Chapter 369: Twelve Years
When Linus hears that, he exhales a breath he did not realize he had been holding. Something lifts off his chest.
Liam sniffles and his expression shifts into something between hurt and indignation. "Dad. Did you not hear what I just said? I said I killed Matthew. I have been living with this guilt for so long it feels like I have never known anything else."
He looks at his father. "And here I am, finally admitting it out loud, and you just... exhale like you are relieved. What the hell?"
The crying has stopped. Only the sniffles remain.
Linus catches himself. "I am sorry, Liam. You are right. I should not have reacted that way." He pauses. "But son, that is genuinely what I feel. Because hearing what you just told me, I am now more certain than ever that Matthew’s death had nothing to do with you."
He says it slowly and deliberately, making sure each word has room to land.
"You did not kill Matthew, Liam. Do you hear me? I will say it again. You. Did. Not. Kill. Matthew."
"Dad! How can you say that? Were you even listening?" Liam erupts.
"Listen to me. Please." Linus holds up a hand. "Just listen to my explanation first. There is a reason I am sure of this. A real reason." He watches Liam’s face carefully. There is no point saying anything further until Liam is actually ready to hear it.
Liam stares at him, still slightly pouting, jaw tight.
"When you left Matthew at the lake, do you remember what time it was?" Linus asks, his tone shifting into something very precise and very serious.
Liam frowns. "Why does that matter?"
"Answer me first." Linus holds his ground. "Was the sun still up or had it already gone dark?" Linus presses.
Liam frowns. "The sun was still up."
"Are you certain? Completely certain?"
"Yes, Dad. It was around lunchtime. I remember because when I got home, Mom said I could quit two classes as long as I finished the spinach she had made for lunch." A faint, sad smile crosses his face. "She knew how much I hated spinach. She was testing me."
Linus’s smile grows. "Then you are most definitely not Matthew Richton’s killer. Because Matthew came home right after you did. He ate lunch at home, with both his parents."
Liam’s jaw drops. "What?"
"H — how? No. That cannot be right. No." He cannot process it. He has believed for years that he was responsible, that he left Matthew at that lake and Matthew never came home. "No."
"His parents said this themselves, Liam. They told it to the police."
"But..." Liam’s voice is faltering. "I thought they were only saying that to protect me."
"Why would they do that?" Linus frowns.
Liam blinks. Once. Twice.
"Because..." He swallows. "Because I thought... you paid them to."
His voice drops to nothing but a whisper.
Linus goes still. "Is that why you refused to speak to me for the rest of that summer?"
Liam nods. "I felt guilty about Matthew. And I hated you for protecting a murderer. But I was also grateful to you for protecting me. All at the same time."
Linus clenches his jaw. He is quiet for a moment.
"I thought you were grieving because he died. I had no idea. I am sorry, Liam. I should have pushed harder. It must have been an unbearable thing for a twelve year old to carry alone, feelings that complicated. I should have seen it. I am sorry." He says it plainly, without deflecting, his eyes on his son.
And he looks genuinely angry at himself.
Liam blinks.
He has never seen his father regret anything. Not once. Not in all his life. Linus has always been the one who was right, who moved forward, who did not look back.
The way he carries himself, the aura he projects, the absolute certainty he walks into every room with, it had always made Liam feel that uncertainty was something other people experienced. Not his father.
And he has always admired him because of that.
Watching him sit there, vulnerable and unsure and angry at himself, is frightening in a way Liam cannot entirely name.
"Dad, you are scaring me." Liam says it in a voice that takes Linus back to a much younger version of his son.
Linus smiles gently. "Do not worry. Saying sorry is one of the most powerful things a man can do."
He places a hand over Liam’s chest. "But it has to come from here."
They look at each other for a long moment, something passing between them that does not need words.
"So I really did not kill Matthew?" Liam tries hard to make himself believe it.
"You really did not kill Matthew." Linus says it steadily, holding his son’s gaze.
The tears come fast, faster than either of them expects. Liam breaks down so completely and so quickly that it alarms Linus for half a second before he understands. He holds himself steady. These are not sad tears. This is twelve years of weight, finally being put down.
Linus has tears in his own eyes.
Liam covers his face with both hands and cries.
Linus says nothing. He puts a hand on his son’s shoulder and keeps it there, steady and warm, occasionally reaching up to wipe his own face when he needs to.
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"You what?"
Maeve steps further into the living room when no one answers. "Say it again." The fury has not left her face.
Dae and Huri close ranks around Elder Loujt and Sonia without a word.
Sonia gets to her feet and raises both palms toward Maeve. "Maeve. This is not what you think."
"Oh? Not what I think?" Maeve crosses her arms. "Then tell me what it is."
The hostility in her tone is sharp enough that it stops Sonia mid-breath.
"Maeve..." Sonia bites her lower lip.
"Ms. Collins." Elder Loujt rises, positioning himself between Sonia and Maeve. "Please. Hold your anger. This is my fault. It has nothing to do with my niece."
Dae and Huri step into place on either side of him, and from where Maeve is standing, it looks very much like three people facing down one.
That is exactly the scene Alicia walks into.
She has been managing things at the DEU, only present earlier for the storm operation itself. She takes one look at the living room and her voice fills the space immediately.
"What is going on here?"
Alicia closes the gap between herself and Maeve in three strides and takes her place beside her, matching Maeve’s posture and her fury without hesitation.
"Back off. All four of you." Her voice leaves no room for debate.
Elder Loujt looks at the two women standing shoulder to shoulder, ready to hold their ground against four people, and finds himself quietly impressed.
One of the Vaelin’s deepest concerns about the return of magic to the world has always been this: that people who suddenly find themselves with extraordinary power will be consumed by it rather than shaped by it. That the ability will outrun the character.
Rhaenas is the clearest evidence he has seen that this does not have to be the case.
They are responsible. Loyal. Genuinely kind to each other and to those they protect. That is not common. That is not something you teach in a season. I need to meet their teacher.
He sighs inwardly.
Ugh. I sound like a broken record. But first things first. I need to handle this carefully. I cannot afford to burn bridges with these people.
"Ms. Collins. Chief Lutherford." Elder Loujt gives a slight bow to both women. "Things are not as serious as they may sound. May I have the opportunity to explain?"
Maeve and Alicia do not budge. But they do not refuse either, which Elder Loujt takes as the opening he needs.
"Thank you. I appreciate it." He continues carefully. "My niece and I were speaking about what happened today, and we both blamed ourselves for not paying closer attention to Ms. Montrose’s condition."
He pauses, watching their faces. Neither of them gives anything away.
"My niece then asked whether I could help heal Ms. Montrose, since my Water does carry healing ability. And I told her that I do not trust myself to examine her."
Maeve and Alicia both frown at that.
"Because you wanted to take all of her mana for yourself?" Maeve says. The accusation is clear and direct.
Elder Loujt nods firmly, that it surprised them both.
It is not the response either of them expected.
"Yes. When I first sensed her mana, I found it so extraordinarily pure that it amplified my own several times over. I became..." He pauses, searching for the honest word. "Intoxicated by it. I wanted more than I should have taken."
They have been honest and kind with me throughout all of this. The least I can do is return it.
Maeve uncrosses her arms slowly. "Are you saying that you may have contributed to Thea falling unconscious? Because you took more than you should have?"
Her voice has dropped into something quieter and far more dangerous than shouting would be. Her eyes are blazing, and there is something in them that is not just anger.
Alicia beside her is not much different. She is a Sentinel as well as a Wind mage, and the combination of those two things makes her physical presence carry a particular kind of weight. She is not posturing. She is simply ready.
Together, the two of them project something that even Elder Loujt feels in his chest.
He takes a step back. Dae and Huri follow without being told.
