Awakened (31 page)

Ella

The room was almost as it was in my vision. I peeked past the large man sitting behind
his desk to the man veiled in darkness—the same figure that stood in my vision, the
man he excused when he spoke to Angel and Rio about my parents. I stood at the door,
my nerves now getting the better of me, and I waited.

I didn’t want to go any farther in the room, but I had to.

“Would you like to take a seat?” Aleixandre asked. His voice was the same, as well.
I cringed.

“Hannity, will you place another log on the fire?” The guard behind him went to the
fire and did as directed.

“I’m not cold.” I gathered myself and entered the large room. A few things had changed.
The large window behind Aleixandre displayed an impossible sight.

Aleixandre turned to see what had captivated me. “Since we are about two hundred feet
underground, I don’t have the luxury of a real view or one quite as stunning as this,
so I substituted the blank wall for the LG Cinema Screen 55LM7600 55-Inch 3D 1080p
240Hz LED HDTV.” He turned to me. “Isn’t that view stunning?”

It was night, well past midnight, when we arrived, but the screen displayed the most
beautiful sunrise that I had ever seen over an orange desert. When I didn't reply,
Aleixandre added, “A masterpiece, if you ask me.”

I stared at the screen, still mesmerized by the beauty of the view.

“It’s the sunrise over the Sahara desert. I lived there once in a small village, but
you didn’t come here to learn about me.” His smile stretched his tanned face, and
his eyes widened.

“No, I didn’t,” I answered, with my chin up and my brave face on.

“Good. What is that you are here for?” He smiled. “I know there are things you think
you know, but now that you are here, I can answer your questions truthfully.”

I raised a brow but remembered why I was here. “Yes, that is part of the reason I
am here.” This seemed to intrigue him, and he gestured for me to continue. “But first,
I want to ask you for a favor.”

He sat back in surprise, placing a hand to his head. “Dear girl, what could you possibly
want from me?”

His creepy Cheshire smile made me wonder if he knew what I was going to ask, if he’d
been waiting for me to come to him with my request. “You know this actually works
out perfectly. You need something from me, and I need something from you.”

“What? What do you want from me?” I asked.

“First, what is it you want from me? I must say, I am intrigued to find out what an
Arc could possibly need from me, other than protection from Laurent?”

I raised an eyebrow. Hadn’t he got the memo? “Laurent is dead.”

“Humph, is he?”

“Um, yes, he is.” I trusted Jace and Kale and the others.

We stared at each other for a moment.

“What makes you think that he isn’t?” I finally asked.

Aleixandre smirked and shook his head. His demeanor changed as he spoke his next words.
“If you want eternal life, you will have to give me something in return—and I don’t
mean some trinket or wordy promise.” He glanced at the necklace that dangled from
my neck—the one Kale had given Hélène centuries ago.

Though Aleixandre had just said that he didn’t want it, I still felt the need to protect
it.

“What is it you want? No guessing on my end; just tell me.” I hated needing anything
from anyone. I always worried that they would hold it over my head or throw it in
my face when it suited them.

“Well?” My patience was running thin, and I wanted to get back home to Kale with some
good news.

“Your life—or a part of it.”

I hadn’t thought the stakes would be so high. I’d known that I would have to bargain,
and I’d thought I’d be bargaining with my soothsaying abilities. I had the ability
to see the past. I'd been told that I could see the future, too, if taught to. I hadn’t
learned to do it yet, but I’d still use it as a bargaining chip. He didn’t have to
hold me captive to get me to soothsay for him.

Instead, he was demanding my freedom.

Aleixandre smiled, then winked. He sat back in his large leather chair, the very same
chair from where he instructed two henchmen to have my parents killed.

I was making a deal with the devil, and it was the only option I had. Being an Arc
was useless at this point. I didn’t know how to see the future, and the past was evading
me as well.

“Interesting cocktail of emotions,” Aleixandre purred.

“What?” The sound of his voice made my stomach quiver.

“Fear and anger—an interesting yet dangerous cocktail of emotions for someone in your
position.”

“And what position is that?”

He laughed again, placing his hands on his desk and leaning forward. “The position
that places you on your knees at my feet, if I so choose to command you there. The
one where you realize that no matter what power you wield, I am—and will always be—stronger
and in control. Time, Ella. I want time.”

I gulped and worked harder to calm my breathing. My heart, on the other hand, was
beyond my control—it hammered against my chest, sending stomach-wrenching vibrations
throughout my body. This was a bad idea—yeah, bad—but my only choice.

I still was a bit confused about how this would play out. Would it end up in my favor
or not?

“My life and time? I am asking to live forever, and you want my life—I don’t get it.”
I shook my head and moved away from his desk.

I got it, all right, and I was pissed—no, not pissed, petrified. I had given away
control on several occasions, and the sting of it didn’t get any better.

Deacon and Jace stood outside the door waiting for me, Jace believed that my plan
was ridiculous and dangerous, but he followed me to ensure my safety. Deacon hoped
it would work for two reasons: Kale would kill him if it didn’t, and he wanted the
same thing I did for Kale—for him to be happy.

“I said ‘or a part of it’—years of it, actually. I gave fifty of mine to Laurent,
in exchange for the first Arc.” Aleixandre’s lip curled in distaste, and his voice
went cold. “How many are you willing to give, to be with that parasite?”

The Council had seen the worst side of the Chorý race, but I had seen the good side,
thanks to Kale and Deacon.

“Kale, his name is Kale. But honestly, Aleixandre, you can’t think that I am going
to give you fifty years of my life,” I said in amazement. My face was hot and I needed
to stand, to move, but I sat in my chair and silently prayed for some miracle.

“And you honestly don’t think that I will give you eternal life for nothing—or do
you? You can’t be that dense. Did you think that I would just grant you immortality
out of the goodness of my heart?” Aleixandre laughed and propped his feet up on his
desk, placing his hands behind his head as he peered at me.

No. I hadn’t expected to get what I wanted for free, but I didn’t think that I wouldn’t
be able to leave without promising to accept Aleixandre’s brand of servitude. “No—well,
I knew you would ask for something. I just thought we could come to some sort of agreement
where I would tell you parts of the future when you needed it.”

Aleixandre shook his head. “Kale wouldn’t allow that—and before you say that you are
your own person and make your own choices, tell me…” He leaned forward and held my
gaze. “Does he know you’ve come to me with this request?”

My face heated, but I didn’t answer him.

“Of course not, because he wouldn’t have allowed you to come. He despises us, after
all. Even if I did accept your offer—even if you, in good faith, promised me access
to your services—over time he would convince you to stop granting my request for your
second sight.”

Aleixandre wouldn’t accept my offer, no matter what I said to him.

I had nothing else to give. I’d have to consider his offer.

He smiled. “You know what I want.”

My mind raced for other options. Hadn’t we accomplished his goal of ending Laurent,
and wasn’t that the reason he looked for me for so long? Maybe he’d accept that he
owed me a debt. “But Laurent’s dead, like you wanted. I know that Kale, Jace, and
Deacon accomplished that, but they did it for me, so—”

“So you think one immortal and two Chorý could kill Laurent?” His words held me immobile
for a moment.

I looked at him with surprise. Kale had told me what happened, saying that he didn’t
want me to think of him as a murderer, but he would hold that title if it meant keeping
me safe. “Do you really think he is still alive? I mean I understand immortality,
but a beheading—”

“Did you see it?” he interrupted.

“No.”

“No?” He sounded amused by my answer.

“I said no.” I took another breath and messaged the headache that was building in
my temples. This man had some serious issues.

“Well, then. It didn’t happen, unless you would like to show it to me.” His voice
lowered, and he sat up straight.

“That isn’t something I want to see. I mean, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night
if I saw that.” I had seen Hélène suffer a similar fate, and I couldn’t bring myself
to see something like that again—even if it was Laurent—and mostly because I didn’t
want to see Kale as a killer. I’d seen enough death for a lifetime, and I was only
nineteen.

“No matter.” Aleixandre waved a hand. “Hmm… Then you need to figure out what else
you will give me in return.” He again sat back, this time crossing his arms over his
expansive chest.

“We could bring in the Council members that were with Kale when he was killed. Ask
them if Laurent is dead. You trust them.” I didn’t get excited with this solution,
because I was starting to think that Aleixandre wasn’t going to accept anything I
had to offer.

He already knew what he wanted, and he didn’t want to negotiate. “You know, that reminds
me. In order to find Laurent, your boy Kale had help from
my
Council members.
My
jet and
my
money was used to hunt and find Laurent. You could say that I did it myself, since
everything that got Kale to that island belonged to me, so proof of Laurent’s death
is off the table as payment.”

My headache roared, and I placed a hand over my stomach hoping it would settle before
I got sick. “I have nothing else.” Nothing I had would compare to what he really wanted.

“Well, wouldn’t you know, that is one thing that I won’t accept,” he said sarcastically.
“Ella, I have had enough. There is only one thing you can offer me. Years of your
eternal life, after the deed is done.” I searched—and I mean searched—my brain for
an alternative.

“Kale has money,” I countered. “I have money.”

“I have money, too. We can all join the ‘I have money club’ in the next lifetime.
What I want is you and your time.”

“How long?” I asked, defeated. There was nothing else I could do but agree, but there
was no way I could give fifty years to him—that was just too long. But I had to be
immortal.

Kale had sacrificed for me, and I could do the same for him.

“Give me a number, and I will let you know if I accept.” His eyes shone with triumph.

I didn’t want to stay here for another second, let alone years. “A year.”

“Little girl—” His expression and his voice changed into something more than anger
and annoyance.

“Three years?” I squeaked.

“Multiply that by ten, and you have a deal.”

My eyes widened, and my mouth went dry. “Thirty years?!” I yelled. “You must be out
of your mind.”

“Yes, I have been told that quite a bit recently, but do we have a deal?” he asked
again.

“No! What could you need from me for that long? I was told that you created the Council
to protect me—and whether you believe it or not, Laurent is dead—so what do you need
me for?”

“Then leave and watch your parasite wither and die or drain you dry. It is said that
the cure for
la Luxure
is immortal blood. I wonder what eternal love and blood would do for him. That is
why you are here, isn’t it—to save him from certain death?”

“Kale! His name is—”

“Kale, I know. His grandfather was a farmer of some sort, and that is where he received
his name—absurd, if you ask me.”

“No one asked you,” I barked, feeling the need to defend Kale’s parents’ choice.

“I don’t care what his name is, or what you two share. You will give me thirty years
of your eternal life for what you want.” Aleixandre stood up and stalked closer to
me.

“Fifteen,” I countered again. I balked at my own words. Fifteen was still a long time,
almost as long as I’d been alive.

“Twenty, and we have a deal. Ella, I will go no lower than this. The next words out
of your mouth had better be a yes or a no, or you will see what Angel saw when he
tried my patience.”

Angel? I searched my brain and remembered his horribly scarred face. Was Aleixandre,
the man who had created the Council to protect me, threatening to hurt me?

I closed my eyes to keep the tears at bay. “And when would this time start?” I saw
no other way out of this.

Aleixandre invaded my personal space, stealing from me the last bit of my comfort
that remained. “From the second you take you first breath as an immortal, you will
belong to me and me alone. You will send away your incompetent bodyguards and reside
here with me until your debt to me is paid in full.”

I sighed in defeat, and as I reached out to shake his hand, I wondered if the choice
I was making to leave Kale and everyone else behind was the right one.

Kale

The feeling of loss was familiar, an ache that built gradually until all that was
left was the hole that could only be filled with the one thing that you had lost.
It was nothing I hadn’t experienced before. I’d lost Hélène and now Ella, and in each
experience, I’d learned of my inability to protect the people I loved, and my inability
to express that love in words when the time came.

I’d never told Hélène; I had just assumed she knew. I thought my actions and my touch
would say what I never did. I’d made the same mistake again, and I couldn’t help but
wonder if I was an idiot, not worth love from such an exceptional soul.