Jagged Embrace

Chapter 79 - Maeve

Several minutes later, they were on the pavement, walking at a leisurely, excruciating pace. It was because of her choices that each step hurt. Ander explained more about how both draugrs and revenants could be locked to a place or geographic region.

"Undead are more easily bound to areas or items due to their nature. The living put up more of a fight, or rather, their souls do," he told her.

"So, the undead have souls?"

"We have no reason to believe they do not. However, the essence of a soul... is difficult to define."

"What's a soul made up of? I mean, your opinion."

"Energy, mostly."

"That's... disappointing? It's like saying people aren't really anything other than electrical impulses in their brain, or something like that."

"It can be more than energy, but I do not have the scientific-"

"Ander! That isn't what I asked for!" she said louder than she meant to. "I said your opinion, not science."

Her eyes flicked to his. He stared ahead. They continued to walk in silence. Somehow, the pain was almost cleansing. The more it hurt, the better she felt. It didn't repair things between them, but it helped.

Ander stopped and turned to her. "My opinion is based in science."

She crossed her arms. "I know that."

"Then what response did you believe I would have?"

"Being as smart as you are... you know there's more to it than that."

"I suppose there is also the mathematical logic as well-"

"That's not what I mean, and you know it!"

He pinched his brows.

"You've used magic, there's more to... I don't know how to explain it, but you do," she said with impatience.

"Magic is science and math."

She kept her arms crossed and stared at him.

He sighed. "And a bit of willpower, endurance, and perception as well."

She uncrossed her arms and stepped closer to him. The humid air around them hummed with energy.

"And desire," he finished with a rough voice.

"So, not just numbers and theories?" she asked in a breathy voice.

"No."

"Then it stands to reason, a soul is not just energy or some mathematical formula?"

"I suppose you are correct."

She nodded and walked again. They returned to the room, their conversation subdued.

Will laughed as they entered. "You gotta see this! Look at all the blood!" He went into another fit of laughter.

Maeve couldn't understand his fascination with horror movies. With all the horror and blood in their own lives, why did he want to see more? He'd told her it was so ridiculous that he couldn't help but find it hilarious. She sat beside him for a moment while he laughed and held her. She moved the empty bottle of vodka from the bed and placed it on the nightstand, noting how the bottle he held was already half empty.

When he was distracted enough, she stood and moved to sit back on the hardwood chair. She stared at her hands and tried to recall how she'd seen Ander hold his knives. "I should have brought nail polish," she said wistfully.

"Nail polish?" Ander asked as he exited the bathroom.

"Yeah. I never got into the whole makeup thing, but I liked to paint my nails."