{"id":3070,"date":"2016-12-12T00:00:44","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T05:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3070"},"modified":"2016-12-11T09:17:40","modified_gmt":"2016-12-11T14:17:40","slug":"forty-six-04","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3070","title":{"rendered":"Forty-six – 04"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

It was hard to breathe\u2014he couldn\u2019t<\/em> breathe, all he could do was stare at her as his heart tried its damnedest to crack right in half.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/em><\/p>\n

There has to be another way. I have to find another way.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMatt.\u201d<\/p>\n

He squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed hard. Her fingers slid through his hair, tightening slightly as they curled around the back of his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t tell me that you can\u2019t or won\u2019t, beloved,\u201d she said, her voice barely more than the whisper it had been a moment before. \u201cThis is what we have to do. I mean to do it, but I want you by my side when I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t lose you,\u201d he murmured. \u201cI\u2019ve just found you.\u201d<\/p>\n

He opened his eyes to see her close hers against the tears that suddenly gathered along her lashes. Matt wrapped his arms around her and held her tight against his chest. Her voice came muffled against his shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not getting rid of me that easily.\u201d<\/p>\n

He choked on a laugh and squeezed her harder, though only for the space of a few breaths before he let go. At the other side of the table, Gilad stood slowly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll go hook up with my patrol,\u201d he said carefully. \u201cWe\u2019ll ride hard, hopefully surprise them at the rear. Maybe we can cause havoc enough to be of some use.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe,\u201d Matt agreed, then looked at Hecate, who was wiping away her tears with the heel of her hand. After a few seconds, she nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat sounds like a wise course of action. Thank you, Gilad\u2014thank you for coming to warn us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other man bowed low in respect. \u201cI thank you for your hospitality, my lady. May the power smile on you.\u201d<\/p>\n

A weak, breathy laugh escaped her. \u201cThey forgot me long ago. Usually, I pray that they don\u2019t suddenly remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her fingers threaded through his and squeezed briefly. He squeezed back and took a deep breath.<\/p>\n

\u201cEither way, we\u2019ll need all the help and luck we can get,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Then he went to retrieve his warhammer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Matt’s point of view.] It was hard to breathe\u2014he couldn\u2019t breathe, all he could do was stare at her as his heart tried its damnedest to crack right in half. Why? There has to be another … 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-3070","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-Nw","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3070","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=3070"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3071,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3070\/revisions\/3071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}