‘No, she doesn’t, which is why it is imperative that you keep your word this time around. Do you understand?’ Heret-Kau glides over, patting the boy on the head softly as she walks past. ‘I will do what I can to save her. It was a demon that did this and while in this world she is still my responsibility. But I am helping you because I choose it, not because it’s my job and not because you asked.’
She places her hand on the ice, melting the frozen case around Siara effortlessly before my eyes. For a few seconds, everything is still. A horrid anticipation forms in my throat.
A breath.
A heartbeat.
Anything.
Just let me hear something.
The silence stretches. Emptiness courses like poison through my veins. I’ve killed her. She’s dead. Why did she do that? Why did she place herself there in front of that knife?
Her cold lifeless body lays there, motionless, pale – my nightmare now a reality. This is my fault. Marina and now Siara too. They died because of me. Because they became involved in things they shouldn’t have been involved with. Things to do with me.
That’s right. Marina. How had I forgotten? That night. She was waiting, waiting for me. Striking pain surges through my head. Heret-Kau looks over quickly. ‘Now is not the time to be preoccupied with such things, William.’
The pain subsides. Xander’s hand hovers over my shoulder, unsure how to offer comfort.
‘Master, what happened? Are you okay?’
‘Yeah, I’m fine, Xander.’ I shake my head a little as if warding away any lingering pain. ‘I don’t know what happened. I can’t remember what I was thinking about.’
The faintest heartbeat captures my attention. It steadies itself; I hear it clearly. Thumping one beat at a time, rhythmically, like the best song I’ve ever heard. She’s alive. Relief washes over me so intensely it’s hard to remain stoic. It’s all I can manage to merely release the large breath that had been held captive since the start of this ordeal.
Heret-Kau places a hand against the human’s cheek. ‘Strange. Apart from the horrible patch-up scar that’s been left from Marxel, there is no wound.’
‘That’s not possible,’ I say, taking a closer look. The Goddess is right. There’s no wound. Where suspicion should reign, immense relief resides. It is strange but if it means Siara’s alive then I will not provoke fate.
‘During your stasis, was she able to heal herself? No, that’s unlikely. Humans are not so impressive. Could her body have instinctively drawn on the residual demon magic in your ice aiding it in the healing process? No, that doesn’t make sense either. Even so, for it to have completely healed in so little time…’ Heret-Kau trails off, lost in thought.
Siara mumbles, turning to her side. She tosses and twitches in her restless sleep, drool sliding from the side of her mouth.
‘She definitely seems fine to me.’ Heret-Kau laughs. ‘How curious indeed.’
‘So she’ll be okay?’ Xander whimpers, tugging on the Goddess’ dress childishly. She smiles warmly in response.
‘Yes, dear, she’ll be just fine. No need to worry. Best you hurry along home. William has some things he needs to discuss with you.’ With a flick of her finger, a portal swirls open. ‘And I really do have a lot of work I need to get through.’
Xander nods, giving a final grin before jumping through the portal enthusiastically. Picking up Siara, despite her wriggling and squirming, I make my way over to the portal. Heret-Kau walks back to her desk, rummaging through the pile of orbs sitting on her desk. She finds the one she’s looking for.
‘This is your final warning, William. If you can’t bring yourself to do it, tell me, and I will make other arrangements.’
‘No, it’s fine. I will take care of it.’
Heret-Kau activates the blue orb. Her expression darkens, wandering over to the human girl in my arms. I see the name glisten for a moment across the frosted glass.
‘Is that Siara’s orb?’
The Goddess doesn’t reply, her eyes narrowed back on its contents. My balance shifts uneasily. ‘Is something wrong?’
Heret-Kau turns away, closing the orb abruptly. There’s a few moments of silence. ‘No, of course not. Everything’s fine.’ A small unconvincing smile flashes across her face as she turns back to me. ‘Run along now.’
Although irked at her dismissive tone, I concede, returning back through the portal.
32
Siara
‘Are you sure you feel better?’ Xander’s hand clasps mine as I sit up from the bed. He acts like I may drop dead at any moment but in all honesty, I’ve never felt better in my life. Energy rises through me, a new feeling of strength coursing through my veins and into my muscles and bones. I have no doubt it’s a result of the contract with Nero, who has conveniently disappeared without so much as a trace since the incident with Marxel. This works out rather well as I wasn’t particularly sure how I was going to broach the subject with the demons; turns out now, I don’t have to. What they don’t know won’t hurt them.
‘Too tight, Xander.’ That is, so long as I play the part. He lets go quickly, guilt flooding his face. The boy hands me a cup of lukewarm tea. I sip it slowly before placing it back down on the side table.
‘Sorry. It’s just a few days ago I thought you were going to – I thought you were already… And then when we brought you back here you slept for days. I thought maybe you weren’t going to wake up.’
‘But I did,’ I say with a smile and a light pat on his head. It seems seeing me, for all intents and purposes, dead didn’t do much to lessen Xander’s anxious mind. ‘I already feel a whole lot better, so there’s no need for you to worry.’ My eyes double take over to the used mug on the window’s ledge, a late afternoon breeze whistling in from the slightly ajar pane. How long has Xander been coming to take care of me? ‘How could I not when you’ve been taking care of me so well?’
Xander’s smile falters, noticing the mug. ‘Mhm,’ he affirms, his lips spreading to a thin-pressed smile.
Folding back the bedding, I stand up. ‘See? A healthy human,’ I say, giving an exaggerated pose. Xander cringes, recoiling with embarrassment through spread fingers. I’m still wearing the skimpy dress, a hole ripped into the stomach. Xander’s expression falls dark, narrowing in on the dried blood smears.
‘Siara, can I stay here for a little while with you?’ he says, his tone quiet. The notion takes me by surprise. I sigh. It wouldn’t be so bad if the demons would just forget about what happened, for Nero’s sake as well. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about what happened; all I know is I want the subject dropped as soon as possible. The less I have to think about it the better.
‘Xander, I promise I’m fine–’
‘It’s not that,’ he says, a rare determination filling his voice. ‘I just… I want to be here. I don’t like being over there anymore.’
I sit back down on the mattress with a thump, tapping the empty spot next to me. The boy accepts my invitation and jumps up to join me.
