{"id":3460,"date":"2018-01-03T00:00:13","date_gmt":"2018-01-03T05:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3460"},"modified":"2018-01-02T21:07:38","modified_gmt":"2018-01-03T02:07:38","slug":"thirty-01-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3460","title":{"rendered":"Thirty – 01"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The path was narrow, starting to crumble away into the ravine, but there was enough room between the piles of rubble that were once dormitories and the edge of the slope for the two of them to walk side-by-side. Hecate leaned against Matt, her arm tightening briefly around his waist.<\/p>\n

You have to tell him eventually.<\/em><\/p>\n

But was this really the moment?<\/p>\n

She took a soft, deep breath and exhaled slowly, glancing up toward him. \u201cIt still bothers you, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

His brow furrowed for a few seconds and he stared out into the trees, as if watching how the light slanted through the leaves and branches. It was a familiar look, one that made Hecate\u2019s throat tighten for a few seconds. Perhaps it was because they\u2019d been talking about Ciar, because she\u2019d just asked about him. But in that moment, he looked so achingly like the man she\u2019d loved and lost that it worried the scar deep inside, making the pain fresh again, if only briefly.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d he murmured after a moment. \u201cNo, not really. There\u2019s no sense in denying it, right? It\u2019s all the same soul. I was him a long time ago, but I\u2019m more than just that now. There\u2019s a lot more to me than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She took a slow, deep breath and nodded, squeezing him gently. \u201cI still worry sometimes about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know,\u201d he murmured. \u201cSo do I.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hecate shook her head slightly. \u201cMatt, I loved Ciar. He was the first and for a long time, I thought he\u2019d be the only. Then you came and now that\u2019s what matters. I love you.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pressed a kiss to her temple. \u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood,\u201d she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut for a few seconds. His arm tightened around her shoulders.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cIt still hasn\u2019t healed,\u201d she said quietly. \u201cNot nearly as much as it should have.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stared at her for a few seconds, then swallowed hard. \u201cYour…your wound?\u201d<\/p>\n

She nodded almost convulsively. It was a few seconds before she realized she was shaking. Matt just gathered her into his arms and held her tightly for a few seconds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho else knows?\u201d he asked in a whisper.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was going to have J.T. take a look,\u201d she whispered back. \u201cI know I should, but I don\u2019t trust any of the others with this like I\u2019d trust him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, you trust who you trust.\u201d Matt buried his nose in her hair. Hecate took a deep breath, trying to stave off tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cI should have told you sooner. I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all right,\u201d he murmured into her hair. \u201cIt\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t think it was, but it was kind of him to say so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Hecate’s point of view.] The path was narrow, starting to crumble away into the ravine, but there was enough room between the piles of rubble that were once dormitories and the edge of the slope for … 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":[240,280,14],"tags":[150,171,170,194,181,149,148,168,147,165,146],"class_list":["post-3460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-6","category-chapter-30-book-6","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-TO","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3460","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=3460"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3461,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3460\/revisions\/3461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}