Marcus/Rocco
Nobody spoke for a while. The city had fallen silent
again.
I slid one sword back into its sheath before doing the
same with the other. My arms suddenly felt twice as heavy now that the
adrenaline was wearing off.
"Ow…" Noah groaned from somewhere behind me. He pushed
himself upright, rubbing both temples like they personally offended him.
"I swear my brain is trying to crawl out of my ears."
Riley walked over, still looking a little unsteady.
"You don't use it enough for that." Noah scoffed
feigning offence.
A few metres away, Darren was still sitting against an
abandoned car while Livia wrapped a bandage around the cut across his forehead.
He winced. "Gently."
"I am being gentle."
He sighed dramatically. "I'm ninety percent sure
you're not, I raised you better than this."
"You literally didn't." I snorted, making Livia look
over.
"Don't encourage him."
I chuckled. "I didn't say anything and too late."
Darren pointed at me.
"See? He gets it."
Seraphina stood a little apart from everyone else,
quietly cleaning the edge of her sword with a cloth out of habit.
Callie wandered over to her. "You, okay?"
Seraphina nodded. "The headache is… unpleasant." Noah
groaned loudly enough for the whole street to hear.
"I can confirm."
Later, i wandered toward Darren. "How bad?" he didn't
look up from his food.
"My laptop?"
"You."
"Oh," he considered it, "I've had better days."
Livia tightened another bandage. "He's too stubborn.
I'd begged him not to go out to where you guys were."
"I had to."
"She could have killed you." We both kept silent. She
wasn't wrong.
I crouched beside him. "Thanks." He blinked.
"For what?"
"For not giving up, even when it'd risked your life."
His smile faded.
"I almost did. I should've figured it out sooner." He
looked at me. "I kept watching everyone freeze one after another and I couldn't
stop it."
"You figured out her eyes." I reminded him.
"Well, you figured how to wake Callie."
"That would be Valen's doing and we all did out part."
Callie nodded from where she stood.
"He isn't wrong."
Noah lifted up his drink. "I vote we never fight
mind-reading illusion demons again."
"Seconded," Riley said immediately.
"Motion approved," I replied. And everyone laughed.
Later that night, Valen stepped beside me. "You
hesitated earlier." I already knew what he meant.
"Yeah…' I stared at the cracked road beneath my feet.
"I knew it wasn't real."
"But you wanted it anyway."
I shrugged. "I saw them again." Mom and dad. "They
looked…" I couldn't finish.
"Happy." Valen did and I nodded. For several seconds
neither of us said anything.
"You know, there is nothing shameful about wanting to
stay." I looked at him.
"What?"
"You are human, Rocky." His voice calm. "As much as I
do not understand it."
I smiled and shrugged. "Thanks… I guess."
A soft beep echoed across our makeshift camp. Darren
frowned, picking up his laptop. "Huh…" his laptop screen flickered.
The sound waking everyone. "What?" he leaned closer.
His fingers began moving across the keyboard.
Livia blinked the sleep from her eyes. "Darren?" no
answer, only typing.
His breathing became uneven. "No…" the words were
barely audible. I stood.
"What is it?"
more typing then, his eyes widened.
"This… is crazy."
Noah walked over. "Dude…"
Darren slowly turned the laptop toward us. Three red
markers glowed on the map. Each one in a different direction.
Callie frowned. "Three?" Darren swallowed.
"They weren't there before."
"Another evacuation?" Riley asked quietly.
Darren shook his head. "No, I've already compared the
energy signatures." He looked up. "They're identical…"
He sighed. "Each one matches Cassian and Nysera."
Every heartbeat seemed louder than the last.
Noah let out a slow breath. "You've got to be kidding
me."
Darren didn't answer. He couldn't. the screen didn't
change. Neither did the three unmoving markers. Like they weren't hunting us
but like they already knew.
We'd be coming to them.