{"id":3608,"date":"2018-05-28T00:00:49","date_gmt":"2018-05-28T04:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3608"},"modified":"2018-05-27T10:43:58","modified_gmt":"2018-05-27T14:43:58","slug":"thirty-eight-06-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3608","title":{"rendered":"Thirty-eight – 06"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This post is from J.T.’s point of view.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Thom didn\u2019t argue with him, as if he\u2019d decided that arguing would just end up being some kind of waste of energy. He just shook his head and kept moving.<\/p>\n

What the hell is going on?<\/em> J.T. swore again, a little more loudly this time, then tucked himself under Thom\u2019s arm. His friend momentarily tried to shove him away, then settled down.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fine,\u201d Thom growled. \u201cI can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure you can,\u201d J.T. said, struggling for patience. \u201cBut it\u2019ll be faster if I help you, won\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Thom exhaled a frustrated sigh but stopped trying to reject the offered help. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before they started to move again, headed for where Marin\u2014and likely most of the others\u2014were sure to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s so important that it can\u2019t wait?\u201d J.T. asked as they moved from the hall into the tented areas of the settlement.<\/p>\n

His friend\u2019s jaw tightened. \u201cA matter of life and death. Ghosts from the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause that\u2019s not cryptic as hell, Thom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou asked what couldn\u2019t wait. You didn\u2019t ask for me to be clear<\/em> about it, did you?\u201d<\/p>\n

J.T. shook his head. He\u2019s got you there.<\/em> \u201cAnd if I asked you to be more clear about it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d tell you that we\u2019re wasting breath when you\u2019re going to know in about five minutes anyway. Pick up the pace.\u201d<\/p>\n

J.T. didn\u2019t have the heart to tell him that he didn\u2019t think his friend was going to be able to handle a pace any faster than the one they were currently making. He kept his mouth shut, though, letting Thom try to move faster and keeping up with him, letting him<\/em> set the pace.<\/p>\n

The cluster near the fire had shrunk, but Marin was still there, Hecate and Matt with her. Tala and the twins, who had been there when J.T. had left them, were gone now, as were Stasia and several of the others\u2014likely gone to go get their gear like he had or to get cleaned up and otherwise ready for what was coming. Even Phelan was gone, something that concerned J.T. more than he was willing to admit.<\/p>\n

Where would he have gone? Back to the wall? Seamus is out there, isn\u2019t he?<\/em><\/p>\n

Thom let go of him as they got close, his pace picking up even more but his gait becoming even more unsteady. Marin turned from the fire as if she could sense him, her eyes widening.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you doing up?\u201d she asked, taking two steps forward in time to catch Thom as he stumbled and nearly fell. Her arms wound around him and he leaned into her chest, using her for support. \u201cI thought you were asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was,\u201d he said, his voice hoarse and raspy. \u201cI was asleep. But something\u2014\u201d He stopped, then started again, reaching up to take her face between his hands. Calloused thumbs stroked her cheeks as he stared at her.<\/p>\n

J.T. swallowed, glancing toward Matt and Hecate, half wondering if they felt as much like voyeurs as he did at that very second. They didn\u2019t seem to, though\u2014in fact, the look on Hecate\u2019s face was\u2014<\/p>\n

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

\u201c\u2014something woke me,\u201d Thom whispered. \u201cI remembered something, Mar. I remembered it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRemembered what<\/em>?\u201d She reached up to cover his hands with hers. \u201cThom, you shouldn\u2019t be up. I need to\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d he rasped. \u201cNo, you need to listen<\/em>. She cursed her, Mar. She cursed Brigh\u00edd. She cursed your soul<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marin sucked in a breath. Matt stood up slowly from where he sat on the ground, watching his brother-in-law closely, carefully.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho, Thom?\u201d he asked quietly. \u201cWho cursed Brigh\u00edd?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCyhyraeth.\u201d Thom swallowed hard, not looking away from his wife. \u201cShe cursed her, Mar\u2014cursed you<\/em>\u2014down through the centuries. I remembered<\/em>. I remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from J.T.’s point of view.] Thom didn\u2019t argue with him, as if he\u2019d decided that arguing would just end up being some kind of waste of energy. He just shook his head and kept moving. What the … 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":[240,290,14],"tags":[150,171,170,194,160,152,181,149,148,168,147,165,158,146],"class_list":["post-3608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-6","category-chapter-38-book-6","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-hecate","tag-j-t-mackenzie","tag-marin-astoris","tag-matthew-astoris","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-thom-ambrose","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-Wc","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3608","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=3608"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3609,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3608\/revisions\/3609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}