Web of Lies

by Rae Else

  The Arete Series

  A prequel story to the All-Seeing Eye

  Web of Lies

  Rae Else

  Copyright © 2018 Rae Else.

  All rights reserved.

  aretedescendants.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is fictionalised or coincidental.

  Luke picks his way along the path over Hampstead Heath. He fidgets with the band around his wrist; a kerykeion charm dangles from the black rope, making him invisible to humans. Janos gave it to him, warning him to wear it as soon as he was out of the car. Luke feels furtive, uncomfortable in his own skin. He’s never had to sneak around like this before. At school in Switzerland, huge swathes of the Alps were veiled, so even when using his elemental manipulation during training, he’s had perfect liberty.

  But things have changed: in the last twelve hours his world has been turned upside down. He’s become an outlaw, infiltrating the London Olympia with the rebels. Now two of the Triad are dead.

  With his keen hearing, Luke detects the brush of grass underfoot. A dog-walker and his furry friend are on the other side of Parliament Hill. Luke climbs the slope, nearing the veiled arete area he knows is near the top. Instead of cresting the hill, he turns and strides over to a clump of trees. As the human and dog come into view, the hound lets out a bark and dashes through the undergrowth, as if scenting something. The animal can’t see or hear Luke but is more perceptive, and sniffs around him before darting back towards its owner.

  The trees shift: the trunks and canopy warp as if being blown away, revealing a narrow staircase cut into the slope of a previously invisible ridge. Luke takes them two at a time. At the top, a manicured garden of lawns opens out in front of him, interspersed with deep, green pools of water surrounded by all kinds of flora. These terraced gardens are the highest point on the heath, higher than Parliament Hill and a secret enclave known only to the arete in the area. There’s no sign of any others, unsurprisingly given the early hour.

  On the horizon, London’s skyscrapers and tower blocks stand in a peach-grey haze. He leans on the stone railings enclosing the gardens, still imbued with last night’s chill. There’s something perverse about this arete area being above the grass and benches of Parliament Hill; arete have claimed the higher vantage point to humans. The landscaped gardens contrast starkly with the wild heathland below as if to differentiate the areas as much as possible.

  Luke scans the tiered lawns, tensing as if something could be hidden in the short grass. He texted his twin brother, Josh, to meet him here. He wonders if Josh will come. Now that he’s here, Luke feels stupid. He and his brother don’t get on at the best of times, and now that he’s on the run with rebels, Josh is going to be even less cooperative. Janos said that it would be fine, that reaching out to Josh is a good idea. Luke checks his watch. It’s half past six. Josh should be here by now.

  As he looks up, he catches a swift movement out of the corner of his eye. Luke is suddenly flung back onto the lawn as a mass connects with him; Josh has barrelled straight into him like a rugby player. Sprawled out on the lawn, Luke manages to spring up but isn’t quick enough to block the punch coming at him. He goes down hard again, his jaw burning. Pain pounds through his head as he reels from the impact. He clutches his face, wondering if anything’s broken.

  Josh’s bulk looms over him: wide chest and shoulders, every inch of him the well-honed muscle of a living breathing Hercules. ‘I didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to come.’ Josh glowers.

  Luke stays down. If he gets up, Josh will just floor him again. ‘I need your help.’

  Josh is stunned into silence, then anger twists his features. ‘You… who always thought you were better than us… want my help?’

  Josh has an inferiority complex. Luke inherited the serpent powers where Josh only got the arachnid gene. His jealousy was cemented when Luke was sent to an academy reserved only for powerful arete: serpents, harpies and sirens. Throughout his school years, Luke spent his time honing his manipulation and elemental abilities. Whereas Josh went to a school for lesser arete: nymphs and arachnids. He had nothing but his physical prowess to focus on. It’s hard to believe they’re twins. Luke is six-foot and athletically built, but Josh has another few inches on him, like a body-builder on steroids.

  ‘You’re really asking for help,’ Josh says, ‘after you’ve turned your back on your family?’

  It seems crazy that just a couple of nights ago, Luke thought of the rebels as the enemy too. How can he explain that their father hoodwinked them for years?

  He says cautiously, ‘Josh, Mum wouldn’t want us to fight.’

  Josh grabs him by his collar and wrenches him up so that his feet are barely touching the ground.

  ‘You dare mention her when you’ve joined her killers!’ he snarls, flecks of spittle flying into Luke’s face.

  Luke’s chosen his words poorly. Josh still believes that their mum died fighting against the rebels, not as one of them.

  Half-throttled, Luke tries again, ‘I’ve discovered things: about the Order, about the rebels, about Mum and Dad.’

  Josh’s grip loosens on Luke’s T-shirt, allowing him to breathe more easily. ‘Like what?’

  Luke looks down at where his brother still grips him. ‘D’you mind?’

  He narrows his eyes but lets go. Taking a step back, he crosses his arms and waits. At least the vein in his forehead has stopped popping: that’s a good sign.

  Luke takes a deep breath. ‘You know that Dad got me to watch for rebel activity at Endon, and that’s where I met El–’

  ‘If you tell me you’re doing this for a girl, I’ll thump you again.’

  Luke shakes his head. El is a huge part of why he’s with the rebels but he isn’t about to tell his brother that. Josh is with a different girl every week, he’d never understand how he feels about her.

  ‘When I fought in the Olympia two nights ago, El was there–’

  ‘Shocker,’ Josh says. ‘Another serpent in the Gymnasium–’

  ‘She wasn’t there because she wanted to be. She was coerced by the Order: they were holding her grandma hostage.’

  ‘So what?’ Josh says. ‘Poor privileged serpent didn’t want to fight... and?’

  Luke hurries on, ‘The Order had already killed her mum.’

  ‘Because she was a rebel,’ Josh barks.

  ‘Yes, but–’

  ‘You said you weren’t doing this for a girl.’

  Luke closes his eyes and sighs, exasperated. This isn’t how he wanted things to go. He hasn’t even got to why he’s here. Why does Josh always have to be so bloody defensive?

  His heart quickens as he catches sight of someone coming up the stairs: a man in a black suit with cropped hair. Luke tenses. It’s their father, Andreas. He must have followed Josh. Luke silently curses. He was an idiot to trust his brother. He has to get away, has to get back, has to get to El. His gaze darts towards the stone railings. He’ll have to jump. Just as he’s about to bolt, he’s yanked back.

  ‘Now you can tell Dad yourself.’

  In vain, Luke tries to wrestle Josh. He smarts, knowing that his brother is enjoying this. The tables have turned: Luke, the serpent and their father’s favourite, is about to be punished.

  He stops struggling. ‘He’s lying to us, Josh. Mum wasn’t killed by the rebels. She was one. The Order killed her!’ He shouts.

  Josh stiffens behind him, crushing Luke’s arms even more. He winces. Great. The oaf’s going to cripple him for telling the truth.

  Andreas’ even tone interrupts them. ‘Josh, let him go.�
��

  Josh scowls, full of resentment, but does as he’s told.

  Luke stares at his father. He could try bolting again but there’s something about Andreas’ tone. It’s absence of anger keeps him there. His dad looks tired more than anything.

  ‘I always thought one of you might follow in your mother’s footsteps,’ Andreas says. ‘To be fair, I would’ve banked on Josh.’

  Josh’s scowl falls away. ‘Mum was killed by the rebels though… right?’

  ‘Your mother died doing what we were both trying to do: affect change. For a time, like me, she thought I could bring it about from within the Order, but she eventually gave up and took to the other side.’ There’s no vehemence in his voice, just a deep-seated weariness.

  Luke interjects, ‘You knew Mum was working with the rebels?’

  ‘Yes. I didn’t like it, but I couldn’t stop her. She refused to stand by any longer and do nothing while the Order were executing innocent arete.’

  Josh’s wide face screws up in confusion. ‘Executing?’

  Andreas sighs. ‘Do you remember those nymphs that transferred from your school to one of the academies? The Order only allows powerful arete into the academies, and even then, only those from established families. They weren’t transferred. They were executed.’

  Josh stares. He takes a step closer to Andreas. ‘Some of them were my friends.’

  ‘Their parents had upset a high-ranking Order member. The executions were a punishment.’

  Luke looks between them. Is Josh going to punch their dad? He interjects, ‘You knew what was happening… you knew and you didn’t tell us? You didn’t do anything?’

  ‘I wasn’t high enough in the ranks to stop the execution. Your mother couldn’t stand by and let it happen. Instead, she turned to the rebels, passing on the information we knew about when and where the execution was to happen. I thought that was as far as she’d go… that she wouldn’t risk her own family for the cause.’ Andreas adds emphatically, ‘I was wrong. She went with the rebels to try to stop the execution. She got caught in the crossfire.’

  ‘You just stood by and did nothing?’ Josh shouts, the vein in his forehead bulging dangerously.

  ‘Your mother took a risk,’ Andreas says, unruffled. ‘One that almost backfired on our family… certainly on me, and you, her children. If I’d alleged to have any knowledge of her connection with the rebels, we’d all have been executed. So, I continued my service to the Order. And, more than that, ensured that my actions, and yours, have been unimpeachable for the last six years.

  ‘The discovery of your mother’s treachery was the perfect opportunity for mid-ranking Order members eager to climb the ladder. They could have impeached our family. I had to show that my values were aligned with those of the Order.

  ‘That’s why I sent you, Luke, to the academy. And you, Josh, to a school that would focus on your physical strengths. It went against everything your mother and I wanted for you. We wanted to change this broken system. We wanted to remove the segregation that exists between the arete: those with manipulation and those without. We dreamed of a world where the two of you were close but… it wasn’t to be.’

  For a moment, silence washes over them. Luke thinks about how different their lives were in New York before their mum died. He and Josh went to a local arete school, with all types of arete.

  Their lessons weren’t defined by their powers but by their likes. Back then, Josh had been naturally creative. He’d excelled at art: drawing, painting and sculpture. As he grew older he favoured textile sculpture best. His long, dexterous fingers always seemed to be teasing new worlds into existence.

  Most weekends they’d go to exhibitions with their mum too, at which she often showed her sculptures. Luke marvelled at both his mum and Josh’s artistic talent. It wasn’t until Luke came into his elemental power at seven, that he got an insight into the thrill of creating. He’d never excelled at art, but unlike other media, he felt an affinity with water, and easily shaped it. With naiad, siren and hydra friends, he soon took to making water sculptures in the arete area of Central Park. His favourite had been an ice sculpture, which he’d spent hours crafting on the lake: a giant galleon, its sails full as if billowing on the high seas. Even Josh had been impressed with that one.

  Luke’s gaze roves over Josh’s fists, still clenched and ready for a fight. He wonders if those fingers are capable of creation anymore, or if they’ve been too effectively reshaped into weapons... just like his powers of manipulation have been.

  ‘But why didn’t you tell us any of this?’ Josh demands.

  ‘We were under surveillance by the Triad,’ Andreas replies. ‘It was safer for you not to know. The Triad see arete power. Emotions and intentions can be traced into the future. I was worried that if I told you what had happened to your mother, you’d go against the Order and come to harm.’

  Both Luke and Josh stare at their dad, digesting everything. After their mum’s death, Luke took to his new lessons with determination, so that one day he might have the tools to avenge her. For years he fantasised about following in his father’s footsteps: becoming an Order member and bringing the rebels to justice.

  But, although Josh honed his physique and fighting skills, entry into the Order has never been an option for him. Without elemental abilities, all he could aspire to be was a basic bodyguard to Order members. Luke feels a pang of guilt. He realises there’s a part of him that took an ugly satisfaction in this. He’d felt it was his turn to excel at something, his turn to be admired by their dad, in a way that Josh was always the one admired by their mum.

  But Andreas says he never wanted this life for them. Luke thinks about how detached their dad’s been over the years. He’d always thought it was the result of their mum’s death: sending them away, only seeing them for summer holidays, barely being a family at all anymore. It all seemed to be the result of grief. Now he’s claiming to have sacrificed his relationship with them for their safety. He’s claiming to have sacrificed Luke and Josh’s relationship with one another too, for the sake of keeping them safe from the Order.

  Andreas’ voice rouses Luke from his reflections. ‘Luke, you’re on the same path as your mother. I’m afraid we can’t protect you among our line anymore. You have to understand: I’ve got your younger brothers and sister to think about.’ His expression is worn-out but resigned.

  Luke has two other brothers and a sister: Matt, Sam and Suzie, the triplets. They’re seven years old.

  Again, it strikes him how beaten Andreas looks. He’s stooping, his shoulders drooping. Like Luke, Andreas has a swimmer’s build; they both swim every day. His shoulders and back are built like boulders and usually poker straight. He realises his father’s back is bruised and painful, from the way his muscles contort. The injuries must be from the Olympia battle last night. Guilt gnaws at Luke: he hadn’t thought about his dad being there. His only thought had been about El: to protect her. His stomach somersaults as he remembers her falling into the pit in the Elysium.

  Luke shakes himself, remembering what he’s here to do. ‘I’m not looking for protection, Dad. I have a message for you from Janos. We’re going to Greece to ally with Helena Carras. Janos wants you to reach out to her too.’

  A light floods Andreas’ green eyes. ‘I didn’t know which of the rumours were true. El really is the great-great-granddaughter of Helena Carras?’

  Luke nods. He hasn’t explained to El yet that her great-great-grandmother is the head of the water line, one of the four leaders of the arete world.

  Andreas asks, ‘Janos saw El using the full power… what of that?’

  A chill sweeps down Luke’s spine. He’s suddenly aware that he’s under the scrutiny of an Order member rather than his dad. He answers carefully. ‘I don’t know if she has the full power or not.’

  Josh sighs loudly and crosses his arms, reminding them of his presence. Andreas just frowns.

  ‘With such a tie to
the Carrases,’ Andreas says, ‘it’s highly possible that she has it… or will. It does run in their line. El’s grandmother had it… Helena Carras’ sister, Iris, did too...’ Andreas falls silent, keeping his own counsel.

  Luke’s throat becomes dry. Discomfort starts to swell through him. His father’s got that distant look: that detachment. He looks reinvigorated though. The cogs and wheels of his mind are picking up a gear.

  Andreas speculates, ‘Helena Carras would give a lot more weight to subduing those lines in the Order that take out lesser arete needlessly. Her support could bring about the revolution from within the Order that I’ve always wanted.’ He scrutinises Luke. ‘Of course, if you could forge a stronger tie with El, favours from Helena Carras would be more likely given. There’s nothing like a personal tie to bind two lines together, to have a reason for her to endorse some of my policies.’ He pauses. ‘By forming an alliance with El, you could do some real good. This could be the key to stopping these unnecessary executions.’

  Luke frowns. His dad’s suggesting that he get close to El to facilitate an allegiance between the Carrases and Laukases.

  Josh laughs. ‘Uh, I wouldn’t count on Luke.’ He eyes his brother. ‘Do you have any experience when it comes to girls?’

  Luke flushes angrily. He’s not about to have a heart to heart with his brother and father about how he feels about El. ‘I’m not going to take advantage of her just to make an alliance for our line.’

  Josh grins. ‘More like can’t.’

  Andreas moves to the railings, looking out, but his focus is far away. ‘No matter, no matter,’ he mumbles. ‘Josh?’

  Josh strides over. ‘You’re due to take up a ski job this summer, aren’t you?’

  Josh nods.

  ‘What if you were to go travelling for a bit instead?’

  Luke leans on the railings the other side of Andreas. ‘Why?’

  Josh smirks. ‘Because I’m a better choice – I’ll charm the pants off her in no time.’