Of Noble Chains (The Ventori Fables) (25 page)

“Neither did I,” Hayden admitted, referring to something else entirely.  “I’m a little jealous.”

“You better be,” Zia snorted, “that makes working with Aeryn so much better.”

“Yeah, I meant I’m jealous of Aeryn,” Hayden leaned against the willow tree, hands now in his pockets.  Shyly, he looked up at her, a half smile on his lips.  Zia swallowed, remembering what he had said to her.

He held his hand out to her, and she took it.  Hayden pulled her towards him, one hand snaking around her waist, his other leaving her hand and going into her hair as he pushed the goggles off of her.  She did the same, and ran her fingers through his hair as she pressed against him.  They breathed each other in, and Zia could feel her heart beating against her ribcage.  It was as if a million fireworks had gone off inside of her mind when their lips connected, like nothing she had ever felt before.

She leaned onto her toes, getting closer to Hayden.  When their lips parted she found she was thinking it was too soon.

“Better than Cal?” Hayden smiled, giving her another light kiss as he spun her around so her back was against the tree.

Zia smiled back.  “Way better.”

When Zia realized that it was well past the usually time her mother got home, she figured it was time to leave.  Hayden gave her a ride back to her house, and she waved goodbye to him on the sidewalk, still a little giddy.  But as she turned to her house, reality set in.

Slowly, she moved to the front door, wondering how hard it was going to be to hide the fact that she had discovered Donataen’s killers.  The door opened, and suddenly her mother was hugging her, tighter than Zia could ever remember.

“Mom?” Zia asked.  “Are you okay?”

“Oh, I am,” she sobbed, “I’m perfect!”

Zia hugged her back, but Win quickly let go.  Her cheeks were flushed, and she had clearly been crying, and she said, “I’m not sick!”

“What?” Zia wasn’t sure she had heard her properly.

Win brought her daughter inside, and explained as best she could about what had happened.  Cash was there as well, while Iscah had gone home.  They told their daughter that her sickness had cleared up;
the
sickness that cursed the humans of New Havilan had been cured from her blood.  Zia looked shocked, but she quickly grabbed Win into a hug.

Zia insisted that they go out for dinner that night, and they did.  It was almost enough to take Win’s mind off of the truth, but she found whenever she looked at Zia something seemed off.  Her daughter was having difficulty making eye contact, and she seemed to be lost in thought at some moments.

But whatever was wrong could wait.

Iscah wasn’t picking up her phone, which normally would have worried Zia, but she chose to think it wasn’t anything.  She was probably still embarrassed about what had happened, and was hiding in her room.  If anything, she would come over in a couple of days; which was hopefully when Zia would have ranked up as a Ventori.

So she sat in her room, still excited over the fact that her mother had been cured, and over what had happened with Hayden.  Things were turning around until Mal appeared in her room, dust falling to the carpet.

Zia jumped up from her bed and raised her hand to hit Mal again but stopped when he flinched.  His eyes had been shut tight, and he opened one to peek at her under his bangs.  He said, “I apologize for following you again, but I thought you might want to know what I have discovered.”

“Discovered?” Zia questioned, hoping it didn’t have to do with her hitting Delmont.  What if Aeryn couldn’t get an order?

“It is about the Realm Walker that has been following you,” he said, coming forward a step, “she is not who she claims to be.”

“You know about her?” Zia whispered, wondering how close her parents may be to her room.  But there was silence in the house, a comfortable silence.  “Why didn’t you say anything.”  She smacked him on the arm and he held the spot, not moving.

“I saw in the car,” Mal went on, “you should know that she is Achaicious’ sister, that he had banished many years ago in their homeland.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” Mal pulled his lips towards his teeth, “I just thought you should know.  Goodnight, I will not bother you again here.”

He put up his shield, and watched as Zia cursed his name.  She waved her arms around in the air, trying to find him as if that would work.  He smiled, until remembering her under the willow tree with that other Ventori.  His hands turned to fists at his sides, and he left her on her own.

He decided not to say what he knew of her mother, that he could see the mark of the companions on her skin. Outside, he looked over his shoulder at her house, and knew that he had accomplished his goal of convincing her that not all Specters were bad; which meant he could leave now, especially with Aeryn around.

But the thought of not seeing her again made him sad, and angry.  Why was that?

Zia dreamed of everything that night; she dreamed of catching Achaicious, and Delmont.  She dreamed of her brother, her mom, and even Iscah; but in her dreams Iscah wasn’t herself…she looked the same but Zia could sense she was different.  She also dreamed of Hayden, but every time she saw him, Mal would interrupt.  Zia tossed and turned in her bed, until she heard birds chirping outside her window, and decided it was time to get up.  Today was the day she would bring Achaicious into Ventori Ark.

But before that, she ran down into the kitchen, feet stomping on the stairs.  She called out, “Mom?”

“I’m right here,” Win said back, turning the page of the North Quarter Gazette in her hands, “good morning.”

“Morning!” Zia dashed over and gave her mother a hug, still unable to believe she was okay.  It was a miracle, and that was it.  But Zia couldn’t help but wonder what this strange feeling was in the back of her mind when she was near her mom; it had never been there before.  She brushed it off as nothing, only her own insecurities.  Zia put on the coffee maker and noticed her father’s briefcase wasn’t where it normally was.  She asked, “Did dad leave already?”

“Yes,” Win nodded, a small smile still on her lips, “he had to get into work early, something about some missing cold case files he had to find.”

“Cold case files?” Zia froze, and thought of Donataen.  Did Win or Cash know that those missing files could be Donataen’s case?  That someone was looking into how he had died?  Trying to appear calm, she sat down at the table.

“Apparently some files went missing last night,” Win turned another page and took a sip of tea, “they think it was just an interns mistake.  Oh dear, it wasn’t you was it?”

“No, why would it be me?” Zia questioned until she remembered that she had told them she had a job working at the Ark, in records.  But she breathed a sigh of relief that it had nothing to do with Donataen…or did it?  “Do you know what files went missing?”

“I think your father went to figure that out,” Win said, and Zia left it alone.  If Aeryn didn’t contact her soon, she would go find out herself, anyway.  Waiting around the house would be too agonizing, even with her mother there.

While Zia waited for her coffee, she started to think about her dreams, or more specifically, Mal.  “Hey, mom, can I ask you something about Donataen?”

That caught Win’s full attention, and she set the newspaper flat against the table.  She said, “Of course.”

“I was just wondering…” Zia paused, “did he ever tell you he was dating someone?  I mean, I don’t remember him ever dating, and I know that’s not something you tell your little sister, but we spent a lot of time together.”

Win laughed, light and healthy.  It made Zia smile.  “Donataen was a lot like you, actually.  He dated plenty of girls.”

“Hey, I don’t date ‘plenty’ of guys,” Zia argued, but she knew the truth.

“Oh calm down, you’re young, it’s allowed,” Win swatted at her daughters hand lightly, “but Donataen spent a lot of time with you, showing you…Tracking, and he preferred it that way.”

“There was never one he was serious about though?”

Win thought a moment.  “Not that I can recall, but he was out of the house a lot; he was in his twenties, he didn’t talk to his mother much about dating either.”

“He liked Specters, didn’t he,” Zia said, more to herself than anyone.  Her eyelids fell towards the table, and she clutched her hands between each other.  “He didn’t think they’re bad, at all.”

“Not all of them,” Win put her hands over Zia’s.  “He understood that some were good, and some were evil.  That’s just how life is.  Why are you asking all of a sudden?”

Zia thought of how Mal had been helping her, and even though she didn’t like his methods, he had been useful.  Not only that, he had gone out of his way more than once to protect her.

“I was just thinking,” Zia confessed, “I always thought they were bad.  They’re made of darkness, how can they be good?  We’re light, and their darkness, so…but then I keep meeting them, and one of them isn’t so bad.  He’s actually really good, and I don’t get it!”

“Zia,” Win pulled her hands closer to herself, “in your life you’re going to meet a lot of people; humans, clan members, and Specters.  You’ll meet the good, the bad, and at times it will be hard to tell the difference, but I know you, you’ll get through it.”

“I’m sorry for being so stupid,” Zia pulled her lips towards her teeth, “for being so…mean.”

Win just smiled, and released her daughter’s hands.  “I knew you would overcome this.”

But Zia knew that in the near future there was a lot more she would have to overcome.  There was a comfortable quiet between them as Win went back to reading the newspaper, and Zia just took in the moment.  There would be so many more like this.

But as her eyes drifted down to the paper, she noticed something.  She asked, “The Accords are being signed today?  I thought that was next week.”

“Hmm?” Win turned the paper over to see the article Zia was referring to.  “Oh, yes, they changed it because of the protesters I think.  It’s only one part being signed, to allow Specters easier access across the borders.”

“What’s wrong with how they do it now?” Zia asked, but she knew how hard it was for a Specter to cross the border.  They had to go into severe questioning, and they were the only ones that had to do it.  Clan members were given access to everything, and humans just slid along by them.

“I think Iscah and her father were going to it,” Win checked the clock on the far wall, “maybe it would be good for you to go too, show your support?”

Zia was about to reject the idea, since she didn’t care to let Specters have easier access to the humans; since a lot of Specters fed off of humans after all.  But then she remembered just how many humans were against the Accords, and knew there might be trouble.  Trouble that Iscah was in the middle of.

“I think I will,” Zia agreed, and hurried off to get dressed.

City Ark was surrounded by people, most of them protesters; some were even protesting the protest!  A few of them seemed human, and Zia scanned the crowd for Iscah or her father.  Zia still carried the two daggers in her jacket, and she wondered if people were being checked for weapons before being allowed inside the Ark.  She could also see a few Ventori standing on the sidelines, but she couldn’t tell if they showed support or just came to watch.

“Here,” a man approached Zia and handed her a sign.  She took it without thinking, then saw it was for the protest, “we can’t let these things have rights!”

He walked off and joined the picket line in front of the Ark.  Zia turned the sign in her hand, feeling its heavy weight and thinking about how he had sounded.  He sounded cruel, was that how she sounded to others?  One last look at the sign, and reading its words, she tossed it to the ground without a care.  She vowed to not sound like that anymore.

A few steps towards the crowds, and she spotted Iscah’s strawberry-blonde hair a few feet away.  Pushing her way past, she made her way to the edge of the crowd and grabbed onto her friends arm.  Iscah almost shrieked, but stopped when she saw who was touching her.

“Hey,” Zia said, and they moved further away from the people, “where’s your dad?”

“Zia?” Iscah replied.  “Oh, he’s inside!  He was chosen to view the signing!  Isn’t that cool?”

“Yeah,” Zia shrugged.  Why would someone want Iscah’s father to view the signing?  He wasn’t anyone important.  “How come you guys are here, anyway?  There might be a riot.”

Iscah laughed nervously, “You know us, support everyone.”  She avoided eye contact, and shoved her hands into her pockets.

“Iscah, are you—“ Zia began but a scream cut her off.  The crowd roared, and suddenly everyone was pushing to get to the front.  Zia acted quickly, and started moving Iscah to the far reaches of the crowd but it was too late; they were swept into the riot.

The Light Guard and the Human Guard stepped in as the crowd rushed for the Ark.  How it had started, Zia didn’t know, but she knew it wasn’t going to end with many people standing.  An elbow hit her in the ribs, and holding onto Iscah’s arm she managed to get to the edge of it all.  She pushed her friend into a nearby alley, and pulled out the cobalt dagger.