Jaw

Chapter 26

The bed Silena awoke in was unfamiliar as her bleary eyes opened.

All she remembered was dark hallways and large cabinets; sleek oak and fluffy carpet she wanted to dig her feet into so badly it ached in her chest. The flame of a candle on a night table, reading after dark. Willy's smiling face. Gardening with her sister-in-law; watching over her nieces and nephews.

She blinked as many times as it took to bring the light of Porco's bedroom into focus.

These weren't her memories. They were Isabelle's. She had never seen these dark oak hallways or the endless closets, never buried her feet into the carpet of the estate. Willy had never smiled at her, she had no sister-in-law, no nieces or nephews to bond with.

She was in Porco's bedroom with no memory of having gotten there. Good, that was a good thing to focus on to keep the anaconda grip on her heart at bay.

Said boy was sprawled out on his desk chair, hair askew and his head lolled back. Silena wanted to wake him but didn't trust her voice to sound like her own. It was irrational to think she would sound like Isabelle now that she had her memories-- but there was also no proof she wouldn't, and she certainly didn't feel like herself.

Somehow, her lover had sensed her and was rubbing a large hand over his eyes. He found her instantly.

"You're awake." He didn't move– barely emoted– but Silena's trained ear understood the range of emotions he'd gone through. It was something similar to what she'd felt when he'd come stumbling onto her doorstep several long years ago: shock at how quickly it had all happened, terror at having to pick her up off the floor, quiet joy that she had woken up at all.

"Are you alright?"

She wouldn't sound like Isabelle when she spoke. She wouldn't.

"I'm fine."

Porco laughed for some reason. It was quiet and bitter and Silena regretted it just as much as he seemed to. He didn't even smile.

"So you took it? You're the Warhammer now."

"I love you."

"Why did you do it?"

"She didn't want her niece to have to take the power. A child shouldn't have to deal with this."

"I love you too."

Silena buried a shaky smile into his white sheets. They'd never said that before. All things considered, she was glad he'd said it back.

"Why are you so far away?" She asked, cold despite the Titan fire burning beneath her skin.

He cleared his throat, looking anywhere but at her. "I was scared to touch you," he admitted. "There was nobody around to tell me what to do when you came in. It was all I could do to keep you out of sight of my parents. My ma kept trying to come in. Thought we were doin' something bad."

"Bad?" She suppressed a giggle. "Like forgery?"

"You know what I meant."

"Sure." It felt wrong to laugh at a time like this– when the holder of the Warhammer Titan was dead and Silena had killed her. But, shit, if she didn't need it at a time like this. "I won't die if you hug me. Warrior's honor."

He complied without a word, getting into bed behind her and wrapping his arms around her midsection. He pulled her close to him and, though it was most certainly her imagination, Porco's windchill seemed to calm the raging fire inside.

"There's a festival today," Silena whispered. There was a festival today and Isabelle Tybur would be declared missing. They'd never find her.

Porco might have understood where her train of thought was going, but he also might not have. Sometimes he was dense. "Yeah, d'you wanna go together?"