Cinders [Completed]

Chapter 50: Seeking

"What - what happened? Is he okay?"

Is he okay? Is he o k a y ? I swallow, hard, and for a moment I can barely breathe through the panic.

"He's - gone. He's gone."

She pauses.

"Where are you?"

"I'm on my way to the airport."

She's silent for another moment.

"What. What should I do?" she asks, panicked.

"Lucy," I begin, and the tears are burning, "I think you should still have the surgery. We're running out of time. Mom and Jonah are there, and they'll take care of you. But I - I can't be there with you, right now. Goddess, honey, I'm so sorry."

And this - this is the hardest thing I've ever done. Not running to Orion, not running from him, not fighting against Dad. Leaving Lucy - it's impossibly difficult. It feels like I'm dying.

"I'm scared, Lee."

"I know." I feel like a ragged line is growing in my rib cage, splitting me between Orion and Lucy - but Orion needs me, right now, even more than she does. Guilt presses against my lungs, but another wave of pain washes over my body, with new tears collecting in my eyes, and I have to suppress a sob.

Her breathing is static in my ear for just a second.

"It's okay, Lee. I'll be okay. I'll do the surgery."

"Lucy - I love you."

"I'll see you soon," she says sternly, "you and Orion."

After she hangs up, I take a breath in and slowly release it. I clear the panic as far into the back of my mind as it will go, and I put the ringing phone back up to my ear. I skip the hello.

"Tell me what we know," I say.

"Not much," Nokomis replies. Her voice is like mine - scratchy and decayed with tears.

"He had been with guards all afternoon," she continues, "He was in his office, but he had to go to the library to grab a book. The guards had just changed rounds. We found one of them, dead, in the hallway, near the office. We think that - on the way to the library, one of the guards attacked the other and somehow overpowered Orion. Maybe he had backup. There's one blind corner in that entire hallway and somehow they knew exactly where to stage it. Someone came across the guard's body an hour later and that's how we knew. That's how we knew."

I bite my lip to keep a cry from escaping. My hand begins shaking.

"They're hurting him," I choke out. "Whoever it is is hurting him."

"But he - he's - "

"He's still alive," I confirm. Nausea fills the pit of my stomach. Still alive. Who knows how much longer that will be the case. Unless this - this cold is him dying.

"Who?" I ask. "Was it the Order?"

"We assume. But we don't know anything."

"I'm two minutes away from a plane," I tell her. "What do I need to do?"

Her voice is soft and desperate when she answers.

"Pray."

-

It's like I can't produce warmth. It's all leeched out of my fingertips and toes. Within minutes of arriving at the Palace, I have another blanket. It's not doing much to help.

"Is there anything else?" Nokomis presses.

I try desperately to remember details. Even thinking about it makes me nauseous. The boils on Orion's back - the blood tearing a ragged line down his face. I sink into a chair, my legs no longer able to hold me.