You are truly a carapace. You are truly my daughter.
She put down her phone, staring out of the window into the dark night. She wasn't sure how she felt about that statement. But she supposed she had time to find out. Alexander could deal with his brother's drama by himself. She was going to find out about her family, and he could deal with his own.
CHAPTER 12
When she had asked her father to bring the people who knew her mother, she didn't expect it to be a crowd, especially at midnight. But it wasn't long before there were twelve people in her huge hotel room, sipping wine, and spreading out pictures while telling stories.
Most of them had red hair and green eyes – features that had always made her feel like a black sheep. They were carapaces from both sides of the family, and they couldn't stop talking to her, smiling, and enjoying her presence.
“Here,” said one that she didn't know quite yet. He handed over a bundle of photos that were held together with an elastic band. “Your mother and I grew up together. I'm her second cousin, but we were neighbors. She liked to perform, just like you.”
“She liked to dance?” Ariel asked, shocked as she flipped through the pictures. She found pictures of her mother looking much younger than in the first picture she had seen, in a tap dance outfit. She recognized the shoes as tap shoes, and she smiled. “Oh my, those are old leggings.”
“She performed mostly in community circuits, but she did a pageant. She was pretty like you.”
“Yes,” Ariel was almost speechless, looking at a photo that she could have sworn was her. “What else did she like?”
“Oh, she was a pretty calm, easy going person. But she knew what she stood for and what she wanted.” He glanced up at her father. “And I wish we could have all respected her for that.”
“I'm sorry.” Ariel sat on the couch, feeling shaky. “It's just so odd. I never imagined her...any of you like this. I tried to not think about it, because that made it worse.”
“We thought about you,” her father said. “Frequently. We made sure that you were hidden, but it turned out you were so well hidden that we couldn't even find you.”
“When did you find me?” she asked.
“Your fame,” he smiled. “Your dance fame was helpful. But when we saw that you were walking with a dragon, we pulled back until we thought it was safe.”
“Was it safe when you finally did?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “But a second dragon surrounding you made it necessary. The situation changed with the fact that it was Peter.”
“Who is killing half the city because he's hungry,” Ariel sighed. “He just doesn't know what he's doing again. He was basically dead.”
“Does that make it better?” her father asked, and she sighed.
“No,” she said. “But the dragons...they aren't always in control when there is blood lust involved.”
“Or when they are threatened,” he said, and she put her head in her hands. She never got a wedding ring, but she felt like she was wearing one. It was like a phantom on her left hand, something that had bound her for years.
And these people surrounding her were so much like her – the same eyes, the same hair, the same body type.
“What is that you want me to do?” she asked.
“The kingdom is half yours. If the king is gone, the kingdom is all yours.”
“It's not that easy,” she said. “Even if something happened to Peter, there's Alexander and Nicholas to be king, and then Cole is married. It's a strong line, and I'm not going to kill them.”
“You do not have to kill them,” her father said. “But you do have to stop them.”
“How?” she said. “When they want something, they take it. When they decide that something is going to be done, it will be done.”
“And that doesn't bother you?” he asked. “Think about the behavior you just described. Those are not rulers. They are tyrants. Every time they come to Earth, someone dies. Sometimes it's one of us. Sometimes it's innocent people. But if there's enough of us, including your extreme power, we can start to close vortexes where they cannot enter this world.”
“Can't enter?” she said. “How?”
“A ring of carapaces this powerful in one place at the right time can suck so much magic from the Earth that they could never land there when they try to transport. There are only certain places that they can transport to. Have you noticed?”
“Now that I've think about it, yes,” she realized. “He's never said anything to me, but we do only land in certain places.”
“Because the dragons are restricted. We can make sure that those places are taken away from them, one by one.”
“Oh,” she said. “I... maybe would be alright with that. Maybe. But the kingdom...that is not mine to take.”
“They took ours,” her father said.
“Alvin,” someone said, and her father turned. She realized that she didn't even know his name until this moment. What else didn't she know about him? How much had she missed?
“The other dragon is back,” he said, and Ariel felt Peter's magic from above. “Should we turn on the news and see who he's killed this time?”
“I don't think every time he goes he...” Ariel said as they turned on the TV. Sure enough, before she said another word, there was another news story, and another body. “Jesus, Peter.”
All eyes turned to Ariel.
“Do you still think that they are worthy of redemption?”
She bit her lip. She knew what Peter was going through; she had watched Alexander go through it for years. Alexander was good at control now, but Peter barely knew his own mind at this point. He was out of control.
“Ariel, if we don't stop them, if we don't let them know that what they did was not okay, they will try again. We may be able to shut down their transport spots, but they have friends in high places who are always ready to answer their call. They took our kingdom, but you can exert your power over their decisions, even here. You can manipulate the throne for our advantage, make the Council a council that makes decisions for our benefit. And if you don't, how many more people will die?”
She said nothing, feeling the photographs in her hands. She also felt the dragon magic below, bouncing off and reaching for her.
The news blared on about another person who had died and her head spun with the lies Alexander told her.
“I'll do it,” she said. “I will close their vortexes.”
“Let's arrange then,” Alvin said, unfolding a map from his pocket. “There are a few around this city that are well used: here, here, and here.”
Her eyes glazed as she listed to the plan, feeling like her world was falling out from under her. But she was with her family – her family that she had always dreamed of. And no more innocent blood would be on her hands.
The carapaces agreed to meet the next day immediately after her show. The best time to close the vortexes was when the moon was full, at midnight, high in the sky. She wasn't sure what it entailed, but she figured that it couldn't be that complicated. From how they had made it sound, it was just a bunch of carapaces pushing their power into the ground.
When they left, they left the photographs for her scattered in the room. She sat on the bed, going through each one of them. The still images held so many clues, so many memories to why she was the way she was. Was her mother rigorous in dancing, or was she more of a hobbyist? Did she dream of the big stages, or was she happy the way she was?
Did she also dread and love the moment right before the curtain went up? Did her parents want her as a child, or were they virtuous and accepted the responsibility that was put on them? There were so many questions and so few answers.
She picked up her phone in the middle of the night, staring at the blank screen. She half expected Alexander to text her, to beg her, but it was silent.
She wished for Cole right now more than ever. Her youngest brother-in-law knew everything about magic, and he could be impartial. He cou
ld verify for her what they were saying. Except, of course, he probably wouldn't if he knew what they were going to use it for.
She had never been around other carapaces before, though, so she had no idea what they were capable of, especially when they were together.
She went through the pictures again, mesmerized by them. It was like someone had documented her mother's last fifteen years, picture after picture.
What had Alexander been thinking when he killed her? Had he been thinking? Had he been aware?
A bleep came on her phone, and she grabbed it. It wasn't a text message, though, but an email from her dance company.
Benefits, said the subject line.
She scrolled through it, her lip quivering. It was stupid, because it was an email about medical benefits. But there was a section about spousal benefits. And at the top, it listed her as married.
She had put that on her employment forms only because her medical benefits were cheaper if she was married. It was easy enough to find a marriage certificate, and she got a huge discount. And then she had forgotten about it because she didn't get sick often. She probably could leave it, even if she never saw Alexander again. But it would be a lie, and it would pain her every time she saw the forms.
She hadn't realized that her status affected her emotional state. She didn't tell anyone else, and she thought she didn't care. But she did identify as married.
She couldn't have blood on her hands, though. Blood that Alexander chose to cause was one thing, but blood that she could stop was different.
To distract herself, she pulled out her laptop, searching various dances and pageants. She was looking for some other clues about her mother's life, but she realized she didn't even know her name.
She could have texted her father, but it was late. And the truth was, she didn't need to know right that moment. Her father was in her life now; he could tell her what she wanted to know. She wasn't alone anymore; she didn't have to do everything by herself.
She went to the window before she went to bed, staring out over the city skyline. Her view was mostly of the parking lot below, and despite the late hour, she saw movement in the lot.
It was her husband, clinging to a lamp post like his life depended on it.
She didn't move. She didn't tap on the glass or open the window and call out to him. Whatever was plaguing Alexander was clearly not getting better. He shouldn't be on Earth. He should be back in the Kingdom where the medical technology was much more advanced.
Dragon or human form didn't matter to them, but humans were weaker and more subject to illness. If he knew what was good for him, she thought, he would go. But he wouldn't go, because Alexander had always put family before himself. He rarely thought about what he was going through, even, apparently, if it was killing him. He threw up once in the parking lot and then seemed to recover enough to head inside. Just before he did, however, he cast his eyes upwards.
She met his gaze, but didn't move. Something silent passed between them, and she was struck by a feeling of grief. This was going to be the end.
She told herself somewhere deep down that he'd approve. She was putting her family first for the very first time in her life.
CHAPTER 13
“How do we do this?” Ariel asked when they got to the hotspot the next night. She was tired and still in theater makeup. She had thrown on sweatpants and a hoodie, feeling overwhelmed by the night already. There were so many carapaces around, forming a circle on a spot of pavement that didn't look that special. She did recognize it as a place that she and Alexander had landed in more than once.
“Do you know how to push your magic?” Alvin asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Although, if you need anything more complicated, you're going to have to explain it to me.”
“That's all,” he said. “Once you pause, you'll feel the magic in the ground. I need you to push your magic back in sync with the rest of us. Once we push that much carapace magic into the ground, it should neutralize it for good.”
“Right,” she said, and then looked around. “Do we have to hold hands?”
Alvin laughed.
“It helps to sync our power.”
“Feels culty,” Ariel said, but she complied. However, when everyone starting humming, it made her raise an eyebrow. She assumed it was something about the magic, but it felt like she was about to enter a Disney movie about a witch’s coven. Alvin nudged her and indicated that she should close her eyes.
She did, and it was then that she felt the vortex. She knew how to push her magic, but she felt almost knocked over by the carapaces around her. They were sucking magic out of the ground faster than she was even capable of.
In her head, she could see the path from the dragon kingdom – the dizzy feeling, the shining light. She could almost see landing here, the ground rushing up towards her. She remembered the first time that Alexander took her up. It was from this very spot. She felt like a princess from the moment he took her hand, and it wasn't due to the crown she would eventually get. It was the way he spoke to her. The way he listened. The way he held doors and bowed to her out of respect.
She felt her head swirl, and then suddenly, she felt something she had almost never felt before. A lack of magic.
“That's it,” her father said. “It's closed. It's done.”
“That seems so…simple,” she replied. “If it was this easy, why didn't you do it before?”
“Because we couldn't do it without you,” he answered. “You are the strongest – the link and the key. Now that we have you, we can do anything. And you know what that's like, don't you, achieving your dreams?”
She said nothing to that, feeling like her soul was too bare. So instead, she turned the topic to a question that had been blazing in her mind since last night.
“You said that my mother danced mostly in community theater,” she said. “Did she go on tour?”
“Oh, yes,” he replied. “She toured with the community theater, just like you.”
“What?” Ariel asked, her face contorted. “Community theaters don't tour.”
“Uh...” Alvin paused. “Why not?”
“Because community theaters are unpaid,” Ariel replied. “They don't have connections generally, outside the town that they are in.”
“Oh,” he shrugged. “I must have used the wrong word. She got paid sometimes. She was never famous like you.”
“So, a regional theater?” Ariel asked, and he nodded.
“That's it. My apologies. It's been a while since I had to understand the world you live in.”
“What was her name?” Ariel asked.
“Marina,” he answered. “My beautiful Marina.”
“Marina,” she repeated. “That's not what I expected. But then, none of this is what I expected.”
“How was your show today?” he asked, and she shrugged.
“It was alright. I'm feeling a bit distracted.”
“That's understandable,” he said. “You must be tired. I'll walk you back to your hotel.”
“Oh,” she paused. “That would be nice. I never had my father walk me home.”
“Do you have a home, Ariel?”
“The palace,” she answered, before she realized what she said. “That's the only place where I am consistently. Other than that, it's usually just wherever we tour. Permanent hotels. I used to have an apartment, but I gave it up a while ago.”
“It must be hard,” he said, “to have no home.”
“I never...” She thought it over. “It never bothered me.”
But now that he was talking about it, she realized it did bother her. She didn't miss the apartment that she gave up, but she had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that she would probably never see the palace again. It was basically the only home she had known, and she loved how grand it was. It was far grander than she would ever be able to afford on Earth.
“Perhaps you can visit my home someday,” he said. “It's only three hours from here
, in the country side.”
“The country side?” she said. “I would have expected you to have a condo in the city.”
He chuckled. “But then–”
“Nothing is what I expected,” she finished. “I guess I'm getting predictable with what I say.”
“I'm happy for you to be predictable,” he said. “To learn anything about you. I spent so long, Ariel, wondering about you.”
Once she was back in her hotel room, she found her mind too restless to sleep. She felt the dragon magic below her, but it was weaker than normal. She paused in her texting, listening with her body. She could almost feel Alexander moving around.
There were no deaths today, and she wondered if Peter simply wasn't hungry or whether he was getting better. It concerned her, though, that the magic felt weaker. She could feel both of them, but not as strong as the day before.
Shaking her head, she went back to her phone. They weren't going to be her concern too much longer.
‘Marina Campbell,’ she typed into the phone. She expected to find other photos, or maybe some news articles. Her father had not told her much, even though he said he would.
To her surprise, there was nothing that came up that matched what she was looking for. The pictures that came up in Google were not the pictures of her mother, and none of the articles were about a dancer or a pageant.
She deleted Campbell, and typed in ‘Regina,’ which she thought was her father's last name. But it was completely possible that she got them mixed up.
There was nothing for Marina Regina either.
Confused, she went back to the photographs, thumbing through them until she found the one she was looking for.
There was her mother, looking gourgeous with a pagent queen’s sash on. If Ariel squinted, she could see that it said ‘Miss Victory.’
"What pagent is this?" she asked herself, turning on her phone to see if she could find a magnifier app. The light in the hotel room wasn't the best, but she hunched over, trying to angle it under the hotel lamp.
‘1992,’ she found at last.
Aris: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (Stratham Dragons Book 1) Page 26