AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ness, oh gods, Ness.” I flung myself at her. She had been prepared, opening her arms to tightly embrace me. The embrace felt somewhere between a boa constrictor and a koala: kind of cuddly but probably edging on way too tight. But I didn’t care, as dampness pooled along my shoulder.
Marik remained poised near the door, a despondent Felix beside him.
“You don’t have to go with them,” Felix said warily. Ness pulled back, narrowing her eyes at the Emissary of Greed.
“My contract says otherwise,” she deadpanned, the fierce expression on her face warning Felix to tread carefully.
“What Felix means is we could send you away,” Marik interjected.
“Like Penny?” she asked, still gripping my shoulders tightly.
“Yes. We could supply you with enough money to get away from these people. If you choose to live out your life with the shifters like she most likely will, we will aid you with the needed resources.”
Ness shook her head. “No.”
“And why not?” Felix asked, annoyance masking some more profound emotion there. “Surely you can’t want to belong to those Boralis bastards.”
“Not particularly. But this has always been my fate,” she said, meeting my eyes before turning back to Felix. “I have trained my entire life for this. I won’t give up on the life I was born for.”
Felix scoffed.
“I don’t expect you to understand this demon boy, but some of us actually live up to our obligations.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?” he snapped back.
“What it means is that if you’re mad, I’m going to Boralis, you only have yourself to blame. I didn’t see you in that room when the bidding began.”
“It wasn’t my fault, I was drawn away…”
Ness let me go and sliced her arm in front of her, a lavender shield cutting through the room to smack directly into Felix’s chest. It bounced harmlessly away but was enough to break through his words. “And it isn’t my fault Boralis bought my contract. I won’t live my life as a fugitive, and that’s what I would be if I left now. I would always watch over my shoulder, wondering if someone would one day recognize me. I could never do the things I believe in. And whether you like it or not, I believe in the overall cause of the guilds. Rogue immortals hurt people. They need to be kept in check. That is what I was born for. That is what I have trained for. And I’m not going to throw that away because some rich bastard threw a temper tantrum when he couldn’t be bothered to show up to a bid.”
Felix’s face went entirely blank. All annoyance or normal joviality disappeared beneath a mask of extreme politeness. He bowed low at the waist, auburn curls falling forward as he did.
“Then Miss Hawthorne, may I bid you a good life.” Felix straightened, nodding once to Marik and then to me before sweeping from the room, the clacking his shoes made on the old tiles the only sound in his wake.
Once he was gone Marik approached, holding out his hand to Ness. She studied it for a moment before reaching out, placing her hand in his. He shook it once before releasing her, leaving behind a small slip of paper in her palm.
“I can’t say I agree with your decision, but it isn’t my life. It’s yours. But considering all you have done for Aeryn over the years, I feel I owe you a debt. If you ever need me, call this number. Oh, and you’ll also find Ryn’s new phone number there as well.” He turned to look at me, eyes meeting mine for a moment before looking away, grabbing the two duffels off my bed I’d packed earlier. “I’ll see you downstairs once you’ve said goodbye.”
“Downstairs?”
“Yes, I thought we’d leave right away. Unless you want to stay for their dinner of course?”
“Not particularly.”
“Then I’ll see you downstairs.”
Once Marik left, I sat on Ness’s now bare mattress. She sat down beside me, eyes downcast to the floor.
“You must be disappointed in me.”
“Why would I be disappointed?” I asked a bit befuddled by her thoughts.
“For not accepting their offer. For going off with Boralis without a fight.” I heard genuine uncertainty in Ness’ voice for the first time in her life.
Ness, the woman I had grown up with since infancy.
Ness, the woman who had been my first real friend.
