Chapter 8 - From Silver To Gold
Instinctively, she struggled to pull her hand away from him so as to protect her son from whatever evil plan he had aimed to execute, but his grip was too firm around her wrist.
Instead of grabbing her baby from her, he deftly pulled off her brown loose cotton glove, and unraveled the bandage wrapped across the palm of her right hand.
She froze.
Waiting.
The dining section, tense.
"You are healing nicely."
Her stomach plummeted to the ground.
She yanked her hand away from him immediately. This time, he let her, and she took a hurried step back, her grip tightening around Arik.
"I don't like to be touched!" She snapped, her voice breathless with fear.
He arched an eyebrow at her while he offered her back her glove and her bandage. She grabbed them from him with just as much haste with which she had declared her dislike, stepped back and looked around the room, at the tattooed man's cold gaze, then at that raven —- that stupid raven that laughed at her!
It flew away at that moment, and Idalia flinched, a part of her scared that it would fly towards her.
But it landed on Mr. Lythoryn's outstretched hand, and said in that peculiar, mimicking deep voice, "See you, Coin."
Mr. Lythoryn laughed, and it was the gentlest sound that clashed directly against the tension that filled the dining area.
Muffled.
Odd.
"See you, Coin," he said, moving his fingers through the bird's black feathers before letting it go.
The bird flew past her and she stiffened, till she felt that it was gone—- till Mr. Lythoryn's voice drew her to the present.
"Miss Summers," he said with a polite nod, and in the next moment, he was out of the dining section, along with the tattooed man.
She heard the click of the door, and she heaved a sigh of relief.
Quickly, she checked on her cut to see that it was healing so slowly, like she was human.
He had checked because he still suspected her, and whatever that tattooed man had said had fueled it.
Her face contorted with a frown, and her injured hand balled into a fist. She had allowed herself to be so visibly shaken.
Stupid!
It was that raven; it unsettled her. He unsettled her. Everything about this place unsettled her! And when he had held her hand, she felt tension tighten so hard in the pit of her stomach that it plunged her right into the depths of unease.
She took in a deep breath and turned around only to find the raven perched on a similar rod hung on the ceiling.
Her legs were quick to find an escape, and she slammed the door shut, taking quick breaths; the sound of her heart slamming in her chest was all she could hear.
That stupid bird!
There were ravens in Cider District, but they were always in places that she could avoid or quickly move past.
With this one, she felt trapped. If it didn't feel like an extension of Mr. Lythoryn, maybe it wouldn't have frightened her so much.
At least, she had done so much to overcome her fear of ravens for so long now that she was starting to think that she was over it to a bearable extent.
Mr. Lythoryn.
He made her feel uneasy.
Everything here made her feel uneasy. She needed more information; she needed that document in that prison, that was if it was even still there.
Her hand tightened around the doorknob as she tried to take in calming breaths.
This was Echelon.
This house was an environment she could still navigate.
Outer Metro was dangerous.
Alpha Kalio and his searchers were in Outer Metro!
This was better; all she needed was more information and to follow her plan.
She sighed and turned around.
She needed—-
A shriek escaped her lips at the sight that awaited her, forcing her to observe the room she had run into.
The gentle lighting of the morning that moved in through the big window, along with the proper ventilation that kept the big space properly airy, the white lights attached to the ceiling, with their reflection basking off the white tiles surface of the walls and the steel colored surface of the counter top, made this kitchen nothing like the one in her two-units room with grandpa Alfred. Still, all she could see was her grandpa's face in that pan of oil, Alpha Kalio's message on the wall —- written in his blood, that hollow in his stomach!
Idalia would like to think that she was a strong werewolf, after everything she had gone through, but still, a dizziness that she couldn't fight hit her, and though she struggled to stand on her feet so Arik wouldn't be injured, she found herself slipping, the gruesome images flashing in her mind yet again, her breathing rapid, her body trembling.
Till some steadiness found her in a pair of hands and lifted her off her feet with Arik still in her arms, just as it had happened yesterday.
Only this time around, there was no blindfold or annoyingly loud music, only unconsciousness claiming her sight and the state of her mind.
She felt herself being placed on a sofa, then Arik being taken away from her despite her internal struggles to not let him go, a hand cupped her face, and she could hear a voice from a distance, saying to her.
"Julie? Julie. You're safe. You are here. Not there. You are here. I'm here with you. No one can harm you here. You hear me? No one can harm you here. You are safe. You are here. I'm here with you."
Slowly. She could finally see again.
A glass of water was pressed to her lips and plastered on Louie's face was a blinding smile. She pulled away from the forceful drink and tried to grab Arik, but then he took some steps back, and she swayed back, falling right back on the sofa.
"The kitchen is not your favorite place, is it?"
Arik was awake and smiling at Louie.
What was he always smiling at him for?! Why was he always smiling at him?!
"Give me my baby," she said through gritted teeth.
"I think you need rest. I'll take care of little Leo," he moved him around, and Arik laughed —- that high-pitched laughter of pure excitement and fun.
Idalia rolled her eyes.
How very nice.
At least one of them was enjoying this.
"Then I'll prepare you a quick breakfast. In fact, I think I should be the one to prepare the food from now on—-"
"Give me my baby."
"I'm not going to hurt him, Julie!" He snapped, his smile gone. "If I wanted to, I would have done so during the two minutes you lay there passed out. I'm just trying to be your friend, and if that isn't what you want," he took a step forward, his golden eyes darkening, his voice dropping a volume, "you can certainly have me as something else. Do you think you'll like that, Julie?"