Page 3 of Imbalance
"I haven't shown anyone this," she whispered quietly, "but you're my friend, so it's okay if you know. You're my friend, right? I’ve never had a friend."
"Yes. I’m your friend." I knew that for sure. I would be Ama's friend.
I just wishedit had stayed that simple, but from the start, my parents and others had been putting me in a position to eventually turn against her. When they finally told me their bullshit, I had forgotten about our friendship.I'd believed their bullshit over what I knew.
The emotions that I had felt for Ama had changed as well, turning confusing. So, I'd left her. Not physically—I was always around warning others off. But emotionally, I'd hurt her enough that she would stay away, and I'd spread rumors so that others would stay away. I think I had known that the rumors I'd been told were bullshit, but they had been easy to believe. It had been easier to not deal with the complicated emotions.
Now, none of that mattered, and I felt like I'd just lost time with her. So much time.
"Ama," I choked, "open your eyes. Please."
Silence followed as the others around me tried to stabilize themselves and gathered where we were.
"Don't boss me around," she muttered, frowning. The relief I felt at hearing her sassy voice had me kissing her gently. She made a surprised noise, her hand coming up to touch my jaw before I pulled back and met her surprised, yet exhausted gaze.
"Thank fuck," I mumbled, followed by a deep sigh.
Though I wasn’t sure if we were in the clear or not yet. It was likely she had a concussion. I’d have to keep a close eye on her.
"Where are we?" Damien's voice was pained, the Hellhound who had been laid out next to us, no longer shifted. Adrien looked around from where he was kneeling now on the other side of Ama, his shadows once again shifting around him dangerously.
"A valley?" he muttered.
"Are we out by the mountain range?" Colt hissed, looking almost panicked. "We have to get back there—"
"We can't," Adrien snapped. "We need to take a fucking minute, Colt. If it wasn't for Ama's father, we would be dead."
"Like my parents," Colt whispered, his entire body draining of tension as his legs collapsed and he put his fists down in the dirt, looking utterly devastated.
Ama sat up and reached over to squeeze his hand, before asking in a small voice, "Where is Nico?"
I looked over to find Nico sitting off to the side with his head between his legs, his breathing even. When he looked up, though, his eyes were filled with pain and focused on Ama. "Fuck, Ama. I had no idea they were going to..."
"This is not your fault," she hissed, a finality in her tone, showing that she wanted to hear no more of that from Nico.
"You're right, it's mine," Finias' voice was cold and dark. Empty even.
Ama leveled him with a stern glare, "No, it's not."
"That's not true," Finias muttered, "I should have known. I should have known how power hungry they were."
"Come here," Ama quietly demanded.
When Finias drew near, I felt a growl grow in my throat, and his eyes flickered to mine. There was pain in his eyes, but also something else. Almost...acceptance. Acceptance ofwhat, I wasn’t quite sure, but it made me loosen my grip on Ama. He wouldn't hurt her. I knew that. I might not like the bastard, but I still knew that he cared for Ama. Maybe even loved her.
It didn't matter if I fucking hated it. What Ama wanted was far more important.
"Where is my dad?" she asked, frowning suddenly as Finias crouched in front of her and she sat up enough to wrap her arms around him.
I winced, "He stayed there. He portalled us and stayed there."
"But they had a way to fuck with people's magic, which means he won't be able to leave," she whispered, her eyes wide and filled with fear.
"We don't know that," I offered quietly. "Your father is extremely powerful—"
She shook her head, "We have to go back. We fucking have to."
"We can't do anything until we figure out where the hell we are," Adrien emphasized again. "I mean, how the hell are we supposed to stop them? They've been planning this for too long. Devil knows what else they have up their sleeves," he grumbled, and I found myself nodding along.
