“Please don’t tell me I’m limited.” I groaned, putting some distance between Noa and I.
[You wanna pass out again? You should be thanking me for telling you. Five uses a day, butterfuck. Anymore than that and you’re out for 24 hours.]
I sighed. This is fine. I can work through this—I’ve been in tight spots before. I mumbled mental notes out loud.
“Five a day. One down. Wait, does that go for all my powers or just refurbish?”
[Refurbish and Purification Breath. Recycle , Insight and Vacuum are good to go as much as you want.]
That put things in perspective and would explain some things.
“Okay but I only used Refurbish once and passed out. Remember, when I rebuilt the statue?”
[Of course I remember bitch, I was there! You passed out because you were running on fumes. Even if you have plenty of uses left for your big powers, it means jack-shit if you don’t take care of your body!]
“Which is what I’m here for. System on a scale of 1 to 10, how badly is her body in need of recuperation right now?” Noa’s gaze landed on my system. Shoulders squared, hands clasped behind his back, he took command of my system.
Or at least he tried to.
I wheeled around on him, jabbing a finger in his chest. “System, do not answer him. Noa, I don’t need a babysitter. I just need to get this done.”
I had 4 uses left, just let me fucking use them already!
He squints at me. I know that look—thats Wyatt when I tell him I’m going to do something incredibly dangerous. Eventually though, his features smoothed out and he sighed, running a hand through his thick wavy locks.
“Why?”
My brows furrowed and my mouth slacked a little.
“You’re really asking that? Like you don’t already know?”
“Humor me. Why are you in such a need to do this at the risk of killing yourself in the process?”
There was only ever one reason: Wyatt’s body.
“I have to do this. Either help me or get out of the way.” I shouldn’t have said that. The fucker actually got in my way.
He crossed his arms and looked down at me, disappointment painted on his stupid sexy face. I wanted to punch him. Would punching him mean punching Guy and Wyatt?
“Talk to me…princess.” My heart leapt into my fucking throat and my ears started ringing. He used Wyatt’s voice!
“Don’t you ever and I mean EVER do that again. Don’t you fucking use his voice like its a controller for me!” It was creepy as hell, like Wyatt was speaking through him. Wyatt wouldn’t just let anyone control him like that.
Except maybe me.
“Very well. Answer me and I won’t do it again. You have my word.” He raised a hand up like he was gonna swear on a bible.
I shook my head and turned away from him, shoulders dropping in defeat. While hunting for my next building target. I can do this. Just keep focused on what’s ahead of me.
“I’m doing this to save Wyatt…” my voice dropped to a whisper, “to finally let him go.”
“Are you sure about that?” He asked, following me quietly.
Passing by a few destroyed cars, I almost stopped to refurbish one of them—just to get away from this conversation. But I doubt these things had any juice. My eyes landed on an apartment building. It looked too much like Penny’s. My gut tightens as her smiling face comes rushing back to me, nestled in her moms arms.
That could have been me…and Barnaby.
“Of course I’m sure.” I deflected the pain and sighed. I couldn’t start spiraling now—not this close to getting my wings. “Why are you probing when I’ve already answered you?”
At first he didn’t answer. He moved towards the apartment, breaking up half-walls and old moldy furniture.
“Because it doesn’t seem like you really want to let go of him. Not from the memories I have.” Cool as a fucking cucumber, he finished and called out to me over his shoulder. “I doubt anyone could pry you away from him, not even with a crowbar.”
I snorted at his shitty remark. Though in some ways he was right.
“I don’t care about our past memories. I’m doing this for Wyatt because he deserves that much at least. I’m gonna find his body, put his brain back in it—”
“And then what? Ride off into the sunset together with a genocidal sociopath?” Noa said it without much emotion—the same way anyone talks about the weather. I didn’t like the way he looked at me, head tilted like I was a thing to be studied. His experiment.
“Aren't you half sociopath right now?” I bit back, smirking.
“Only on Tuesdays. Fortunately for you, it’s Wednesday. Regardless, you’re avoiding the question, Sapphyra.” He really wasn't budging on this.
“Noa what do you want me to say? That I’ll leave him in the dirt? That I’ll divorce him?” I waved my hand out at our surreal surroundings, batting away the poor mosquitoes trying to get my blood. “Newsflash, I can’t get divorced out here.”
And I can’t leave him either, not really.
Noa sighed. We stayed silent while I refurbished the apartment building. Three uses left for the day and I wasn’t feeling woozy yet—I’d call that a win.
“Sapph, you’ve fought monsters your whole life. Why is it that you’re not putting up a fight with this one?” My blood fucking boiled. Not because he was wrong…but because he didn’t understand how deep it was between me and Wyatt.
“Why are you still talking about this?!” I yelled, sending a nearby flock of birds scattering to the skies. My tail tried to soothe my shoulders, rubbing them with a firm serpentine touch. I didn’t have to open my mouth. One death glare and it stopped. Soothing wasn’t what I needed right now.
I needed to be away from this conversation.
“I’ll talk about it till we’re both blue in the face, goddess.” He boxed me in, not with his arms but with his aura. Calm, so fucking calm it made me want to scream.Noa wasn’t arrogant like Wyatt or excitable like Guy. He was worse, like a patient counselor. He crossed his arms, waiting for me to come to his realization.
But fuck him and his thoughts.
A shaky breath escaped me. With trembling hands, I pressed a palm against my chest.
“Wyatt has done some terrible things and he deserves to pay for them…But he is a part of me.” I met his look, stopping him when his mouth opened to fight back. “You have his memories. You know he was there for me when no one else was. When I was…”
The words caught in my throat and I nearly barfed to get them out. I’d been fighting for years to suppress what my kin had done to me—had wanted to do to me. If it hadn’t been for Wyatt…
Something cool and wet hit my breasts. Tears. I’ve been crying too much lately, like a leaky faucet.
God, look at me. I’ll fix everyone else but fall to pieces on my own. System and Noa were right.
“Sapphyra.” Noa’s calm demeanor shifted. He opened his arms wide, mouth pulling down. His own tears fell as I embraced him.
“I hate you!” I screamed into his chest.
“I know.”
“I hate what you did! Why…all those people, Wyatt, why?!” It was Noa responding but he knew I was talking to Wyatt.
“Because he felt like he had no choice. Wyatt loved you and despite how much of a bastard he is, he loved the world too. He thought he was doing the right thing.”
Noa’s voice broke.
“I wish you hadn’t. I wish you’d just let things happen naturally. We would have found a way together.” I mumbled, calming down. I’m sobbing now, struggling to focus on anything but the agony of the weight of my decisions.
Noa didn’t answer me this time. Was he talking to Wyatt and Guy? Could they hear me?
“How could the man who saved me do something so horrible?”
His fingers gently grasped my chin and tilted my face up. His eyes were amber, like Wyatt's.
“I’m still that man, Sapphyra.” Wyatt’s voice. My mouth scrunched up but he shook his head before I could speak. “It’s me. I’ve been listening the whole time. I’m that man, Sapph. I’m your man…but I know it’s hard to see it like that—to reconcile who I am.”
“Wyatt.” I practically whined, pulling him down to kiss me. They weren’t his lips but they moved like him, tasted like him.
He pulled away, gently pushing me back. Noa must be getting tired of watching, considering it’s his body being used.
His eyes changed back to blue with gold fringe. Noa was staring at me now, brushing a finger across his lips.
“Damn. I didn’t think he had the will to do it. Color me surprised.”
I gulped, a sense of dread coiling in my gut. Wyatt pushed me away, not Noa. What the hell did that mean?
“What?” I whispered.
“Sapph. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what? What the fuck is happening?”
“Wyatt is withdrawing. He knows what I’ve always known: you’re addicted to him and you’ll never let him go.”
The air left my lungs. My shoulders drooped and arms hung limply at my sides.
“What?” Tell me I’m dreaming. Please.
Noa sighs, rubbing my shoulders.
“You need to focus on beating Rupert. To do that, Wyatt has to be taken out of the equation.”
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