Of Gaea (17 page)

She was
oddly calm.
Friday was
tomorrow but the nerves that had plagued her before speaking to
Leonidas had vanished. It was as if all she had needed to settle
down was a solution.

“
Ariadne.”
A
silky voice purred.

Automatically, at the sound of her name Ari looked
up.
A hand wrapped
around her exposed throat and pinned her back to the tree. The book
fell, forgotten, to the ground.

Ari
gasped for breath even as she recognized Damia’s maniacal
glee.
Ari grabbed
Damia’s wrist with one hand while flailing around with the other
searching for something, anything to defend herself with. Damia
seemed stronger than she should have. Somehow Damia had turned to
living, breathing stone unyielding to Ari’s struggles.

Damia
leaned in close enough for her breath to tickle Ari’s ear and her
perfume to pollute Ari’s already dangerously low air supply.
“You have become the most
cankerous sore I’ve ever dealt with. Tell me something,
cripple.”

Ari’s
flailing hand landed on one of the trees massive roots. She tugged
gently, maybe it would give and she would be able to whack Damia
with the blunt end.

Tears
sprang in Ari’s eyes, and her vision began to gray.
She was losing focus. Ari felt
like Damia was draining her somehow. She could almost see Damia
sucking the life out of her.

Damia
would kill her this time.
Ari was sure of it. There was no one around for it to be
otherwise.

Ari
wished Sasha was there. She wished someone would come out and see.
She wished for anyone at all to help.

Damia
released her windpipe enough that the spots that had begun
appearing faded.
“What
were you doing there, Ariadne?”

“I don’t
know…”

Damia’s
hand tightened around Ari’s denial. “I saw you at Goddess Ink,
Ariadne. What were you doing there?”

“
Tattoo.” Ari murmured nearly unconscious, yet in the
darkness something waited. Something was trying to reach her even
as Ari tried to reach for help. Something pulsated under her
hand.

“
Why?”
Damia
hissed.

“
Looking.”
It
wasn’t a lie. Both she and Sasha had looked at the tattoos on the
walls.

There
was something flirting at the edge of her consciousness.
It reached out to Ari and she
mentally grabbed it. Please, please help.

Damia’s
grip tightened.
“Why,
Ariadne?”

Ari’s
eyes rolled up and she lost strength in her arms. “Help, me.
Please.”

“
There’s
no one here to help you little girl.” Damia snarled and her hold
tightened even more. Ari was completely cut off from air. There was
no space left to inhale.

Something warm and radiant drummed under Ari’s hand.
Warmth rolled up her arm in
waves from the ground. She felt hugged and cocooned; she felt
safe.

With the
last of her strength Ari looked Damia in the eyes. “So you
think.”

Ari
drifted out. She floated in a bubble of water. Warmth wrapped
around the bubble, and Ari could hear speaking, but it was muffled
and distorted. It didn’t matter, she was safe here. Nothing could
reach her through whatever protected her. She would survive another
day.

Ari
returned to consciousness, coughing.
Nasya knelt beside her; Ari was half in her lap
and Sasha stood between them and Damia.

“
What
did she say?”
Damia
pealed and lunged at Sasha. “She has no right! None!”

He
countered her easily and threw her back again. “Stay away from her.
How many times do I have to say it? I don’t want to hurt you. I
just want you to get the point. Stay away from Ari.”

Damia
pointed at Nasya. “You cannot protect her forever.”

Nasya’s
chin lifted. “I can protect her until her choice is made. We have
some weeks yet. Go back to your classes, child.”

Damia
shrieked, yanked on the ends of her hair in frustration. She
studied the situation then finally judged it to be a losing fight
and stormed away. The negativity that rolled off her faded as her
presence did.

Sasha
remained rigid until Damia was well out of sight.
When he turned and faced the
girls Ari saw the fear before he covered it up with a gentle smile.
He crouched down and gently ran a hand over Ari’s hair.

“
Are you
okay?”
His hand lingered
maybe a moment longer than it should have before he carefully
picked Ari up and placed her in the wheelchair.

Ari tried to
speak but could only cough.

Nasya
held out a water bottle.
“You’ll need something cool for your throat.”

Ari
gratefully took the bottle. The water tasted slightly of honey and
something unidentifiable. “Thank you.”

Nasya
nodded. “I think perhaps you should skip the rest of school for
today.”

“
Why
didn’t anyone else see it? Why did it take so long for someone to
help?” Ari asked. “What did I say to her to make her so angry? How
did you two know?”

Nasya’s
eyes twinkled. “Suyu klihunhg…”

“
Gaea
protects the Faithful.” Sasha cut her off quickly. “I felt,
something… off. Excused myself from class to find you.”

Nasya
frowned lightly then shrugged. “As he said.” She wouldn’t counter
Sasha. If he chose to leave Ari in the dark for another day she had
no real issue with it. Ari would find out sooner or later anyway.
Though Nasya preferred sooner to later she had enough respect for
Sasha to leave it to his judgment.

Sasha
looked back at the school then down at Ari.
“People only see what they want to see; no
one wanted to see Damia strangling you so they didn’t.”

“
It
can’t be that simple.” Ari protested.

Nasya
tilted her head as if she contemplated something. “Indeed. However,
Kleisthenes is on his way. Thankfully, he has guardianship so he’ll
be signing you out.”

“
It’s so
weird how Ghita and he don’t get along but when I need an adult for
anything she always has him do it.” Ari murmured.

“
Perhaps
you should ask him of it.”
Nasya suggested. “I have it from here, Sasha. Go back to
class before you are missed.”

Ari smiled at
him and reached for his hand.

He
automatically offered it.
“I don’t trust her.”

Ari
kissed his fingers. “Thank you, Sasha. I’m safe now. She’s not
coming back right now.”

He
seemed startled at the gesture. His fingers closed around Ari’s
hand. “You don’t have to say thank you.”

Ari
smiled and let go of his hands. “I know. But you deserve it all the
same.”

“
I have
my phone, if you need me at all. I’ll come.” He ruffled her hair
and walked away.

It was
the hardest thing he’d ever done, walking away from her when she
had asked him to.
He
wanted to wait for his da. He wanted to make sure Damia couldn’t
touch her again. Nasya was a good deterrent in herself, but he
would have been much more comfortable leaving Ari with
da.

His
fingers tingled where Ari had kissed him.
He recognized the left over power for what it was.
It was frightening, yet thrilling to know that Ari was everything
they believed her to be.

He had
felt Ari’s despair a moment before it had vanished. He pleaded
bathroom and raced out of his class. He thought he would be too
late.

Instead
when he arrived, Ari had been standing with a hand holding Damia’s
hand at her throat and her other hand around Damia’s throat.
She had Damia dangling off the
ground. Power surged off Ari in waves and she was shouting at Damia
in a forgotten language.

When he
had shouted and run to her, she locked eyes with him then crumpled
to the ground.
Before
Damia could recover he had moved between her and Ari. Nasya had
appeared moments later to clear up the power spill and to bring Ari
around.

He had
never been so scared in his life than he had been in those several
minutes.
He hoped never
to experience a fear like that again. He was mentally drained from
it, and would have been physically too if not for the slight power
that had spilled out of Ari and into his fingers.

Sasha
wasn’t sure how he was going to concentrate on his classes for the
rest for the day.
The
fear of Damia pulsed just beneath the surface. His only comfort was
the knowledge that Kleisthenes would make sure nothing could touch
Ari for the rest of the day.

Kleisthenes always went overboard with what he felt Ari
could and couldn’t do.
He took charge as soon as he arrived and no one, not even
the principal questioned his authority. He signed Ari out without
so much as a bye, your leaving, and rolled the wheelchair out in
quick even strides. It was almost what she imagined being battered
by a hurricane would be like.

Ari eyed
the classic car parked at the curb warily.
It didn’t look big enough to fit her let
alone Kleisthenes and her together. Before Ari could protest he
already had the door open and lifted her out of the
chair.

“
Ah,
Kleisthenes, I don’t think…”
Ari was seated and seat belted before she could finish the
sentence and the door closed before she could continue. She
sighed.

Kleisthenes folded the wheelchair as he walked around the
car.
He opened - what
Ari imagined to be a very tiny area - the trunk and stuffed the
wheelchair in. She watched him in the mirror as he tied down the
trunk lid and then came up the driver’s side.

“
Why
didn’t you drive Sasha’s Porsche or your Mercedes?”
Ari asked. “It would have been
easier.”

He
nodded. “It would have, but the Porsche is his car. I drive the GL
all winter long. And with the weather getting nice I want to get
the engine in this baby used to driving around again.”

“
It
needs to be in a museum.” Ari quipped and turned to look out the
window. There was no hiding her discomfort in the tiny
car.

“
Hey,
that’s no way to talk about my baby.
It’s a 1937. They only made 11 of these,
and…”

“
When
I’m old and gray I’ll understand the purpose of a classic car.” Ari
finished for him.

He
laughed.
The sound
filled the car and seemed to echo back as there was no place for it
to go. His knees looked like they pounded into his chest every time
he shifted gears.

“
It’s
too tiny.
You know how I
feel about cars.” Ari muttered obstinately.

He
patted her knee between shifting. “We’re almost home anyway. You’ll
make it.”

Ari knew she
would make it but she didn’t have to like it.

When
they arrived at the house, Kleisthenes did something he’d never
done before.
He pulled
the car right into the garage and closed the garage door behind
them. He unloaded her just as briskly as he had loading the car. He
pulled the wheelchair down first and carried it up the short flight
to the kitchen door. Then he came for Ari.

“
Should
I ask why or are you going to brush me off the way Sasha does when
he doesn’t want to lie to me?”
Ari asked as he set her carefully down in the wheelchair.
She wheeled it back allowing him to enter and close the door behind
them.

He
brushed a hand over her head absently. “Come in here. Let me take a
look.”

Like she
had a choice but she went willingly anyway.
Kleisthenes made Sasha look like a
bookworm. There was no point in protesting to a man that could yank
her arms out of their sockets like chicken wings.

In the
kitchen he moved briskly again.
Ari couldn’t see what he was doing but he set several items
on the table then sat in a chair.

“Let me see
your neck.”

Ari
sighed. “I’m fine. Really. Sasha and Nasya came.”

“Humor
me.”

Ari scooted
her wheelchair over and tilted her head back.

He wiped
something cool over her throat.
It smelled like flowers and felt like the icy part of
IcyHot. He gently rubbed something else in circles along her
windpipe then set the cloth down. “You should heal fine now. The
point isn’t that you’re okay. I know you’re okay. The point is you
could be better.”

“
I just
don’t like being fussed over.” Ari tipped her head forward so she
could see him. “I was fussed over for eight months. Sasha
still
fusses over me.”

His grin
was crooked and a little bit wicked.
“You know we love you. Besides how else would we
annoy you?”

Ari
shook her head exasperated. “Only you.”