The 7th Relic, page 15
I’m going to die.
The old mage that looks like some crazed militant MMA fighter said so. I’m going to die. No, he said that between Andrew and me, one of us will die. Crap, how is that any better?
I hold onto Reiko’s hand, but I know it’s not me he’s thinking of. It’s her, Seelah. I can’t help but wonder again who she is and how she was able to win Reiko’s heart, and Andrew’s. I look at his strong hand wrapped around mine and I can’t help but feel he would forget about her if he would only look at me. He lets go of my hand when Alorn pulls out some kind of diagram from within his coat. Forgotten, I stand and watch as Reiko leans in closer to get a better look at the elf’s plans.
I feel Andrew behind me. He places his hand on my shoulder, letting me know he’s there. He leans down, his lips close to my ear. “You okay?”
I nod, and it’s then I realize what I have to do. This could be my last chance before we reach Kalorii tomorrow. I turn and grab Andrew’s arm, leading him back to the living room. I walk us to the farthest part of room, behind the chaise, and pull him in close.
He looks down at me, concern in his eyes. “Hey, it’s okay. Come here.” He pulls me in and holds me. I lift my head, trying to breathe within his tight embrace. “It’s okay, I won’t let the others know if you need to cry,” he soothes. “This is a lot for anyone to handle.”
I push him back, keeping my voice down. “What the hell are you talking about?”
He stands back, confused. “What are you talking about? I thought you pulled me away because you needed to, you know, talk about the whole maybe-you-are-or-maybe-you’re-not-going-to-die situation.”
“Have you lost your mind while you were home for a year?” I glance behind me, but no one seems to notice we’ve stepped away. I turn back to him. “Okay.”
Again with the confused look. “Okay what?”
“Okay, about the ‘contract.’ You know, helping me with Reiko. I’ll pay the price, no matter how stupid I think it is.” He stares at me for a long moment until I smack him on the shoulder. “The contract?”
He seems to come to his senses, shaking his head in disbelief. He grabs me by the shoulders, giving me a good shake. “Woman, are you insane?”
I glare at him, so over his constant wishy-washy attitude when it comes to Reiko and me. “What is it with you? Make up your damn mind. Are you helping me or not?”
He drops his hands and steps back. A pissed-off look comes over his face, his lips tight. I don’t understand why he would be angry and I take a step up, eliminating the space between us, our bodies touching. “I know it’s crazy, even pathetic on my part, but I can’t help it. I can’t turn it off and I know if I don’t try now, it will never happen. He knew me as a kid and he still sees me as one. I want him to see me, to just look at me…as I am now.”
Andrew continues to stare at me until he finally drops his head back, a moan escaping from him. He takes a breath before looking down at me again, his shoulders relaxing as he sighs in resignation. “Fine.”
I throw my arms around him, hugging him tight. At first he doesn’t move, but then I feel his arms slip around my shoulders, holding me warmly. He’s too good to me.
“Um, you guys okay?” asks Reiko from behind me. I pull away from Andrew quickly, awkwardly standing next to him and nodding my head like an idiot. Then I notice a knowing smile on Reiko’s face…oh, no. I start to shake my head at his misunderstanding, but he says, “Good. Vilzen is ready to leave. We’re staying here tonight while he spends his time with Maggie.” He steps back, nodding as if he approves of what he just saw, before turning back to the others.
“Oh, God,” I moan. I feel Andrew shake next to me and I turn to find him smiling, trying to hold back his laughter, and failing miserably. I smack him on the shoulder again, causing him to laugh aloud as I walk back to the counter. I almost fall back when Andrew grabs hold of my arm, pulling me to him.
“So, we start tonight. But I want payment upfront.”
Before I realize what he’s doing, Andrew leans in and places his lips on mine…and I freeze. Completely incapable of moving in any direction: away from him, closer to him (if that’s even possible), to either side of him…I don’t know. I can feel myself wanting—no, needing—to lean into him, but before I allow it to happen I shove him off me…and immediately, strangely, regret it. What the hell?
He steps back, a look of disappointment on his face. “Hmm, this is going to take a while. The things I do for you.”
“What?” I ask, still a little stunned by the whole ordeal. I glance behind me quickly and moan inwardly when I see Reiko watching us with a grin from ear to ear. “Are you serious? In front of him?”
Andrew looks over my head at Reiko, lifting his chin at him with a “what’s up” nod. And he’s still laughing. “Relax,” he says. “You wanted him to see you as more than a childhood friend—well, what better way to show him?”
“Not like that.” I turn to go, but spin back, bumping into him. “And what did you mean, this is going to take a while?”
“Grace, if that’s all the passion you can muster with me, how do you expect to be passionate in your first kiss with him? You need to step up your game, girl. I can’t be doing all the work.”
I’m seriously considering taking out the blades. But I do hear him. “Fine, tonight. What are we going to do?”
He doesn’t answer. He kisses my forehead before I can push him back, and he takes my arm. “Come on,” he says. “You’re going to get to know the real Reiko.”
Alorn, Mellis and Haro had disappeared soon after Vilzen left. I don’t know if this tree is multileveled and they are on another floor or what. But they’re not here, which leaves me alone with Andrew and Reiko.
Before leaving, Vilzen showed me to a bedroom with an attached bathroom area, which can’t possibly exist in this tree, the same tree with the strange red flowers. I’m still in disbelief as I look around the room, loving the coziness of it and the warm, safe vibe. The bed I’m lying on is the softest I’ve ever felt, but then again the only bed I’ve ever slept on is the one back at the Ranch. As comfortable as this one is, I suddenly miss my old bed, and the emptiness once again creeps into my chest.
No. Shake it off, Gracie. You’ve got things to do.
Since the kiss, my mind has been on Andrew. Never in my life would I have thought to kiss him in the manner that he kissed me tonight. At that moment something happened; I’m not quite sure what but I can’t stop thinking about it—or him.
I feel him before he calls my name. “Grace?”
“Yes, Andrew.”
He sticks his head through the open archway and smiles when he sees me. For reasons I can’t explain, I’m nervous seeing him again. I ignore my uneasiness as he walks in. He makes his way to the bed. “Okay, you ready?”
I nod.
He sits on the bed next to me. “You sure?”
I nod again.
“Grace? If you’re not ready, we can try again tomorrow.”
I realize it’s the first time I’m not able to meet his gaze. Did he always smell this good? What is wrong with me? I shake off whatever this is I’m going through, smile and look him in the eye. “No, I’m good.”
“Good.”
He pulls back and tilts his head to the side. “Now what’s wrong?”
He wipes his lips with a finger, then licks them as if something is on them. Oh, God, I’ve been staring at his lips. Come on, girl, get it together.
“Um, there’s more food?” I ask, trying to get past this.
“Seriously? You’re still hungry? You ate like a ravenous hyena. You can’t possibly be hungry again.”
I stand. “Whatever. Come on, let’s do this.”
“Wait.” He gets up and steps close to me. I step back. “Look, you can’t go into this like it’s a mission. If this is what you want, then act like it. Otherwise, what’s the point?”
I nod, still trying to figure out what’s come over me. “Sorry. I guess I’m just a little nervous.”
He stares at me for a second, then nods. “Okay, he’s sitting out front going over the plans Alorn left us. Just go, be yourself and talk to him…about him.”
“Right. Talk to him about him.”
The room is only lit by the fireplace, the flames causing shadows to dance on the walls. Again I am amazed by the Elven magic: to have a fireplace going in Las Vegas even if it’s the end of summer. The temperature here is in the upper eighties as the month of September comes to an end. And yet, it feels as if I’m still at the Ranch, where the weather is already brisk.
“Hey,” says Reiko, startling me out of my thoughts of home.
“Hey, yourself.” I allow the familiarity of our friendship to take over my awkwardness. “What are you doing?”
Reiko is standing at the counter, leaning over the diagram; a bottled water in his hand and a tray of fruit to one side. “Just looking over this game plan Alorn laid out for us.”
“Hmm, Alorn,” I say, thinking of the Super-Adonis elf.
“Yeah, I know right? I can hold my own, and I’ve faced a few scary guys, but I think that guy would take me out easily.”
“Yeah, sure. I know your skills, remember?” Even though I believe what he says is true, I can’t seem to let him undermine himself like this.
“Grace, that guy is scary. As nice as he has been to us, I know he’s deadly. And with all your training, you should sense that about him, too. And don’t let his happy-go-lucky cousin fool you, either. If I want someone to have my back, no question it would be Andrew. But if I want an army to defeat a league of demons, it would be those two.”
“Now you’re exaggerating. A league of demons, with just the four of you?”
He gives me a curious look and for a second I feel like he’s seeing me in a new light, in a bad way. “You have no idea the extent of Andrew’s skills, his abilities and what he can do. You only see him as the boy you grew up with. And as for those two, from what I’ve learned from Haro, elves have a connection with everything that is earth and the energy around them. Did you know they can heal themselves?”
I shake my head, not sure what to say. This isn’t how I wanted this to go.
“Yeah, they can. Did you know Andrew can heal himself?”
This startles me a bit. “With the relics’ help, right?”
“No. Even without the relics. Yeah, Grace he can. And…”
Before he ticks off a list of Andrew’s qualities, I move quickly to sit next to him, startling him enough to shut him up about Andrew.
“You know,” I start, “it’s been over a year since we last saw each other and I thought maybe you could tell me what’s been going on with you. I mean we started to talk on the plane, but for some reason we never really got to it.” I look around at the empty room. “No one is here and Andrew is in the bedroom…”
A knowing grin appears on his face again. “And what is he doing in the bedroom? Shouldn’t you be there with him?”
I lean back, stunned. “What? Why?”
He looks at me, not understanding my reaction. I guess that’s good because I don’t understand why he would think I should be in the room with Andrew. Then I remember he witnessed the kiss from earlier. Crap.
“Okay,” he says, unsure. “Well, a lot has happened this past year, when Andrew was called home. His father died, as you know, and he became the ruler, but to win his own throne he had to enter the Rii Challenges, where every territory sends their next ruler to fight Andrew for the State seat which has been held by his family for eons. But I also had to take care of things in Molsna…” His eyes become distant, his voice determined and hard. “If my father was alive today things would be different back home.”
“I’ve never heard you speak of your father, or of…Molsna? I always thought when you said home, you were talking about the same home as Andrew; you know, Kalorii.”
“Yeah, well, Konè didn’t want you or Lana to know what was going in our realm. I think it was his way of protecting the two of you.”
“I’m finding there’s a lot of things Konè kept from us. I mean, come on—realms? Demons? Sure, he told us about the relics—but nothing to the extent of what I know about them now. Other than that, we had no clue.”
“And Andrew.”
I sit back, confused. “What do you mean?”
“Konè didn’t tell you who Andrew really is, who his father was and his responsibility to the people of Omakei. I’m sure you’ve notice the change in him.”
He’s right…Andrew has changed. I remember how heavy he felt when I had to drag him to the empty auto shop, how I stared down at him and couldn’t believe how much bigger he’d gotten. Not fat, just more muscle, more bulk to him. That’s why I didn’t recognize him at first, and with his head covered it was easy for me to think he was someone else. The physical change is only part of it. He seems more serious, burdened and at times, hard to read. Like with the kiss. I couldn’t tell if he felt the way I did. But then again, I don’t really know how I felt about it. It was…different. I wonder what he’s doing. Is he listening?
Listening.
Crap. He must be laughing his ass off hearing Reiko talk about everyone else but himself.
“…and the water is rising faster in the past twenty years or so, especially at the borders on the south side. There are people working on it now but I can see their despair.”
I push thoughts of Andrew aside and focus again on Reiko. “I’m sorry, but the water. Why is it rising? Are you saying your territory, Molsna, is sinking?”
“No, Grace. It’s not just Molsna, it’s every territory in Omakei, including Kalorii.”
I think about that for a moment, trying to understand. “What are you saying, that the entire realm is going underwater?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me? How can an entire realm be underwater? That’s crazy.”
“I wish it was a joke, but it’s not.”
“And when you say the south side, is that part of your territory or Kalorii?”
“Molsna. But like I said, there are people working on solutions.”
“And your dad, he was like, what, their supervisor? A lead engineer on finding the solutions you’re hoping for.”
He stares at me for a moment as if thinking about his next words. “Yeah, something like that. I have advis…uncles; I have uncles who are on it right now.” He moves away from the counter. “Do you want something to drink?” He places the empty bottled in a trash basket, opens the refrigerator. He grabs a new bottled water and holds it up at me and I nod. He grabs another and returns to the counter.
“Um, Reiko,” I say, taking the bottle from him. Now is the time to get back on track. “You were telling me about you? About what you were doing this past year?”
He cocks his head to the side. “Wasn’t I doing that?”
“Ah, yeah…” my eyes flits toward the other room, “…no, not really. You talked about Molsna and its needs, but not really about you.” I smile at him and he seems a little taken aback by that.
“Oh, okay. Um, I was able to train with Andrew’s assassins and…”
“What? Andrew’s assassins? Are you serious?” I laugh, finally giving up on the lost cause of getting him to talk about himself.
“You asked what I did in the past year. I’ve been in a different realm, protecting the new ruler. Haro and I have been covering his back through the Rii. There’s been a conspiracy against his father and now him.”
“Wait,” I say, backing away with my hands up to keep him from going further. “You keep saying Andrew’s a ruler. Is he like, what? King of Kalorii?”
“Ah, now you get it. Geez, girl, I’ve never known you to be so slow catching on. All these years growing up with him, didn’t you notice how everyone at the Ranch moved out of his way, showing him more respect than the instructors…how the instructors treated him? Where have you been?”
I stare at him blankly. He can’t be talking about my Andrew?
He takes my hand. “Haven’t you really looked at him? Really seen him?”
Uh…no.
~ * ~
Chapter Twenty-Three
~ Andrew ~
I decide to give them their privacy.
I plop down on the bed and stretch out with my hands locked behind my head. It’s better than skulking at the doorway which, of course, was just a passing thought. I stare at the ceiling of this wondrous tree and marvel at its swirls and knots, its circle of life exposed above me.
The look on Grace’s face when she returns is all I need to tell me things didn’t go her way, and despite her look a wide grin spreads across my face. She enters like the world has somehow cheated her at one of the archery games she has never lost, and I laugh softly at her misery.
“That bad, huh?”
She gives me a hard look as she climbs onto the bed to snuggle up against me. I put my arm around her shoulder, halfheartedly comforting her.
“I did what you said and tried to get him to talk about himself.” She tilts her head back to look at me. “You suck at this, you know that?”
I shrug, placing her head back on my chest. “Compared to you I’m an expert. Besides, it’ll go better next time. Stop bringing up the past.”
She pushes away, glaring at me. “You told me to get him to talk about himself, remember? I didn’t know what to say or ask him. All I know of him is what is in the past. And even then all he talked about was you, then the realm, then you again, then the realm again. But you know, he never brought up what’s-her-name. Don’t you think that’s odd?”
“Her name is Seelah.”
“I know what her name is, jerk.” She sighs resignedly, ignoring my laugh, and snuggles back in.
This time I lean back to look at her. “I’m sensing some hostility here.”
She slaps my chest lightly. “Shut up.”
After showering, Grace always lets her hair down to air-dry, and perhaps she left it that way for Reiko. I take a curly strand between my fingers and let the softness caress my skin. I’ve missed this. We’ve had quiet times like this when we were younger and it didn’t matter if the subject was always Reiko. She was mine for those special moments.
