“It would’ve stopped a lot sooner, if you’d just let us treat you.” I’d seen the wound on his upper arm, the angry red mouth of torn skin. It was a deep cut; the blood alone was enough to confirm that.
Hector had refused Romy’s offer to heal it with magic. Kai’s too.
“Leave it. I can’t fix every minor inconvenience with magic, Arwyn.”
I both loved and hated how he said my first name. “It’s more than an inconvenience. You nearly died.”
“But I’m okay. See…” He reached for my hand, and squeezed. “I’m real, I’m alive and it’s going to take a lot more than a piece of cutlery to finish me off. You said as much, the Hunter was here for Romy, not me. Are we going to talk about why Verena is adamant in wanting Romy with her, or…”
I swallowed hard, a justified reply evading me. Hector studied my reaction as if waiting for something I couldn’t give him.
“Arwyn. You can tell me.”
Tell you what, though?“The Hunter could’ve been lying. He believes you still have Bahmet’s magic. He thinks that if he kills you, he gets himself the golden ticket to the finale. For all we know, he came for you all along. Ask yourself why would my aunt want anything to do with Romy?”
It was Hector’s turn to fall into silence. His eyes drifted away from mine, falling to an unimportant place in the bath-water. His reflection, maybe. Or mine, because when I followed it I found that his eyes were still on me after all.
“I guess we will get the answers when we are faced with Verena again.” Hector swished his arms, disturbing the connection we made through his reflection. “I do know, deep down, that if what the Hunter said was true, Verena is no threat to Romy. Otherwise she would’ve acted during the last trial.”
“Could she, though? Bahmet made the rules clear. Those paired up couldn’t harm one another,” I reminded him. “My aunt is comfortably sitting in a grey area right now. One moment she seems to protect us, the next she sends a Hunter into our circle who tries to kill you.”
Hector reached for his arm, fingers dusting over the broken skin. “Have you figured out the real reason I refused help with healing?”
I sensed the question was a tactic to divert the conversation. Deep down, I knew I was right. “I have my suspicions.”
Hector scoffed, a small laugh leaving a mouth trapped in a frown. “I want this little mark to be a reminder to think before I act. Hekate knows I need one. The pain, it will keep me sharp. Next time, when faced with uncertainty, I’ll remember that acting alone will only lead me down the path to self-destruction.”
“That’s what I’m here for. You don’t need to put the onus on yourself, Hector. Going forwards, I’ll be more persistent in making you think before you act. I can promise you that.”
My eyes lingered over him for the millionth time since seeing him into the bath. I searched for other marks that I might’ve missed. There wasn’t an inch of him I didn’t already have memorised. From the dusting of freckles across his chest, to the way his ribs pressed against his flesh when he took a deep breath in. I could’ve closed my eyes and painted him in the bright colours of my mind…
“Talk to me.”
“Of what?” I asked.
“Anything. Everything,” Hector persisted, eyes wide and glistening. How could I have missed the sudden shift of his emotion? Was I so distracted with my own concerns, that Hector’s had slipped through my fingers? “I hate the silence. I hate this place. I hate the world, and how it treats people like us. I hate it all.”
“Goodness gracious me,” I sung, trying to inject some humour into an otherwise damning mood. “Is there anything you don’t hate, little kitty?”
“Yes, in fact. There is. You. Arwyn Hopkin, Iloveyou.”
If I thought my world had ended when that athame jolted towards Hector, this was the moment that healed it. Every nerve in my body buzzed in response, my mind unable to think clearly as Hector continued.
“I don’t want you to bear the weight of my wrongdoings. What good am I to you if I continue to wear you down.”
Out of everything Hector said, my mind hyper-focused on three words.
“You love me?”
“Wasn’t it obvious?” Hector said, bottom lip pouting.
If I wasn’t fully clothed, I would’ve crawled into the tepid bath with him. Dragged his body into my arms, and never let him go. “You. Love.Me?”
“You make it sound weird when you say it like that.”
My cheeks tingled, a strange feeling that warned about the promise of a smile. Slowly, but surely, the corners of my mouth tugged upwards. “Hector Briar, I love you too. So much that it consumes my every waking thought.”
“At least you get a reprieve when you dream then.”
