Girl of Iron and Magic

41.

41.

His hand instantly went to the mark on her shoulder. She didn't move. It was disconcerting to have him touch her skin in that way. But then he jerked away, moving back, his jaw tight and glare fierce.

"You're with them," he snapped. "You're working for them."

The hatred in his voice when he said those things made her stiffen. "How could that even begin to be true after what happened today?"

"I don't know how," he snapped. "But nothing is ever as it seems. Maybe this was all an elaborate front."

Lotte pressed her hand to her chest, feeling indignant. "I have this mark because you gave it to me. When you saved me from the Rugar, I was dying."

"I didn't give you anything. They locked away my right wing the day they cursed me."

Lotte rose to her feet. "Then somehow your wing escaped," she said, stepping towards him. "It somehow escaped and came to me. It looked like a small dragon and we called it Fintan. But when I slept and dreamt, it was you, but a slightly different you. But all this time, it was your wing." She took another step until she was staring into his face. "If you take it back, you won't be cursed anymore."

He was startled by her words. She could see him wavering in his conviction to suspect her. "Didn't you just say that it's keeping you alive?"

She cast her gaze down. "I don't want to die," she said. "But I'm not going to take someone else's life just to keep my own. I'd give it back to you myself, but I don't know how. So, please, take it back and set things right."

He was silent for such a long moment, she had to look up again. He was frowning, eyes fixed on her shoulder, hand hovering in the air above it.

He touched the side of her neck instead. "I remember feeling angry, surprised and suspicious of you," he said. "And I remember kissing you. And that's all I could think of since meeting you."

"When I met you before, I mean, the other you, you knew everything," she said. "You said that you have high hopes when it comes to me. Maybe this is it?"

"Then answer me this, Lotte," he said. "If my right wing ran away, why didn't it come right back to me?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but there was nothing she could say. He didn't expect her to answer anyway. He leaned towards her, locking his lips to hers.

Of course, there was still so much to talk about, but somehow this was more pressing. Not just for him. She was alone in a strange land, surrounded by enemies. She didn't doubt today's success of saving Poe could only be a precursor to failure.

There was something comforting about the way Fintan desired her.
He drew her nearer, against his bare chest. There was a brief moment when her shoulder touched his.
And then pain exploded down her arm. She was suddenly back in the room where they locked her, fighting against her bonds as a scream ripped itself from her throat.

It felt like a thousand little knives stabbing into her arm all at once. She writhed, her body twisting, trying to escape the pain in any way she could. Though it was night and dark in the room, the red glow of her eyes was not the only illumination. Through the fabric of her blouse, her arm was alight.

With a loud bang, the door behind her was opened and several virata stormed in, Monthes among them. "What is the meaning of this?"

Lotte couldn't answer, her teeth were clenched too tightly to hold back yet another scream. Her head lolled, sweat trickling down her back.

"What is this? What are you doing?" Monthes demanded.

The agonising pain turned from stabs, to throbbing and then suddenly it burned with a vengeance. It surged through her, making her whimper.