Fire Starter

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: New Beginnings

Loki was standing in front of Aiden's bedroom door, his hand hovering over the door, ready to knock. But he couldn't bring himself to do it, guilt was consuming him. He regretted some of the things he'd done and said to her since he met her four days ago. He also regretted giving up on looking for Roslyn when she died; he felt guilty for every single thing she went through. She'd faced everything by herself as a young child, and now she was here and she needed him just as much as she did then and he had no idea what to do. He swallowed the guilt down and knocked on the door that opened under his touch. He was worried when he didn't see her in the room, there was nothing there other than a small black cat with long fur curled up in the center of the bed. When did she get a cat? he wondered, he walked closer and realized it was her. His ring had transformed with her, an ability he didn't know it had. It was now a detailed collar around her neck. He smiled softly before sitting on the bed next to her before gently running his hand over the small creature.

"Hello darling," her greeting in a soothing tone.

The black cat looked up at him with the same green eyes that thrilled him to no end. He'd never thought he'd be able to look into those eyes again. A green mist surrounded her and she turned back into her normal self. She crossed her legs and looked at him, a glowing ball of deep green energy dancing between her fingers, she still wouldn't look him in the eyes and it bothered him.

"Hello Mister Loki," she replied.

Loki sighed, "None of that is needed....we are family. You can call me Loki or whatever you feel like. You don't need to be so formal." he replied.

"Sorry..."

"It's okay, this is new. It's different for the both of us. I came to tell you something."

She looked up at him, meeting his eyes "W-What is it?"

"We took care of him." Loki refused to say Killian's name. It was like poison on his tongue, it was also something that seemed to send Aiden into a frenzied panic.

"Oh..." Aiden didn't seem to believe him.

He gently grabbed her chin, so he could keep eye contact with her, he wanted her to hear him, "He's gone darling. He will never hurt you or anyone else ever again."

"I-I know".

"He's gone, he's put away. Somewhere he will never escape from, every single one of them was put away. No one will lay a hand on you or harm you ever again," he was staring into her eyes, wanting her to believe him.

She gave him a shaky smile and threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He sighed happily, a grin creeping its way onto her face, she'd never hugged him before. He noticed she was shaking and heard small sobs coming from her. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, worried about starting to wash over him once again, why is she upset, shouldn't she feel relief?

"Are you okay darling? Why are you crying?"

"It-it's finally o-over." came a muffled reply, "I never...I never thought I'd be free. Thank you."

Loki didn't reply, he just held her in his arms, a sad smile on his lips as he listened to her relieved sobs.

They sat there for a few minutes, in a comfortable silence. Loki was trying his best to remain calm, but his guilt was still eating away at him. She seemed to sense something was wrong because she sat up releasing him from the hug, he found himself not enjoying the lack of her presence.