The Girl in the Water

Chapter 6

Roan stood alone on the lawn as the sun started to come up. The weak morning rays made the glass shards in the grass shimmer like jewels, making the destruction oddly pretty. He could hear Apollo, Jannosh and Myrnah talking in low, calm voices behind him in the house as they began the long process of cleaning up. Roan rubbed his neck, glancing unhappily behind him. Bono was at his feet, silent for once, as he stared up at the pale man.

At first, when the assassin had abruptly left, Roan had thought it was because he was outnumbered. He had been surprised at the anger that flared up when he'd realized that Emery was gone. "Where's Lilah taking her?" He'd snapped at Apollo.

The vampire had been looking glumly at the ruined piano. This was the second time he would have to replace it. "Gorlan Fay." Apollo replied calmly. "Stone Assassins can't go in water."

Roan had stared at him across the ruined room, struggling to compose himself. From the looks of it, the assassin had burst in through the back - glass, wood and plaster littered the dusty room, and small craters signalled where the spells had hit. Feathers from the destroyed couches still floated in the air, and snapped wood stuck out like giant splinters from the walls and floors. Black stained the walls were Roan's fire had blazed; it was a miracle the house was still standing.

"I promised Felix I'd keep her safe." Roan's voice was calmer.

"And she will be." Apollo assured him, looking up to meet Roan's gaze. "Lilah will take care of her, I swear it on my life. No harm will come to her down there, Roan."

With a sigh, Roan had stormed out into the lawn.

He really wasn't sure why he was so upset. He didn't doubt Lilah's abilities; his memory of the day she'd killed Castrone, the most infamous witch in the world, right before his eyes was still crystal clear. The former human was stronger than she'd looked - despite her size, her determination and tenacity had inspired awe in him.

But Emery... Roan was quiet at the thought of her. He didn't know why he felt such a powerful need to take care of her. He thought back to the day the Commerce Building had burned; he'd watched as she'd sunk to her knees, the anguished sounds coming from her slicing him straight to the bone. That explosion hadn't just decimated the great building - it had ruined her life. Roan hadn't been away from her side since. The absence of her quick sarcasm and dark, intelligent blue eyes now was disconcerting.

Roan stood there brooding as the sun continued to rise, before a thought occurred to him. His long legs carried him back into the house. Bono squeaked and hurried after him.

"Why can't Stone Assassins go in the water?" He demanded.

Apollo looked up. He was on his knees, ripping up ruined floorboards with his bare hands. Behind him, Myrnah was sweeping up glass, and her husband was dragging the shattered piano through the back door.

"Aren't you an information dealer?" Apollo teased lightly. It was slightly bizarre, how easy it was for him to joke amidst the ruin that was his home. "Shouldn't you be telling me these things?"

Roan rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "You know better than I do that Stone Assassins were before my time. All I have on them is that they're a resource that's fading from use; barely anyone hires them anymore. The last recorded sighting of them was almost a century before I was born."

"Alright, alright." Apollo ripped up another floor board as if it was a paper. His beautiful eyes were thoughtful as he pushed his dark hair out of his face. "I've never come across one personally, but from what acquaintances have told me, they're fallen faeries."

Roan raised an eyebrow. "Fallen faeries? Like... fallen angels?"

"No, no, angels aren't real." Apollo waved the thought away. "They're faeries born without wings. Abandoned at birth."