Over the next several days, Marcus approached his family. Reactions varied, but the overwhelming result was forgiveness he still wasn’t certain he deserved. The only person he’d yet to contact, and the one that made him the most nervous, was Ophelia.
While their relationship thus far had pushed the boundaries of platonic, they’d yet to take any step that he thought explicitly broke that barrier. It had been dangerously close in London. That was before her father unleashed the power of his bought and paid for private army on him.
It wasn’t like she was the only question mark in the tally that was his personal life. Victoria being another glaring one. Things had been looking up, sure, but what were they? Roommates? Did he even have time to be worrying about what were comparatively small fish in the very large pond that contained a monstrous magitech fish that was probably hunting him down?
Marcus sat outside the M.I.S. building on an old metal bench, staring down at his feet. Carven told him she’d taken her old job back, but he was still trying to gather the courage to walk in and talk to her. What was he supposed to say exactly? Sorry for being an asshole? The click of heels followed by the sound of her voice cut his prep time short.
“Marcus?” She stepped tentatively toward him as he looked up. “What are you doing here?”
He swallowed hard, mouth suddenly gone dry. The tight ponytail holding back the blond wavy hair, paired with the fashionable skirt and blouse, made it almost impossible to tell that just a few weeks ago she’d been training to be a keeper on the reserve.
“I came to talk to you.”
Her expression didn’t change, but she gave a curt nod and smoothed out her skirt as she sat beside him. “Finally getting around to me then?”
“Yeah…” Marcus sighed and dragged his hands over his face, trying to get himself together. “I’m sorry it took so long. To be honest, I’m really nervous.”
“Marcus the Beast Keeper? Nervous to talk to little old me?”
“That’s a little patronizing.” Marcus gave her a weak grin.
“Good.” She smirked at him. “It was meant to be.”
“Deserved.” He bit his lip, then abandoned any prepared words he’d made. “I’m sorry…for a lot. Right now, mostly for how I treated you in the apartment. I know you were just trying to help. I’m not going to make any excuses for it. So, yeah…I apologize.” He said elbows resting on his thighs as he tried to shrink into himself.”
“You were pretty mean.” She nodded, not breaking eye contact with him. “But you don’t need excuses.”
“Sorry?”
She rolled her eyes at him and continued. “What I’m saying is, I understand. I’m not sorry I was there, but I could have handled the situation better myself.” She nodded to his bandaged hand. “Seems you got yourself taken care of after all.”
“Yeah,” he said, lifting the bandage off the back of his hand to reveal the splotchy little circle. “Turns out I had parasites.”
“From the blood magic.” Ophelia nodded, completely unphased by the revelation. “I figured as much.”
“You knew what it was?” he asked, a little startled by her nonchalance.
“I’ve seen it before.” She crossed her legs, folding her hands on her lap and leaning back on the bench. “You don’t forget things like that. I should have dragged you out of there kicking and screaming, but you really hurt me.”
Marcus scratched his freshly shaven chin and frowned. “I know…I’m sorry, again.”
Ophelia finally looked away from him, off into the middle distance. “I guess I’m just confused now. I appreciate and obviously accept the apology, but where does that leave us?”
He took a deep breath and slowly let it out as he shook his head. “Yeah, I’m very familiar with that brand of confusion.” He glanced up at her with a sad, awkward, half-smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes.
Her eyes locked on him again, did a lap or two back and forth from his mouth, before her cheeks blossomed rosy red. “I’m going to confess something to you, and really hope it doesn’t make you incredibly uncomfortable.”
Marcus cocked his head and slowly leaned back to sit up properly on the bench again. “Okay, I’m listening.”
She sucked in her bottom lip, fingers momentarily leaving her lap to knead at her cheeks before dropping down again. “I’ve had a crush on you since I was thirteen. I’d gone with your brothers to watch one of your football games. They were making fun of all the jocks crashing into each other like barbarians and how stupid the game was without magic. But you…”
She paused, took a deep breath, and fiddled with a loose thread from the end of her blouse.
“You ran over after it was over and gave the game ball to your mum. I never forgot that.”
Marcus blinked. It was a lifetime ago, but he remembered the game she was talking about. The jibes from his brothers those days were constant, but he didn’t remember her there. Then again, if his brothers were around, she was never far away.
“I never told anyone but my diaries,” she qualified. “From that day on, I was infatuated. It didn’t matter that you were a Mundane. I watched you pour your heart and soul into everything that you did. You just walked through waves of people that doubted you like they weren’t there.”
Marcus opened his mouth to speak, but when she looked up at him, eyes bright with the faintest shimmer of welling tears, whatever words he had erased from his mind.
“When you showed up in London of all places?” She snorted out a laugh, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes, which she quickly wiped away. “Just for me? I was a giddy schoolgirl all over again.”
Marcus pushed his fingers through his hair again, gently tugging at the fiery locks. Part of him wanted to take her hand. Part of him wanted to run as fast as he possibly could. Mostly he just felt like the world had tilted and the ground was flying up to meet him.
“I had no idea.” He finally let out, voice just above a whisper.
“Well, yeah.” She smiled faintly at him before looking down at her lap. “That’s crushes, right? You don’t really go around advertising them.”
“I’m…ummm…” Marcus rubbed the back of his neck.
“Oh gods, I’ve fucked it, haven’t I?” she blurted out, covering her face with her hands.
“No, no, no.” Marcus reached out, taking her hands in his by instinct. The warmth radiated from her into his very soul. Whatever that feeling was when he touched her, it was electric, and he could see how he could get addicted to it. “You didn’t, I promise.”
Her eyes locked on his, tears still spilling out as she spoke. “It’s weird, though. I’m the weird stalker girl!”
Marcus couldn’t stop the snorting laugh from bursting through his nose, which caused her to laugh, and then immediately get mad at him for making her laugh.
“It’s not funny, you ass.” She pulled her hands away and gently pushed his shoulders from her, though the grin on her face squandered any offense she faked.
“I promise, you’re not the weird stalker girl…” He swallowed hard, his smile fading as he looked down at his own lap. “I…I guess I’m just trying to get my shit together. Get my head on straight. After everything that happened.” He sighed, searching his mind for anything coherent he could give her. “All I know is you mean a lot to me, and I don’t want to hurt you again.”
Her tongue darted out to wet her lips as her gaze met his. There was no way that was the response she wanted from her confession of nearly a decade’s worth of infatuation, but she didn’t seem angry or hurt about it either.
She nodded, lips pursed, and ducked her head again. “Okay.”
Marcus opened his mouth, paused, then ducked his own head to look up at her. “Just so we’re on the same page…is that okay ‘okay’, or I should go and fuck myself ‘okay’?”
She let out a choked laugh, then leaned back and threw her hands up. “It’s a ‘I’m glad you didn’t lie to me’ okay.” Ophelia stood and smiled down at him. “And a ‘I hope you figure it out’ okay.”
Marcus stood with her and placed a hand on her shoulder to guide her out of the way of a man in a suit walking by with purpose while staring at his phone. “Thank you for accepting my apology. I was worried I’d be…” Marcus paused when her eyes shifted away from his to over his shoulder. Then a sharp stinging sensation spread from the center of his back.
“The chairman warned you.” A voice whispered in his ear.
Spinning around, Marcus found his attacker. The suit clad man was already walking away briskly, but not enough to garner any additional attention, even outside the magical law enforcement station. His hands went to his back, but he couldn’t quite reach the impact point.
“Marcus…don’t move.” Ophelia’s voice was shaky. He could feel her hand on his back, then whatever he was just stabbed with pulled out. In her hand, the empty syringe she’d just plucked out of him stared up at him.
He stood there, slack jawed, as he tried to put together what just happened. The chairman. He didn’t need two guesses for that one. Was this retaliation from what he’d done at the facility? Or just being near Ophelia?
What was in the vial? Drugs? Had they delivered a lethal dose of something? He’d never doubted that Walter Harris could have him killed, but was he actually doing it?
“Marcus? We need to get you to the hospital.” She lifted up on her tiptoes to invade his line of sight. “What are you feeling?”
He blinked a few times, finally meeting her eyes. What was he feeling? That was a good question. “Nothing. Not yet, at least.” He swallowed, trying to center himself. If Walter Harris was going to have him killed out in the open, it wouldn’t be with a drug overdose. He’d think of something more poetic, surely. “…Fuck me…”
“What? What is it?” Ophelia reached up and grabbed his face to force him to focus on her.
“I need you to get me to Calliope.”
By the time they’d gotten to her car, the lethargy had set in. He fumbled with his phone while Ophelia peeled out of the parking lot. She was still asking him questions, but his blood was pumping through his body at such a rate he couldn’t even hear himself think. He reached over and paired his phone to the bluetooth before dropping it on the floor.
“Marcus?” Calliope’s voice sounded through the speakers.
“Callie? It’s Ophelia. Something happened...”
“Where’s Marcus? Is he okay?”
Ophelia’s voice shook. “No. He’s with me, but someone stuck him with something.”
“Stu...Is he conscious?”
“Yes…” Marcus croaked out, his eyes immediately regretting it as a smell that would be forever burnt into his memories filled his nose and burnt his sinuses. Then came the pain. “Blightshrew toxin…” he manage to get out as he reached out for Ophelia’s hand. “Call…Victoria…”
Norah’s barely breathing body filled his darkened vision. This is what she’d been feeling for hours? It hadn’t been more than a handful of minutes, and his body was ready to give out. She’d held on for so long. She’d held on and he couldn’t help her. Marcus closed his eyes, and the pain took him.