Crais(41)

His deep tones had me fighting harder. Finally he let go and I tumbled to the floor.

Springing to my feet, I fell into a fighting stance, my hands tense at my side.

“What the crapping crap are you doing, Lucas?” I spat the words at him, my body still tingling from the warmth of his embrace.

“You were asleep against a rock wall. I was just trying to move you to a bed.” He pushed back his blond hair, which was now disheveled. “Something tells me I should have gone with my first instinct and simply nudged you awake.”

I breathed deeply, shaking off the last of my sleep and the Bracentine dream.

“I don’t trust you, Lucas, so just stop touching me.”

He opened his mouth to reply, but I didn’t give him a chance, storming off, determined to find a bed to sleep in. Alone.

Luckily most of the Reds were away on some mission, so there were plenty of free cave holes. When I was finally settled onto a soft surface, covers drawn over me, more for safety and comfort than warmth, I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.



Over the next few days, while Lallielle sorted our return to First World, I spent my time training with Josian, Talina and Fury. Fury’s powers were unbelievable; her fire was truly a weapon, although Talina seemed to be able to counteract it somewhat with her water abilities. One thing was clear, though. Our powers were very different, along with our abilities to control and harness them. In fact, mine seemed to be the most unsure and random, something which made me very uncomfortable.

I hadn’t mentioned the Bracentine dream to anyone, not even Lucy. I knew that no one would understand, but I needed to save Brace, and I couldn’t listen to all of the reasons why it was stupid to trust the Seventine. I already knew it wasn’t ... smart, but every day my gut-wrenching agony grew worse. Without Brace there was nothing to light the darkness of each moment. As much as I tried to avoid it, I was hooked. I was addicted and I needed him back. My life was a country music song right now, and I wanted the happy ending.

“Aribella.”

I’d been sitting with my legs dangling in the stream when Lallielle’s voice shook me from my heavy thoughts. I turned to face her as she approached, stepping carefully along the pebbled edge.

“Hey, Mom.”

She looked stunning as always, but for the first time since my return to First World she wore an air of tiredness. Everything with Samuel and the Seventine was starting to take its toll. I studied her classically beautiful features; they had that perfect symmetry which people on Earth had once paid big money to plastic surgeons for. Her full lips were like my own but she rarely smiled anymore. She pushed back her long hair as she sank into a graceful sitting position.

“I know we haven’t had much time together lately. I just wanted to check in with how you’re doing.”

My standard answer fell from my lips. “I’m fine.”

She gave me a measured look, as if she could see all the way to the cracks filling my soul.

“I may not have been with you for most of your life, but I can already tell when you’re lying.” She sighed. “And I don’t just mean to everyone else, but also to yourself.”

As I stared out into the darkness surrounding the underground stream, she just sat quietly beside me. She was practicing some type of reverse psychology, which was totally working.

“There doesn’t seem to be much point in talking about it. Nothing will change, and I’ll have lost all the ground I’ve gained in locking my emotions away,” I said finally.

She reached around and rested her hand on my shoulder before pulling me toward her. I closed my eyes, breathing in her familiar scent. It was comforting, but already my eyes ached with the effort to hold back tears. I couldn’t lose it. I’d probably never stuff all the pain back inside again.

“Don’t you see, Aribella, that you can never lock away emotions of this magnitude? They’ll eat at you until they’ve made a hole big enough to escape. And then they’ll burst out with the power of a hundred storm fronts.” Her voice shook.

I angled my head so I could see her face clearly. “Are you talking about your time when you were held captive?”

She’d spoken of it only once before, but that type of experience had to have left deep scars.

She chuckled without any real humor. “No, your father is quite ... determined when he wants to rid me of memories. And, even so, that was never the worst pain in my life. After I made that fateful decision to send you to Earth, and then lost contact with you, Quarn and Hallow, I kind of withdrew from the world for awhile. I cut myself off from everyone.” She sucked in air. “And I was numb, until Josian returned and forced me back. But the two years of suppressed emotions almost destroyed me. And I almost destroyed Samuel with neglect.” Her pale green eyes bored into mine. “It kills me that I can’t protect you from this agony. But you have to feel it, baby girl.”