to run to the door, but quick as a fox, he blocked my path. “It’s still fresh though, isn’t it – the pain? You aren’t unhappy because you can’t use your power on yourself; you’re unhappy because you don’t use your power on yourself. Right?”
“Shut up!” The sunshine ran through my feet like water down a drain, leaving nothing behind but raw grief and the image of two policemen at my parents’ door. No! No! Not again! “You don’t know me!”
As I went to elbow my way past him, he crowded me into the corner of the room, my chin between his fingers. My eyes looked through him, though, to a time not so long ago, when my world had collapsed in on itself, when I’d had to run to avoid the fallout of my own stupidity.
“Look at me, Flick.” I gulped in bucketfuls of air, but managed to meet his empty gaze. “You’re breaking into pieces, right before my eyes. I’m not going to hold you while you cry, and I’m not going to give you sympathy. What I am going to do is stand here and watch you pull yourself together. You’re a big girl – whatever this suffering is, you can handle it. Face it and move on.”
“Why are you doing t-this?” I sobbed, though no tears were shed. I put it down to exhaustion.
“Because this is what I do. I’m not your kindhearted Finn Cole –”
“No,” I corrected in a small voice, “I meant, why are you b-being so nice? You shouldn’t care!”
“Jesus, girl,” he said, running his free hand through his short hair, “if this is your idea of nice, I’d hate to see what you’d do if I offered you a Kleenex.”
To both of our surprise, I choked out a laugh. His hand dropped from my jaw and I shoved the painful memories he’d brought up back to the farthest corner of the closet in my mind, locking the door behind it. Gradually, I took in enough air to calm my nerves. I didn’t dare analyze how Achilles’s treatment of me had just worked.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, and he suddenly bared his teeth at me.
“Stop being so goddamn nice!” he barked. I accidentally laughed again, ignoring the murderous look he gave me. I was as good as dead anyway. He visibly cooled his temper before asking, “How about a deal?”
“What sort of deal?” I didn’t know why I bothered asking – it couldn’t be anything good.
“I’ll ask an external source if they can find the key to your power. If they find it, I can keep you. If they don’t, I’ll let you go.”
“You mean kill me,” I corrected.
“No, I mean, I’ll let you go.” He seemed to be lost in his thoughts for a few minutes, then those eyes snapped back to me. “What’s your greatest fear here? Being killed?”
“You know that’s not true,” I grumbled. “I just … I don’t want to be a lab rat for the rest of my life. The whole reason I don’t side with you or Finn outright is because if my power got out, both sides would be gunning to cage me up and milk me dry. That’s not how it works, though.”
“And you aren’t going to tell me how it works without a fight, yes?”
“Why do you even need me, when you have Molten? Surely his power is worth a hundred of mine.” The power of influence through speech could get Achilles anywhere, if he put his mind to it – couldn’t it?
Those two black eye sockets dipped down into a frown. “Molten isn’t a dog. He –”
“And I am?”
“You’re a prisoner. You’re controllable – to an extent. Molten is … unpredictable. His dreams are of a somewhat larger scale than mine.” Suddenly he was crowding me again, the smell of paint and citrus tang filling my world. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re the only unhappy soul in this world, Flick.”
Something horrifyingly close to sympathy tugged at my heartstrings. No! No sympathy for this guy! Not ever!
“I won’t give it up without a fight,” I stressed, lost for any other words.
“ I’d be disappointed if you did ,” he said, surprising me. “Do we have a deal,
“Shut up!” The sunshine ran through my feet like water down a drain, leaving nothing behind but raw grief and the image of two policemen at my parents’ door. No! No! Not again! “You don’t know me!”
As I went to elbow my way past him, he crowded me into the corner of the room, my chin between his fingers. My eyes looked through him, though, to a time not so long ago, when my world had collapsed in on itself, when I’d had to run to avoid the fallout of my own stupidity.
“Look at me, Flick.” I gulped in bucketfuls of air, but managed to meet his empty gaze. “You’re breaking into pieces, right before my eyes. I’m not going to hold you while you cry, and I’m not going to give you sympathy. What I am going to do is stand here and watch you pull yourself together. You’re a big girl – whatever this suffering is, you can handle it. Face it and move on.”
“Why are you doing t-this?” I sobbed, though no tears were shed. I put it down to exhaustion.
“Because this is what I do. I’m not your kindhearted Finn Cole –”
“No,” I corrected in a small voice, “I meant, why are you b-being so nice? You shouldn’t care!”
“Jesus, girl,” he said, running his free hand through his short hair, “if this is your idea of nice, I’d hate to see what you’d do if I offered you a Kleenex.”
To both of our surprise, I choked out a laugh. His hand dropped from my jaw and I shoved the painful memories he’d brought up back to the farthest corner of the closet in my mind, locking the door behind it. Gradually, I took in enough air to calm my nerves. I didn’t dare analyze how Achilles’s treatment of me had just worked.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, and he suddenly bared his teeth at me.
“Stop being so goddamn nice!” he barked. I accidentally laughed again, ignoring the murderous look he gave me. I was as good as dead anyway. He visibly cooled his temper before asking, “How about a deal?”
“What sort of deal?” I didn’t know why I bothered asking – it couldn’t be anything good.
“I’ll ask an external source if they can find the key to your power. If they find it, I can keep you. If they don’t, I’ll let you go.”
“You mean kill me,” I corrected.
“No, I mean, I’ll let you go.” He seemed to be lost in his thoughts for a few minutes, then those eyes snapped back to me. “What’s your greatest fear here? Being killed?”
“You know that’s not true,” I grumbled. “I just … I don’t want to be a lab rat for the rest of my life. The whole reason I don’t side with you or Finn outright is because if my power got out, both sides would be gunning to cage me up and milk me dry. That’s not how it works, though.”
“And you aren’t going to tell me how it works without a fight, yes?”
“Why do you even need me, when you have Molten? Surely his power is worth a hundred of mine.” The power of influence through speech could get Achilles anywhere, if he put his mind to it – couldn’t it?
Those two black eye sockets dipped down into a frown. “Molten isn’t a dog. He –”
“And I am?”
“You’re a prisoner. You’re controllable – to an extent. Molten is … unpredictable. His dreams are of a somewhat larger scale than mine.” Suddenly he was crowding me again, the smell of paint and citrus tang filling my world. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re the only unhappy soul in this world, Flick.”
Something horrifyingly close to sympathy tugged at my heartstrings. No! No sympathy for this guy! Not ever!
“I won’t give it up without a fight,” I stressed, lost for any other words.
“ I’d be disappointed if you did ,” he said, surprising me. “Do we have a deal,
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