dead."
"-you can't just give up and quit life. That's not how living works, sorry to piss on your pity party. When a cancer patient gets a diagnosis, they don't simply just stop living life. They fight, Essallie, fight like hell against every mutant cell in their body. From the moment I met you I knew you were a fighter, now I'm not so sure someone so weak and pitiful could have ever been a fighter."
"You," I jabbed a finger at his face, vivid. "You know nothing about me. You don't know the level of pain and misery I have had to endure my entire life! You weren't there the nights my Mother would chase me throughout the house, trying to kill me because she knew I was a poison that had infiltrated her home." Fire sparked, engulfing my knuckles in a bright display of blue hues. "You weren't there the day I watched my first love try to sell me to a demon for eternal youth. You weren't there, slipping and sliding in the puddles of blood, finding my my two lifelong guardians gutted like wild game for dinner. So take your assumptions of me not being able to fight and shove it right up your ass!"
I waited for him to jump back at me, to rebut my snarky defense and belittle me further. Instead, he gave a small and soft clap, his eyes a smoldering aquamarine. "Now that," he said. "Is the Essallie I met. About time, too. I was beginning to lose hope."
My jaw dropped. I had walked right into his trap and bit the bait; he had been antagonizing me, waiting for the fury to ignite from within. As much as I wanted to be infuriated with him, I had to give him a hand in his undermining behavior.
Extinguishing the flames from my hands, I crossed them over my chest, feet still firmly planted on the floor. "This changes nothing. I'm still going home to my brother."
"Do you think he's in immediate danger?"
"Yes."
"And do you think he'd be okay with you coming home to protect him, if he knew you would be sacrificing your life in the process?"
I hesitated. "Yes."
"Essallie."
"Okay, okay," I bitterly replied, narrowing my eyes. "No, he wouldn't."
"Good," he nodded. "We're clear of one lie, now let's clear the other. Is he in immediate danger?"
I started to say yes again, only to stop. In our last phone conversation, I had instructed him to go straight to Abigail and to stay near her. No explanation why, just to do it. And deep down I knew, even though he was a stubborn boy, he would have listened and gone to her. Abigail would have instantly understood why, and probably would have told Kayden too. Despite Abigail's lack of sensibility, I knew she'd have Jayson's best interest at heart and protect him until I would return.
Sighing, I said, "No."
A triumphant smile spread over Ari's lips. "Excellent. Then I'm sure he won't mind you gone for a few days while we find out about your Watcher." He rose off the bed, coming to stand directly in front of me, both hands gently placed on my shoulders. "And if this person really was yours, then we'll figure things out from there."
Against the burning urge to sneer at him, I gave a small smile and relaxed the tension in my shoulders. A glimmer of hope, like a diamond among the rough, seemed to peek out from under the surface of my daunting nightmare for a life. Maybe there was a chance that, against all odds, something good could come from my odd and undesired existence.
And if not, I could always watch them all burn.
CHAPTER SIX
BEAT IN YOUR HEART
"This looks absolutely ridiculous."
I was standing in the middle of the sunken living room, arms crossed in resistance over my chest. Long, spinning twists of navy fabric covered every inch of my body in an elegant high-collared robe. It instantly reminded me of something a witch or sorceress would wear while hovering over a book of incantations, weaving a spell of eternal love between herself and a ravishing stable boy.
Serena glared at me under her beautiful black lashes. She had been crouched low, doing her best to hem the
"-you can't just give up and quit life. That's not how living works, sorry to piss on your pity party. When a cancer patient gets a diagnosis, they don't simply just stop living life. They fight, Essallie, fight like hell against every mutant cell in their body. From the moment I met you I knew you were a fighter, now I'm not so sure someone so weak and pitiful could have ever been a fighter."
"You," I jabbed a finger at his face, vivid. "You know nothing about me. You don't know the level of pain and misery I have had to endure my entire life! You weren't there the nights my Mother would chase me throughout the house, trying to kill me because she knew I was a poison that had infiltrated her home." Fire sparked, engulfing my knuckles in a bright display of blue hues. "You weren't there the day I watched my first love try to sell me to a demon for eternal youth. You weren't there, slipping and sliding in the puddles of blood, finding my my two lifelong guardians gutted like wild game for dinner. So take your assumptions of me not being able to fight and shove it right up your ass!"
I waited for him to jump back at me, to rebut my snarky defense and belittle me further. Instead, he gave a small and soft clap, his eyes a smoldering aquamarine. "Now that," he said. "Is the Essallie I met. About time, too. I was beginning to lose hope."
My jaw dropped. I had walked right into his trap and bit the bait; he had been antagonizing me, waiting for the fury to ignite from within. As much as I wanted to be infuriated with him, I had to give him a hand in his undermining behavior.
Extinguishing the flames from my hands, I crossed them over my chest, feet still firmly planted on the floor. "This changes nothing. I'm still going home to my brother."
"Do you think he's in immediate danger?"
"Yes."
"And do you think he'd be okay with you coming home to protect him, if he knew you would be sacrificing your life in the process?"
I hesitated. "Yes."
"Essallie."
"Okay, okay," I bitterly replied, narrowing my eyes. "No, he wouldn't."
"Good," he nodded. "We're clear of one lie, now let's clear the other. Is he in immediate danger?"
I started to say yes again, only to stop. In our last phone conversation, I had instructed him to go straight to Abigail and to stay near her. No explanation why, just to do it. And deep down I knew, even though he was a stubborn boy, he would have listened and gone to her. Abigail would have instantly understood why, and probably would have told Kayden too. Despite Abigail's lack of sensibility, I knew she'd have Jayson's best interest at heart and protect him until I would return.
Sighing, I said, "No."
A triumphant smile spread over Ari's lips. "Excellent. Then I'm sure he won't mind you gone for a few days while we find out about your Watcher." He rose off the bed, coming to stand directly in front of me, both hands gently placed on my shoulders. "And if this person really was yours, then we'll figure things out from there."
Against the burning urge to sneer at him, I gave a small smile and relaxed the tension in my shoulders. A glimmer of hope, like a diamond among the rough, seemed to peek out from under the surface of my daunting nightmare for a life. Maybe there was a chance that, against all odds, something good could come from my odd and undesired existence.
And if not, I could always watch them all burn.
CHAPTER SIX
BEAT IN YOUR HEART
"This looks absolutely ridiculous."
I was standing in the middle of the sunken living room, arms crossed in resistance over my chest. Long, spinning twists of navy fabric covered every inch of my body in an elegant high-collared robe. It instantly reminded me of something a witch or sorceress would wear while hovering over a book of incantations, weaving a spell of eternal love between herself and a ravishing stable boy.
Serena glared at me under her beautiful black lashes. She had been crouched low, doing her best to hem the
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