12-07-2025, 01:09 AM
Jensen stood his ground, the snow-dusted churchyard now feeling like a bare patch of clay where two men were about to settle a debt. He braced himself, waiting for Matías’s retort, but the expected flare of defensive anger never came.
Matías’s expression was a study in paradox: stern, yet devoid of heat; intense, but lacking any obvious threat. It was the face of a man utterly convicted of his path, and in any other context, Jensen would have labeled him as strong as iron. But the name Amengual was the crucible, and it injected a paralyzing fear into Jensen’s appraisal. The man’s origins in the cartel twisted that strange, controlled intensity into something deeply unsettling.
Jensen’s fingers twitched instinctively beneath the heavy fabric of his coat. He almost reached for the Gift to prepare for a fight. But the motion stopped, killed by a sudden surge of logic. He hasn’t moved. He’s just talking. Drawing the power would be an admission of aggression, a breach of the uneasy truce. He let the potential energy drain away.
Then, Matías spoke the truth of his family's destruction. The story was like a physical blow, one Jensen hadn’t seen coming. It was the last narrative he could have ever imagined: the heir to the Amengual Cartel was also one of Jay Carpenter’s victims. He didn't question the veracity of a single word. He could easily visualize Jay’s aggression. The lashing out of a man who carried a mountain of soul-deep trauma. But the end of the tale, Matías turning the other cheek and asking for forgiveness, left Jensen feeling a profound and sharp shame. A shame not for his own actions, but for Jay’s uncontrolled pain.
He studied Matías’s face, searching the hard planes for any sign of a lingering bruise or injury from the blow. “I am sorry you were hurt,” Jensen said, the apology genuine, focused only on the immediate, physical pain.
He held his hand out slightly, palm up, making the quiet offer clear. “If you are still injured, I can help heal it.”
He watched the gesture sink in, then continued, his voice softer. “Jay carries a lot of trauma. It’s no way to behave, but I hope you can understand when hurts run deep to the soul.”
Matías’s expression was a study in paradox: stern, yet devoid of heat; intense, but lacking any obvious threat. It was the face of a man utterly convicted of his path, and in any other context, Jensen would have labeled him as strong as iron. But the name Amengual was the crucible, and it injected a paralyzing fear into Jensen’s appraisal. The man’s origins in the cartel twisted that strange, controlled intensity into something deeply unsettling.
Jensen’s fingers twitched instinctively beneath the heavy fabric of his coat. He almost reached for the Gift to prepare for a fight. But the motion stopped, killed by a sudden surge of logic. He hasn’t moved. He’s just talking. Drawing the power would be an admission of aggression, a breach of the uneasy truce. He let the potential energy drain away.
Then, Matías spoke the truth of his family's destruction. The story was like a physical blow, one Jensen hadn’t seen coming. It was the last narrative he could have ever imagined: the heir to the Amengual Cartel was also one of Jay Carpenter’s victims. He didn't question the veracity of a single word. He could easily visualize Jay’s aggression. The lashing out of a man who carried a mountain of soul-deep trauma. But the end of the tale, Matías turning the other cheek and asking for forgiveness, left Jensen feeling a profound and sharp shame. A shame not for his own actions, but for Jay’s uncontrolled pain.
He studied Matías’s face, searching the hard planes for any sign of a lingering bruise or injury from the blow. “I am sorry you were hurt,” Jensen said, the apology genuine, focused only on the immediate, physical pain.
He held his hand out slightly, palm up, making the quiet offer clear. “If you are still injured, I can help heal it.”
He watched the gesture sink in, then continued, his voice softer. “Jay carries a lot of trauma. It’s no way to behave, but I hope you can understand when hurts run deep to the soul.”