{"id":2914,"date":"2016-07-08T00:00:15","date_gmt":"2016-07-08T04:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2914"},"modified":"2016-07-07T10:56:42","modified_gmt":"2016-07-07T14:56:42","slug":"thirty-five-06-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2914","title":{"rendered":"Thirty-five – 06"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Matt’s point of view.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Hecate froze. Her voice came out flat, no hint of incredulity or emotion. \u201cYou want what?\u201d<\/p>\n

Leviathan\u2019s smile faded. \u201cYou heard me, sister, now sit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt\u2019s thoughts reeled, but the loudest thought was the most illogical of them all.<\/p>\n

Why the hell do they always want the whole damn world? It\u2019s not like it was ever all that great to begin with.<\/em><\/p>\n

He tugged on Hecate\u2019s hand until she sat. She was stiff next to him, her fingers cold in his. All he wanted to do was gather her against his chest and tell her everything would be all right\u2014whether the words were a lie or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard you,\u201d she said in a whisper a moment later. \u201cI just can\u2019t believe it. Are you insane?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAn odd question, coming from you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hecate fell back in her chair, her eyes wide and expression bleak. \u201cBastard.\u201d There was only pain in her voice. Matt squeezed her hand again.<\/p>\n

Not good.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll have your vengeance, little sister,\u201d Leviathan said, leaning forward across the table toward them. \u201cYou\u2019ll make them all pay for what they did to you\u2014for what they did to both<\/em> of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if I don\u2019t want that anymore?\u201d she asked. \u201cWhat if, for the first time in a dozen lifetimes, my life is finally starting to go right<\/em>? What if I was finally happy<\/em> until you pounded on my door?\u201d She leaned forward. \u201cDon\u2019t you see? I\u2019ve gotten what I need. I have what I want. Now you come here with your demands and I\u2014Leviathan, I want no part of this. Whatever you\u2019re planning, do it without me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t,\u201d he said simply. \u201cIf I could do this alone, I wouldn\u2019t have come to you. This is not a situation of something I want, it\u2019s a situation of something I<\/em> need.\u201d His gaze flicked toward Matt for the barest moment before returning to her. \u201cThat you\u2019ve won the Ridden Druid to your side makes me feel even better about the choice I\u2019ve made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her chair scraped against the floor and the only thing that kept her from going across the table at him was Matt\u2019s restraining hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you dare drag him into this. Don\u2019t you even think<\/em> it. Do you have any idea why I hated them so much? Do you? No, of course not.\u201d Hecate sank back down into her chair, her eyes sliding shut, jaw trembling for the barest moment. \u201cThey hurt him, you bastard. They used him as a weapon and I was the hand wielding it and they hurt<\/em> him. I won\u2019t do it again for you or for anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

This time, when she stood up, she was more composed and her eyes were clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet out of my house, Leviathan,\u201d she said softly. \u201cBefore I make it impossible for you to do that under your own power.\u201d<\/p>\n

The river-god stood, meeting her gaze levelly, evenly. His voice was carefully neutral. \u201cI\u2019ll be back tomorrow,\u201d he told her. \u201cI will<\/em> have you with me in this, Hecate. I need you.\u201d<\/p>\n

She walked over to the back door and opened it. \u201cGood-bye, Yam.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leviathan dusted off his hoodie sweatshirt and jeans, then smiled faintly. \u201cUntil tomorrow, sister.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without another word, he walked out the door.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Matt’s point of view.] Hecate froze. Her voice came out flat, no hint of incredulity or emotion. \u201cYou want what?\u201d Leviathan\u2019s smile faded. \u201cYou heard me, sister, now sit.\u201d Matt\u2019s thoughts reeled, but the loudest thought … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,210,14],"tags":[150,171,170,194,211,181,149,148,168,147,165,146],"class_list":["post-2914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-5","category-chapter-35-book-5","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-hecate","tag-leviathan","tag-matthew-astoris","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-L0","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2914"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2915,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2914\/revisions\/2915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}