❛power isn't everything. it's the only thing.❜
[complete]
wattys 2018 winner ❧
Lin is a hunter, one of the magically enhanced witch slayers that roam a flooded world. Under the laws of four Kings and Greymark, who rules them all, Lin is unto...
"Years of love have been forgot in the hatred of a minute."
― Edgar Allen Poe
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The first thing Lin had to take care of was her hair. Her mother did a better job than anyone at cutting it, but the brown had to go. She tugged at the smoothed ends of it as she walked, toying with the new length.
It just barely passed her shoulders, but at least nothing was burned or ragged. Lin stared daggers at the hunters who stopped and did a double take at her.
She was the only woman on the entire island -- that was assuming that Yelena had left. Lin hadn't seenthe woman since the Mara meeting.
And then there was the issue of Shabina. Lin tapped her thumb against her belt and pressed her back into her door. It swung open behind her.
Immediately, she knew something was off.
Lin froze and inhaled deeply. It was a familiar smell, but not something she was completely used to. A person. She relaxed and slung a hand over the doorknob.
"You have your own room, you know."
A fluffy black bob of hair peered over the edge of her futon. She met his eyes with as cool a gaze as she could summon on such short notice.
"Sorry."
"Don't say sorry, just get out."
Hadrian nodded and stood up.
Damn. Lin gritted her teeth once she saw his face. "Shit, who did that to you?"
"Nobody."
The door cracked behind her, her boot leaving a golden footprint on the wood. Her stride was too swift to be reassuring, but she really didn't care.
His nose wasn't broken, but it was badly bruised. His upper lip was split and painted a blackish red, and smeared blood covered most of his lower face. His eyes were red from crying.
"I might have believed you if you'd washed up first," she tilted her head and squinted at his face, "or not. I've hit a lot of people in the face, so I know what it looks like. What'd he do, whack you with a brick?"
"Just a punch."
"'Just a punch,' my ass. Who did that? Pierce? One of the other hunters?"
Hadrian gave an attempt at a smile, but stopped when his lip broke again and blood pearled. He licked it off with an oddly unperturbed air. "It's nothing."
Rolling her eyes, Lin grabbed his hand. Not caring about the flinch he gave, she dragged him towards the washroom, unlocking it with a push.
Her seared blonde hair was still littered across the tile. Washcloth. She needed a washcloth. There should have been a few under the sink, last she checked. A quick investigation brought her to the conclusion that the stock of cloths had migrated to behind the cabinet.
