Ethereal Underground (Ethereal Underground Trilogy) (11 page)

When she had taken Finlay’s advice and came to find the mortal, it hadn’t occurred to her what she would say. Should
she walk right up to him and demand that he tell her what kind of trick he pulled, or should she hide in the shadows and see if she could figure out what he was up to? Controversy had never been her strong point, never being one to confront others and leaving that up to Leon. But she had gotten herself into this and she was determined to show everyone that she was mature enough to handle her own problems.

Letting herself shimmer into reality, she followed a few steps behind the young man up the staircase. Her eyes were glued to the back of his head as she followed him, mind blank and focused solely on keeping him in her sites. Once they reached the top of the stairs, she reached out to tap him on the shoulder, but he turned on his heels as if he sensed her presence and stared at her. He stopped in his tracks, taking her in as she tried to catch her breath. She felt herself lose her senses for a moment, looking into his beautiful blue eyes as they tried to place her.

“It’s you,” he said simply, not giving her much information to go on.

“Annalise,” she replied, as if explaining everything, but unable to say anything else. This was a bad idea she decided. Being this close to him alive showed her he wasn’t just a boy, he was a man, strong and cunning, everything she was not. She couldn’t believe she was doing this. It was such a bad idea. She was out of her element and if the fallen were to attack, she would be….

“Annalise,” he repeated, her name rolling off his tongue made her blush slightly for an unknown reason, as he stood up a little straighter, composing himself, and making her feel even smaller than she already was, “you are more beautiful than I remember. I’m Ash, small time star in the galaxy. Welcome to my territory.”

Before she could reply, he had his hand at her waist, leading her the other way towards a series of tables. She followed him willingly, even though she was more conscious
that she was still clad in her pale pink polka dotted dress. It made her stand out among the other patrons, several species of women wearing completely different ensembles were looking at her oddly. Thankfully this was the only mortal she had ever shown herself to, so no one else knew what she was.

Ash paused at one of the tables, pulling out a chair and motioning to it. Annalise furrowed her eyebrows and looked back at him, confused, “You are the ruler here?” She was so very confused; she had been told he was a keeper. They were not rulers, they were enforcers.

He gave a little laugh and took her hand, not answering her question, leading her to the seat and forcing her to sit in it as he took a seat across from her. Ash cleared his throat before he spoke and nodded, “Quite the star actually; fight winner, jewel gatherer…you name it, I have it wrapped around my fingers.”

“Your fingers?” Annalise questioned, leaning closer to him to observe his fingers, “But I do not see anything there.”

“You’re not from around here are you?”

“Definitely not.”

Annalise was surprised when he reached over to play with the hem of her skirt, “This is a color you don’t see every day, where did you get this?”

“From the market where I am from,” she said, slapping his hand to make him stop.
Every time he touched her, it seemed as if her brain couldn’t function properly. She would forget her reasoning for coming here.

He frowned at her, obviously bothered by her smacking him, but she did not know why he insisted on touching her clothing. “What are you?” he demanded suddenly as he leaned over on his elbows.

It took her aback, his blatant questioning of her as if she had any reason to tell him anything. She had always been taught not to tell mortals anything about the seraphs, but this one had her questioning everything she had ever learned.  She leaned back in her seat, uncomfortable at the closeness of him. “I do not know exactly what you are meaning. I have come here to ask you the same thing. What is it that you have done to me?”

“Done to
you
? I’m the one who woke up from being stabbed with a sword with no sign of a wound and you straddling me,” he laughed, pulling a piece of parchment from his clothing and setting it on the table. “Which of course you are more than welcome to do again if you’d like another shot,” he said as he unrolled the paper and slid it across the table to her.

Not catching on to his innuendo, she took the parchment from him and saw the sketching of her face. She let out a shocked breath
, rolled it back up and held it to her chest, “You must never show this to anyone.”

“No worries darling, you answer my questions, and I will show you around. Like I said, this place is all mine, and you are just in luck that I am free tonight.”

Annalise eyed him curiously, not sure what to make of him. One minute he was kind and playful and the next he was upset and demanding. From what Finlay had told her, he was not at all as powerful as he was saying he was. “I will not tell you anything about myself,” she said clearly with a wave of her hands.

“Come on, whatever this is that’s happened between us is out of this world. You can’t just keep it to yourself,” he insisted, blue eyes boring into her.

She dropped her eyes to the table and away from the intensity of his gaze. He was making her uncomfortable. “There is no reason I should tell you anything. You are the one who has bewitched me.”

“Bewitched you?!” he exclaimed, a smile coming over his face, “Darling, you haven’t seen nothing yet.”

“I must go,” Annalise said and shook her head, “It was a bad idea to come here.” He wasn’t cooperating with her at all, not even answering her questions.

As she stood up to leave, he reached out to grab her wrist, “Wait.”

She looked down at him in shock and grimaced, “You are being difficult and I am not going to waste my time here.”

“Don’t be so worried,” he said. His voice grew serious and the smile faded from his face, “You can trust me. I’m not going to tell anyone anything. Do you think I want others to think I’m crazy?”

Annalise paused for a minute and considered her options. If she left now, none of her questions would be answered. She would have no reason as to why she would betray her people and save this mortal. If she stayed with him and gave him information on herself, it would help them both figure out what had happened. It was obvious to her that he was just as confused as she was. However, she would try to take control of the situation and keep him from trying to distract her with his silly comments and gestures.

Sitting back down, she looked him directly in the eye and whispered, “I am a seraph. I am sure you have heard of us.”

“I knew it,” he said, a smile taking over his face, “Whatever you’ve come back here for, just know I’m not interested.”

“I want to know why I saved your life when I was supposed to take it,” she said bluntly, shaking her head in confusion and irritated that he was being so nonchalant about the whole thing.

“You did what? What are you?”

“I told you, I am a seraph. A reaper to be exact.”

“So you are a soul saver?” he asked, laughing as he said it.

“Do not laugh at me. You should be thankful.” How could he not see that he was supposed to die, and that without her, he would be dead this very moment? He was
acting as if something serious had not happened just a couple of days before.

“Oh I am darling, happy to live another day and be able to show you around this place,” Ash said as he stood up from his chair abruptly and almost fell over.

Annalise teleported without thinking, finding herself behind him and grasping for him before he fell. Their eyes met and she jumped back from him, confused at why she was so quick to make sure he was okay. “I do not need you to show me around anywhere,” she said defensively, irritated with him for not staying on topic, “I just want you to answer my question.”

“I will tell you everything you need to know,” he insisted, taking her hand and leading her over to the bar. He sat down and she did the same, still keeping her eyes on him so he didn’t disappear. He leaned over the counter and demanded to see the owner of the bar and turned back to her, “I know the owner, she makes me special drinks and makes sure I have a spot at the bar.”

“Quite impressive,” Annalise said with a smile, even though she never again intended to drink that horrible substance that Finlay had tricked her into tasting. She hoped that mortal drinks tasted better. 

A small lady floated over to where they were and Annalise couldn’t help but reach out to Ash’s arm
to ground herself. She had never seen a race of mortal such as this lady before, and she wasn’t sure if she was welcome in her bar.

“Maize, I need the usual for myself and some simple Jadza fruit for my friend here,” Ash said, flashing a smile at the bar owner and then looking over at Annalise.

“No problem Ash, not too much going on tonight so whatever you are up to, don’t cause a scene. I don’t need any trouble here with such a small crowd,” the small woman said, moving over to make their drinks.

“Thank you,” Annalise said as she lowered her eyes down to the counter top and removed her hand from his arm.
It was a gesture she would have had with Leon, grabbing his arm for comfort, and even though this Ash was mortal, he gave off the same air that he would keep her safe. She wasn’t sure she liked that.

“It’s no problem, it’s a small favor for saving my soul back there,” he laughed, “I knew I wasn’t supposed to die that day.”

“But you were,” she interjected insistently, ignoring his boastful attitude, “I saw it. That is my job as a reaper. I take the souls and I place them in the Grand Hall.” She threw her hand over her mouth, aware that she was saying too much and turned her attention back to Maize who had brought their drinks over and sat them in front of them.

“It’s on the house,” she smiled, but then looked over at Annalise and gave a sigh. “Watch this one,” and with that she turned around to serve the other customers nearby.

Annalise reached for her drink, trusting in the young man to have ordered something good for her. She took a sip, pleased with the juicy taste that filled her mouth, similar to the fruits that were in her realm but different as well. “This is delicious, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Do you normally eat and drink things?”

“I do not require such things as that and sleep, only for recreation and also for replenishing my spirit when I have exhausted it,” she explained as she took another sip. It was delicious indeed. Just a hint of sour.

“That would make life easier, running on no sleep. That’s how I’ve been for two days now. I’ve not slept at all since you healed me.”

Annalise let out a small giggle despite herself, amused yet confused that he could stay up without sleeping. She had been sleeping for the past few days and it was as if they had traded places for that time.

He raised an eyebrow at her outburst, as though he was not completely sure what to think of her. Even she wasn’t
sure what to think of herself and her sudden outpouring of laughter. She tried to make her face serious as she spoke again, “It is not healthy for mortals to go without sleep. It-”

“I don’t know that I would drink too much of that if I were you
, sweetheart,” a voice rang out from behind her.  A large hand reached over her to the drink in front of her and took it away. She turned her head to see a familiar face, she couldn’t help but smile.

“I can take care of myself just fine, Finlay.”

“Is that right?” he asked, downing the drink and placing the now empty glass back on the counter as he eyed Ash disappointingly, “That’s a good amount of alcohol in there. I’m surprised she couldn’t taste it.”

“You said that you didn’t know who she was,” Ash exclaimed, standing up from his seat at the bar and earning a clearing of the throat from the bar owner.

Finlay put his hands up in front of him in defense but couldn’t hide the amused grin that crept over his face, “Relax friend, some things have to be kept quiet until the time is right. I couldn’t very well go around giving out a secret that isn’t mine, now could I?” He put an arm around Annalise’s shoulders and leaned in to her with a laugh.

“Why would you put that filth in my drink?” Annalise asked, confusion showing on her face and interrupting their conversation. She did not care that the two of them were friends, this was unacceptable to her.

“Because he wants to take advantage of you,” Finlay laughed.

“He what?” she asked with confusion, looking up at her frie
nd.

Ash interrupted with a quickly mumbled, “Nothing,” as if to dismiss the accusations and once again took hold of Annalise’s hand. He pulled her off of the bar stool and away from Finlay.

“Annalise,” Finlay said with a sigh and a shake of his head, “I should have prepared you in advance for this. I’m truly sorry, I have failed you.”

“What are you talking about?” Ash spat, not giving her the chance to answer.

“I believe I’m talking to our little blonde over there,” Finlay said with a laugh.

Annalise peered around Ash’s large form and looked at him. She was having a difficult time understanding the dynamics that were going on. She certainly did not need protecting from Finlay because he was her friend. If anything, she needed protecting from the mortal. She tried to pull her hand away from his to no avail. Ash looked back at her as if to ask her to stop and the two of them turned their eyes back to the blonde guardian seraph.