Chapter 12
Ellie half drags, half carries Sonny back to their apartment about a mile away trying to stay out of sight best they can. He weighs more than he should, not because of muscle, but because he refuses to let his body go fully limp. Every step is controlled. Every breath is measured. His bandages tighten and shift like living straps, holding him together.
When they finally reach the door, Sonny fumbles the key once, then steadies his hand and gets it in. Ellie pushes inside.
"Bathtub," Sonny says immediately. "Put me in the bathtub. If I start bleeding again, it won’t get on the floor."
Ellie stares at him like he is insane. "You are worried about the floor right now?"
Sonny nudges her. "Move." She helps him to the bathroom.
Sonny braces one hand on the sink and steadily lowers himself into the tub. Ellie hovers over him, shaking. "What do you need?"
"Stitches," Sonny says. "The sword wound. The bandages can support it, but I do not have enough ether to close it yet. If it opens, I will lose a lot of blood."
Ellie is very nervous. "Stitches. Like sewing?"
Sonny confirms. "There is a stitch kit in the first aid kit. It’s in the closet. I will coach you on what to do." Ellie turns and nearly runs into the hallway.
She finds the kit, digs through it with trembling hands, and returns with supplies pressed to her chest. Sonny starts unwrapping the bandages around his side. The cloth peels back and blood immediately wells up, dark and fast.
Ellie gags. "Oh my God."
"Focus," Sonny says.
His voice stays steady. "Disinfect first. Then thread. Then stitch. You will not hurt me."
"I absolutely will," Ellie says. "I have never done this in my life."
Sonny looks up at her, eyes calm. "You can. Your hands are shaking because you are afraid. That is normal. Keep breathing. Do it anyway."
Ellie swallows, wipes her eyes, and follows his instructions. She disinfects the area, threads the needle, and starts to stitch.
The first puncture makes her flinch. Sonny does not. Ellie’s breathing turns ragged. "Why are you not reacting?"
"Pain does not matter. I am numb to it," Sonny says. "Keep going."
As Ellie works, she finally sees more of his torso than she ever has. Even through the blood and bandages, his skin is wrong. Scar tissue overlaps scar tissue. Burn lines cross old cuts. The texture looks like a body that has been rebuilt too many times.
Ellie’s voice cracks. "What happened to you?"
Sonny keeps his gaze on the ceiling. "Later. Finish the stitches." She does.
When the last knot is tied, Ellie leans back against the wall, exhausted. Sonny exhales slowly. "Thank you."
Ellie stares at him. "How long until you heal?"
"Five to seven days," Sonny says. "The leg too."
Ellie’s mouth opens. "That is not possible."
"It is," Sonny replies. "My bandages are infused with my blood and ether. They support. They compress. They heal. They can even crush bone by constricting. But they need fuel, and I do not have much fuel right now." He nods toward the cabinet. "There are spare bandages in the bathroom cabinet. All infused. If I ever need them, that’s where they are." Ellie shakes her head slowly, trying to absorb all of it.
Sonny shifts in the tub. "I need to rest to replenish my ether. I can sleep here tonight."
"No," Ellie says immediately. "You are not sleeping in a bathtub like some kind of injured stray. You are taking the bed."
"I am an injured stray. I do not need the bed."
"I do not care." Ellie grabs a towel and shoves it toward him.
"Shower. Clean up. Then bed."
Sonny hesitates, then obeys. After he cleans himself as best as he can, Ellie helps him to her room. He limps, leaning heavily on his bandages for support. When he finally sits on the mattress, he pauses like the softness is foreign.
"Woah. This is… comfortable," Sonny says.
Ellie gives him a pained smile. "You sound like you have never been in a bed before."
Sonny looks at her. "I have not."
Ellie’s expression drops. "That’s not funny."
"It wasn’t meant to be funny," Sonny says.
Ellie sits on the edge of the bed, stunned. "What kind of childhood produces someone like you?"
Sonny does not answer. Not yet. He shifts, then adds quietly, "You should sleep too. If you want the other half, take it. I won’t move."
Ellie’s face becomes flush. "Oh I don’t know about that."
"It does not feel right taking your bed," Sonny says. "You are…" He stops, searching for words. "You helped me."
Ellie exhales, embarrassed and too tired to fight. "Fine. Don’t be weird." They fall asleep, both of them too exhausted to keep pretending this is normal.
Morning arrives. Ellie wakes to the smell of food.
She jolts up and sees Sonny in the kitchen, moving with a severe limp, bandages wrapped tight around his broken leg like a brace. "What are you doing," Ellie snaps. "You should be in bed."
Sonny sets a plate down. "I am fine. I slept and I meditated for two hours. I gather enough ether to move and begin the healing process."
"That is not rest."
"It is for me," Sonny says.
Ellie stares at him. "You are going to fight tomorrow, aren’t you?"
Sonny shakes his head. "I will forfeit."
Ellie blinks. "You are going to forfeit after all this?"
"Yes," Sonny says. "I would forfeit even if I were healthy."
Ellie frowns. "Why?"
Sonny plates more food and sits across from her ignoring the question. He becomes increasingly serious. "After what you saw last night, we need to talk."
Ellie’s stomach twists. She nods.
Sonny’s voice becomes colder, more precise. "What I tell you stays with you. If you tell anyone, I will kill you."
Ellie stiffens. "You will kill me?"
"Yes," Sonny says.
"Not because I want to. Because I must. Do you understand?"
Ellie swallows. "Yes."
Sonny nods once once. "Good." He stares at his hands for a moment, as if he is deciding where to start.
"When I was born, I did not receive a name," Sonny says. "My parents. The doctor. The nurses. Anyone who knows I exist was murdered by a group called the Omegas.”
Ellie’s fork pauses midair.
“Very few outsiders, if any, know the Omegas are real. Most people believe they are a myth."
"You are saying the people you fought…" Ellie begins.
"Yes," Sonny says. "Four is an Omega. The man I fight in the woods is an Omega. They were the people that raised me. Trained me. And tortured me." He keeps his tone flat, like he is reading from a report. "They do not use names. They use numbers. Your number is your rank. Your value. When I was with them, I was not Sonny. I am Three. I was ranked there because of Draco’s ether and my unique propensity to create and master many types of ether techniques.”
“Then how did you get the name ‘Sonny’?”
Sonny pulls out his ID. “This was the ID I had on my last mission. I have other supporting legal documents, so I just decided to live as Sonny Hendricks.”
Ellie’s hands start to shake again. "Why did they take you?"
Sonny touches his chest lightly. "I was born with Draco’s ether in my body. Draco was a legendary ether user and former Omega from centuries ago. A human who became a demon. It is rumored that his ether may even have the power to grant wishes. It was One’s intention was that I would surpass him as the Omega leader and take over one day."
Ellie’s mouth goes dry. "Grant wishes? Like Wexel?"
Sonny’s eyes flick to her. "Not like a fairy tale. Like a rumor people repeat because they do not understand power." He continues. "The Omegas once existed to kill demons. When demons stopped appearing centuries ago, they utilized their skillset to become assassins. One is still very keen about being ready if a demon appears. Anyone can request a death by leaving an offering at the base of their mountain. Money. Items. Sometimes worse. If the offering is accepted, the target dies, no failure. If not, nothing happens."
Ellie’s voice is small. "So you…"
"Yes," Sonny says. "I’ve killed. Plenty. My sword was an offering once. I used it to assassinate my first target.”
Silence stretches. Sonny keeps going anyway. "Their training starts when you can walk. They do not teach comfort. They teach numbness. Pain tolerance. Obedience. They break fear out of you. They break emotion out of you."
Ellie whispers, "How?" Unsure if she wants the answer.
Sonny’s gaze stays steady. "Torture. Over and over. They cut limbs off. Remove senses. Burn you. Drown you. They stab you until you cannot count. Then they tell you to stand up and fight."
Ellie feels sick.
"The only reason they could do that was because of Healer," Sonny says. "Healer was an old man in the Omegas. He could heal anything. Disease. Missing limbs. He could even revive the dead within thirty minutes. He kept them alive, which allowed them to train beyond what a body should survive.”
Ellie’s eyes widen and quotes Sonny. "’Healer was’. You killed him?"
Sonny gives a short nod. "Yes. I decapitate him. I buried his head and body in separate places. I did it so they would not be able to revive each other anymore."
Ellie grips the edge of the table. "Why would you do that?"
Sonny’s voice stays quiet. "Because I left. If I left and they could still heal and revive, they’d hunt me forever. If Healer was alive, they could throw their bodies at me until something worked. I removed their safety net."
Ellie’s throat burns. "So you are being hunted?"
"In essence, yes," Sonny says. "They will not stop. They fear I could expose them. They fear I tell the world they exist. But most of all, the Omegas will not tolerate abandonment. They want me erased."
Ellie tries to steady herself. "How many people have you killed?"
Sonny answers immediately. "Thirty seven targets. That is what I count. There are others who got in the way."
Ellie’s face drains of color.
Sonny keeps speaking, like he does not have the luxury of softening it. "I wrote the names down. Every target. I did it because if I pretend it does not matter, then I become exactly what they want."
Ellie’s voice cracks. "So you really were an assassin."
"I am trained to be one, and did not have a choice," Sonny says. "I do not want to be."
Then she thinks about Sonny’s world and feels small. She forces another question out. "How strong are you?"
Sonny looks away. "Hopefully strong enough to kill Omegas if I train and prepare well. But not strong enough to win without cost."
Ellie presses. "Compared to the top ranked magician in the world."
Sonny’s answer is calm. "Likely stronger than David “The Goliath” Montero." Montero is the current top ranked magician in the world.
Ellie’s stomach turns again. "Then why are you here?"
Sonny’s voice softens just slightly. "Because I want to be human. Because of you."
Ellie thinks about her grandfather, about the debt, about Bull, about everything that has felt big.
Ellie’s eyes sting. She hesitates to ask the question, “Did the Omegas kill my grandfather?”
Sonny looks down. "Your grandfather died two years ago. I was there. I do not kill him. Two did."
The words land like a fist. Ellie’s chair scrapes backward. She stands so fast it almost tips. "No."
Sonny averts his eyes in shame.
Ellie’s hands ball into fists. "You are lying."
"I wish I was," Sonny says.
Ellie’s chest heaves. Rage and grief crash together. Despite his physical condition, she hits him, fists thudding into his shoulder, his chest, anywhere she can reach.
"How could you," she screams. "Why didn’t you stop him!"
Sonny does not defend. He takes it. He lets her spend the anger until her arms are tired and her voice breaks. Ellie collapses to her knees, sobbing. "I hate you."
Sonny’s eyes are heavy. "You can. I understand."
Both pause and the room feels still with silence once more.
Ellie wipes her face with shaking hands. "Why did you leave the Omegas?"
Sonny stares at the table. "Because I saw his face and realized who he was. I realized what they made me do. And I realize we killed someone connected to the only person who ever showed me kindness. From that moment on, I plotted my escape."
Ellie’s breath catches. "The only person?"
Sonny inclines his head once. "When I was six, I was left in a blizzard to survive for a week. I met a girl in the forest. She grabbed my hand. We crafted a snowman together. I ate dinner with her family and your grandpa was there. That is the first time I saw a real family and home. That little girl was you."
Ellie’s eyes go wide and jaw drops. "That was you?"
"Yes," Sonny says.
Ellie presses her hand to her mouth, memory flickering in fragments. A quiet boy. A blizzard. A strange sadness.
Sonny continues, voice steady. "That moment was the only thing that kept me from becoming the human killing husk the Omegas commission their people to be. I held it in my head like proof the world contains something else."
Ellie’s voice shakes. "Why didn’t you not tell me sooner?"
"Because I did not want you to be involved in my world," Sonny says. "And because I do not want to relive my past." He pauses, then adds, "There is one more thing."
Ellie tenses. "What?"
Sonny stands slowly. "My face. My body. This is not what I actually look like."
Ellie frowns. "What do you mean?"
Sonny touches his chest. "All Omegas use a low-level ether technique to alter their appearance. It makes us look like how we would’ve aged normally. It hides what the training does to our bodies."
Ellie feels like this is proof of everything he has shared. "Show me."
“Are you sure? It is an appalling sight.”
Ellie hesitates then sternly states, “You’ve killed many people. We’re involved in the death of my grandfather. Have obtained overwhelming power. I need to see the result. Why did you do all of this? Because you had no choice? Because you would be berated and tortured? Show me.”
Sonny nods once. He turns away to give her a second to look away if she wants to. She does not.
He begins to disrobe down to his underwear and removes the bandages around his torso. Ellie sees the scars again, worse in daylight. She notices his familiar mark in the middle of his chest, next to his Draco mark and Omega brand. Then he drops his Ether Cast. The illusion peels away. His true skin is disfigured and brutal, hairless from old burns, stitched and scarred over and over. Summoning circles are carved into his body. His hands show etched markings for weapons. His body looks like a battlefield that never ends.
Ellie’s stomach flips. She turns to the sink and retches, not quite vomiting but close.
Sonny’s voice is quiet behind her. "This is the result of my life. This is the curse that comes with the ether power I train to attain." Ellie grips the sink, tears dropping. She cannot look at him for a long moment.
When she finally turns back, Sonny has restored the Ether Cast and rewrapped his bandages. He looks like himself again, which somehow makes it worse. Ellie wipes her face and desperately wants to change the topic away from his disfigured body.
"How do you even get into this school?"
Sonny sits again. "I challenged Dean with a proposition. If I won, he let me enroll on a condition; I must place top four at the intercollegiate tournament to continue attending."
Ellie can’t believe he challenged Dean. "Is that why you keep relentlessly training?"
"No," Sonny says. “I train because the Omegas won’t stop coming for me. I keep training because I need to be strong enough to kill them before they kill me."
Ellie’s voice is raw. "And after them?"
Sonny’s gaze drops. "After them is One." He pauses. "When I fight One, I will die. One kills me, or Draco’s ether kills me. Either way, it ends there."
Ellie shakes her head, refusing it. "You do not know that."
"I do," Sonny says. “The only way I can defeat One is by using Draco’s ether to its full limit. His ether is too strong for me to handle and will destroy my body.”
Ellie’s hands tremble on the table. "How long do you have?"
"A year at best," Sonny says. The room feels small. "That is why I do not want to stand out. When I am gone, I want the Omegas forgotten too. They die with me."
Ellie’s voice breaks. "That is not fair. You deserve more than that."
Sonny looks up, and for a brief moment, something human slips through his mask. "That is why I found you. These last few months were easily the best of my life. I’ve started to uncover emotions I never thought possible. I smile more. I could die happy right now."
They sit in silence, food untouched. After a long moment, Sonny speaks again. "There is a choice you need to make."
Ellie looks at him, guarded, eyes still red from all the crying and emotion she has let out. "Now that you know the monster I am," Sonny says, "and what I am involved in, do you want me in your life as a familiar. I do not want an answer now. Think. If you want me gone, we can break our pact and I’ll leave school to continue alone."
Ellie’s throat tightens.
“I am going to leave to train again.” Sonny states.
"You cannot just ask that and leave."
"Sorry, but I am," Sonny says. "I have to."
He leans back carefully, cognizant of his injuries. "I will be gone a week and a half at least. I am going to test my compatibility with Draco’s ether. When I return, I hope you will give me your answer."
Ellie’s eyes lower to her plate. "Okay."
Sonny stands. "I will forfeit my match tomorrow. I will not be at your fight. Good luck."
Ellie looks up fast. "Wait, Sonny." Sonny pauses at the door.
Ellie’s voice is small. "Are you sorry? Do you regret your life?"
Sonny’s shoulders rise and fall in one slow breath. "Every single day." Then he steps out, closes the door, and disappears back into the night.
