RAVAGED HEARTS | CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  "OVER HERE!" LOUIS yelled when he heard the footsteps.

He stood in the caverns. Where two corpses laid. Io was kneeling in front of one of them in shock. It wasn't the first time he'd seen someone in this kind of state. She was processing. He hadn't processed it either, but considering it wasn't his father who'd just died due to a knife meant for him, he decided to be the responsible one in their duo.

Seo was unconscious on the ground. He'd probably lost too much blood, and Louis had given him some hazardously tied on bandages to both himself and Seo to stop the bleeding before returning to Io.

He didn't say anything, just knelt beside her.

A moment later, Rhys, Castrillo and a group of three other agents walked in. Their eyes snapped to Io's form, and the crumbled body next to hers. Rhys' mouth turned into an 'o'.

Louis gave a grim nod.

Io still said nothing. She didn't even raise her head to greet the others. She just kept her eyes on the ground in front of her, confusion and blankness in her eyes. He'd never seen this kind of expression in her before. He was scared.

He'd only just gotten her back.

While the others dealt with the bodies, Rhys crouched down next to Io, who watched as her father's body was carefully taken away. The tunnel should just be wide enough to carry them out, though it'll take a while. Rhys asked, "Io?"

Io said, so softly he barely heard, "He died for me."

Rhys whispered in a feather-light tone, "What happened?"

"He took a knife for me."

Rhys turned to him for confirmation, question in her eyes. Louis gave a quick nod and then slowly let his arm wrap around Io's shoulders. She let him, slowly lowering her head on his shoulders. She swallowed. "He died for me. Why did he do that?"

"I don't know," Louis replied. But he did know. Because with all the fucked up shit the prince had done, he cared for his blood. He cared for Io. She was his daughter. And in his own twisted, evil little way, he loved her above his love for himself. It was the only reason she'd been kept alive, because without the prince's perverted kind of protection Io would have died at the hands of Voronin and Seo long ago. On some levels, her survival was due solely to her father's insistence.

He wasn't sure what he thought about that. And he knew Io knew exactly why he'd done it too—but it'd take a while to sink in. Time she had.

He'd take care of her until then.

Rhys gave him a firm nod. It was approval and trust and a promise. Permission for him to care for her until she returned to her senses, snapped out of shot. Across the room, Castrillo walked over, placed her hands on Io's which were laid on her lap and said, "I'm sorry, Io. I know you hated him. But I'm still sorry."

Constanza Castrillo had lost her own father during the Meliquean war. He'd been one of the casualties of Contreras' Terror, the purging of anyone who'd been any kind of threat to Caba's administration.

Io just gave a nod in return. Castrillo turned to look at him. She raised one brow. But nodded as well.

Louis tilted his head slightly in response. He didn't need her acceptance. Or Rhys' for that matter. All he needed was Io's.

He turned down to face her as the two other women walked away and said, "Let's get you out of here, yeah? Back to the inn? We'll get you cleaned up. You can say your final goodbyes if you want."

She said, "I want him buried in Sai."

He whispered, "Io..."

"Please." Her voice was so fragile he didn't want to say anything else. He just nodded again.

"Let's go home, Io."

-♡-

HE DIDN'T WANT to, but duty called. After returning to the inn, he left Io in the care of the innkeeper and his wife as he went out to get his bullet wound looked after. It was nothing serious, just a graze. Nothing lethal, they cleaned the wound and he was allowed to go. Quickly, he went to brief the others on what had happened.

But because Rhys and Castrillo had clearly realised that what had just occurred was, well, personal, only the three of them were present in the meeting. He didn't wait for them to start. "Io went off on her own after realising her father was missing. Must have ran into him and Voronin and Seo in that cavern you found us in."

"We figured that much," Castrillo said. "What happened next? Seo will wake up if he's lucky enough—but one shot on each shoulder, damn—and Voronin is stone cold. Bullet through the heart. Io's work?"

"Io's work."

"The knife on the prince is Voronin's," Rhys said. "She's the only one with that good aim with a knife." Some kind of wistfulness entered her eyes. "She was the only one who could beat me back then." But then she sobered. "We see the wounds. We see the consequences. We want the process."

"When I found them Seo had already gotten shot. The one on his right shoulder is Io's. The other one was mine to keep him down. He is responsible for this," he pointed at the left side of his abdomen. "Io was in a knife fight with Voronin. I went to go check up on Seo, thought he'd stay down but he didn't. Then I joined in the fight. We got the upper hand on Voronin until Seo shot me, and Voronin took the chance to throw a knife at Io while she was distracted." He scratched the back of his neck. If not for the prince, Io would have died. Because of him. "The prince jumped in the way."

Rhys was silent for a moment. Castrillo sucked in a quiet breath and released it. "I... I didn't see that coming."

Louis replied, "I don't think any of us did."

Rhys said, "A shocking turn of events."

He asked, "The Falcons?'

"We got most of them. The ones who wanted to run, we let run. One or two of them can't do much damage anyways. The smart ones would never show their faces again. The others would maybe find a life in crime. Or go to the Hatlen Isles. Either way they won't be our problem any longer."

"That's good." He let out a breath of relief he hadn't realised he'd been keeping. "That's good," he repeated.

But that was the end of business, and they were no longer foreign agents working together but friends of Io, all concerned. Rhys said, "She's in shock."

Castrillo snapped, "Of course she's in shock."

"She'll take a while to return to normal," Rhys murmured. "She needs time to mourn. Let her be alone for a while, but then we should try our best to keep her busy. That's her preferred way of keeping her mind off things. But watch her and monitor her to make sure she doesn't get too—"

Louis cut in. "How about we let her decide how she wants to proceed herself?"

Rhys looked a bit taken aback for a moment before pursing her lips. Louis thought she was going to berate him or whatever she liked to do, but to his surprise she nodded. Paused. Then nodded once more. "You're learning, Sanchez."

Louis blinked, then felt and looked indignant. "Excuse me?"

Instead of answering she just repeated, "You're learning, Sanchez."

He decided not to press. Castrillo looked equally confused. Then Rhys said, "You take care of her for the time being, Louis. The rest of us... the rest of us need to clean this mess up."

"It's a big fucking mess."

"We can handle it," Rhys tugged at her lip. "Just... focus on taking care of Io, please?"

"I'll do that," he promised. "I'll do my best to get her in a healthy headspace soon."

Rhys said, "Constanza and I can take over this operation from now on. You two, take a break."

"Thank you."

"You'll be good for each other."

Castrillo excused herself and left the room. Rhys eyed her. "She'll... take a moment to adjust. Constanza is a nice person, usually, but she's stubborn as a rock."

"Sounds like someone else we know."

"Well," Rhys shrugged, "Io did serve as Castrillo's mentor. Some traits must have passed down."

"But thank you," he said.

She tilted her head. "What for?"

"For giving me a chance."

A wry smile crossed her face. "Y'know, when I left Sai, Asteria, Irina and Danna ambushed me on the docks, telling me about you and all they knew—which admittedly wasn't much, though I've pieced most of it together now, I think, I've met a few idiotic males in my time, and females—and that they thought you could be the one to make Io happy. That you might always have been the one for her. Danna very unwillingly admitted that."

"That doesn't sound like Miss Pang."

"Well, I have a feeling Asteria threatened her into it, and Asteria's the kind of person who could force herself to blindly believe anything. So I admittedly came here with doubts. But you've proved them wrong, Sanchez. I do think you'll make her happy."

"I will."

"Very confident. Don't mess up."

"I won't."

"If you want a break after this shithell of a mission, Louis, the Court of Bones extend their hospitality towards you."

"Thank you. I'll consider it."

"Good." Rhys looked extraordinarily pleased with herself. "Now go to her. Make sure she's alright, yeah? Won't want anything happening to her now. Nine months... you know what it feels like."

"I do."

"Seven years." Rhys shook her head. "Goddamn. Don't know how you survived it."

"I don't either."

"But you did. And I think both of you deserve your happily ever after, yeah?"

"If those exist."

"Well, perhaps not always happily. But ever afters? Those two exist. Don't waste time with me now. She's waiting for you."

With no small degree of relief, he said, "Thank you. Truly, thank you."

She gave a smile and a nod. "You're welcome."

-♡-

IO WAS STARING out of the window in her room when he walked in. One of the medics had come in to check up on her and declared her fit to go—physically anyways. Mentally, Io was just...

A mess.

She wasn't sure what to think. Her brain had turned to goo. She couldn't make sense of what had happened. It just didn't... fit any of her former beliefs. It was as if her world had been turned upside down.

Your father is dead. It wasn't her fault, not exactly. She didn't feel responsible. She didn't feel responsible at all. But why had he done it? Why had he taken that knife for her? He had to know he wouldn't be able to survive it.

She turned slightly. Studied him. Let her eyes linger on his abdomen, bandaged cleanly. "How's the wound?"

He grimaced. "It's fine. Just a graze. Hurts, but it's nowhere as bad as what some of the other agents got." How like him, to always discount his own feelings and pain and emotions for someone else. He was selfless. Completely and utterly selfless. It made her want to hit him on the head with a cudgel or maybe give him a peck on the lips—she was still deciding when he lowered himself and sat down beside her. Quietly, he asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," she admitted. "Like complete, utter shit. I'm still trying to... process."

"Well," he told her, "you have all the time in the world."

"I suppose so." She fell silent. He didn't say anything for a few minutes. They just sat there, soaking up the sun, enjoying the peace that had suddenly dawned upon this little town. Most likely none of the townspeople, except maybe the innkeeper and his wife, would realise what had transpired. It would just be another normal day for the rest of the world.

She told him, "I've been trying to recall everything I know or have heard about my father."

"And? What conclusion have you reached?"

"What he did... that wasn't in his character."

"I know why he did it."

"I do too. Doesn't mean it makes sense." Io shook her head bitterly. "This man... this man I hated with every bone in my body for half my life threw himself in the way of a knife to save my life. It doesn't balance out all the pain he caused me."

"No it doesn't."

"I can't forgive him."

"I can't blame you for that."

"But I don't hate him either."

He hummed in reply. Io was this ball of confliction at that moment. She was so... lost. She rarely stopped knowing what to feel about someone. Even when she couldn't hate Louis, she knew she was supposed to hate him.

She continued, "He's done so many horrible, horrible things to me, but at the same time he saved my life. If not for him I'd be dead right now, Louis, I'd be dead—"

"That's enough," he cut in. "Let's... not keep saying that. Please."

She gave him a surprised look, but when she saw his expression, her own softened. "Louis..."

"If not for his sacrifice I'd have lost you. I'm grateful to him on some level, I think."

"Louis..."

"That's just me. I'm not the one who did all that shit to. You're the only one who can decide how to feel about him. Or how not to feel about him. Or whether you want to think about him at all."

"I think..." She shut her eyes. "He loved me. You will agree with that much."

He said, "Yes. I think that much was obvious."

"But his love wasn't pure, was it? The same with my mother. It was tainted. I don't think he knew how to love without destroying something. Because his love for himself usually consumed everything else. That's why he took that knife for me—I'm a part of him. An extension of him. He didn't love me for being me. He loved me because I was part of his blood and flesh."

"Io..."

"That's why he sacrificed himself for me. Narcissism. But along with that, he did actually love me. It just wasn't the right kind of love."

"That's a very clear way of looking at it."

"I've had some time to analyse and reanalyse any of my interactions with him in the past while. You won't tell me whether you think I'm right or wrong."

"I won't."

"Have you been hanging too much around Rhys?"

A small smile hung on his face. "Maybe. Or maybe I just learned and adapted, Mi."

"Huh. Definitely been spending too much time around Rhys, then." She inched a bit closer towards him, laying her head on his shoulder again. "So. Now what?"

"I don't know," he confessed. "Honestly. I haven't thought that far. I'll go back to Valencia, I think, and meet up with my family for a bit first. Get the loose threads of this mission all tied up."

"So responsible."

"You?" he asked, glancing down at her.

She said, "Sai. It's been long enough."

He hummed. "Rhysa Jiang tells me I'm welcomed in the Court of Bones."

She wrinkled her nose. "Have you been before?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Never. I've been in Sai, but not the Scarlet Palace. Or the Court of Bones, whatever people fancy calling it at any given moment."

"You should come."

"I'm considering it. You want me to come? I'll have to go later, though. I need to go see my family in Valencia first. And you... well, I think you should go to Sai as quickly as possible."

"How long do you think you'll need?"

"Two to three weeks, maybe. And I want this graze to more or less heal up first, or the journey will hurt like a bitch."

She said, "Wait for me? Until we meet again?"

"In Sai?"

"If you fancy."

"I can't promise I can go soon, Io."

"Answer my question, Sanchez."

"Of course I'll wait for you, Io. I'll always wait for you."

"Thank you," she said quietly. "Thank you for waiting for me for seven years. Thank you for not turning away even when I said all those cruel things to you. I am sorry. I'm a stubborn person, you know that. I was angry."

"You had every right to be angry."

"All my life... the people I put above all else, those people always let me down."

"The third boy you loved, the one you mentioned, that was me, wasn't it?"

"It was. I'm surprised you didn't realise it earlier."

"I'm an idiot, Io, I think you've realised this by now."

She cracked a smile. "At least you're self-aware. But thank you, Louis, thank you for sticking by me for all this time. And thank you for giving me another chance."

"I think I should be the one thanking you for that."

She shook her head. "I think... I think we both needed second chances."

"Most people deserve one."

"Most people," she agreed. "Not all of them, though."

He just smiled and leaned back into the lounge.

"I think we've both decided, then, that you and I are those people."

They turned to face each other. Io looked at him, looked into his eyes, let her gaze drop to his full lips. Allowed herself to press her mouth to his. A perfectly chaste kiss. A promise.

He pulled away, held her, making sure she didn't touch his wound—and she did the same—and asked, "Do you regret it? All the things you had to go through to get here? If we went back in time... would you do the same thing?" His eyes twinkled as he stared out of the window, reminiscing about old memories, probably.

"If there was an easier way to get the same results... yes." She let her eyes close. "I'd dreamt about this the moment I'd properly met you. Yi jian zhong qing. I was infatuated."

"I was an idiot not to have noticed. And reciprocated."

"Well," she replied, "I suppose all things take time. And a bit of pain sprinkled along the journey."

"Sprinkled?"

"Fine. Poured upon." She pouted. "But now's not the time, Sanchez."

"You always call me Sanchez when you're mad."

"Is that a problem?"

"No, not at all. Helps me tell when you're angry and when you're not, really. That usually is appreciated."

She gave him a mocking scowl. He just chuckled.

It started with two children playing games too big for their innocent eyes. Somewhere along the way it ended up with one of them bleeding out on the marble floor of a palace inhabited by wraiths. But at the end it had all finished well: two broken people who'd found each other, facing the falling sun, ready for anything this world could throw in their face.

Because whatever happened, they knew they had each other.

And at the end of the day, that was all that mattered.

THE END.

(a bit of an anticlimactic finish I guess??? but I didn't want to drag it out. might add more in the future, but for now... get ready for the next book, whenever it comes out because I am nowhere done with of iron and crowns  rn, which means I'm nowhere close to posting where the thorns grow)