by annie nadine
“I had been invited in here many years ago, no invitation necessary,” he explained obscurely.
“Why did you help me at all?” Annie jumped back to his story suddenly. She remembered back to the day she had met him and how he had been so quick to help her. She felt like she had lost something special that she might never get back. She had lost the truth. Micah measured his next words carefully trying not to hurt her.
“I was out one night in a rundown town. In a small establishment I came across a drunken man who was telling a crowd of equally drunk men how he had left his family. This man was your father.” Annie’s face dropped when he said who it was. Micah waited for a moment before he continued. “After he left the venue that night I approached him and asked where he had left his daughter. I do not know why but the way he told his story made me need to find you, so I did,” Micah admitted shyly. “I found you just after your mother had died.”
Annie couldn’t help the tears that fell down her face as she listened to his words. He had done all of that for her for no reason, he had sought her out and helped her.
Micah slowly walked over to her and stopped when he was close. It was only when he was near that she realised his eyes were glassy from his own tears. He let out a shuddering breath and his eyes fluttered for a moment as he tried to regain himself and blink away the tears. Ever so carefully he reached his hands out and touched her face, resting his hands on her cheeks. He leaned his forehead against hers like he always wanted to. He rested his face into hers a little more and just before his lips touched hers she pulled away.
“Micah, I know what you really are…what you do,” she whispered. She was putting her life on the line by admitting it but it seemed her life was going to be lived out permanently on the line anyway. He pulled his face away slightly, a small crease forming on his brow from his confusion.
“You are a soul snatcher. You steal souls.” She confessed her knowledge, hiding the hurt from her voice as she did so. It aggrieved her to say it but it was true.
All those years could have been a lie, just him trying to gain her soul. Though he knew she didn’t love him and therefore could not take her soul. She thought of Baden and how easy it would have been for him to take it. Thinking of him brought back her earlier pain and it spurred her tears to return.
“Annie, I would never…” Micah began to say before he was interrupted.
“Micah, I believe our agreement was that I would not kill you so long as you do not bring harm to anyone or steal any souls?” Annie and Micah both turned their head towards the door to find Eli standing in the doorway of the library.
Though his outfit was formal with his heavy fitted coat, Eli casually leaned against the doorframe as if he was not concerned about anything. His actions did not match his attire as his concern did not match his attitude. Micah dropped his hands away from Annie and straightened to his full height. Annie had forgotten how tall he was.
“Then it is a good thing that I am not breaking our agreement.” He spoke to Eli in a forced but courteous tone. Eli sauntered towards them looking around the room as if he were browsing the titles of the books. He stopped when he was a foot away from Micah. Annie hadn’t seen him move but Micah now stood at least two steps away from her, to ensure she would not be in harm’s way. How did these two even know each other?
“And how can I be sure that what you say is true?” Eli asked. He matched Micah’s height easily.
“Eli, what is going on?” Annie interrupted their conversation. He kept his eyes on Micah as he responded to her.
“Annie, I have known Micah for a few years now and have kept a close eye on him. I have never caught him in the act of harming another so I have had no need to kill him. I approached him one day and accused him of what he was. He admitted it easily but explained he did not hurt others. Thus, we struck our deal,” he explained as if he was talking about a business venture. She felt unnerved at how they stood there staring at each other.
“Eli, I have come to help Annie,” Micah explained.
“No, you have come to use her by the looks of that mark on her neck,” Eli disagreed. Annie stopped herself from touching the scar again. How on earth did he know it was there? He had barely looked at her. Micah smiled a little then started to laugh. It was in such contrast to the tense situation that it startled her.
“Maybe that question should be asked of Baden,” Micah suggested. Eli’s face had remained unchanged until he heard Baden’s name. Still his reaction was minimal, his eyes only narrowed slightly before he quickly recovered his façade. Annie’s body tensed at where this conversation was headed.
“I do not see any other in this room except for you,” Eli said, ignoring Micah’s accusation.
“That is only because the last time I saw Baden he had a new protuberance in the form of a dagger through his heart,” Micah informed uncouthly. He was fed up with this whole conversation, he just needed to take Annie and get out.
She was so distracted that she missed Micah’s slip in revealing that he had seen Baden at the house. Inadvertently, she had stepped closer as they were talking and now stood nearby. Neither of the men had noticed as they had not taken their eyes off the other, neither trusting their life in the presence of the other.
In an instant everything changed. Eli’s hand twitched next to his side and Annie realised that he must have a dagger concealed in the sleeve of his jacket. During his moment of hesitation it gave Annie just enough time to react. She forgot about anything other than the fact that Eli was about to kill her best friend. She was about to lose someone who had been there for her and no matter what he was, he had cared for her when no one else would.
Without thought for herself she did the only thing that was in her power to do. She moved in front of Micah just a moment before Eli dropped the hidden dagger from his sleeve into his hand and thrust the dagger towards him. And she took his planned sentence from Eli.
One heartbeat.
Breathe.
Two heartbeats.
Breathe.
Three heartbeats.
Breathe.
The pain came on in a rush. It was more intense than Annie had expected. She did not feel the initial penetration but when she grabbed at the dagger that now sat through her left shoulder, it burned as if it was on fire. She felt the blood trickling down her body as it escaped its intended place in her veins. The pain seemed to plateau and it was the shock that scared her the most. Her body started to tremble from the unfamiliar situation it had encountered and she found she could not stand any longer. With no other thought than laying down, she dropped where she stood and lost everything to black.
Eli grabbed Annie before she hit the ground. He knelt and held her against him for a moment before he moved into action. Keeping hold of her he removed his coat and wrapped it around her limp body. Micah stepped towards her, arms outstretched to help.
“Get away!” Eli yelled as he picked her up and started walking out of the room. Before he made it to the door Micah had blocked his path and Eli had to use every ounce of his self-control to restrain himself. “I can put her down and I can deal with you now if you would like but that could mean she loses her life. No more life, no more soul,” Eli threatened.
He had no intention of ever letting Micah get close enough to steal her but he used what he could to get her to safety now. Micah stood there in indecision. He looked to Annie for a moment before he looked back to Eli.
“She dies, you die,” Micah promised, enmity drenching his voice. He disappeared, venturing far away from the manor and far away from the pain. He would not return until he was sure she was alive, he could not take it if she died.
Eli carried Annie as quickly and as carefully as he could to her room. Garrick saw them and immediately went to prepare all the things needed to assist Eli to help Annie. He hoped with everything in him that she would survive.
Eli made it into the room in record time and eased her onto her bed. He couldn’t help the tears
that spilled from his face onto hers as she lay there unconscious. Her colour was pale and she had started to perspire. He gently wiped the tears from her face and brushed her hair away from her neck and forehead.
“Please do not die on me, Annie,” he whispered to her with an acute pain in his soul. Somehow if she didn’t make it, it felt like it would be worse than anything else he had endured up to this day. “Please,” he whispered to her.
Outside he stood amongst the trees, in the dark lonely night just for her. His aching chest hoping that she would make it. He listened to her unsteady, shallow breaths fading in and out. Her heart would flutter to a stop for the slightest moment and in that moment he thought he would die himself. Then all of a sudden it would stutter back to life and his soul would move within him from relief and joy that she was still alive.
After she had been tended to and her wounds were dressed as well as they could be, he heard Eli move a seat and place it next to her bed. Eli was ready to sit there as long as it would take until she was well again and so was he. He sat down silently and leaned against a tree, ready to just sit and wait. He sat looking up to her window where the light was dimmed to a soft glow, so she could rest but still be watched. He flicked the small dagger around in his hand, thinking of her. Though it had been used to hurt him, somehow it reminded him of her and became a comfort to him. He placed it in his breast pocket for safe keeping. He ignored the cold that nagged at his skin and started to sink in.
“Love you, Annie,” Baden whispered to her through the night, knowing she would not hear it but hoping she would know it somehow.
Anguish and grief made a home around his heart as he feared he would not get another chance to say it whilst she was still alive. He let out a long breath and looked up to the stars through teary eyes. He thought if he could wish for one thing it would be that she would live and that she would be happy, whether that meant with or without him. It felt like he would give his own life in payment for that wish.
And for the first time in his existence, Baden loved outside of himself.
CHAPTER 23
A week passed and was filled with Annie coming in and out of consciousness. Eli would redress her wounds when it needed to be done and he cleaned her shoulder to make certain it would not become infected. To clean her wound he would ensure the only part of her skin showing was her shoulder during the process. He would never take advantage of her in any way and she felt safe with him. She ate what she could whenever she was awake but he was concerned that it wasn’t enough.
The pain was more intense than Annie had expected. Even with forms of pain relief it still hurt because the dagger had made its way through part of her bone. Her heart was hurting also and the only way she escaped the pain of Baden was to focus on the pain in her shoulder. It wasn’t the best deal she had ever struck with herself but at the moment that was all she had.
A different distraction she was starting to become weary of was Eli. Every time she woke he would apologise, every time she slept he would apologise, every time he dressed her wound he would apologise. It never ended. There didn’t seem to be a moment where he was not apologising for what he had done, even though it had been her choice to move in the way. After a few warnings he reined in his apologies and turned his remorse into actions, trying to do more things to make it up to her. Giving up she let him continue with his process of grovelling and tried not to let it irritate her too often.
He had asked her about why she had left the house and she pieced together different truths from the night. She said an intruder came in and she had been bitten by a snatcher but she managed to dagger him and get on the horse to ride home. Eli deduced the snatcher had not bitten her with bane and was thankful for at least that but he still had no idea who it was that had attacked her. When he had gone back to the house to try and find the remains there were none. It was all very curious to him but there wasn’t much he could do to try and find out more.
When a few more days had passed Annie finally felt well enough to sit up and lean against the headboard of the bed. Eli carefully pulled her up when she asked for help but even with his assistance she felt a little short of breath from the effort. The good thing about having Eli with her constantly was when the physical pain started to ease and her mind wandered to Baden, she could strike up a conversation that would cover her thoughts. It may not have taken away the sadness in her soul but it helped to distract her from the pain of it.
“Thank you, Eli,” she said gratefully after she was settled against the headrest. He looked at her as if she just took a swing at him.
“I think it is the least I can do,” he said disgusted in himself. Annie rolled her eyes and decided not to try and reassure him that she didn’t blame him because every time she did he refused her and they would almost end up quarrelling.
“Please pass me the rug from the end of the bed,” Annie asked stretching her arm out towards the blanket.
“Are you cold?” He asked as he handed it to her.
“Just a little.” She pulled the rug as close as she could with one hand and Eli helped her with the rest. After she was settled he put his hand against her forehead.
“You feel warm,” he said aloud though it sounded more like a thought. “I am staying home tonight,” he declared as he started to gather some old, blood stained rags to take away.
“Where were you going?” She asked curiously.
“I had a…” He paused, not wanting to tell her he was meeting with some other trackers. “A…meeting that was arranged months ago but I will cancel,” he explained, avoiding looking at her eyes.
“Eli, it will be a matter of hours before you return. I think Garrick can manage until then,” she reasoned. When he continued to ignore her she reached out her hand and grabbed his. The slight movement sent a small pain through her shoulder but she did her best not to let it show. He looked down at her hand then back over to her.
“Annie, it is fine. I will stay here with you,” he persisted. He tried to ignore the nervous feeling in his stomach that came from her touch but it became increasingly difficult.
“Eli, please. I will be fine. Do not stop everything on my account. You arranged this quite some time ago so go,” she insisted and this time she was not taking no for an answer.
When he went to open his mouth to refuse her she gave him the sternest look she had in her repertoire. He tried to hold back his smile knowing that she was trying to look frightening but failing because she was too cute. He looked away and continued to clean when he couldn’t manage to hide it. It was difficult to clean with one hand but he didn’t want to take his hand away from hers.
“I will go but it will be short and I will leave as soon as it is finished,” he proposed the terms of his surrender. She released his hand and smiled, happy that his life was not going to be interrupted because of her, for tonight at least.
Eli had come to say goodbye before he went out and gave Annie one instruction, she was to go to Garrick for anything and everything. She found that easy enough to agree to. When Eli had checked her dressing and was happy with what he saw he left. He hesitated all the way to the door and the entire carriage ride. At the meeting he found that he wished that he had stayed with her.
Annie was in bed, reading a book with the lamp turned high so she could see the words easily. She was starting to run a fever and the slow ache that was creeping through her body was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. When she was about to get up and find Garrick there came a knock at her door.
“Come in,” she called as loudly as she could as she sat her book down beside her. To her surprise Micah came through the door. “Oh, Micah,” she said a little surprised. He smiled as he closed the door and she felt uneasy that she was so defenceless. He must have snuck past Garrick to get to her so Eli wouldn’t be told of his visit.
“I have come to see how you are,” he said as he took the chair that Eli used to constantly watch her from. She felt the fever setting in a little more and
the chill was seeping to her bones.
“Sorry to ask but would you be able to close that window for me?” She requested as politely as she could. The cool night air was only adding to the ache.
Micah was up then back in a flash. The only reason why she knew he had moved was because the window was no longer open. It made her feel even more uneasy. From what Eli had taught her, snatchers usually only used their heightened abilities when they needed to. For instance; in defence or when they were stalking someone. It made her wonder why Micah had needlessly run so fast just then. The scary part was, he still felt like the same old Micah to her and she knew that he shouldn’t.
“You seem well,” he said happily as he inspected her shoulder from his seat. She smiled at him trying to disguise her discomfort.
“I am,” she lied. Right now she felt anything but fine but she didn’t want him to know that. He moved the chair closer to the bed and took her hand. The fever made it difficult to focus and she had to try harder.
