Aiden was at the hospital for a few hours before they released him. By the next night, he was sore and his face was peeling like he had a bad sunburn. The doctors had told him he would heal completely in time.
It had taken a lot of begging, but his parents agreed to let him go to the gravel pit. He needed to talk to Dylan. Aiden rubbed gently at his chest while he waited. The fist-sized scar itched, but there was little pain. The way the doctors had healed him really was magical.
Dylan appeared at the edge of the pit, head down and hands stuffed deep in his pockets. “Having second thoughts?”
“About the agreement we made with Mr. Johnson?” Aiden would have agreed to almost anything to keep Dylan from being punished.
“About being my friend.” Dylan sat on one of the flat rocks they used as benches.
“Maybe. Why did you do it? Are the rules really that bad?”
Dylan glanced over before staring off into the distance. “There’s something inside me. Maybe it’s the dragon part of me, or maybe it’s beyond that. But it… I have dreams about burning cities. Just setting everything on fire and watching the world burn. And the worst part of it is I want it more than anything. In those dreams I’m free.”
Aiden didn’t know what to say to that. He shivered and wrapped his arms around himself.
“I’m just as dangerous as everyone says I am. They’ve been right all along. I even hurt you.”
“You didn’t mean to.”
“Yes I did. Just for a second, I was willing to do anything to keep you from stopping me.” Dylan looked at him and there were tears swimming in his eyes. “I’m not worth saving. You should’ve let that warden kill me. I could have killed you.” A tear spilled out and rolled down his cheek.
“But you didn’t.” He’d seen how sorry Dylan was. No way that was fake.
“God, why are you being so nice to me?”
“Because you’re my friend. Because I know you’re a good person.”
Dylan snorted. “I’m not. I’m terrible.” He rubbed angrily at the tears.
“If you’re so terrible, then why did you stop? Why did you help close the portal? Why did you agree to owe Mr. Johnson a favor?”
“Because you wanted to protect me, after what I’d done. After I hurt you.” Dylan turned away again.
“I had to. I’m the one who called Mr. Johnson. It’s my fault he was there. I was worried about what you might do, but I didn’t want him to lock you up or… or kill you. Even when you said those terrible things, I didn’t want you to get hurt. I had to make up for it. To keep you safe.”
“You were right to call him,” Dylan said.
Aiden had to find a way to make Dylan understand, to stop feeling so guilty. “It could have been me, you know. That dark fae… he came to me in my dreams. Told me he could help find my parents. He wanted me to use that blood magic to open the portal to Faery.”
Dylan turned, surprise on his face. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
“So you were able to resist evil and I wasn’t. See? You’re just a better person.”
“No. I told my tutor and she warned me he was bad news, so I blocked him from my dreams.”
Dylan shook his head. “I knew what he was, what he wanted. You should stay away from me. I’ll only hurt you, drag you down with me.”
Now Aiden felt like crying. “I want things to go back to the way they were. I want to stay friends.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re the best friend I’ve ever had. And I don’t care what you say, what you think. You’re worth saving.” No matter what Dylan said, Aiden couldn’t believe he was evil.
“I’ll always have this darkness inside me.”
“And the good parts too.”
To his surprise, Dylan laughed. “You’re crazy. If you want to stay my friend so bad, after seeing the worst of me, then fine. I tried to chase you away, and you just came right back.”
“You can’t get rid of me.” Aiden hugged him and Dylan went stiff.
Then after a moment, Dylan relaxed and put an awkward arm around him. “You’ll have to help me fight this thing inside me.”
“I will.” Aiden drew back. “And you’ll keep training me to use my magic, and you can help me to not be afraid of the power inside me.” It scared him to think about how much magic he’d used to close the portal. All of that inside him, even while he’d been in so much pain. He had to be even stronger now that he was healed.
Dylan nodded. “And if I try to do anything stupid like that again, tell me to stop. I swear I’ll listen.”
“Of course.” Aiden smiled. “That’s what friends are for.”
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The 7 Bad Habits of Slightly Troubled Monsters (Shadow Valley #2)