{"id":3068,"date":"2016-12-09T00:00:29","date_gmt":"2016-12-09T05:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3068"},"modified":"2016-12-08T17:12:30","modified_gmt":"2016-12-08T22:12:30","slug":"forty-six-03","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3068","title":{"rendered":"Forty-six – 03"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Hecate looked at Matt and he stared back at her as his heart stutter-stepped.<\/p>\n

You were starting to come up with a plan, <\/em>he reminded himself. Your plan involved going up against them, right?<\/em> He sucked in a breath and slowly sat down, wrapping both hands around his mug of coffee.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t even know what I wanted to do anymore. It wasn\u2019t a good plan. It was insane. Thank god I didn\u2019t tell her. Thank god.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou said they\u2019re marching on them right now,\u201d Matt said, feeling as dazed as he sounded, his head spinning dizzily as he tried to piece together his scattering thoughts. \u201cWe\u2019ll never make it in time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hecate reached over and freed his hand from his coffee mug, her fingers wrapping around his and squeezing hard. \u201cI might be able to get us there,\u201d she said, her voice hoarse. \u201cI\u2014it would be hard, but I might be able to do it. When I brought you here it took a lot out of me. I won\u2019t be of much use once we\u2019re there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt\u2019s lips thinned, his heart skipping a beat even as his stomach dropped, his throat tightening so much it was hard to breathe.<\/p>\n

What choice do I have? Give up my family? I couldn\u2019t live with myself if I\u2014if we\u2014just stood by and did nothing when there\u2019s something we can do to help.<\/em> His hand tightened around hers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow bad would it be?\u201d he asked, looking at her, hoping that she would be able to read in his gaze all the questions he left unasked.<\/p>\n

Will it hurt you so badly that we wouldn\u2019t be able to fix it, something that would never heal? Will you still be able to defend yourself if we go? How big of a risk are we talking here?<\/em><\/p>\n

Will I lose you if we do this?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019ll kill me if I do it again,\u201d she said, then gave him a weak, sad smile. She reached up to stroke his cheek as he shot her a stricken look, feeling sick. \u201cDon\u2019t look at me like that, Matt,\u201d she whispered, her fingers warm against his skin. \u201cI\u2019ll be fine. This is something we have to do. You and I both know it. Hell. Maybe it\u2019ll help them believe that I\u2019m sorry in ways that words wouldn\u2019t ever be able to convey.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to take the risk,\u201d he said, choking on the lie even as he forced it out.<\/p>\n

She leaned in, her lips brushing his. \u201cI do,\u201d she whispered. \u201cWe both know there\u2019s not another way.\u201d<\/p>\n

I have to\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGet your warhammer,\u201d she said gently. \u201cIt\u2019s time we go to war.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Matt’s point of view.] Hecate looked at Matt and he stared back at her as his heart stutter-stepped. You were starting to come up with a plan, he reminded himself. Your plan involved going up against … 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-3068","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-Nu","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3068","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=3068"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3069,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3068\/revisions\/3069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}