❛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...
"We all have bullets beneath our skin. We pray our lovers won't flinch at what they find."
―Andrea Gibson
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Lin did not yelp when her boot slid in a puddle of blood. To be fair, she hadn't been expecting it. She was usually the one who caused the blood puddles. Face pulled into a hasty stoicism, Lin scanned the gold-dusted room with wide eyes.
Hadrian looked up from his book. He sat cross-legged on the ground with his back against the far wall, his left side leaning on the glass doors to the garden. She couldn't quite see which book it was, but it didn't appear to be a Library edition. He looked her up and down before speaking. "Shabina's worried."
"Well, if there was ever a time to be worried, it's now." The room's emptiness felt harsher than ever before, gold floor marred with blood and dozens of bootprints. She pulled her lips into her mouth. "Has she said anything to you? About big stuff -- war stuff."
He lifted an eyebrow. "Yep. You first, though."
"What?"
"What did you do?" Hadrian closed his book. "That's what Shabina's worried about, by the way. If we're being honest -- so am I. I told her you weren't stupid enough to go after Mara right now."
Lin blew out her cheeks, scraping her scalp with her nails before sinking down beside him. She took the book out of his hands and squinted at the cover. "What is this?"
"Watership Down. It's a classic. Violent. Well-done. Good quotes."
"It's got rabbits on the cover."
"The main characters are rabbits." Lin smirked and peered into the first page, only to have Hadrian slide it from her grip. "Back to the actual conversation."
She scowled. "Ye of little faith. I behaved."
"Fine, you behaved. Whatever that means."
"It means nobody died. No humans, no witches. I mean -- there was bloodshed, but that wasn't me." She closed her eyes and rocked her head back against the wall, taking a deep breath. "And what about this mess?"
"Not me." Hadrian's voice held strong and detached. "A witch came through the mirror."
She lurched forward, eyes wide on him. "What?"
"Guards took care of it."
"No -- " her pulse pounded in her skull "-- that can't happen. It's impossible."
He blinked up at her, brows furrowing slightly as she stood up. He put the book down and pulled himself up, trailing after her as she went back to the mirror. The glass itself didn't feel any different, no witch's magic floated on its surface that she could see. She flattened her hand against it, sigils bleeding through her skin.
