general, since she was still smushed between a bunch of men as their bodies tossed her around. And Harry… he was…

She quickly snapped out of it after having been ogling at his bare chest with her mouth hanging open for the past five minutes. It also didn’t really help that she was, yet again, imagining his hands. How gentle they must’ve been dealing with her wounds and how violent they were now. She averted her gaze and began making her way out of the crowd to find a clearing.

Once she did, she was able to breathe fresh, cool air again. Well, as fresh as it could be underground. She could still see bits and pieces of Harry from her new spot, and was still surrounded by men but they weren’t all on top of each other and quite a few of them weren’t paying much attention to the fight.

There was a couple benches nearby, one was occupied by a group of four who were definitely passing around narcotics of some sort. And on the other was just one man, albeit an attractive man, who glanced at his watch multiple times and seemed to be supervising an open gym bag which took up the rest of the space beside him.

Her eyes traveled back to Harry, cringing as he struck again and the crowd exploded with cheers. The only thing she knew for sure was that, if she could convince him to do so, he could definitely help her. And she was not about to fuck up her only shot at keeping her freedom by letting those thoughts she’d had about Harry materialize. He wasn’t just some man she could fuck and never see again; she needed him. And although she didn’t trust him, she, at the very least, knew he had a heart and a conscious because if he didn’t, he wouldn’t have even bothered to save her.

And why save her and then refuse to help her escape certain death?

She, in a way, already had Harry’s approval. Because he wouldn’t refuse. Because he did have a heart. And Ember was about to exploit it.

With another few blows, Harry’s opponent fell to the ground and didn’t get back up again. Cheers louder than any time before flooded through the room as someone lifted Harry’s hand in the air, claiming him as the victor while he caught his breath. Of what she could see, he didn’t exactly seem happy to have won. In fact, as soon as his wrist was released, he pushed himself through the crowd and disappeared from her line of sight completely.

She waited until she could see where he went before she made a move toward him, but her plans were cut short when a hand plastered itself onto her backside.

And she didn’t even spare a second to think. She just flipped right around and used the momentum to her advantage as her fist flew down onto the man’s face. While he held onto his wound and muttered something about her being a bitch, she took the opportunity to punch him in the gut as well until he doubled over in a loud grunt. Then she grabbed hold of her blade and pressed it to his throat, lifting him upright until he was looking at her and she was right in his face, vicious as ever.

Blood dripped from the tiny cut she’d given him on his neck as she snarled at him, “You’re lucky I have better things to do, or I would have chopped your fucking hands off.”

He pushed away from her in an instant, and tumbled into the crowd where he escaped with an absolutely terrified expression on his face. As he should be. Ember wouldn’t even have hesitated to follow through on her threat if she were anywhere else, doing anything else. She also couldn’t afford to draw too much attention to herself. So, she just sheathed her knife and turned her attention back toward locating Harry.

Even so, people all around were watching her, whether she liked it or not, and they all seemed to have taken a step back, whether it was because they’d heard her threat or knew she had a knife on her, she couldn’t be sure. And how she managed to intimidate a whole room of overly aggressive men, she was also unsure, but she was definitely thankful for it.

It didn’t take long for her eyes to find the magnetic pull of his gaze. He stood at one of the benches, the one with the guy by himself who she now assumed was a friend of his. Both of them watched her; Harry, in particular, frozen in the middle of removing the tape from his knuckles. And as she began walking towards him, she made out the shape of a curse on his lips just before he broke eye contact.

As she stopped in front of him, he continued to remove his tape, completely ignoring her and hoping she’d just go away. But, instead, she stayed. Long enough to make him curious. So he finally muttered, without meeting her gaze, “How’d you find me?”

Once the tape was off, he grabbed a towel from the open bag to clean off the sweat and blood. Her eyes drifted from the bag up to the man sitting beside it. The one who was even more attractive up close and most definitely staring right back at her. Then he looked her up and down and she’d never felt the weight of someone’s gaze as heavily as she did then. And it only got worse when he met her eyes and smirked at her.

“Who’s this?” She asked Harry, motioning to his friend.

“Nobo—“ Harry began but he was abruptly cut off as the other man stood and held his hand out to her in greeting. He had to be above six foot, like Harry, but he was a few inches taller still. And the loose tank he wore with his black basketball shorts were absolutely an excuse to show off his biceps and pecs.

She made an effort not to ogle at him too.

“Noah.” His voice was friendlier than she expected, considering he had the sharp kind of bone structure that would intimidate anyone.

She stared at his hand cautiously for a moment before shaking it. She wasn’t foolish enough to trust some random man, even if he was Harry’s friend and he was insanely beautiful and had muscles bigger than her head.

“Yeah, okay, that’s enough.” Harry tossed his towel over his shoulder and stepped between them, shoving an amused Noah back onto the bench and turning to glare down at Ember. It was then she realized Harry was still very much shirtless and sweaty. And she was positive if she reached out and touched him, his chest would be hard as a rock.

She kept her impulses in check.

“How’d you find me, Ember?” He repeated, a little bit angrier this time though, and the sound of her name in his voice sent shivers down her spine. He hadn’t said it before, even though he’d claimed to know exactly who she was. Hearing it now... she nearly lost her train of thought.

“I, uh...” she shook her head clear and glanced at Noah once before facing Harry again and crossing her arms over her chest. “Turns out your friend isn’t out of town after all.”

Harry averted his eyes for a moment and then it seemed to dawn on him what she’d done. He raked his hand through his hair and sighed. “Fucking Trevor.”

Ember’s eyes fell to Noah again when he spoke. “Trevor’s a pussy, I told you to stop fucking with him.”

Harry twisted and glared at his friend. “Shut the hell up, Noah.”

Noah’s face became exaggeratedly offended. “Go fuck yourself, Harry.”

“Oh yeah!” Ember exclaimed, earning both boys’ full attention. “Trevor told me to tell you to go fuck yourself too. And, you know, maybe you should. It might help with those anger issues.” She gestured toward where the ring had been, where he’d been fighting only moments ago.

Noah coughed out a laugh which he swallowed quickly when Harry cut him another very angry glance before he faced Ember, shifting his weight impatiently. “Why are you here?”

Her eyes slowly traveled back towards Harry, not exactly ready to admit it to him, but she knew she had no choice. It was him or it was facing both Dominic and inevitable death by herself. “I need your help.”

He was quiet for the first time ever and she watched as his eyes scanned her face for possibly also the first time since her arrival. His features softened as he did and then, without even thinking about the consequences, he lifted his hand to her cheekbone, running his thumb lightly across the gash that had once been perfectly stitched up but was now, more or less, in shambles. His voice was a lot gentler when he spoke. “Looks like all my work went to shit anyway.”

She stared into his eyes and felt... too much. Too much that frightened her more than Dominic Aldine himself frightened her. She pulled away from him and Harry quickly dropped his hand, an apology ready on his lips that never came out because Ember moved right along.

“I have money. I’ll work for you, too. I don’t care. I just need to disappear.” She pulled her backpack down from her shoulders and held it in front of her while she unzipped the main pocket slightly, grabbing one stack of cash from underneath the clothes to briefly show him she was serious.

He lifted a brow and then shifted his gaze toward Noah. Noah who didn’t have any fucking idea what was going on, or who Ember even was. He’d be of no use because if it was up to Noah, he’d say yes to the cash in a heartbeat. But Noah didn’t know about the much larger lump sum offered to him elsewhere. It didn’t matter much because Noah didn’t say a damn thing anyway. It was obvious Harry had gotten himself into some deep shit and Noah wasn’t about to jump in the middle of it. So, Harry was left to his own devices in deciding whether or not to help the girl he was supposed to have put into a grave by now.

“Please?” She begged, zipping her backpack closed. “You can have all of it.” She handed it to him and when Harry refused to take it, she gave it to Noah instead. Noah who took it because he didn’t know what the fuck else to do.

And, besides, why wouldn’t he accept a backpack full of cash?

“Why do you need my help?” The question felt like defeat, like he’d already agreed to it since he was asking her for more information. He mentally begged for someone to smack some sense into his brain, but no one did of course.

“There is,” she kept her voice down so that only Harry and Noah heard her, “apparently, a price on my head.”

His eyes widened for a moment before he got his reactions back in check. He glanced at Noah quickly, who just gave him a useless, blank look. She clearly hadn’t figured out the truth about him, or else she wouldn’t be asking for his help, so that meant... someone else was trying to kill her too. Had Dominic hired another assassin besides him? And did she know who had put that price on her head?

If it was true, that he’d hired somebody else, then maybe he’d have a better chance at getting out of the deal. And if he was getting out of it, then he had no reason not to help her. She was a paying client. And an extremely valuable asset if he actually got her to work for him—if her penthouse said anything about how much money she was able to rake in from her day job.

“I imagine that had something to do with whatever happened to your face?” He suggested, nodding toward her. The closer he looked, the worse it seemed to be.

She hesitated, then shook her head. “No, that was—“ Stopping herself, she looked at anything besides Harry’s stupid emerald eyes. He couldn’t be trusted. Not yet anyway, and maybe never. He didn’t need to know about Dominic and why she was really begging for his help. Dominic would pay him triple the amount in her backpack to hand her over. So, the less Harry knew the better.

He waited still, concern knitted in his brows. “Who then? Because it looks like they used more than just their hands alone to fuck you up.”

“That doesn’t matter.” She tried to push away the memories from yesterday, the feeling of that metal clashing against her flesh and bone. Sighing, she met Harry’s gaze with sincerity. “Will you help me or not?”

He watched her for a moment, the need to attack whoever had hurt her turning his hands into fists. He’d never felt that way about someone he’d just met before and it fucking terrified him. Ember was nothing to him. A client now, he supposed, but that was it.

And yet, he couldn’t stop thinking about beating some faceless man to death with the same weapon that had been used on her.

Maybe she had been on to something about those anger issues.

He focused himself and considered her question. Was he going to help her? Deep down, he knew there wasn’t really any other option for him. That was why he’d been so adamant to push her away because... well because he’d probably do just about anything she asked him to. And that also terrified him.

He wished he never would have met Dominic all those years ago. Then he wouldn’t be in this fucking situation to begin with.

“Fine.” He finally groaned out between his teeth, after a much too long moment of staring into Ember’s pleading eyes and then recalling how she’d made him feel the last time he’d gotten lost in them. He couldn’t just kick her to the curb… even if he wasn’t doing himself any favors by agreeing to help her.

She let a smile slip onto her mouth but it wasn’t necessarily a happy one more so than it was a relieved one. He figured whatever she was into must be bad if she thought she couldn’t protect herself from it. If the notorious, death-machine that she was, was asking Harry for help.

Harry who was... no one special.

Noah cleared his throat and stood again, slinging her backpack over his shoulder. “There’s an abandoned manufacturing building north of here—” Noah didn’t get much further into giving her directions as Ember nodded. She was more than familiar with all the secret hiding places within Kypa, north or south.

“I know it.” She confirmed.

He arched an impressed brow, “Good. We’ll be there at six. You should probably pack a bag.” His eyes fell down the length of her body again and she had no idea what that meant, but his gaze made her sweat. In a good way. In a way that had certain parts of her body doing very stupid things.

Then his eyes lingered a little too long on her ass. And, yes, maybe she liked it, but he was still just some man she didn’t know.

“Surely you saw what I did to that asshole.” She threatened, turning towards him completely to cut off his view and Noah nodded as he brought his eyes up north again.

“Indeed I did.”

She arched a brow, unsure if he was actually daring her to do the same to him too or not.

But then he gave her that smirk again. “Don’t worry, I’d quite like to keep my hands attached to the rest of my body.”

Harry looked at his friend in disbelief and Noah just shifted his gaze and grinned back at him innocently, pleased with himself. Rolling his eyes, Harry bent to grab his shirt and then found Ember again as he pulled it over his head. “So tomorrow?”

She met his gaze and nodded, hoping she was right to be trusting Harry. He opened his mouth to say something more, but thought better of it. Instead, after a moment, he sighed and grabbed his bag off the bench.

“Try not to die before then.”

#harry styles fanfic #harry styles fic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles smut #safetynet

84 notes · View notes

writing-for-me-at-this-point · 3 years

Text

The Missing Guardian | Prologue: Act I Scene I | Mondstadt: The Outlander Who Caught The Wind

A.N. okay! so first chapter of a new series im starting! its a series rewrite of the genshin impact plot. i had always wanted to do one of these, and with my comic obsession, if you read marvel/dc comics youll find some crossovers hints. hope yall enjoy as i finally start to write and get on some type of schedule. its also one in the morning so imma head to bed :)

Word Count. 1,633 words

Page Count. 4.8 pages

Synopsis. When you’ve finally found a home in a set of twins who travel across worlds, setting out to enjoy your time with them; learning everything you could while traveling from world to world. But this time was different, because this time, someone stood in your way from continuing forward, from going home. You watched as your family was torn from you once again, leaving you stuck in a world alone with only a guide, the memories of a life long left behind, and the hope of finding them once again.

[ Series Masterlist: The Missing Guardian Mini Masterlist ]

[ Act I, Scene I ] [ next scene ]

Prologue Act I: Scene I | Monstadt: The Outlander Who Caught The Wind

So, what you're trying to say is that you fell here? From another world?

But, when you wanted to leave and go back to your world... Your path was blocked by some unknown God?

You could only nod at Paimons commentary, watching as she floated next to you, a small hand to her chin as she looked deep in thought. Looking forward to the vast openness of the ocean in front of you, memories flashing before your own eyes as the pain settled in your heart, the wind slowly picking up before the tears filled your eyes. It hurt to think back at what happened, to how you lost them, the two people to found you after being lost for so long.

That carmine red outlining the dark abyss shaped like a star would haunt you as a woman walked out, snowy white hair and the bandages around her legs flowing around her as her voice seemed to break through your skull, demanding your attention while the twins next to you could only look up in confusion. The anger in those golden eyes was enough to make you take a step back, you've never met her- Hell, you've never seen or heard of anyone like her, so why did she come at you with such ferocity? Even her mere presence contrasted with the ivory, baby blues, and gold of your surroundings, the heavenly area around you tainted with this... Unknown God.

"Outlanders, your journey ends here." She demanded, the portals behind her sharpening with the wave of her hand. Lumine took a step forward, her shock evident in the small gasp she let out before speaking, determination and confusion spilled across her features.

"Who are you?"

"The sustainer of heavenly principles." She responds quickly, bringing a hand up to her line of vision with a small red and black cube in her hand, twirling it causing the ground beneath you to tremble, Aether looking between you and his sister. Shaking your head, you bent your knees ready to jump, the engines in your heavy boots started up, as your mask appeared on your face once again with only a light touch to the earpiece.

"The arrogation of mankind ends now." The ground lit up around you, red and irritated with magic you haven't seen before, your boots shooting you into the air as Aether and Lumine jumped- following your lead as they pulled their golden swords and allowed their wings to manifest, holding themselves in the air.

It was barely a second, before you moved forward with the twins by your side, your hands moving to the Quads in their holsters and taking them out for another fight. You only thanked whatever Gods in your own world were listening, and that damn mentor of yours, before your mind went back to the battle at hand- requiring you to fly around and dodge the large amounts of glistening red and gold cubes that came in your way, blocking you from the target of the Unknown God.

Before you knew it, the end of this battle came quickly, an explosion from the mere speed of you, Lumine, and Aether stopping right before the Unknown God to attack.

And that second was all she needed to do what was needed.

Her gaze fell upon you, making you shiver in fear, before you flew back and blasted a beam of energy at her from your Quad, only for it to be absorbed by a cluster of cubes. Your voice came out robotic, echoed with the technology that covered your face, you eyes moving to see the cluster of cubes enveloping the twins that were once beside you.

"Aether! Lumine!" They only looked at you in horror, fading once the cubes covered them whole, returning to the Unknown God in a hollowed and golden version of her twisted and unique weapon. She watched the rotating cube with wide, uncaring eyes, giving you enough time to circle around her and attack once more- throwing the handheld mines from your belt onto her form, the beeping accelerating once it met her skin, and an explosion following quickly.

By the time the smoke cleared, and before your mask could scan and gain some sense of recognition, the cubes that protected the Unknown God attached themselves to your outstretched hand, closing in on you while maintaining the explosion you caused. Eventually, it all settled into one cube that contained your hand, before you followed the same fate as the twins.

"Wait! Don't go! Give them back!" You managed to scream, desperation in your voice, as you watched another family be taken from you once again, your vision fading into darkness and your heart breaking once again.

And just like that, the god took away my friends.

Some kind of seal was put on my being, and the power I had was gone.

And while I had the freedom to travel the universe, worlds, and entirely new realms.

I was now trapped.

"How many years ago was it? I don't know, Paimon. But, I've gotta. I have to." You answered Paimons question, still looking out to the sea in front of you, mask now hidden into the earpiece that decorated your left lobe. The leather of your jacket warmed you from the cool breeze of the sea, the bodysuit underneath regulated your body temperature in any environment, but you specifically used it when in space when you held the title of Guardian. But you couldn't afford to think about that now.

Not when there's a chance of finding Aether and Lumine.

"After I woke up, I was alone- until I met you two months ago." You finished, looking over to your floating friend, who only turned as she spoke.

"Yeah. Paimon really owes you for that. Otherwise Paimon likely would have drowned... So, Paimon will do her best to be a great guide!" She smiles, hands on her hips while looking up to you, seeing as she always chose to float around chest-level when around you. You sighed, a weak chuckle escaped your lips before you sat up from the sand, brushing off the back of your cargo pants and looking towards your guide for this new world- patting her head and making sure to be careful of the crown that hovered above her.

You had only hoped Paimon would do most of the talking for you anyways, due to Tevyat’s language being foreign even to your ears and tongue, a feat for a Guardian of your reputation. A decent understanding of the oral part of the language under your belt, you found reading to be easier, since it did look similar to some scripts back in your own world. Your thoughts were cut off as Paimon spoke up, calling for you to follow her as she sped ahead of you, following the path from out of the beach to the grassy area ahead of you.

"Awe, the path ends here. I guess we'll just have to climb, huh?" You rolled your eyes, shaking your head while you started to heave yourself up the large rock, Paimon taking notice of this.

"You mean I have to climb the rock, P, you just have to float." You laughed, reaching the top with a grunt before she whined about floating taking as much energy as walking or climbing. It wasn't bad, you've climbed a lot worse in even more horrid situations, but damn did that take a good breath from you. You'd have to work on rebuilding some of your stamina while traveling here, and possibly need to find some supplies to settle somewhere for a bit, maybe even collect whatever currency they had here.

"Well, let's take the route we planned! We're off to... a Statue of The Seven!" She smiles with glee, before a questionable face appears as you both move forward, her head turning towards you as you attempt to take in much of the scenery and areas you could. Your heavy boots only crushed the poor underbrush and grass that came into contact with it, your belt that was filled with gadgets and such clinking with the sway of your hips- hitting the holsters.

This world is beautiful...

"Which of The Seven are you looking for exactly?" She asked, making you shrug your shoulders at her, hands up as you walked towards a nearby tree- picking up the strange orange fruits and packing them away before moving forward. They looked like some weird crossbreed of orange and pear, but, you hoped it would taste as good as it looked.

"To be honest? Any of them. They should have some idea of what happened, but even then, The Seven are gods in this world- and from what I remember of gods... they aren't too sane to say the least." You said, reaching a small cliff side that overlooked a lake with a statue near the edge of the small island in the center of it.

"That's a Statue of The Seven!" She pointed in its direction as you gave her your full attention, your finger going to touch the back of your ear to signal that, mindful of the metal to not trigger the activation of your mask.

"There are a few of these statues scattered across the land to show The Seven's protections over the world. Among the seven gods, this god controls the wind. Paimon's not sure whether the god your looking for is the Anemo God, but... Paimon'll take you to the Anemo God's place first, and there's a reason why~" She muses, giving you a small wink before turning around, allowing you to follow her down the path to the first Statue of The Seven.

To the first step towards finding Aether and Lumine.

Your journey has started.

#genshin impact imagine #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact #gi x reader #gi imagine #x reader #reader insert #queen.writing #The Missing Guardian: Genshin Impact

61 notes · View notes

honoredbastard · 3 years

Text

I COME BACK WITH THOUGHTS/THEORIES ON ITADORI AND HIS RELATIONS- I THINK.

anyways, so i'll just point this out: i'm not good at speaking my thoughts in an organized manner. i absolutely suck at it, i speak on how my brain brings up the thoughts so i might ramble, get over my head in a thought, etc. i can't control it so i apologize in advance for the jumpiness of the texts. i will spell a lot of things wrong and not everything will be correct, as i read translations and on a manga site. don't worry it's not illegal, i believe.

MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD.

i apologize for my absence! last week or two weeks ago the tower to my computer completely broke and will not turn on. i tried to repair it and follow my fathers instructions but nothing worked. even cleaned off the fan and went through countless nights readjusting things. it's not my cords either so to help me out my father is working extra shifts to get me a new pc. so in the meantime i'll do small posts like these but not full writing/head canons until i have a computer tower lol. a family member was kind enough to allow me to have their phone while we work throughout this issue.

now onto the actual topic:

kenjaku and itadori's relationship. ( family wise ).

for context in the most recent chapter, 160 "colony" kamo shows up in sasaki's home and talks to her about the culling game and a barrier. but that's not the point, the point is as he's guiding her to the barrier inside her "dream" at the end he says "oh right. i almost forgot to tell you. thank you for getting along with my son." and then she is awakened inside the barrier, in her pajamas beside iguchi. when sasaki and iguchi look at the barrier and gather themselves they bring up kamo.

sasaki asked iguchi if he mentioned his son and he says no. this leaves sasaki in a state of confusion when itadori flashes in her mind. she says his name aloud like she finally connected the dots. now. why am i bringing up this whole kenjaku thanking sasaki for being his "son"'s friend. it throws me off because why didn't he thank iguchi?

did he not think iguchi meant their friendship? because sasaki was the one uninjured and still counted itadori as a friend? does iguchi not consider itadori as a friend anymore?

because we haven't seen these two at all since the incident. that raised many questions in me. as well "how can itadori be related to kamo?" and itadori is related to choso.

because kamo's technique is explained ( vaguely. we are aware he can create barriers, take over bodies, and has incredible cursed tools. chapter 134. this is also where choso makes his connection ( i believe. ) to itadori yuji as his brother. but because we saw this with todo many thought itadori just had another unconsious technique that allows the person who is hit create false memories and believe of a completely made up relationship with itadori without his knowledge. but alas, i was wrong. ) and we're given more hints shown than told ( imo ) i tried my best to make sense out of the situation and what he said. i think my conclusions are pretty solid, so continuing on.

we're given very little history on itadori, his past, and family. at the start of the manga we know that itadori's only family he knows is his grandfather and that he is ill in the hospital. at the very very beginning we learn that itadori is your average cute, fluffy, laid back but strong and goofy protagonist. in smaller words: itadori is kirby but even cuter and dumber.

my first impressions of him is a pineapple. if you're confused to this saying: it's calling a person prickly on the outside but sweet on the inside. and this is true, itadori's grandfather seems prickly and cold on the outside but he genuinely cares for itadori.

he raised itadori for all we know and did that with his all in assumption. but this ends up backfiring onto itadori, because he cares so much for his grandson - he ends up leaving a " curse " on yuji.

help people. save them.

itadori takes this to heart as his grandfathers speech is his last one. when he looks over to his grandfather the man is dead and now yuji is left alone. then the following events occur.

at this point in time i assumed itadori was an orphan ( he technically is if we're connecting the dots. his parents has not been shown, he doesn't speak of them, they aren't in the picture. we can conclude either they disowned itadori or died before he could make complete memories of them. )

but when we are shown in chapter 143 itadori's parents we see this "woman" jin ( yuji's father ) and his grandfather talking about has the same scar pattern. this scar pattern is either stitching ( assuming that is how kamo keeps the top of the opened skull from coming off. this is also how kamo revealed his cursed technique / body of sorts ( the brain, assuming that is kenjaku in his cursed technique and not the body / puppet he is controlling " getou suguru " ) to gojou. )

this is the only way i find kamo being able to assign itadori as his son. why is that you might be asking this dumbass here.

we do not have the full story, exact date, location, and full context of the memory/dream itadori is having. this cannot be fake either because kamo would than have no reason to call itadori his son. or is there? anyways.

take a leap of faith with me. imagine that before itadori is born ( he seems no more than a few weeks or days old in this memory. hence why i am thinking my conclusion is pretty solid in theory. but yknow gege, there might be something different. ) anywhooo.

TW. D3ATH/IMPLYING ANTI LIFE ATTEMPT

kamo had to have taken over yuji's mothers body after an accident OR after she gave birth to yuji. his grandfather is interrupted by her before he can finish his sentence but it seems to be leading to the conclusion that either kaori ( yuji's mother ) died while giving birth to yuji or kaori could not conceive and tried to take her own life or cause an accident that would take her life. ( i read a fan translation for this part but im pretty sure i also read the official translation today too and it added up to the same. )

i believe in the first idea, but since kamo's cursed technique wasn't explained in detail i don't know the conditions of his body technique. does the original host of the body have to be dead? can he regenerate body limbs ( i highly doubt. getou lost an arm during his fight with yuta. overconfident dick. reminding me of an ex ANTWAYS. i forgive him for being overconfident smooch. he learned. OFF TOPIC but continuing on i promise.

this is being continued from the cut off point. i'm so upset so it'll just be summarized. i can't believe this shit lol i took three hours just to finish it for it to literally cut off the bottom half.

continuing on in a sadge mood. kamo must not have the complete ability to take over a body. after all getou took his only arm he had as he was dying and choked his own body to his full ability. getou was willing to die ( possibly, you never know he could be alive if he killed his own body. moving on. ) just to have the chance to save his friend from being swallowed by a damn box.

so there has to be a chance that kamo cannot fully take over the previous persons complete consious and memory of their body. if getou still had his other arm after losing the fight to yuta, he could've choked kamo with both arms. in theory kamo wouldn't be able to control the right arm and die to the previous host choking him to death.

so why wouldn't the other hosts do it? after all, kamo did say it was his first time experiencing such a thing. assuming kamo has lived throughout many bodies in his 150+ lifespan none of the previous hosts could take control of their body.

i believe getou was completely influenced by gojou and his six eyes. there is no way gojou would even try to speak out to his friend unless he had an inkling or saw getou still in there. helpless and without the ability to save himself from the cage he's in.

being used and puppeteered in his own body by an external force. laughing in the world he could not. putting getou into a constant misery and defeat that he couldn't escape his hell. the one he tried so hard to fight and get out of. even if it was the wrong path.

gojou was the last person to witness getou dying. he had to watch getou bleed out after their conversation because he couldn't bring himself to kill his friend. the one he spent his whole jujutsu student life with. so for gojou to say such a thing to getou despite all that he did had to break getou out of his misery and give him that small sliver of hope that he could do something. of course he failed, but i doubt that's going to be the end of that.

the only way i see kamo being related to yuji is if he took over kaori's body before the pregnancy. assuming that when kamo takes over a body he becomes one with said body and is that person for however long he lives in said body. my only thing is, can he take over a persons body whilst they are alive? i would go more in depth like i did the last time but i am extremely upset about my work being erased so that's the end of this part.

thank you for reading! i have one more thing for you though.

the last time we see sukuna in a manga page after the shibuya incident is where he is on his throne and in his domain. this is after yuji is stabbed by yuta and is presumed "dead" at the time. he seems to be interested in yuta and i can think of 2-3 things. I would love to hear your theories too so don't be afraid to barge into my dms like the koolaid man.

A - sukuna is interested in Yuta because of his ability to use the reverse healing technique ( only a few sorcerers know this. sukuna being the first. shoko being the second one to be told that she has this power and then gojou. ) because of this he sees potential in yuta as well or has added this boy into his plans. after all, there is very few that can make sukuna make an expression that isn't an RBF. aka megumi and possibly gojou. I was looking at the page of him stabbing yuji and noticed we only see the entry point of where the blade enters. it's smaller because some got chunked off so its a possibility yuta used this to his advantage when "killing" yuji and instead hit an artery that could kill him but quickly healed him afterwards. or just his heart. the ideas.

B. Rika, Yuta is able to completely control Rika as shown. Even though he claims he is on the weak side, these two combined seem like an unstoppable force. He may be interested in Rika as she is a curse that has been put on someone that can fully control it. Not many people is shown to be able to control their curse. As we haven't met many.

this was enti and that's the last of my post! thank you for reading and it was a fun one. even though i had to restore this shit. anyways, i'd love you to add or fix up my ideas and tell me your thoughts and opinions! Thanks a bunch!

^ this is for pure humor

29 notes · View notes

mcwritingblog · 3 years

Text

Immortal: Chapter 1

A Girl and Her Cat

Pairing: Javier Pena x reader

Summary: A small town barista meets a handsome Javi.

Rating: G

Author’s note: Hey guys I'm sorry this doesn't have a lot of Javier in it, its really a big set up chapter for the story.

Word count: 2k

1975, a random fall Tuesday

I don't know how it even happened, or how I met him. At the time I was living in a small town in Columbia run by Americans, keeping to myself, not drawing any attention to myself. He walked into my cafe and got a small black coffee. He stayed a while, reading his small novel.

“Hi there, stranger, I got your coffee”, you said as you set down his drink. “Anything else?”

“No ma’am. Thank you”

“No problem”, you went to turn away but you had to know, “Um, hey?”

“Yes?”

“You've come in before. What's your name?”

“Javier”

“Javier. I'm y/n. Let me know if you need anything. Maybe next time you could try a latte”, he lets out a snort. You go back to cleaning. It was extremely slow today so you got the go-ahead from your boss to close up early.

“Miss?”

You turned around and saw Javier leaning up against his truck with a smile.

You grasp your chest. “You scared me. I didn't notice you there.”

“Were you about to walk home?”

“Yes”

“Would you mind a ride?”

“My apartment isn't that far from here, but thank you I appreciate it.”

“Anytime.”

And like that, you were walking home, enjoying the weather. It was chilly and the leaves were falling beside you everywhere. You didn't mind the ten-minute walk to your apartment. You don't even get in the door before your cat starts meowing at you.

“Avery, give me one moment. I'll feed you I promise.”. You love the hell out of the black cat but the girl is so needy.

You flick off your shoes by the front door, bending down to pet Avery. You walked past her to shake some food into her bowl. With how she rushes to it, you'd think she never got fed. Silly girl. You walk over to the couch and lay out, grabbing the blanket to get comfortable, a few moments pass and your cat hops up to snuggle up to you. You flip on your tv to find something to have in the background and settle on Hawaii Five O. There's something about cops that attracts you so much. You find yourself falling asleep, Avery radiating heat on your stomach.

---

You were woken up the next morning by your alarm clock; another day, another dollar. You were on second shift today so you didn't have to be in until 11. You got up and made yourself toast and eggs, making sure fatso had her food too.

“Pretty girl”, you say scratching her chin and heading towards the door, adding an “I’ll be back later. Byeee”

The walk to the shop today was extra nice. You can smell the aroma of a pumpkin pie as you pass the houses in your neighborhood and hear the sounds of children playing outside. The giggles brought life to the quiet afternoon. As you come closer to the city, the more you hear the sounds of cars passing and smells of bread being baked at the bakery down the street. The bakers wave at you as you pass the front window. You hold up two fingers, gesturing back. Two shops down is Mrs. Rivera trying to hang up plants, struggling to steady herself, AND the hanging ivy pot.

“Here let me help you.”, you say as you come behind her and catch the pot, succeeding in hanging it up on her awning.

“Thank you, sweetheart!”, she says as she wipes her hands on her apron.

“No problem. I have to get going but come by for a latte?”, you ask.

“Yeah. I’ll see you”

And with that, you were back to it. Half a block down and you come to the shop's front door. It dings as you enter.

“You're late”, your boss, Maria, gets on to you.

“Mrs. Rivera needed help again.”

“Uh-huh. Get your butt back there”, she snorts. She's not mad. Thank god.

“Been busy today?”You ask about taking off your backpack and hanging it up. The shop was basically vacant. The only customer you could see was a college kid studying in the corner. You walk around to pick up mugs and empty plates from various tables.

“Not really. The usuals mostly… Oh! A guy was asking about you! He asked if I knew if you got home safe?”, she asked, confused.

“Ah yes, Javier. He offered to take me home last night.”, you say while walking the dirty dishes to the back.

“He’s cute. You should get in there, girl”, she yells to you. “In there?”, you come around the corner and scoff, “I'm not that interested in dating right now.”

“You should. You can't just spend all your free time with your cat and nonexistent characters in your books.”

“Can.” You point out “And will”

“You're only 24, do you really wanna throw away that opportunity?”

You could only muster up an eye roll.

----

The rest of the shift went off without a problem. Maria went home shortly after her talk with you. The next few hours included a couple of customers but mostly some cleaning. Mrs. Rivera actually came to see you, even getting a hot chocolate for her grandson when she got her latte. You hold a conversation with her for a while, talking about her daughter’s new job at the school. Maria said something about that a couple of weeks ago. The rest of the regulars got their usual drinks, only sticking around long enough for their drinks. The clock soon hits 7 pm.

“Another tea?”, you ask the college student in the corner. He’s been here for your whole shift and has gotten two hot green teas with sugar.

“No ma’am. I'm about to leave but I appreciate it.”

‘Alright. Don't be a stranger”, you say, taking his cup and saucer to the back to clean it off. You place it in the strainer to left it air dry. As you are in the back, the customer packed up and left, leaving the shop empty.

You walk past every table, wiping it down and stacking chairs on top, then grabbing the broom. You quite enjoy the quiet chill night, humming a simple tune. The night offers an array of noises through the open door: Grasshoppers chirping and the soft whistle of the breeze. You finish sweeping and put up the broom. “The tips were pretty good today”, you think, pushing the money into your pocket, removing your apron, locking up, and heading home.

----

You had Thursday off and planned to spend it accordingly. You slept until you couldn't anymore, got up, and fed Avery, offering extra pets to the needy cat. She snuggles up to you on the couch, laying in the space in front of your stomach. Your newest interest? Murder mysteries. So you are relaxing on the couch reading Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile.

You get pretty far into the book before hearing a knock at your door. Weird. Then walk to unlatch the door, swinging it open.

“Uh... hello?”, you questioned the man in front of you. He’s standing there with his hand to the back of his neck, looking nervous

“Hi. Umm, I'm new to building. I live across the hall. I’m Anthony”, he reaches his hand out. You take his hand and shake it.

“Y/N”, you respond, smiling.

“Nice to meet you, Y/N”

“Would you like to come in for some coffee? I just put on a fresh pot”, you invite.

“Yeah, that sounds nice.”, his face sparks up in happiness. He takes your invitation and walks into your apartment, you close the door behind him.

‘Wow. Nice apartment. How long have you been living here?”

“Eh, a while”. Boy, you have NO idea.

He sits down at your dinner table and you bring over two coffee mugs.

“Cream? Sugar?”, you ask.

“Yes. Both please”, he responds and you hand him the containers of cream and sugar.

“Just moved here?”

“Yeah. From Arizona. The owner told me that you're one of the only Americans renting here. Thought I might come by and say hello.”

“Arizona, huh?”

“Yeah. I used to live in Georgia when I was a young girl but I’ve been around the world a lot. Been a while since I’ve been in the United States”, you drift off for a second but reel it in. “ Where in Arizona are you from?”

“Tucson. Wasn’t a bad place to live but I went to college for a major in the Spanish language. I wanted to visit places where I could hear the different dialects and see the different cultures. Thus, I am in Columbia.”

“Ah, you see I just wanted to see the world. I’ve been almost everywhere”

‘What was your favorite place to visit?”, he asks, fully focused on the conversation and not realizing Avery’s furry body rubbing against his shins. She meows. “Oh, well, hello there pretty girl. What’s your name?”. He reaches down to pet her back.

“That’s Avery. But back to your question, I was living in Greece for a while and I just adored the blue waters and sandy beaches.”

He takes a sip of his coffee and asks, “So what brought you here?”

“Need a change of scene. I had a friend who lived here but she passed away a couple of years ago”, you reply back nonchalantly, shrugging your shoulders.

“Oh, im so sorry to hear that. Not too pry but we’re you close?”

“Yeah, We knew each other for a while.”

“How’d she die?”, he asks further

“Old age”, you let slip.

“Old age? he responds surprised.

“Uh... yeah. A family friend.”, you try to make up a better story to keep suspicion off of you.

That conversation kind of ended before it started, instead opting for a conversation about Anthony’s studies in places like Cuba and Spain. The talk circled around to different places you’ve visited, Rome being a topic that seemed to trail on and on. The sun outside seems to start to set.

“I’ve got to get going but it was nice to meet you, Y’N”

“You too, Anthony. Let me know if you need a cup of sugar or anything”, you say following him towards your door. He steps through and across the hallway to his front door. When he shuts his door, you follow suit. You turn around and you can feel Avery’s judging eyes on you.

“I know, I almost blew my cover”, you tell your feline friend. She meows.

-----

You weren't wrong when you told Anthony you’ve been living in Columbia for a while. The problem is his definition and your definition of “a while” were completely different. The truth is you lived in Columbia for 40 years and in this town for about 20. You didn’t age. The only person who could possibly know is Mrs. Rivera but she is very good at minding her own business. You were one of the only ones who came to her husband’s funeral a year ago. You’re practically family. The town’s oldest residents have passed and the owners of the apartments change every couple of years. The rent is paid in cash and the tenets come and go. Every couple of decades you move to another small town in another country.

You lived a normal life but you didn’t know your parents. You lived in the orphanage until you were 18. It was then you took up a job, reading in your spare time, and traveling when you could. You didn’t even realize your immortality until you were 40 looking 20. And then 50 looking 20. You did try to date but soon came to realize that you’d outlive them, leaving a trail of broken hearts. You were pretty sure you were incapable of love. 80 years old and not prepared for what happened next.

Javier Pena was about to change your life.

#javier pena #javier x reader #Javier pena x reader #reincarnated au #coffee shop au #mostly plot #immortal au

34 notes · View notes

fweasleyswhore · 3 years

Text

Who We Are - F.W.

Chapter Five: Your Facade

Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four

a/n: its really outta pocket how late this is, but, i am sorry depression been hittin hard lately im going to try and upload around every three days now !

word count: 2.2k sorry short

warnings: none! just fluff and a tad of uncomfy a lot of ground work for next chapter also this is a series specific taglist just as fyi

tags: @you-make-children-cry @bohemianspacebabe @levylovegood @louist-pics @rochellestark @hufflepuffzutara @weasleybeb @whoreforfredweasley @fortheloveofthecharacter @ayesha-mae @ma0422

“Darling! How I am so excited to meet you!” Before I could reply I was pulled into a bone-crushing hug by Mrs. Weasley. I was quickly pulled out of the train by the twins, barely able to tell Lee goodbye before I was being surrounded by redheads. If I didn’t know who they were I would have felt like I was being circled by vultures. Placing names to the faces I saw wasn’t so difficult, I knew all of the family from my time at Hogwarts, the only thing I didn’t know was who the two taller men behind Mrs. Weasley were. I only got a glance at them, they were both redheads, obviously of the Weasley clan. One had a dangly earring with longer hair that reached his jaw, the other was slightly taller and stockier, his hair wasn’t as long as the others but had more of a curl to it. They were engaged in a conversation I couldn’t hear or focus on as I was being pushed out of Mrs. Weasley’s arm’s. She held me at arms length smiling.

“Thank you so much for letting me stay with you, it really means a lot to me,” I spoke softly, bringing one of my hands up to squeeze hers that rested on my shoulder. She nodded enthusiastically. She opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by Mr. Weasley. “No problem, not at all.” He said nodding down at me. He extended his hand which I shook gladly. “Oi stop coddling Y/N!” George spoke up from behind me pushing next to me. “Yeah we want to spend time with her too.” Fred said linking his arm around my shoulders. George let out a chortle that pulled my and Fred’s attention toward him. “I meant for mum to coddle us, you know, because we are her kids.” I felt Fred’s arm drop from around me and I glared at George who smiled wide and looked between us. “Alright children let's get going.” Mrs. Weasley clapped, pulling all of our attention towards her. I let out a short sigh and grabbed my trunk. The ride to the burrow was uncomfortable. I sat in between the twins in the backseat with some extra luggage. Fred started to rest his head on my shoulder around the halfway point which would have been cute if I could relax into it, instead it just made me feel more cramped. I shut my eyes, trying to relax my breathing as my nerves took over me, counting my breaths until we were there. Getting into the Burrow was a flash, moving bodies tumbling up the winding stairs. The house truly was a beauty to behold, seemingly stacked and held together by magic, the outside was remarkable. The inside felt like an ever present hug, little nooks filled with cushions and blankets could be found in nearly every room. It truly was cozy and everything I longed to feel in my own home. Home was void, it was a place where I stayed but it never made me feel the way the Burrow made me feel. “Now Y/N, go put your stuff in Ginny’s room, you and her will be staying together and with Hermione later when she joins us.” Nodding along to Mrs. Weasley’s words I followed Ginny to her bedroom. It was cute there were posters on the wall for quidditch and on her dresser she had a few stuffed animals, they had their fair share of tears and missing buttons but I’m sure that was just from use. “So what’s it like?” She asked as I set my bag down on the cot set up opposite her bed. “Being Fred’s girlfriend of course! Mum’s ecstatic, this is the first time one of the boys have brought someone they are dating home.” I felt heat and embarrassment crawl up my neck like a ferocious fire breathing dragon until my entire body felt hot head to toe. “No, we are just friends.” “Are you sure?” “Very.” “But George said-” “Kids! Dinner is ready!” Mrs. Weasley’s voice flooded the house and I let out a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding in. “Go ahead, I’m going to change.” Ginny nodded and left, shutting the door lightly behind her. Did the family think me and Fred were dating? Did Fred think we were dating? Multiple questions raced through my mind, each one making me grow hotter, but I couldn’t quite place why. I decided against my winter apparel, opting for sleep shorts and an oversized shirt. It wasn’t the cutest but it was the coolest thing I packed and knowing how many people were down stairs I could only assume how much hotter the air would get. Winding my way down the stairs and through the rooms I finally found the one filled with people. The family was surrounding a table where it looked like there was a feast right out of the Great Hall spread out.

“Ah! Y/N, come! Sit sit, um here.” She pointed to a chair on the far end of the table, on each side were the two men I saw from before but didn’t know. Feeling nervous I nodded and went to take my seat. Luckily Fred and George were across from me and that calmed me a bit knowing the meal wouldn’t be met with awkwardness. Soon my plate was full and the entire family seemed to be going in between a big conversation and small ones on the side.

“You must be Y/N.” Said the man on the left of me.

“Yes and you are?” He chuckled and sent a confused look to the twins, I followed his gaze and saw Fred looking rather displeased, sending him a glare.

“Charlie, and that’s Bill.” He pointed around my shoulder to the man on my right. I smiled warmly and waved and he nodded with a sly wink.

“I’ve heard about you two, you’re the oldest ones right? And you are in Egypt most of the time?” I asked Charlie in between bites of beans.

“No I’m usually in Romania with Dragons, Bill is in Egypt working with his voodoo.” Placing my attention on Bill, silently asking him for confirmation.

“I don’t do voodoo, Charlie is just being an ass, it's his specialty.” He was cut off by Charlie laughing, rolling his eyes he started again. “I’m a curse breaker, I work for Gringotts.” My eyes widened as I felt curiosity bubble up within me. If I had to guess I would have assumed that Bill was the one working with dragons, his hair pulled back into a ponytail, his tooth earring, leather boots, it just felt more fitting. Charlie's build definitely proved his occupation; I just would not have guessed it.

“What does a curse breaker do exactly?” I asked. “Well obviously, you know, but are there any cool perks?”

“Yeah Bill what are the cool perks?” George asked with a sly smirk, his eyes danced between Fred’s hostile gaze and his older brother, chuckling to himself.

“Yeah other than getting sunburnt.” Fred groaned. I sent him a look but he missed it too busy prodding around with his food angrily. George had an amused look on his face, obviously directed at his twins behavior but I couldn’t place why.

“He knows nothing about burns, trust me.” Charlie piped up. He rolled up his left sleeve which held a scar that curved and danced up his forearm and around his elbow.

“Baby Chinese firebolt, I was trying to put it into the incubator when it realized I wasn’t mama.”

Dinner went on, Fred didn’t utter a word for the rest of dinner, just poked his food with a grimace on his face. I didn’t let his sour mood ruin mine, I was divested in conversation with Bill and Charlie, learning all about their jobs and travels. Bill told me about an old woman who made jewelry in the center of the town in Egypt where he stayed, he told me about how she imbued each item with a different magical property, some were protection charms and others were sister pieces used to send messages between their owners. Charlie taught me about the different types of dragons and what it was like to work with them. They were both so kind, answering each question I had with a smile on their face. I was so divested in whatever Bill was telling me I didn’t notice everyone had left the table at that point.

“Why don’t we move into the living room?” He asked looking around, I followed his eyes, noting the once lively table empty. In a weird way it made me feel cold, a shiver tore through me.

“If you don’t mind I am going to find the twins.” I spoke getting up. He smiled understandingly. “I think Fred might be in their room, second level first door on your left.” I nodded, sending him a small smile as thanks.

“Wait I said twins, not Fred.” I looked back to him, his smile evident as if he had just caught me.

“I know.” He said, cheeky grin never leaving his features. I felt my cheeks heat up, turning on my heel I left and found my way to the stairs. Harry was watching Ginny and Ron play wizards chess in the kitchen, Charlie and Percy were arguing in the living room about the ethical uses of dragons as means of labor while their parents were both reading. I didn’t see George or Fred and took Bill's advice and bounded up the stairs.

Knocking lightly on the door I was met with no response, tried again, nothing. Despite my better judgement I pushed the door open. The room is exactly how you would expect it, slightly messy with blueprints and products strewn about. On each side was a twin bed, one with green covers and the other with blue. On the right side Fred was laying on his stomach, head facing his wall and limbs falling off the sides. George wasn’t in sight.

I tiptoed around the things on the floor and found his side, sitting down gently in case he was sleeping. There was a tension in the air that made me uneasy and I wanted it gone. I just wanted to spend time with him, I didn’t want to feel like I had to hold my breath.

I ran my fingers through his hair, unable to hold myself back. I felt him let out a sigh under my touch. He began to shift, picking his head up and adjusting himself so he was facing me.

“Hey stranger.” I said softly, sending him a smile. His face was unreadable, part way between smiling and frowning like he was fighting himself inside. He scanned me, up and down like he was trying to read my intentions by a quick look.

“What are you doing up here?” He asked. His voice held no emotion and it stung slightly to see him be so blank with me.

“I want to see you, we haven’t been able to hang out all day and I missed you.” I kept my head down as I spoke. A beat of silence rang throughout the room. I looked at him for an answer, my eyes met his and I watched the resolve fade away, like a barrier breaking beneath his exterior, his eyes lost their cool touch and they warmed up, returning to their familiar honey pools I know.

“Get in here.” He wrapped an arm around me, pulling me down to his level. I helped him, situating myself around him, tangling my legs with his and putting my hands on his chest. Both of his arms were around me, pulling me into him like he hadn’t seen me in months, he buried his head in my neck, his hair fell across my face making my giggle at the feeling, realization struck through me as I evaluated his movements in his head.

“Freddie are you ok?” I asked, my voice was more serious now but his behavior was just hard to read, it felt like since I met his family he had pulled back, the back of my brain was telling me it was because I did something wrong.

“Yeah I just,” He paused holding his breath. “Please don’t let me go.” His words vibrated against my neck. I felt his arms tighten around me as he spoke, like he was in a dream he didn’t want to wake up from.

“I wouldn’t dream of it Freddie.” I whispered back, deciding not to push it. Leaning down I placed a small peck to his ginger locks. I felt his mouth curve into a smile against my skin and it made butterflies erupt in my stomach. I felt giddy and drunk, being wrapped up in his arms, smelling, holding, being held by Fred. It was intoxicating and I couldn’t possibly wish for more.

#fred and george #fred weasley #weasleys wizard wheezes #george weasley #harry potter #fred weasley x reader #weasley twins #fred weasley fanfiction #fred weasley fluff #fred weasley fic #george weasley x reader #george weasley imagine #george weasley fic #george weasley fluff #fres weasley series #harry potter fanfiction

96 notes · View notes

thespianbooks · 3 years

Text

A Court of Nightmares and Starlight //Chapter Seventeen//

Masterlist

(tags: @thron3ofbooks, @df3ndyr, @courtofjurdan, @art-e-mis, @herondamnn, @the-third-me, @im-still-trying-here, @emikadreams, @paytin77, @mis-lil-red, @sleeping-and-books, @lucieisabooknerd, @amandaraey-sunshine, @easy-p-lemon, @azymondias05, @dagypsygirl, @makeshift-utopia) *bold tags don’t work ;-;

...I’m sorry ^^;

Something wasn't right.

"It doesn't make sense," Cassian said; all of us gathered around the map laid out on the large table in the library. "I've rotated my most trusted legion across every single Illyrian camp since the summit, including the ones we know haven't sided with Kallon—just in case, and nothing."

Azriel shook his head, as equally astonished as Cassian was at the lack of intel they had been working tirelessly to achieve in the last couple of weeks.

"My spies haven't found anything either, on any front." He said, hazel eyes growing hard as they scanned over the maps and reports spread out before us.

Two months had officially passed since our summit meeting and our tenure of peace was now plagued by stress. In the months that passed, Cassian and Azriel worked together to keep a watchful eye on the traitors in our court—the latter keeping his network of spies focused on Keir and his Darkbringer army, while the former kept a strict watch on the rebellious Illyrian camp lords. As our second and third in command, Mor and Amren not only attended to their duties in Velaris, but also visited the Hewn City on mine and Rhys's behalf—a show of force and distraction while Azriel's spies lurked in the shadows. In the last few weeks, Rhys and I corresponded with the other High Lords and Eris, updating them on whatever intel we managed to gather, and them offering us any information they might have regarding the Autumn Court and promising to keep alert on their end.

But as of late, there was nothing. No movement whatsoever from Keir, Kallon, or Beron.

We initially received a report a couple of weeks following the summit that our steward had called for a stall in his plans, and because of that we assumed the trio were biding their time in order to regroup and organize new plans to strike before my due date—now a short twenty-odd weeks away, but it was taking them too long.

No, something definitely wasn't right, and we all knew it.

"Is it possible they're folding back on the coup?" Elain asked, amid the tense silence that had befallen us.

Nesta placed a hand on the back of her chair, standing just to her side with Cassian on the other. "Keir wouldn't just give up on killing Feyre, the High Lord, or their child," she said, as blunt as ever.

I grimaced and Mor threw her a disapproving stare, but Amren loosed a long-held breath through her nose.

"The girl is right. They aren't pulling back on their plans now, but they are plotting something." she said, turning her silver gaze to Rhys and me.

I sighed, an idle hand running along the line of my belly—a considerable size now that I was nearing the end of the second stage of pregnancy. The baby inside was mercifully calm in light of the topics we discussed, which I was thankful for since my other symptoms weren't; a dull headache creeping in at my temples since I awoke this morning, and my lower back muscles sore with my new weight.

I drummed my fingers on the tabletop, readjusting myself in the chair I sat in for the hundredth time since the start of our meeting. "Could Keir be plotting something on his own?" I asked as Rhys offered me a hand up, wanting to help mitigate some of the ache in my back and hips temporarily.

"It's possible," he answered as I took his hand, standing with a heavy sigh.

I kneaded a sore spot on my back as I turned to look at Cassian and Azriel—who were watching me with equal concern and glancing at my swollen stomach. "Your reports say that Kallon hasn't corresponded much lately with Keir?" I asked, addressing Azriel.

The shadowsinger cast a wary glance at my mate, something they had all begun doing recently anytime they had bad news to share—as if they were afraid the information would harm me or the baby. The only ones who didn't tip-toe around me were Amren and Nesta, and I was grateful for it. As increasingly uncomfortable as I was becoming the more my belly grew, my mood swings now tended to lean more and more towards irritation. The last thing I needed was everyone trying to handle me as if I were made of porcelain.

I sighed in frustration. "You don't need to coddle me, Az. None of you do. Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I can't handle reading reports or operating during the threat of a coup." I snapped, harsher than I meant to.

I felt Rhys rest a hand on the small of my back; knowing he gave the spymaster a curt nod of approval, and Azriel, Mother bless him, dipped his head in apology. "You're right. Most of the messengers sent between them with letters or verbal messages have come from Kallon but have gone ignored in the last few weeks."

"From what I've seen, the stupid sot has been feeling slighted by that bastard and he's called off sending those imploring letters to the camp lords who haven't yet sided with him." Cassian added, "He's waiting for Keir."

"Because he knows he needs them," Mor scoffed.

"The steward is definitely concocting something," Amren said coolly and motioned to my sisters.

"Tell them what you saw, girl," she said to Elain.

We all turned to her, Nesta going rigid at her side—nails digging into the wood of Elain's chair.

"You saw something?" I asked her.

She frowned as she nodded, scanning the other faces in the room. "I had a vision the other night, of Vassa. She's our ally so I didn't think much of it at first, but last night the vision came to me again and it was...different," she explained, her eyes beginning to go vacant as she recalled the details.

"What happened in the vision?" Azriel asked, trying to gently coax her back in the conversation.

Her eyes were still distant as she turned her attention to him, as if he grounded her during these moments. "I saw just her face at first, she looked distraught as she gave some kind of warning. I couldn't make out the exact words," she said, shame quivering her voice as she looked at her lap.

"That's okay, Elain." Azriel said, stepping closer to her side and to my surprise, Nesta didn't flinch. "What else?" he asked again.

Elain sighed shakily. "Then, last night...I saw her face again, giving the same warning, and then...a weeping firebird sweeping over land before setting fire to it."

My eyes went wide, turning to look at Rhys as we both recalled the connection her new vision had with the previous one from months ago. A great-winged animal sweeping over a grassy knoll. Only now we knew that animal was a firebird, one that Elain also warned us of during the war. We all must've had the same realization, because within seconds we exchanged worried glances. Silent conversations passing mind-to-mind between my mate and his brothers, as well as Mor and Amren.

"I'm sorry," Elain whispered, staring at her lap again. "For not saying anything sooner, I just assumed her warning was about the coup. I didn't get any other details until I saw it in my dreams."

"You didn't do anything wrong Elain," I said reassuringly. "We're all working with the information we have."

Rhys nodded. "Cassian and Azriel will go to the Mortal Lands and check in with Vassa, Jurian and Lucien. I'll send a letter ahead of them, and we can hope we get there before Keir does."

"You think Keir will move against the Mortal Lands?" Nesta asked, silent horror hidden behind those blue-grey eyes.

"He knows of the ties Lucien has with them. If he can take them down and sever whatever bond Lucien has with the Queen before they can ally with us against him, that's an advantage for him with the Autumn Court," Cassian explained.

"We need to monitor them as well," I added quickly. "In case Beron decides to work on Keir's behalf to sweeten the pot in whatever deal they've struck."

"I'll send my spies," Azriel said, nodding at me in acknowledgement.

"You'll both leave tomorrow," Rhys ordered them. His violet eyes were hardened, wings flaring slightly as they began detailing out new plans.

Go with them. I urged through the bond.

The hand that held my waist only tightened slightly. I can't leave you behind, Feyre, not with something like this brewing

I'll be safe with Mor and Amren here in Velaris.

I'm going to take you and your sisters to the Cabin until we get word back from Cassian and Azriel. Mor and Amren can guard Velaris

Or you can leave me and my sisters at the Cabin and meet up with Azriel and Cassian.

He gave me a weary look, but I squeezed his hand. The three of us will be safe there. No one outside our family knows of its location, and no one can winnow inside. We'll be taken care of until you three return, and you can keep me updated.

I saw the contemplation swirl in his violet eyes, knew that behind his adamant shields he saw the sense in my words but was still reluctant. His hand came to rest on my stomach carefully, earning a delightful kick from our son—who seemed to have awoken during our silent exchange.

I can't leave you. And even through the bond I could hear the strain in his voice.

I sighed, but before I could argue further, Cassian cleared his throat. "We'd be better suited if we had the High Lord at our side, since the High Lady is incapacitated at the moment."

Azriel nodded in agreement, "If there is a threat to the Mortal Lands, we'll need a more competent diplomat present to warn and ready them for the strike."

Rhys's gaze hardened again as he met his brothers urging stares. They knew as well as I did that my mate was on edge, his nerves only growing more unsettled in recent weeks, making him more protective of me and our child. He hardly left my side at all these past few months, so the opportunity to go out and perform his duties as High Lord would help alleviate the tension growing through our bond once again.

I squeezed his hand reassuringly, those hardened violet eyes growing softer as they met with mine. We'll be waiting here, safe, until you come back. Go warn our friends in the Mortal Lands, and then we can finally take care of Keir.

His eyes landed on my stomach once again before he loosed a breath through his nostrils and nodded in acknowledgement at his brothers.

XXX

"Do you think she's alright?" Elain asked.

Her quiet inquiry interrupted my stormy thoughts as I stared out the window of the sitting room. Only a couple of hours had passed since the Illyrian brothers carried us up to the safety of the cabin; Cassian holding Nesta, Azriel taking a flushed Elain, and Rhys hauling me and my swollen belly. I had made a sly comment about the burden of my new weight to Rhys in the hopes to ease his apprehensiveness and was glad when he smugly reassured me of his otherworldly strength with his trademark feline grin, before depositing me on the steps leading to the Cabin. My heart tugged at the memory of the two of us having escaped here only weeks before, but we all knew this was the safest place for me and my sisters at the moment. Mor and Amren remained in Velaris, as we had all agreed on, and moved to monitor the city from the House of Wind as an extra precautionary step.

I turned away from the window, having stared at the mountains surrounding us since Rhys kissed me and my belly goodbye. "Vassa is fierce, and well-guarded thanks to Lucien and Jurian," I reassured her.

"She's still got that curse," Nesta scoffed from her place on the loveseat across from where Elain sat.

Elain frowned and I glared at my eldest sister. "Yes, but thanks to the bargain father made for her temporary release, we've been able to extend it and she hasn't been forced into her firebird form in over a decade," I explained.

"But my visions haven't been wrong yet. What if she is forced into it?" Elain pressed.

I sighed and crossed over to where she sat, using the arm of the chair to help lower myself onto the plush seat—noting how cautiously Nesta eyed my movements. "We still don't know what your vision meant. Perhaps Vassa shifts into her firebird form in order to aid us in the coup?"

"She was weeping as she set the fire," Nesta interjected.

I sighed and pressed a hand against my temple, messaging it lightly in an attempt to relieve the stress beginning to build up. Elain leaned over to rest her hand over mine gently, "Let's talk about something else. You were right, Vassa is strong and we won't know anything until Rhysand, and the others return."

I nodded in agreement with a faint smile, moving my hand to rest on my stomach. "How have you been feeling? You've been so busy serving as High Lady that Nesta and I haven't seen you much lately," she asked.

Nesta interrupted before I had a chance to reassure her. "You need to allow yourself more time to rest. You're nearing the end stages of your pregnancy, and the strain of all of this isn't good for your youngling. Let that High Lord and assistant of yours take care of matters from now on," she scolded.

Elain and I balked at her, equally shocked that she was being so stern with me again. I had noticed fairly early in my pregnancy that Nesta was growing increasingly vigilant of me—concerning herself more with the welfare of the child I carried, and after what Cassian revealed to me weeks ago, I now understood why. Despite her brute facade, she cared about me and worried about the fate of my child; perhaps as any older sister would.

I swallowed the irrational tears and sob that built up in my throat, a reaction I now involuntarily had every so often, and sat up a little straighter. "It's not that simple," I reasoned. "I'm still High Lady and given the concerning reports and lack of intel we've obtained in the last couple weeks, I've had to work together with Rhys to reach out to the other courts and meet with the rest of the inner circle."

"They're all thinking the same thing, except maybe Amren. They want you to rest more and let them handle this situation," Nesta went on. "They're just too scared to hurt your feelings or upset you, or whatever idiotic reason it is, not to tell you."

"Oh, but you aren't afraid to do any of that, are you?" I asked a bit bitterly—beginning to second guess my earlier sentiments.

"I'm not, because I see the toll this pregnancy is having on you and unlike the others, I'm not afraid to bring it up and say what needs to be said." She argued, hands placed on her lap with striking elegance—even though her words were anything but.

I hardened my stare at her, our identical blue-grey eyes cold with contempt; hers out of unyielding concern, and mine out of...reluctant understanding. It was no secret that my pregnancy was difficult, increasingly so since the early stages. There were periods of time when I felt fine, energetic and able to accomplish multiple tasks in a day, but there were still days where the lingering nausea and fatigue left me in bed for hours at a time. That, accompanied by the new onslaught of pelvic pains, back aches, and my rush of hormones caused me to be frequently disgruntled. Rhys, being the overbearing mother-hen he always tended to be whenever I felt the least bit poorly, did his best to console me. The others did as well, to the point where I believed they were coddling me. It wasn't until now that I realized they only wanted me to remain at ease; knowing the risk of any stress on me or the baby could be dangerous. Madja had warned us of what complications could arise from that burden, and I knew now that they were all just trying to prevent it.

My gaze cracked as tears sprang back into my eyes and turned away as they burned. I took a few steadying breaths, Elain's hand coming to my shoulder to help soothe me as she slid closer to me on our shared seat. "I didn't try insisting I go with them to the Mortal Lands or anything. I'm letting them handle the situation, but as High Lady I need to oversee the operations."

"Yes, but you're burdening yourself with worry." Elain offered softly. "You've been taking on work that you could leave to your mate or the others."

"Like that meeting with Tamlin." Nesta reminded me and I frowned, remembering the toll that trip had taken on me at the time.

"Or insisting you attend all the meetings on the reports Cassian and Azriel have gathered. Rhys can attend to those and fill you in later," Elain added.

"The point is that you need to delegate more. You were off to a good start after the summit meeting, coming here with your mate and spending time with the others, but you've overloaded yourself far too much over the last couple of weeks." Nesta concluded.

I sighed, leaning back to rest against the plush seat and ran my hands over my protruding stomach, feeling my son beginning to stir from the occasional nap he took in the warmth and protection my womb offered. Every point they brought up was right; while we all had allowed ourselves a moment of peace following the summit, I had taken the anxiety of the recent reports Cassian and Azriel gathered and threw myself back into working to find a solution. Rhys had as well, but I knew there were times he wished I would retire to our room or at least sit when my aches and pains reared its ugly head.

"I know you two are right, it's just...difficult, at times. I am High Lady; my duty is to my court—alongside Rhys." I explained.

"But he isn't pregnant. You are, and your first duty is to the child you carry," Nesta insisted.

"The child who will be the heir to the Night Court," Elain said.

I nodded in understanding, but before I could agree with them, there was a frantic pounding at the door, followed by Mor's panicked voice behind it.

"Feyre, it's us. Let us in," she said.

Nesta was the first to stand and rather than take the hand I stuck out to help me up, she strode over to the cabin door, checked to make sure it was really Mor the voice belonged to and opened it. Elain helped me to my feet as Mor and Amren strode into the room with equal grim expressions. I noted both of their clothes were dirty, some scrapes and fresh cuts healing on their own that decorated their face and arms—my heart squeezed.

"What's wrong, what happened?" I asked, my voice sounding strangled.

Mor's brown eyes were broken as they met mine and she swallowed, "Vassa showed up on the front steps of the house, beaten and bruised, and crying...as she warned us to leave."

My heart nearly stopped, and I felt Elain go rigid beside me; her hand coming to cover her mouth in horror. "We tried to ask her what was wrong, and what happened back in the Mortal Lands to have brought her here now, but-" Mor began but stopped, her throat bobbing.

"She kept warning us to leave before anyone got hurt, before you got hurt, and her face went blank. She turned and transitioned to her firebird form, leaping to the skies...and began setting Velaris aflame," Amren finished bitterly.

I couldn't hold steady on my feet and I stumbled back into Elain's arms as my head began to spin—speechless. Velaris was on fire. Velaris, my home, was under attack again.

"Did you...is she...what…?" I couldn't even manage my thoughts as Elain held me upright.

Mor stepped forward and took hold of my arms, steadying me. "She disappeared after a few minutes, but not before setting many of the buildings along the Sidra on fire."

The Rainbow. Vassa had set the Rainbow of Velaris aflame.

"We sent word to Rhysand and the others but haven't heard anything back yet. I also sent word to Varian, perhaps Tarquin can help put out the flames," Amren said.

"W-What?" I asked breathlessly, my chest heaving. "The fires haven't been put out yet?!"

"It's spread quickly, we're doing our best, but without Cassian and Azriel to gather the Illyrian force…" Mor explained and our eyes met in mutual understanding.

I was the one they could turn to—rely on.

"Take me back," I ordered, still reeling. "I'll put out the flames myself. We can't wait for Tarquin or anyone else."

"Feyre, you can't use-" Nesta began but I snapped at her with a feral growl I hardly believed came from my own throat.

"This is my court. My home. I am High Lady and I demand you take me back now." I said, addressing them all.

Mor and Amren exchanged hesitant glances before the former spoke up. "I'd have to winnow you there Feyre, and you know the effect it has on you. You could faint and have to recuperate, there isn't enough time for that. Even if you could use your powers," she tried to reason.

"So we wait here and do nothing?!" I exclaimed, turning away from her hold on me and striding to the window.

I could see nothing from here, but as I closed my eyes the memories of the last attack flashed behind my lids. The screams of agony and despair as my people were attacked—ripped to shreds by the army of the Attor from Hybern. Nausea roiled in my gut as I reached down the bond.

Rhys. Where are you?

I was met with silence, and I could only guess what horrors my mate and his brothers were facing in the Mortal realm—for him to block me out. If Vassa had been here, who knew what threat had been made and who had orchestrated it all. My heart pounded as my power awakened inside of me, boiling in my veins and I tried not to tap into them as I felt the slight twinge of pain in my abdomen—until thoughts of Velaris kept invading my thoughts. The screams echoing in my head, trying to imagine those beautiful buildings now on fire. Thoughts of Ressina and our studio, of the children she was teaching, those innocents.

Everyone in Velaris was innocent, and they were on fire. I had to do something.

Dosomething.Dosomething.Dosomething

I couldn't hear whatever conversation was happening between my sisters, Mor, and Amren as I lingered by the window. All I could do was turn back to them, briefly meeting Mor's gaze before those brown eyes widened in realization. She opened her mouth to protest, but she was too late. In the blink of an eye, I became darkness—tapping into my power that had gone untouched for months, I winnowed onto the front courtyard of the estate that sat along the Sidra's edge. I stumbled forward on my hands and knees as my head spun, my ears roaring with the blood rushing to my head and it took every effort within me not to faint—to seize the darkness that threatened to overcome me and push it back.

My heart pounded, the pain thundering throughout my entire body, resounding excruciatingly in my head as I forced myself to stay conscious and I was finally able to raise my eyes to the nightmare before me. I saw the orange and red of the flames reflected in the river first, barely able to hear the screaming as I saw each and every building lining the Sidra ablaze. From my position in the courtyard, I could see the figures of citizens scrambling to put out the flames; could see the number of buildings extending backwards that were already lit. I sobbed as another painful twinge ripped through my abdomen, causing me to turn my head and vomit in the grass.

Sobbing again, I closed my eyes and felt my power simmering rather than boiling. Just enough to breathe it into my core as I raised a single hand in the air and slammed it back onto the ground with a lethal smack. Once again, as it had so many years ago, the Sidra rose in response and I summoned just enough strength to lean back onto my knees—raising both of my hands in the air above my head as I became the river. Shaking, I slowly stood, keeping my arms raised as a wall of water rose with me; expanding deep and wide before I walked forward.

Suddenly, it felt as if my abdomen was being ripped to shreds and I screamed, doubling over and sending that wall of water forward and over those buildings. I didn't have time to pray to the Mother, the Cauldron, anything in hopes that it had been enough to snuff out the flames before I was seized again with the pain that tore through my core. I gasped in breaths as I gripped my stomach with one hand and fell onto my knees—catching myself with the other.

No, no, no. Please…

I felt a trickle of liquid that quickly began to spread at the apex of my thighs and sobbed as I reached a hand under the band of my pants and touched my thigh. I screamed again as the agony ripped through my abdomen again and fell onto my side. I felt the darkness beginning to ebb around my vision, the pain going with it as I raised that shaky hand to my face. The last thing I saw before my world went entirely dark was bright red blood coating my fingers.

45 notes · View notes