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As Mariah made her way back through the abandoned passageways, dodging spiderwebs and wishing she’d had a better source of light, or even a bit of the demon lineage that kept Valec feeling like a furnace all the time, she cycled through what she’d say to Zoe once she got back to their room.
Hey. Sorry the only friend you seem to have aside from your brother has been lying to you the entire time you’ve known her. But on the bright side, maybe those Arthur powers of hers will help us survive this weekend from hell haha…
Even to her own ears that sounded weak. And a bit untrue. If anything, the abilities Bree had inherited were more likely to get them killed the second Mikael or Bianca or any of her henchmen caught wind of them. A shiver made its way through Mariah, be it from the cold or the heavy feeling of death all around them she couldn’t tell, forcing her to move a bit faster and curse Mikeal’s choice in pajamas. Ever the showman, he’d chosen clothes for entertainment more than function, even when the occasion was only going to bed.
Would Zoe be in bed already? If so, Mariah would have a little extra time to get her thoughts together. Zoe seemed a bit abrasive on the surface, she’d scared the hell out of Mariah when they’d all met in that hallway just a few hours ago, wrapping her arm around Mariah’s shoulder, her sharp tongue and quick thinking saving them all as Bianca made her way around the corner. But it didn’t take long to realize that while Zoe was just as tough as she seemed, she was also just a girl, trying to prove herself in a world determined to dismiss her, constantly worried for her brother while trying to hide it, navigating on confidence, ambition, and vibes, but still susceptible to pesky human feelings like vulnerability and betrayal. Maybe it was the place they were in, where death felt like as much of a guest as they were, heightening emotions and accelerating feelings, but quickly, Mariah came to care for the girl.
She pushed her glasses up a bit higher on her nose and took a deep breath as she finally made her way back into their room. Darkness greeted her, the curtains closed and every lamp in the room turned off. As quietly as she could, which would never be quiet enough for cambion ears, she made her way through the sitting room into the attached bedroom, setting her candle aside, wrist tired from holding it, and straining her eyes as she searched the double beds to see if Zoe had settled into hers for the night.
Mariah’s heart rate picked up as she noticed both beds still neatly made, undisturbed from the time she’d first seen them when they’d been shown to their room earlier in the evening. If Zoe wasn’t in here and wasn’t in the adjoining room, then where was she? Mariah knew the girl had been upset, but there was no way her anger had made her reckless enough to wander the halls alone. Part of their plan to stay under the radar was to do just that – staying to themselves, all of them agreeing to keep their heads down and their magic even lower. Given how Zoe had reacted in the library, the chances of her doing either right now weren’t great. There was no way she could be alone. Mariah quickly turned on her heel, thoughts of where to check first spinning around in her head, debating if the hallways or secret passageway would be the better method to get around when a voice stopped her.
“Take a deep breath. I’m right here,” Zoe called out, from where Mariah couldn’t tell, but that didn’t matter as much as the relief of knowing the girl was in the room did.
Mariah was working on being brave, listening less to others and listening more to herself, doing more than she’d ever thought possible, which is how she’d ended up in the mansion in the first place, but she still reflexively took the breath Zoe directed her to. Then another. A third for good measure.
“Sounded like your heart was about to fly out of your chest,” Zoe’s voice spoke again.
“I was worried,” Mariah replied.
“I wasn’t actually going to hurt Bree.”
“I wasn’t worried about that. I was worried about you.”
The responding scoff told Mariah that this conversation was going to be just as hard as she’d feared.
“Am I not allowed to worry about you?” Mariah asked the room, still unsure of where Zoe was. When silence answered, she feared the girl had actually left this time.
Then, “There’s no need to worry about me. Like I said back in the library, I won’t blow our cover and I won’t hurt Bree. I’m finishing this and getting back to my brother.”
“Can we have this conversation face to face? This place is creepy enough and speaking to what looks like an empty room isn’t helping.”
Mariah felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise before a voice spoke directly into her right ear, “We don’t have to have a conversation at all. I said I was fine now.”
Zoe was gone just as quickly as she had appeared, the girl using the relative safety of their empty room to exercise the powers she’d been forced to suppress when in front of others, leaving Mariah with the phantom of her presence at her side lingering, tinglingly. She had to pull herself together.
“I don’t believe you,” she said, voice as strong as she could make it in the moment, which admittedly, wasn’t very.
A dry laugh. “You don’t?”
“Nope. You wouldn’t be hiding from me if you were really fine. The way you keep bouncing around the room tells me how bothered you are and I’m just trying help you, something you’re making very difficult.”
Zoe was in front of her in an instant, so close she had to fight the urge to tilt her head back just to see the girl more clearly. Instead she stayed still, afraid that moving would make Zoe disappear again. She realized she was treating the girl a bit like a wounded animal likely to lash out, but after what she’d seen in the library, she wasn’t sure just how far from that Zoe was given the circumstances. One part of her brain told her to back away slowly with her hands up. But her gut told her to offer support. Maybe it was the pendant around her neck strengthening her, but she felt a determination like she hadn’t felt before, not even when she’d volunteered for this chaotic rescue mission.
“Why do you care so much?” Zoe asked, still so close, Mariah practically feeling the girl’s breath wash over her face as she spoke. She didn’t back away. If anything, she felt a pull to move forward.
“Because we’re going to need to rely on each other to survive this. And yes, it sucks that Bree lied to you, but she had her reasons. And hopefully once we’re on the other side you’ll be able to make peace with them.”
“So you’re telling me to just get over it?” Zoe hissed.
“No. You have every right to be upset. I’m telling you to talk it out with me now and deal with the rest later.”
“You just met me.”
“Does that mean I can’t help you?” The question seemed to stop Zoe in her tracks. She froze, then finally backed away, giving Mariah just enough room to breathe. Zoe had mentioned her brother repeatedly in their short time together, but no one else. It was presumptuous she knew, but Mariah wondered if Zoe only had her brother. Was the concept of someone helping her so foreign because so few had ever offered it?
“I’d like to be friends.” Mariah declared.
“Why?” Zoe asked. Now it was Mariah’s turn to stumble over a question. The half demon part of things might’ve deterred others, but it didn’t scare her. The prickly personality she found entertaining, Zoe’s outbursts a distraction from everything happening if nothing else. She’d immediately felt safe with her seeing how Bree trusted the girl. And anyone Bree trusted Mariah did as well.
“Why wouldn’t I want to be friends?”
Zoe deflected. “So what? You want to turn this into a sleepover? Braid each other’s hair and talk about our crushes?” she asked, crossing her arms and stalking towards her bed where she easily climbed atop it, sitting and crossing her legs, back slumped against the headboard like a petulant child. It was cute.
But something snagged at the back of Mariah’s mind. She’d said it in passing and annoyance, but the word crushes coming from Zoe’s mouth made Mariah feel a warmth. It was subtle and unexpected, lingering only around her face and abdomen, but it was there.
“We could. But a warning, I’m a bit picky about who I let play in my hair,” she answered.
“Same.” Zoe replied. Mariah could tell. Her two-strand twists were still immaculate despite her tussle with Bree in the library. Everything about Zoe felt put together, strong, admirable. Even the golden gown the girl had worn earlier seemed regal, something wearing the Heart couldn’t make Mariah feel genuinely. But instead of bringing feelings of inferiority, the energy around Zoe only inspired her more.
“Maybe we skip that part and just learn a little more about each other?” Mariah suggested, climbing onto her own bed and mirroring Zoe’s positioning.
When all she got in response was an eye roll, she doubled down on pleading her case.
“What do we have to lose? We’ll probably never see each other again when these three days are up,” she said. She knew she sounded just shy of desperate, but she wanted to know more about the mystery girl. Like some sort of invisible string was tugging her closer, one she didn’t want to fight or cut. She needed to know more.
“I’ll start,” Mariah declared after the silence continued to stretch. If she was anything, she was persistent. Bree had also been tough to crack at first, but eventually she’d gotten through. It dawned on her that with Bree’s memory loss she might have to do it again, but she was confident in her skills. Zoe would be good practice.
“As you learned earlier, I’m a Rootcrafter. A Medium like Bree, but her abilities are a bit different from mine. She’s definitely more powerful. She hasn’t been practicing for very long, but she’s already nothing like what we’ve ever seen before” she began. After her talk with Valec she had been trying to compare herself to Bree less, but sometimes it happened without her noticing. But Zoe did.
“You seem pretty powerful yourself,” the other girl said, the first thing she’d said in what felt like hours.
“I’m skilled at what I do, but nothing close to the Powerhouse.”
“Powerhouse?”
“That’s what Valec calls her.”
“I don’t know Valec personally, but I do know you managed to make your way here by meeting with a demon like Daeza and lived to tell the story, which makes you pretty damn powerful.”
Even though Zoe wasn’t looking her way, Mariah still ducked her head down, feeling heat warm her cheeks again. Before they’d ventured to meet Nick and Bree, Zoe and Mariah had briefly exchanged stories on how they’d gotten to the mansion in the first place. Zoe had been such a flurry of movement, gold gown thrown aside, heels on opposite sides of the room, overnight bag tossed on a table, that Mariah wasn’t even sure if the girl has been listening. But apparently, she had been. And she was impressed.
“Thank you,” Mariah said in a voice quieter than she’d intended. Shy suddenly from being seen. Really seen.
“Your turn?” she prompted.