“Marcus got on top of him and forced him to look into his eyes, asking the Akon his name. He said it with a little smile, ‘Agony.’”
“Marcus smiled, too, and said, ’Yes, it will be.’
“Then he looked deeper into the Akon’s eyes. Agony began to scream. He begged for Marcus to kill him. Marcus granted his wish and Agony disappeared in black smoke. Reese then went to take care of the Runners’ bodies, and Jay and I brought you to the hospital.”
“What did Marcus do to make Agony wish for death?”
“He can look into your eyes and see your worst fear. For Akons, its how they died. For humans it’s usually how they think they will die. Then he reflects it back to the person. Only that fear is magnified. They truly feel like it’s actually happening to them, but it’s a thousand times worse than what they thought it would be. If he looks into someone’s eyes and sees that they fear being burned alive, he then reflects it back to the person. They not only feel like they have been set on fire, they can actually smell their seared flesh.”
“I have to say, the way Marcus killed Agony, that was kind of overkill,” Jay says. “Marcus didn’t need to scare him to death. He has super strength. Even among angels, he’s stronger. And Agony is actually lower-ranked among the Akons. It’s not too hard to take him down; Marcus could have just crushed his skull.”
“Why didn’t he?” I ask.
“I don’t know. It’s like he was taking it personally,” Jay says, thinking aloud.
“Well, isn’t it personal? Agony attacked Ameana,” I say before I can censor myself.
Rio is about to say something but then thinks better of it yet again. What is he wrestling with? Why can’t he just spit it out?
“I tried to wake you but I couldn’t,” Miku said.
I can tell by the sadness in her eyes she is really shook up by the thought that something could have happened to me. I feel a pang of regret for going off on my own.
“Miku, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have been off by myself. You didn’t know that this was going to happen. Please, stop blaming yourself.” She can’t look me in the eye.
I try to change the subject. “Do you guys have a lead on Julian?”
“We should let you sleep. We’ll come see you tomorrow,” Reese says.
I shake my head, “No.”
“Are you always this stubborn?” Jay asks.
“Um, yeah, pretty much.”
“Tomorrow, we’ll come over and explain everything but for now, just rest,” Reese adds.
“Fine, but tomorrow I want details,” I press.
They start to leave the room. I call Rio and ask him to stay. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” he says, trying to sound casual.
“What was Marcus feeling when he was in the room earlier? I mean, besides highly pissed at me. I thought he was…I thought I saw a glimpse of something,” I explore, thinking back on his every move and word.
“You know, sometimes it’s great to know what people are feeling even before they do. I never lose at poker. Jay owes me like a million dollars cause I always know which way he’s gonna go. But sometimes it sucks because you know secrets about people you shouldn’t. I find it best to keep it to myself,” Rio declares.
“Don’t you think I should know what’s going on?” I plead.
“Don’t you think he should know why you ran off and needed to be on your own?”
“I needed to think,” I say lamely.
“About who?” Rio asks to register his point.
“You mean ‘about what?” I question cautiously.
“Do I?” he asks with a raised eye brow. I can’t answer him. He tells me to get some rest and heads out the door.
As I am drifting off, I vaguely remember my mom coming in saying something about an overnight stay and coming to pick me up tomorrow. I’m not sure if I answered her back. My eyelids are heavy, and giving into them feels good.
I wake up the next day and the painkillers have done their job. I want to throw a parade in honor of them. I’m still swollen and the sling and cast make it impossible to use my right arm. The nurse helps me put on my clothes.
“Do you know when my mother’s coming?” The nurse shakes her head “no.” I look at the clock. It’s 10:15 in the morning. I want to be home as soon as possible. I hate hospitals. Knowing that people have died here creeps me out. I also want to get back to normal. Well, as normal as I can with all that’s going on.
I look at the clock again. Five minutes have gone by, but it seems like forever. I really hate hospitals. Another nurse enters and says I’m being signed out. She puts me into a wheelchair and wheels me to the nurse’s station. I question the need for the chair.
“Really, I feel fine. I can walk out on my own.” Before the nurse can protest, someone interrupts us.
“Why can’t you just follow instructions?” I look up to tell this person to mind their own business, but the person speaking is Marcus, and the words die in my throat.
“What are you doing here?” I ask rudely.
“It’s nice to see you, too.” I think my rudeness stings him a little. Good, I hope it hurts. That’s what he gets for scolding me like a child.
“Your mom couldn’t get the day off, so we offered to pick you up and take you home.” I look around. “Where are the others?”
“I sent them on an errand.”
“Why, so you can scold me again?”
“No, so I can be alone with you.”
Marcus carefully helps me out of the car and into my apartment. He says I should give my mother a call so she knows that I’m okay. I call and her cell goes to voicemail. I leave her a message, trying to sound casual. I hope my voice doesn’t give away the fact that I am standing mere inches away from the only person I have thought about for the past 24 hours.
Marcus is looking over my shoulder as I hang up the phone. A part of me is still mad at him for the way he treated me yesterday. But an even bigger part of me is curious as to why he wants to see me alone. Maybe he wants to apologize. Or maybe he just wants me. I roll my eyes. I’m hopeless. Why would he want me, when he has Ameana? But there is some small flicker of hope that I can’t get to burn out.
“Are you okay?” he says pulling me out of my thoughts and silly daydreams.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I’m so in love with you.
“Come sit down. The doctor said you should rest,” he starts in again.
“I have to feed Ms. Charlotte, my cat.” I make my way towards the kitchen but he puts his hand gently on my shoulder. I feel my skin tingle where he’s placed his hands.
“I’ll do that. Just sit and relax.”
He guides me to the sofa.
“Do you need anything from the kitchen?”
I think about you all the time and even though we have only spent a few minutes together and you were rude for most of it, I love you. I love you. I love you.
“Emerson? Hello?” He startles me out of my thoughts again. How long has he been calling my name?
“I’m sorry, what?” I ask, failing to cover up my confusion.
“Do you need anything from the kitchen?”
“Um, no I’m okay.”
I’m finding it hard to look him in the eye. He’s so beautiful. I try and focus on the fact that he was a jerk to me the night before. That helps me think of him as a jerky gorgeous angel instead of well… a gorgeous angel.
“Thank you for coming to get me.” That’s the only thing I can think to say.
“It’s my job to make sure you’re okay. If I had done a better job as First Guardian, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt at all.”
Great, he’s here out of guilt. How romantic.
“Look, you don’t have to feel like you have to take care of me. I shouldn’t have run off, as you kindly pointed out yesterday when you were tearing into me.”
“You knew the rules. I specifically told you that you were not to be alone. You disobeyed me and you got hurt,” Marcus condemns me again.
“Wait, I’m confused. A minute ago it was your fault that I got hurt, and now it’s my fault?”
He takes a beat to calm down and says, “No, I should have known you wouldn’t follow directions. I should have anticipated that.”
“What does that mean?”
“You always go around doing whatever you want.”
“You don’t even know me,” I retort.
“Miku’s been filling me in. Everything you do is impulsive. You don’t think. Like the time your mom told you to stay in the car, and she came back and found you on the other side of the road nearly run over by a truck.”
“That guy almost plowed into Ms. Charlotte. I had to save her.”
“You ran across a busy street and risked your life to save a stupid cat you didn’t even know.”
“Don’t you call her stupid. She’s been with us ever since then. She’s family.”
“It was a stupid thing to do. You could have been killed.”
“Yeah, then you’d have to find your precious Triplex by yourself. Is that all you care about?”
“What else should I care about?”
“Nothing. Forget it. Just go home!” I’m done with this back and forth.