Char grabbed my hand and asked, “Are you okay?” I was pulled back into reality. I nodded, trying to shake off thoughts of ash and blood.

Char knew firsthand the impacts the Sollia Disaster had had on me. Hells, she’d lost many nights of sleep because of my screaming. In the here and now, she wrapped her hands around mine and walked over to me, embracing me from behind. I pushed her off of me firmly, but gently.

“I’m okay,” I said. I turned to Xico, who was glaring at me. Her body was shaking with rage and sadness and I couldn’t tell if she wanted to kill me or just break down into tears. I knew how she felt.

“You’re not the first person to try and kill me for what I did in Sollia,” I muttered, meeting Xico’s eyes. “Nor will you be the last.”

I got up from my seat and slowly walked around the table. Xico kept her eyes on me the entire time.

“You were a bit more inventive than most, I have to admit,” I said, gesturing to the kitchen. “But unfortunately for everyone, I keep living.

“Also unfortunate for you, I like living here. I also like you. And I’m tired of killing. So, so, so tired of it. So I’m not going to do anything. I’m just going to go back to bed. Let’s see if I wake up tomorrow.”

Char started to say something in protest but I held my hand up. She swallowed and nodded, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

I took a step toward my bedroom and Xico said, “Wait.” It came out as barely a whisper, but it sent shocks through my entire body. I turned around to face her.

“When I left Armádan, she was on the same ship. We fell in love almost immediately. Instead of going to the Capital, as I planned, I moved to Sollia.”

Slowly, I sat back down in my chair. I motioned for Char to join me and she did, sitting down next to me.

Xico shuddered and said, “Then, two months before the Disaster, she got notice that she was being transferred to the Capital. So we bought a house out here and prepared to move.

“The day of, she was just getting the last of our things we’d left behind. When the Dragon attacked, she stayed behind to help people flee. She always was so, so brave…”

Tears began to stream down Xico’s face, but she kept talking.

“After, I spent so long trying to figure out how and when she died. Finally, after a year, I tracked down the only survivor, who said she’d died in the church.”

I flinched and Char put her hand on my shoulder.

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“By then, everyone knew about what you’d done, they just didn’t know who you were. It took me years, but I got access to the Guild archives. It wasn’t easy, but I went over each individual Hunter’s posting, where they were when the Disaster happened.

“Until I found your file.” She wiped her eyes and smiled grimly. “Luckily, you were under D for Dreadstone. Pretty early on, relatively.

“I tried to track you down, but that was impossible. The Guild keeps too tight a lock and key on current assignments and locations, plus, I don’t think even they know where you were, really. So I gave up.

“And then I saw you, again,” Xico said, shaking her head slowly. “Walking around my neighborhood, looking lost. I recognized you instantly. The picture they had on file was old, but you haven’t aged much.

“I went up to you and honestly, I wanted to kill you then and there. But I knew I wasn’t strong enough. I was just so angry. Seeing you reopened old wounds. And when you said you needed a place to stay, a plan formed in my head.”

I leaned back in my chair and said, “That makes sense.”

Char shot me a look and asked, “That makes sense?”

I nodded and said, “Your wife seems like a wonderful person, Xico. I got her killed.” I took the dagger from my belt, the one Xico had tried to kill me with, and placed it on the table. I slid it over to Xico. Char’s eyes went wide but I put my hand on her shoulder. Xico just glanced at the knife, but she didn’t move to pick it up.

“It’s hard to kill someone when you know them, isn’t it?” I said, making eye contact with Xico. She quickly turned away from my gaze.

“I was actually worried about you, you know,” she said, quietly. “I thought something had killed you and that scared me. That felt so wrong.”

Xico shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. “It’s been a confusing time with you here,” she muttered.

Xico stood up from the table and walked to her room.

She paused in the doorway and turned, “I won’t try to kill you anymore,” she said. “I think I’d like it if you kept living here.” Then, she walked inside her room and closed the door behind her. I heard it lock with a click.

Char and I were silent for a while, just sitting at the table, the dagger in front of us.

Finally, I said, “I really know how to pick them, don’t I?”

Char rested her chin on her hand.

“Well, you should’ve known it was too good to be true when she said you’d only pay half of normal for rent.”

“Yeah, may the gods smite me if anything ever goes my way for too long.”

“Hey,” Char said, “remember that time you took me out to eat and I got food poisoning, but you were fine? That was lucky.”

I grimaced and nodded. “Yeah, but I got stabbed the next day. Not exactly a stellar streak.”

“Oh.”

We sat in silence for a bit longer before Char asked, “You’re not seriously going to stay here, are you?”

“You bet I am.”

“You’ll at least lock your door, right?”

“Always do, but I’ll probably stop.”

“Why?”

“Because she has a key.”

“You’re an idiot.”

I got up from the table and poured myself more tea.

“Hey,” I said, “the last time she came into my room, she slept with me.”

Char rolled her eyes and said, “She tried to kill you after that, right?”

I shrugged and said, “I prefer to look at silver linings.”

I downed the tea. It burned my throat going down, but it felt good to get something warm in me.