Chapter 107

Mae PoV

My eyes shoot open so fast it’s clear to me that I’m no longer the human I once was, she is long gone, all I need to do now is bury her, and I’ll do that the moment I destroy the hunter council. They all deserve to die for what they have done to me, I tried to give them peace and they poisoned me. I’m done playing nice.

Nathaniel will be the first to go, he isn’t part of the council. But he has sway with them and he’s the best they have, or used to be. Not anymore.

I don’t know how many of the hunters they’ve experimented on, but I know it was a problem long before I left. They probably wanted to do it to me, but I never gave them the chance, and I never will.

I look around the room, Mihai sat beside me, his head in his hands as he snores in his sleep, I want to wake him up and tell him I’m ok, but I don’t know how much sleep he’s had whilst I’ve been vulnerable. I doubt that’s it’s a lot. I almost don’t want to disturb him, but I know he’ll be angry if I just lay here and wait for him to wake up naturally.

He doesn’t like it when I put him above myself, though I’m unsure why.

“Mihai.” I whisper, lightly tapping his arm.

He doesn’t move, not one inch.

I tap him a little harder, my voice a little louder. “Mihai.”

He jolts awake, jumping to his feet so fast that the chair he was on toppled over, and he almost trips over it. I’ve never seen him so flustered before, it’s almost like a breath of fresh air. He’s always so well put together. It’s hard to believe he was once as young as me.

He was young before I was born, long before, and the years have shaped him more than I ever could have.

He slowly turns to look at me, relief in his eyes as he slowly picks up the chair, “Mae.” He says in a voice so soft I almost miss it, “how are you feeling?”

I force a smile, it’s small and broken, but still a smile. “I feel much better, I think I’m over the worst of it.”

I don’t want to admit I’m still afraid, I don’t want to admit that my chest hurts, all I want him to know is that I’m alive and I will be back to normal eventually.

I just don’t know how long that’ll take.

He slowly sits down on the bed, watching me closely, “are you thirsty?” He asks, handing me a glass of water before I can respond.

“I am.” I clear my throat, drinking it slowly, my hands shaking. “Where’s Luthor?”

Mihai looks around again, struggling to find his composure. “He went to go and patrol again; he’ll be back within the hour.” He glances down at his watch. “How long have you been awake?”

“Not long.” I say, “I woke you as soon as I realised you were asleep.”

He nods, once, fast.

Why does this feel so awkward?

“Is the poison still inside me?” I ask, almost nauseous just waiting for the answer.

“I think you were right when you said you were over the worst of it.” He says, taking my hand so softly I barely feel his touch. “You were gone for almost four weeks.”

Four weeks. A whole month.

Whatever was in that poison was hell on earth.

“Stop treating me like I might break.” I snap, fed up already with whatever act he was playing the roll of. “I’m not some scared little girl, Mihai, I’m stronger than that.”

“I know you are, Mae.” He runs a hand through his messy hair. “I just… I was worried about you, they said the poison would last two weeks in your blood, it wasn’t two weeks.” He looks at me, the corners of his eyes wet. “I thought that I’d lost you.”

“You haven’t lost me.” I say, my voice harder than I intended. “But you will if you treat me like something you’re going to break.”

I don’t want to shout at him, or argue, but I can’t stand the way he’s looking at me like I’m a porcelain doll. I’m not.

I’ve always taken care of myself, and maybe it’s hard for me to admit that I couldn’t do that whilst I was unconscious, but it doesn’t mean that I’m broken.

It doesn’t mean that I won’t bounce back, because I will. I’ll fucking make sure of it because I have an army to destroy.

I’m not going to stay down for long, and he should know that about me. If he knows me at all, he should know that.

He slowly lets go of my hand, “what do you need from me?” He asks, no apology, not admission.

But a real, raw question that means more to me than any amount of comfort.

“First, I need to get my strength back, and then we are going to destroy them all. Every. Single. One.” My voice is cold; with a sharp edge I’ve never heard before. “They might have won the first battle, but it doesn’t mean they’ve won the war.”

Mihai smiles, it ain’t a nice smile. “Now you’re speaking my language.” He growls. “I’ve prepared some things while you were out. I’ve called on my allies, they’ll all come when we call them.”

“How many?” I ask, my mind already forming the beginnings of a plan.

“Seven thousand.” He says, rising to his feet. “Stay where you are, I’m going to get you some blood, you’ve lost a lot of weight and you’re weak. We need to rectify that.”

I nod, “don’t be long and if you see Luthor, bring him to me.”

Mihai watches me for a second before he turns and leaves, slowly clicking the door shut behind him.

I use the headboard to slowly sit up, the room spinning. I have a long way to go before I’m back to how I was, but I’ve done it before. Long before I met Mihai.

I was injured once, a long time ago, and it took me eight weeks to bounce back, Im hoping it doesn’t me that long this time.

But if it does, I’m ready.