FALLOUT

3

It wasn't the reaction I was expecting. "What did you say?"

He blinked, jaw set, fingers working in their hold on my arm. "I know," he repeated.

"You know?"

Nodding, he looked away, letting go of my arm and letting his drop to his side. "Yes."

I closed my eyes tightly. I had left him behind in Amaranthus to try and talk sense into Callum. It was an understatement to say it had been the most foolish mistake I had ever made. But then again, if I hadn't done it, I would never have had Izzy.

"Wyn," I whispered quietly and he shook his head and stepped away.

"I understand why you did it." His shoulders sagged onto his broad back as he sank down on the edge of the bed, frame letting out a squeak under his weight. "We both knew that we'd have to eventually." He looked up from his hands. "But why did it have to be then? We were finally happy. Things were good." He paused. "After everything, didn't we deserve just a little bit of good?"

I drew in a deep breath and steeled my back. "You deserve more than just a little bit of good. You deserve more than I could ever give you."

"There is no good without you, Bex. There never was."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. "There you go with that undying faith in me. You were always the level-headed one. That's why my father chose you. I've made the wrong choices. Time and time again."

"They're the right choices because you have the right intentions."

"You can intend to light a fire to keep someone warm, and burn down an entire forest. That hardly qualifies as a right choice."

"You are so stubborn," he hissed.

"Back at you." We didn't have time for this. Izzy and Annora were who knows where and we were stuck, alone, on the outskirts of Abditory. Not that you needed an army when you had an immortal on your side. I knew, because I used to be one. I hadn't wished for that power since it had been taken from me. Not once, until now.

He scoffed and shook his head again, letting out a humorless laugh. "Just like old times." He ran his hands over his face then dropped them in his lap. "Look, I know I can't make you stay. But I wish you would consider everything before you take off." He eyed me expectantly and I shifted my bag off my shoulder and let it drop to the floor with a thud.

"Continue."

"Callum is looking for you. Which means you've got a bounty on your head that would make an Urbanian drool let alone an Abditorian. The people are desperate here, Bex. Starving, dirty, hopeless. It's all about survival in Abditory and I can guarantee you your picture is posted in every corner of the territory. The shape you're in, you won't make it a day without being captured."

"Maybe that isn't such a bad thing. It's me he wants." If he captured me, it might stop his tirade against Urbania. Wyn would make sure Izzy was safe. But that would mean I'd have to tell him the whole truth about her.

"And what good will it do to give yourself up to him?"

"If he has me, then maybe he'll stop what he's doing."

"He won't stop until he has the machine. You know that."

He won't stop until he finds Izzy. If he knows about her. God help us if he did. Letting Callum get his hands on the machine again would mean disaster, but letting him get to both of them... "He'll never find it."

"You're forgetting one important thing here." He pointed at my injured midsection. "You're human. You can't defend yourself against him."

If only I could get Callum to the caves and reverse the process on him, just as he'd done to me; make him human again. Then kill him, and destroy the infernal machine. Destroy the Athans and all we stood for. Once and for all. But I couldn't do that without knowing if Izzy was safe first. I lifted my chin. "I'll be fine. I have a plan."

"He'll torture you," he said flatly. "He'll go too far and he'll kill you." His nostrils flared and he stared up at me. His face was drawn, tired, not physically but mentally. He was right. And I couldn't leave without him. Not again. We were in this mess right now because of what I had done the last time I'd gone off on my own trying to stop Callum.

I'd hurt Wyn. I'd hurt him more than I'd like to admit to myself. He had always been my friend, even before he was my lover. It had always taken me way too long to realize that he was right. About everything. He was always right. Because he was a good man, with a good heart. And it was as simple as that.

I sat down next to him on the thin mattress, ignoring the pain in my side. My arm brushed up against his sending jolts of electric current through my jacket and under my skin. "Okay," I said quietly and his face turned down towards mine.

Before I knew it, his arms were around me, enveloping me into his warmth. He had been my comfort for over two hundred years and it took no effort for my head to find its way to his shoulder, for my lips to come to rest against the crook of his neck. His arms tightened around me and silent tears fell down my face.

"A couple of days rest. And then we go. Together."

*******

A/N:

I hope you're enjoying Bex's journey and the development of the story!

Anyone intrigued about the machine? And what Callum might want with it?

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