The House in the Woods

Chapter 14

Lifting up the hem of my shirt, I frowned at the wound in my side. The bullet hole was now an angry pockmark against my pale skin; a bruise was beginning to darken sullenly into a sick violet colour. I sighed and dropped my shirt - that was definitely going to scar.

I didn't have any right complaining, though. I would be dead if it weren't for Apollo.

Just as the thought crossed my mind, I heard his voice in the hall. My heart picked up at the sound, and I bounded eagerly to my bedroom door. He wasn't directly outside it like I thought he'd be - he was down the hall, talking in a low voice to someone by the stairs.

The first thing I registered was how serious and worried Apollo looked. The second was that the ban he was talking to was none other than Tether.

"Tether!" I exclaimed before I could stop myself.

The two men turned at the sound of my voice. To my relief, there was no sign of any harm inflicted on Tether's person - that I could see at least.

"Well are you going to give me a hug for being such a hero, or are you just gonna stare at me?" he grinned as he said it and opened his arms.

I grinned back as I slowly made my way toward them, careful bit to pull at my side. Apollo appraised me carefully, as I'd this was on his mind as well.

I smiled at him over Tether's shoulder as we embraced. "I'm so glad to see you, Tether."

"Everyone usually is." He teased as he drew away from me. He held me arm length and examined me. "How are you though? I had one job last night - one job! - and I managed to screw it up -"

"I'm fine, Tether." I reassured him firmly. "Apollo took really good care of me."

"I'm sure he did." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at me, and I blushed furiously. Apollo simply rolled his eyes.

"Has Astera seen you yet? She'll be terribly angry that you didn't see her first." Apollo said smoothly.

Tether grinned at him. "Alright, I know when I'm not wanted. See you later, Lilah."

"See you." I mumbled, still red.

He laughed before leaping down the stairs, leaving me to simmer in my embarrassment with Apollo.

"What were you guys talking about? Is everything okay?"

Apollo nodded, but his eyes suddenly look hard. "Everything's fine, it's just... Well... Roscoe saw Tether shifting as he got away."

I stared at him in confusion.

"So now either Roscoe knows it wasn't you he caught, or that there's something going on here he doesn't understand. Regardless, he's going to come back here to find out." Apollo explained, watching me carefully.

I struggled to keep my face straight at the news. "So now what?"

"We wait." He hesitated. "Or you could go away somewhere safe."

I nodded slowly. "Alright, well where would we go? Would we leave the country -"

"You." Apollo said quietly. "Just you, Lilah."

My heart jumped. "What?"

"If you leave, you go on your own."

We stared at each other. My mind couldn't wrap around what he was saying, but my heart seemed to. It was sinking an inch lower with every second that passed.

"You don't want me here?" I asked finally, my voice much stronger than I felt.

"Of course I do!" He took my hands. "It's just that I simply can't go with you."