“You’re just assuming he has to kill by 7 PM,” Sarah objected. “It might just be a coincidence, and if we pin all of our hope on that,” she didn’t bother to finish that sentence. She shook her head.
I just watched, occasionally taking sips of my cocoa, but mostly drinking in its warmth. It was a distraction, but I needed something a heck of a lot more distracting to pull my mind off Fagan, off Dimitri, off that freshly dug grave.
It wasn’t just fear billowing and shifting through my gut like a storm cloud. It was anger now, too. Anger in the face of certain defeat, but anger nonetheless.
How dare those assholes kill indiscriminately. How dare they do what they want. And how dare they get away with it unchecked.
Though the anger made my blood boil, though the anger chased away the fear – it couldn’t last.
Max broke away from Bridgette and Sarah and took several steps towards me. “If we can’t agree, then we have to split up. I’ll take Chi and keep her safe.”
Bridgette snorted. “And how exactly are you going to do that, fairy? That’ll split up our forces. That will make us easier targets. Our only option is to stick together and fight together,” she said passionately.
“Bridgette is right, Max. You can’t leave us now.”
Us, or her?
Again I wondered exactly what kind of relationship these two had. I was hardly in the mood to ask, though, and nor did I want to split Max’s attention. Though my mind was still suspicious of him – though my mind kept reminding me of what Fagan had said – my heart could not be argued with. I had to stick with him. It would be my only chance of living through this.
Max wouldn’t budge. “You’re overestimating Fagan’s reach. He won’t go after you. But you’re underestimating what he’ll do to get his hands on Chi,” Max’s voice dropped.
I looked up at him, looked up at him as a sickly frown cut across my lips, looked up at him as I wondered whether I would retch. I held onto the contents of my stomach, though, and pushed up from the chair.
Maybe Max was right, and the best thing to do was to run. We could stay on the road, keep away from Fagan until we bought ourselves a chance.
I shook my head. Or at least something shook my head. I heard that voice again – quite possibly the long subdued voice of my conscience.
I had an obligation. Whether I liked it or not, these witches had helped me, and I had to help them in return. Fagan wasn’t just after me. Yes, I was his next intended target, but the Lonely King would demand more sacrifices. He would need more hearts for whatever devious purpose he had in mind.
Maybe he wouldn’t go after the witches directly, and maybe he wouldn’t murder any of them in the next two hours. But I didn’t put it past him to capture some and keep them for tomorrow.
Or heck, maybe Max was wrong – and Fagan didn’t have to murder on the hour every 24 hours. Maybe he just had a flair for the dramatic.
As I shook my head, Max frowned. “It’s the only way, Chi. We need to head underground. And we need to go now.” Though I could tell he didn’t want me to see, he quickly glanced at the clock on the wall. I made no attempt to hide my move as I turned and glanced at it, too.
Half an hour. I had half an hour until I succumbed to Fagan’s blade.
That thought could have easily crushed my world, sent my thoughts spinning into freefall until I blacked out entirely.
I held on, though. I took a breath. “Max, they’re right. We shouldn’t split up. I may be able to help them,” I added, weakly, realizing that in my current state I couldn’t even help myself.
Max offered me the strangest half frown. “Now is not the time for growing a conscience,” he muttered quietly under his breath.
Sarah Anne walked up behind him, hesitated, then reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Max stiffened, and I couldn’t tell whether it was out of surprise from her sudden move, or something else.
“Please, Max, we need your help. And you need ours. You can’t be everywhere at once. And you… if you use your powers, you may start to forget,” she said softly.
I’d seen Max stiffen before. His pronounced muscles seemed uniquely attuned to seizing up like coiled springs. At yet it was nothing compared to what happened now.
Before Max could say anything, or jerk away and stalk off, Sarah took a soft breath. “We need each other. It’s the only way to buffet the consequences of our magics. You forget, Bridgette splits, and I can’t age. Together, with the help of the coven, we can watch each other’s back. Apart? This fight will kill us.”
Max wouldn’t answer.
So Sarah sighed. “If you do go to ground, you’ll just make it easier for Fagan to find you. He has spies everywhere.”
“Then I’ll hide in the open. Barricade myself in. All I need is,” he ticked his eyes towards the clock, “32 minutes. I buy myself that, I buy myself a day.”
Bridgette swore. “You’re not listening. You’re not thinking, either. Fagan is gonna have friends. He will also have enemies, idiot. I don’t know who he’s collecting these hearts for, but they have to be a kingpin. I’m sure this dark country is just full of magical assholes who would like to curry that kingpin’s favor.
