by H. D. Gordon
So, she kept her face void of expression; mouth pressed in its accustomed thin line, eyes sharp and penetrating, and hands wrapped delicately around the china teacup once more. The only indication she gave about what had just transpired was the thin sheen of sweat that stood out on her forehead. I'm sure mine was just as shiny. When I finally got out of here, I was going to need a big dose of Aspirin.
But, as I said, she had offended my soul. By thinking that I was weak-minded enough to Search, without even making physical contact, and without consent, that muscle was borderline angry. I couldn't really say I blamed it. Unconsented Searches are pretty dirty. I just wished it would stop urging me to return the favor. It seemed to be adamant about Searching the Queen, and as I knew from experience that it always had a reason for insisting such things, it was hard to ignore. Hard, but thankfully, not impossible.
We just sat there, staring at each other, and I began to seriously worry. Did she know that I knew what she just did? That I'd slammed up that brick wall on purpose? At the very least she must know that I was a strong Searcher after having been blocked. Right then, these things concerned me, but the danger of the whole matter wouldn't occur to me until much later. And, what seemed to me like lifetime long seconds went by before the silence in the room was broken, and words finally drew their blades through the tension-bloated air.
You may go now, Ms. Montgomery, she said.
I did.
Alexa
Kayden woke me up fifteen minutes before we reached Olivia's house. I had decided to come to her because she seemed to me to be someone who knew things. I'd only met her once, when the letter that I found from my Mother after the Lamia attack had said to contact her. Olivia had been the one to tell me what I am. She was the one who'd sent us to Two Rivers. I was going to save my Mother, but first I had to find out the location of the prison where she was supposedly being held. Also, I had a whole list of other questions I needed answered.
It occurred to me, however, that Kayden may well know the location of Dangeon, the prison. He was an official warrior after all, and that meant he worked for the people who were in charge of the place. But, I knew first hand that Dangeon was somewhere that some would rather die than be sent to, and since it was so notorious, I was positive that it would be no small task getting in and rescuing my Mother. Like I said, I had to try either way.
Since he was here, though, and I was awake, I decided I may as well ask him. Where is Dangeon?
His golden eyes left the road and found my face. I cursed myself when I felt my heart speed up at his gaze. It be would a lot easier to remain mentally, and okay, physically faithful to Jackson if Kayden wasn't so damn gorgeous. And, the desperate kiss neither of us had mentioned, that still hung on my lips and seemed to have burned itself into my mind, didn't help either.
When his eyes met the road again, in a low, firm voice, he said, I don't know.
I stared at him a little while. Are you lying?
He raised one eyebrow. Do you think I'm lying?
I threw my arms up and blew out a heavy breath. My nerves were too shot for this shit. Don't play games with me, Kayden. You said you heard what that Lamia told me, and if you did, then you heard her say that my mother is alive and at Dangeon , and correct me if I'm wrong but is that not the place where Two Rivers sends its criminals? He didn't reply, but I noticed when his grip tightened on the steering wheel. I continued, And, are you not a warrior at Two Rivers, the closet thing that they have to a police officer?
My body jerked hard to the left and my hand shot out to brace myself against the dashboard. Kayden had pulled so abruptly to the side of the road that any other words I might have said got jammed in my throat and were replaced with a startled, What the hell! .
When we jolted to a stop, I repeated myself. What the hell? What the hell's wrong with you?
Kayden whipped his head around so fast that I moved back a little against the car door. His eyes were bright with something akin to anger, but not quite. Obviously, he had something to say, so I crossed my arms over my chest and sat back, waiting for him to say it.
He brought a hand up to his face and raked his palm over his mouth, lingering a moment on his short beard. Finally, he spoke. Yes, I am a warrior of Two Rivers. Yes, Dangeon is the place where we send our criminals. And, yes, I heard what that Lamia said to you.
His eyes met mine, apparently waiting for some kind of response. It was always hard for me to look directly at him for too long, especially when he was looking back at me. His appraisal of me made me self-conscious; nervous. It's not like I think I'm unattractive, in fact, from other people I have heard that I was rather good-looking, but I guess I've never cared much either way. I think of myself as a predator, and if others find me appealing, then it is just one of those things that make me a deadlier predator; most people tend to put more trust into those they find attractive. And, then there are those that like me because I'm dangerous. Anyway, people were just strange and stupid to me, so I didn't care what they thought about my appearance.
But, Kayden didn't look at me like everyone else. When he looked at me, I didn't feel as though he was assessing my lips and eyes and cheekbones, or even my body, and seeing if they met his standards. No, he looked at me like he was assessing my soul. And, this was why I couldn't hold his eyes for too long; I was always nervous that my inside appearance wasn't meeting his standards.
So, I looked down at my hands and gave a weak nod. I wondered briefly what my monster thought of my response to Kayden. It poked its head up and provided that it thought I was a wimp. I told it to shut up and go back to sleep, but I had to laugh a little. I must have been losing my mind, because not only was I addressing it like it was its own person, but I agreed with it about something.
Kayden was looking at me impatiently, but also a little concerned. I cleared my throat and nodded again for him to continue, ignoring the mental eye roll I felt from my temporarily subdued monster.
Look, Warrior, said Kayden. His voice had taken on that parental tone, and I folded my arms tighter and narrowed my eyes a little, but he continued, I know that you can take care of yourself. If I didn't think you could, I would have tied you to a bed back at Two Rivers and left you there until I could convince Gavin to lock you in a cell for you own protection. That's not the issue here. The issue is that you want to break into a high security prison, a prison owned and operated by a King who would love to see you dead, and all based on the word of a Lamia who has been trying to kill you. And, no, I wasn't lying. I don't know where Dangeon is. Only one person in each of the King's cities knows where it is, and that person at Two Rivers is Gavin. Since I doubt you asked him for directions before you left, I would say that not only are we sitting ducks, but we're also shit outta luck.
I nodded again. That was one of the longest speeches I'd ever heard from him. When he didn't add anything else, I knew that he was waiting for me to respond verbally this time. And, because I could feel his golden eyes studying me, I said the first stupid thing that came to mind. You would have tied me to a bed?
He blew out an exasperated breath and threw his hands up. I was expecting him to say something like, That isn't funny, Warrior, or This isn't a joke, Warrior, but instead, he sat back in his seat and put the car back in drive. When he pulled out onto the highway, what he said was, You'll be the death of me, Warrior. But, he laughed a little too as he said it.
Nelly
The rain had slowed to a mere drizzle on my walk with Simon to the Council Building, but by the time I left the Queen's office, it was pouring buckets again. It was nearing the end of May, though, so the rain wasn't particularly cold, at least. So, I didn't dash back to my dorm room. I just walked leisurely, letting the rain fall where it may.
I couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened with the Queen. I couldn't stop worrying about what suspicious conclusions she must be coming to after I'd so brutally stopped her Search. What I felt like doing was running to Alexa. I wanted to run t
o her and tell her everything that was bothering me. I wanted her to smooth my hair back and tell me it would all be okay; that she would protect me. I wanted to tell her that I was sorry for not believing her when she'd told me something was wrong at Two Rivers. I should have helped her when she came to me, and because I hadn t, now I didn't have her to help me. Yep, as soon as I made it back to my room, I was going to pop my thumb in my mouth and have myself a good cry.
When I finally reached my room, I was soaked from head to toe. I went straight into my small bathroom and stripped out of my clothes. Turning on the shower as hot as I could stand it, I stepped into the stall and promptly sat down on the tiles. I hugged my knees to my chest, and as the water fell down and down upon me, so did my tears.
I think I sat in there like that for over an hour, on the floor of the shower, crying and rocking back and forth. When no more salt water fell from my eyes, I stood up on aching legs, turned off the faucet, and wrapped myself in a fuzzy towel. I dried off, dressed in some sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt I'd stolen from Alexa, and combed out my hair. Then, I went to my backpack, pulled out a notebook and a pencil, and decided it was time to time to get to work. Alexa had told me to be strong, but I would do her one better; I would be proactive.
The pen and paper were for later, right now, all I needed was to think. I'd last seen my sister outside of her dorm room, when I'd left her so that she could speak privately with Kayden. One side of Alexa's face had been swollen up, like Jackson said, because she and Kayden had just been forced to fight each other to demonstrate her skills to some King. She'd been mad at Kayden because she had planned on telling this King that she wouldn't fight him, but Kayden attacked her, so Alexa had no choice but to fight.
This made me pause. I'd seen Kayden's soul, on the night of Tommy's party, after Alexa had been escorted out for fighting with that stupid wolf-daughter, Victoria. Kayden had led Alexa outside, and when I'd walked up, they had been embracing each other. I had never seen Alexa's soul so calm; so balanced, as it was when he held her in his arms that night. And, Kayden's soul had been as happy as hers, so I knew that he couldn't have wanted to hurt her either. But, he did. He'd fought her, and by the looks of her face that night, he hadn't gone easy. So, the question was; why did he do it? Who was this King that was powerful enough to make a Libra physically harm his Warrior?
Contrary to what my sister thought, I didn't know much more about this world we'd been thrown into than she did. I grew up knowing what I was, while she had just thought she was human, but that was almost as far as my knowledge had extended. Well, I'd known she was a Warrior, and my Mother had taught her to protect me because of my Lamia half. I'd known that there were other things that existed in this world; werewolves, day-walking vampires, like Searchers and Brockens, and even the night prisoned Lamia s. But I'd only seen a few of them before coming to Two Rivers. And, while I'd known about the Lamias, nothing could have prepared me for that night that they'd attacked our home. My Mother had done her best to describe them to me, but some things words just can't explain.
So, this concept of a Libra was new to me. In fact, all I knew about them was what Alexa had told me. But, as I said, I'd seen their souls together, and it had been glorious. I kind of felt sorry for Jackson, because there was really no way he could compete with that.
I grabbed the pen and paper and wrote down Kayden's name. He would be my first stop after school tomorrow. Under that, I wrote King , and put a star next to it. The only royalty I was aware of Two Rivers was the Queen. And, for whatever reason, this King seemed like a big piece of the puzzle to me.
Next, I spent thirty minutes trying to remember everything Alexa had done and told me before she left. But, the information seemed harder than it should have been to recall. I did remember that after nearly choking Victoria to death in the cafeteria, she'd taken off, and when she'd come back, she started refusing to eat the food.
This also gave me pause. I knew that Alexa had been keeping something from me when she was here. I probably could have pulled the secret from her mind if I'd really wanted, but she's my sister, and she's entitled to some secrets. Right now though, I kind of wished I had. She must have known something, or better yet, discovered something that could be considered dangerous information to have, otherwise, she would have told me.
I made a decision right then that didn't sound like too much fun to me. If Alexa had been refusing to eat, then she had a reason for it. The only thing I could think of is that something must be wrong with the food here. I was going to have to stop feeding. Not just on the food, but on the blood. This meant that I would have a short time frame in which to discover whatever Alexa had. I can go indefinitely without human food, but that's only if I replace those meals with blood. I wasn't sure how long I could last without that. We walk in the sunlight, but there is a reason we are called vampires.
With that decision made, I moved on to the next matter of business; the fear I'd seen in all of my classmates and teachers today. All souls have some uniformity, but it seemed highly unusual to me that in a city of wonders, like Two Rivers, so many of its citizens should be fearful. I'd tried to figure out what the source of the fear was, but it had been unobtainable. It was kind of like they didn't even know what they were afraid of. Maybe this was somehow connected to the food. My resolve to go hungry strengthened.
Next, I tried to call up everything Alexa had done before she left in greater detail. She'd stopped eating, but I think I can remember her taking off into the forest as well. This scared me. I sure as heck wasn't anxious to leave the limits of the city and venture into those woods. There could be anything out there. Maybe that was the point.
Okay, so now, not only did I have to starve myself, but I had to take off like Little Red Riding Hood and hope not to encounter the Big Bad Wolf. I wish I had Alexa's courage, because just thinking of these things made my heartbeat speed up. Who was I kidding? I'm no brave Warrior. How was I going to do this?
Because I had to, that's how. I had to for my sister. And, if there is anyone in this world I would face my fears for, it was Alexa. It was time to take my thumb out of my mouth and put on some big girl pants. I just hoped they'd fit me.
Resolved, I put the pen to the paper again and wrote down a few more things underneath Kayden and King : Mark, Gavin, Alexa's teachers, forest, and because I knew I had to, Queen.
I would visit them one by one. And, I would Search the souls out of them if need be. Some secrets were better left hidden, but some questions had to be answered as well.
These things distracted me for a while, but I couldn't keep my mind away from my encounter with the last person on the list. There were too many awful possibilities there. For all I knew, the Queen could be sending a warrior to retrieve me right now, and take me somewhere to kill me.
And, in true awful-day fashion, that thought was followed with a knock on my dorm room door.
Alexa
We had finally reached Olivia s, and though the sun was making its descent, it wouldn't set for at least another two hours. Despite my fateful stops, we'd made good time.
The house was just how I remembered it; modest and yellow, with plants and flowers placed everywhere that they could be placed. The small yard was in good condition, with little gardens positioned aesthetically around the driveway, window sills, and lone oak tree in the yard. Warm light spilled from the two white-shuttered front windows. A small springtime wreath hung on the front door. It was strange to see it again. I felt like the last time I'd been here had been ages ago, even though it had hardly been a month. Maybe that's because the last time I'd been here I had been a completely different person. I had been scared and angry. I had been ignorant to the world. I had still been mostly innocent. I wasn't sure what I was now.
The rain still fell, and the windshield wipers of the Mercedes made their synchronized swipes across the glass. I stared out through the glistening window, wondering what new information I would gain upon walking through that front d
oor. I wondered how obvious my internal difference would be to Olivia and little Akira, who I knew to both be strong Searchers; how much of my evolving monster would they see hiding behind my eyes, rather than the lost girl they'd met just a month prior. I wondered if I'd made the right choice by coming here.
This it? Kayden asked.
I just nodded. The impulse to lie, to say no, I'd made a mistake and this wasn't the right house passed through me. I pushed it away. We'd come this far, and either way, there was no going back for me now. Maybe there never had been.
Reach under your seat and grab my sword, I told Kayden.
He eyed me carefully. You think we're going to need it?
I pulled my eyes away from the house and looked over at Kayden. I wasn't in the mood for explaining myself. These are friends. I just don't want to leave it.
He retrieved my Gladius and stared down at it a moment, studying the silver. With the long, sharp blade retracted, it looked more like some precious scroll than a deadly weapon. Matches your arm, he commented, handing it over to me.
I ran my fingers over its design; an intricate vine that wrapped all the way around and sprouted lilies. It left a smooth grip where I knew only my hold would fit perfectly. I still hadn't checked what the new addition to my tattoo was. It had appeared on the night the Lamias attacked. Smooth to the touch and brilliantly silver, the tattoo went from wrist to shoulder; wrapping around and up my arm and ending in a silver sun at the top. Three silver lilies bloomed on my forearm; one for each Lamia I'd killed. Yes, it matched the design on the Gladius, but killing that man had placed a new symbol there. I was too chicken to push my sleeve up and see what it was, but I knew instinctively that it was no longer identical that on the sword.
Come on, I said.
I pulled the lever to open my door, and stepped out into the rain. Kayden followed suit. We headed up the driveway to the front door. I knocked twice. The overhang of the roof provided shelter from the worst of the downfall, but I'm just not a particularly patient person. So, when I raised my fist to knock for a second time, the door creaked open a crack, and a small, curly-headed girl peaked around it.
