Chapter 58: Get the fuck away from me. I don’t want to see your face right now.

Felix pushed himself to his feet and shook the dust off his sleeves. "André, is it?"

André continued walking, the wind tightening itself around him with every passing step.

"Woah woah woah, let’s just have a chat and talk things through here. Okay?"

"There is nothing to discuss with you."

"I believe there is. Your brother finished the job; you’re free to have your day off. Is there anything else you could possibly want here?"

"Your head."

"Wow, that’s a high price. And my neck only has one. Why not split the fee in half?"

"I don’t want your filthy money."

"Look, I just wanna make sure this doesn’t get worse than it already is. The job was done quietly and without any trouble, exactly as it should’ve been. Why can’t you just let it go and be done with it?"

André spat in the dirt and raised an arm, unleashing a blade of wind that slashed the air towards Felix’s chest. He ducked to the side and narrowly avoided getting sliced up. "You’re sure about that? Because this whole situation is totally wasted on you."

Another blade of wind came slashing, followed quickly by another one. Felix threw cards at all of them, breaking them in the air, as they locked themselves into a short stand-off, which then broke apart, and the fight went closer-ranged when André rushed towards his opponent.

Most of the time Felix spent trying to dodge and weave André’s attacks, connecting with a few weak blows, but none of them were able to slow his opponent even a bit. His anger rose higher with every miss. "I said fight like a man, you son of a bitch."

"I already did." Felix smirked and dodged another slash. "And you’re just wasting your time here."

The exchange stretched on and on, Felix playing around every attack and barely hitting back, until eventually André caught him with a full gust to his chest and sent him flying several yards away into the grass.

Felix slammed on the ground with a painful thud, air leaving his lungs instantly. He cursed himself silently and raised his head just in time to see Dune charging towards André at full speed.

André barely had time to lift an arm to cover his face before she caught him.

She punched him squarely in the stomach, and raw Numen blasted away, the shock wave passing between them. The body of André slid backward on the grass until it lay in a pile on the ground. Dune remained right where she made the impact, undamaged by her own punch.

Felix forced himself to stand, breathing raggedly.

André coughed violently, blood flowing heavily from his mouth, his eyes turning red, before collapsing face first onto the soil, his knees giving way under him.

Felix rushed towards André and dropped on his knees next to him, turning him onto his back. Blood flowed from his ears, from his nose, thin dark streaks appearing under the corners of his eyes, but it did not stop, continuing to flow endlessly.

"No, no, no." For a moment, Felix’s hands paused above André, before pressing hard on his chest, trying to direct Numen into the flow inside him, making it somehow stable. But every impulse he poured in was instantly dispersed, with chaos raging in André’s entire body, destroying channels meant to carry it smoothly, with everything overloaded, everything breaking down.

"Hang on, alright? Hang on, I’ll fix you, just hang on."

The chest of André heaved, coughing violently, more blood running out of his mouth, soaking Felix’s clothes in hot and viscous blood.

Felix’s hands started trembling violently, with his own breath coming in ragged gasps, and panic building up in his throat without any way out. He tried once more to pour more power into André’s body, desperately, but it made no difference, Numen only unraveled even faster.

"C’mon, come on, don’t do this to me. Not like this."

Dune appeared behind him, crouching low, her voice calm and unaffected. "Are you alright, Felix?"

His head whipped around so fast that a crack sounded through his neck, and all the composure that he’d managed to maintain fell to pieces. "Get the fuck away from me. I don’t want to see your face right now."

"What happened?"

"Didn’t you hear what I just said?" He shoved her hard enough to make her stumble, but it was something else inside his voice that crumbled – fear instead of anger. "Get away from me. Now."

Dune hesitated for a moment, looking at him, but then she stepped back.

Felix didn’t give a damn where she went. He lifted André in his arms, his body feeling surprisingly heavy, his shirt becoming soaked with more blood with each step, and headed toward the gate, kicking it open with his foot.

"You’ll be alright. Understand? I’m not lying to you. Just keep your eyes open. Don’t you dare close them. Stay with me."

Dune walked alone on the deserted road, with Felix’s face repeatedly flashing inside her mind in the same exact way his look had changed when he caught sight of her. *He does not want to see me.* She let the thoughts roll around inside her mind, searching for some reason why that could be true.

I only helped him. That is all I did.

An uncomfortable and prickly feeling was spreading across her back at the exact same spot on her body where the thorny plant was tattooed into her flesh, twisting and curling inward on itself with each step she took, thorns drawing nearer and nearer to each other with each passing moment. She pressed her hand against her own shoulder blade, unsure why but with an odd feeling of discomfort inside herself.

"Girl!"

She paused and looked up. "Jackson."

"Yeah, that’s me." He walked along next to her, hands stuffed into his pockets. "Heading anywhere this early?"

She thought about the question. "I am going home."

"And where is your man at?"

"He is working."

"Ah, yes, yes." Jackson began to walk away, already turning his attention elsewhere. "Just tell him I will stop by sometime soon."

"Wait."

He paused and looked back. "Yes? What is it?"

"Felix told me to stay away from him." Her voice remained calm but something beneath it had grown more subdued than before. "Said he didn’t want to look at me."

"He’s angry." Jackson looked at her carefully, some calculation in the tone of his voice now. "Did you get into an argument?"

"No. I helped him. I asked if he was all right." Dune’s eyes turned downwards. "He pushed me away and said he didn’t want me anywhere near the man I beat."

Jackson thought about this. "Is that all?" You’re thinking too much into this. The way he is now, things will work on their own."

"Okay." Dune nodded. But nothing on her back had loosened any.