Opulent (The Opalescent Collection Book 1) (11 page)

“You don’t need anything to come to the beach at night.” He made his way toward the blue water.

“What are you doing?”

“Going for a swim,” he replied and began to wade out into the ocean.

“You are going to get your clothes all wet.”

“So?”

              He looked at me with a smile and then yelped, disappearing beneath the water. I ran to the water’s edge and looked for him, but there was not even a ripple over the lazy ocean. I could only strain my eyes in the dim glow of moonlight, but saw no trace. Yet, he was part mortal, and he could not hold his breath forever. There was a sharp pinch to my ankle and once caught off balance from fright, Lucian leaped in front of me, pushing me down into the shallow water. I struggled for a moment, feeling the water rush over me, when I saw a beam of white moonlight that illuminated the water as though the sun was there. I sat on the sand, still under water and looked around a moment longer until I finally went upward to get a breath of chilled air. Lucian was not far from me when he too popped up for air and I, being just within reach of him, grabbed his sleeve so he turned to face me.

“What did you do that for?”

              He laughed. “See? You don’t need anything.”

“Yeah but now we are sopping wet!”

“And?”

“
Sopping wet
on a cold, sandy beach in the middle of the night,” I droned.

              I mumbled quietly and gathered the hem of my dress in my hands to trudge my way to the sand. Once on land I fell to my knees and crawled over to drier sand. I brushed the wet sand that clung to my skirt and already felt the harsh stick of the ocean water. Lucian made his way over to me and sat close, his body blocking the light wind that gave me chills from the bitter feel of the salty ocean. I hugged myself tightly and saw him move beside me, clutch his cape in one hand, and wrapped it around me. There was a low whimper from behind and just as I turned my head, so did Lucian.

“Get down,” he said in a hushed whisper.

              I crouched low onto the sand and looked in the direction where I had heard the noise, following his gaze to a sandy spot illuminated by dim moonlight. There was a gold creature with a pointed snout and large pointed ears, almost fox-like. It sniffed the air for a brief moment and then rested in the cool sand.

“What’s that?” I whispered, unsure if the creature was vicious or not.

“That is a nellina.”

“Will it attack?”

“No, it’s harmless.”

“What is it doing here?”

“It lives here. Actually, it lives in deep burrows in the sand. They are very rare.”

“What do they do?”

“Well you probably can’t see from here but it has wings that blend in with its fur. It can only glide short distances at a time, and it’s because of that they rarely ever fly, unless threatened.”

              I studied the frail fox-like creature and then looked at Lucian who had turned away from me.

“What do they eat?”

“They eat whatever they can find,” was all he said.

              I moved slightly closer and at once, he stood. “We should be going.”

              At his hasty movement, the nellina rose to its feet, shaken, and dashed off with its red-gold wings spread out at its sides. It lifted onto a cool breeze and disappeared from sight within seconds.

“What did you do that for? You scared it away!”

“We are leaving.” His voice sounded stern, almost angry.

“But…but we just got here.”

“Look at yourself. You’re shaking so hard I can hear your teeth chatter.”

“Well-,”

“Come on.” He put out a hand. I looked back into the vague sky for the nellina and once convinced it was not going to return, I took his hand.

“Why did you even take me here?”

“I thought you might remember more, but you haven’t, so we are leaving.” 

              Confused, I allowed him to take me home where he lit a fire in the fireplace while I showered and changed into a pair of warm pajamas. While the fireplace warmed downstairs, I sat on the bed in the master suite fingering the cotton sheets just as they had been since I had last seen them.

              A heavy weight in my chest formed and soon I was choking back heavy tears from the memories Lucian had showed me. I shook my head and fingered the blanket. Unlike before, I now realized how it was so soft beneath my fingertips. It was strange how I noticed these things now, when I had been exposed to them so many times before.

“I wish he came back…I wish nothing ever happened. Oh that stupid, arrogant fool,” I sobbed.

              There was a quiet knock at the door and I looked to see a tall figure in the doorway. With my imagination and memory taking over, I shook my head in astonishment.

             
No, no it can’t be.

              I raced over to the figure dressed in Fitzray’s clothes. It was as if he was standing before me. I ran over and wrapped my arms around Lucian who noticed what was going on and hesitantly stepped back. Still, I grabbed onto his shoulder, pulling him toward me. I could smell Fitzray for the first time in months. I remembered what he smelled like, what he sounded like, what he felt like. It all came back to me as I breathed it all in slowly.

“Fitzray, you came back. I knew you would, I knew nothing could happen to you. You didn’t die. I knew you didn’t die, I knew he couldn’t kill you.”

              I grabbed the candle from the nightstand and anxiously wove it before his face, still holding his shoulder. Instead of the marble green eyes I expected and yearned to meet, I saw gold. My smile faded. I moved the candle away.

“You thought I was Fitzray, didn’t you?”

“You…his clothes…I am sorry I-,” I cut myself short, quickly releasing my hold.

“No, I didn’t know you would react that way. But, that is no excuse. I should have known better.”

“It’s just…they fit you so well.” I looked away, afraid to meet his gaze again, afraid to see gold rather than green. Afraid to see him and not Fitzray.

“Let’s go where it’s warm downstairs.”

              Once I was in the presence of the flames, Minx came over and rested his chin on my lap. Charlene, who was out of her cage, had flown down to Lucian’s shoulder.

              He held his arm before his chest and with one simple command, the bat flew onto his arm and then he placed her before the fire beside me.

“Never have I seen Charlene so obedient…she would never do such a thing if I had asked.” I talked quietly as if I was talking to myself. I really did not want to engage in conversation with him.

“I have known her quite a while,” he admitted, “you shouldn’t be surprised.” He sat on one of the red velvet chairs, his hands balled to fists on the arms of the chair.

              I watched the flames waver and allowed them to captivate me by their movement for a long time, until he spoke again.

“How is the fire suiting you?”

“Well.”

              Minx lifted his head. “If you would like to sit with us you may.” He called out.

              Jasper came in from the kitchen and rested beside me as close as he could manage with still leaving enough room for Lucian to sit near me if he wanted. The dragon’s scales were cold as ice and he trembled ever so slightly beneath my hand, yet he refused to lay his head on my lap, almost in respect for Lucian.

“Come and sit Sire.”

              Lucian hesitated but slipped from the chair and sat next to me. Once he wrapped his arm around me and I rested my head on his shoulder, Jasper had then placed his chin on my lap.

“Where is Citrus?” Minx asked, suddenly alarmed.

              Jasper lifted his head and the dragons rose to their feet in search of the little dragon. After several minutes, Valiant flew to one of the velvet chairs and exclaimed, “Citrus!”

              Sure enough, there she lay, curled on the chair like a little cat. The bat flew up to perch beside Valiant and the dragons moved around the room. Tension grew to stiffness in my muscles and the constant pulse against my shoulder did not help. I turned my head to see if Lucian was looking at me and sighed, unsurprised that I was right.

“I’m not going anywhere. I won’t leave you.” Lucian said with a kiss. This time, it did not bear memory like before.

T
 

he shifting movement from Lucian woke me up. The sun was not even up yet.

“Lu? Where are you going?”

“I have to go to the City.”

He stood and straightened out his cape. “Do you want to come with me?”

“Sure, I’ll come.”

              Onward we sluggishly made our way to the City. The stores, still closed, remained locked and the streets were peacefully empty, but all the same, strangely vacant. Loud voices echoed from up ahead and I decided to check to see what was going on, my curiosity getting the better of me. Just as I turned the corner, Lucian grabbed hold of me.

“Where are you going?”

“I want to know what’s up ahead.”

“I can’t leave you out of my sight.” He grumbled to himself.

“Come with me then.”

              Beyond the corner, there were two vampires. Each one held a horse. They were odd looking with small horns protruding from their foreheads and stubs for wings sprouting from between their shoulders.

“What are those?” I called.

              One vampire turned his head. “These are Catastrophe-bred horses. They are born to run.”

“Where do you get one of these?”

“They are not commonly found in these parts-,”

“Do you want to go for a ride,” the other interrupted.

“Well…I don’t know-,”

“We would give them to you half price.”

              One of the horses walked up to me, bent his head down and playfully nipped at my shirt.

“No!” Lucian growled and pulled me away from the animal, shielding me with his body.

“Hey, if you could even ride one, we’d give them to you for free!”

              I shrugged from Lucian’s grip and walked up to the vampires.

“You’ve got yourself a deal.”

              Lucian sprinted toward me while I managed to get up on one of the horses.

“Relax Lu. I rode dozens of horses when I lived on Earth.”

“But you are not dealing with an average horse from Earth,” he protested.

              I snickered and grabbed hold of the horse’s mane.

“All that horse wants to do is run!”

              The horse did not hesitate. At the very word, he darted off. Lucian quickly mounted the other horse and the chase was on.

              I could steer him only enough to clear sharp turns, but other than that, he had a mind of his own. The street below me whirled by, but I clung to the only comforting thought that the horse’s hooves still clopped against cobblestone. I knew I was still in the City. Lucian was catching up and the horse ran even faster with the thought of racing the other horse. I cleared another sharp turn into an alley with a dead end. The horse turned on his haunches, barely pausing, spinning on a dime, and ran from the small street. Lucian was catching up, nearly behind me, and my horse was getting tired. Lucian at last got in front of me and banked off to another street with my horse closely following.

              At the end of the street, the vampires stood waiting. Lucian’s horse came to an abrupt stop before them and my horse slowed, but not fast enough. As he reached the other horse, he reared up onto his back legs. I clutched desperately onto his mane, holding on as best I could, but I slid helplessly onto the stone. The other vampires then controlled the horses as Lucian rushed over to my side.

“Chenille, are you hurt?”

“My wrist!” I cried and got up slowly to examine the damage done.

              Lucian walked over to the other vampires and yelled; his profanities echoed in the streets. From where I crouched, a huddled mess, I could see they only smirked at him. Without another word, he walked briskly over to me and looked at my wrist. It was bloody, painful, and already beginning to swell.

“I’ll take you to the hospital. It’s not far from here.”

“No, just take me home.”

              That was what he did, for some reason respecting my wishes. Once we went back to Fitzray’s house, I sat on the bed in silence. Antiseptic and a few different splints surrounded me.

“I don’t have the skills of a healer, but Fitzray taught me a lot.”

              He took a needle and a spool of thread, setting it all in front of me. Carefully, he took the needle and held it above the candle’s flame.

“What are you doing?”

“You need a couple of stitches.”

“But…but the wound isn’t that deep Lucian.”

“It’s deeper than you think.”

              I squirmed in place while he put the thread through the needle and proceeded. He removed the ice from my wrist and I turned, feeling the bite from the needle.

“Why did you do that?”

“Do what?” I peered at his working hands and turned again.

“Why did you want to ride that horse?”

“I thought…I thought the horse was tame enough that I could ride it like a horse from Earth.”

              He said nothing, but I could see his jaw tighten and he kept his eyes to my wrist. He took a breath and finally spoke.

“If you had gotten any more hurt…what if that animal landed on you and crushed your skull? What would I have done? You are lucky you didn’t break anything. You are lucky your wrist isn’t broken,” he snapped, suddenly infuriated.

              Once I looked at him, he placed the thread on the nightstand. He was glowing crimson in the heat of the candlelight. Harshly, he wrapped a splint around my wrist tightly.

“I’m sorry.”

              He did not look up from his work. He sat in silence until he was finished and then sat thoughtfully beside me. He rolled his eyes over to me to study my expression while I pressed my lips together to prevent myself from smiling. His serious face softened for a brief millisecond. He could not see that I was biting my tongue, suppressing a laugh, but I was sure he saw it was obvious because he turned away immediately. His jaw tightened again as though he remembered he was still angry with me, or figured that he was supposed to be.

“They didn’t give us the horses. They said if we rode them they would give them to us.” I said hesitantly, breaking the silence.

“They used us, well
you
.”

“What do you mean? There wasn’t any money involved or anything.”

“We were simply a form of entertainment.”

              He said something under his breath, something I did not hear. He then laughed at his own remark and turned to see if I had heard what he said. When he saw my blank look, he turned away, his smile fading. He looked straight through me, not even at my face.

“What are you thinking about?”

              It took him a moment to come out of his daze and comprehend what I had asked and then turned his face from me instantly, embarrassed.

“Nothing, nothing at all,” he said and glanced up to see if I was convinced.

              I knew what he must have been thinking. He probably thought I was crazy, not just in general, but considering how sick I had been feeling earlier that morning. That was the whole reason he wanted to go into the City so early in the first place.

“You are mad aren’t you? You wanted me to stay home and you didn’t want to wake me. You just needed to get the medicine and come home before I suspected you left at all. And now you wish you didn’t take me with you.”

              He nodded his head and smiled hopefully. “At least you look better. Do you feel any better?”

“No, I feel the same.”

“Do you want me to go?” He was on his feet, knowing what my answer would be. I did not even have to nod my head or make the slightest motion for him to leave.

              I never felt so sick since I had the flu years ago. I was a mortal then. The nauseating pain was hard to overcome. It was hard to sleep at night. It was impossible to eat even when my stomach signaled a want for food just for a moment because I knew I would regret to have eaten. I could only take the pain if I rested on my side and closed my eyes, even when I knew I would not fall asleep. I knew I was sick when I could not sleep and was up staring at the ceiling in discomfort. I opened my eyes to look into the light of the candle, wishing to feel hypnotized by its movement so I could just sleep and not feel the harsh symptoms. Waiting patiently for Lucian to come back was a daunting task since I counted each dreaded minute that passed. When he finally returned, I forced myself to sit up.

              He handed me a glass of water, as I expected, and poured some green colored powder into the glass. The water looked repulsive, so much that I did not see how it could make
anyone
feel better.

“It should help with your symptoms, but that’s all I can do for you.”

              I drank it down slowly waiting for my stomach to reject it, but it settled instead. “I can’t believe I felt so good before, but now I just feel so sick.”

“It’s getting worse, isn’t it?”

“I can’t be sure. All I know is it’s not getting any better.”

              He stared at me with astonishment but I did not know why. He was deep in thought. Perhaps he knew something I did not know or maybe he was suspecting something. It might have been that he was recalling some virus and thought it contagious.  He held one of his hands in the form of a fist and started to shake his head.

              What could he possibly be thinking? Did I see fear in his eyes or was it just the light of the candle? I could not tell.

“If you still feel bad tomorrow I will take you to the healers.” He seemed to be insisting and I did not want to argue with that.

“Whatever you want Lucian.”

              He seemed vexed at the tone of my voice. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know what’s wrong.”

“No, I don’t. I am not a doctor.”

“The healers will know what is wrong.” His voice settled again.

              I turned away from him, waiting for him to say something else or for him to leave.

“I will be downstairs if you need me.”

              I was startled at how close he had been to me to whisper into my ear. I was startled even more when I heard him chuckle as he left. It was a nervous chuckle, I could tell. Something was scaring him. I did not blame him.

              For some reason I just knew I would not be feeling any better by morning. I would be going to the healers. Lucian suspected something was wrong and I was not telling him something. Little did he know, I had something that could not be cured by medicine or diagnosed by the healers. And if they failed to tell him, I would have to tell him myself.  I would have to tell him or he would find out on his own.

“Lucian!”

              His figure filled the doorway in an instant. His speed was impeccable for a half-mortal. He came over to sit beside me, almost with hesitation. I caught a glimpse of his tired face and held my breath, unable to say another word.

“What’s the matter Chenille?” After nearly a minute of silence, I could tell he was losing patience.

              Opening my mouth to speak, I failed to utter out a few simple words and took in a breath instead. He had to repeat his question again before I could find my voice. I swallowed hard, taking in another breath of discontent.

              My eyes filled with tears and I struggled to hold them back, trying desperately to refrain from adding fuel to the fire. At the sight of my fear, his eyes became wide and suddenly frightened too. His hands flew to mine and he froze. He held his breath, and though he remained painfully still, I saw him nearly shaking out of his skin. Whatever nightmarish, unimaginable thoughts he conjured up before he probably assumed true now.

“It’s just…my family,” I blurted. “I never had a chance to go over the Bridge and see my family. I miss them.”

              Lucian’s body relaxed instantly, although he eyed me with uncertainty, as if certain I was not telling him everything.

“You’re just homesick,” he said softly. “All right then, I will have it arranged so you can see your family,” he replied stiffly, his eyes locking onto my own deceit-filled eyes.

* * * * *