{"id":2930,"date":"2016-07-25T00:00:51","date_gmt":"2016-07-25T04:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2930"},"modified":"2016-07-24T10:16:45","modified_gmt":"2016-07-24T14:16:45","slug":"thirty-six-06-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2930","title":{"rendered":"Thirty-six – 06"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\u201cHe\u2019ll threaten you,\u201d Hecate said softly. \u201cWe both know that he will.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both know why that\u2019s a bad idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

She choked on a laugh. \u201cIt certainly won\u2019t end well for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was no certainty in her voice to back up the quip, though, not the way Matt felt like there might have been, should<\/em> have been before that morning. He stared at her as she leaned against the casement of the bedroom window, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Rain had begun to fall outside, a storm sweeping in from across the lake. He could hear the rumbles of thunder in the distance.<\/p>\n

Appropriate, that,<\/em> he\u2019d thought.<\/p>\n

He sat on the edge of the bed, heart feeling like lead in his chest. Her fear was a huge, hulking thing, dark and real and larger than the two of them, so powerful he could feel it pressing down on him, could almost taste it. And yet, for all of his efforts, for how powerful and real it was, he couldn\u2019t seem to touch <\/em>it.<\/p>\n

I just want her to be okay.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just worried about what he\u2019ll do to you,\u201d Matt said, then stood up to light a lamp as the room started to grow almost too dark to see. \u201cI\u2019m already worried by what I\u2019m seeing.\u201d<\/p>\n

She tensed, glaring at him. He met her gaze steadily and her jaw went slack. She looked away again, staring out the window at the approaching storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love you,\u201d she said simply, resting her head against the glass. \u201cHe was like the ones that broke you, once. I won\u2019t watch that happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I won\u2019t let him twist you into something you don\u2019t want to be.\u201d He went to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She leaned back against him, eyes squeezing shut.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not even sure what that is anymore, Matt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll figure it out together,\u201d he said, then kissed her ear. She sighed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can you care about me so much?\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n

Matt just shook his head, his arms tightening slightly. \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d he admitted softly. \u201cI just do. I stopped trying to figure it out because it doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d He rested his cheek against her hair. \u201cMaybe there really is a such thing as soul-mates, two halves of a whole that could search forever without finding each other\u2014unless they do.\u201d He tilted his head and she opened her eyes, looking up at him for a moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you really believe that?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see why else losing C\u00edar would have hurt you so much, why you would have spent all the centuries after that trying to fill that hole in your soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hecate stayed quiet for a few long moments before a faint smile crossed her face. \u201cYou\u2019re amazing, Matthew Astoris.\u201d<\/p>\n

One corner of his mouth curled upward. \u201cI think you bring that out in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

She nestled her head in the crook between his shoulder and neck. \u201cMaybe we really can do it. Maybe we can…can outsmart him or just tell him to go screw himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the very least, we can try.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joining him sure as hell isn\u2019t an option\u2014but we\u2019ll do what we have to do.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s about surviving and protecting the people we love.<\/em><\/p>\n

Matt pressed another kiss to her temple. \u201cI won\u2019t let him hurt you,\u201d he promised her quietly. \u201cI promise.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a promise he meant to keep.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Matt’s point of view.] \u201cHe\u2019ll threaten you,\u201d Hecate said softly. \u201cWe both know that he will.\u201d \u201cWe both know why that\u2019s a bad idea.\u201d She choked on a laugh. \u201cIt certainly won\u2019t end well for him.\u201d … 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":[124,212,14],"tags":[150,171,170,194,181,149,148,168,147,165,146],"class_list":["post-2930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-5","category-chapter-36-book-5","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-hecate","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-Lg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2930","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=2930"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2931,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2930\/revisions\/2931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}