Rise or Burn

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Andy found Hae in the garden at the back of the mansion. She was sitting cross legged on the plushy and damp grass in front of an old stone statue. "Mind if I join you?" he asked, startling her. She hadn't heard him approaching.

She gave him a small pained smile. "No, I don't mind."

He lowered himself next to her. He didn't say anything for a long while. He just sat next to her, listening to the slow tempo of her breaths. He was waiting for her to speak, he realized.

"The man who murdered my father is in that house," Hae said finally. Her tone was flat and her eyes were focused on sculpted face of the stone face. The statue was of a woman, beautiful in a tragic sense. Her eyes were cast to the heavens above, her hands reached to them and her expression was carved in agonizing yearning. Andy was silent. Hae continued, "I couldn't breathe, so I came out here."

The silence stretched again then finally, "I'm sorry," Andy said. He said it not because he thought it could ease her hurt. He said it because he was ashamed that he had no other words he could offer. He'd always been awkward around emotions, especially when they weren't his own. His friend was in pain and he didn't have the words to make her feel better. But maybe it wasn't about making her feel better. Maybe it was about simply letting her know he was here. He took her hand in his. "What do you need?"

"To cry," she looked at him already teary eyed. "To scream," she added. "Gods, I feel like I'm going to burst if I don't let it out. I hate him. I hate him so much. He tore apart my family. He ruined everything. I wish Nicco had killed him. And Nicco," she tore her hand from Andy's and clenched her fists, "He..." her voice trailed and she shook her head as if she didn't want to think of Nicco's part in it all. "I don't understand anything. I need to understand. Why did Nyx Logan take my mom?"

The tears were falling down her cheeks now. Andy reached for her, pulling her against his shoulder. She sobbed and he held her. He wasn't good at this: dealing with people's emotions. He had little practice. But he'd try. Hae needed him to try.

"I want to tell you it's going to be okay but I don't think that's what you want to hear right now. And I know you wouldn't believe it, anyway. Everything is really messed up right now," he said not knowing if he was saying the right things, but he was trying. "What I am going to say is that I'm going to do everything I can to help get your mother back. I'm not sure how much this is worth but I am here for you, no matter what."

"Thank you," she said, words muffled by his shoulder.

>>>>>

"What's the plan?" Anna asked as soon as Wenly returned to the room. It was her, standing by the couch on which laid a sulking Orrick Hast. Val and Sage had left soon after Hae and Andy had. She'd been left alone to look after him.

"We rescue my mother," Wenly answered flatly, in a tone that implied the answer should have been obvious.

Anna frowned as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I meant what's the plan for Hast?"

Wenly grimaced before he said, "Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Yes."

"He killed your father."

"I know." He lowed himself on the couch next to Hast and sighed. Hast shifted, making room for him.

"Then why?" Hast asked. "Not that I'm not grateful but I lied to you. I distinctly remember you saying, 'betray me and you die.' I think this classifies as betrayal, where's the sword to my throat."

"Do you want me to kill you?" Wenly crooked a brow.

"No. Not really. I'm just curious."

"I chose to believe you even when I had no reason to. I made the choice to let you into the palace with full knowledge that you might be deceiving me. I thought I could use you to get to M.A.G.E and I guess I still think I can. I've risked a lot for you. I'd be damned if it was all for nothing. I don't care how you do it but you're helping me get my mother back. You're the reason I lost one parent now you're going to be the reason I don't lose another."