Chapter 16 The Broken Silence
Elena's POV
The silence of the pool area was broken only by the frantic splashing of water as Daniel dragged Liam toward the edge. I watched with blurred vision as Daniel hauled him onto the cold tiles, his own body shaking from the freezing temperature. Liam lay there, still and pale. A soul waiting to be collected.
Daniel didn't waste a second before he began pressing down on Liam's chest with everything he had. "Come on, Liam! Breathe!" he shouted, his voice echoing off the high, tiled ceiling like a desperate prayer. I stayed on the floor, my hands clutching my chest as something inside me, where my grace used to live, began tearing open.
After a few seconds, Liam suddenly jerked and started coughing hard. Water poured from his mouth as he struggled to breathe. His eyes flew open like he'd been pulled back from a long, dark hallway, gasping as he took in the breath he almost lost. The moment he woke, the tearing pain inside me stopped. I could breathe again.
Daniel fell back on his heels, his face a mix of exhaustion and genuine fury. "What the hell were you doing in there?" he demanded, his tone sharp and filled with an anger born from pure terror. He sat there dripping wet, his chest heaving as he stared at the boy he had just saved.
Liam looked up at him, his vision slowly clearing as he wiped the water from his eyes. "So, you still care," Liam whispered, his voice like broken glass. "Thank you, Daniel." He looked at his friend with a small, tired expression, grateful to be alive.
Daniel let out a sharp, dry cough and looked away, his jaw tightening as he tried to hide his emotions. "Who says I care?" he snapped back coldly. "If it wasn't for Elena, you would still be at the bottom of that pool." His words hung in the air, cold and heavy as the water.
They both turned to look for me. Daniel was so surprised to see that I was already on my feet, standing straight despite the agony I had just felt. He was about to say something about my quick recovery, but Liam interrupted him.
"How did you both know I was even here?" Liam asked, his eyes darting between us with deep suspicion.
Daniel didn't give me a chance to lie. He just pointed at me with a cold look. "You should be thanking Elena, not me. She's the one who knew."
In my thoughts, I realized that this was exactly what Malakor had warned me about. The bond link was the true punishment for interfering with the laws of life and death. I was now tied to this human boy, feeling his every pain as if it were my own.
"I just... I just sensed it," I said, my voice small in the vast, empty room. The answer sounded strange to them. The air between us became quiet and awkward. They both stared at me, waiting for an explanation I didn't have the words to give.
Liam sat up and began to explain. "I was on my way to the teacher's office like I was told," he muttered, looking at his bruised knuckles. "The bullies caught me. Threw me in because I stepped into their territory the other day." He let out a frustrated sigh, his wet hair covering his eyes. "They said they were just getting started."
A surge of anger rose in me. I told him we should report them to the teachers right now.
Daniel shook his head and looked at the floor, his expression filled with bitter realism. "There's nothing the teachers can do. Those guys own this school. Reporting them only makes the target on your back bigger." He turned to me. "Are you sure you're alright now, Elena?" His eyes searched my face for any sign of the pain I'd been in earlier.
I nodded and told him I was fine, even though my chest still felt hollow.
Liam stood up shakily, his clothes clinging to his skin. "Stay here," he told me, his voice still weak. "We're going to the locker room to change. Then we'll meet you back here."
I watched them walk away, their footsteps loud and rhythmic on the wet tiles until they disappeared.
The second the door closed behind them, the air shimmered and turned cold. Malakor appeared out of the shadows, his golden eyes fixed on me with grave intensity. "The bond is active," he said, his voice vibrating through the quiet room. "You felt him dying, didn't you?"
I looked at him, my heart still racing. "I want to see the Black Book," I told him, desperation creeping into my voice. "If I can just find it and fix this, everything will go back to being okay again." I was tired of feeling.
Malakor stepped closer, his form flickering like a dying candle in the wind. "Do you truly not want to become human, Elena?" he asked coldly.
I looked away. "If not because I was saving the boy, none of this would be happening."
"Who knows if you really saved the boy, or if you just want to become human yourself?" His voice was icy and distant, making me feel more alone than I ever had before. "After tonight, I won't be able to find you anymore. The bond will blind me to you."
He explained that an angel and a human cannot continue to speak like this once the bond has fully taken hold. He began to fade into the air, his golden light dimming as he prepared to disappear. A sudden panic rose in me. I reached out my hand to stop him.
I wanted to hold his hand, to keep him there so I wouldn't be alone. But my fingers only passed through air. His body could no longer be touched by someone who was becoming as human as I was.
"Wait!" The word tore out of me.
But Malakor was already gone.
"Wait for what?" Daniel's voice came from behind me, low, confused, and afraid.
I spun around. He stood at the door, alone, staring at the empty space where Malakor had just been. He stepped closer, his eyes searching the room as he whispered, "Elena, there's nobody there... who were you talking to?"