Tainted Heart (The Tainted Series Book 2)

by Marie, Tarisa

  The resemblance between me and the two girls is uncanny. I can’t help gawking.

  “Baylon was born to the light, Anessa to the dark although she’s had the darkness removed,” Blaze explains in a blank tone as if this is all suddenly very uninteresting.

  “Hello,” Anessa says blankly and a chill runs up my spine.

  “Hi,” I answer robotically.

  Baylon wraps me in an embrace. Surprised by this, it takes me a moment to react and hug her back.

  “I can’t believe I actually get to meet you! I was in charge of watching you and your father for years but I never thought I’d actually get to meet you in person!” Baylon exclaims excitedly. Apparently not all Tario are as hard and thick-skinned as Layli and Tenley.

  “In charge of watching me?” I ask out loud although I don’t mean to.

  “I’m sorry this must be so strange for you! I’d love to explain everything to you! I’d like to tell you all about the Tario! Come! Come with me!” Baylon shouts and motions towards the couch. Anessa follows Blaze out the door and I wonder if she doesn’t like me or if all ‘darkness-removed Tario’ are like that. She pulls me down onto the couch beside her and smiles at me. “Ask me anything!”

  I hesitate, caught off guard. “Uh, how old are you?” I spit out finally and she giggles. Really, Ariella? Out of anything you could ask that’s your question?

  “I’m just a baby compared to most of the Tario. I am only a thousand years old. My twin and I are the youngest full Tario in existence.”

  “What? The youngest? No one’s been born in a thousand years?” I question, confused. That seems awfully strange doesn’t it? That’s a god awful long time.

  “Nope. No one wants to damn children to this eternal existence I guess, or so I’ve been told anyway. Having children is not allowed anymore. I was an accident and my mother…sorry, our mother was penalized for it.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask her curiously. What kind of penalization occurs when you accidentally have a child?

  “That’s why she left the Tario. She didn’t agree with the laws. Especially the one where children were no longer allowed to be brought into the world. She was supposed to get thrown into prison for having us. A week before her trial she ran away and no one’s seen her since. The Tario found you a few years ago and thought they’d almost caught her but she escaped again. Slipped right through their fingers. Then they assigned me to watch you, at least until your power was activated, then they assigned someone with more experience. You knew her right, our mom? What was she like?” Baylon rambles quickly. I can’t help noticing how bubbly she is.

  “I don’t really remember. I was really young,” I answer her.

  “Right, sorry,” she apologizes and bites her nail. “I heard you’re here with a guy, is he your boyfriend?” She says in a mocking tone.

  “Uh no, just a friend,” I answer automatically and then feel a sense of regret in my stomach. Is he my boyfriend?

  “Darn! I wish we were allowed to date. We can’t even look at the other gender without getting in trouble by the elders. As if looking at the opposite sex will get us pregnant!” she whines. “Then again, most of them are robots,” she whispers under her breath with a giggle. I wonder if someone is listening to our conversation.

  What she says peaks my interest. If what Layli said was true about the Tario allowing the halflings to live, then why would it still be illegal for them to have children? I want to say something but am not sure if I should. Was this something that Layli told us in secret?

  “Your rules sound really strict,” I observe.

  “Yes, they are but the elders know what’s best. They’ve been around for basically ever. I just wish that… I don’t know. I just wish I was free, like you!”

  I don’t know what to say so I just smile.

  “You know, it’s so nice to have someone to talk to. All the Tario are so boring. They’re jerks. They’re basically emotionless. I get so bored. After Anessa had her procedure, I’ve basically just been alone. They managed to suck the life out of her because she had the most ‘potential for darkness’. How do they even know that?” she continues in a whisper.

  Again, I don’t know what to say. I observe that Baylon is a very energetic, happy girl which goes against what I’ve learned about the Tario so far. I can’t help pinning it to her age which still to me seems absolutely ancient. She kind of reminds me of Mindy and this makes me happy. Oh god, Mindy. As soon as I can, I will find her.

  Baylon leans in closer to me so that her lips are nearly touching my ear. “I can’t leave this place but you can. If you ever find our mother, tell her that I want out.” Then she leans away and smiles at me hopefully.

  Shocked, I slowly nod.

  Then she whispers, “I’ve been banned from leaving here because I once met a halfling or a descendant from one, a witch, and fell in love which is banned because the Tario don’t want too many supernaturals roaming around apparently, which is silly because the ones that are already in existence are already multiplying like crazy. I had two daughters with him prematurely, one died at birth, which happens sometimes between Tario and halflings, strangely because the children should be immortal, I hope it isn’t what’s happened to your twin,” she says sadly while pausing a minute to think about something. What she’s said about the Tario not wanting anymore supernaturals to exist seems to kind of go against what Layli said earlier which makes me wonder if one of these women isn’t telling the complete truth or if maybe neither of them really knows what the Tario’s plans are.

  I don’t have time to dwell on this thought long because she continues, “the Tario man who was watching me give birth without my knowing, forced me to come home afterwards and stay home except for duty for five hundred years as my first and only warning. I faked my death, set it up so it looked like I died giving birth while my husband was out working, I couldn’t just leave and have him looking for me or wondering what happened to me for the rest of his life…he was devastated. Then I left him with our surviving daughter as no one but pure blood Tario are allowed here with any degree of permanence. I’m lucky I was young. If I’d been much older, I would’ve been sent straight to prison to be tortured for eternity. If my old love is still alive, I dream of finding him again one day. He thought I was human, I wish I could’ve told him the truth. As for my daughter, I also wish to meet her one day but something tells me that I never will. You have no idea what the Tario are planning, Ariella, I suggest you get out of here while you can.” She says this last sentence in a way that makes me quiver.

  “I should go,” I say, feeling ill, not to mention terrified. These people are absolutely nuts. They made her fake her own death? Sentenced her to not leave this place for five hundred years? Talk about cruelty.

  “Alright, Ariella,” Baylon says sadly but manages to muster a smile. “Make sure you say goodbye to me before you leave here, alright? I don’t know when or if I’ll ever get to see you again if you don’t. My sentence is far from over.”

  “Okay,” I agree and jump up, heading towards the door quickly. I hope I can remember my way back to Layli’s house.

  “And Ariella?” Baylon calls from behind me.

  “Yes?” I stop dead in my tracks.

  “Don’t ever trust a Tario. They don’t ever do anything selfless, there’s always something in it for them. Everything is part of their game, everything else is just the pieces.”

  Chapter 3

  I trot into my room and flip on the light, nearly screaming when I see a figure sitting on my bed. Thankfully it’s only D.

  “What are you doing in here?” I demand angrily and stomp over to him.

  “Waiting for you to get back here so I could stop worrying that one of those crazies decided to kill you. Do you know how stupid that was? Are you nuts?” he questions me furiously and I shudder. Here comes one of his mood swings again.

  “I know it was stupid but what if you were in my position? Plus, I can’t die, remember? And
you could’ve come!” I try, knowing that even if he did come and something happened it’s not like he would have been able to do anything anyways. He is powerless in comparison to these creatures.

  “You don’t think I wanted to come? That guy wouldn’t let me! I couldn’t move!” he cries out, his face turning bright red.

  “What?” I ask, taken aback. “Why?”

  “Do you think that I know? All I know is that I thought you were gone, Ariella! I thought that was it! You were dead!”

  “I’m…sorry…but I can’t die…” I attempt again, knowing it’s not going to calm him.

  “God, Ariella, you’re so stupid!” he shouts angrily.

  Before I can make out what’s happening, he is standing in front of me, one hand at the small of my back and the other on the back of my head. Then his lips meet mine ferociously.

  I’m so surprised that at first I don’t react, I just stand there like an idiot.

  He breaks away. “You’re so dumb, Ariella! Don’t ever do that again!”

  Then his lips are on mine again.

  This time I pull away. “Are you mad at me or what?” I ask, confused by the screaming and then the kissing. Why is this man so complicated and moody?

  He ignores me and pulls me closer. He finds my neck and begins laying kisses down it. I shiver.

  “You have no idea how good you smell to me, Ariella,” he mumbles through kisses. I hear a slight moan escape his lips and something sharp lightly scratch my neck. I gulp. Was that what I think it was? He then backs up away from me quickly, breathing heavy, his eyes seemingly entranced. He stares at me but it looks as if he’s seeing right through me. It’s almost freaky. I slowly wave a hand in front of his face.

  “D?” I ask sort of frightened. “Are you okay?”

  He doesn’t seem to hear me. He stares at my neck for a moment longer as if contemplating something and then he’s gone.

  I sit down on my bed almost in shock.

  Eight days pass and I don’t see D once. I’m still shaken from the other night but I can’t help wondering if he’s purposefully avoiding me. He’s wasting our time. We have to find this stupid piece of metal in order for me to find my mom and maybe my twin if she is alive or even exists. What I don’t understand is that if my mother’s been missing for a thousand years and has been wanted by the Tario this entire time, why the hell didn’t they find her if it’s so easy that Layli can find her in ten days? It makes no sense. Something isn’t adding up. Much like how Layli seemed to imply that it was okay for the Tario to now have children with the halflings, after all Arianna and Marco were born, I was born, but Baylon seemed to think it wasn’t okay with the Tario and she’d even been witness to this.

  “I’ve been looking for you,” D says, catching me off guard. “What are you doing out here in the garden?”

  “Looking at the flowers,” I mutter pretending that I’m not both happy and thankful by his appearance. “Where have you been?”

  “Looking for the blade. You’re never going to guess where I found it.”

  “You found it?!” I say a little too loudly and release my hair from its ponytail.

  “Yeah, in your father’s possession. I have a feeling he knows more than he lets on. I snuck it from him and…” he trails off, pulling something wrapped in cloth from his jacket. “Here it is.”

  “You stole from my dad?” I ask, not sure if I should be bothered by this.

  “Yep,” D says, not seeming bothered by this at all. “Layli is back already with news. We’re doing the exchange early. Come on.” D motions me to follow him and leads the way excitedly.

  I follow him into the living room of the house, hope penetrating my mind.

  “Ariella, glad to see you again. Daymon, why don’t you start by telling what this knife is made of?” Layli suggest while clasping her hands together in front of her as if she can’t wait for this unveiling.

  “Why don’t you go first?” D argues suspiciously.

  “I’m not asking you to share your news first, I am telling,” Layli pries and D gives in immediately, probably not wanting to mess with the woman. I don’t blame him.

  “It’s made from power. It’s not metal. It’s some type of power,” D explains while flashing her the blade from underneath the cloth.

  “You’re positive?” she asks, gaging his expression.

  “Yes, I found it in Marco’s headquarters,” D lies and I’m about to look at him questioningly when I realize that this would be a terrible idea. If she knows that it was in my father’s hands then she could very well go after him. What if she assumed he stole it? If she thinks that Marco had it, she might go after him instead, hopefully killing him and releasing us both from our curses. Smart thinking, D.

  “Very well then,” Layli says. “Please place the knife in this box.”

  D does as she says and places the knife into the small metal box she is holding. It is decorated with swirls and things that are brilliant and beautiful.

  Suddenly we are no longer standing in the extravagant living room but in the middle of the rain forest. Layli is nowhere in sight.

  “Son of a bitch!” D yells and runs his hand through his hair. “She played us like a fiddle!”

  I have to admit that I was half expecting this and I can’t help assuming that D was too, he isn’t dumb.

  “We came here thinking our worst fear was that the witches are out to get us. Even if we somehow manage to evade them, I’m not sure we have a chance. A full-fledged war is going to break out between the supernaturals and the humans if the Tario let the humans discover the supernaturals.” I change the subject, focusing on the more important matter at hand. It’s not the time to fret on things that are far less important than the main problem at hand here.

  “The humans will win. There are billions of them and only hundreds of supernaturals. We would be no match.”

  “D, you felt what the knife was made from, is there any way to replicate it?” I wonder.

  “Yes, but it would take more power than I can imagine. Only a Tario could do it and they can’t touch the stuff so it would basically self-destruct before it was made which is probably why it hasn’t been replicated already.”

  “A fair part of me is supposedly Tario, and this necklace is full of Tario power. Do you think it’d be enough?” I try.

  “No, I think the spell needed would need more than one full Tario,” he answers sadly and removes his black t-shirt. Does he always have to be half naked?

  “That knife can’t be their only weakness. That’s insane. There has to be something else,” I insist.

  “They’ve been around forever, Ariella. Don’t you think that if there was they would’ve found it by now?” he looks at me as if I’m slow.

  “I wish there was some scientific way to explain all this. Like power was some sort of undiscovered energy or something. Then maybe science could tell us how to get rid of the Tario,” I blab stupidly.

  D looks at me as if I’m dumb.

  “What?” I ask, feeling offended. I’m getting rather sick of his grumpiness.

  “Our power is just energy, Ariella. Its energy that is unknown to humans. Our bodies can process it, theirs can’t.”

  “Wait, D, energy cannot be created or destroyed,” I say finding a hole in his theory. “Witches and vampires can die, meaning that their energy gets destroyed.”

  “No, it just gets released into the air or into nature or whatever. Like popping a balloon, the air escapes. The energy escapes if we get hurt too bad because our bodies aren’t strong enough to hold it.”

  “Then what about immortals?” I ask.

  “When they’re badly injured the power is held inside by the spell Arianna created. It’s like a lock I guess. She’s the only one with the key and she’s dead now,” he shrugs. It isn’t until now that I realize that with Arianna being dead the immortals are cursed, like the Tario, to live forever.

  “So what about the Tario?” I continue my questioning.
<
br />   “I don’t know, probably the same thing,” he answers, getting annoyed.

  “Maybe the knife short circuits this ‘lock’ power causing deconstruction, it’s the key so to speak. Maybe we just need to find a way to put a lock on the knife itself so it doesn’t deconstruct after each use,” I try. I mean, does this not make sense? I feel like it could totally work.

  “Wouldn’t work.” He shakes his head. My heart falls. Way to let me down easy.

  “Alright, well…” I think out loud. I see him roll his eyes beside me.

  “Ariella, there is nothing that you can think of in five seconds that they haven’t thought of in the last few billion years or whatever. Don’t waste your time. Just hope that Layli was being truthful when she said she wanted the knife to replicate it. If anyone can figure out a way to do it, it’s her,” he says exasperatedly. “Now, I’m starving. Stay here, don’t move. I will be back in ten minutes.”

  Before I have the chance to protest, he is gone. I slump down on a fallen tree trunk and take in the forest. It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen so much green before.

  Something touches my hand which is resting on a log and I look over to see a huge spider crawling onto my hand. I jump up, screaming and send it flying into a tree. The thing is practically a monster. As I begin looking around, I start becoming more and more terrified of my surroundings. Creepy crawlies everywhere. I hate bugs. My hand flies to my mouth in shock and I hold in another scream. A single tears slides down my cheek. That spider was nearly the size of my hand. My greatest fear-spiders.

  “Are you alright?!” D shouts making his way back towards me.

  “Yes, there was a spider. A really big spider,” I explain showing him the size of it with my hands erratically.

  He rolls his eyes and smirks sexily.

  “I thought you were dying,” he says half annoyed but partially amused now. I think I’ve broken through his grumpy attitude.

  “I’m fine. Seriously, I’m fine. Go eat,” I muster and continue watching my surroundings for movement as if another spider is about to pop out and lunge at my face at any second.