Faults

Chapter 18: Archie

Aydin and I are sitting at his kitchen table now. "I let him out because we need his help," I say.

Aydin gives me a confused look. "We?"

"Hear me out. I think I know what's causing the headaches and the marks and the loss of abilities–" I get cut off.

"Loss of abilities?" Aydin interrupts.

I nod. "Only a few complaints of that, but that is definitely not a sign of anything good. I think I know how we can fix it for good. The more I thought about the mark, I realized I had seen it before, it just took me a while to figure out where I saw it," I pause. "The pattern of the problems, the progression of it. It's someone I know, except they've grown much stronger."

"Who is it?"

I hesitate before speaking. "Christian. When I was inside of his house months ago, his paintings were signed with a symbol identical to the marks that we have. I don't know how I didn't recognize it for so long, but it finally clicked for me about two months ago.

"His ability is a type of stun attack, but he's seemed to have developed that ability for the worse. He's been able to form his power into something much stronger than a simple stun. The classmates of ours that lost their abilities have since regained them, but it took around a month. If he's able to do this, who knows how much he can continue to develop his magic. I also suspect that he's used black magic to enhance his power. I'm not sure how he got his hands on one of the spellbooks, as they were banned in the Kingdom more than fifty years ago. He needs to be stopped."

As Aydin takes all of this in, I ponder how Christian may have got his hands on a spellbook. They're on the top shelf in the castle library which is kept under lock and key, only to be entered by me. Shit, he could've stolen the key at some point. The only question is when?

Aydin starts talking, taking my attention away from my thoughts. He stares at me intently. "None of that explains why you let Taylor out, though."

"I'm getting there. I think if the three of us work together, we'll be able to stop Christian. All of us put together might be stronger than him, but I'm not quite sure how we'll be able to stop him from disabling our magic," I explain. "And to put it bluntly for you again, I let Taylor out because we need his help."

I know that last part sounded rather mean, but I'm getting a little fed up with Aydin asking the same questions over and over again. I'm trying to explain this to him in the clearest way possible but he's being difficult. He furrows his brow and a sad expression appears on his face.

"Taylor doesn't help anyone but himself," he grumbles.

"True. He is very conceited, however. I believe I can convince him if I bring up the fact that he might lose his ability if he refuses. That, or I'll throw him back in prison, right where he belongs," I finish explaining.

Aydin groans. " I feel like he hasn't served his time yet. Why can't you just throw him in there anyway?"

"I'm considering it," I say with a laugh.

I touch a hand to Aydin's cheek and he winces. "Has your mother seen this?"

He shakes his head. "She won't be home for another few days. She went on a trip to a neighboring kingdom to get some special herbs for a recipe."

"I see."

A wave of silence passes over us and lasts for a good few minutes until I stand up, causing my chair to squeak across the wooden floor. "Where are you going?" Aydin asks.

I hold a hand out to him. "We're going to treat that wound of yours."

Hesitantly, he takes my hand and I lead him into the bathroom. "Where are your bandages?"

"Below the sink," he responds as he hops up onto the counter and takes a seat. "How are you going to bandage my cheek? You can't very well wrap it around the rest of my face."

I rummage through the mess of things below the sink and eventually find the bandages. Taking the towel that's laying on the counter, I dampen it with some water and gently dab it on his cheek. With every touch, he winces or shrinks away from me. "I at least have to clean it, just stay still," I say.

He frowns. "It hurts."

As lightly as I can, I press my lips to his cheek. "I'm sorry. Not just for this, but for hurting you, over and over again."

Aydin lets out a quiet sigh and nods in acknowledgement. That's all I needed from him. He doesn't need to say it's alright because we both know it isn't. I'm honestly glad he didn't lie to me by saying that.

"This is just the start of how I'm going to make up for all of my mistakes." I finish cleaning his wound and examine it. "Do you think we should try and close up the gashes?"

"Close them up? If you mean stitches, absolutely not. I don't trust you with sewing up my face," he says, shaking his head.

"But they'll heal better–"

"No!"

"Fine, fine," I agree. "Just make sure to take care of the wound."

"I will," he says before kissing me, quickly hopping off of the counter and leaving the bathroom right after. I follow him out and grab his wrist, pulling him back to me. "That wasn't fair."

"Life isn't fair," he replies bluntly.

I grip his waist and hold him against me. He looks away and I turn his head back towards me. I kiss him and he doesn't hesitate in reciprocating. Parting my lips, he slips his tongue into my mouth. It finds its way around my mouth and I do absolutely nothing to stop this, enjoying every second.

Urging Aydin backwards, he obliges and moves, his back meeting the wall after a few steps. We don't break our kiss until a strange noise comes from the doorway.

Tap, tap, tap.

Oh, save us, gods.