{"id":3023,"date":"2016-10-26T00:00:45","date_gmt":"2016-10-26T04:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3023"},"modified":"2016-10-25T19:19:31","modified_gmt":"2016-10-25T23:19:31","slug":"forty-three-02","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3023","title":{"rendered":"Forty-three – 02"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\u201cWell, the first thing we\u2019re going to do is not panic,\u201d Matt said, fighting to keep his voice even. He shifted on the bed, sitting cross-legged in front of her, so close that her toes touched his ankles. He kept his gaze steady, meeting hers with a look he hoped she\u2019d find reassuring. \u201cWe both need to be thinking clearly if we\u2019re going to make it through this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hecate looked down, staring at her feet. Matt put his hand gently on her arm.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not leaving,\u201d he said. \u201cI am not<\/em> going to let you face this alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

She glanced up toward him again, biting her lip. \u201cStaying is dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a risk I\u2019m willing to take\u2014for your sake if nothing else.\u201d His hand moved from her arm to her cheek, his thumb brushing away a tear that had oozed out from behind her lashes. \u201cI won\u2019t let them destroy you, Hecate. I can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her hand covered his, her fingers curling to squeeze his even as her expression grew sad. \u201cWe may not be able to stop that from happening, Matt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t try, they\u2019ve already won,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

She bit her lip but nodded. \u201cYou\u2019re right. You\u2019re right. We can\u2019t\u2014I can\u2019t just lie down and let them win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not going to win,\u201d Matt said softly, then leaned in to kiss her gently. She leaned into his touch, into the kiss, her shoulders slumping slightly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t deserve you,\u201d she whispered. \u201cI don\u2019t, Matt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood thing that doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d he said, resting his forehead against hers, one hand laced through her hair. \u201cIt never did\u2014never does. That\u2019s sure as hell something I\u2019ve learned since the world came crashing down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least one good thing came out of all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI found you,\u201d she said, her eyes brimming with tears again. One corner of Matt\u2019s mouth lifted in a smile and he brushed away the gathering tears with his thumb again.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something we\u2019re both thankful for,\u201d he said. \u201cTrust me on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI do,\u201d she whispered. \u201cHell, you\u2019re the only person I can<\/em> trust. I can\u2019t even trust myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

He kissed her again and drew her into a tighter hug, pulling her out of the ball she\u2019d tucked herself into and into his lap instead. She exhaled a shaky sigh and shot him a watery smile before resting her head against his shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have no idea what this means to me,\u201d she said, closing her eyes briefly.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I need to know?\u201d he murmured, resting his cheek against her hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess not,\u201d she said, idly running her hand up and down his arm. \u201cIt just…it means a lot, Matt. It does.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know,\u201d he said. \u201cThat much I know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey might come after you, too,\u201d she said. \u201cAietes…he hated C\u00edar so much. If he figures out\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll cross that bridge when we get there,\u201d Matt said, even as a chill crept down his spine. \u201cIf <\/em>we get there. They might decide they have bigger problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike what? Your friends? The Taliesin, the Wild Hunt, the Aes Dana<\/em>, Odinson and his Valkyrie incarnate?\u201d Hecate huffed a weak laugh. \u201cBetter they come after us, Matt. Powers know that for all the hell I\u2019ve put your friends and family through over all these centuries, I\u2019d rather not foist Olympium off on them. Better they come after us and never trouble the people you love. I\u2019ve seen what they do and I don\u2019t wish that on them. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever\u2014not even if it would save us both. Not even if it would save just you<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt squeezed his eyes shut. Hecate clung to him and he held her tightly, trying to hide the sudden tremor that wracked him. He hadn\u2019t thought about them going after Thom and Marin, Phelan, Neve, Jac, and all the rest. The thought had never consciously crossed his mind until she brought it up, though he realized she was right, that they could<\/em> be a target and that was probably one of the worst things that could happen to his family.<\/p>\n

Whatever powers that be, keep them safe. Please, keep them safe.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Matt’s point of view.] \u201cWell, the first thing we\u2019re going to do is not panic,\u201d Matt said, fighting to keep his voice even. He shifted on the bed, sitting cross-legged in front of her, so close … 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":[124,232,14],"tags":[150,171,170,194,181,149,148,168,147,165,146],"class_list":["post-3023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-5","category-chapter-43","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-ML","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3023","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=3023"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3024,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3023\/revisions\/3024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}