A World Away

35. Burying the dead

It had been a week. In that week, she had barely talked to anyone except Nesta, Lucien and Cassian. She avoided Az like a plague and he was getting restless due to it. Rhys had come up to check on her now and then and was satisfied when he saw her improving state. It was hard with the thirst of the aftermath of detaching from the Faebane and its sorts took and due to the convulsing that came, though they had reduced to three per week or so thanks to the daily hours of training and Madja' assistance.

"I want to go back to the manor." It was the morning after the Inner Circle had come back from the Court of Nightmares. "Before we leave for the meeting," Eve added.

"Are you sure that is a good idea?" Feyre asked. She was really getting on Eve's nerves. "When are you free?" she ignored Feyre and a tense Rhysand and focused her attention on Cassian. Az shifted, "I could take you today." Eve's eyes snapped to where he stood, "No, that's alright." Az' jaws tightened.

"When do you want to leave?" Cassian asked her, with caution, as if waiting for some bomb to explode. "Right now, preferably." Cassian nodded and got up, extending his hand towards Eve as an answer.

The entire flight was spent in silence. When they landed Eve took in a sharp breath. No blood stained the foyer, no bodies lay rotting. "Did someone come here after the Cauldron?" she voiced. "Az did as soon as he was able. He took care of all the bodies. Mike is buried in Velaris," Cassian said softly.

"Why didn't anyone tell me that?" Eve asked, suddenly feeling angry. "We weren't sure if you were ready," Cass reasoned. "Let me be the judge of that," Eve said and walked into the room that Mike and her had occupied for a brief period of time. Thankfully, all their stuff was still in place. She took her time packing them up leaving only the engagement ring that Mike had given her when the servants had questioned the affianced pair about it. Mike had bought her one the very next day to diffuse the suspicion and Eve wore it all the time, only removing it at night. She wore it again now.

"We can leave now," she said after a while. She meant to say it without any emotion but it came out hoarse. Cassian ignored her and instead just hugged her.

"We miss him too you know," he said. Eve pushed him away and scoffed, "you all sure have a way of showing it." Then, without looking at him she walked out of the manor whose floors haunted her dreams with a dead Mike lying on it every night.

******

"She thinks we don't care," Cassian said. He had dropped Eve where Mike was buried and upon her wishes, had left her alone. He came back to find the entire group waiting for him with burning curiosity about how the visit had been.

"We do care though," Feyre frowned. "I even spent my nights with her when we were at Spring but she closed me off."

"Well, can you blame her?" Az said, irritated at how insensitive Feyre sounded at the moment. "We need to show her we care then," Mor butted in, the tensions were flying high.

"I am going to go get her." Az said and walked out. Mor sighed, Az always seemed to be in a mood these days, especially when it concerned Eve.

******

"I miss you." Eve said staring at the stone that now stood in front of her.

Mike Pears.

Beloved Best Friend.

Most caring and brave.

"Every day, I have to get up in a world without you. Every night I relive that night. The images the Cauldron turned my memories into are stuck in my head and they don't seem to go away. I wish it was me instead of you dead. We promised we would die together or never die at all- you broke that promise Mike. You went ahead of me, you left me behind. I don't know when I will join you now that I am as good as immortal but, till the time I breathe, I will remember you, remember us and treasure our memories in my heart till it stops beating. I will get justice." Eve sighed, tears rolling down her eyes. "I am scared I will forget how you look or used to sound. I am scared I will forget my best friend and I don't want to. I miss you so, so, so much Mikey. Why did you have to go? I am so lost without you," She touched her head to the ground as her sobs became cries of agony.

Az heart strained when he came upon the scene. Eve looked so.... Broken. "Hey," he said softly as he kneeled down to face her. Eve hiccupped. Az didn't say anything further but held her as she wept for what felt like hours.

Eve calmed down as the sun started setting. "You know..." her voice came out hoarse. "I almost died in the Cauldron." Az stiffened and held her tighter. "I wanted to give up, I almost did. The cauldron is a cruel, cruel thing. It was all black before it attacked my mind and started showing me memories I had of Mike- except his face was so, so pale and blood ran from his forehead. It showed memories of him smiling like that and I-" Eve shuddered. Az' eyes filled with tears.

"It went on like that for what felt like forever. And while mentally I drained, physically, it hurt just as much if not more. There were thousands of knives attacking me, hammers cracked my skull from the inside, cold creeped everywhere. But then, I remembered what was still happening and I suddenly, didn't want to give up yet. The ice stopped near my chest and then, I started burning up. It felt like eternity before I came up."

Az didn't know what to say. He was stunned and was raging at what had happened to her. Hybern and Ianthe would pay. He would exact the same pain Eve had felt on his enemies. He wouldn't stop till Ianthe was found and brought to Eve. He promised himself that.

"I will never let anything happen to you again, Eve. You are with me now and you are so, so brave. Mike would be so proud of you, I am sure of it," he said and Eve let out a whimper. "Really?" "Absolutely," he said and started brushing her hair. By the time the sun set completely, Eve was softly snoring in his arms with occasional sobs. Az chest strained looking at her. His Eve.

As quietly as he could, he picked her up in his arms and made his way to the House of the Wind. 

Happy reading :) 

PS. Did you'll get emotional?

XOXO,

the amazing author