by Dan Wingreen
That doesn't mean I won't try.
The cold anger of earlier returned as he thought about Noah. He was the only one left who still had to pay. Aidan couldn't fall apart until Noah was dead, so he wouldn't let himself.
He pushed the grief and the guilt aside the best he could, and pulled out a pen. He sighed over what he was about to do, but he didn't have it in him to care as much as he would have a few minutes ago.
Aidan cast the See Through Walls spell again and looked through the floor.
The fire still burned just as fiercely as before; he could see more unmoving skeletons in the flames, and even more surrounding them still moving. He had no idea if they were getting it under control or not, but either way he couldn't wait around. They'd either put it out and come after him and Lee, or the fire would burn the building down and kill them.
He needed to get to Lee. Fast.
Aidan looked around, somehow even more disorientated standing in the middle of a large, open space than he had been racing through the groupings of cubicles. Finally, he spotted an exit door.
I hope there's some stairs behind it.
He took off towards the door, then slowed as an idea popped into his head. Then stopped.
Aidan glanced thoughtfully up at the ceiling.
That might actually work…
◆◆◆
Lee ducked, barely avoiding a vicious slice that would have taken his head off.
He wildly blocked three more attacks from Noah before managing to find a way through his guard. He pushed Noah back, trying to ignore the sweat dripping into his eyes as he berated himself.
Bloody idiot, you know better than that.
And he did. Noah was too good of an opponent for Lee to leave stupid openings. He knew better. But he'd done it anyway.
It wasn't just that Noah was good, although he was, and Lee had no idea where or why someone like Noah learned how to sword fight. And it wasn't just that Lee was tired. He knew how to fight when he was tired. Lee was being sloppy.
More than that, Lee was outmatched.
Right then, Noah had more magic, more finesse, and more control. All Lee had was a burning anger, the old thrill of close personal battle running through his veins, and an almost desperate desire to keep the hunter occupied so he wouldn't realize Aidan was still alive. It was a worthy goal. One he would have been happy to give his life for. The problem was, he didn't want to give his life.
He wanted to kill Noah. He wanted to stab him through the heart and watch the life fade from his eyes.
And it was causing him to make mistakes.
Lee cut and thrust and spun and parried, matching the hunter blow for blow, but it wasn't enough. Noah, for all the matching fury woven into every strike, had more patience. More restraint. When Lee slashed wildly, he turned it aside with technical precision. When Lee barely blocked what should have been a killing strike, he responded with a graceful set of maneuvers designed to give himself time to plan his next attack. It was driving Lee crazy.
Which is the bloody point.
It was too bad knowing only fed Lee’s fury.
He took several steps back, putting space between them and avoiding a slashing cut from the right before lunging forward. He brought both blades down in an overhead strike, forcing Noah to cross his blades above his head and catch Lee's in the cradle of the X they made. Lee took a second to smirk, more than a little pleased with the way Noah's eyes narrowed, then kicked out with his leg, catching the hunter in the stomach and sending him stumbling back. Lee followed, attacking with both blades from two different directions at once.
Noah still managed to block them.
Lee snarled as he redoubled his attack, thrusting and slashing faster and faster, always coming from different directions and varying the timing between each swing just enough to keep Noah on the defensive. It was working, too. He drove the hunter back down the hall one step at a time. Sweat poured off Lee's forehead, and his arms burned with the strain of constant fighting, but he didn't allow himself to slow down. This was the longest he'd had the upper hand since they started, and he wasn't about to let it go to waste. If he could get Noah pressed back against the wall at the end of the hallway, he wouldn't have anywhere to retreat to, and Lee could finally kill him. It was so close he could taste it.
Noah took another step back. Then another. He tried to turn aside one of Lee's blades and slip inside his guard again, but he was slower than he'd been. Sloppier. Maybe he was finally starting to get worn out? Lee grinned as he blocked the lazy attack and pushed the hunter back yet another step. So close now. Just a few more feet and Noah would be trapped.
And then one of Lee's blades winked out of existence.
The second it happened he knew he'd made a mistake. He'd been going fast and hard, faster than Noah, more precise than Noah, outmaneuvering Noah.
So why hadn't he landed even one hit?
Because Noah was stalling. He was letting Lee wear himself out. He knew Lee didn't have as much magic as he did, and he'd decided to sit back and let Lee waste it while he only put forth the bare minimum of effort to keep from getting hit. And Lee fell for it.
Noah's eyes flashed triumph as he struck out, much faster and more precise than he'd been a second ago. To Lee's credit, he blocked the attack, but he couldn't do anything about the second blade. He clenched his teeth together to hold back a scream as the magical sword tore through his left shoulder. The blade on Lee's right arm faded; there was no point in wasting magic on it anymore.
The fight was over.
The hatred and the rage faded from Lee along with the sword and the blood that was slowly pumping from his shoulder. He let out a small huff of laughter. He really was a complete bloody idiot. Everything he'd ever tried to teach anybody about fighting went right out the window when he got a little bit mad. And it ended up getting him killed.
Least it shows I was teaching the right things.
Lee laughed again. It turned into a cough, and then a rough groan of pain when Noah twisted the blade as he stepped closer. Lee forced himself to look into the hunter's eyes. There was satisfaction there, right out in the open, no stone walls to be found. Lee had to smile. Finally, unvarnished honesty. At least he'd die getting a small bit of what he wanted this time.
More than a small bit, if Aidan managed to get away.
Noah leaned in close, his face covered in a thin sheen of sweat, causing the blade to shift painfully in Lee's shoulder.
"I think I might have overestimated you," he said softly.
It was strange, the odd little things that popped into someone's head when they were about to die. If Lee had been asked what he'd be thinking about as he was waiting for someone to kill him, he most likely would have answered, "The shy little smile Aidan gives only to me", or maybe something about Arthur, or possibly even a long reflection on his entire life or something similar. What he most definitely would not have said, what never would have crossed his mind if he had a million years to ponder it, was that he'd be thinking about the technical workings of magic. Specifically, as it related to siphoning.
And that would have been a bloody shame.
Lee's lips twitched, then pulled into a smile that quickly turned into a full-on grin. Noah's brows furrowed slightly.
"I think I might have, too," Lee said.
Then he closed his eyes, concentrated on the blade in his shoulder, the physical, magical, connected to Noah blade, and pulled.
The magic surged through his body, gleefully merging with the dregs of Noah’s magic that was inside him, giving him strength. Lee's eyes shot open. Noah was staring at him, paralyzed with shock. It didn't last long. Lee had barely started before Noah dropped the blade, breaking the connection, but it was more than enough. Physical contact with pure magic that was still connected with a living person amplified the siphoning process. It was like jumping into a pool compared to drinking a glass of water. Lee had only had two or three seconds, but he'd gotten enough to do what he needed t
o do.
He threw out his uninjured hand, letting loose a forcebolt that struck Noah right in the throat. The hunter's eyes widened in surprise and pain, and he gasped as he took several rapid steps back, trying to suck air down his ruined windpipe. Lee healed his shoulder and started after Noah, raising his hand to finish the job.
So, of course, that was when his body convulsed in pain.
No! Not now!
Too much magic, too much exertion, too much theft, too many bloody mistakes. The reasons for it flashed through his head like lightning, but none of that helped him. He tried to cast a spell, any spell, at Noah while he was caught up with trying to breathe, but he couldn't even move his hand. He could only stare.
Which was why he was the first one to notice the strange square of white light coming through the floor under the hunter.
Four things happened at the same time then. First, Noah healed himself and took in a great, gasping breath of air. Second, the white light died, leaving an inch-wide gap through the floor that sketched out a perfect, six-foot square around the hunter that stopped right in front of Lee. Third, Noah's eyes locked with Lee's. He could see with perfect clarity and understanding that the hunter knew exactly what had happened, and what was going to happen next. There was just enough time for a look of weary resignation to spread across Noah's face.
Then, finally, the floor fell.
Almost on cue, Lee's pain faded and he collapsed, limply, to the floor. His head and left shoulder hung over the new hole in the floor, so he could see everything. He took it all in in a series of split-second flashes.
A second, much larger square cut into what should have been the floor of the room below. The angry inferno filling that hole. Noah, realizing what he was falling towards, his face twisting into a scream of panic. Aidan, standing off to the side, watching Noah fall with hard, hollow eyes.
Then Noah hit the flames, seconds behind the piece of floor, and his screams turned into howls of agony. Lee swallowed roughly and kept his eyes firmly on Aidan. Aidan, who never once looked away from the fire.
After what seemed like an eternity, Noah's screams finally died, cut off like someone had flipped a switch. The shadows of the fire danced across Aidan's face, making his cheeks seem hollow and sunken.
"I might have lied about Lee killing you," he said, just loud enough for Lee to hear him.
Finally, he tore his gaze away and looked at Lee. They stared at each other for the longest time. Aidan seemed drained in a way Lee had only seen on the most battle-weary soldiers, the ones who had seen all the fiery hells of myth and legend come to life in the actions of men, and who were forced to stoke those flames themselves to survive. Aidan’s mouth moved like he was trying to speak, and Lee was content to wait forever if that was what he needed.
"They killed…everyone," Aidan said finally, his voice flat and raw. "At our village. They burned it down because of us."
Lee sighed softly. Guilt, his second oldest friend, flared up inside of him once again. He could take it, though. He'd been carrying it around for years. What he couldn’t take, what he hated more than anything, was seeing that same depth of feeling reflected in Aidan’s eyes.
"And I killed them," Aidan continued. "All of them."
"Did it make you feel better?" Lee asked, as quietly as he could when he was talking to him through a hole in the floor.
Aidan swallowed. "Would it make me a bad person if I said yes?"
Lee smiled sadly, his heart breaking as he saw a tiny piece of the man he'd saved all those weeks ago shrivel and die. He'd known Aidan couldn't go through this with him and stay the same naïve, innocent wizard. In some ways, that was a good thing. But in other ways—in this way—it was one of the worst things Lee had ever been responsible for.
"No," Lee answered, his voice cracking. "It don't make you a bad person at all."
Aidan looked at him silently, maybe trying to figure out if he was lying. After a moment, he nodded, then looked back towards the fire.
"Then yeah, it makes me feel better."
Lee didn't say anything. There was nothing he could say. Nothing that would help Aidan, anyway. Or maybe that was only what he told himself. He could tell Aidan everything about himself he'd been keeping back. Everything he'd only hinted at. He could show Aidan he knew what he was feeling, that he wasn’t alone. He could give him that much at least.
In the end, Lee wasn't brave enough. He couldn't put it off forever, but he was just enough of a coward to keep it to himself a little bit longer.
But maybe there were other ways he could help.
A few minutes later they met up on the stairs, made their way to the basement, and left through the portal.
◆◆◆
The portal closed behind them with a barely audible clap. The room was just the way Aidan had left it, bed unmade, bags packed by the door, nothing different. It was like he'd stepped out to get a snack, like nothing even remotely life changing had happened. The shadows cast on the floor from the sunlight coming through the blinds even looked unchanged. How long had he been gone? An hour? Two? Not even that? It seemed like there should have been some sign that things were different. That time had passed. This perfect preservation of the way things were before seemed…wrong.
Aidan took a few steps into the room, then stopped. He had no idea what to do. He thought they should be leaving, but he couldn't really find it in himself to care. It wasn't like they had a hunter to worry about anymore. He felt numb again, right down to his soul. The bags had been set next to the door by somebody who was in a hurry, who wanted to leave the first second they could, who cared about staying safe. Aidan didn't feel any connection to that person. It wasn't like the last time, when he'd embraced the 'new Aidan'. This time, there wasn't any new Aidan, no new goals or way of looking at the world to grab on to. There was no Lee who needed saving, who needed Aidan to pull himself together. There was only the terrible, unfeeling numbness beyond pain, like someone had punched him repeatedly in the shoulder as hard as they could. He couldn't feel it, but he knew the pain was there, just beyond what he could feel, and that any second it would come back.
He didn't want to feel it. He hadn't been lying to Lee when he said killing Noah made him feel better. It had brought him the numbness, cast away the anger and the guilt and the fear. He wanted to hold onto it and wrap it around him like a blanket and never feel anything again.
He heard Lee's muted footsteps as he walked across the carpet towards him. Felt Lee's hand gently resting on his shoulder. Felt it. He squeezed his eyes shut as Lee slowly turned him around. Don't look. Stay numb. Don't feel. Don't feel. Don't feel. Fingers brushed against his cheek, lightly, gently. He started trembling. He didn't want this. He wanted his numbness, he liked his numbness, he'd killed for his numbness.
"Aidan…"
He slowly opened his eyes.
Lee seemed old and tired, his face waxy and thin, like he'd been stretched out too far for too long. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked like he was about to fall over, but he was still so…Lee. Aidan's heart clenched. There was really no other way to describe him.
Then Lee kissed him, and Aidan felt.
It was just as horrible as he'd remembered, but that was okay, because it was wonderful, too. Behind the remorse and the horror there was love and need and he focused on that as he kissed Lee back. Right now, he could feel that, and only that, and maybe it was all right.
He deepened the kiss, wrapping his arms around Lee's neck and pulling him close. Lee pushed him, or maybe he pulled Lee, backwards until Aidan's thighs hit the bed. They fell onto it, mouths locked together and hands furiously roaming over each other's body. They separated at the same time, just long enough to pull off their jackets, before they attacked each other, tearing off clothes until finally they were naked. Lee was still covered in dry blood and sweat, but Aidan didn't care. He pulled him close and wrapped his legs around him as tight as he could. He felt Lee's body, rough and hard yet still somehow soft. Then
Lee was inside him, and he had all new feelings to hold onto.
It was frantic, and rough, and distracting. Aidan held on, listening to their sighs and moans until even that took too much effort to pay attention to. After that, he just felt. He let Lee take all the numbness away from him and replace it with something better.
And it was good.
After, when they were spent and breathless and Aidan couldn't find anything else to distract him, he buried his face in Lee's chest and cried. Horrible, body-wrenching sobs tore their way out of his throat. Lee held him tight, wordlessly stroking his hair, his shoulders, his back, offering silent comfort instead of words they both knew wouldn't change anything. Lee understood, in a way Aidan didn't think anyone else ever could. Somehow Aidan knew that like it was the truest thing in the world. So, Lee held Aidan. And Aidan cried for everything he'd lost and everyone he'd hurt.
And that, too, was good.
Chapter 12
It took them two days to get to Ohio after they left the hotel. The drive was surprisingly uneventful. They stuck to back roads whenever they could, of course, sometimes having to backtrack for hours in order to avoid the more heavily trafficked routes, but even so the trip went smoothly. It didn't so much as rain. They even got to stay in hotels at night instead of switching up and driving through or taking short naps in the back of the carriage.
Aidan shifted in his seat, wincing as stiff muscles protested. They were stopped in front of a small convenience store in one of the medium sized towns that tended to spring up around the smaller tributary highways. Lee was inside getting some food for them. Aidan glanced down at the scroll in his lap, the one that gave directions to Arthur's tomb—could it even be called a tomb if he wasn't technically dead?—but didn't bother reading it. They'd spent so much time looking at it over the last two days, he was sure both had it memorized by now. Instead, he picked up the copy of Official American Daily News Lee had bought earlier in the day when they'd stopped for breakfast. A small, amused smile tugged at his lips as he reread the headline.