Maybe Fate: A Novel (New Adult Paranormal Romance) (36 page)

But
is she wrong? Didn't he tell me how he felt?

It
was depressingly funny, how small that situation seemed, now.

“
Listen,”
she said, turning back and placing her hands on my shoulders. “I
care about you too much to fight over someone. So, if you like him
back, I won't get in your way.”

I
was surprised my tongue didn't simply fall out. “Oh, Becky,
no. I don't—that isn't—Ethan and I aren't going to...”
Thinking about him was terrible, his face kept contorting into that
mask of pain and fear.
She's
too nice to me, she thinks I'm worked up over guy trouble and she's
even willing to give me a pass to date the man she told me she
thought she was falling in love with.

More
than ever, I wanted to tell her everything. To grab her hands and
explain about the twaelin, about Nethiun, about our English
teacher...

About
me.

I
had enough control to set the mug of tea on my bedside desk before I
threw my arms around her neck. Burying my nose into her sweater,
staining it with tears, I wondered how many times I could cry so
hard in one day.

“
It's
okay,” she soothed into my ear. “Everything is okay,
Gale. Don't worry, this stuff, it will all pass. It's just
relationships, they're complicated.”

Yes,
I
thought, my head throbbing with the shame of everything I had done.
Yes,
it's just complicated.

That's
all it ever is.

****

Becky
tried to convince me to skip class the next day. My head was buzzing
too much to risk being alone.

Dragging
myself out of bed, stumbling through a shower that couldn't get hot
enough to burn away my memories, I somehow found myself making it
through a day that was inappropriately sunny.

In
English class, all I did was stare at the pointedly empty chair
where Ethlyn had been sitting beside me.

Nethiun
told me it wouldn't take him long to heal his wounds, will it be the
same for Ethlyn? Is it different because of... because of what I did
to him?

Looking
down at my hands, I clenched them till my forearms ached. Then, I
spread my fingers like flowers uncurling in spring.

There
was no blood, no strange blue energy coating my pale skin. Even so,
it was all I could see when I stared.

Class
ended without me noticing it had started. As people shuffled out,
laughing and preparing for their evening, I felt more detached from
the world than ever.

Feeling
eyes on me, I glanced up to find Valenforth standing in front of me
in the empty room.

Licking
my lips, my voice cracked. “How is he?” I didn't need to
say who
he
was.

“
I
suppose you should know,” he sighed. “Ethlyn is not
doing so well.” I grimaced openly, which encouraged him to
lift a hand to halt anything I might have said. “He's healing,
so I think he will be fine, but the damage he took... it's not
something I've seen before.”

Half-rising
from my chair, I stood there, stuck in the middle of deciding to sit
or to stand. “Do you know what happened? Did he tell you?”

The
serious, intense look in his dark eyes was enough to tell me he did.
It was also enough to make me fall back in my chair. “I didn't
mean to, you know.”

“
I
know,” he said softly. “Gale, what you did to Ethlyn was
unprecedented. It was beyond even what we, source twaelin, can do to
our servants.”

“
How—how
do you mean?”

“
Mn.
Well, when we create our servants, they are born from a piece of our
own energy. If we want them gone,” he said, lifting a hand and
closing it in the air on some invisible object, “we will them
away, or destroy them if we must, but the energy is ours and returns
to us.” Hesitating, he lowered his arm to his side. “What
you
did to him, it took his energy, his very being, and just... removed
it.”

Crinkling
my brow, I squinted at him. “I don't get it, removed it how?”

Valenforth
reached out, touching a finger to my shoulder. At first, I thought
it was an awkward gesture of sympathy. But then I felt the tingle,
the flow of power, and flinched.

He
reacted worse, jerking away with a wide-eyed stare of panic.
Panic,
yes, that's how Ethlyn looked last night.

Trembling,
sweat slid down my back. “What was that?”

He
laughed, a high pitched noise that felt out of place. “It's
what I thought, that's all. You somehow stole the energy from him.
Part of Ethlyn is
inside
of you now.”

My
stomach twisted, cold and tight. “Inside of me, I don't...”

“
This
is beyond what I even suspected,” he said quietly, his voice
heated with excitement. I'd never seen him like this.

I
didn't like it.

“
What
did you suspect?” I asked nervously, grabbing my backpack.
Something about his mood made me anxious, enough to get me on my
feet.

The
Corpse King stared at me, his smile smoothing to something calmer.
“Gale, I knew you had some sort of power in you. Something
that let you sense us, that drew
us
to you. I still don't know the details yet, but I have... a strong
suspicion. But let me ask you something, now.”

He
stepped towards me, closing the gap. His aura was ominous, I fought
the desire to step backwards.

“
Gale,
what do you want to do with this power you have, the ability to
kill
,
actually kill, the twaelin?”

“
I—nothing,”
I blurted, shaking my head side to side. “I don't want to do
anything.”

“
Nothing?
You must want something.”

He's
right, I do.
“I
just want everyone to leave me alone. And I don't want to hurt
anyone, ever again. That's all I want.”

He
brushed his fingers through his hair, considering me while the
corners of his mouth tightened. “And if someone wants to hurt
you, what then?”

Inside
my chest, my ribs felt like they were crushing my heart. “Who
would want to hurt me?”

“
Answer
the question. If someone did, or if they wanted to hurt someone you
loved, what then?”

My
palms were slick as I rubbed them over my thighs. “Am I
hearing you right? Are you implying that... with a power that can
kill twaelin... that I should worry about them wanting to hurt me,
or people I care about?” Lowering my eyebrows, I fought down
my swell of worry. “Are
you
threatening me?”

“
No,”
he said quickly, managing to look insulted and empathetic. “I
see why you'd think that. Forgive me. I am certainly warning you
that others may try.”

“
There
are no others.” My words were hard, crisp as an apple but far
more sour. “If not you, and with Ethlyn out of commission, who
would try to hurt me?”

That
stare, that hot, implicit stare...

I
knew who he was talking about.

“
He
wouldn't, Nethiun would never hurt me.” My brain rambled,
spitting out every reasoning I could find. It was easy to justify my
brave belief. I loved the blonde man too much to even think he'd
consider harming me.

Valenforth
looked away, staring out the window at the fading sunlight. It was
one of the last warm days of October. Somehow, realizing that made
everything so much more grim. “Perhaps not. I can't say. He's
a servant, like Ethlyn. If his Mistress tells him to do something,
he will do it.”

“
But
why would
she
want to hurt me, or anyone else? What have I even done?”

The
Corpse King closed his eyes, then turned back to me with such a
morose scowl I went speechless. “It is more likely what you
can do, if I were to guess.”

What
I can do, what I can...
Looking
down, I stared at my hands again.
He's
telling me she's scared of what I can do. Of course.

I
can kill them, they should all be terrified of me. Even if I don't
want to do anything to them, not at all, they know I can.

SHE
knows I can.

“
I
need to go.” Shouldering my bag, I turned to hurry from the
room.

“
Gale,”
he said behind me. “Remember, I've told you before. If you
ever need any help, I'm here for you.”

I
almost didn't respond. Yet, Valenforth had been kinder to me than I
had ever expected. Thinking about his warnings, how he had loaned me
the book, how he had brought that sparrow I had killed back to
life...

Looking
over at him, I flashed a frail smile. It was all I had in me. “I
know. Thank you.”

****

With
everything that had happened, there was one person I wanted to talk
to more than anything.

Standing
in the hall of the dorms, leaning against the wall phone, I listened
to the ringing impatiently.

Come
on, come on.

The
click of the line answering was sharp, it made my chest tight.
“Hello? Who's calling?”

Pleasant,
familiar, my mom's voice was exactly what I needed. I only wished I
could have seen her in person.

“
Hi,
Mom. It's me.”

“
Gale!
I'm so glad you called! Sorry we haven't talked in awhile, work has
been crazy with these new interns, and—”

“
It's
fine,” I said, smiling at how frazzled she was.
I
probably get it from her, how funny.
“How
are you, Mom?”

“
Oh,
you know. The usual.” Chuckling, I heard her fiddling with
something. “I'm going in for my night shift in a bit, so just
getting ready to eat. You've been eating, right?”

Holding
my stomach, I felt the cramps muted by my lack of appetite. “Sure
have.”

“
Good,
good. So what else is new, is school good? You decide on your major
yet?”

“
No,
not yet. Uh, classes are okay though.”
My
teacher is an immortal changeling!
“Nothing
special.”

She
made some small, understanding noises of sympathy. “Any new
friends, or I don't know, boys?”

Opening
my mouth, I bit my tongue instead of speaking. My hesitation made
her giggle with glee. “Stop, Mom, don't laugh at me.”

“
I'm
not! I swear, I'm not. It's just nice to think about you meeting
someone. Is he smart, funny? Handsome?”