Of Noble Chains (The Ventori Fables)

by Miles, D. L.

  Without telling her mentor her plan, she marched over to the man on the right. When she tapped on his shoulder, she didn’t get the feeling that he was a Specter the way she did from the others, but she thought she saw his nose shift positions. It was so slight, she almost missed his facial structure changing as he turned around.

  “It’s you,” Zia declared, hands on her hips and ready to reach for her dagger. The man furrowed his brow, his hair changing to a lighter shade of brown. Trinila came up behind.

  “That isn’t him at all,” she said, and Zia waved her away.

  “It’s an Incubus,” she explained, “they change their appearance to match their latest target. He shifted his bone structure and hair colour to match what you would prefer.”

  Trinila’s mouth made a tiny “o”, and the Incubus shoved his hand against Zia’s shoulder. Not expecting an attack, she stumbled backwards into Trinila and the Specter leapt over the nearest bed. He went for the door, knocking down a tray on his way there, but Aeryn caught him, hooking his elbow around its throat. He went down easy, and Aeryn applied the reduc-chains; the thing was now locked into his current form.

  Trinila helped straighten Zia, who was thoroughly embarrassed by being knocked down so easily. She hurried over to Aeryn, leaving the pregnant women behind.

  “We’ll take him over to the Ark,” Aeryn called to the women, who tried to advance on the man that had technically raped them, “I’ll be back later with the details of his trial.”

  As he pushed the Incubus out the door, the women called out their thanks to them, to Aeryn. Zia bowed her head in their direction, and followed her mentor.

  “It was a little obvious,” she told the Specter under the afternoon light, “that it was you when you shifted your appearance right in front of me.”

  “I thought it was my only way of tricking you,” he shrugged, clearly not too worried about being caught, “I had to match the boy in your head if I wanted you on my side.”

  “I would never be on a Specter’s side,” Zia argued, her eyes sliding towards Aeryn. They waited to cross the street, each keeping a hand on the Incubus. He just laughed.

  “Not that one,” he sang to her and leaned towards her to whisper in her ear, “but I would lie too, if I was a Ventori falling for that boy.”

  “Knock it off,” Aeryn said, and he yanked on the Incubus to keep him away from Zia. He hadn’t heard what it said to her, but he could tell she was spooked; more so than when she had found out about her brother. He offered, “I can take him in alone, if you want.”

  Zia agreed instantly, which made him worry even more. “Yeah, that works. I gotta go.” She ran off down the street, taking small glances back at the Specter.

  “What did you say to her?” Aeryn asked as they crossed the street. The Incubus laughed again, and they moved into Ventori Ark.

  “Nothing,” he lied, “I was just telling her that the mind gets no choice in what the heart wants. Love cannot be hidden from my eyes.”

  They both knew what he meant. The only person that didn’t was Zia, but Aeryn had a feeling she would be finding out soon enough.

  Aeryn gave him a shove forward, and said, “How poetic.”

  Chapter 17:

  Iscah was already at Zia’s house when she arrived, and was sitting on the front steps. Her strawberry-blonde hair glowed in the sunlight, but even her kind smile didn’t stop the chills Zia had; that Incubus had really gotten to her. But as she walked up to her best friend, her worries melted away, and Iscah held up her supply of nail polish and other beauty supplies.

  “You could have waited inside,” Zia told her, and Iscah shrugged.

  “I don’t mind,” she said, and Zia opened the door. Win was sitting in the living room reading a book.

  “Hey mom,” Zia said as she walked by, “Iscah and I are going to a party tonight so we’ll be getting ready!”

  “Oh, is that the one Hayden was going to?” Win called out, and Zia could hear the smile on her lips. She stopped abruptly on the stairs, and quickly walked backwards past Iscah to see her mom.

  “Hayden? How did you know?”

  “He called this morning after you went out,” Win confessed, setting her book in her lap with her finger as a bookmark. “He wanted to invite you to a party at…Cal’s I think he said? I told him you were out. Cal was that boy you dated at the academy, right?”

  “Yeah, I ran into Hayden on the street,” Zia spoke slowly, wondering how Hayden knew her home number. “What else did he say?”

  “He was just hoping you would go,” Win kept a sly smile on her face, “I hope your boyfriend doesn’t mind him inviting you.”

  “Boyfriend?” Iscah’s eyes widened, as did Zia’s. She quickly started dragging her friend upstairs to explain, and she heard her mother chuckling down below. As soon as Zia’s bedroom door was shut, Iscah question, “You got a boyfriend? Why didn’t you tell me? Is he cute? No, he’s probably hot; you always date the hot ones, not the cute ones.”

  She looked into her friends gentle eyes, and tilted her head. She confessed, “It’s Aeryn. He came over the other day and I had to think of a lie.”

  “Oh,” Iscah nodded, and sat down on the bed. “You couldn’t say he was your boss or something?”

  Zia paled a little, and quickly moved on from her mistake. “So hey, what’d you bring?”

  Iscah grinned, knowing her friend well. “I brought the usual supplies. What time did you say Hayden was picking us up at?”

  Zia began to paw through the nail polish, debating which colour to pick. She could feel Iscah’s eyes on her, and wasn’t sure what to say. Why was everyone suddenly so interested in her love life? And why did Hayden always come up with it? She said, “Nine.”

  “We have a lot of time then,” Iscah picked out a pale pink polish for herself, that Zia noticed was already on her toes. “How’s your new…ah, job going?”

  Zia looked at her door, and then to Iscah. Carefully she pulled her badge out of her pocket, and flashed it for her friend. She put it away quickly, and began to look through the colours again.

  “You have a badge now?” Iscah squealed. Zia shushed her, and she quieted down, “Congratulations! But I thought you needed the education to get it?”

  “No,” Zia shook her head with a smile, “you just need to be part of a clan, and actually catch a STRAY.”

  “So are you still going to try and get into college?” Iscah and Zia slid to the floor and began to set everything up for their beauty session. Zia paused just as she was about to put on a streak of blue polish.

  “I want to,” she confessed, “but…I don’t know. If I can learn from Aeryn…maybe I don’t need to go to college?”

  “Well you still have a couple months,” Iscah shrugged and started on her nails. “So…do you think Cal wanted us to go to the party?”

  Zia shifted her eyes to Iscah, and saw her cheeks turn a light pink. Cal went to the Academy of Light, and he was part of the Jasper clan, plus he was also one of the boys that Zia had dated in high school. She broke up with him after realizing that Iscah had fallen for him.

  “Maybe,” Zia shrugged, knowing that Cal had never even noticed Iscah’s existence. “I only talked to Hayden.” And even Hayden’s invite sounded like it was meant for her. She started painting her other hand, and left it at that.

  “Okay,” Iscah didn’t say anything for a while. But as her nails started to dry she blurted out, “I’m sorry, do you not want me to like him?”

  “What?” Zia was surprised by the sudden outburst.

  “I just…I know you really liked him in high school, and then you broke up with him because of me…but I just…I can stop liking him if you want! He was your first kiss, and—“

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Zia held up her wet nails, “it’s fine. I broke up with him because I got bored of him, nothing else.”

  It was a lie, and Zia couldn’t tell if Iscah knew. She really had liked Cal, maybe even loved him, but it was just high school lov
e; it hadn’t meant anything. But it was also a mutual breakup, when Zia had suggested it, he instantly agreed. It was the first time Zia realized that whatever you saw on the surface wasn’t always real; because she had thought Cal loved her back.

  Zia blew on her nails, and Iscah asked, “Could you ask Hayden? I know you’re close with him, and he’s close with Cal, so…”

  “I am not close with Hayden! Why does everyone think I like Hayden?”

  Mal was waiting for the opportune moment to present himself to Zia, but with her friend there it was hard. He didn’t want to scare the girl like he had at the protest, and he knew Zia wouldn’t be happy should he appear from the air. He knelt in front of the Ventori, and smiled to himself; it was interesting seeing her act so normal. But he didn’t like how they were talking of this Hayden person, and he wondered why Zia hated Specters so much when her closest friend was one.

  Three hours later Zia and Iscah began to get changed. Iscah headed into the bathroom to do her makeup while Zia tried to find something to wear from her closet. Just as she reached her hand to pick out a skirt, there was a voice behind her.

  “Hello,” Mal said as he appeared near her through a haze of blue. Zia resisted a scream, and quickly grabbed onto the collar of his shirt and threw him into to closet. She couldn’t help but notice that his nose looked much like the way the Incubus had changed his own.

  “Stop appearing in my house,” Zia hissed at him, never taking her hands off of him. “What do you want?”

  Mal’s violet eyes were wide, and his mouth opened and closed but he never said a word. Zia prompted, “Well?”

  “I wanted to see you,” he confessed.

  “Wha…why?” Zia finally let him go, and little too rough and he stumbled backwards into her clothes. He was getting a bit of dust on them, and she grimaced.

  “Ventori are being killed,” Mal stammered, “you could be a target.”

  “So what, you’re here to protect me?”

  “Yes,” Mal stepped forward, “I want you to be safe.”

  Zia felt her face redden, and then footsteps coming towards her room. She ordered, “Well protect me from further away, got it?”

  Mal slowly nodded, and disappeared just as the door opened and Iscah walked in. She didn’t pay any attention to the dust on the carpet, and they resumed their usual routine.

  Zia had no idea where Mal had vanished.

  Hayden knocked on the front door to Zia’s house, dressed in blue jeans and a red long sleeve button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a black vest. He was nervous, and he felt a little ashamed by that; he was part of the Jasper and Shakti clan, and a girl made him nervous. But she had always made him nervous, not that she noticed.

  He already knew that Zia would be bringing her friend Iscah to the party, but as soon as they arrived he had already arranged for Cal to keep them apart. Tonight was the night that Hayden had been waiting for, and the party was the perfect chance. He had a plan, but unfortunately he forgot that plan when she opened the door.

  “Hey,” Zia greeted, wearing a black miniskirt with knee high boots. Her bright blue halter top was peeking out beneath her favourite blood red leather jacket, and Hayden could see the sheath of her dagger hiding there as well. Zia called up the stairs, “Iscah! Hurry up, Hayden’s here!”

  “Hey,” Hayden wheezed. He was finding it very difficult not to stare at her legs, or how perfectly her hair fell over her collarbone. Did she know exactly what he liked? Behind her Iscah jumped down the stairs, obviously excited.

  “Hi Hayden,” she said and she stepped outside with Zia. Trying to stay calm, he led them to his car and opened the door for them; Zia climbed into the front, and Iscah stayed in the back. At least that went according to plan.

  The first thing Zia noticed was that Hayden was wearing cologne; and nice cologne too that was far too pleasing to her. His hair was combed back for a change, not hanging loosely in front of his face, and his clothes looked new. Did he know exactly what to wear to make her question her feelings?

  Iscah had already gone into a deep discussion earlier as to why it was obvious she and Hayden liked each other. She had always liked psychology, and stated that he only bothered her so much because she was just so attracted to him. And she seemed to think he felt the same.

  In the car Zia was surrounded by his smell, mixed in with Iscah’s perfume. She pulled on the edges of her skirt, and looked at Hayden, suddenly seeing him differently. Had he always had such a strong jawline? Maybe it was just because she was staring at his profile. She asked, “So how big is this party? Usual Cal style?”

  “Yeah,” Hayden laughed, one hand out the open window while his other rested on the bottom of the steering wheel, “I had to set up four sets of speakers, and I’m pretty sure it took a truck to bring enough drinks.”

  “That sounds like Cal,” Zia laughed. In the backseat, Iscah laughed as well. Zia twisted to face he and added, “Don’t worry. You don’t have to drink anything.”

  “There’ll be non-alcoholic stuff too,” Hayden flicked his eyes to the rearview mirror. “He usually keeps the crowd well controlled.”

  “Okay,” Iscah agreed, but it was obvious she was nervous. Zia couldn’t tell if it was because there would be underage drinking, or because Cal would be there. They were only a year short of the appropriate age anyway…so it was probably all Cal.

  But the nerves were catching, and Zia tugged on the bottom of her skirt again. Something was very wrong with her this week.

  Chapter 18:

  Zia could hear the music all the way down the block, though it didn’t matter much because Cal’s “block” was actually his front yard; his house was a mansion, and a long line of cars led up to the four level home. She could easily remember coming over to study, and they would usually just end up in his pool. Even as they drove up she remembered what it was like the first time she had arrived.

  Hayden stopped the car, and they all climbed out of the vehicle. He tossed the keys to a man in an orange vest, and the valet drove off. As they approached the open front door, they passed by unfamiliar faces; that was another thing that usually happened at Cal’s parties, if you went in knowing nobody, you came out with at least ten new numbers in your phone.

  “Hurry up,” Zia called out to Iscah, who had begun to lag behind. She had been playing with the edges of her shirt, and looked around nervously at all the people. Most of them, Zia could tell, were from the Academy, which really made Iscah stand out; she only went to public school.

  Iscah caught up, and the three stepped into the mansion. There were people everywhere, and Cal spotted them instantly. He sauntered over, drink in hand, and greeted them.

  “Hey,” Zia yelled over the music, “you remember Iscah?”

  “Of course!” he shouted back, giving a nod to Hayden before turning to the girl. “Glad you could make it! Come on, it’s way quieter out back!”

  In a flash he was holding Iscah’s hand, and dragging her through the crowd to the back door. As Zia tried to follow she felt a hand cover her own, and looked over to see Hayden pulling her towards the staircase. He said, “Over here, we need to talk!”

  As they moved up the stairs, Zia thought she saw dust on the bannister, but got distracted by the scent of Hayden’s cologne. They made it up through the throng of teens and twenty something’s and Hayden pulled her into a nearby room; Cal’s room.

  She looked around as Hayden shut the door and found nobody was there; he never allowed anyone inside his room during parties. But she had been there before, and she went right for his balcony to try and get a view of Iscah. Something was strange, and Cal wasn’t one to look at humans easily.

  The balcony doors opened smoothly, and gave Zia memories of when she had first been invited to Cal’s; of course he hadn’t been interested in showing her the house then. And she had made sure to show him just what she was capable of when it came to doing things her way or not at all. But all her boyfriends had to learn the hard way, s
o it seemed.

  Hayden came up behind her, more hesitant than he normally would she thought, and placed his hands in clear view on the concrete bannister. Zia did the same.

  “They’re over there,” Hayden leaned his forearms forward now, and pointed overtop of the pool to Iscah and Cal. Past the dancing crowd, and a few people jumping or throwing others into the pool Zia watched as Cal offered Iscah a pink drink, who accepted it. Zia grimaced, knowing there was alcohol in that.

  “I need to talk to her,” she announced and spun around to head downstairs. But Hayden caught her wrist and spun her back to face him; it caught her off guard.

  “Wait,” he said, “I wanna ask you something Noble.”

  “Can it wait?” she tried to wriggle out of his grip but he held on firmly. Not forceful, but it was enough to let her know he was serious. “I need to tell Iscah that—“

  She was cut off as Hayden’s lips connected with hers. Her eyes shot wide, and she didn’t know what to do for a moment. When she shoved him away she saw that his eyes were just as wide. She yelled, “What in the Light are you doing? You hate me!”

  Hayden squinted at her, and stated, “It’s kind of the opposite, if you didn’t put that together.”

  “But you’re always trying to beat me,” Zia stepped back, finally seeing what everyone else seemed to, “in the races, and at school, and with college. Is this because I got my rank first? That’s low!”

  “What? No!” Hayden tried to stop her, but Zia was already in motion as she hoisted herself onto the ledge. Before she could swing her legs over he grabbed her around the waist, keeping her in place. He confessed, “I love you!”

  Zia flinched backwards. She had never heard those words before from a boy.

  Hayden’s plan went right into the wild lands. In his head he had gone over it time and time again, how he would get Kehzia alone on the balcony and ask her on a date, a real date. He knew that she had never been treated like a woman with any of her other boyfriends, and he wanted to be the first one to do just that; but when she had tried to walk away he panicked, and kissed her. He relished the kiss, but when she firmly pushed him away he knew he had made a mistake. And now she was trying to jump from the balcony to get away from him, and that hurt. It hurt enough that he just yelled that he loved her.