Lucid Lullaby | Chapter 5
Siblings
Read: Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4
Two hours and very little magic later, all the evidence I'd been in the house was erased. Alida had come into the kitchen after about twenty minutes, and though frustrated with her lack of power – "What do you mean I can't use magic during the day?!" -- she got on her hands and knees to scrub the floor with me.
"How do we leave?" she asked as I rinsed the sink.
"What do you mean?"
Alida glanced at the glowing edges of the windows and doorways. "I can't exactly wear a blanket over my head for the rest of the day."
I chuckled. "No, you can't. That would be a bit conspicuous." I turned off the water and wiped my hands off on a towel. "Well, I could just leave you here until nightfall."
She wasn't amused. "You wouldn't dare."
I secured my sword and the package, and reached out for her. She laid her small hand in my palm. "Close your eyes."
She frowned and pulled back her hand. "Why?"
"Because it'll make you sick."
Her frown deepened. "Why?"
I shook my head. "Alida, just trust me," I repeated.
Tentative, her hand crawled back into mine. "You know I trust you, Natty."
"Then close your eyes."
She complied with one last, lingering look. "Closed."
When I was sure she wasn't going to peek – didn't need her throwing up in my house -- I closed my eyes,too. Nether traveling, while effective, was a nauseating experience for beginners and the well-traveled alike. "Breathe in."
There was a harmony to our inhalation, evoking memories of swimming lessons in underground pools lit with the bodies of iridescent cave fish.
"I'm afraid, Natty," she whispered, treading water a few feet from the deeper end.
"There's nothing to be afraid of," I whispered back, eyes forward. Comfort was a weakness, and the spawn of the Lord of the Underdark were never weak.
Not that said Dark Lord paid us any attention from the far end of the underground pool. But even though Lucifer and his council were lost in the logistical matters of running his realm, I couldn't take the chance that he'd glance over.
Not for me. Ten years of constant abuse had given me a thicker skin and a hard-earned insight into his moods, good and bad. No, I worried that this so-called 'show of weakness' would rain his anger on my little sister.
In her femininity, Alida posed a greater threat to him.
He'd seen the lure it held from his perch amidst the Tree of Knowledge all those millennia ago. How easily that first human had been manipulated to fall from his Father's good graces. One damnable fruit… and, well, he’d told me once, his fist full of my mother’s hair, her screams reduced to silent sobs, “Females are for pleasure, not companionship.”
I'd been four, and that was the last time I ever saw her. I closed my eyes and shook the memory out of my head.
I moved closer to my sister, grabbing her hand under the water. Her flailing slowed until the ripples flowing from her movements barely registered on the surface. She closed her eyes, as serene as a six year old could be. "I'm here with you."
"You're here with me," she repeated.
"Nothing can hurt you."
She squeezed my hand and peeked at me. "Nothing can hurt me, because you'll hurt them first, right, Natty?"
"Right, Alida."
She closed her eyes.
"Breathe in..."
"Breathe out."
The air around us stilled. Alida's hand shivered. "Don't look."
"I'm not!"
I smiled at the pout in her voice. "Let's go home."
A warm tingle rose up my body, like a million crazed fire ants. Different, made my skin crawl, but not painful at all. My sister squeaked next to me, her fingers a vise on my hand. Maybe I should've warned her, but honestly, I was so used to the experience, it hadn't occurred to me until just then.
"Your ears are going to feel like they're going to explode," I whispered, "but just breathe."
A slow whine spun in the air, rising into an ear-crushing crescendo. Once, I'd opened my eyes. Just once.
My surroundings had frozen in the still back then, the simple spell displacing my body from this plane. Then the shrill sound had come, and like someone had thrown a rock into a stained glass window, the house I'd stood in had exploded.
The shards had spun around me, and my eyes had been unable to process all the minute images. I'd fallen to my knees and thrown up, which had only added to the whirlwind. And when all those pieces had formed together as my living room, I'd found the remains of my stomach scattered unceremoniously all over the furniture and floor.
Yeah, I hadn't opened my eyes during nether travel again.
My ears popped, and the whine died. The sweet smell of sandalwood filled my nose.
"Can I open my eyes now?"
I looked at Alida. She was pale and quivering. "Go ahead."
Her eyes fluttered open, and her grip on my hand relaxed. "You live here? This is your home?"
"Yeah."
She scanned the room. "Wow, Natty."
Home. A little ritual, a little magic, and that one word...it made the rest of this exile worthwhile.
I sat on the couch, my feet propped up on an ottoman, and pondered the mystery of my sister's appearance. She hadn't wanted to talk about it, insisting on a grand tour instead.
There was a darkness in her eyes I didn't remember seeing before, like a lingering shadow. As much as I wanted to push the issue, I didn't. She'd tell me when she was ready and not one minute before. No sense in worrying about it until then.
Besides I had to take care of business.
I pulled a long, oblong silver platter from beneath the coffee table and set it on top. A little blood from a quick cut across my palm, and I made my call.
The spatter twisted across the bottom of the dish, forming a disembodied head. "You're late."
"There were complications, Mr. Darius."
His head tilted to the side. "Nothing that affected my transaction, I hope."
I lifted up the box. "No, the target has been eliminated."
"Good. Once I receive the package, I will have the money wired to your account."
"Thank you. I hope we can do business again in the future." The head nodded, and I wiped the blood with my hand. It was absorbed into my skin, healing the wound on my palm. Thank the gods for small favors.
The water was still running in the back of the apartment, and I fought the urge to check on her. It wasn't as if something could attack her in the tub. My home was thoroughly warded against such intrusions.
Having her in my life again was bittersweet. What had she endured after my exile? What had he done to her? Images of her broken wings twisted my stomach. I felt responsible for Alida, and though I had tried to take her with me when I'd left, our father had hidden her away, out of reach from my magic, one last blow before sending me here.
I shook my head. There just wasn't any time to wallow in self-pity. I had another job tonight, a bigger one that required something bigger than the 12 x 10 box sitting on the coffee table.
Family problems were the least of my concerns.
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