Blood of the Pure (Gaea) (68 page)

“I know that ... very well.”

“And that’s why you’re still here,” I added and he took a deep breath, seeming calmer again.

“You need to rest,” he told me and I watched as he stood up, his movements ever so graceful, towering over me like a lean, imposing dark shadow.

“What about you?” I asked, knowing he was about to leave, and his gaze fell on mine, leaving me more reassured since that red glow was completely gone now.

“You don’t need to worry. I’m not going anywhere,” he told me, backing a step at a time and walking to the door.

“Nyx! Swear!” I demanded, unable to feel at ease, and he stopped for a moment.

“What for? It’s not like my word is worth anything.”

“But it does! It does to me!” I insisted and I watched as his hand went to the door handle.

“I swear,” he simply told me and left without turning back one single time.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I woke up the following day to the immediate realization that I would have to be even more careful with the way I moved than usual. I felt around my body, trying to ascertain the most critical areas, and came to the depressing conclusion that the effects of what had happened the day before would accompany me for the next few days.

I got dressed, wincing and groaning here and there, and the necessary time needed to effectively comb my hair was an absolute torture to my aching arms. I went downstairs, grabbing hold of the handrail with both my hands and stopped in the hallway when I heard voices coming from the kitchen.

“That’s why I told you we should leave! And she was crying, Izrail.” I heard Alexander’s voice and was immediately on the move. I hated the idea of him using me as a pretext to pressure Gabriel to leave!

I raised my head as I entered the kitchen, and managed a smile for good measure, absolutely determined to have things my own way.

“I’m fine, Alexander. Thank you for worrying,” I told him in what I hoped would sound like a threatening tone, and Lea jumped from his chair running towards me.

“Morning, Mari!” he greeted me as cheerfully as always and I noticed Gabriel’s tired expression, leaning against the far side of the wall in the back, his arms folded over his chest.

“Why are you up so early?” Alexander asked me, sounding honestly worried, but our points of disagreement made my voice sound dryer than normal.

“It’s morning, isn’t it?” I asked and smiled at Lea, who, under the disguise of his childish smile, was watching me ostensibly. “Morning, Lea.”

“How are you feeling?” he asked and I tussled his hair.

“I’m fine,” I repeated and took a deep breath before the doubtful expressions I received. Only Jonathan had remained indifferent, his opened eyes unable to see the world around him. “Please don’t tell me you’d rather I told you that I was about to die!” I joked and went to the fridge, masking a wince of pain brought on by the effort of opening it by sticking my head in the cold. “What do you want for breakfast?”

“Mari! We’re not joking! It’s not any Human who’s able to survive a
Shedim
attack. Any other would have certainly died!” Alexander insisted, which made me give up all hope of changing the subject. I allowed the door to close and turned to face him.

“I understand,” I stated in a more serious tone. “And then what? What do you want me to tell you?” He seemed annoyed at my answer and sat down, resting an elbow on the table and looking away.

“Since when does she have this bad temper?” he grumbled and Lea smiled, looking amused.

“It’s hardly a matter of bad temper, Alexander,” I insisted. “I do understand what you mean. I was in great danger. It’s a miracle that I’m alive. But then what?”

“So this wasn’t a lesson at all?” he asked, frowning, and, although I understood that part of his insistence in this was because he really worried about me, I still couldn’t agree.

“If by that you mean what I think you mean, then the answer is no.” He sighed and I turned towards Gabriel. “Did you find anything?”

“No, I’m sorry.” he replied and I went back to the fridge to grab a yogurt. Although I didn’t want them to notice it, the idea of that unworldly goddess walking around, looking for me, made me uneasy.

“I see. Well, since there’s no time left to make anything fancy, just pick whatever you like from the fridge,” I told them and put my empty yogurt cup in the garbage. “Alexander, will you take me to school?” I naturally asked and they were all dead silent for a moment, before they all started talking at the same time.

“School!”

“You can’t be serious!”

“It’s too dangerous, Mari!”

I rinsed the spoon I’d used and put it back to its place.

“Yes, school! Today is Wednesday and I cannot keep missing school like this!” I argued and Gabriel frowned obviously displeased.

“One day more, one day less, it won’t really make any difference,” he stated in that tone of his that didn’t admit any kind of disobedience. But that had been a decision I’d made, and I wasn’t about to give up on it that easily.

“Today, tomorrow ... how many days until you find her?” I asked. “How long will it take? You’ve been looking for her for two weeks now, and nothing! Apparently, she just comes and goes as she pleases. You can’t possibly want to keep me under house arrest until that happens.” But his expression became even scarier.

“If she hunted you once, she will hunt you again as soon as she learns you’ve survived. And next time we may not be this lucky!” Alexander stated with a measure of despair in his voice, and I smiled at him trying to reassure him.

“There won’t be a next time, right? Because now you already know that she’s looking for me, and you’ll be there to protect me,” I stated with all my conviction, but Lea seemed the only one happy with my declaration of unwavering trust. “Besides, you won’t have to look for her anymore. She’ll come to us.”

“You want to play bait?” Gabriel asked in his cold whisper and I faced his violet gaze knowing that, ultimately, the decision had to come from him.

“I want to end this once and for all, and this is the fastest and most effective way to do it. Besides, I trust you guys,” I added and he looked away.

“I don’t like it.”

“But you know I’m right,” I concluded and he was silent for a moment.

“Izrail! You can’t seriously be pondering an insanity like this!” Alexander voiced and I faced him wishing I could just tell him to shut up.

“I understand you’re worried and I’m thankful for that,” I told him and went on before he could argue. “But you’ll have to tie me up somewhere if you want to keep me at home. Above all, before you agree or not with my options, this is my life!” I declared and he averted his gaze, giving up on what he was about to say, annoyed at what he’d just heard. “And, since it belongs to me, I’m choosing to place it in your hands.” I added and his foul mood seemed to lighten a bit.

“If she does appear, we act immediately. I want everything over as soon as possible.” Gabriel commanded, emitting the authorization I’d been waiting for.

“How do you want to do it?” Alexander asked in a defeated tone, trying to pretend he didn’t care anyway, and I focused on his answer.

“The usual.”

“Portals?”

“Yes. I think that will be the best way, since I can’t be there or she’ll never show up.”

“But, as soon as she realizes that Mari is alive, she’ll be suspicious,” Lea argued in that grown-up tone.

“I doubt she’ll be able to think that far,” Alexander said. “Even if she’s aware of the Contract between Mari and Izrail, the possibility of any other kind of connection will never cross her mind. She probably even thinks that she’s doing you a favor.” He turned to Gabriel, and I couldn’t avoid noticing how his white hands clenched into tight fists in his constant struggle for self-control.

“Still, I don’t understand,” Lea confessed, musing out loud. “If she wants to win the war so she doesn’t have to belong to anyone, why did she attack Mari instead of Master?”

“Telane is not that simple or linear,” Gabriel answered in his icy whisper. “I’m sure she has some kind of plan.”

“I agree. I’m sure she’s smart enough to know she’ll never have any chances to really win the war.”

I sighed and carefully stretched my aching body.

“If that’s all, let’s go. I don’t want to be late,” I said with a relaxed tone.

“Let’s go then,” Alexander grumbled as he stood up, still obviously against it, and, to my surprise, Jonathan reacted to his movement, quickly grabbing hold of his sleeve. It was the first time I saw him move since I got in the kitchen. Alexander gave him a gentle smile, hardly disguising the pain in his eyes, and placed a reassuring hand on the boy’s head.

“Don’t worry. I’ll call for you if needed,” he murmured softly and Jonathan released him without a word.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Mari, are you sure?”

“Of course. Nothing bad will happen,” I stated in my most convincing tone as I walked to school next to an annoyed Alexander. The morning wasn’t as cold as the day before, I noticed happily.

“You’re pretending to be something you’re not,” he openly declared. “The truth is that you do have doubts, and that you’re scared.”

“I trust you.”

“Even so, you know I was watching over you yesterday, and I couldn’t stop what happened,” he reminded me with a bitter tone and I recalled his panicking expression when he’d leaned over me. His face had been smeared with blood, but since there were no traces of an injury anywhere, I’d completely forgotten about it.

“Yesterday ... it was all too fast. Today it will be different,” I guaranteed.

“I understand why you’re doing this. I guess you do too. But please don’t place yourself in any unnecessary danger. Loosing you, right now, would be a complete disaster. No one would be able to control the chaos that would engulf this city.”

I didn’t answer, although I was quite aware that what he’d said was true. Last night I’d seen it firsthand and understood the delicate balance that was required of me. On one hand, I couldn’t be daring to the point of risking my safety. But, on the other hand, if I just cringed in fear, somewhere, it would prove that I wasn’t able to deal with this situation without falling apart.

As soon as I saw the school gate at the end of the road my heart jumped anxiously. To my relief Michael was waiting by the entrance, waving at me with an especially bright smile. Not surprisingly, Alexander disappeared immediately within a soft rain of black feathers, reminding me of his deep and unjustified intolerance to Michael’s presence.

Bewildered, I had to recognize that seeing Michael was enough to cut my anxiety in half, and I went to him with a feeling of relief. It took me a while to notice the small, blue motorcycle he was leaning against, and I immediately understood the reason behind his proud look and radiating happiness.

“Wow!” I exclaimed, reflecting his happiness, and he stepped out of my way so that I could see it better.

“You like it?”

“Of course! It’s amazing!” I raved, although I didn’t know all that much about bikes, and Michael shrugged unable to stop smiling.

“To tell you the truth, it’s not all that special. It’s secondhand and it already has a few years on it. But she runs well and, best of all, doesn’t consume much,” he declared and I nodded, touching its black leather seat.

“It’s great! Was it Father Jorge?”

“Yeah. It’s my birthday gift. I really didn’t expect anything like this. It’s the first time I have something really mine!”

I felt as if my heart had just stopped. With all the things going on, I had completely forgotten what he’d told me the day before, and what we’d arranged for that afternoon.

I made myself smile and blushed up to my ears.

“I have nothing to give you,” I confessed, feeling guilty, and he placed a warm hand on my head smiling gently.

“Having you here, with me, it’s all I can wish for,” he told me and immediately went on so that there wouldn’t be time for any kind of awkwardness. “When I called you yesterday and you didn’t pick up, I was really worried. But then I thought maybe you’d gone to sleep earlier. So, when I saw you coming up the street today, I was really happy. I had already decided that I’d go straight knocking on your door if you didn’t show up.”

I felt embarrassed and the warmth of his hand was enough to make my heart beat faster.

“I’m sorry. I was really tired yesterday,” I excused myself and he nodded.

“What do you say if we take it for a ride after school?” he asked, his expression coming alight. “I want you to be the first to try it out.”

I’d already agreed to spend the afternoon with him the previous day and, right there and then, I just couldn’t bring myself to disappoint him. I told myself that, with some luck, nothing would happen that day, and if a
Deiwos
did really attack, everything would be over quickly enough to allow me to be able to go back to my everyday life.

“OK then,” I accepted and his delighted smile made me extremely happy. “And we have to get some cake! Celebrating birthdays without cake is absolutely forbidden! I’m sure Father Jorge will also like it,” I added, trying to persuade him faster, and Michael held my hand, kissing it on an impulse.