Page 63 of Saints & Sinners

“I healed some of your cuts and bruises, but you should take it easy. Just a little rest and—”

“How did I end up here?” I looked around. The last thing I remember was Norah sending me to the ground with one of her brutal punches.

“Hunter brought you here. Well, he practically carried you in like he was Superman. You should have seen how worried he was; he was making a whole scene telling everyone to heal you first, which—”

The shock of what she was telling me made me jolt upright, and Marnie quickly pressed a hand to my shoulder to steady me.

“Hunter brought me here?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “And refused to leave your side. That is until Nadael stopped by and told him to get back to training.”

Refused to leave your side.

I couldn’t stop repeating that inside my head.

Maybe Marnie hadn’t healed me enough. I needed another round to quell this strange feeling that swelled in my chest.

“And... Nadael, did she—”

“She said that you’re lucky you didn’t get struck with the Nightsteel instead.” Joe appeared by the doorway, his face paler than usual. “Your opponent, on the other hand, will need a few hours to recover.”

I grimaced, not from the pain but from the fact Joe had been called in because of me.

He sighed and walked over to the side of the cot, letting Marnie get up from the bed so that he could sit down. “Grace,” he said, his voice tinged with what sounded like both relief and frustration. “Maybe this is a sign you should reconsider the Warriors Sector. You could just stick to Sariel’s lessons—”

I shook my head before he could say anything else. “I’m not quitting.” I didn’t want to. At all.

“You shouldn’t even be fighting with any of them. I should talk to Azrael, tell him that you—”

“It’s not your choice to make,” I snapped, the sharpness in my tone surprising me.

The thought of walking away now over something that was happening regardless since I joined the Warriors seemed like a silly idea.

“Itismy choice,” Joe pushed. “I’ve taken care of you for the past eighteen years; why should I stop now?”

“Because I’m exactly that, Joe.Eighteen. Right now, I should be at a university, studying philosophy or something that would give me a headache, not here at a Celestial academy where I won’t even receive a title in the end.”

Joe didn’t say anything; he just looked at me with that familiar resentment and worry he always wore whenever I gave him areason.

I grabbed Joe’s hand. His was so big compared to mine that it barely covered his palm. “I’ll be fine, I promise.” My eyes flitted towards Marnie. “I’m in the hands of the best company.”

She smiled, and Joe finally nodded, though the concern in his gaze never left.

“If I were still mortal, I’d have the greyest hairs because of you.”

A laugh tore through my cracked lips. “You already have grey hairs despite the age you Ascended.”

He frowned. “They’re not grey, they’re blonde.”

“Grey with a hint of blonde.”

He was glaring at me now, and I couldn’t stop laughing.

Marnie cleared her throat and leaned forward. “In my personal opinion, Mr Martin, your hair is definitelynotgrey.”

“Thank you, Marnie,” Joe said over his shoulder, then raised his eyebrows at me. “See.”

I glanced at Marnie, mouthing the words ‘kiss ass’, and she shrugged unapologetically.

---