Without looking back to see that his people were settled, Aries walked toward his home and disappeared within the shadows of the columns. The stunned people began to claim homes, desperate to escape the elements. It was chaotic to say the least. Some elected to live alone, whereas others chose the company of complete strangers, claiming safety in numbers. Some argued over which house was theirs. Emotions spiraled when panic and the instinct to survive kicked in.
Guardians walked among them, stepping in to settle every feud, quickly diffusing any escalating tensions.
I couldn’t move. My feet were frozen to the soil, not with ice, but with disbelief.
This frigid bleakness couldn’t be our lives now. This couldn’t be our new existence.
ARIES
The girl wore my blood, but even the metallic smell couldn’t drown out the scent of her. Whether she was inches or feet away, the effect was the same. I would know her if she was half a world away.
My friend, the one I trusted most, whom she’d called Kes, valued her life above all others. How had she garnered such devout adoration?
The girl hadn’t moved from the spot I left her. I shouldn’t have abandoned her in the cold on the snow-patched, scrubby plain, but I couldn’t stand the look in her eyes. She thought I was wicked.
Fiendish. Vile. Cruel.
Didn’t I give each and every one of them shelter? What else must I provide to make them comfortable? To make the hatred in her eyes fade, even fractionally?
Her hair was not pale, nor was it dark. It was like gold mingled with wheat and wet sands, and many shades in between, all of them lovely. Her eyes were blue, the color of the thick glaciers hanging in the crevices of the mountains in the distance, and just as clear and cutting. Her cheeks and nose had turned pink and she fought the urge to shiver, losing the battle and hugging herself loosely, absently. She was lost in thought; I fought the urge to lose myself with her.
For hours I stood and regarded her strength, her sheer will as the sun slid west and began to descend, and the air turned cold enough to become deadly to those caught in it. Winter had ended, but the cold air lingered tonight.
As I watched from the shadows, her eyes latched onto me through the shade.
I held her stare as the light in her eyes dimmed.
As it began to flicker, as if the North wind could blow it out.
My feet carried me to her.
6
I stood and watched the sun set, a last blast of fire lashing out against the deepening sky. The wind howled, frigid and relentless. My lips were chapped and cracked, and I’d long ago lost the feeling in my fingers and toes. But Kes would be here soon. He’d come back as soon as he saw that Mom and Dad were okay. Maybe the Zodia’s rules could be bent, or maybe he could break them and bring them here. We could claim one of the houses, if any were left empty. Or maybe Aries would raise one for us. It would all be okay as long as we had each other.
Bright stars appeared in the clear, cobalt sky, a sight that used to comfort me in the dead of night. I watched them twinkle, hugged myself, and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Until Aries appeared in the shadows between the columns.
He watched me for a moment before appearing in front of me, getting into my personal bubble again. “Why do you linger out here in the cold?”
He’d changed out of his loincloth and now wore pants and boots with a long-sleeved black tunic that looked thick and warm. It matched his horns and hair and looked perfect on him.
“Why do you care?” I volleyed.
“You will freeze to death.”
“Kes will be back soon,” I told him, raising my chin just a little.
“You’d turn to ice long before he does. He can’t just scoop your parents up and leave with them. There are rules by which he must abide.”
Rules no one but them knew.
I felt like crying, but I knew my tears would freeze as soon as they left the security of my ducts. I felt like screaming, but what good would that do?
“Fine. I’ll find a vacant house,” I said absently, looking around.
“You will not stay in one of these dwellings; you will stay in the castle. I’ve prepared a room for you.”
“Why?” I asked.
His eyes traced the bloody marks slashing through both my eyes. “Because I’ve pledged myself to you,” he said softly, making my pulse quicken.
There was reverence in his tone. It set me on edge.
Aries didn’t pledge himself to me, he merely pledged to keep me safe from the other Zodia, to grant me asylum in his realm. Nothing more.
“I’ve built a fire for you.” His eyes implored me to listen, to obey. I was too frozen not to take notice. Numb, and not just from the cold climate.
When he took my hand and tugged me forward, I let him, surprised to find that his hands were warm and strong, the way I imagined them to be as he held me and brought me here.
I could wait for Kes inside beside a fire, I decided. I was afraid, frightened Kes was out there and had gotten caught checking on Mom and Dad, or was having trouble finding them and might get caught while searching…
The castle felt forever away from the steps that led to the maze of columns, but when Aries offered to bring me to the castle in an instant, I asked him not to. I told him I wanted to walk. Moving sent tingles through my numb legs and arms, and for a moment, I considered telling him I changed my mind. Walking gave me a sense of the layout of all he’d raised from the ground, and it wasn’t until I was in the rows of columns that I realized they weren’t squared into rows at all, but instead formed concentric rings. It was like Stonehenge on steroids.
He led me through tightening ring after tightening ring until we emerged from the stone forest and walked into a stone courtyard surrounding the castle. The noose I felt closing around my throat loosened and I took a breath, only to expel it again when I took in the grandeur of Aries’s abode. This thing put Disney’s castle to shame. It was gloomy and foreboding, yet somehow welcoming. A strange, confusing mixture – just like its maker.
Aries led me up another smaller set of steps that led to the enormous front door, which he opened and closed behind us. Then he led me down a long, dim corridor. I kept my steps small because my eyes needed more time to adjust to its darker, unfamiliar interior, convinced I’d trip and fall on my face.
Aries walked beside me, allowing me to set the pace, glancing my way every moment or so. I pretended not to notice, but when he opened a door to reveal a small room with a roaring fire flickering in the hearth, I rushed toward it. The warmth stung my frozen skin and my eyes watered from the dry heat, but it was worth it.
Aries hovered by the door, his hands in the pockets of his strange pants. Not that they looked bad on him; the style was just unusual. Loose fitting after they cinched at the waist, but tighter over the thighs and calves.
Aries looked lost for the first time since he woke.
“You are unhappy. Everyone is unhappy,” Aries said. “I expected things to be different.”
My brows rose. “Did you expect adoration?”
His brows pinched together. “Yes,” he choked. “Things were much different before.”
“How so?”
Aries crossed the room and quietly sat down beside me. There was nothing in the room but the hearth and us, but somehow he filled it and made the space inside shrink. His presence was overwhelming, and his cinnamon scent washed over me in delicate waves. His dark lashes fluttered, a tumultuous storm of emotions washing over his flawless face as he prepared to explain.
“Each of the Zodia rule in their own way, but my people were happy. They prospered. They laughed. Loved. Lived their lives in the fullest ways – ways I could only enjoy by watching them. Ways I wished I could live mine.” He paused, but lifted a clawed hand when I o
pened my mouth. “I know this is all very jarring. I know what you’ve lost. All of you. It must be very hard to leave all you know behind for a future that is unfamiliar and seemingly uncertain, but I will take care of my people. I promise you that.”
A log in the fire popped.
“What about those who aren’t yours, Aries? What about them?”
The apple of his throat bobbed as he swallowed.
That’s what I thought. He had no say in how any other Zodia treated their people. In how their lives would play out.
For once, I had nothing to say. At least he got it. At least he understood what every human outside these walls was going through.
“What was life like for you?” he asked softly.
I watched the fire flicker in his eyes for a moment, gathering my thoughts.
What was life like for us?
“Honestly, it was sort of a hot mess. If you watched us for a while, you’d see people with phones seemingly attached to their palms, sometimes unable to look away from their screens even to do simple things like cross the road. You’d see people working long hours and getting paid only to use every dime on bills and food and things they needed, and a lot of things they didn’t need at all. Things they just wanted. You’d see people drinking and taking drugs to escape and then waking up with the same problems they went to sleep with. Life was cyclical. Things became routine and mundane. Then crises would happen and put things in perspective, just when you needed that clarity the most. Then you’d remember what was important and what wasn’t, but all that would fade in time and you’d lose sight of what really mattered again. We… we never really learn to be grateful or happy or to appreciate what we have, do we?”
Aries’s brows slanted. “No, I suppose not,” he murmured, “but I wanted to know about your life, Larken. Just yours.”
I swallowed. The tenderness in his tone was so unexpected. It contrasted with his horns, the power he wielded like it was as easy as breathing. “Well, I’m just a teenager so I haven’t had much time to experience it. I went to school. We learned English, Math, and Science; some stuff we needed, and some I’m pretty sure I’ll never need. Calculus, for example. But I had friends. This weekend, I was supposed to go to my senior prom with Xavier Dillon. We were just going as friends, but I was excited to go to prom with him.”
“Xavier Dillon?” he rasped. Aries looked at the marks he’d painted on my skin. “You wanted him as your mate?”
“I’m not sure you understand. I’m only seventeen, although technically, I’ll be eighteen in a few weeks. But anyway, seventeen-year-olds don’t spend our time worrying about finding a mate. We worry about college and what’s happening on any given weekend, social media, going to the mall, and hanging out with friends. Not… mates.”
“So you were only toying with him.”
Ugh. Modern life was hard to explain to the ancient.
“No, not toying, but it wasn’t serious. No mating had happened,” I teased, trying to smile.
It was not wise to tease Aries.
A growl resonated from his chest.
Instinctively, I took a step back from him.
“I would never hurt you,” he said almost dejectedly. “I’m not a monster.”
His eyes locked on the hand that had unconsciously slid to the bruises on my side. Apologetic regret flickered there, but that didn’t mean I could let my guard down. He was dangerous. And strong. He could easily kill me if he wanted to, and even if he got angry and didn’t mean to.
He was quiet for a long moment. “Would you like to go to your house to collect some of your belongings?”
My heart nearly cried. “Yes,” I rasped. I wanted all my things. Maybe then, this would seem like less of a nightmare.
My eyes watered at the lingering, familiar smell of mulberry spice. Mom kept one of those automatic air freshener things at the entry in case someone came over. She wanted our house to smell nice, to make a good first impression despite my sweat-soaked running gear slung behind the door.
I clung to the scent, trying to commit it to memory. Eventually the batteries would run out and it wouldn’t smell the way she liked anymore. But this wasn’t our home now, it was just another house unless we were in it. The thought broke my heart.
I flicked the light switch and surprisingly, the lamp on the foyer table illuminated. I made a quick circuit through the living room, kitchen, and hallway, turning on all the lights I came across.
“Your dwelling is comfortable,” he mused, looking around at the furniture, the throw blankets tossed over the back of the couch, and teetering stacks of books and fashion magazines on every table. He stared at the television, then looked into the sliver of kitchen that could be seen from the living room.
“Whose area is this?” I asked Aries, standing in my foyer. “Which Zodia?”
“This is Gemini’s territory.”
Gemini. Twins, right? “And should we be expecting Gemini since we’re standing in her territory? Or is it his territory? Their territory?”
“Hers,” he grimaced. “We can’t linger, but we should have enough time if you would like to show me your home.”
He was antsy but trying to make this fractionally less painful, and that meant a lot to me. As did the fact that he was willing to enter another Zodia’s territory so I could get the things I loved. But if Gemini made him nervous, I did not want to meet her.
He flicked the light switch in the foyer up and down turning the light on and off, on and off, a question in his eyes as to how it worked. I quickly showed him the power poles outside and explained how factories produced energy that fed to power stations and substations, which then trickled down to us via the power lines and we accessed with switches that turned on the lights. I showed him a bulb in the lamp on the living room end table, and in case he was interested, I showed him the small bathroom downstairs, explaining the magic of indoor plumbing as best I could. I was certainly no expert, but people would appreciate plumbing, hot water, and electricity if he felt inclined to provide it.
He seemed perplexed by the intricacy of it all, so I didn’t get my hopes up that we would have it back at his castle. But that wasn’t the reason I was here. I was here to grab my stuff.
“Will you show me the other rooms?” he asked.
I nodded and led him into the kitchen, showing and explaining the appliances as he peeked inside every cabinet, scanning their contents. “It’s kind of a mess,” I warned.
Mom had recently angry-cleaned the house from top to bottom, which was only slightly less terrifying than when she took up the cross-stitch needle, but despite her work, we lived here and it was cluttered.
He examined the faucet at the sink, jumping backward when the water came on, spraying into the basin. I laughed, unable to stop myself, then turned the handle so the water turned off. “It’s just water. It won’t hurt you,” I explained.
“It startled me. I’m not afraid,” he said, straightening his back.
Aries was at least six inches taller than me. I had to look up a little to see his eyes, but unlike Kes said, I was not short. Not by a long shot. I was five-seven.
“I wouldn’t imagine you’re afraid of much,” I said, leaning a hip against the counter and crossing my arms.
He took in my position and mirrored it, his eyes playfully narrowing. “You don’t seem frightened of me,” he challenged.
“Should I be?”
He gave a saucy grin and stepped closer. “Perhaps.”
Was he flirting? Butterflies took flight in my stomach before I cleared my throat and pointed toward the closed door over his shoulder. “That’s the laundry room.”
“Laundry room?” he asked confusedly, glancing over his shoulder.
I moved past him, opened the door, and let him peek inside. I pointed out the washer and dryer and then walked down the hall to the staircase t
hat led upstairs. He lingered, looking in every closet. He even examined the brooms and mops. “We use those to clean the floor,” I explained, holding onto the banister. We had a closet under the stairs for storage. I thought about telling him Harry Potter lived there, but he would never get the reference.
He stopped to examine it, ducking to squeeze himself into the tiny space, and began looking through boxes. I rolled my eyes. “The stuff in there isn’t that interesting. It’s things we don’t use all the time but Mom won’t throw away.”
His head thumped on the closet’s ceiling as he backed out of the cramped space.
“It’s just… it’s fascinating to see all you possess.”
I guess…? It was just junk to us, but to him, this must be overwhelming. His idea of decorating a room was to build a fireplace and leave the rest bare.
A bad feeling suddenly settled into my gut and as eager as I was to see my house again, the feeling urged me to hurry and leave. “My room is upstairs. First door on the right.”
I jogged up the steps, pausing at the landing as he examined the embarrassing pictures of me and Kes hanging on the wall, a collection of school pictures from Kindergarten at the bottom of the steps to our senior pictures at the top.
Gesturing to the sets of double pictures, I explained, “Kestrel and I were fraternal twins. He was born two weeks before me, though. He was ready to make his appearance. My lungs weren’t as developed when she went into labor with him, so they gave her medicine to stop her labor after he was born and they let me bake a little longer.”
“He was born under the star sign of Aries.”
I nodded and braced my hands on the bannister. “And I was born a Taurus. Lucky me.” He finally looked at me, confusion pinching his brow. “I was joking. I’m not really lucky.”
I should probably avoid sarcasm for a while, ease him into it.
Things That Should Stay Buried Page 6