Magni
Khan and I had only emptied half of our beer when Archer called me.
He might as well have dunked my head in a bucket of ice water when he told me the bad news.
“Why the hell was she on the roof?” I exclaimed and stood up.
“What happened.” Khan stood up too. “Who was on a roof?”
“Mila.”
“Finn was here, and he took care of her. Mila is going to be all right,” Archer assured me.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. She broke her leg and a wrist, but the worst part is her concussion. She’s been throwing up and seeing double.”
It was like my head was about to explode. “For fuck’s sake, Archer. How could you let this happen?”
“They were playing hide and seek. The boys go up there all the time. I guess it was just icy and slippery.”
“But this is Mila, she’s…” I stopped myself from saying “precious” since that would indicate I didn’t care about the boys, which wasn’t true.
“Laura is with her but Mila has been asking for you.”
“I’m coming.” I was just about to hang up when I realized what he had just said. “Wait, Archer, did you just say that Laura is there?”
“Yes, she arrived with Finn last night.”
I looked at Khan. “Did you know that Finn and Laura were back?”
“No.” He frowned. “Maybe I should leave my desk more often.”
Returning my attention to Archer, I said, “Tell Mila that I am on my way.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” Khan offered.
I threw my answer over my shoulder. “You go deal with the traitors while I take care of this.”
“Okay, but call me with an update. Pearl and I will check in later.”
The flight to the school from the Gray Mansion took fifteen minutes on a normal day. Today I was there in ten minutes, including the time it took to sprint from the hybrid to the school building.
Finn waited in the doorway. Holding up both his palms, he gestured for me to slow down. “Easy, Magni, you look like you’re ready to murder someone.”
“Where is she?”
He pointed. “In there with Laura.”
“Archer said she broke her leg and her wrist.”
Finn nodded. “I already applied bone accelerator; it’s the concussion that worries me.”
“How bad is it?”
“Bad enough that I want her under observation for the next twenty-four hours. Laura volunteered to care for Mila.”
“Magni.” The sound of Mila’s voice from the other side of the door pulled me closer. Opening the door to one of the teachers’ rooms, I saw Mila lying pale on a bed, with Laura sitting next to her on a chair.
It was suddenly hard to breathe. When Mila reached out her hand for me, my legs carried me forward and I kneeled down next to her, kissing the back of her small hand.
“You’re not mad at me, are you?” she whispered.
“No. I just don’t like to see you like this. What were you thinking going up on the roof?”
“I needed a place to hide, and Plato said that they would never find us on the roof.”
“Plato told you to climb the roof?”
Mila looked sad. “Don’t be mad at him. He does it all the time.”
“I don’t care if he does it all the time, it’s too dangerous.”
“That’s what I said, but he told me nothing would happen.”
“He’s a fool. Why would you listen to him?”
Mila’s eyes teared up. “I didn’t want to, but then I remembered what you told me.”
“What did I tell you?”
“You said that boys were born to lead and take charge. That’s why I followed him.”
I lifted my hand and let it fall to my thigh with a deep sigh. The universe was no doubt trying to prove a point to me. My mother’s naïveté and lack of critical thinking had shocked me. But maybe it shouldn’t have. If she had been told over and over that men were better decision-makers than women, it was no wonder that she had developed a dependency on Zobel.
“I know I said that, Mila, but you’re a smart girl, and you should always listen to your instincts. Don’t ever put yourself in danger because of a stupid boy.”
Her eyes widened. “You shouldn’t call anyone stupid.”
“Oh, believe me, stupid is the nicest thing I can think of at the moment. There are other words that I would like to call Plato.”
Mila lifted a hand to her mouth, her cheeks blowing up and her eyes bulging with urgency.
Laura was quick with a bucket and I held Mila’s hair back when she threw up. From the look of it, there wasn’t much left in her stomach but bile. I knew from experience how painful it was.
“You can give me the bucket.” Finn spoke behind us. “Magni, it might be a good idea to take Mila to your cabin. The kids have been quiet so far, but school is almost out and I would prefer that Mila rests.”
“Sure.” I handed him the bucket while Laura helped Mila drink a little.
“There are teeth cleaners in that drawer.” Finn pointed to a blue dresser along the wall. “She likes the ones with the strawberry flavor.”
Laura and I wrapped Mila in the thick duvet before I carried her to my cabin. Her head rested against my shoulder, and I placed a kiss on her hair before I gently laid her down on the bed.
Mila gave me a tired smile. “Laura wants to name your daughter Aubri.”
“What daughter?” I looked from Mila to Laura, and down to her belly.
“No, it’s not like that. I’m not pregnant or anything,” Laura said with blushing cheeks. “Mila just asked me what names I like.”
“Audrey.” I tasted the name.
“No, it’s Aubri with a b, right, Laura?”
Laura nodded. “Yes, that’s right, with a b.”
“That’s a pretty name,” I said in a soft voice, and pulled a chair over to sit next to her.
“Laura is okay with naming your boy Mason. She told me that she likes that name.”
Laura was sitting on the foot end of the bed, her hand running up and down Mila’s good leg on the top of the duvet. There were so many questions in my mind that I couldn’t ask Laura in front of Mila. First of all, I was dying to know what Laura was doing here when she had been clear that she chose the Motherlands over me. A part of me wanted to believe she had changed her mind, but if that was the case, why hadn’t she told me that she was back? Maybe she had come back to collect her things. The thought alone made me want to throw up in a bucket of my own.
“Close your eyes, and rest. Magni and I will wake you up every hour like Finn instructed. You don’t have to worry about anything,” Laura said with a soft smile to Mila.
“Laura,” Mila whispered. “Will you tell me about the time that Magni fought for you in the tournament? He told me the story, but I would love to hear your version.”
Laura and I exchanged a quick glance. “Okay, but I’m not a very good storyteller.”
Mila pulled the duvet to her chin. “My mom used to twirl my hair and tell me stories. Sometimes she would sing to me. She had a beautiful singing voice.” A few tears escaped Mila’s pretty blue eyes.
“I’m sorry you lost your mom.” Laura gave Mila’s good leg a sympathetic squeeze. “Did Magni tell you that I lost my mom when I was little too?”
Mila nodded. “I was so sad to hear it.”
“It’s okay. It was a long time ago.”
“For me it’s worst at night. When Shelly and Kya have the night shift, they let me sleep with them sometimes, and when Magni is here, he holds me and calms me down. One time we went outside to look at stars.” Mila turned her head and looked at me. “That was nice, do you remember?”
I lifted Mila’s hand and kissed the back of it again. “I’ll never forget it.”
Laura gave me a surprised look that I didn’t know how to interpret. If she thought less of me for being soft around Mila, there was nothing I could do about it. Mila was too important to let that influence me. With my little girl in pain, I would give her all the support she needed.
“I don’t feel so good,” Mila said in a weak voice.
“Do you need a bucket again?”
“No, but my leg hurts.”
Laura took Mila’s other hand and spoke with a voice full of sympathy. “It’s the bone accelerator working, sweetie. Try to think of the pain as a good thing.”
I got up. “Let me get Finn. He should give you some pain reliever.”
“Finn already did,” Laura informed me. “He gave her the maximum dose. She’ll have to wait another two hours for her next dose.”
I grunted. “I’ll tell him to give her more now!”
“Magni.” Laura’s voice was firm and with my hand on the door handle, I turned to her.
“What?”
“I already asked him and he said that he would if he could. Finn is the doctor and you need to respect that. You just told Mila not to let people pressure her into doing something against her better judgment, and now you want to go and pressure Finn.”
My first reaction was to tell Laura not to tell me what to do, but she did have a point, and the last thing Mila needed was Laura and me fighting.
Going back to my seat, I made Mila a promise. “I’ll talk to Finn in an hour.”
She nodded a thank you, and turned her head to look at Laura. “Will you lie next to me when you tell the story?”
“If you want me to.” Laura crawled behind Mila, and with her back to the wall, she propped herself on her elbow and looked at me. “I can take this first shift. I’m just going to tell Mila the story and help her fall asleep.”
“You do that, but I’m staying.” I’d never heard Laura’s side of how she’d experienced the time I won her in a tournament, and now that she was about to tell Mila, I wasn’t going anywhere.
With her left hand, Laura began twirling Mila’s long blonde hair. “Okay,” she said and inhaled deeply, before she started telling.