“It’s okay, Ava. It’s okay.”
“Alright,” he grumbled. “I’m just going to go ahead and fix the wound though, yeah?” I pushed him away from me and he held up the hand and wiggled the nub that was left of Ava’s left ring finger. He wiped it off on Ava’s shirt before holding it up again, completely healed.
“Maybe you can ask her to stick this one in your tight ass,” Makwa said with a chipper smile.
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” I snapped, turning away and stomping out of the room.
“That train left the station a couple hundred years back, sorry!” He called back.
“Why didn’t you stop me,” Brandon hissed at Mothman. Mothman signed away while Brandon seethed at him. He ate Ava’s fucking finger. I couldn’t deal with this bunch. I pushed into an office with a wooden desk slid up under the window. I looked at the trees outside. It was nearly night. The police had told us to stay put. I was antsy to do something but there wasn’t much to do until they arrived.
“Caspian,” I heard Ava say, following me into the room. Immediately I turned to her, pulling her in my arms, burying my face in her neck, and letting her scent wash over me.
I grabbed her hand and pulled it up, delicately touching what was left of her finger. Her hand was still black. Was the curse really gone?
“Why did he do that?” I asked her. “It makes no sense. We can get rid of him now, can’t we?”
“Caspian,” she sighed, looking away. I pulled back my emotions and thoughts.
“You don’t want him gone,” I stated. She looked up at me, deep brown eyes taking in my blank expression. She reached up and held my face in her hands.
“I need him.”
“You don’t. He just got rid of the splinter. You aren’t cursed anymore.”
“I need him so that I can be a better person,” she explained.
“What?” I asked in disbelief. She had to be joking. “How could thatthingmake you a better person?”
“Stronger,” she said. I looked over her face, wondering where this was coming from.
“Ava, why would you need that?” I asked. “I can protect you.Wecan protect you.”
“I don’t always want to be protected, Caspian.”
“You don’t want me to protect you?” I asked, feeling sick. That was my job and she didn’t want it? Was it because of how shit I’d been doing with it?
“Don’t look like that,” she sighed, pulling out of my arms and taking a step back.
“You don’t want me to protect you? You rather it be Makwa?” I asked.
“No,” she said, reaching up and rubbing her forehead. She was frustrated. “I want to protect myself and I want to be able to protect you too, the same way you protect me. I can’t be the weak link. I want a partnership and I need to be stronger. I won’t be forced into situation after situation where you all are risking your lives to save me. I won’t sit around in shackles waiting for you all to come and get shot at. I won’t be manhandled and captured and watch you get drowned—” her voice cut off, sounding choked. She wiped tears from her eyes.
“Ava, you know I can’t drown.”
“That’s not the point,” she said loudly. “You know how many times I’ve seen you all attacked? How many times I wasn’t sure if you were hurt or worse? How many times I wassurethat some of you were dead? He died,” she said, looking up at me. I realized she was crying fully, tears falling down her cheeks. I moved to her immediately, wrapping my arms around her, and pulling her face to my chest.
“Ava, who died?”
“Mothman. He… he was shot and bleeding and hurt. He was gone, Caspian. He was gone and I could have done something.”
“He’s not dead,” I said in confusion.
“When you and Brandon went into the woods he showed up, flung himself in front of me, and was shot. He wasgone,” her voice was too fast—strained and flimsy. “He dematerialized. He came back, but Caspian, he was gone for a moment.”
My grip on her tightened as she kept talking, my heart racing. I swallowed, my thoughts blanking out in white. I’d failed him too. I’d bit him and then failed him. I knew something had happened. Brandon and I had seen the body. Well, what was left of it anyway—a headless torso and limbs scattered in a ten foot radius. Didn't see the head. Is that what she meant by using Makwa? Had she done that?
If that person had shot Mothman, then good. If I could sew that bastard back together I would, just to tear him apart piece by piece again. I’d do it endlessly until there was nothing left to salvage.
