I stepped back, pulse racing. “Stay away from me.”
Even as the words left me, I hated how weak they sounded.
He tilted his head, studying me like I was some riddle he couldn’t quite solve, though he enjoyed the game anyway. “I will. For now, at least. You’ll figure it out soon enough.”
“What?” I hissed.
Before he could answer, Mey’s voice broke through, hoarse but steady. “He’s stirring. Nate… he’s waking up!”
The entire group shifted towards the siblings, leaving me frozen, heart pounding for reasons I couldn’t even admit to myself.
Mey’s hands trembled as Nate’s eyelids fluttered, then cracked open. For a heartbeat, no one moved, the silence deafening except for the rain dripping on the ramshackle shelter.
Then his lips parted. “…Is it too much to ask for a pillow? Or do I have to bleed out fully to get one?”
A sharp, choked laugh burst out of Ashley, her hand flying to her mouth. Even Eve smiled despite herself.
“Idiot,” Mey whispered, pressing her forehead against his, her shoulders shaking. “Don’t you dare scare me like that again.”
Nate groaned, weak but measured. “Scaring you is… one of my strongest skills.”
I didn’t realise I’d been holding my breath until it came out in a ragged laugh. Relief flooded through me so fast it left me dizzy. My knees gave way and I sat down hard on the dirt, grinning like a fool.
“Gods, you sound awful,” Lionel said, voice thick but trying for steady.
“But I still look good though, right?” Nate croaked, a ghost of a grin tugging his lips.
Mey swatted lightly at his arm, as though even that was too much strength to spare.
For a moment, the storm between us all fell away. No fights, no secrets, no demons or mages, just us, together, with Nate alive. The warmth of it swept through the cramped shelter, fragile but real.
And for the first time in hours, I let myself believe we might be okay.
Even if Nate had finally woken, he was in no condition to head out yet. We decided to camp and take shiftsthrough the night. We banned Mey from participating, since she was already lacking sleep. Ashley set off to gather some sticks to keep the fire alive, she was too restless anyway.
I sat by the burning logs, warming my frozen hands, the blaze inviting. My body felt in great shape, my senses sharper than ever. Was it because I had let some of my magic slip?
Slowly, my gaze locked onto my fingers. They looked normal, like anyone else’s, yet they were cursed to long for fire.
I’d hidden it all my life, considering how hated mages were, how one of them stole my parents away from me, I wanted nothing to do with these powers. I simply rejected them, keeping them locked up tight. I hadn’t even told Lionel about it.
But nowheknew. The monster in disguise, lurking around us as if one of us. Why? Was he spying on the Ashen Corps? I glanced up and an uneasy feeling went through me, when I found Malakai already staring at me, his face blank, watching silently. I glared at him, before childishly giving him the middle finger. The corner of his mouth twitched, then a thin red thread swirled around my finger, forcing it down.
My eyes widened as I quickly hid my hand, clenching my teeth and making sure nobody else saw it.
What would he have done if someone had seen it!? Stupid; I thought he didn’t want to get caught? Wasn’t that the whole point in keeping it from everyone?
‘But you’ll figure it out soon enough’, his words echoed in my head as I frozein place.
I realised what he had meant. He was a demon, hiding in the Ashen Corps, just like I was a fire mage, trying to avoid my powers.
No.
We were not the same.
I curled my hands into fists, tightly, until my knuckles began whitening. The corner of my eyes burned, tears threatening to leave me, but I fought against them.
A hand brushed against mine and all my feelings washed away.
