Page 112 of Love, Nemesis
Lethe kept watching, thinking Cal might elaborate.
“I had some time to get excited about it,” Cal said, “After watching that bloodbath, I thought you were dead. You were gross—you still are.”
Lethe sat up and inspected the blood all over his clothes. His chest had healed.
“I tried to drag you out. You told me to leave you to die a few times and then you started having some kind of attack. You were completely out of control. It just looked like you were in pain.”
That explained it.
“Ah,” Lethe said, searching for his flask.
“After you shouted ‘Snake Bite’ at me about fifty times, I managed to wrestle it off you and I had to force you to drink that stuff.” He pointed at his nose. “You did this,” he said. “The place was on fire—I had to drag you out by your arms, down several hallways, a few flights of stairs, terrified the guards were going to attack me. I dragged you through the streets to here. It was too dark to do anything by the time I got the horses.” He crossed his arms. “You should really tell people about those attacks youhave. You’re out of Snake Bite. If you start acting like that again, I’m riding off.”
“So, we killed Ivan.”
“Yeah. I did. You are not welcome.”
Lethe laughed. “Yes, you did.” He looked back at the bag near Cal. “What’s that?”
Cal looked at the bag as if he’d forgotten it. He shrank away slightly.
“What is it?” Lethe asked again, now more curious.
Cal scratched his head, avoiding Lethe’s eyes. “Gold.”
“What?” Lethe leaned over, pulling on the bag. Gold trinkets, plates, and cups spilled out. “You looted the place?”
“They aren’t going to use it.”
Lethe looked between the gold and Cal. “You’re an interesting kid,” he said with an eyebrow lifted.
“I’m a good person,” Cal replied, shuffling back up to his feet.
Lethe wasn’t sure if Cal was defending himself or throwing a backward insult at Lethe. The bot grabbed his saddle and started saddling up his horse. He was shaking slightly. He rubbed his forehead and adjusted the saddle multiple times on the horse before petting the animal, repeatedly in one spot.
“Cal,” Lethe said. “Why don’t you let me take care of the horses?”
“No,” Cal said sharply. “You fought the Strike.” He paused as his hands gripped the mane. “You fought all of them. And what they can do—what they all did, what this one did.” He huffed and rubbed his face, wiping his hands on the horse now before adjusting the saddle. “All those empty people… I’ve only seen a few dead people. Maybe six dead people my whole life, and all those people—there were some my age in there, you know—in the mix. Maybe not completely dead, but just that look in their eyes. There was nothing there.”
He eased down beside the horse, nervously close to the hooves before sitting down. He stared at the ground, and for a few moments, neither of them said anything.
Cal shook his head again and sighed. “Does it get in like that? Is this what happened to you?”
Lethe didn’t reply for a long time. “You won’t end up like me, Cal,” he finally said. “I can promise you that.”
“Can you?” Cal said, looking up at him. “You’re insane.”
Lethe rubbed his face. “I never asked to be anyone’s role model, but you kids don’t always have to rub it in. You have more options than I did.”
“I’m not a kid anymore, and do I really have more options? Because in there, it didn’t feel like that.”
“I made choices, all right? I didn’t end up the way I am now by accident, and you won’t either. Understand?” Lethe replied. His head was killing him, and this didn’t feel like the time for a philosophical argument.
“How could you?” Cal said, raising his voice. “Burn an entire city down with all of those people locked inside?” He stood back up to his feet.
Lethe didn’t reply for a moment. “At the time, it seemed like the only way. Looking back, it still does. That doesn’t mean I don’t regret it.”
That only seemed to make Cal angrier.
