There was a long silence as Maddie's breath dug like glass into her battered lungs.
She should have exhaled. Instead, she forced her lips shut until every nerve in her body screamed for relief, and the air in her chest slammed against her ribs, demanding freedom.
It wasn't clear to her how long she could go on, but she knew her one, strangled breath would shatter the silence in the room, and the attention of her friends would sharpen, snap back to her so she could bleed out like a wounded animal under their watchful, sickened gaze. Bleed with shame, and burn with a wild indignity.
But she couldn't hold it back anymore, and when a breath tore out of her lips, she cursed herself. When the mist in their eyes cleared as their gazes zeroed in on her, she felt it. The attention, ruining her with each passing second.
Why were they all looking at her? Annika should have been the centre of it all. She should have been huddled in the arms of her friends, her entire body inspected for injury, her wellbeing the primary concern. They should have grabbed her and vanished to the comfort of their five-star hotel room, or back to the headquarters of the MIC, under Sonia's stern care.
Instead, everyone was staring at Maddie. And Lucian. Not him, exactly - his corpse, and Maddie's hands, still illuminated by slashes of glowing blue, her powers bleeding out from the cuts on her hands. The same powers she just used to drown him from his insides.
Alex was stood closer than the rest, and could see the light dimmed to a void in her eyes. He was holding her shoulders, taking a moment to look over her before he felt the blood that had spread onto his hands, letting out a low hiss of realization. The cut lining her arm was wide open.
Slowly, he let go of her, turning his attention to her wound. The warmth from where he had held her dissipated, and Maddie's shoulders tensed at the sudden cold. He looked up to see her face twisted in pain, and he slipped her hands on her shoulders again, his fingers lighter and making a show of to wiping away her blood.
Asher spoke quietly, but the sound bit into Maddie all the same, who felt the urge to melt under Alex's warmth. "Knowing the Golden Sniper, the knife he used was enchanted. That won't heal on its own."
"None of your wounds will heal on their own," Katya said flippantly, scraping at the blood under her fingernails with a decorated black knife. "Those weapons are used on beasts twice our size."
Behind her, Leah scoffed. "Like the one your using for your manicure?"
A coy grin spread on Katya's features, and she threw the knife in the air, its embossed golden symbol shimmering in a ray of sunlight before pummeling straight into the chest of a man splayed out behind her.
Maddie resisted the urge to flinch at the sound of the knife entering his heart. A flare of anger burned in her, the act feeling too cruel. "He's already dead."
Katya scowled back at her, and Maddie couldn't help noting how well the blood dripping down her forehead blended in with her crimson hair. "He deserved to be marked with his own weapon."
Her tone was so seething that Maddie might have felt consoled knowing she wasn't the only monster in the room. At any other instance, she might have told herself the men could very well still be alive. This time, she didn't bother lying to herself.
There was no need to look across the room and see for herself. The heavy silence in the room was damning enough. If they hadn't died at her hand, they'd choked to death on the water she'd drowned them in.
Water. It had surrounded her only moments ago, and now it was almost gone. Alex's shoulder touched hers from where he stood beside her, but his eyes were glazed, out of focus. Maddie looked down, wondering if he was wounded as well, to find his fist tightly coiled.
Not waiting for his permission, she lifted his hand and pried it open, expecting a deep wound he'd try to hide from her. Instead, a burning heat swept over her fingers, and she cursed softly. Along his palm, his veins coloured in the searing bright blue of a hot flame. He was using his powers to remove all the water from the room.
Maddie shook his wrist. "Alex, stop."
His gaze rose to meet her eyes, and he drew a breath. His hand cooled a moment later, the last remnants of water in the room now gone.
Katya clicked her tongue. "A complete waste of energy."
He looked to Maddie for what felt like too long before responding. "You should not have been able to do that. I'd rather they not know of that particular skill."
Skill. Summoning water for the first time had felt more like sheer luck, or some strange form of manifestation, than a skill, though she understood why no one could know.
The question of who Alex was referring to in the first place entered Maddie's mind, but she didn't ask, because at that very moment a set of footsteps sounded nearby. She spotted a glimpse of black fabric, reaching into her boot for a spare knife, but Alex's hand closed lightly around her arm.
It was an effort to not drop down on her knees when the man showed his face and smiled at her.
"Dad."
The Magical Inconveniences Centre felt different to what Maddie remembered.
The lights felt dimmer, the thrum of magic more subtle than the last time she had trained here. Then again, her last visit had been the day when a boy had died in a flash of darkness, and the incident was still upsetting so Maddie willed the image out of her mind, convincing herself that the difference in atmosphere was a product of her own exhaustion.
Sonia, on the other hand, appeared happier than usual. She was conferring privately with Maddie's father, who spoke to her animatedly and with a gleam in his eyes, while Alex treaded a few paces behind them and tried hard to hear every word.
After recovering from the initial shock of seeing her father at the tower, Maddie felt a kind of muted peace settle over her. While she had never pictured him being involved in this side of her life, he felt strangely suited to the world of magic -- she now understood the source of his sincerity and wisdom, his self-assuredness and well-spirited nature. Maddie had always known her father to be a man who understood the capacity for wonder in the world, the potential for miracles. A man who placed his faith in the goodness that he believed to exist everywhere and in everyone.
She had never known that his joyful disposition was simply his love for magic.
On the contrary, she could not believe he loved magic. He was, after all, a victim to a curse that had affected numerous generations of his ancestors. Her own shortlived experience with immortality had left her resenting magic, and yet here he was, appearing elevated and invigorated amongst witches and wizards, as if it was where he belonged. Maddie had thought her powers to be a strange coincidence, a one-off mutation in her genes. Now, looking at her father and how well-adjusted he seemed here, she wondered if he had powers too.
Months ago, Sonia had told her that her family had always possessed the cure. That it had only been taken recently. She never did mention whether her father was immortal or not, probably believing Maddie to be too sensitive to know the truth at the time.
Looking at him now, Maddie wasn't convinced he was immortal. If anything, he seemed too good of a man to stay forever, his grace and modest nature characteristic of a man who knew that one day, he too would die.
Tearing her gaze away from her father, Maddie redirected her attention towards Sonia, who was still speaking to her father animatedly. Sonia's eyes met her gaze for a split-second, sparkling with a sense of accomplishment before she resumed the conversation.
"Well, you did an excellent job." a chuckle tumbled from her lips. "And so did your daughter. The commotion she caused gave you just enough time, I think. Perhaps you have her to thank for the retrieval of the cure. Though I expect the Ministry's inquisitor team will take some credit for your operation."
A breath Maddie did not realise she was holding escaped her. Relief flooded her veins, if only because she was exhausted of still being here, surrounded by everyone who had witnessed her lose control. The cure was back in their possession, and that was all that mattered. She would take it, say her goodbyes, and forget the entire ordeal. The past few months would live on as nothing but a fleeting period of insanity in her otherwise normal life.
But some things she would not be able to forget. Images of Lucian's limp figure flashed in her mind, memories of the moment returning to her. She hadn't intended to summon the water. She hadn't intended for Lucian's bones to be blooded by the force of it. Had the water not materialised at her feet and reached every corner of the room save for her skin, Maddie might have insisted she hadn't done anything at all.
Maddie was tired of questioning her actions. She had never felt so dispossessed save for the night she had tried to end her own life. That night, and today.
The sound of Alex's voice shattered her line of thought. "Maddie," he called out, turning away from the others as he approached her.
Maddie tried to appear calm. "Yes?"
His eyes softened at the hint of panic in her voice. "I just thought you should know that Sonia will be holding a press conference tomorrow morning. All of us are expected to be there." his voice descended to a hushed whisper as he lowered to speak into her ear. "If you'd rather not attend, I can speak to her for you."
Though this conversation was not ideal, the feeling of Alex standing so close to her provided a strange sense of comfort. Making an effort to remain still, Maddie forced a casual smile. "That's alright. I'll be there."
She thought she saw a glimmer of approval in his eyes. "Perfect," his smile grew. "I'll see you then."
Maddie nodded absentmindedly. A moment stretched out between them as he watched her. She did not meet his eyes. Then he stepped away, his gaze dropping to the floor as he turned to leave.
She kept walking, remaining a few paces behind everyone else as they approached the building's exit. Within minutes, they were standing outside the Magical Inconveniences Centre in a small huddle. A few meters from her, Leah and Annika were laughing at something Asher had just said. Sonia was watching them from behind, her arms crossed over her chest as a small smile graced her lips. Maddie's father was no longer standing at her side.
"Where are you?" Maddie whispered under her breath, scanning the perimeter.
Sonia looked to her as if only just realising she was there. "Don't fret, girl. He had matters to attend to at the Ministry in preparation for tomorrow's conference. You'll see him soon."
"Oh."
"You're free to leave now," Sonia said, approaching her. "But you must go home, not anywhere else," A warning tone underpinned her words. "Otherwise your mother will worry. The letter she signed states your school trip is finishing today."
Maddie knew her mother would be more pleased if she never returned, but did not argue. "How exactly am I to get home?"
Sonia looked at her curiously. "Have you and Alex not made arrangements to return together?"
Maddie's voice was small. "No."
"Very well," Sonia said, an eyebrow raised. "You do remember how you transported in this realm for the first time, don't you?'
"You mean when Alex and I fell inside of a sewer and found ourselves in Zia?"
Sonia clicked her tongue. "I said in this realm. The portals in the sewers will only lead you to the magical realm. In the mortal world, one must transform themselves by sheer will. You must have done so in Venice?"
A sigh of impatience escaped Maddie. "Sonia, I have no will to return home. You will have to transport me yourself, as you did when I woke up with a bullet wound and found myself in this very building."
"You would do well to lose that attitude before tomorrow's press conference." Sonia's lips were pressed into a thin line, her fingers outstretched. "Make sure you're dressed before 9AM. I will summon you back here as I did that morning."
Then, the image of the MIC building vanished, as did the sight of Sonia waving her hand. The ground felt as though it was eager to be rid of her, a shaking sensation sweeping Maddie off of her feet. When she finally regained her composure, she was splayed out in a park a mile from her home, the greenery of Washington a sight she had hoped to never see again.
Sonia's voice rang clearly in her mind. "Thought you could use a walk."
Another thing Maddie would not miss.
With a scowl, Maddie dusted herself off and approached the park's exit. It was still early enough in the morning that no one was around. For the first time in months, she was completely alone, and intended to savour the moment. Spotting a nearby willow tree, Maddie lowered to the ground and rested her back against its trunk, her head sinking into her arms.
It was an hour of weeping under the watchful gaze of surrounding trees before Maddie finally made her way back home.