Page 94 of The Last Slayer
I got her signature on the necessary documents, job completed satisfactorily, and walked outside with Ramiel. As we exited the building he gave me an odd glance, then locked and warded the door with something that looked strong enough to hold back a battalion of wyrms. Once we were in the parking lot I sagged against him. That had been close.
Your home isn’t down there. It’s at Eastvale.
I had no idea where Eastvale was or what it looked like. To give up everything I’d built here for the unknown…
No. I couldn’t do it. I was a hunter, happy with my life, and I didn’t need to go around collecting heartstones just to destroy the Triumvirate of Madainsair. There was more than one way to kill demigods. Maybe those phoenixes could help.
But…Mary. If it hadn’t been for Ramiel, she would’ve died. Because of me.
We stood in front of the Ferrari. I debated internally while he looked at me, motionless and monolithic. The shadows got longer.
I’d thought I knew why Ramiel had been helping me—to fulfill his vow. But there had to have been easier ways to honor it than to get himself another enemy in Nahemah. And he didn’t have to save Valerie or Mary. He could’ve let Valerie die. I would have blamed Semangelaf, and I would’ve gotten the heartstone to avenge my sister, no questions asked. There’s nothing like hatred and a thirst for vengeance to motivate someone.
Finally I said, “I need to return the car to Valerie. And these docs too.”
The car vanished, along with the documents from my hand. “Done.”
Well, that was easy. But then everything seemed to come easily to him.
“How long will it take for me to learn to control my power?”
“That depends. I doubt you’ll be able to hunt like you used to.”
I digested that. “Ever?”
“A score of your years. Perhaps two.” He smiled slightly. “Not long.”
I sighed. “I never had a choice, did I?”
He shook his head.
And I’d thought having a magic booster would be useful. Make me a better hunter. I clenched my teeth to stop a rising hysteria.
My car was in pieces and my condo a burnt ruin. I had no place to go. My job… Unlike a lot of people, I actually loved what I did for living. I’d worked my ass off for everything I had. To think I had to start over…
Would I ever be able to come back? I wondered about life, and the paths that open and close as we go through it. Chances at alternate existences, every one of them. You take an opportunity or turn it down, and then another presents itself, invisible until the first was decided upon. And so we live, never really knowing what’s around the corner, half deluding ourselves that we’re in control.
Was Leh wrong to think we all made our own destinies?
I knew one thing. I was going to make mine.
I turned to Ramiel.
“Let’s go.”
***
Ramiel and I rode a pair of amphiteres to Besade. Our takeoff snarled traffic as drivers gawked up at us. Cars honked. Were any of them people I knew? Could they recognize me? Probably not.
I didn’t care if people saw me now. The city below us became a blur of gray and green, a coat of deepening red overlaying it as the sun began sinking below the horizon. I had to accept that my life as I had built it was over, no matter how bitter the idea was. I couldn’t do my job effectively anymore. And people—mortals, the ones I’d considered my kind—would never leave me alone. If Blake had recognized me for what I was, others would too. It was just a matter of time, not much time at that, and once it happened I would get no peace. People saw demigods as beings with the power to grant them their wishes.
Was this the reason the dragonlords were so contemptuous of mankind? Because even I couldn’t help but be disgusted at all the childishly petulant demands that had been made in the past. A magical gift can’t be extracted by pestering the giver. Coerced magic is tainted magic, and the results are often less than pretty. It has to be given willingly or bargained for. But if I gave people their wishes in exchange for leaving me alone, there would always be more of them wanting me to fulfill their dreams. Six billion plus people in the world, and only one of me. Dealing with an endless line of supplicants was not how I’d envisioned my life.
Hunting would have made things bearable. But obviously that wasn’t an option anymore. This time I’d gotten lucky and Ramiel had been able to revive Mary. But what about next time? What if I accidentally did something that not even he could fix?
How much of my old life did I have to give up? It seemed like everything, even Valerie. The Triumvirate obviously didn’t care about collateral damage. To them, Valerie was all too expendable, and I didn’t want to put her in danger.
I sighed. Maybe when this was over, we could visit each other again. Actually never mind. She could visit me. I hoped our relationship would remain the same. I didn’t care about the difference in our statuses as mortal and demigod. She was still my sister, my best friend, somebody I could count on. And Jack…well, who knew how he would view my new circumstances? But I didn’t want him to treat me any differently now, even if it meant he’d drive me absolutely insane from time to time with his cryptic remarks.
