Page 133 of Remnants: Disruption
“So, what’re you going to do?” Marla asks, and I shrug.
“I want to trust that Mary means well,” I say, and snort. “God, Ireallywant her to be telling the truth. I really like her. That’s why it hurt so fucking badly when she treated me like dirt. And, hell, I even liked that, too.”
I chew on my lip, glancing up at the two women, their warm eyes expectant but patient in letting me work this out.
“When Darkrend nearly killed me, Percy had shown up. I think maybe I plucked her as comfort, or maybe she knew I needed her. Percy saw her panicking and said that Mary would bring down the world for me. That she could see it in the way she looked at me.”
“You don’t believe her?” Trish asks softly.
“The problem is that I do. Idobelieve her. I just don’t know that I can get my heart broken again.” I huff out a laugh. “It’s so stupid because we’re probably about to be at war and I’m worried aboutheartbreak.”
Marla’s warm hand grips mine, and I look up at her.
“You deserve to be loved. No matter the situation. No matter if it’s right before a war or at the end of the world. You’ve spent so many long years caring so little for yourself. Be selfish this time.”
“So, what do I do?” I ask, rubbing at the corner of my eye. “Let myself fall for this woman? Because I feel like I could. When no one else is around, she looks at me like I’m the center of her world. And I wonder if she’s been alone so long that she sees something in me. Something that she’s never had.”
“An equal,” Trish says, like it’s obvious. “She sees you as an equal. And she seesyou. As much as you’ve gone through, she’s been there for nearly every moment andstillwants you.”
“So, go for it?”
“I don’t know that there’s anything togofor,” Marla says, laughing. “It sounds like she’s already head over heels. It’s just going to take you accepting you’re worthy of being loved.”
“I don’t know that she loves me,” I snort.
“But?” Marla prompts.
“Woman, are you a fucking mind reader?” I ask, groaning. “How do you keep doing that?”
“You’ve got an expressive face and I’m good at reading people. Habit of being a bartender.”
I roll my eyes but oblige her. “I don’t believe in love at first sight, but it’sreallyhard to deny that there’s something pulling me to her. The moment she sort of broke down in the colosseum, I felt this release in my chest. Like my heart had known it long, long before I did.”
“So, what are you doing here?” Trish asks, and I snort again and stand.
“I’ll go and figure it out, but I wanted you both to know I’ll probably be busy in the next few days.”
“Saving the world, yeah, we know,” Marla says, grin widening. “Make us proud, kid.”
Chapter 50
Conspiracy
November 15th, 1030 A.D., Early Morning
We wish for the God Queen’s reign to end. We have lost our teeth. Our purpose was never subservience. Never compromise.
Tempest Originators, November 1030 A.D.
It’s late when I finally drag myself back to my dorm. I’d rather be getting to know Cass, but it didn’t seem right to show up ather quarters. She never came to find me after the meeting, and I don’t know if that’s because she’s busy or something worse.
The thought elicits a now familiar twist in my gut. I’d spent all day training after leaving Marla’s because I couldn’t just be alone with the derailing thoughts. Yet, they’d managed to reappear in the darkness between every spirit.
I hear male voices talkingwaytoo loudly when I reach my floor. They almost sound angry, but it could just be the enhanced Remnant hearing amplifying their tone.
“They want a report by the end of the week,” one says, but it sounds like a growl. “If we miss the deadline, they’ll assume we died and will find someone else.”
“I fuckingknowthat,” another says, this time loud enough that I think normal humans can hear them.
