“What are you—” Nate began but was interrupted as I pressed my flames against his wounded arm. “Ouch! Warn me first!”
“And miss that reaction? Never,” I smiled.
“I like you,” Ashley said, strolling up to Faelin and patting her head. Faelin’s eyes widened and we all looked confused. “Never fear voicing your opinion, even if the world turns on you.”
Faelin opened her mouth and slowly closed it again, looking bewildered. I wondered how someone so chaotic could also be the wisest person I’d met?
After all, in a world like this, trust was as rare as a diamond. Yet Ashley never withheld anything, she believed in honesty, no matter how hard it may be to hear it sometimes.
“Are you mocking her?” Eve asked confused.
“Not at all,” Ashley smiled.
A bright blush spread across Faelin’s cheeks.
Caleb scoffed low, and my eyes darted to him. He was holding his left shoulder, still bleeding. I took a step forwardand he reacted instantly, eyes locking on me. He seemed cautious, perhaps because I was one of the Aetherions.
“My flames can make the bleeding stop,” I tried, holding my hands up in a surrendering gesture.
“No thanks,” he bit out coldly.
“You’ll bleed out if we don’t treat it,” I argued firmly and he narrowed his eyes on my hands, as if I was threatening him with a fireball.
“I told you, I don’t want your disgusting magic,” he hissed.
The air shifted briefly.
“You heard him,” Malakai said flatly. “He wants to die, so let him.”
Malakai crossed his arms next to me, red glowing eyes fixed on Caleb, making him stagger.
“It’s not that bad,” Caleb countered, glaring at Malakai.
“You’re right,” Malakai shrugged. “But you reek of blood, so it won’t be long before the demons find you and when they do… Well, they sure like to play with their prey.” His voice turned cold like ice, as if he was the demon to worry about.
Dread spread in Caleb’s eyes, doubt and defiance battling against one another and he swallowed nervously as sweat began beading on his forehead.
His eyes slowly drifted back to me, no longer accusing, as if he had seen the death Malakai mentioned play out in his mind and decided that his pride wasn’t worth it.
“Is it… going to hurt?” His voice was lower, but he was strong enough to not avert his eyes from mine.
“Maybe a little,” I confessed. “But the bleeding will stop and the wound will be clean.”
Caleb glanced at Malakai again, before he nodded slowly.
I guess playing cold and cruel had its advantages at times like this; it made the message more believable, no emptythreat. Malakai had simply told him that bad choices leads to death.
Slowly, I closed the distance between Caleb and I, as if trying not to frighten an animal on the fine line between biting or fleeing. I hadn’t had time to get to know either Caleb or Faelin well enough to guess which of the choices they’d gravitate towards.
“Could you… pull your shirt down slightly from the shoulder?” I asked, almost embarrassed by the question alone as I stopped in front of him.
Caleb slowly unbuttoned the first button, his eyes sliding behind me. “He has to watch too?”
Malakai and I echoed an answer at the same time, only it wasn’t the same.
I glared back at him. “We’re fine, go check on the others.”
He huffed, annoyed, but I heard him retreating behind me. Caleb scoffed.
