"I've decided that I like you."
She sat on the seat next to my bed, looking down at me.
"I've also decided that you are just of no use to me as a lover, you'd break. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy you."
"What did you have in mind?" I asked warily.
She smiled again, "Put some clothes on," she commanded.
I obeyed and she took me by the hand, leading me out into the night, her grip warm and firm, but not too tight. I might have resisted, but there was something different about her that night, something... vulnerable, something delicate which wasn't there before. It was almost like she'd been wearing a mask, showing me the face of a warrior, but now she'd set it aside, revealing the person underneath.
Something about that person made me want to follow her, to find out what she'd been hiding... and why.
I hadn't known what to expect, but I certainly hadn't anticipated her taking me to dinner at a little place down by the river. For a while, I was wary that she was going to do something nasty to me, but I quickly realised that she meant me no harm, not anymore.
Now that I had a chance to see her when she wasn't in 'warrior mode', and talk to her, I began to understand her a little. She was passionate about martial arts and shooting; she loved riding motorcycles and had a disturbing obsession with needlepoint, if you can believe that.
But under all that, it wasn't hard to see an intense loneliness, and an almost desperate desire to reach out to someone, anyone who might understand her, even if only a little. She asked me about my life, the normal, everyday things that I enjoyed, fastening onto every detail of the world I could provide her with. She never asked about my fights, or my enemies; she asked about my favourite colour, or my favourite movie; the little things you and I take for granted, but which she'd been deprived of by a life of service and battle.
She was so earnest, so shy and honest, that my heart went out to her, and I swore to myself that I would do my level best to be there for her, to give her a little of the normality that she so obviously craved.
After dinner, we took a long walk along the riverbank, enjoying a companionable silence as we looked up at the stars. She smiled in a sweet way, the tension gone from her stance as she walked with me. Eventually, she started to talk about herself, even if only a little, and in general, almost vague terms. I did my best to gently draw her out of her shell, and I think that I even succeeded, at least a little, but I knew that one night wasn't going to be enough to undo a life of hardness and loneliness.
However, this was one task I was willing to devote the time to. She had rather endeared herself to me with her simple enjoyment of the little things in life, and her shy desire to reach out to another human being. Why she'd chosen me, I was never really sure, but I wanted to reach back.
Eventually, we fetched up back at Naiad, and we sat on a bench outside the front doors, finishing a small box of chocolates I'd bought at one of the night markets.
"Solomon's back," I said, perhaps stupidly, "I thought you should know. In case... in case you felt you should be back with him."
"I know," she said with a smile, "he sent me here to pry your weaknesses from you. What are those, by the way?"
I think she was joking...
"Fried food and dangerous women," I replied with a matching grin. She thumped my side gently, like she was afraid my ribcage would crumple, which it might have.
"I like that you told me that," she said, "You could have kept the information to yourself in the hopes of keeping my loyalty."
"No, I couldn't."
She smiled again and went back to seeking the last of the caramels.
"I think you will be a very useful ally. Or maybe a pet, I haven't decided yet," she said a little gruffly. This was her preferred way of covering up her brief moments of emotion and vulnerability. With practice, I was getting better at cracking that shell of hers.
"Well, rub my belly, and we'll see how we feel afterwards," I offered.
She sniggered, which was cute, and she nudged me with her shoulder.
I coughed for a moment, trying to think of how best to phrase what I wanted to say. In the end, I just decided to say it, "There's a B-movie marathon in the multiplex off campus this Saturday. Would you be interested?"
Her face broke into one of the most genuine smiles I'd ever seen in my life. It was so earnest and grateful that I nearly cried on the spot. Naturally, she stuffed it away as quickly as it had appeared.
"I suppose I could make a little time for you. Assuming that you can get more of these," she said, popping what I was fairly certain was the last good chocolate into her mouth.
"Alright," I agreed.
"Saturday, then," she said with a firm nod before standing and walking away. It was too late, though, I'd seen her blush.
Something in me just went out to her. She seemed so desperate for a friend, but something was preventing her from just looking for one. I had no doubt that it was related to that dumb warrior code of hers. Can't date someone weaker than you, can't go to dinner with someone who can't toss you like a salad... but it wasn't like I was innocent in the 'dumb reasoning' department. I would just try and do my best to be there for her.
And, before you point it out, yes, I knew very well that befriending someone who'd both fought me and broken my bones in the recent past wasn't necessarily the best idea, but I just felt that she was worth the risk. I can't explain that well, it just felt... right, and that was good enough for me.
And you'd think that would be quite enough emotional stuff for a while, wouldn't you? But no... because I lived with lunatics, now.
I woke up to a horrific banging on my door, which was followed immediately by it being flung open and Betty darting to my side, shaking me all the way awake.
"Mathew, Mary's in trouble, please come, please, please!" she said, already half dragging me out of bed.
I had enough presence of mind to grab my dressing gown and wrap it around myself as I followed her down the corridor and up the stairs to the fourth floor, where there was quite a commotion around Mary's door.
"I don't care what you say, you're coming home now, and that's all there is to it!" said a deep male voice from inside the room.
"You aren't Dad, and you can't make me- Ow, let me go! You're hurting me!"
"Make a hole!" I barked, already angry at the sound of Mary's pain. The students obeyed, smacking into walls in their haste to get out of my way. Tom was there, a startled look crossing his face as he realised where the order had come from.
Mary's room was covered in posters, flyers and all sorts of girly memorabilia, her desk similarly in disarray with papers and books. The man grabbing her by the arm was wearing a navy blazer, covered in gold buttons, dark trousers and a cream shirt. His face was similar to Mary's, though naturally more masculine, but there was something in the eyes and chin that was definitely of her, a cousin perhaps? Or even a brother?
She wore a pink shirt and cotton shorts, obviously just having been asleep. The man had her by the arm, and she was in obvious pain.
"What's going on here?" I asked, my voice low and cold, the man turned to look, and was obviously surprised enough by what he saw that he instantly let her go in shock, and Mary pulled away to dart behind me, where Betty pulled her into a hug.
"Who the hell are you?" the man asked, recovering his calm and realising that he had a good six inches and fifty pounds on me (most of it muscle).
"Mary's friend," I replied quietly, "and someone who takes a dim view of people attacking young women in their rooms, particularly at this ungodly hour."
It was seven in the morning. I'd only gone to sleep about three hours earlier, and it had me in a bit of a mood.
"Get out of my way," he said in a menacing voice, and then to Mary, "And you come here, you're packing!"
"I'm going to ask once nicely, and then I'm going to take the hump; what are you doing here?"
"He's my brother. He thinks I'm a whore, and he's here to d
rag me home," Mary said.
"Am I wrong?! Look at you! Cavorting in your underwear, and with this... creature at your door, how can I not think that? Now get packed! We won't tolerate the shame any longer!"
Right, right, Mary told me that her family was rather... fanatical about certain things. They'd apparently mellowed with the current generation, but she'd mentioned that her brother was trying to revive the old 'hellfire and damnation' ways. Oh, it was far too early for me to have to remember things...
"Look, just calm down," I said, stepping forward, my hands out in a placating way, hoping to get this sorted without my having to make a mess.
Apparently that was enough provocation, because he slugged me in the face.
Hard enough that I flew back into the wall and smacked my head soundly enough to lose consciousness.
Yes, he knocked me out.
That's right, a bloody Pureborn knocked out an Archon. If anyone heard about this, I'd never live it down...
Chapter 17
When I woke up, I was angry enough that Betty and Penny recoiled from the look on my face.
"Where?" I asked, my voice a rasp as I stood woozily.
"Out front," Betty said, her composure coming back quickly, "Kate's following."
Her phone buzzed and Betty looked.
"They're driving off!"
"Direction?" I asked.
Betty typed into her phone. Another buzz, "Ploughman's Street."
"What's the car look like?" I asked, opening the window.
"Red Ferrari."
I smiled nastily as I dropped out the window, my Shadows collecting me as Betty shrieked and darted to watch as I flew away.
"You little prick! You could have warned me!" she bellowed as I flew off.
It didn't take much to find that car. It had roared right into a rush-hour traffic jam and was currently lodged between a garbage truck and a bus. I slid to a stop above it, wrapped in a cocoon of Shadow.
Now, how to deal with this? Tear the car in half? Cast an oxidation spell that would turn the engine into a chunk of rust? I sighed as I realised that those were likely not the best ways to deal with the problem, and especially not with so many witnesses around.
So, I extended my Will and simply picked it up.
There were aggravated squawks from inside the car, as the Ferrari (which probably cost more than most small houses) lifted gently off the ground and followed me sedately back to Naiad. I made sure to surround it with an Illusion, so we wouldn't be followed.
It didn't take long to get us back to the Hall, where I placed the vehicle gently in a parking spot outside the front doors (I made sure to drain all of the electrical energy from it so Mary's brother couldn't just drive off again). Mary jumped out of the car almost before it landed, throwing herself at me as I stepped from my Shadow Cocoon. I accepted the hug and patted her back.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
She nodded, her cheek on my shoulder. Her brother got out of his car, and he looked very unhappy, rage warring with fear as he glared at the pair of us. Rage won, and he took a menacing step forwards.
"Go on up. Your brother and I are going to have words," I said.
"Okay," she said, pecking my cheek before heading towards the door.
"No! She will not stay within a hundred miles of you, abomination!" the man shouted.
He took another step towards her and was suddenly flung back into the car hard enough to crack a window. His eyes widened as he looked at me, gulping audibly as he looked at the blood trickling from my rapidly swelling nostril.
I believed that it had finally dawned on him.
"Yes. You attacked a Sorcerer. Not your best idea, if you were willing to leave me alive. And even then, not a great idea, because I have opportunistic sadists on the payroll, and they would avenge me in a wide variety of very painful ways, but I digress."
He actually peed himself, which was a strong reaction, even for me. I can't say that it didn't amuse me, though.
"Alright, I will keep this simple," I said as I called my Shadows and set them to work behind him, casting a little Muffling Spell so he wouldn't hear what I was doing, "you will go away. You will not come back unless she asks you to. I will be watching, and I'll know if you have."
"You can't just-"
"I'm still talking," I said acidly. He shut up.
"If you should come by again without Mary's permission, then you'll end up much like that lovely car of yours, and neither of us wants that."
Watching his expression go from quizzical to alarmed to horrified rather redeemed my day. He spun and let out a half-gurgled squeak of horror as he saw what had happened to his pride and joy. It wasn't so much a car anymore as it was a paperweight, a rough sphere of mangled metal and plastics, about a metre across, weighing in at about a ton and a half. The look on his face was priceless, and highly amusing to me.
He turned around, fury on his face to find me gone. Well, safely behind an Illusion, but as far as he was concerned, I was gone. He spun in place, terror and rage fighting it out once again, as he looked for me.
"Run, little piggy, run, run," I whispered from ten different directions, making him jump.
This time, terror won and he ran like the clappers, but not before tripping neatly over the remains of his car and falling flat into a puddle.
It's the little things that keep you sane, I decided, as I walked up the steps into my Halls, dropping my Illusion as I went, a broad and evil grin on my face.
The door flew open as I approached and I was dragged inside by about a dozen hands that then began checking me over none too gently, prodding and poking at the mangled nose and bleeding scalp (which I hadn't even noticed until Betty let out a squeak and presented a bloody palm).
"Hospital!" Penny said, already dragging me towards the door.
"He can fix himself, you twit, if we just give him a minute and maybe some air," Betty replied.
"Oh. Sorry, Matty," Penny said sheepishly, "Forgot."
"That was awesome!" Sasha said, "But aren't you worried he'll sue?"
She was a law student. Thoroughly overworked, but her heart was in the right place.
"Shouldn't think so. Doesn't know my name, and he'll be worried that I'll turn up and do the same thing to his face one day," I replied, gingerly touching my nose, which was almost certainly broken. That was going to take ages to fix, and I had early appointments to get to.
Terrific, I'd have to walk around with a broken nose for half the bloody day...
Mary made her way through the crowd, which parted to let her through. She stopped in front of me and reached up a tentative hand to touch my nose. I winced on contact and she flinched back.
"That arsehole!" she said, back to her old self, "But did you have to wreck that car? He may be a dick, but that was a work of art!"
"My humble apologies," I said dryly, "Next time, feel free to shop around for more delicate Magici-"
I didn't have a chance to finish. Mary grabbed me and pulled me into a huge hug, nuzzling in close to my neck, trembling a little.
"Thank you," she said before giving my ear a little tug and darting up the stairs, several girls in tow.
There was giggling and pointing and whispering, which quickly turned me an interesting shade of red. I almost ran up the stairs to my room, followed by the laughter, where I changed to start my day.
Initially, I'd been worried that the brother would come back, in spite of my warning, but I needn't have. If he'd somehow managed to get Mary home, her parents would have thrown a fit, and just sent her right back again. They didn't subscribe to any of that Old World nonsense. In the end, my intervention wasn't strictly necessary, other than to save Mary a little inconvenience, but the hug she'd given me was rather worth the broken nose, in my opinion.
And, because of that, I actually made a breakthrough in my High Magic classes that day!
I mean, it was a very disturbing breakthrough, but still, I'd take what I could get.
I was starting to get better at the meditation, aided by a sort of mental-sharpening field that Professor Law maintained while we were practicing, but I was still having trouble perceiving Space Magic. The meditative state we'd been taught was helpful, and allowed for some quite impressive contemplation, even to the point of enabling one to think of several things at once. It was a very interesting experience, even if it did make me feel like an idiot once the field was shut down.
Frustration had made my mind wander off topic that day, and I found myself thinking about Mary, and that wonderful hug. That led me to a contemplation of her brother, and how he'd hurt her, which made me angry. I could feel my mind divide as it contemplated these two opposite concepts, like the thoughts were almost brushing against each other.
And then they sort of... caught and merged. It was an astonishing sensation, a messy combination of feelings; affection, interest and anger all combined in my mind, and something... changed. Something clicked.
And that's when I felt it.
Now, you'd think that in that sort of state, thinking about a dear friend and protecting her, would bring about one of the pleasant, or at least benign types of High Magic, Space, maybe or even Life.
Nope. I got Death.
And, by the way, it was everywhere.
And I do mean everywhere. In everything, every particle of air, every chemical reaction, every cell of our bodies, every part of every person and every thing in every building everywhere.
Intellectually, I knew that it wasn't Death per se, but Entropy, that force of decay and degradation that exists to keep the world balanced. It was a strangely scientific phenomenon...
But, in that moment, it felt like the world was dying right before my eyes, and I couldn't bear it.
I threw up.
Very, very hard.
It went everywhere, all over me, the floor and the Sorcerer sitting in front of me. I kept heaving until there was nothing but clear yuk flowing out of my mouth, and then I heaved some more. I groaned, and shut my eyes so I couldn't see it anymore, but naturally it wasn't that sort of sight, and I could still feel it all around me.
"Breathe, Graves, just breathe," Law said as the other students backed away from me and my mess.
Heart's Darkness Page 23