AMANI: Reveal (3 page)

so
selfish as to wish your own death, just remember that you’ll have accomplished the exact opposite of what you believe. You won’t be saving us from you; you’ll end up hurting everyone around you… and especially
me
.”
              I couldn’t stay there with him staring at me. I had to get out. And I did. Next thing I knew, my legs were automatically walking me to the second floor, tears flowing down my face like a deadly cascade. I crossed paths with Protectors who greeted me but I didn’t stop. I didn’t stop walking until my feet felt the familiar carpet surrounding my bed. And then, all I could think of was to remove my shoes, hide under the covers, and cry for my lost friend.

Amya Priam

I completely forgot to ask Dr. Goldbridge to come, but when my sister and Samera arrived in the room, I was weeping so hard that it convinced the former of my illness.
              “Oh my God, A!” Delilah exclaimed as soon as she saw me. “I never thought it was that bad! I’m so sorry to bother you. Are you all right? Can I do anything for you?”
              In an attempt to calm myself, I dried my eyes and gathered my thoughts together. Now wasn’t the time to feel sorry for myself or for Xander. I needed my sister gone before Gareth’s trial and, according to the clock beside my bed, it was already four-thirty.
             
Four-thirty?
             
“Weren’t you suppose to meet Sam around two?” I asked Delilah. Had I fallen asleep? Or had I been crying this whole time?
             
And why did my sister bring her backpack?
              “I did,” Delilah said with an expression of annoyance. “Well, I met Samera in the park around three, maybe, but then she kept showing me around the area, as if I’ve never been to the park before.” She peeked behind her at my best friend and faked a smile. “Anyway.” She turned back to face me. “Mom is worried. Again. We’re all wondering why you’re not at the hospital, since you’re that sick.”
              “Like my mother told all of you,” Samera said, “Amya cannot get out of her bed and we have a doctor here who specializes in weird illnesses. He is perfectly capable of healing her.”
              Delilah snorted. “I can see that,” she replied sarcastically. “Well, if you’re not well, and since Mom just announced I have to go back to school next semester, I decided to stay here with you until you can come home.”
              “You can’t,” Samera replied before I could think of an answer.
              Delilah frowned at her. “Why is that? She’s clearly not improved much since the last time I saw her, and you’re probably always busy anyway, helping your mother doing whatever she’s doing in this strange secret place. My sister needs someone by her side and I don’t care if I have to stay in this room all day long; I am not leaving Amya alone.”
              Both Samera and I were stunned. Never had I seen my little sister care for anyone other than herself. Well, except for Wyatt, but that was a whole other matter.
              “I might need to ask my mom,” Sam told her, confused. “I’ll see if I can find you a spare room, but you won’t be allowed to leave this floor, that’s for sure.”
              “Yeah, go tell your mother that I’m not leaving this place without my big sister.” She smiled at me. “There’s a spare bed right there.” She pointed to Samera’s, before she grinned at me. “It’s going to be like a sisterly sleepover. Sleeping in the same bedroom just like when we were kids!”
              Deli sounded so excited that I felt bad about lying and trying to get rid of her, so I tilted my head to the side in an attempt to convince Samera to let her stay here a little longer. She immediately understood, and even though she obviously thought it was a bad idea, considering all that was going on, she left the room to call on her mother.
              Immediately when the door shut, Delilah jumped on my bed and took my hand. “Oh my
God
. And here I thought she’d never leave us alone.” She looked intently at me. “A, you have to help me. I’m not only here because I want to take care of you or because Mom thinks it’s a good idea for me to—quote—get a good education—unquote. Wyatt came to me last week and asked that we get back together.”
              I almost forced myself into a sitting position, before I remembered that I was supposed to be ill.
              “What did you say to him?” I asked. “Please tell me you didn’t agree.”
              Whatever Wyatt wanted with my sister, it could only mean trouble. Coming back from England a month ago, I had contacted my parents and told them they needed to keep Deli away from him. I wasn’t allowed to give them an honest reason, but Michelle had sent guards to protect my family. They were ordered to follow my sister everywhere and report on anything suspect. Since nothing had happened so far, I’d figured he wasn’t going to make a move on them after all. How he had contacted Delilah without the Protectors’ knowledge was beyond me.
              “Of course not,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “I’m not that desperate. But yesterday, he texted me that he would meet me in my room tonight. He said we could go away together. But I panicked. You told me before that I need to keep my distance and I trust you. That’s mostly why I’m here. I know how secret this location is”—she looked around, frowning—“and I’m sure it’s the last place on earth he’ll ever look for me.” She was smiling anxiously.
              Good thing she didn’t know how dangerous Wyatt really was or she’d freak out for sure. I needed to keep her away from him, even if it meant letting her stay at HQ until we found a way to get rid of Rascals permanently.
              My hand immediately squeezed hers to let her know I was glad she’d come to me with this. “You’re safe here,” I said with much more conviction than I really had. “I’ll do anything to convince Michelle that you need a safe haven. She knows how dangerous Wyatt—ahem—how unstable he is. She’ll understand.”
              My sister surprised me when she threw herself into my arms. “Thank you! I was so scared to tell Mom and Dad. They’ve been looking after me and all but I don’t feel safe at home anymore.”
              I was certainly happy to finally bond with my sister, even if it was merely because we shared a crazy ex-boyfriend. But how long would she be able to stay at HQ without discovering the real purpose of the Protectors’ organization? And how was I to help Xander if I couldn’t leave my room?
              Samera came back promptly and told Deli she could stay for a few days. I made a mental note to tell my best friend that my sister might need to live with us longer. Michelle had agreed, but only if she was to never leave the second floor. Sam would sleep on the couch in her parents’ apartment at HQ because the remaining rooms were all occupied. Too many Protectors were afraid to return home at night. Many of them had sent their family away for a while in order to protect them. Fear was everywhere.
              After hearing the good news, Delilah called our parents and told them that she would be staying with me because I needed her, which wasn’t at all true, but I didn’t mind. When my father replied that he and Mom wanted to come visit, Deli refused and said I was too tired to see a lot of people right now. She at least saved me the trouble of dealing with my entire family.
              I figured I wouldn’t be able to attend Gareth’s trial, and since Samera and I had missed the meeting this afternoon, she would have to fill me in on everything that had happened today later. She left me and my sister alone but promised to come back as soon as she knew what would happen to the librarian. Well, that she didn’t say, but I knew what “I’ll come by to check on you later, Amya” meant.
              Not attending Gareth’s trial was making me anxious, though I knew that even if I had gone, there was nothing I could have done to help. Samera was a witness in the case and she would explain why Gareth had been forced to comply with the Rascals’ demand to lure me in England. We had learnt in the last month that protecting his brother had been a priority for him since their parents had left them when Gareth was only seven. So there would be no reason to believe he worked with the bad guys out of malice.
              “So, what do you normally do when you’re alone?” Delilah asked after she hung up with our parents.
              That took me by surprise as I nearly never spent any time in my room, except for sleeping and reading when everyone else was busy.
              I grabbed
1984
by George Orwell on my nightstand and smiled. “Been reading this for a few days now,” I said, before I realized that the book was quite small… Surely I would have finished it in one sitting if I hadn’t had anything better to do. But she did not notice.
              My sister, who’d never read an entire book in her life—not even those for school—sighed sharply. “I should have known I was in for some boring discussions about”—she picked the book from my hand—“some weird divination story? Really?”
              “That’s not at all what this book’s about.”
              “Meh, I don’t care.” Deli opened her bag and took out a deck of cards… and a bottle of vodka. “I have a better idea,” she said with a roguish smile.
              “Deli! You’re not supposed to have this here!” I exclaimed.
              “How would you know? Is there a rule or something? I’m sure you never asked. Actually,” she laughed, “I’m sure you never even thought of asking. Come on! How long has it been since you had real fun?” She looked expectantly at me.
             
Longer than you think
, I wanted to answer, but even I couldn’t remember the last time I’d really done something spontaneous, just for the sake of my own enjoyment.
              And maybe that was exactly what I needed to get Xander and the Rascals out of my head.
              “All right,” I said, this time with a lot more conviction. “What do you have in mind?”
              Her smile reached her ears in a second, before she put the bottle of vodka in between us.
              “Are you able to sit?” she asked.
              Since I had just agreed to play with her, I didn’t really have a choice but to get completely in the game so I told her I could, but only if she helped me. I said the painkillers helped with the constant pain in my muscles, but I never really felt good. I had always reacted badly to any kind of painkillers so convincing her wasn’t difficult.
              After I was comfortably seated with a pillow supporting my back, Delilah explained to me the rules of her game. It was called “The King’s Cup” and, apparently, the only goal was to get drunk. I could see no other purpose, really.
              But I still decided to give it a try.
              “Okay,” Deli finally said after she thought I could remember what all the cards meant. “Draw the first one.”
              I did. It was rather exciting to do something with my little sister that didn’t involve fighting or gossiping about boys.
             
Nine
.
              “Bust a rhyme!” she exclaimed.
              “Delilah.”
              “Koala.”
              “Banana.”
              “Cheetah.”
              “Bandanna.”
              “Gorilla.”
              “You’re stuck on animals, aren’t you?” I teased. “America.”
              She stuck her tongue out. “Llama.”
              I burst out laughing. “Canada.”
              “Puma.”
              “Seriously? Do you have a degree on furry mammals that I don’t know of? California.”
              “Piranha.”
              “Isn’t that a fish?”
              “Yes?”
              “Aren’t you only naming animals?”
              “No,” she winked. “You
think
I’m only naming animals. Your turn.”
              I knew what she was doing. She was trying to distract me from the game. The worst part was that it worked. I couldn’t think of another word to rhyme with Delilah. “Banana!” I shouted after a several agonizing seconds.
              “Drink up!” Deli replied.
              “What?”
              “You said ‘banana’ already.”
              “Did I?” I was so confused. This game was more stressful than anything so far. And I wasn’t really good at it.
              I nonetheless took the bottle of vodka, thankfully half-empty, gulped a mouthful of it, and almost choked on the burning sensation in my throat. It didn’t taste like wine; it didn’t taste like any cocktail I’d ever drunk; it was more like rubbing alcohol mixed with fire that went up to my nose.
              “Ha! Disgusting!” I declared. “So,
so
gross.”
              “You’ll get used to it. And soon, you won’t even taste anything. It’s a good trick if you want your muscles to stop hurting. My turn.”
              She drew a King.
              “What’s the King for again?”
              “I make a rule. And I already know what it is. If we ask questions to each other, it is forbidden to lie.”
              She didn’t say more but it was obvious that she thought I was lying to her about what I was still doing at Headquarters. Was I allowed to tell the truth if Deli asked about it? On the one hand, she was family. I already felt bad about her getting mixed up in Wyatt’s schemes—whatever they were—and about not being able to tell her and my parents that Dimensions existed and how their personality and choices were influenced by their twin-selves. Maybe telling Deli the truth for once would bring us closer to each other. And maybe she’d want to work for the Protectors of Amani. Who knew?
              “All right. No lie.” I drew the third card and got a Jack.
              “Awesome! It’s the ‘Never Have I Ever’ game. Five fingers up in the air and you have to start.”
              “Never have I ever kissed more than two guys in total,” I said, thinking that I’d probably kissed Xander as well as Wyatt even if I had no recollection of the former.
              Delilah, however, put down her pinky and winked at me. “You’re such a saint,” she told me. “Okay. Never have I ever lied to my parents.”