Legacy(103)

He nodded slowly. “She must have made a hell of an impression. I should be going. Thank you for reminding me, though, Sienna.”

“Reminding you about what?” I asked, my voice hoarse. It was the middle of the damned night, and I was completely drained. I hadn’t fought, but I felt like I’d been through twelve rounds with him.

“Reminding me why I’m doing this,” he said. “Every once in a while I waver, I think maybe it’s not worth the cost. But you—you’re the reason. You’re who this is for.”

“I don’t want it,” I said, almost croaking it out. “Just stop it. I don’t need your ... pity or whatever it is.”

“You know what it is,” he said, and there was a glimmer in his eye. “I’ll see you again.” With that, he stopped hovering and flew straight up, melting through the rebar like it wasn’t even there, and arched off into the dark sky.





Chapter 43




“Sienna,” Old Man Winter croaked, rasping my name out from his burnt, blackened husk.

I started toward him, then stopped, waiting a few feet away. “What do you want, old man?”

“I ... can help you ...” he said, and every word was a battle for him.

“I don’t need your help,” I said, keeping my distance. “Why don’t you just die in peace?”

“Please,” he said, and turned his scorched face toward me. The deep lines were all burned away, and I could see the sinew and bone, the last of the blackened flesh that remained, and it reminded me of a time when I’d lost a hand to fire. “I can ... help you ...”

“Fine,” I said. “Help me. Tell me what you know, and be quick about it.” I looked him over. “Even as a meta, I’m guessing you’ve got minutes remaining, if that.”

He struggled, and blood pumped out from his open skin, searing and hissing with heat as it poured out onto the dusty concrete floor. “Take me ... take me with you ...”

“There’s no medical unit that can save you now,” I said, and stooped down next to him, still taking care to keep a foot or so of distance between us. “You’re ... uh ... toast. Literally.”

“Take me with you,” he said again, and his long arm came out. I didn’t bother to dodge, and his blackened fingers landed on my arm. “With you.”

I looked at his scorched flesh touching my pale arm, and I shook it off. It left a trail of carbonized ash and dust marring my bare skin. “No.” I felt a rage build up inside me, welling up with disgust. “No. No, I will not.”

“I can help you defeat him. Help you ...”

“I don’t want your fucking help,” I said, and I felt my body and my voice shake. “I don’t need your help.”

“Together, we could save the world,” he whispered, his voice starting to fade.

“You could have helped me save the world months ago,” I said. “Instead you forced me to kill the only man I’ve ever loved.” I stood and took a step back from him. “You made me a murderer.”

“No ...” His voice was growing fainter. “I made you ... strong. You needed to be strong, to be willing ... in order to fight him. I gave you ... the gift of rage, of anger ...”

“I won’t do it,” I said, shaking my head, looking down on his burnt, frail, thin body on the pavement. “I won’t let you become a part of me, won’t carry you with me for all my days like some sort of curse. You’ve abused me and my body enough for one lifetime, I won’t give you a chance to do it again.”

“Sometimes ...” he whispered, growing fainter by the second, raspier, “the hero has to do the hard things ... the cruel things ... in order to do the right thing. I had to ... teach you that. Make you ... willing to do ...” His voice trailed off.

“You don’t sound any different than him,” I said and drew my arms tightly around my midsection. “You are no different than him. And ultimately, what you leave behind will be exactly the same as him—just a bunch of graves all in a line, with the last one being your own.” I turned on my heel and started to walk away.

“Sienna ... wait ... you can still ... beat him ...” the rasp grew fainter with each step I took. “You can’t ... leave me like this ...”

I turned over my shoulder to look at him one last time. “Last time I saw you, you left me frozen and unconscious in the snow. Now I’m going to leave you burnt and dying.” I turned away from him for the last time. “Seems like there’s a karmic balance in that somewhere.”