Shit.
“Was that really the job?”
“Yes, that was the test. I knew about the demon and was going to come and swing by to sort it out. The creature feeds on dream energy, the worse the dreams, the happier and stronger it is. It has been making this village miserable.”
I make a low noise in the back of my throat.
“Why did it come up to Ronit?”
“Well, I thought it was arrogance, but I think it probably sensed me or Mei and decided a nice strong Siren would be good protection,” Diablos says mockingly.
Hartley is silent, his arms folded over his chest.
“What?” I snarl at him.
“In the force, you have to have your partners back. It’s the only way it will work out.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. My head aches.
“You are stronger together,” Diablos says evenly as if he hasn’t said it a million times. “You are almost the perfect team, strength meets skill, meets knowledge. If you would just openup your eyes, if you would get past your damn prejudices, you would see that Mei could be the thing that saves you.”
“She is the one who damned us,” I say coldly.
“Did she, though?” Diablos snarls. “I thought about that. When I went and researched her, I spoke to many beings, old and young. Mei doesn’t seek out trouble; she just survives. She’s not vindictive or cruel. So, the question that sat in my mind all this time was: what upset Mei so much that she set your skies on fire? Did even one of you stop to ask that?”
“Of course, we did.”
But that’s not true. We assumed the witch was a dumb animal, all instincts and animal urges. Why would she have a reason or a motive for what happened?
Unease swirls in my gut.
“Think it through, Siren. Your salvation. Or your undoing. You get to choose.”
With that, Hartley and Diablos disappear, leaving us alone in this fucked-up village with a girl-shaped demon, an angry crowd of people, and this weight that feels far too much like guilt pressing me down.
Chapter 12
Mei
I’m leaving.
I pace the clearing, furious at my inability to just go already. There are reasons to go. I recite the list, but there’s no real reason to stay. Why am I still here?
The forest is weird without them. My chest aches when I hear them shouting at me again. My shoulders curl.
“They are never going to like me,” I whisper. “Stop caring. Just stop.”
The curse Diablos gifted me with is one reason why I’m not gone. What if I end up needing to come back? That would be worse.
I spin around and scrape my fingers through my hair. I end up catching it up in my fists and yanking, trying to get the pain to help me see sense.
“I’m done. I can’t do this. It won’t work.”
Once I say the words out loud, it feels real. But I’ve lived with them for three months. I’ve been hidden, listening to them, hiding in their aggressive protection. Going out on my own in this world is terrifying.
I wish I could figure out how to open the worlds so I could go home.
But if I could, would I? Back to starving, wounds that don’t get a chance to heal, running, being cold and afraid. How can I stay here and protect others when I can’t even protect myself?
