Page 14 of Horns & Heart
“No.I was just thinking about that particular thing.”
“Right.In that case…hmm.The good news is that I don’t think you directly caused this.Not the vanishing of most of the human population, not the fabric between places going permeable.”Vergis leaned back.
My mouth fell open.“I didn’t do it?It’s not my fault?”
He was leaning on his hands but still managed a shrug.“Like I said, not directly.”
I looked at my empty plate, tears filling my eyes and making my vision hazy.I’d thought it had been my fault all this time.If it hadn’t, then I wasn’t bad.I wasn’t accidentally evil like I’d thought.
Lissir clicked at me, and Vergis mumbled something about me being a crybaby.I didn’t care.
It wasn’t my fault.It wasn’t my faultdirectly.
After the tears had ebbed, I thought to ask the only relevant question.“Can I bring them back?Tell me how, please, and I’ll monster-marry your buddy.I mean, I’ll do anything.Just tell me.”
Lissir made a choked-off noise in the back of his throat and regarded me with sad orange eyes.Then he reached out and touched my hand, squeezing it gently.
Vergis looked at me, but he was quiet for so long that I could guess his answer before he spoke.“No.Magic is balance.Whoever did this would’ve known that.You give, it takes, and for the taking, it does something for you.You burn wood so that you can enjoy the fire’s heat.Extinguishing it doesn’t give you the wood back.But?—”
Lissir hummed, a sound that reminded me a little of birds singing.“Someone made this happen, purposefully.”
“Yeah.”Vergis looked at me and stood.“Interesting.You will need protection.From the monsters.It might be that you smell of magic and they hunger for it.You should consider yourself lucky to have found a mate who will protect you from their teeth and claws.”He walked to the door.“Oh, and don’t try running again.I’m good at tracking and hunting and taking down prey, but it’s boring.”He looked over his shoulder.“Never any fight left in anyone I hunt after they get acquainted with my blades.Once more, welcome to the family, Rory.”
With that, he opened the door and walked out of the room.I was left with Lissir, who drew my attention back to him by squeezing my hand again.
“Vergis is a bit strange.And he’s not lying about being excellent at hunting and at taking people down, but he wouldn’t hurt you.”He tilted his head and gave me a bright smile.“Youarefamily, and Vergis wouldn’t hurt family.”
Lissir probably thought he was right about that.He seemed convinced Vergis secretly considered himself part of their family.I wasn’t so sure.I didn’t understand what they meant about magic, but I could only accept that it was a real thing because I’d had to accept monsters and the apocalypse both.
Still, I didn’t know what to do.If I smelled of magic and really attracted monsters then…maybe that explained a few things.I didn’t want to think about it.
I looked at my plate.They had food here, so maybe staying for a little while wouldn’t be so bad.Especially if I could get seconds.
