The Blood of the Covenant

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Micah

It was getting late. The sun was falling, and Lian was getting antsy as Micah and Adelaide talked on and on. Though they hadn't been apart for long, it felt like it had been forever. The two siblings were thick as thieves; being separated had been miserable for both of them.

    But the more Micah caught up with Adelaide, the more torn he was about this plan of Scythe's.

    If Adelaide hadn't gotten involved, he would've been far less worried. But now, if he wanted this plan to succeed, he had to betray her trust. He'd never done that. Not to this extent, at least. She might never forgive him. He might lose the only family he had left.

    He couldn't lose her.

    But... he couldn't back out of this plan now. Not now that she was already involved. If he betrayed Scythe, the man might come after her. And Micah wasn't too sure he could protect her from him.

    No, the safe thing was to go along with it all.

    But the safe thing was going to cost him his good relationship with his sister.

    He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

    Micah and Adelaide were talking about hero school, about what to expect, about what he'd need to work on before he applied, when Lian interrupted their conversation.

    "I don't know if you've noticed, but it's getting rather dark." He said. "Perhaps we all should go home."

    "Of course." Adelaide nodded. "We'll see you later."

    There was a pause.

    "Um. Addie?" Micah tentatively began.

    "Yes?"

    "I'm not... going with you."

    Adelaide laughed. "Of course you are! Where else would you go? A park bench? I've got an actual hotel room, Mikey. Why would you pass that up?"

    That was a very good point. The idea of a real, comfortable bed in a safe, warm hotel room sounded divine. His cot and damp, stuffy room back at the warehouse was not growing on him. No, the only thing that was growing there was the mold.

    "I..." Micah turned his head towards Lian. "I want to stay with him. Him and the other, uh, friends I've made."

    "You've made more friends? She excitedly inquired. "That's great!"

    Micah laughed. "You say that like I have trouble making friends."

    "You do." She pointed out. "You haven't had a friend your age since Ben." When he opened his mouth to protest, she held up a hand. "Girlfriends and boyfriends don't count, Micah. Dating isn't quite the same as friendship."

    "Dating can be about friendship," Micah muttered.

    "It can be, but it hasn't been for you." She laughed. "You only date for one, superficial reason. That's why nothing ever lasted for more than a few weeks. You don't like letting people in. You break up with them before they can really get to know you. True or false?"

    "Please don't psychoanalyze me in front of someone I haven't even known for a month, Addie."

    "It's true." Lian butted in. "I haven't known him long, and I can already tell you that."

    "Thanks, Lian." Micah drawled. "Way to gang up on me."

    The boy just shrugged.

    Adelaide laughed. "Don't be mad at him, you know he's right."