by Abbie Payne
Crystalhills with this “stranger” and leaving our mom behind to fend for herself (not that we didn’t think she could handle herself).
Mom smiled softly, “I’ll be fine. I’ll have Bali here to help me.” She replied calmly. Mr. Caeruleus nodded in agreement.
“ And I can assure you that there are spirits in this house that will protect her as well.” He added. He said this so matter-offactly that I didn’t even think to question how he knew there were spirits in the house. My mom worked very hard to keep our spirits and familiars hidden when we had people over.
In fact, the only familiar that most people knew about was the family cat, Cobwebs (he could also talk, but he really only talked around the family anyway).
With that, Levi and I headed down to the lair where Bali was sitting on her bed almost red in the face with rage.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her gently as I sank down beside her. Bali watched me carefully, her grey eyes as dark as the sky during a category five hurricane. “I can’t let this happen to you.” She replied, her voice surprisingly soft.
I realized then that what I saw in her eyes was not rage – it was remorse. An emotion I didn’t think I would ever witness Bali feeling so explicitly.
“It’s my fault that you’re being accused of kidnapping and enslaving me. I never told anyone about my past. I can’t allow this lawsuit to go through.” She explained softly.
I heard Levi leave the room, but for once I didn’t care that we were completely alone. I gently took her hands into mine.
“Bali, you know Levi and I are tough. We’ve been through worse things and we’re going to go through a lot more. We can do this. Not to mention, it’s not like anyone’s going to listen to a hybrid.” I replied gently.
Bali sighed heavily, her eyes
softening to maybe a category four hurricane instead of a five. “Fine. Just be careful, you big idiot.” She said softly, spitting the last three words out in an affectionate manner only she could pull off. She pulled me into a tight hug which I gratefully returned despite my shock that she was
showing any kind of love towards me.
I nodded as I got to my feet, “I will be. Levi will make sure of it.” I replied gently before I quickly went upstairs to meet with Levi, Mr. Caeruleus, and my mom.
Levi and I collected the rest of our things from our rooms and just like that we were saying goodbye to our mom and heading to the airport with Mr. Caeruleus and his “team”.
Chapter Eight (Samuel)
“Ithurt because it mattered.”–John GreenIwasn’t ready for the conversation that was going to go on once Lazarus, Leviathan, and I were alone in the
plane. I knew that Hazel probably
didn’t tell the boys much about me, if
anything at all, but I wasn’t expecting
them to ask right off the bat.
“So, my mom told me that you were friends with my dad, but you ran away after he died. If you don’t mind me asking,why did you run away?” Leviathan asked meekly.
I looked at him in surprise. I didn’t realize that was how Hazel was covering up what happened between us. “I didn’t run away. Your mother was in a state of disarray after your father’s untimely passing and so in her fit of rage she decided to blame me for his death. I thought it would be best for me to leave and give her space. I didn’t intend to leave
Rockfell entirely, but she got so angry that I was “leaving her” that she told me if she ever saw my face again she would turn me into a toad.” I
explained.
Lazarus chuckled softly, “That sounds like something she would do.” He mused. I was glad to see he was being at least somewhat pleasant. I assumed that he wouldn’t have anything to say to me considering I was taking him from everything he knew.
“So, what happened to our father, then?” Levi asked. I bit my lip and hesitated slightly before answering. I told him the truth, which was that Lincoln had been murdered by a group of angels
including Levi’s biological father – Michael McArthur.
Michael was always angry that Lincoln was the one that won over Hazel’s heart (despite the fact
Michael tried to do it in the entirely wrong way) and he had decided he had enough of trying to tolerate Lincoln in the presence of the woman he believed was his and his alone.
So, Michael told my best friend to meet him in a forest that ran alongside a busy highway. Lincolndidn’t realize then that a hurricane would come through that very week, but he still upheld his promise to Michael and met him and his group of
“friends” in the forest like he asked.
I always blamed myself for what happened next. Michael used some sort of dark magic spell on Lincoln that put him in some kind of shock.
I blamed myself for it because while Lincoln was battling those angels I was sitting on the side of the highway unable to go anywhere. I couldn’t teleport and my car had completely broken down.
I felt terrible having to watch Lincoln in so much pain once we finally got him home. And the worst part isthat spell shouldn’t have killed him.
He was doing so much better when all of a sudden, he wasn’t. The same night that he was up and playing with the boys in their
bedroom someone broke into the house and the very next morning, Hazel and I walked into the guest bedroom where he had slept to see him lying perfectly still with his eyes wide open and glossed over and not breathing.
Hazel was absolutely devastated and that was when things went wrong between the two of us.
Leviathan and Lazarus listened carefully to my story before looking down at their feet.
“I wish we had known all of that. Our mom never told us any of that.” Leviathan said solemnly.
“I wish she told you, too. But you have to understand that your mother was madly in love with your father and she never was able to properly heal because the next day she had to get up and take care of the two of you. She didn’t even get to plan his
funeral, I did.” I explained gently.
“We understand. It’s just really disappointing we know so little.” Leviathan replied.
Lazarus nodded before leaning forward eagerly. “Can you tell us anymore stories? Like, ones about how our dad was?” He asked, suddenly extremely cheerful.
I smiled and obliged. I didn’t quite want to admit it. But sharing the stories of my best friend with his son helped me start healing properly, too.
Chapter Nine (Bali)
“Getting over a painful experience ismuch like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point to move forward.” –C.S. Lewis
Ididn’t want to admit it, but I was devastated when Hazel told me the boys were
leaving. Talking to her was great and all, but Taz was really the only person I had that I could truly confide in.
He knew quite a few of my darkest secrets, even though my past still remained a mystery to him, but that was because I didn’t want anybody to know who I was or where I came from.
After the boys left with Mr.
Caeruleus, there was an obvious hole in the house. Hazel wasn’t even her usual blissful self as she stood over her cauldron making potions left and right. All I could do was sigh as I watched her.
I knew how much she was missing Taz and Levi already because that was how much I was missing them.
I rose from my little bed and moved to her side. “If you would like, I can show you a way that we can monitor them.” I offered.
I didn’t like to use my magic, but I would for this instance if that was what Hazel wanted.
She looked up at me and I realized that she suddenly looked… old. Her crow’s feet were more pronounced, her blue eyes were dull, and even her gray hairs seemed more obvious. “And how are you going to do that?” She questioned.
I grinned at her slight willingness to let me show her what I could do. “Can you refill the cauldron with plain water?” I asked.
Without another word, she used her magic to do just th
at. I smiled down at my reflection in the cauldron and performed an ancient spell called Debenedictionibus.
Hazel watched in awe as the ripples in the water turned to show an image of Taz and Levi in a taxi with Samuel.
“They can’t hear you or even sense you, but you can hear them. If you would like, this could be our way of kind of monitoring them.” I explained softly.
Hazel grinned and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. “Thank you so, so much.” She whispered behind the tears that began to fall from her eyes.
Chapter Ten (Samuel)
“When you feel like stopping rememberwhyyou started.” –Unknown
When we finally got to Crystalhills, the
atmosphere surrounding
the two boys changed drastically. Previously, they were cheerful and friendly and now they were hostile and maybe a little short-tempered.
I hoped it was just because
Crystalhills was a different place for them, but I also had to remember they could probably sense Lincoln’s presence and the dark secrets
Crystalhills worked so hard to hide from the public. Lazarus was part demon, after all, and even if
Leviathan was part angel, his witch blood still gave him the ability to sense the presence of dark magic.
We arrived in front of the two skyscrapers that made up Caeruleus Incorporated, the first one being my personal home and reaching 36 stories and the second one being my actual business and reaching 51 stories.
Lazarus and Leviathan gaped at the two buildings.
“This is where you live?” Leviathan gasped.
I chuckled softly and shook my head as I got out of the car. “No, the shortest one is my home and the tallest one is my business.” I replied coolly.
Lazarus watched me carefully, “So you bought a giant skyscraper to live in?” He asked judgmentally.
I nodded, “It was for sale at the same time as the other one and I’m never not working so I decided I might as well buy it and make it my home. I knocked out all of the walls on the top floor and made it into my executive office and had a tunnel built to connect the office to my business so it was easier to reach my
employees. It works very well for me.” I replied.
I watched as the driver got the boys’ bags and led them straight into my house where my assistant, Kiki, was waiting for us.
“I don’t want to waste any time here, boys. Let’s get to work.” I said coolly.
Kiki shook her head. “Sam, we need to give them time to recuperate. We can get to work, but maybe get someone to show them their rooms, but I can tell that they’re getting stressed out.” She said softly.
I sighed, knowing she was right. Kiki was half elf (her father was an elf and her mother was a nymph), so if she felt something was wrong it wasn’t anything to take lightly. Elves had a great sense of other people’s emotions.
I sighed and sent the boys off with the housekeeper and turned back to my assistant.
“What was that about?” I demanded. “Look around you, Dr. Caeruleus. You were in their house just five hours ago. Their house was not bad by any means but come on. They don’t have chandeliers hanging from every ceiling and marble floors in the elevator,” she pointed out.
I looked down and nodded, “I see…” I muttered.
Kiki put a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s go get this paperwork sorted out while they settle in,” she said coolly. She turned and led the way to the elevator and together we headed all the way up to floor 36.
Chapter Eleven (Leviathan)
“There are some things you can only learn in astorm.”–
T
Unknown az came into my room not long after the
housekeeper dropped us
off. The rooms were huge and it wasn’t like we were even mildly
uncomfortable in them; it was just that everything was happening so fast and neither of us could get a word in edge wise.
Sure, I could handle fast paces better than Taz could, but neither of us liked change. Especially when it wasn’t something we decided on by
ourselves.
Taz plopped down on the bed and fell back into the plethora of pillows that lined the top of it and watched me put the rest of my clothes away in the drawers that were around the room.
He flicked his hand towards the fireplace that sat under a massive flatscreen T.V. and turned on the fire.
I figured it wouldn’t take long for him to get cold. I came from a hot-blooded species and a cold-blooded species, which meant that I didn’t get hot nor cold all that easily. However, Taz came from two hot-blooded species which meant he was almost always hot, but he also got cold very easily.
Zephenrites don’t have the same body regulation systems that most other species or even humans do and they don’t have the same advanced homeostasis system that we do. If they’re mad for too long, they can literally cause their blood to boil and the same thing happens if they get too hot.
Blood boiling isn’t just something that can hospitalize a Zephenrite. It can and will kill them.
Mom and I always had to be so careful during the summers in
Rockfell.
Being by the sea meant that Rockfell was very humid and if Taz was out for too long there was always a chance that his blood could boil.
Luckily, when we met Bali it got a little better. She possessed the ability to control weather, so whenever Taz had a football game or had something important she always made sure to cool the temperature down just enough to be safe for him but not too much where anyone else would notice.
But she wasn’t here. She couldn’t control the weather in Crystalhills all the way from Rockfell.
I really hoped that Mr. Caeruleus knew our dad as much as he said he did and would pay attention to that small detail. I didn’t expect too much of him, though. Many people
overlooked small details.
I finished putting up the last shirt I had and sat down beside my brother and reached over to the nightstand to pick up the T.V. remote and see what was on.
Infomercials.
News.
Reality shows.
Fruitless cartoons.
I sighed and quickly flicked the T.V. back off. I kicked myself for even trying to find anything.
I was never a big television person and honestly neither was Taz. I had books and Cobwebs and Taz had his sports. Not to mention, if any of that got boring Mom never protested about us going down to her lair and
practicing our magic (with her
supervision).
Then, of course, we had each other. I lay back against the downy
cushions behind me and looked over at my younger brother. “Taz, be honest with me, is it yours?” I asked softly.
Taz looked at me and raised his eyebrow. “What?” He questioned seeming to be afraid that he missed something.
“Lily’s baby, is it yours?” I repeated calmly. I was used to having to repeat myself. I often times talked too fast or mumbled too much for anyone to understand me.
Taz shook his head, “I never did anything like that with her. The farthest I think we ever went was kissing and we never even did that in private.”
I released a sigh of relief as I put my arm around his shoulders. “You know they’re going to ask you to prove that, right? How are you going to do that?” I questioned, though I already knew the answer.
He looked at me and silently shrugged. “Levi? Bali… she… she isn’t our slave… is she?” He asked slowly. His eyes were a deep, chocolate brown. For once, I saw Taz as what he was.
My younger brother, the one I was supposed to protect. Not the other way around like it had always been.
I furrowed my eyebrows and quickly shook my head, “Of course not. Where’d you get an idea like that?”
Taz sighed as he turned his gaze to the door. “I don’t know, I guess it’ s just been really hard to ignore what the
Watchers have been saying.It’s like I know that what they’re accusing us of isn’t
true, but it’s like those lies people tell. They tell them over and over again until they even begin to believe them.”
“Taz, you can’t let that bunch of neck-bitters get to you like that. If you let that happen then we might as well go home and tell the court that we’re guilty before we even get a chance to defend ourselves.”
“I’m not sure how much faith can help us right now, Levi. It sure hasn’t seemed to be helping us yet.”
“That’s the weird thing about faith, Taz. It’s like a football, you’ve got to hold onto it until you make it all the way to the end otherwise you can’t score.”
Taz sighed as he looked back up at me. “So, you think we’ve got a chance at winning?” He asked.
I shrugged and offered him a small smile, “Hate to break it to you, Taz, but even a .1% chance is still a chance.”
Chapter Twelve (Samuel)
“Life isabout making an impact, not making an income.” –Kevin Kruse
The next day was
somehow a day I had been dreading more than the
day before when I had to go show my face around Hazel Rizo again after so many years, but I knew it was
necessary. It was time to start
collecting my evidence.
I had the power of lie detection, but
I knew that before a biased justice system it wouldn’t cut, so I had to resort to using the extremely oldfashioned polygraph on both of the boys. Both of them came out clean with both of them apparently telling the truth about the fact that they didn’t do any of the stuff that they were accused of.
It seemed too fool-proof. I could just go before the judge and show them the polygraphs, but of course it wasn’t going to be that easy.
Kiki’s twin sister (and my CIO), Missy was in my office organizing all of the information onto her what seemed like thousands of charts when she just had to burst my bubble.
“ Dr. Caeruleus, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you realize that this isn’t going to be enough evidence for this case, correct?” She asked despite sitting before plenty of testimonials from the boys, the polygraphs, and everything else I could think of doing.