Page 141 of Sidhe
“Knowyou?” Nathan cut in, taking a couple difficult but necessary steps so he could lean beside the windowsill. “Dude, you wereinside of me. I know you. You’re gonna lose. But you know,” Nathan cocked his head, lolling it back against the wall, “it doesn’t have to end like this.”
They had been one, and maybe they would always be connected because of it, but as much as there was humanity in Malak, there was also cruelty and vengeance and hatred in Nathan that he mourned over for Malak’s sake. It was awful to feel all of that, compounding on Nathan’s own dark emotions.
A smile that Nathan did not expect was Malak’s response. It was not a kind or understanding smile, but something like pride, pridein Nathan, respect, even, for how Nathan had managed to beat him.
“You think you can offermea deal now?”
“Nah,” Nathan shrugged, “you wouldn’t accept it anyway. Just sayin’. I beat you, yeah. But I don’t…hate you. Ishould. Damn, I really should. You’re a fucking bastard. But…” Nathan couldn’t help smiling, “it’s hard to hate a villain you understand.”
Malak turned back to the window. “This isn’t over.”
Nathan smiled crookedly at Malak. “I think it is.”
Smoothing his hair once more, straightening his red tie with his bloody hand, Malak gathered control of himself, watching ashis dark fae army fell one by one, the outcome easy to predict now. How the war would end had always been tied up with him and Nathan.
“My time will come again,” Malak said, something he had likely also said after his great ‘failure’ with Gwen. It was twisted, but Nathan understood why Malak chose her form when he was female—he missed her.
“If it’s gotta be that way, just know this,” Nathan said, vision clear enough to look Malak dead on and steady. “There will always be someone to stop you, no matter how many decades, or centuries, or a few dozen millennia might pass in the meantime.”
“You better hope you are right, Nathan,” Malak said almost like a friendly warning.
“I don’t need to hope,” Nathan said, thinking of all the people he believed in enough to let them find their own way through this battle, most of whom had survived, those who hadn’t having died with honor, no matter what anyone might say against them. “I got more than enough faith these days toknow.”
Malak stood a while longer by the window, watching. And then, one moment, when Nathan blinked and cast his gaze over, Malak was simply gone. It was a relief, the whole thing, Malak’s departure and the battle ending favorably outside the doors. More than relief was that Nathan was so damn tired, and all he wanted was to sleep now that he had completed his duty and had leave to rest.
Sliding down the wall he was leaning against, Nathan tasted blood in his mouth, felt it sticky on his chin. It hurt so much simply to breathe, his ribs in painful pieces, his head pounding. It was the sweetest release, sitting there on that floor, when he slipped, quiet and eager, into darkness.
May the road always rise to meet you
May the wind be ever at your back
May the rains fall softly upon you
And the sun shine warm upon your face
And true be the hearts that love you
May the hands of friends be ever near
And until we meet again
May the path light up clear before you
And the clouds forsake the skies above
May life's joys be pure as they surround you
And the stars shine bright to guide you home
And true be the hearts that love you
May the hands of friends be ever near
And until we meet again
May God hold you
hold you in the palm
