How the Mighty Fall

Chapter 25

Chapter 25

It was her last chance to feel him out. Not unlike a test, she had to make sure Phrixus wouldn't set fire to the world if she told him everything. He didn't know it yet, but there was no bargaining with the quickness of her growth. Neither of them could disrupt the momentum, but it didn't save either of them from themselves and the catastrophes they could become.

"We should talk."

That was her line. But those words didn't come from her. She opened her mouth, then closed it. Instead of waiting for him to lead and her to follow, she walked to the living room and laid across the couch.

He didn't appear for a few minutes. Astraea looked up from twidling her thumbs as he stopped under the archway, barely standing in the same room.

"You initiated this, but I would like to speak first." She cut herself off from adding 'if that's alright with you' or 'sorry, hope you don't mind.' "I have to ask you again: what is your plan with the hunters? Your evasion of the topic isn't encouraging trust from me. And if you can't let me know..."

"You're right." His face didn't agree. "But I have my reasons for not totally confiding in you. You will know when you need to." That was enough for him: by his standards, according to his judgment, on his terms.

Astraea nodded. "I can accept that." She wanted to take the lie back. She had no doubt that he was just as aware as her about the danger their secrets were starting to get them into. "Could you answer any of my current questions?"

The lights flickered. When her eyes shifted from the ceiling to Phrixus, they went out.

"A housewarming blackout. Fitting. I guess it doesn't really matter though. We don't need to see for this." She heard him cross the room toward her. He nearly sat on her feet, even going as far as to push them over the side of the cushion despite having plenty of space. "I think we should go on a trip."

"Why?" She put her hands over her eyes, not bothering to level with him. "As warranted as the last impromptu trip was, we just moved. And I'm still new at my job, barely keeping my head above water after training. I'm not a big enough asset to offset flaking so much."

No sympathy came from him. "Can't stay still for too long. Are you saying that you want to risk us being found right away?"

She rolled onto her side, propping her head up with an arm. In the brief silence, she let herself be glad that she couldn't see his eyes. "We are at risk every second. If you want to get into it, I will defend my stance. We are weaker because of a serious lack of communication. Let's not forget the increased need for stability. This is obviously about the hunters, so until I'm included in your specific plans about them, I won't be participating. Go alone if you insist on this course of action." It was decided that his reluctance to budge on intel would solidify her discretion.

"It's settled then. Once I finalize my plans, I will let you know." He got up from the couch.

Astraea grabbed his arm. "Wait." Maybe if she gave a little, he would too. No harm in trying. "Can you tell me about your recurring mutation dreams?" While he functioned through the days without trying to know as much as possible, she couldn't hold out forever. It was eating away at her. "They have to be relevant to the big picture."

She let go of him when he stepped back, but he sat on the floor in front of her instead of going to the couch. "You first."

That was simple but not easy with desperation threatening to spill it all. Through the darkness, she didn't look away from his eyes as she recounted her first dream sequence: the restaurant patron prophet, the hospital ghost girl, his unreadable eyes. If he started suspecting she wasn't offering the entire story, she was prepared to thickly lay on her crush as collateral. "I guess I had to meet the woman and the girl to trigger the dream sequence? I don't understand what it's trying to say, but I don't think there's anything to figure out that would lead to additional signs. But yours must be different than mine."