Hailey stared straight ahead, eyes wide to hold in her tears, unable to actually say, “I forgive you” because she didn’t. She didn’t forgive him. Or herself.
“I don’t blame you for what Cobon did.” Her tone was flat, and that was the best she could do. “Asher, I understand why you didn’t save her, but I wish you had. I’m angry and sad, and I wish he had killed me instead, I—”
“Don’t say suchthings.”
But it was the truth. She’d trade places with Holly in a heartbeat. She searched Asher’s eyes, trying to convey her anguish, but seeing his own anguish broke her heart. It wasn’t Asher’s fault that Cobon was a monster.
Her throat went tight and she pressed her arms to her belly.
Asher watched her closely.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she resolved, and she wiped her eyes. “You’re not going to lose me. But I still have so many questions, Asher. They can’t wait.”
“What would you like to know?”
“For starters, what is a wretched human? And…wha…” Hailey shook her head, befuddled, but she wanted to know exactly what killed Holly.
“A Being living on Earth without a soul is a wretch,” Asher explained. “Anyone who seeks redemption will find it. However, those who live a wicked life slowly kill their soul. To save itself, such a soul will abandon its body here on Earth, leaving behind its life energy. The body lives on as a wretch, and a wretch is fair game for any Earth dweller to dispose of.”
“You can live without a soul?”
“Not very well.”
“But why don’t they die? Who decides when it’s someone’s time to die?”
Asher shook his head. “I don’t know. Any Envoy can see it, though. It’s as obvious as a flickering light bulb.”
“Giselle said you killed a student to make an example…to warn the others to stay away from me. Was he… flickering…?” she prodded as she sat on the soft grass, beckoning him to join her.
“He was a wretch, Hailey,” said Asher, his voice rising even as he sat next to her. He seemed angry, but not with her. “And I killed him to remove him from the Earth. He not only disturbed you, he brought the spoils of his wickedness onto my campus.”
“The boy with the rainbow hair? What did he bring?”
“A severed human head.”
“What?” Hailey breathed. “I tried to befriend a murderer?”
“And a cannibal.”
“Oh my God.”
Bringing her hand to her head, Hailey stared at a beautiful waterfall, shocked. There was no easy way to wrap her mind around her first day at Bear Towne. She wanted Asher to say that everything would be alright. She wanted Asher to touch her.
“Asher?” she asked when she felt the pull of morning.
“Yes, Hailey?”
“Will you ever kiss me again?”
Asher closed his violet eyes and smiled. “Yes, Hailey.”
Chapter twenty
The Breakfast
“Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see.” - Proverb
Still smiling at the thought of Asher kissing her again, Hailey groggily rolled out of bed and into the shower. She returned to her room after making some effort to look halfway decent, which, given her lack of supplies or a change of clothes, was a challenge. At least she had Tomas.
