Amelia stood, straightening her robe. She met Lex’s eyes. “See you in a bit?” she asked.
“Of course,” Lex answered.
She left, shutting the door gently behind her.
Lex set the clean bundle of clothes on the floor. He gathered up his dirty ones, expecting one of the sisters would want to collect them. As he set them in a pile beside the door, something fell out, pinging metallic as it hit the floor. The thing Acarius gave me, Lex realized. He knelt and picked it up. It was a pendant, crescent-shaped and made of dull-silver metal etched with symbols and shapes. It hung on a black cord, as though meant to be a necklace. Something stirred deep inside Lex as he looked at it, but he couldn’t quite grasp the recognition and it slipped away as quickly as it came.
Lex tucked the pendant into his fist and reached for the clean clothes. The sister – whichever one she was – had brought him what must have been some of Acarius’ stuff. Lex slipped the tunic over his head. It fit him well, and he felt pleased yet again that he was muscular enough to fill the Hot Horseman’s clothes. He shook his head at himself. Acarius seemed nice, for the most part, and it wasn’t Acarius’ fault that Amelia had tried to use him to make Lex jealous. In fact, Acarius had given every sign he wasn’t interested. Lex told himself he really should stop thinking of the guy as competition, and go easier on him. He bent down, reaching for the pants. As he lifted them, a bit of white paper fluttered out. Lex picked it up, turning it over.
There were words on the other side, written in rolling script.
Don’t trust her. She isn’t who you think.
CHAPTER 4
Lex exited the house to find Amelia waiting for him. She was stuffed into some kind of long-skirted peasant dress, and clearly unhappy about it.
“It’s pink,” she said with a scowl.
Lex fought back a smirk. “It suits you.”
Her scowl deepened.
Lex examined her face, her eyebrows scrunched together over her ice-blue eyes, her perfect lips pursed in frustration, her still-damp hair drying into messy, brown waves about her face. He could feel the note in his pocket, weighing at him despite being made of paper. It said not to trust her, warned him to keep his distance. But Amelia’s gaze upon him spoke the opposite, urging him to brush her soft hair away from her eyes. What was he thinking? He barely knew her, and right now he needed to confront her, to get answers. He mentally shook himself. Focus. He felt balanced on a crazy knife-edge, his pull toward her at odds with reason.
Amelia’s expression was guarded, but Lex could see something vulnerable behind that. He didn’t know much about her past, but her story about having her heart broken had seemed genuine. Lex thought back to the creature’s attack; the farmers hadn’t even seemed to care she was in danger. They ran right past her to pursue Lex, even after seeing her assaulted by the creature. Maybe she just needs to be able to trust someone, Lex thought. Deep down he found it hard to believe there was anything truly bad in her. She was wild and emotional and sometimes flippant – and she did seem to be hiding something, her answers about her past always in veiled snippets – but that didn’t mean she was untrustworthy. Everyone had secrets.
Yet the note nagged at him, drawing all the gaps in his knowledge about Amelia into focus. Why did the men run past her? Why had the creature attacked her? How did she find him in the woods that night? Why did the panther run from her? Had she really just gone to relieve herself when he woke up, or had she disappeared for some other reason? Why did she resemble the girl in his visions? It seemed like such a coincidence for Lex and Amelia both to feel such a connection to one another, unless… maybe that was a lie, too, an attempt to manipulate him. How would he even know? The tsunami in the forest, his missing memories, being captured and tied up… how did he know she wasn’t involved with some of that? Maybe with all of it.
He studied her face again and his heart sped. Though he knew he had every reason not to trust her, that charming fake-scowl was pulling him in, all other thoughts tangling on thoughts of her. Is she doing that on purpose, too, somehow? He wondered. How would he know if she were?
Amelia was still holding the scowl, but now an edge of self-consciousness crept in behind it, her eyebrows rising. “Why are you staring at me like that?” she asked.
Lex had been staring at her for an awkwardly-long time. He felt his face go red as he ran a shaky hand through his hair. He let his eyes roam her face; she looked as uncomfortable as he was. He considered confronting her about the note then and there, but then her lower lip trembled, just for a second. She got control of it almost instantly, smoothing her face back into one of stone.
Lex’s heart squeezed, and he shoved thoughts of confronting her to the side. He could do it later. If he demanded answers now, she might feel like he was accusing her of something… and what if she was innocent? He owed her the benefit of the doubt for being there for him so far; he needed answers, and she had offered to help him find them. Besides, there was something connecting Amelia and his visions, and he still needed to figure out what.
He would have to find a way to be friendly without truly opening himself up to her. He would be wary, but polite. But keeping her close for now was just good strategy. Could he help it if part of him felt glad for having a reason to stay near her? I’m really going to have to work on that, he thought. His heart seemed to have a mind of its own.
Besides, Acarius obviously knows something. Lex could try getting answers that way. He was tired of feeling like he was in the dark, left out of some big secret.
“You’re still staring at me,” Amelia said. “I swear, if you’re thinking of making some joke about this dress…”
Lex’s heart gave a little skip at the uncertainty on her face. She looked vulnerable and uncertain, insecure about what he was thinking of her. Maybe it was the dress… she did seem self-conscious about it. Honestly, it looked good on her, though the murderous glare on her face spoiled the effect a bit. He smiled at her. “It’s really not so bad,” he said. “It’s a nice dress.”
She lowered her eyebrows again. “Then why don’t you try wearing it?”
The laugh escaped Lex before he could stifle it.
“I hate dresses,” Amelia groaned, but she relaxed. Her lips twitched up at the corners as she nearly smiled back at Lex but fought it, still wanting to act mad.
The door of the other house swung open and they both turned toward the sound.
Acarius stepped out onto the porch. “Dinner’s ready,” he called, eyeing them, then slipped back into the house.
Lex had been uncertain how to proceed with the conversation and he was starving, so he was doubly thankful for Acarius’ distraction. Lex looked at Amelia again. He hoped he hadn’t made her too suspicious that something had changed. If she was up to something, revealing too much too soon could be a dangerous mistake. For now, they could be two friendly acquaintances who both needed to eat, couldn’t they?
“Food?” he asked. He threw the question out in a casual tone, hoping it sounded natural.
Amelia’s faux-scowl melted into a smile and she nodded.
Lex’s tension eased a bit – she didn’t seem to be suspicious. Yet that bothered him, too, as though he was somehow betraying her. They walked toward the other house.
“I could eat a horse,” Amelia sighed as they reached the porch.
As they breached the steps, Mare poked her head around the far edge of the house, where she had been grazing.
Amelia glanced at Mare. “Sorry,” she said. She turned back to Lex. “Does that horse weird you out as much as she does me?”
Lex looked at Mare, who stared directly back at him. Memories of her kicking and biting at him on the hill blurred with the white horse of his visions. “I… sort of,” he said, his thoughts whirling.
Mare stared at him for one beat longer before turning her nose back to the grass.
Lex and Amelia climbed the rest of the stairs to the front door, whi
ch had been left ajar for them.
“I hope they made something good,” Amelia said, entering the house.
Lex followed behind her.
Enticing aromas filled the room, making Lex’s mouth water. He closed the door behind them and glanced around the space. It was almost an exact replica of Acarius’ house, only larger and with more furniture, intended for a full family. The front room where they stood was open, divided into a living area and dining area. Lex noticed the dining table was already arranged with plates and silverware, and some mismatched chairs seemed to have been added to the rest, probably for him and Amelia. Beyond the dining area was a wall, unlike the open floorplan of Acarius’ house. A doorway was propped open, revealing part of a kitchen. On the left stretched a hallway with closed doors leading off both sides, and on the right-hand wall of the house was what appeared to be a door to the outside. Lex stepped further into the room, the smells from the kitchen luring him inward.
“It was my parents’ house.”
Lex jumped, startled by Acarius appearing behind him. From the corner of his eye, Lex saw Amelia jump as he did, and she turned to face Acarius alongside him.
“Was?” Amelia asked, taking Lex’s hand.
Lex’s fingers closed around Amelia’s instinctively. Pulling away quickly would be rude, he reasoned. He didn’t want to offend her... or make her suspicous. If she isn’t trying to kill me, maybe we can even be friends.
Get it together, he berated himself. After a moment more, he pulled his hand away. The coldness of the air hit his bare hand, contrasting her warm touch. He stuffed his hand in his pocket.
Amelia let her hand fall back to her side, not seeming bothered.
Lex had been so preoccupied during the lull in conversation that he’d almost forgotten what Amelia had asked, until Acarius finally answered: “They’re dead.”
The phrase thumped to the floor like a boulder, stunning Lex and Amelia into silence. Lex could feel Amelia’s energy pulsing beside him, the air around her growing warmer… or was he imagining it?
“I’m sorry,” Lex said after a moment, meeting Acarius’ eyes.
Acarius glanced at Amelia before turning his eyes back to Lex. “It happened a long time ago. But thanks,” he said. He headed toward the kitchen.
Doors flew open all up and down the hallway, and a flood of sisters rushed out from their rooms.
“You’re back!” one of them said, tackling Acarius midway to the kitchen and throwing her arms around him.
Acarius placed his hand on the girl’s brown hair as she smiled up at him. He returned her smile, then peeled her arms away and turned her toward Lex and Amelia, presenting her. “This is Emily,” he said. “She’s the second-oldest of my sisters.”
The girl nodded her head in their direction.
Second-oldest, thought Lex. She did look slightly older than the two who had prepared his bath, but Lex could hardly keep track of all these sisters. He wondered briefly about his own background, whether he had any siblings–
There was a flash of something in his mind, the feel of a small hand clasped in his. It was tiny, pudgy, a fraction the size of his own. Lex tried to grasp at the image, to see it more clearly, but it vanished.
“You alright?” Amelia asked, looking up at him.
“Yeah,” he said, swallowing. “I’m good.”
Lex looked back toward Acarius. There was a row of sisters now, trailing beside Emily as though waiting for Acarius to introduce them. All lined up like this, Lex could definitely see the family resemblance. They all had the same olive skin, the same dark brown hair – though varying in lengths – the same slim figure, and the same thick, black eyelashes. Their eye colors differed – various shades of hazel and brown – and they had small differences in some of their features, but their bone structures were similar and they were all in the teenage-range and all ridiculously attractive. Acarius blended right in with the good looks of the rest of them; they looked like a family of models. They clearly had a quality gene-pool.
Amelia tensed beside Lex as though reading his thoughts. Does she feel threatened by these girls? Lex wondered. She didn’t need to. Lex noticed their attractiveness in a detached way, just an observation. It was nothing like the pull he felt toward Amelia, a pull he seemed always to be fighting. Even now, he battled the urge to take Amelia’s hand to reassure her. He didn’t; he knew he needed to maintain boundaries. But he did still want to be nice to Amelia, for her to see him as a friend. Besides, she could be really unpredictable, and her being jealous of some imagined attraction Lex had toward the sisters would probably not end well for anybody. He turned and gave Amelia a small smile, hoping it would reassure her. Amelia relaxed beneath his gaze, and Lex turned back toward Acarius, only then wondering if Amelia’s discomfort may have been for a totally different reason.
“Megan is the oldest,” Acarius said, pointing at the girl on the end. “Except for me, of course. And you’ve already met Anna and Sasha.” He gestured to the two girls next to Emily, the ones who had run past Lex on the way to start his bath.
Lex still didn’t know which one was Anna and which one was Sasha, but it seemed they thought he should, so he didn’t ask. He mentally tallied the sisters. Four. Hadn’t Acarius said there were five?
As if on cue, a voice sounded from the kitchen. “Coming through with hot food! And don’t you make me drop it; I worked hard on this!”
The line of siblings parted as a figure slid through the doorway, still facing away from them as she navigated a tray of food through the opening.
Lex’s breath caught. He could only see the back of her head, but she had not-quite-wavy blonde hair, as though it was meant to be straight but had rebelled, hair exactly like–
The girl turned. It wasn’t her. The face was wrong, nothing like the one in Lex’s visions, and this girl’s eyes were a deep brown, not light blue. She was just as beautiful as the other sisters, and looked quite a bit like them, but her blonde hair somehow emphasized her features differently, distinguishing her from the others.
Acarius rushed to relieve the girl of the food-laden tray. “This is Liz,” he said, nodding toward her as he carried the tray to the dining table. “She’s my middle sister.” He set the food down, then turned back. “Come on, everyone. Let’s eat.”
Lex’s heart was still pounding from the shock of Liz’s hair, and he couldn’t help but wonder how there came to be one stark blonde in a family of brunettes. Amelia seemed to notice something was off with Lex and glanced up at him. He gave her a shaky smile. She raised her eyebrow but took his hand again, and warmth surged through him. He didn’t pull away.
“Come on,” she whispered, tugging him toward the table.
The sisters had filled in most of the seats, leaving two chairs open near one end of the table. Amelia slid into the one on the side, giving Lex the one at the foot of the table… or maybe it was the head; he wasn’t sure. Lex took the seat opposite Acarius, who was already at the table’s other end, watching him. The thought of Acarius staring at him across the table for the entire meal made Lex feel rather awkward. He broke eye contact and looked down, fidgeting with his empty plate.
One of the brown-haired sisters – Lex still couldn’t keep track which was which, even after the introductions – took small platters of food from the larger tray and passed them down the table. The smells tortured Lex as he waited for the food to reach him. The platters held slices of pot roast, baked ham, some kind of roasted vegetable, warm bread that seemed homemade, and an odd kind of jelly-dessert layered with slivers of a fruit Lex didn’t recognize. He piled his plate with a bit of each as the platters reached him, noticing that no one was eating yet. Lex’s stomach pinched in hunger as the fragrance of his own plate drifted up to him, and his fingers twitched to his fork. He didn’t want to seem rude, though, so he waited, watching for a signal that he could begin eating.
When all the platters had returned to the center of the table, the s
isters and Acarius silently bent over their plates and started eating. Lex happily followed their cue and Amelia did the same. Everything was delicious, even the things Lex didn’t recognize. Acarius was right about Liz being an excellent cook.
While they ate, Acarius and his sisters discussed the day, sharing info on horses that needed extra grooming, which crops from their small garden were thriving or faltering, whether Emily had managed to mend Acarius’ torn riding pants (she had), and what needed to be picked up from the market on their next trip to town. Lex was struck by how easily the conversation flowed between the siblings. He felt like an outsider, as though he’d walked into someone else’s private moment. Which, he supposed, he had. Lex and Amelia ate in silence, directing most of their attention to their plates.
Eventually, Acarius turned to them. His eyes fell on Lex. “There are some things we need to discuss,” he said.
Lex set his fork down, his blood running cold. His thoughts jumped to the note hidden in his pocket, and to the pendant which currently resided against his chest beneath Acarius’ borrowed tunic. Lex glanced around the table, and none of the sisters would meet his eyes. Which one of them wrote the note? Lex wondered. Or was it Acarius? The pendant was its own mystery, so familiar, though Lex still couldn’t remember why. He resisted the urge to finger the pendant, not wanting to draw attention to it, his thoughts going back to the note. Surely Acarius didn’t mean to confront him about Amelia, right here in front of everyone…
“We’re on a bit of a time crunch, I’m afraid,” Acarius continued. “Ordinarily I’d invite you to stay here and rest as long as you need, but I have horses to transport to Merik’esh by tomorrow and since that’s where you were headed, it would be best if you both just come with me when I go.”
Lex paused. “Actually, we didn’t say where we were headed,” he said slowly.
Acarius tapped a finger on the table. “Oh. I just assumed. There really isn’t much else around here other than Dalton, and after what happened to the forest, I didn’t expect you’d want to head back that way. Did you need to go somewhere else?”
The Edge of Nothing_The Lex Chronicles_Book 1 Page 6
