{"id":3066,"date":"2016-12-07T00:00:25","date_gmt":"2016-12-07T05:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3066"},"modified":"2016-12-06T19:44:48","modified_gmt":"2016-12-07T00:44:48","slug":"forty-six-02","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3066","title":{"rendered":"Forty-six – 02"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\u201cInteresting,\u201d Matt echoed, then shook his head. \u201cHow do you figure? Fucking terrifying is more like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gilad shook his head quickly. \u201cThat didn\u2019t come out the way I intended it to, clearly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cApparently not,\u201d Hecate said, her tone dry as she leaned into Matt again, letting him wrap an arm around her shoulders in a gesture that was comforting and protective all at once. It didn\u2019t matter that the nearest weapon was a kettle of water, that the Warhammer she\u2019d been bringing him lay almost forgotten in the doorway to the kitchen. The gesture was enough. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you tell us what you actually intended to say so we don\u2019t make any more rash assumptions?\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt suppressed a wince, his arm tightening around her shoulders. At least she admitted that her reaction was rash. That\u2019s a good thing, right?<\/em><\/p>\n

Gilad took a breath. \u201cI just\u2014I\u2019m surprised he came to you, that\u2019s all\u2014and with some kind of offer, it sounds like. That\u2019s the interesting part. You know him, my lady\u2014you know him as well as I do. He\u2019s not much one for working with anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cExactly,\u201d she said. \u201cHence my very apparent and very deep-rooted suspicions of his offer.\u201d She glanced toward Matt, taking a deep breath and exhaling it slowly. \u201cAnd my very, very real fear of what all of this means.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAn incredibly rational fear,\u201d Gilad agreed, then closed his eyes for a moment. The kettle began to hiss and Matt let go of Hecate, turning so he could tend to it. \u201cHe showed up there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMatt told me,\u201d Hecate said quietly, chafing her palms over her arms. \u201cIt makes me wonder at what sort of game Leviathan\u2019s playing at. The long game, if I\u2019m anyone to judge.\u201d She exhaled a sigh and shook her head, slowly heading to the table as Matt started to make some coffee in the French press set near the stove. \u201cA very bloody long game. I know that he\u2019s no friend to Olympium but it still makes me wonder why he came to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gilad inclined his head. \u201cProbably the same reason he came to the settlement. He\u2019s trying to build some kind of army.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother reason to be concerned,\u201d Hecate said, her voice grim. \u201cEspecially because he told us that he wants the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gilad winced. \u201cWhy am I not surprised?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause that would mean you\u2019re far less intelligent than you actually are,\u201d Matt said, carrying the press and three mugs to the table. \u201cBut this thing with Leviathan\u2014it worries you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than anything I\u2019ve heard recently. But that\u2019s not why I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hecate\u2019s hands curled into fists on the tabletop as Matt poured the coffee. \u201cNo. You came to warn us and to send us into the maw of hell.\u201d She glanced toward Matt, then back toward Gilad. \u201cMe, at least. I don\u2019t know what your intentions for Matt are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not here to send you anywhere,\u201d Gilad protested. \u201cI\u2019m just here to tell you what\u2019s happening and that you can probably stop it before it gets worse. Nothing more. Nothing less.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBy handing myself over to them\u2014by both of us handing ourselves over to them.\u201d Hecate shook her head. \u201cHow can you expect us to do that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t,\u201d Gilad said, and Matt could hear the stark honesty to his words. \u201cI expect you to fight like hell by our sides. No one at this table wants them to win and no one at this table wants you in their hands again. I remember what happened the last time. I don\u2019t want to see that ever again\u2014no one should.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever they\u2019re planning scares the hell out of me and I\u2019m not even sure what it is. I\u2019m pretty sure it scares you, too. So all I\u2019m asking you to do is come with me and fight<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Matt’s point of view.] \u201cInteresting,\u201d Matt echoed, then shook his head. \u201cHow do you figure? Fucking terrifying is more like it.\u201d Gilad shook his head quickly. \u201cThat didn\u2019t come out the way I intended it to, … 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":[124,235,14],"tags":[150,171,170,194,181,149,148,168,147,165,146,195],"class_list":["post-3066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-5","category-chapter-46","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","tag-wild-hunt"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-Ns","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3066","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=3066"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3067,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3066\/revisions\/3067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}