Secrets

by Shannon Pemrick

  I had several more targets to get to, and I was losing moonlight, not that it could be helped. It took patience to be an assassin, and if I could only get to two or three targets out of five or six, then that was good. Not a concept Zarda could ever grasp, but his opinion never mattered to me.

  I slipped into the shadows of my greenhouse and peered into the structure. My messenger hawk slept peacefully, and nothing moved within. Good to see he’s back. Someone had been using him without my permission, and I didn’t like it. Shva’sika had tried to claim she had been the culprit, but in truth, I knew she was too polite to use him without asking first.

  I made my way inside the house. I had only been able to take out three of my targets before I had to abandon the assignment. I had almost been able to take out a fourth, but I hadn’t factored in the security, and almost got caught just sneaking around. The best course of action was to stop while I was ahead.

  I opened the door to the living room and was greeted by the others lounging about as if nothing was amiss. I unstrapped one side of my mask. “Shouldn’t you guys be sleeping?”

  “We just wanted to make sure you’d get home safe,” Ryoko admitted. “You know us.”

  I smiled. “All right then. Off to bed with you now.”

  “Yes, mom.”

  I chuckled and shook my head as I headed for my room. I closed my bedroom door behind me and smiled. Just the guy I wanted to see. Without fail, Raikidan sat on the window sill. At this point, it felt dumb to even have a separate room for him.

  “Here.” I tossed him a bag filled with some of the stolen goods as I walked past him.

  “Don’t do that, he doesn’t deserve your treasure.”

  “What’s this for?” he asked.

  I shrugged as I rummaged through my long dresser for a special box to hide away the remainder of my newly-obtained treasure. “I figured you could add it to your hoard or something.”

  I watched from the corner of my eye as he rummaged through the bag. His eyes glowed with delight, but it faded as he looked at me. “Thank you, but you don’t have to give this to me. I told you before that I didn’t want payment for helping you.”

  Finding my desired box, I unlocked it and stored away my new treasures. “Rai, it’s not payment. I just figured you’d like to have some of what I managed to steal.”

  “I’ll give you something in return. Not sure what, but when I find the right thing, you’ll know.”

  I shook my head and slipped into my closet after storing my box away. There were no words that would get through that thick head of his. What I told him was the truth, and if he didn’t want to believe me, then that was his problem.

  Chapter 32

  Aquiet sigh escaped my lips as we walked. There had been nothing to do, so Ryoko insisted on dragging me around town on foot. Rylan and Raikidan opted to join us, thinking it would curb their boredom, but we still hadn’t done anything yet, making the boredom worse. Ryoko would take interest in a store, but the moment she looked over what they had in their display window, she lost interest and went to the next store.

  Ryoko gasped and rushed over to store with a small display. I rolled my eyes and followed. I stood next her as she continued to look over the display of jewelry excitedly, even though there was no reason to. These items weren’t just a few gold coins. The lowest-priced pieces sat in the double-gold-coin digits. Most of them were several platinum coins. No way could we afford them.

  Ryoko looked at me. “Let’s go inside.”

  “Wow, you finally found a place to check into,” Rylan teased.

  “Too bad it’s a place where we can’t afford anything,” I muttered.

  Ryoko grabbed my arm. “Don’t be a buzz-kill. We don’t have to buy anything; sometimes it’s just nice to look. Besides, we need to find you a new necklace.”

  I tried to pull my arm away. “Did you not hear me just say we can’t afford this stuff?”

  Ryoko rolled her eyes, and again pulled me into the store. It was a small place, but clean. The floors were made of wood with a dark finish, the jewelry displays were glass with silver accents, and all the jewelry in the displays were complimented by satin drapes or pillows.

  Ryoko didn’t hesitate to rush over to a random display and look at the riches it held. She had let go of my arm in the process, allowing me to look at another display that was closer. I had to admit, the stuff in here was nice, but the prices made me uncomfortable.

  “So, find anything you like?” Ryoko asked.

  I shrugged. “Not really.”

  Ryoko looked at the jewelry I had been looking at and frowned. “They’re diamonds. How can you not find something to like in this display?”

  My eyebrow rose. “Do I look like a girl who would wear diamonds?”

  “Well, if you got all dressed up, then yeah.”

  “Well… I need something that doesn’t require me to dress up.”

  “Why? Maybe you should just dress up more often.”

  I shook my head and went to look at another display but I ended up passing by several before one caught my eye. My eyes shone with slight delight. They were so beautiful.

  Ryoko giggled. “Sapphires. Of course you’d like those.” I glared at her and she giggled again. “You have good taste, though. I can’t argue that.”

  I half smiled and went back to my marveling. There were mainly blue sapphire jewelry displayed, but some of them were red, and some were a bit of a mix.

  “Can I help you ladies?” We looked up to see a neatly trimmed gentleman towering over us. “Or are you just window shopping?”

  “We’re trying to find something for my friend here,” Ryoko replied.

  The man looked me up and down real quick. “I don’t think you’ll find anything fitting for her.”

  My eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”

  Raikidan growled. “You dare to criticize how she looks?”

  “On the contrary. I’m just stating that these fine body ornaments wouldn’t be fitting for her.”

  Raikidan pushed away from his position on the wall and made his way over to us, barely glancing at any of the displays. He placed a hand on both of our shoulders. “Let’s go.”

  “But we’re not done looking,” Ryoko objected.

  Raikidan looked at the retailer. “We’re going to Black Starlight.”

  I noticed that the store man gulped, piquing my interest.

  Ryoko tilted her head. “What’s Black Starlight?”

  “It’s a better quality jewelry store, with better pricing.”

  Ryoko smiled. “Sounds nice.”

  The man composed himself. “Your friend is lying to you. That store’s prices are much higher.”

  Raikidan grinned. “Depends on who you know.”

  “I think we should go.” I didn’t take my gaze of the man as he sweated like crazy. “I’d like to see this place, and see what it has to offer.”

  Raikidan’s grin grew. “Excellent. We’ll be leaving now, ladies.”

  Ryoko waved goodbye to the retailer, and we followed Raikidan out of the stupid building and down the street. I was curious about where he was going to take us. Raikidan didn’t leave the house much, unless someone else was with him, and I seriously doubted he would go into a jewelry store if he was with one of the guys. So what was this place he was showing us, and how did he know of it?

  The building was tiny, much smaller than the other jewelry store, but it looked better. The entrance of the building had a neat little tunnel instead of a straight-up door. It also had an old rustic look to it that gave it a village-craftsman-shop feel.

  “Is this the place?” Ryoko asked.

  “No, of course not.” I replied. “It’s not like it says Black Starlight on a large sign above us or anything.”

 
Ryoko glared at me. “How would you know? You can’t read.”

  It was my turn to not like her words. “At least I don’t act like a blonde.”

  The boys chuckled at the two of us as we stared each other down. Raikidan touched my shoulder, bringing me out of my mood, and led us down the tunnel, to the real door of the small shop. I looked around the room as we walked over to the main counter. It looked just as rustic as the outside, but it also had a sort of elegance that lived up to other Sector Eleven businesses. Ryoko ran over to a display before we could reach the counter. It looked like she was about to burst with excitement.

  “These are so amazing!” Her eyes were sparkling with delight. “Eira, you need to see these.”

  I didn’t move, too preoccupied with scanning the room. We’re being watched…

  “You act like something is about to jump us,” Raikidan whispered. “You need to relax.”

  I grunted and looked over a display to ease my nerves. I knew Ryoko was feeling the same as me. She would have used my nickname had it not been the case.

  “Eira, c’mon, you really need to look at these,” Ryoko insisted.

  Rylan chuckled. “I don’t think she’s going to be interested.”

  “Diamonds?” I guessed.

  “Diamonds,” he confirmed.

  “Pass.”

  I went back to looking at several displays, containing jewelry with topaz, emeralds, and amethyst, but there was a display of sapphires that kept catching my eye. It wasn’t unusual for me to like this gemstone, but I tended to gravitate to emeralds first.

  “You have good taste.”

  I looked up to see a handsome man who had sapphire eyes with silver rings around the pupils walking out of a doorway that had been covered by strings of wooden beads. He finished smoothing out his thin, black mustache, and quickly ran his hand through his slicked back black and red hair. He wore a black long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves partially rolled up, and denim pants that fit his tanned, athletic build well. The man had a bit of an accent to his voice that sounded similar to the one those from the North had, but his wasn’t as strong as what I was used to hearing in my travels. Why does it feel like I know him?

  The man looked away from me and right at Raikidan. “It’s about time you showed up. I thought you might have gotten lost.”

  Raikidan crossed his arms. “Hardly. I just didn’t feel like dropping by until now.”

  Ryoko raised her hand. “Okay, confused. You know him?”

  “He’s Raikidan’s brother,” I said.

  His brother looked at me with a curious look, and then at Raikidan, who only shook his head. He hadn’t told me. He never talked about his past, let alone his family. I had figured it out on my own. The accent his brother had almost threw me off, since Raikidan didn’t have much of one, although occasionally I had picked it up. But it was the eyes and facial shape, particularly the jaw, that gave me the right clues. But it was this guy’s hair that made me feel like he was more significant in Raikidan’s life. The red, although slicked back with the rest of his black hair, was in a noticeable stripe-like pattern. Why is he so familiar? This is going to eat at me…

  “How the hell did you figure that out?” Ryoko asked.

  I shrugged and went back to looking. “Similar facial features.”

  “Yeah, sure,” she replied.

  “Yeah, I don’t see it,” Rylan said.

  “That’s because you suck at facial recognition,” I stated.

  “She’s got a point,” Ryoko chimed in. “You scored really low on those tests.”

  “So did you,” Rylan said.

  “Still better than you, though.”

  I rolled my eyes and ignored them. Raikidan’s brother, on the other hand, found amusement in their bickering. “I should introduce myself. My name is Ebon. Welcome to my shop. And yes, I am Raikidan’s older brother.”

  Ryoko grunted, indicating he had answered the question she was about to ask. I picked up a necklace on display outside the glass cases, and held it up briefly before putting it back down.

  Ryoko gasped. “Raikidan, I thought you said these prices were better! They’re twice as expensive as the other store.”

  Ebon chuckled. “Any friend of Raikidan’s is a friend of mine. The prices you see won’t be anywhere close to what I would charge you.”

  “Well that’s a nice perk. Raikidan, you’ve been holding out on us.”

  I narrowed my eyes as I looked at some earrings. Something didn’t add up. Raikidan had claimed he’d had no desire to learn about humans in any way until I showed up, but here he was, in his brother’s shop, in the middle of a nu-human city.

  Raikidan shrugged. “Not really. I didn’t know his shop was here until recently.”

  My gaze snapped onto him. “You’re the one who’s been stealing my messenger hawk!”

  Raikidan held up his hands. “I borrowed him.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “You didn’t ask to use my bird.”

  “It’s a bird!”

  “Raikidan, you should know by now to never take her stuff,” Ryoko scolded.

  “I borrowed the bird,” he insisted. “And he came back fine every time.”

  “Sorry, brother, I didn’t mean to get you into trouble,” Ebon apologized.

  “I’m always in trouble with her,” Raikidan muttered.

  Ebon chuckled. I turned away angrily and knelt down to look at the display in front of me. I knew Shva’sika was lying to me! But since it was Raikidan who had used my messenger hawk and my hunch was right, Ebon did play a significant role in Raikidan’s life. Why else would he seek him out?

  “Dammit, what is that weird rumbling noise?” Ryoko asked.

  “The two of them are just talking. Ignore it,” I muttered.

  “What? You’re crazy. Talking requires actual words,” she argued.

  I shook my head as I chuckled, and continued to look for something to catch my interest. There wasn’t a large selection, making it hard, and I didn’t want to explain anything to Ryoko.

  Ebon opened his side of the display and pulled out a necklace I had been looking at. “This is the one you were looking at right?”

  I looked at him funny. “Uh, yeah.”

  Ryoko wandered over to us. “How’d you know she was looking at that one?”

  “I’ve been doing this a long time.”

  “Here, Laz, let’s see what it looks like on you,” Ryoko suggested.

  “I don’t think that would be a good idea,” I objected.

  “Have some fun, will you?”

  I sighed and Ryoko took the necklace from Ebon to hold it up in front of my neck. She shook her head and gave it back to him. Ebon pulled out another necklace and Ryoko tried that one instead.

  “So, Ebon, do you make these yourself?” Ryoko asked.

  “Yes,” he replied.

  “I didn’t think dragons held jobs,” she said.

  Ebon shrugged. “We may not be human, but that doesn’t exclude us from the same activities as humans. I enjoy making jewelry and making a profit, so it’s a win-win for me.”

  Ryoko nodded and held up another necklace up to me. This time she approved, and I did as well, but it still wasn’t a necklace I would wear casually.

  Ryoko sighed. “You don’t like it do you?”

  I shrugged and handed the necklace to Ebon. “It’s not casual enough.”

  “It’d be nice for a party,” Ryoko objected.

  “She wouldn’t have a dress to go with it,” Rylan pointed out.

  He did not just bring that up. I turned and gave him a nasty glare, but it was too late.

  Ryoko squealed. “Can we do that next?”

  “No,” I said.

  “Do what now?” Raikidan asked
.

  “Dress shopping,” Ryoko clarified.

  “No!” I repeated.

  “Your opinion doesn’t count,” she said. “You’d say no to going down to a burger joint.”

  “Because the food at those places is nasty. And we’re not shopping for dresses.”

  “Don’t be so lame!” she complained.

  “Ryoko, don’t make her do it,” Rylan said. “She won’t have fun.”

  Ryoko glared at him, and he lowered his gaze. I didn’t feel bad for him at all. He was the one who gave her the stupid idea.

  “Do you wish to look at anything else?” Ebon asked, saving us from the storm that was starting to brew.

  Ryoko crossed her arms to think. “I dunno. Do you have anything else that isn’t on display?”

  “I’m afraid not. I prefer to make custom jewelry. I just put up a few displays to give patrons an idea of what I can do.”

  “Fair enough.” I headed for the door. “Nice meeting you, Ebon.”

  “The pleasure’s mine.”

  “Wait, Laz, where are you going?” Ryoko questioned.

  “Home.” I wanted to get back there as soon so I could talk to Raikidan about his brother. It’s too important to ignore.

  I sat quietly on my bed as I thought. It wasn’t like me to want to go out of my way to know something about someone, so this was going to be hard for me to do.

  “Eira.” I looked over at the windowsill where Raikidan sat. “What’s eating you?”

  I looked back down at my lap. “Nothing, just thinking.” Really, Eira? You can’t even ask this simple question? Everyone else and their grandmother can.

  Raikidan walked over and sat down next to me. “You want to talk about something.”

  I avoided eye contact. Was it really that obvious?

  Raikidan moved closer to me. “Talk to me, Eira. You know you can, or at least, I hope you know.”

  I scratched the back of my neck. “I wanted… to know more about you… I guess.”