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Guild nodded. “Then don’t let somebody else’s fear become your certainty.”
He turned around, walked to his overflowing desk and yanked a drawer so hard the desk shuddered. Then he walked toward me and placed a knife down on the table.
“Take it.”
I looked at it and all I saw was the one Alaric gave me. The one sitting in the drawer next to my bed. “No.”
“You remember?”
All I could feel was the blade pressed against Alaric’s neck. His words echoing. Right here. This is where you end him. I gave a sad smile and pushed the blade back. “I know. I already have someone who’d die to protect me.”
Guild went very still. For the first time since I’d arrived… something shifted behind his eyes. He breathed a little deeper as though he finally understood what existed between Alaric and me.
“Go home, Nyssa.”
Home.
That’s what it was for me.
“What if I’m wrong?”
Guild reached over and took the knife back. “Then you’ll deal with that.” He watched me. “You have my number. You want out and I’ll be there before you end the call. You know your own instincts, Nyssa.” He went silent for a second. “Don’t let anyone else teach you what to fear.”
Rain.
Screams.
The sickening scent of cloves.
My throat thickened.
I did know my fear.
But I also knew my heart too.
And both were at war.
I rose from the table. There was no hug. No kind words. We’d spoken all we needed to. Guild wasn’t a man of unnecessary words. He was a man of quiet protection.
“Thank you.”
He gave a nod. “Anytime.”
I turned around and headed for the door, my steps still as heavy as before. Only now I knew what I had to do.
Alaric
Tires squealed. Forklifts weaved between stacked pallets. Tucks reversed. Workers shouted over diesel engines. The market breathed around me. But it wasn’t the same. Before… I navigated by scent. Sounds. Memory. Now fragments of the world forced themselves into view. Grainy. Incomplete. Untrustworthy.
A flash of orange tarpaulin. A child in a blue jacket.
Sunlight catching the chrome of a forklift.
Then…
Nothing.
I hated it.
