“The longer you’re away from them, the more you realize just how horrible they are. Being around them causes you to become desensitized to their evil. It infects your pores even if you don’t want it to,” Tenia said. “They’re like poison.” She continued to stare at Myanin as if she’d grown a second head, though she didn’t push for answers to her questions. Maybe she could see the anguish in Myanin’s eyes. Perhaps it was enough for the fae to let it lie, for now.
The djinn nodded her agreement. “How’s your young?”
The disgust and worry on Tenia’s face instantly disappeared. “He’s good. Alston has kept his promise not to harm him. But I’m more worried about the damn high fae recruiting him. He’s been filling Torion’s head full of lies, and I’ve been trying to dispel them.”
That didn’t surprise Myanin. Alston was a snake in fae skin. Nothing he said could be trusted. She glanced around and saw they were standing in front of a building with a sign that said Motel. “What’s this?”
“A place to sleep that’s not within the confines of the Order,” Tenia said. “Alston won’t let me sleep in the room with my son. And I never really feel I can sleep with both eyes closed when I’m there.” Tenia looked at the building longingly. “I need some sleep.”
Myanin wondered if Tenia had felt the evil in the prisons. Had she been affected by the darkness that seemed to abide in the very walls of the building? She shook her head, trying to dislodge herself of the memory of the last prisoner. The malice left from when he’d spoken to her still clung to her mind. Just thinking about it sent chills down Myanin’s spine. It didn’t help that she no longer felt the indignation she had when he’d accused her of being like him.
She followed Tenia into the building and watched the fae speak to the human behind the desk. Tenia gave the man the human currency that she always seemed to be able to come up with. When she walked back over to Myanin, the fae held up a plastic, rectangle card.
“Why did you pay him?” Myanin asked. “You could have made him give us the room.”
“You know why, or you should by now.”
Myanin mentally rolled her eyes. She really wasn’t any better than the Order. She’d always had a superior attitude toward humans, even though she never wished them ill will. But she knew Tenia was saying that compelling the man to give them a room would be akin to stealing. She did know that. She’d just never thought of it as being wrong. It wasn’t hurting anyone, was it? But it was wrong. Stealing was wrong. In any form. Damn this whole self-improvement crap was exhausting, not to mention nauseating. Seeing herself in a new light was only making her want to turn tail and run back to the oblivion of darkness. In the darkness Myanin didn’t have to see herself. She didn’t have to view the imperfections she knew were there but were able to be forgotten because they went unseen.
“Anyway, we’re good to go,” Tenia said, drawing Myanin from her inward reflection, thank goodness. The fae’s eyes drooped, and her shoulders slumped forward. She looked ready to collapse.
“What is that?” Myanin motioned to the card.
“It’s the room key.” Tenia led Myanin further into the building.
It didn’t look like any kind of key Myanin had seen before, but then she’d never seen the cotton candy either, so what did she know? “Not as much as I thought” was becoming the resounding answer to almost all of her questions.
After a few moments of walking, Tenia stopped in front of a door and slid the card into a slot. The door beeped, and a little light on it turned green. Tenia pushed the door open, and Myanin thought it took much more effort from the fae than it should have.
“Pick a bed.” Tenia motioned to the pair in the room.
“I’ll take this one.” Myanin chose the bed closest to the door. She suspected Tenia might not be able to get up fast enough to fight off an intruder should one come upon them in the middle of the night.
Tenia nodded and without a word took off her boots, removed her knives from various pockets, and laid them on the table beside the bed before climbing under the blanket. “Get some sleep, Myanin. I think we’ve both earned it.” Less than a minute later, Tenia’s breathing had slowed, and she was fast asleep.
Myanin left her boots on. She removed her swords, setting them on the floor beside the bed, but she kept her knives in place. As she laid down, her own lethargy set in. But despite her exhaustion she could feel the heat Tenia had pointed out. The burning of the magic that was not her own beneath her flesh. Myanin wasn’t sure what to do about it. Was she having a crisis of conscience? She could confidently say yes. Was she ready to give up the power she’d taken? What if she could use the power for good? What if she could turn the purpose she’d originally taken the magic and make it helpful to the good guys? Could she really justify keeping it? Damn all these questions. She reached up and ran her hand down her face. Her skin was damp with sweat. She let out a sigh. She was so tired. Myanin continued to stare up at the ceiling, trying to shut out all the thoughts and questions that were eating at her. Finally, her eyes drifted closed.
The next time her eyes opened, Myanin was no longer in the motel room. Instead, she was standing in a ruined forest. The trees that had once stood tall and proud had been pushed over as if they were no more than twigs. The ground was charred black. There were remnants of blood
