The Agrista (Between the Lines Book 1) (14 page)

  “This
stranger
is none other than your youngest sister, Mariella.” Alex said acerbically.

  “Mariella?” Cerin’s eyes widened in surprise and recognition.

  “You got no right to ask questions until you answer some yourself,” Raeph snarled.

  “Besides, that
isn’t
the end of the story, is it, brother?” Fallon focused her large, honey eyes solely on Cerin, with the look of a cat stalking its prey.

  “I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, Cerin, but you need to tell us
exactly
what happened with Aruzhan,” Cayden said firmly.

  “Start from the beginning,” Alex instructed.

  Cerin melted into the nearest chair as he let out a deep sigh. He hadn’t stopped thinking of Aruzhan since they’d been separated. He felt like he’d been holding his breath since the moment her face disappeared. Like a thorn lodged in his side, her memory haunted him, never giving him a moment’s reprieve from the pain. He knew she would live so long as he did, and that’s what really scared him; the hell she could live through without the sweet release of death to look forward to.

  “I was out drinkin’ and hustlin’, same as every other night, when Marcel walked into the pub.”

  “Marcel? This better be the beginning of a bad joke.” Raeph didn’t know much of Marcel other than what Fallon had told him, but none of it was good.

  “Let him finish,” Fallon said through clenched teeth.

  “He’d come there looking for me, said he needed my help. He told me Cailene had threatened him with Arécia’s safety in exchange for his loyalty. When she didn’t follow through on her promise to leave Arécia unharmed, he had no reason to show her fealty. He said he needed my help to save her.”

  “I had no idea you were so selfless,” Cayden said dryly.

  “Why would you align yourself with that snake?” Alex hissed.

  “Believe me, he knew better. I’ve played enough Dolus with Cerin to know he’s not gullible,” Raeph turned to Cerin. “The stakes must’ve been pretty high for you to risk so much. Marcel offered you something you wanted
desperately
, didn’t he?”

  “Bastard offered me something I couldn’t resist,” Cerin hung his head and buried his face in his hands.

  “What did he offer you that was worth ignoring the counsel of your closest friend?” Cayden asked, his patience wearing thin.

  “My life back,” Cerin heaved an exasperated sigh. “There’s a chemist that works at the castle, Aemilius. Supposedly, his intelligence rivals even mine. I had my reservations about such a claim, but Marcel promised me full access to his theories if I conceded. I couldn’t resist. I just want to get back to myself!”

  “You risked my sister’s life so you could return to your petty existence?” Alex’s voice was forcibly calm, but his clipped words hinted at something hidden beneath the depths. “It’s your own fault you’re in this mess, and
she’s
the one paying the price! She’s in excruciating pain, trapped under Canticum Dormientum.” Cerin blanched at that. He’d ran a million terrible scenarios through his mind, but the truth was even worse than he’d imagined. “Was it worth it? Now you’re left with nothing!”

  “I
begged
her not to accompany me, but she followed me in secret!”

  “Of course she did. She’s your Umbra! We’re born from your blood. We exist
solely
to protect you! By having such little regard for your own life, you’ve shown little for hers,” Alex fought the urge to spit, though he was doing enough of that on his own by angrily enunciating each word. As far as he was concerned, Cerin didn’t deserve Aruzhan. Unfortunately, she had no choice in the matter. “The only person we can’t protect you from is yourselves, which seems to be a problem time and time again.” Marie eyed Alex speculatively, wondering if he was talking about her now.

  “What happened at the castle?” Cayden pressed.

  “The castle.” Cerin sighed in bitter reflection. “We were ambushed the second we crossed the threshold. They threw us in the dungeon without a formal audience. Once they had us contained, they ignored us. Cailene and Marcel were content to let us simply waste away. We nearly starved to death, but Aruzhan used the last of her strength to save me. I’ve always known she was amazing, but I had no idea she was capable of such powerful magic,” Cerin had a faraway look in his eyes as he listlessly spoke of his beloved Umbra.

  “How did she save you?” asked Alex. Each Umbra had their own unique abilities, and they weren’t always well-known among their kind.

  “I’m not exactly sure. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Before she sent me away, she enclosed a ring in my hand and whispered a melody,” Cerin nervously spun a black iron ring, encrusted with a single ruby teardrop, around his middle finger. “I’ll never forget the words, because they saved me twice. She sang:

‘Hidden in plain sight

My weary traveler

Whose wanderlust’s worn

When you see yourself

In the eyes of your enemy

Remember these words

And all shall be forgotten’

She has a beautiful voice, you know,” Cerin fondly recalled the lull of her gentle timbre. “I simply blinked, and I was on Anthros. With my life force waning, I reeked of death. My stench attracted the Anthro Pophagos like maggots to a rotting corpse,” Cerin shuddered at the memory.

  “Lovely image,” Marie grimaced.

  “Great Lucidus! How did you survive?” asked Cayden.

  “I honestly thought I was going to die. Had my death not meant Aruzhan’s, it would’ve seemed like karmic justice. At the last moment, I kept her glowing face in my mind and sang her parting words. Before I could grasp the meaning behind them, something happened, and I was neither here nor there. A simple spectator, basking in the cannibals’ confusion,” he smiled in remembrance. “It was as if I were a ghost trapped between worlds. The creatures couldn’t see me or smell me. Unfortunately, my curiosity got the better of me…”

  “It always does,” Raeph grunted.

  “I quickly discovered that they
could
feel me. I barely escaped.”

  “How did you manage to sustain yourself?” Marie finally asked. They’d traveled the entire southern region of Anthros, and the cannibals were the
only
sign of life she’d seen.

  “Haven’t you heard? I’m a genius.” Marie had heard a lot of things about Cerin over their journey, but that wasn’t one of them. “And I’m
always
prepared.” Cerin emptied his multiple pockets to reveal dozens of half-empty vials of mysterious fluids and powders.

  “Always prepared?” Fallon scoffed. “You weren’t prepared for what happened to Aruzhan.”

  “There’s some things you simply can’t prepare for,” Cerin’s words were barely a whisper. The reminder stung.

  “I don’t understand why the ring she gave you worked. That’s
magic.
It shouldn’t have worked,” Cayden stammered. “Even if Aruzhan’s magic was strong enough to nullify the shield on Anthros, we found you by activating a
much
weaker version of Mahömasén on the ship. It doesn’t make
any
sense.”

  “I don’t understand it myself. I understand science. I only dabble in magic enough to make good use of it. Its true meaning often eludes me. You’d really have to ask Aruz-” Cerin bit his tongue before saying her name again. The dark memories associated with the once glorious compilation of syllables quickly became taboo.

  “How did you get onto the ship, anyway?” Raeph asked, puzzled. Locator bracelets were set to a pair of predetermined coordinates, and Cerin didn’t have one.

  “My lovely sister, of course.” Fallon flared her nostrils at that. “I said my
lovely
sister, Fallon. Not you. Mariella,” his honeyed words paired with his saccharine smile were sickeningly sweet. “If she hadn’t forgotten to activate her locator bracelet and stayed behind, I don’t know what I would’ve done. I was able to latch onto her at the last second, which transported me back here.”

  “I prefer Marie to Mariella,” she gingerly held her side in remembrance as a shooting pain raced up her ribs, shortening her breaths.

  “Stand up,” Raeph suddenly commanded as he edged closer to her.

  Marie regarded Raeph with the utmost confusion as she slowly rose to her feet. He gently gathered her wrists in his large hand and guided her forward. Without warning or introduction, he began to hike up her shirt as he mindlessly played with the frayed edges. She instantly jerked away and shot him an incredulous look. Her cold eyes sent shivers up his spine, but the passion behind her harsh movements heated him up at the same time.

  Everyone slowly backed away as Raeph approached Marie again, positioning her like a scarecrow and carefully grasping the taut skin over her ribs. He glided his strong hands down her sides. His skillful fingers caressed her skin as softly as flower petals. The simple intimacy brought a rose to her cheeks as Raeph’s mouth hooked up into a knowing smile. Alex watched him like a hawk, poised to defend his nest.

  “I’m a medic on Milités,” Raeph finally explained with a laugh. “Not to be confused with a doctor. Still, I can fix people up in a pinch. Does this hurt?” He pressed two fingers down over the tender spot on her ribs.

  “Ow!” She inhaled sharply, slapping his hand away.

  “Guess so,” he said with a flash of dimples. “You broke one of her ribs, jackass,” Raeph said as he smacked Cerin upside the head. “Can you breathe okay?” Marie nodded uncertainly. “It’s probably just a hairline fracture, but we’ll keep an eye on it over the next few days. You know, you’d be trauma-free if you had just stayed on the ship with me,” he briskly pulled her shirt down and tersely turned away. That frustrating man just
had
to rub salt in the gaping wound.

  “If I
had
stayed on the ship – in fact, if I hadn’t
messed up
– we wouldn’t have found Cerin!”

  “Touché.” Marie was the only woman besides Fallon to stand up to Raeph. He found it utterly irresistible, but he couldn’t let
her
know that.

  “Should’ve left the little bastard there to fend for himself, same way he did Aruzhan,” Fallon grumbled.

  “Let’s settle this right now,” Cayden’s powerful voice cut through the sharp glances and silent challenges of merging temperaments. “Cerin made a horrible
error in judgment, and someone we love dearly is paying the price. You have every right to be furious with him. However, if Aruzhan could find it in her heart to forgive him, surely, we can
try to
do the same.” Fallon huffed and puffed. She wasn’t going to make this easy. “However you feel about him, we will respect Aruzhan’s sacrifice. No one will lay a hand on him.” The others went limp at Cayden’s unwavering tone, trailed by an uncomfortable silence.

 
Minutes passed before anyone said a word.

  “This is awkward.” Raeph’s words sliced through the silence and elevated the tension. Marie couldn’t help but smile at the irony and his lack of tact. “Where to next, Boss? The sooner we go our separate ways, the better.” Raeph’s chair creaked and moaned as he childishly spun in circles.

  “We need to find Laylia.” Cayden’s words piqued Marie’s interest. Chances were slim, but perhaps her next sibling would be normal.

  “Figures,” Raeph did all he could not to pout.

  “What’s so bad about Laylia?” Marie asked hesitantly, feeling rather afraid of the answer. If she simply wasn’t a sociopath, she’d already have an advantage over her other siblings.

  “He has no qualms with Laylia. He doesn’t want to see her Umbra, Bria,” Alex smirked.

  “No need to get so downtrodden, Raeph! You
love
voluptuous women!” Fallon merrily slapped Raeph on the back.

  “Bria’s a woman?” Marie’s brows knitted together in confusion.   “For some reason, I assumed a person’s Umbra was always the opposite gender.”

  “You’re perceptive. That’s often the case,” Alex’s tone lifted in approval.

  “Why is that?” Marie asked.

  “An Umbra is made from a person’s blood; the very essence of their being. We’re genetically modified to balance out the person we’re born to protect. Not only is our physicality predetermined, but our brain chemistry as well,” Cayden explained.

  “Look at Cerin and Aruzhan, for example. Aruzhan is selfless and thinks everything through, while Cerin is selfish, shallow, impetuous…” Alex elaborated.

  “We get it,” Cerin interjected dryly.

  “Marie doesn’t
know
Aruzhan,” Raeph said, dismissing Alex’s words with a wave of his hand. It seemed like there was constantly a silent war waging in the things they didn’t say. Their passive-aggressive behavior constantly hinted at a rivalry just below the surface. “To truly understand it, look at Fallon and Cayden,” he said with an impish grin.

  She’s psychotic and he’s sane,
Marie snorted. “Enough said,” she agreed with a laugh. “The concept is simple enough, but it still doesn’t explain why Bria’s a woman.”