Lapidary

The next day, I woke early and called my sister. My hand trembled as I held my cell phone, and I feared she might decline the call.

“Natka.” She sounded fresh, which suggested she had been awake for a while.

“I’ll buy you breakfast today,” I said.

She hesitated. “Okay, there is a Café Cakes close to school. I’ll meet you there in an hour.”

She hanged up, and I closed my eyes for a moment, grateful that she hadn’t turned me down. I got dressed and took my time applying makeup and styling my hair. Despite all the effort I’d put in, I didn’t feel beautiful. My chest was flat, my arms were twigs, and my hair was dry and split. I would start taking better care of myself.

I took a taxi to Ocelos and rode one of the giant crabs down Main Street before tying it to a post and walking to Café Cakes, which was right across the street from Little Rock Academy. I claimed a seat at one of the outdoor tables and ordered a coffee while I waited for my sister. Her striking pink hair was visible at the edge of the school. What was she doing there? I watched as a fae with pearl-white hair approached her. I straightened, as I feared my sister might be selling drugs to Quinn, but then my sister took papers from her bag and handed them to the fae.

There were all the notes and books I had found in my sister’s room. I had thought she was pretending to study so that my parents didn’t realize she had been kicked out, but what if she was studying and doing all Quinn’s assignments for her?

My gut twisted. I watched my sister walk away as if nothing had happened, as if she wasn’t being bullied. My sister crossed the street, spotted me, and waved, as I forced a smile. She made her way over to the table, and I didn’t get up to hug her because I was afraid she might push me away. She sat and crossed one leg over the other.

“Hi,” she said casually.

“Hi,” I said while fumbling for the menu. “Thanks for coming.”

“Sure.” This was said as if we had breakfast together every week. A moment of silence hung between us before my sister added, “Did you hear about the dragon appearing in Shark Bay Prison yesterday? It’s all over the news.”

I nodded. “It’s weird that it was able to come through a rift.”

She arched an eyebrow, which made me realize the newspapers possibly hadn’t mentioned a rift because the authorities, like Rhinsel, wouldn’t want to make people panic.

“What makes you think it came through a rift?”

I shrugged. “How else would it have gotten there?”

She appeared to think about it. “I don’t know, but it sure ripped the place apart, giving Dad more work, and killed many.”

“Dad must be pissed that his prison was destroyed…”

She shook her head then ordered a latte from the nearest waitress. “He says now that the prison needs repairs it will also be upgraded, and that it is a great opportunity.”

“That’s good,” I responded.

“Yeah, they want to know when you’ll join us for dinner.”

I tensed. “Sometime soon.”

“You’re lying. Tell me, what did they do that made you hate them so much?”

I put down the menu. “What? I don’t hate them. They never did anything.”

“Then why’d you abandon us?” she asked softly.

I swallowed, but I couldn’t tell her the truth. I didn’t want her to hate me, for being born with angel blood or not being related to her. Even if I was a worthless angel, more human than anything. Instead, I said, “I’m sorry.”

Ava nodded and blinked, as if trying to prevent tears from forming.

“I saw you give papers to Quinn.”

Ava’s face hardened instantly, and her energy changed. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You need to start standing up for yourself,” I told her.

“I can’t,” she said. “I’m not like you.”

“Like me?” I wondered.

“Strong. I’m not strong.”

I touched the gloves that covered my wrists, and guilt consumed me. How would my sister’s perception of me change if she knew about my scars? I couldn’t tell her about them.

I drew a deep breath. “I can confront Quinn with you.”

Her eyes widened. “No! Quinn’s father, Luther Silkbreath, is part of The Risen. He’ll kill us if we say the wrong thing to her.”

Was that fae male I had seen sitting with Devton around the VIP table Quinn’s father? He did have the same white hair as Quinn…

“I’ll think about it,” I said. There had to be a way for her to get back into school and to stop Quinn from bullying her because she was human. The only thing I knew how to do was hurt those who hurt me. But I didn’t know what Quinn’s weakness was. Everyone feared something; I just had to figure out what it was and how I could use it against her.

“Just let it go,” Ava said.

Our waitress returned, and we placed our orders before the conversation’s topic changed again. “What happened to you, after you left?”

I inhaled deeply. “I went to New Peace and, at first, surviving wasn’t easy. I worked bartending jobs, mostly, and stole as much as I could. I lived on the streets every now and then, and then one day I saw a faerie male wearing shiny rings. I walked past him and bumped into him – stealing those rings. Mostly, people took a while to realize that I had robbed them, but he immediately knew. He chased me and caught me, and I thought he would surely kill me. Instead, he introduced himself as Ryker and told me I could keep the rings on one condition.”

“What was that?” she asked.

“I join him for dinner.” I smiled at the memory. “So, I did. And then, in one night, we laughed more than I have laughed in my entire life. He offered me a place in his home and told me he would take care of me and that I will never need to steal again in order to eat.”

“He sounds kind,” she said.

“He was the kindest fae I’d ever met,” I said honestly. “And we fell in love overnight. I thought I would spend the rest of my life at his side. I wanted to.”

“Why’d he jump?” she asked softly.

“I don’t know.”

My sister gave me a sympathetic glance.

Our food arrived, and we ate without speaking much. When we were done, it was time for me to go to work.

“Thanks for coming,” I said.

“We’ll do it again soon.”

From Café Cakes I headed to the spot where I had left my crab, but it wasn’t there anymore – which was not a surprise. There were plenty of others to choose from, however. I reached for the nearest one when a hand was clasped over my mouth, and I was yanked backward, into a dark alley, out of sight from the crowds on the main street.

I slammed my elbow into my captor’s side, and he grunted as he released me. I spun around and found five strange men. One was clutching his side, while another held up his hands.

“We just want to talk,” one of them said.

But if they wanted to talk, they would not have grabbed me. I was angry and scared, and I had no desire to stay here with these strangers.

“Then talk to each other.” I spun, ready to run, but one of the men grabbed my elbow and pulled me back. I used my momentum and threw it into my punch. My fist collided with his nose with a crack, and moments later, blood was running down his face.

I begin to sprint, and the remaining four chased after me. They were human, and I’d hoped to outrun them, but I quickly realized I couldn’t. Fuck. I was slow, malnourished, and unfit. They gained on me, and I turned sharp right, to lose them. They followed.

Get to Main Street. They will leave you alone once you are in a crowded road.

I didn’t know the alleys well, and prayed I was running in the right direction. A sharp pain started in my side, but I don’t dare to stop and catch my breath. Up ahead, Main Street appeared, and I almost cried out in joy. But then one of the men intercepted me. He must have taken a different route so that he could cut me off. I ran into him, and we both fell to the ground. The impact hurt, but I scurried onto my feet. As I was trying to get up, two more grabbed me, one forcing my mouth shut.

I kicked and squirmed but couldn’t break free. I tried to resist as they carried me through the narrow alleys toward the edge of the city where a taxi was waiting for us. They tossed me inside, and I landed hard on my stomach. My breath left my body with a gasp, and I looked to the mermaid steering the kelpie, but she didn’t acknowledge me. She wouldn’t help. Devton had told me that Ryker, the mermaids, and the humans were smuggling diamonds. Was this why the mermaid was helping these humans?

The five men jumped into the boat, the one holding his bloody nose glaring at me, while the others tied me up and forced a gag in my mouth. They were doing this with their fishing supplies. I managed to bite the one, but that didn’t win me my freedom.

The kelpie began to swim, and I had no idea where or why they were taking me.