Page 23 of At the Mercy of Midnight
Stop surprising me, you jerk.
She shifted awkwardly on her feet. Amelia had long since been incapable of accepting any form of praise, but coming fromhimwas entirely unexpected. The way words stuck in her throat told her it was also unwelcome, purely because she didn’t know how to respond, and it irked her.
“Uh, thanks,” Amelia said before clearing her throat and turning away, hoping he would leave so that he wouldn’t be able to see the warmth staining her cheeks pink.
She shifted a few books around on her table, and when she heard the slight swish of the tent flaps closing, she glanced over her shoulder. A small sigh of relief left her at finding herself alone in the tent once more.
Yet the longer she stood there, the more a slight ache started to throb in her chest that hadn’t been there while Silas sat next to her bedroll. Her eyes fell to the bundle of his shirt that covered the blade, and unease slid through her, wondering just how much it was about to derail her entire life.
SEVEN
Amelia woke to a gentle nudge against her shoulder. She hadn’t realised she had fallen asleep, the slight touch that roused her causing a flood of adrenaline as images of darkness and sleek, spindly claws flashed before her.
Gasping, she abruptly rolled over and shuffled backwards in a haze of panic, stalling when her legs became twisted in her sleeping bag.
“It’s alright,” said a calm, gentle voice, “it’s only me.”
Amelia’s chest heaved as her vision cleared and she saw Halpert kneeling on the ground before her. His hands were raised in a show of meaning no harm, his face cool and collected like always.
She pressed a hand to her pounding heart. “Halpert,” Amelia said shakily, “you startled me.”
“I apologise,” he said, settling into a seated position at the edge of her bedroll. “Silas indicated we’re leaving this morning.”
She swallowed, feeling her fingers tingle with the lingering sense of fear. “Yes,” Amelia responded as firmly as she could manage. “After last night, we decided it was safest to abandon the excavation. The instability of midnight seems to be escalating, and with Hank…we shouldn’t risk being here another night.”
Halpert nodded solemnly. “A wise decision.”
Taken aback, Amelia stared. “Do you think so? You don’t think it cowardly to abandon such an important project?”
He smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners. “There’s nothing cowardly about protecting life. But I do have to ask…has something happened between you and Silas?”
Amelia’s jaw dropped at the abrupt question, and for a moment she struggled to answer.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
Halpert watched her calmly, eyes assessing. Amelia always felt the sense from him that he could see into your innermost sections to discover the source of who you were. He seemed to see past every wall she built and treated her as someone worthy of attention and praise. It’s what made him one of the few people who Amelia truly trusted.
“I haven’t heard the two of you argue since you returned from the temple yesterday,” he said with an inquisitive tilt to his head. “It seems as though perhaps you have managed to form a truce?”
“I suppose we’re trying to,” Amelia answered sheepishly. “I’ll actually be travelling south with him before returning to Ivory City.”
That seemed to surprise him. “You are?”
She nodded, twisting a section of her sleeping bag with her fingers. “We have some joint research we want to collaborate on before presenting our findings.”
“Hm,” Halpert mused, his eyes shifting across her face searchingly as though aware she was holding something back. Something monumental. “I look forwards to seeing the outcome of your joint work. The conference in the Spire is set for the eighteenth. You and Silas will be there?”
Amelia forced a smile and stood, kicking her sleeping bag away. “Yes, of course,” she said before turning back to look down at him with a serious expression. “Thank you for joining me. I knew this was a dangerous expedition, and I can’t tell you—”
Halpert held up a hand to stop her, a soft smile on his face. “No need, Amelia. I’ve told you before, if you need anything from me, all you need to do is ask.” He stood slowly with a little grunt and then he was walking over to the exit of her tent. He paused in the doorway, holding it open and letting the blessed sunlight into the small space. He turned back to her. “I’m so proud of you, Amelia. And not just for what you did last night, but for every journey you choose to take, even though the path is difficult.”
Emotion sat uncomfortably in her throat. Halpert was the only person to say such encouraging words to her. Amelia’s family weren’t the nurturing type, and being an only child with no siblings, she had always felt alone. Her past was a mystery to most, and she knew that her difficulty revealing her true nature created an aura that she was indifferent, cold.
Halpert was one of the only people to see through it, becoming a father figure and true friend.
“Thanks, Halpert,” she said with a tentative smile, trying to appear grateful even while the compliment slid over her unpleasantly. First Silas, now Halpert. Amelia wasn’t certain she would ever be at ease with such things being said to her. Shecould accept praise in writing without blinking. When articles or journals published about her advances and discoveries in science, Amelia took it in with excitement. But words written on paper about her academic career were clinical, not personal.
Sometimes it’s the things you seek the most which are the hardest to accept when laid at your feet.
