The Ballad of Aramei

  I turn away from her and look to my left where I assume Harry is standing judging by that odd sensation I feel on that side.

  “And the way Trajan planned to use me was that he told me to go back to Viktor and try to get more information about this girl. He wanted me to go back to the cabin and tell him, but I never went. I know he would’ve killed me after I gave him the information.” Alex drops her head; her chin lies near the top of her chest.

  After a tense minute, she raises her head to see me again and she just looks across at me like the human sister I grew up with. Those eyes, they look exactly the way they did the night I sat with her under the giant oak tree in Georgia when she was explaining to me why she was going to move out of our house and in with Liz and Brandon. She wanted me to understand that she was only doing it because it had to be done, but she didn’t want to see me get hurt by her leaving. I try to look away from her eyes because I’m afraid I’m going to cave and let her manipulate me with lies. But I can’t look away. I can’t because I know in my heart that this time she really is telling the truth.

  “I know I messed up,” she says, her voice trembling again, “I don’t know what was wrong with me. I blame it on the bloodline, because a part of me felt like it wasn’t really me saying those things to you, but the bloodline. It was like my body was possessed by something evil and I couldn’t control it.”

  Tears are choking the back of my throat and my eyes are starting to burn. But I don’t say anything. Not yet. I couldn’t get any words out even if I tried.

  Alex reaches her hands out to me, pleadingly; her dirty, bloody face contorted by anguish. “You have to believe me, Dria…I had no control over my own mind! It wasn’t until after a few full moons, after I started to adapt, that I started to feel my human emotions again.” Tears streak their way through the dirt on her face, leaving discolored lines down her cheeks. “Finally, I came to my senses and left the Vargas pack in Massachusetts and ran back here.”

  She drops her voice and stares out ahead of her. “I’ve been in Hallowell since April. I’ve been sleeping in the barn at Uncle Carl’s house.”

  Stunned by this information, my tears stop falling. Now I’m just in shock. Alex has been at the house for the past four months? Oh my God…And how could I not have known? Aunt Bev and Uncle Carl might’ve been in danger all this time and I never knew a thing.

  “Harry?” I say, “Please tell me you still think she’s telling the truth.”

  I hear Harry sigh and then he says, “Yeah, I still think she’s telling the truth…wouldn’t trust her just yet though, not until we know more about what’s going on—”

  “I know,” I interrupt him out loud.

  Alex looks up at me faintly curious.

  “You knew all along I was in the barn?”

  “No,” I say before I can think about it. “I was…just thinking out loud.”

  As much as I want to run over to her, I refrain and try to keep my composure.

  “Dria, look at me,” Alex says.

  Hesitantly I do, but I’m afraid of what she might say. I feel like at any moment my heart is going to break into a million pieces all over again. I stare into my sister’s face and wait for her. Her eyes soften and a small, warm smile of affection appears at her lips.

  “I’m really proud to be your sister,” she says. “You’ve turned out better than I could ever be.”

  I choke back more tears and straighten my back.

  “You know I can’t let you out of those chains,” I say, changing the subject before I break down in front of her. “At least not right now.” I let my face harden a little to show her that I still haven’t surrendered to her and that I won’t be easily fooled. “I do love you. I’ll always love you. But I don’t trust you and I don’t think I ever will again.”

  Alex nods gently. “Fair enough,” she says. “But I’m going to prove it to you. You’ll see. I don’t care what it takes, or what I have to do, but I want my sister back.”

  I gaze across the room at her, at how the swath of orange light from the light bulb above lays partially over one half of her body, the rest hidden in the dark shadows of the basement. The moonlight filters in through the wall opening where new rocks and steel beams have been set up in front of it to form a new reinforced frame. I glance one more time at the chains bonding her wrists, wondering if they are strong enough to hold her when the same kind of chains on the other side of the room weren’t even enough to hold me.

  But more than anything I wonder about Alex and the things she said to me. And I feel it in my heart…I know that my sister has finally come home.

  Chapter 17

  “SHE SPECIFICALLY SAID THAT this girl wanted to see you suffer?” Isaac says for the second time as if he hopes to have heard me wrong the first.

  He paces near the window in his bedroom, having just returned from Augusta and another triumphant challenge.

  “That’s what she said,” I answer, sitting on the edge of his dresser.

  Harry stands off to the side by the bedroom door.

  “But we already knew this,” I say. “Isaac, this isn’t new.”

  Isaac starts to pace heavier. His magnetic blue eyes are focused on anything that happens to be in his line of sight, but I doubt he actually sees any of it. He appears anxious; his hands are balled gently at his sides. Back and forth he walks, bringing up one arm across his stomach and resting the other elbow in his hand. Then he stops and shoots a look at Harry. “Do you think she could be the traitor?”

  I look to and from them both with my legs dangling over the side of the dresser, my hands propped against the wood finish. And I’m trying to hide my own anxiousness; all I really want to do right now is see Alex.

  “I don’t know,” Harry says. “She could be, but not any more or less than anyone else. She seemed sincere and truthful, but in the grand scheme of things, if she is the traitor, her ability to be believable is better than any of ours.” He arches a brow and grins, “Well, except maybe for mine.”

  Isaac looks quickly back at me, “And you say Zia actually said ‘Praverian’ to you?” He doesn’t let me answer, but lets out a deep breath and throws his hands in the air. “Great. We rule one out and just gain another,” he says perturbed. “Another possible suspect, not to mention another headache that we don’t need right now. Even if Alex isn’t the traitor, we can’t deal with her right now…,” he looks over at me, softening his words and his eyes. “Baby, I don’t mean to be an ass—it’s your sister and I get that—but you have to agree with me on this. This is the worst possible time for her to be showing back up in your life.”

  I sigh and look down. “I know,” I say dejected, and then I meet his eyes again. “You’re right. But Isaac, we can’t send her away, either. So what are we going to do?”

  His index finger points up in the air. “Bondage,” he says and I look at him blankly.

  “Follow me,” he adds and walks right out the door.

  ~~~

  An hour later, Nathan comes back to the house with two sets of custom-made iron shackles, apparently infused with real silver. They used them on Rachel when she first joined their pack.

  “I don’t want to know why Xavier had these,” Nathan says, handing a black duffle bag to Isaac with the shackles hidden inside. “I almost asked him, but…,” he holds up his hand as if to make an announcement, but then his expression changes and he sort of grits his teeth and shudders. “…I dunno, bro, you might want to wash those before you touch them.”

  Nathan, Harry and I follow Isaac down into the basement where Alex still sits against the wall in a pool of filth.

  Zia, Sebastian, Camilla and Daisy have been guarding over her on my orders, for both our safety and Alex’s.

  “She won’t talk to us,” Zia says.

  “I told her not to,” I say.

  Isaac goes straight over to Alex, bypassing our conversations, and falls into a squatting position in front of her.

  Zia is looking at me,
offended more than ever now.

  “Zia, I’m sorry, but right now we need to talk to her and figure out some things—”

  “Whatever,” Zia says, affronted, “I get it. I understand that I have no rank in this family, but I thought that by now I would’ve at least earned everyone’s trust.”

  I’ve never seen Zia like this before. Never. She is truly hurt and it rips me apart, but I can’t fix it as much as I want to.

  “Zia—”

  She puts up her hand and walks past me. “I’ll be in my room,” she says and rounds the corner; Sebastian looks across at me as if to say he’s sorry, and then he leaves with her.

  “Damnit,” I say, dropping my hands hard at my sides.

  “Don’t worry about her right now,” Daisy says stepping up and touching my hand softly. She brushes a tendril of my hair between her fingers. “I’ll go talk to Zia.” She pauses, looks over at Alex and then she smiles warmly back at me. “I’m really glad that your sister is here, Adria.”

  “So am I,” Camilla says. “Her aura reads in funny colors to me, but I believe she really loves you.”

  Not even Harry’s so-so assurances could make me feel as good as Camilla did just now. Somehow, coming from her, someone who embodies peace and the ability to read other’s energies, she seems more convincing.

  Daisy and Camilla leave together and as I watch them ascend the steps, I hope that Daisy can fix this stuff between me and Zia.

  “I’m going to put these shackles on your wrists and ankles,” Isaac says holding the shackles in his hands. “The silver in them will make you weak, maybe sick after a while, but it’s necessary—unless you would rather stay down here.” He’s speaking to her in a calm, comforting voice. Maybe it’s more for me than for her, but either way, I’m relieved.

  Alex sneers at Isaac and grits her teeth. I swear she might’ve been about to spit in his face. I move closer to them and crouch down beside Isaac.

  “It’s to be expected,” he says to me without looking away from Alex. “Rachel was the same way for a while.”

  “A while?” I say mockingly. “Yeah, I don’t think that ‘while’ has ended yet.”

  I turn to Alex. “I thought you said you’d do anything to prove yourself?”

  “For you, Dria,” she says and her dirty hair falls over her eyes. “But not for them. And I already see how far their hospitality goes.” She juts out her chin, letting the hair fall away to expose her bruised and bloodied face in the full light streaming from the bulb above.

  “To cooperate with them is cooperating with me,” I say. “Please, Alex…you can’t be like this—”

  “Defiance is and always will be her nature,” Isaac says, but then he puts his attention solely on Alex. “The one who beat you down here; she doesn’t represent our ‘hospitality’. Truth be told, you and Rachel are a lot alike.”

  Alex laughs and says with dark sarcasm, “We’re nothing alike. I wouldn’t need six girls to help catch her like she did me. I would catch her alone and I would beat the shit out of her alone.”

  To hear my sister talk this way is a shock to my system even after everything she’s already done. She had always been so loving and kind when she was human, except when she got angry and punched Jeff or our step-brother, Trent. Intolerance and violence I guess has always been inside of her and the Vargas bloodline has just brought it out in brazen, hostile ways. I shut my eyes and sigh softly just thinking about it. But she’s back and my heart tells me that she’d never hurt me. Not again. She may be a cruel, angry bitch the rest of her life, but as long as she stays devoted to me, I guess if I look at it in a positive light, this could actually be a good thing.

  I reach over and take one set of shackles from Isaac’s hands.

  “This will just be until we figure something out,” I say. “You’ll be able to hang around the house with me—I’ll take you first thing to the bathroom and help get you cleaned up.”

  Alex’s eyes soften and she nods.

  Isaac sets the second pair of shackles on the floor next to my feet and moves back to stand with Harry and Nathan who have been extra quiet this whole time.

  “But you have to promise me one thing,” I say.

  “Anything,” she says, but then smiles and adds, “Unless you want me to do any maid-type stuff. I’m no one’s maid, alright?”

  My face breaks into a smile. “Now that’s the Alex I remember.” And then I get serious, “Promise me you won’t leave again.”

  She smiles back at me and underneath all of the dirt and blood and fading bruises, that smile looks just like my sister’s smile. The one when we were both human and when we were inseparable.

  “I promise,” she says.

  Alex reaches out her hands toward me, wrists-up, and I look to Isaac for help with taking the old ones off, which are connected to the stone wall. Isaac holds out his hand to Nathan and Nathan puts the key in his palm.

  “And Alex,” I say just before Isaac goes to unlock the shackles, “this is Isaac. And I love him. And he treats me just how you always wanted a guy to treat me. So please…at least cooperate with him, if no one else.”

  Alex narrows her eyes up at him, but this time it’s more out of scrutiny than defiance.

  “And you’re the new Alpha now, I hear,” she says to him, looking him over. She appears more like my overprotective big sister than an inferior werewolf staring up at the Alpha. “Well, I’ll warn you now….if you ever hurt my sister, I’ll make your life a living hell.”

  Nathan and Harry are whispering something behind me, but I don’t listen in.

  I swallow hard and glance over at Isaac to see a slim smile sneak up on his face.

  “I’ll definitely keep that in mind,” he says gently, obviously tolerating her for my sake, “and I won’t hurt her. I give you my word.”

  Alex ruffles her nose. “We’ll see.”

  I suppress my laughter, but can’t completely suppress my smile. I can already see that they’re going to butt heads, but something tells me that—if all goes well and she really isn’t here with heartless intentions—she and Isaac will more or less share an understanding.

  Once Alex gives in, Isaac leans over to unlock the shackles around her wrists and I move in afterwards and put the new ones on, clamping the clasp down and locking the iron-silver pin in place. Alex unfolds her legs out from underneath her and we do the same with the shackles around her ankles.

  “I’ll make sure everyone in the house knows to keep to themselves,” Nathan nominates himself and starts toward the steps. “Primarily Rachel—Damn, bro, we’re gonna have our hands full with these two.” He shakes his head, laughing gently.

  Alex, carefully rising to her feet, snarls at Nathan and says, “As long as she keeps her distance, there won’t be any problems.”

  “That’s what I’m worried about,” Nathan says smiling. “Rachel conveniently forgets her boundaries sometimes.” I wonder if the thought of Alex and Rachel in a ‘girl fight’ is somehow turning Nathan on right now. Judging by that look in his eyes, it probably is.

  “Good,” Alex says with a sly grin, “I can’t wait.”

  I have to admit, I’m grinning inside because Rachel deserves every bit she dishes out. But this is Alex and right now I’m feeling like the little sister all over again and enjoying every bit of it.

  “Please just be good,” I say, encouraging peace instead of Rachel ‘getting hers’, which I really would rather see.

  But I quietly take a step back inside myself to remind me that I still don’t know if she can even be trusted. It wasn’t long at all and I had already fully committed to her without realizing. I can’t do this; let her manipulate me if that’s what she’s here for. I have to find that balance that’ll allow me to be kind to her and be a sister to her without handing over too much of my trust.

  I loop my hand around Alex’s elbow and walk with her toward the basement stairs. Nathan zips up them first so that he can go lay down the law in advance.

&n
bsp; Aside from the dirt-stained short cotton varsity shorts, I briefly notice that Alex is bare-footed and I reminisce about the beat up flip-flops she used to wear. I look over at her and smile stupidly.

  “What?” she says.

  “Nothing, I was just thinking.”

  “About what?” Her eyebrows crinkle.

  I shake my head, beaming. “You look terrible.”

  “Well, thanks,” Alex scoffs, reaches up with her knuckle and frogs me hard on the arm.

  “Ahhh!” I yell, trying to hold in my laughter.

  She smirks over at me.

  Harry finally speaks up, “I’m Harry,” he says stepping in front of Alex and it seems a little unnatural. His face breaks into a wide, dopey smile. “I’m the only human around here, so uh, can you please not eat me or anything like that because that would seriously ruin my day.”

  Alex’s eyes roll over to look at me beside her as if to ask me if he’s for real, then she looks back at him. “Okay….well, for the record, Harry, you’re probably the only one around here I’m going to like because you’re human.”

  Harry blushes and buries his hands deep inside his pockets and falls back behind us as we head up the stairs.

  “Are you coming?” I say, looking back at him.

  “I’ll be up in a minute,” he says. “Going to check out the new construction on this wall—hey, tell Daisy to come down.”

  “Alright!” I shout from the top of the stairs and Isaac opens the door, letting the light from the kitchen flood into the stairwell.

  As I walk with my sister through the kitchen and the den, it’s obvious that everyone knows about Alex because everyone is watching as we pass by them. Rachel and the girls who helped her catch Alex are lounging around on various pieces of furniture in the den with grins and sneers. But Alex keeps her cool; just a solid, expressionless glance and I know that all of the girls see the dangerous retaliation in her eyes. The only one that doesn’t stop grinning is, of course, Rachel.