Daughter of a Monarch (7 page)

My grandmother moves so she’s standing in front of me. “The Regime?”

“The who?”

“Our rulers.”

I furrow my eyebrows. “Yes. But why do you have a Regime anyway? I thought Gaia lived freely, no rulers.”

“We used to. Not anymore. A lot has changed since your mother made her decision.”

“Gotcha... So, can I stay?”

“Of course she can,” a woman says from behind us. She holds her hand out to me. “Stella. Your aunt.”

“Hi,” I say with an unsure smile. She doesn’t seem as friendly as everyone else.

“You’re old enough to make your own decisions, and you’ll be safer here anyway. Terre is far worse than Gaia.”

Uncle Harim scoffs. “Just because you’re married to one of the Regime doesn’t mean she’s safe here.”

“No, but it does help.”

“We’ll see how much it helps when they take her prisoner.”

I put my hands up. “Whoa, what? I’m no one’s prisoner!”

Stella laughs. “No, you’re not. Harim is exaggerating, as usual.”

“I’d be a prisoner if they made me stay here,” I chime in.

Harim nods. “Exactly.”

My grandmother pinches the bridge of her nose. “Enough, you three. Aislin, you can stay as long as you’d like, but I’m going to contact your parents and let them know you’re here.”

“No, I’ll do it.”

I sit on the couch and put my head in my hands. Dad and I both have the ability to talk inside of each other’s minds, but I can actually block his voice, where others can’t. Totally pisses him off.

I take a deep breath as I remove the shield. His voice surges through my mind. This hurts like hell and is one of the reasons why he and I both avoid doing it as much as possible.

He enters my mind in mid-sentence.

…And this is a horrible idea! I know you’re there! God, I swear you don’t use your head!

I wait for his tantrum to silence before I send my own message.

I’m fine, Dad. Don’t come looking for me. I’m exactly where I need to be right now. I was told about the Regime, and maybe I can talk to them and fix this somehow. The last thing we need is a war. I’m willing to face whatever happens because I chose to come here.

You are not doing this alone, A! We’ve kept you in hiding for a reason! Now unlock the spell so I can come there!

No.

A!

Talk to you soon. I love you.

I block his voice, so I can’t hear him. I made this mess by coming to Paradise and being caught. I was found out about because of a decision I made on my own.

For so long, I’ve been oblivious to anything but Terre and my family on Earth, and I’ve always felt like a piece of me was missing. I need to be here to figure out exactly who I am. I need to understand the threat I pose in order to fix the assumptions that others have about half-breeds. Of me. How dangerous can I possibly be? I’m harmless. Sort of.

I SIT ACROSS
from Uncle Harim watching him shuffle the cards.

“Can I try?” I ask, reaching for part of the deck.

“Sure. Watch me do it first, though.”

He slides half of the deck to me. I watch him separate his cards into even piles. I do the same. I follow his movements but stop when it’s time to snap the cards singly on top one another. Once he’s done and shuffles his cards back together, he motions for me to try.

I try to let each card slip ever-so-carefully from my thumbs, but they all plop out into one big mess on the table. Uncle Harim bursts into laughter.

“Come on; it’s not that funny.”

I pick up a card and send it flying at his forehead. I smile a little as I clean them up. I scoot the cards to him.

“Let’s just play.”

“Someone is in a bad mood.” He starts dealing out the cards, and I get the poker chips ready.

“What do you mean? I’m fine. I guess I’m a little nervous. Aunt Stella is meeting with the Regime on my behalf. She shouldn’t have to do that alone.”

“It’s better this way, Aislin. If they saw you, they’d overreact.”

I bite the inside of my cheek and shrug.

“I guess. But they know I’m here. Isn’t that bad enough?”

“Maybe. We’ll just have to wait and see. Let your aunt talk to them. They respect her. They will at least listen to what she has to say.”

I nod. “You go first.” I get my cards ready and wait.

Three rounds of beating my Uncle’s ass at cards and Stella still isn’t back. I pace the perimeter of the dining area, biting my nails.

Harim sits in a chair in the corner watching me. Grandmother became bored watching me pace, so she went to do some reading about laws and such.

“You’re going to wear holes in the floor, Aislin.”

I stop and look at him. “When you are in my shoes, you see how long you can sit still.” I continue to pace.

“We could get to know one another while you we wait for her.”

I laugh coolly. “Ummm, okay. Sure. What do you want to know?”

“Anything.”

“Okay... I like to read.”

“I don’t.”

I look at him. “Why aren’t you married? You’re a good lookin’ guy. Are you a jerk?”

He chuckles. “Maybe. Kind of, I think. I like women. I can’t see myself being with just one.”

“Ooo, you’re a player?”

“A what?” He laughs some more.

“It’s a term my mom taught me. Must not be a Gaia thing.”

He is about to say something when the door opens. I stop pacing, and Harim stands. I hear the door down the hall open, and Grandmother walks into the room.

Stella comes in, and we wait impatiently for her to give us the news.

She points at me. “You owe me, kid.”

“What!” I jump excitedly. “They’re not going to—”

“Whoa, don’t get too excited,” she says, cutting me off. “You have to meet with them, but in the meantime, you can stay here, unharmed and not bothered by the Regime.”

“Oh. When do I have to do that?”

“Tomorrow night.”

The way she said ‘in the meantime’ made me think I had more time. I let out the breath I’m holding and nod.

“Okay.”

Stella looks at Harim and Grandmother. “I’m heading home. Keep her out of trouble. I promised the Regime there wouldn’t be any.”

She starts to leave, but I stop her. “Stella?”

She looks at me over her shoulder. “Yes?”

“Thank you.”

She nods a little then leaves.

I sit on the beach of Paradise, sinking my feet deeper into the warm sand. The waves crash against the shore in a hypnotic manner. I love this place more than anywhere else in the universe.

At lunch, Grandmother told me stories about Mom and Paradise. The girl she described sounded nothing like my mother. I look at the water and try to imagine the woman my mother used to be.

“The rumors are true. You are here.”

I pick my head up from my knees and smile a little at Isaac.

“Apparently, just by being born, I’ve messed up everything. I was never supposed to happen.”

“And that’s your fault how? Your parents are the ones who disobeyed the rules.”

I cut my eyes at him. “Leave my parents out of it, or I’ll hurl way more power at you than I did right before you and your Dad tucked tail and ran.”

He laughs. “And how am I supposed to do that? They are the ones who created the half-breed.”

“Don’t call me that.” My blood begins to boil. I know that’s what I am, but hearing someone who barely knows me say it pisses me off. I feel my hands getting warm, and Isaac’s eyes widen. Bright orange flames materialize from my fingertips. I stand and hold out my hands in front of me.

Isaac holds his hands in front of him, creating a protective shield. I hate to tell him, but there’s no way that’s going to block my magic.

“Aislin, chill out! I don’t mean that in an offensive way! I’m just stating facts!”

I take deep breaths and calm myself down. The flames gradually started losing their bright color until they finally vanish. I’m embarrassed. I didn’t mean for that to happen. I don’t have control over my abilities. And it’s only getting worse.

“You should be more careful with what you say. Especially, around me.” I dust the sand off my shorts.

“I’m not afraid of you.”

“Hmmm, well that’s your first mistake.”

A cocky grin expands across his face. “And you’re one to be discussing others’ mistakes?”

“Did you come here to irritate me?” I snapped.

He laughs as he makes his shirt disappear. “I was just coming to swim.” He walks to the water, waits for a wave, and then dives in.

I’m jealous of his ability to make his shirt disappear. If I were to try to change my clothing to a bathing suit, I’d end up butt naked. My abilities tend to overdraw.

I don’t mean to stare at his chest as water trickles down it. Oh hell. Yes, I do. He waves me over, and I get in just so I’m ankle deep.

“Isn’t this a blast from the past?”

I turn to see Isaac’s dad.

“You look just like your mother standing there.” Cohen’s smile isn’t the happy smile he is trying desperately to accomplish. I can see the pain of losing Mom in his eyes.