The Ballad of Aramei Read online

  But I have to give the credit to Harry for using his Praverian powers of controlling emotions, which has eased their minds about me staying away like this in the first place. They aren’t completely approving of it—I refused to let Harry manipulate them fully because it isn’t right just to suit my everyday needs—but they are more at ease about it at least.

  I’m equally glad that it’s still summer vacation and I don’t have to find ways to dodge going to school for the same reason. I’ll cross that bridge later.

  This new life, this new existence of mine is hard to juggle when I have human family members that love me and who have no idea that once a month every bone in my body breaks and I tend to…eat things. It’s just not something you talk about over dinner.

  We pull into the drive and Isaac puts the Jeep in park.

  “I’ll be here to pick you up around six,” he says turning at the waist and resting his left wrist on the steering wheel.

  “Six? Like a.m.?” I feel my eyes widening.

  Isaac grins softly and says in a you-got-yourself-into-this sort of way, “When my father says ‘in the morning’ he doesn’t mean after your shower and breakfast.”

  Of course, I didn’t get myself totally into this; I had no choice in the beginning, but I did make it easier on Trajan by practically admitting openly my desire to continue.

  I smirk at him, crinkling one side of my nose. But really it is okay and despite having to get up so early, I do look forward to seeing Aramei again.

  ~~~

  Just like Isaac said, he was here at six on the dot and I barely got my teeth brushed before I was hopping in his Jeep. I slept the whole way, at least as much as the bucket seat would allow. Twice I jerked awake when Isaac went over a bump in the road and my head popped gently against the window next to me. And when we got to the cabin, Trajan forced Isaac to stay outside where he waited impatiently for me, talking to Raul while I got absolutely nowhere with Aramei in three hours.

  She was awake the whole time, but I couldn’t get inside her head. She was just regular mindless Aramei. Eva tried coaxing her and I tried talking to her, but our efforts were wasted.

  Trajan agreed to let me come back tomorrow and try again, rather than making me hang around all day and night. But this was more vital than just being relieved of severe boredom; Isaac, Nathan, Daisy and me have an important trip to take today to find someone Harry calls a ‘Harvester’ who will—or might (Harry said they are wicked and spiteful and never do anything for free) give us what we need to trap the Dark Praverian.

  We’re heading to The Cove to meet up with Harry now so he can give us the rest of the details. He can’t go with us because they harvest, or rather ‘reap’ Praverian souls.

  As if this couldn’t get any weirder….

  We pull into the parking lot by the Kennebec River, the same one where the fight broke out between the Vargas pack and ours last fall. It’s vacant and looks like the City came and cleaned it up of all the trash and beer cans left over by the crowd that got busted not long ago. I feel nervous just being here, especially now that there are several NO LOITERING signs posted and we aren’t supposed to be hanging around here. But if any cops come, at least we don’t have to worry about getting tossed in jail for underage drinking or drug possession. They’ll probably just slap us on the wrist and tell us not to come back.

  Harry and Daisy are sitting on the hood of his old car with Nathan parked next to them, sitting inside his FJ Crusier. We pull in on the other side of Harry’s car and get out.

  “I don’t like this one bit,” Daisy says getting off the hood and crossing her arms stubbornly as she walks toward me. “Did you know about this, Nathan? Isaac?” She glares at both of them and then her big blue eyes fall on me. “You’re not going to like this, Adria.” She shakes her blond head slow and heavy and her curly ponytail swings side to side. A pair of little jangling gold earrings hangs from each earlobe.

  “I told you,” Harry says to Daisy, slipping his arm around her waist, “as long as they don’t let it slip that I live here I don’t have to worry about them finding me.”

  “You worry too much,” Nathan says jumping onto Harry’s hood. “They’re human and they can’t read minds, so how would he or she know Harry lives in Hallowell, or that you’re his very overprotective girlfriend?”

  “Shove it, Nate,” Daisy snaps and Nathan shakes his head, grinning.

  She turns back to us and Harry.

  “You’re right,” I say to Daisy, “I don’t like it either even though I don’t know very much about these people, but we have no other choice, I guess.”

  “No,” Harry says, “you don’t and if there was something else, I’d do it before taking this route.”

  “Isaac moves to Harry’s car and sits on the hood with Nathan. I stand by Daisy, who looks distraught. She does have more reason to worry than I do since Harry is a Praverian and his life could be at stake. This Harvester, or whatever, isn’t going to come looking for Isaac or for me.

  “You say they’re human.” I look right at Harry, crossing my arms much like Daisy. “How can they hurt you then? Or rather, how can they reap you?” I sense Daisy tense up next to me after I said that telling word, reap.

  Harry runs his hand through his messy brown hair and leans against his car, crossing his arms and his feet.

  “It’s an archaic sort of witchcraft,” Harry says, “definitely not like any of that Wicca stuff you see nowadays or anything like that. That’s all new. This craft is the mother of modern-day witchcraft and voodoo and that hocus-pocus mumbo-jumbo.” He uncrosses his arms and starts to gesture as he explains. “A single bloodline has carried this craft down for generations—people who’ve thrived almost as long as we have, but they’re thinning out. There’s not too many left anymore.”

  “I say that’s a good thing,” Daisy scoffs.

  “In a sense, it is, but believe it or not we need them,” Harry says.

  “Like in this situation,” Isaac says from the hood of the car. He sits with his boots propped on the front bumper, his legs splayed and his hands folded, draped between his knees. “They’re the only ones who know how to trap a Praverian gone Dark.”

  Harry nods to confirm Isaac’s assumption.

  “Well then,” I say, “how do you know where to find one?”

  “The phone book,” Harry answers.

  I roll my eyes and glance over at Isaac whose face remains standard. I guess I’m the only one who finds Harry’s answer sarcastic.

  Oh wait…no, by that smirk creeping up at the corner of Harry’s mouth, he does too. Daisy snarls at him and cocks her head to one side, reproachfully.

  “The phone book?” I say dryly, pursing my lips and with one brow raised.

  “Yeah,” Harry says with a mild shrug, “well a little research on the net and then the online White Pages, but that was about it. They come from an ancient Norse family and their surname has changed over time, but since we have to stay out of their way it’s kind of our job to keep track of them.”

  “Okay, so who are we looking for?” Isaac says.

  Harry turns at the waist to face him and reaches inside the back pocket of his jeans and pulls out a folded piece of paper. He holds it up and flicks it hard with the fingers on his other hand and a snap ripples through the air. Walking over to Isaac on the hood of the car, he hands it out to him.

  “Minna Abrahamsen,” Harry says and Isaac takes the paper. “Providence, Rhode Island.”

  “Rhode Island?” I say, exasperated. “That’s a little far, don’t you think?”

  Isaac unfolds the paper and he and Nathan peer into its contents. Daisy just shakes her head more solemnly beside me.

  “Well, it was either Rhode Island or Akron, Ohio,” Harry says raising his hands, palms up. “Like I said, there’s not many left.”

  I walk over to stand beside Isaac and look down into the paper, too. It’s just an address. “So, when do we go?” I say, looking up at Harry again.
/>   “I say we get this over with,” Nathan speaks out and I’ve hardly seen him look so serious before. “It’s been long enough. I want whoever it is found and dealt with.”

  Isaac slips the address in his back pocket. “I agree,” he says, straightening his back. “Just knowing that there’s been a traitor possibly living in the same house with us all this time makes me crazy. It’s like I can’t trust anybody anymore and it’s causing a lot of tension around the house.”

  I slip in and stand between Isaac’s legs, propping my arms on his thighs. I feel him lean over me from behind and chills race across my skin when he kisses my bare neck. After he leans back up and the chills subside I say, “Yeah even Zia and Sebastian are starting to take offense. And it’s hard for me not to confide in Zia, y’know?”

  Daisy sighs and looks sad all of a sudden. “And I hate to say it, but worse than those two, we’re starting to make enemies of our own blood.” She shakes her head glumly. “Camilla thinks I hate her and she’s my favorite sister.”

  “And Xavier,” Isaac says, “I think he’s pissed at me. The other day he wanted me and Adria to go swimming with him and this new girl he’s seeing, but I said no.”

  I turn at the waist to see him behind me. “You didn’t tell me about that.”

  He looks at me apologetically.

  “Well, it’s odd for Xavier to invite anyone out with him and one of his girlfriends, anyway,” Daisy adds.

  Isaac says, “Exactly. I don’t know, maybe I’m paranoid because of this whole traitor thing, but Xavier wanting anyone to tag along when he’s just trying to get laid is reason for suspicion if anything is.”

  I’ve always known Xavier to be a man-slut, but I feel kind of bad for him, that his brother refused to hang out with him apparently the one time he asked. “Maybe he really likes this new girl,” I say, “and he just wanted you to meet her.”

  Nathan and Daisy burst into laughter, while Isaac doesn’t laugh as hard probably for my benefit, but still he can’t keep that ginormous smile from spreading across his face.

  Nathan jumps off the hood of the car and pats me on the shoulder. “You’ve got a lot to learn, doll.”

  My face warms under an obvious blush.

  “I think it’s safe to say that the only way we’re going to know who it is, is after you talk to this Minna,” Harry says and he is the only one of us not smiling.

  His serious face brings the rest of us back to the matter at hand.

  “We can sit here and talk about who’s acting weird, or who it might be and why we think they might be the one, but it won’t solve anything,” Harry adds and I’m getting the feeling he’s more worried about the traitor than he’s ever really led us to believe.

  Daisy stands beside him and leans up on her toes to kiss the corner of his mouth. “You’re right, love,” she says and then looks back at us. “I say we leave as soon as possible.”

  “Are you and Adria done with the babysitting job?” Nathan says to Isaac.

  “For today, yes,” Isaac answers after letting out a deep breath. “But it looks like that will be an everyday job for a little while.”

  Daisy shakes her head as if to pity me. “Sorry our father is already using you for his own needs. I thought he might at least wait a couple months.”

  “No, really I don’t mind,” I say to the surprise of everyone but Isaac. “I want to stay with Aramei.”

  Nathan and Daisy both look at me with equally disfigured expressions, but I don’t feel like explaining myself right now. Actually, some deep part of me feels that it’s best to keep this as much a secret as I can for now. I don’t know why, but I’ve adopted this burden for myself and feel that I don’t want to share it with anyone else.

  “So when do leave for Providence?” I say, steering the topic before they start asking questions.

  “I say we go back to the house, grab a few things and head out,” Isaac suggests, sliding off the hood now, too. He takes me by the hand.

  “Daisy,” Harry says, “why don’t you stay with me?”

  “No,” she refuses without question. “I want to see this Harvester for myself.”

  “That’s why I don’t want you to go,” Harry says, taking her shoulders in both hands and leaning over to kiss her forehead. “These people may only be human but they have a way with getting under your skin. And Minna will probably sense it right away that you’re more involved with one of us than you’re letting on.” He turns to Isaac now and looks between him and me and Nathan. “It’s vital you all get the story straight and stick to it. They’re wicked smart and if for a second she thinks you’re lying to her she’ll follow you here.”

  “I don’t like this, Harry,” Daisy says, pulling away from him.

  “Harry’s got a point,” Isaac says. “Look at the way you’re acting now—It’s probably not a good idea.”

  “I agree,” Nathan says, holding up his finger above his head.

  Daisy growls under her breath and it shocks me a little. I’ve never once seen her lose it. I’ve never even see her lose her temper mildly. She’s always been sweet, caring, fun Daisy Mayfair. But right now, I can feel the angry heat coming off her rigid body and the resistance boiling in her blood.

  “You will stay behind,” Isaac says sternly, stepping around me to get in front of Daisy. In this moment, he has let the Alpha come out so naturally that I can’t decide whether to be anxious or turned on by it. “Go back to the house with Harry.”

  Daisy, although reeling about not being able to go, is always respectful. She bows her head without reluctance and moves her way past him toward Harry’s car.

  Once she closes herself up inside, Isaac turns back to Harry and says, “So what’s the story we have to get straight?”

  Nathan steps up next to Isaac.

  Harry reaches up and scratches the side of his jaw where a little stubble is starting to grow. “Since Genevieve is already gone,” he begins, “you can use her as the scapegoat.” He notices the disapproving lines appearing around my eyes and says, “She won’t care. She’s long gone and if you try to make up some random name and pass it off as one of us, you’ll run the risk of getting caught in a lie easier. Minna will ask questions: names, past lives, anything she can think of to trip you up. It’s better to just go with what you all already know.”

  “About Genna?” I say, still not comfortable with this tactic, which is only making me feel kind of like a traitor myself.

  Nathan doesn’t look all that accepting of it, either.

  “Yes,” Harry says, getting a little aggravated with my doubt. “You can be honest about everything except me. And when it comes down to any questions about who her Charge is or was, that’s the only part you have to lie about.”

  “We’ll just say we don’t know,” Isaac says.

  Harry nods. “Yeah. One lie is easier than a hundred of them.”

  “I never thought I’d be intimidated by a human,” Nathan says, smirking. He glances over at me it seems as if to say ‘no offense’, but at the last second he retracts it. I guess I’m still so new to this werewolf life that I’m easily forgotten. He turns back to Harry. “At least she can’t do anything to us.” He backtracks a bit, suddenly unsure of his brash theory. “Right?”

  Harry grins. “For the most part, yes,” he says. “They’re not really a threat to anyone or anything but our kind—her house is probably rigged to catch someone like me as soon as I enter the door—but the most you have to worry about is pissing her off and becoming her next hex target.”

  Nathan and Isaac both draw their chins inward, their faces riddled with distrust.

  “Want to elaborate on that, man?” Isaac says.

  Harry is grinning from ear to ear. “Just don’t piss her off,” he says just before Daisy leans out the passenger’s side window and shouts, “Harry, come on! Please.”

  Just as Harry starts toward his car, he turns back and says, “Oh! And don’t let her get to you about my kind. She’ll say anything t
o make you believe it’s in your best interest to tell her everything you know.” And then he opens the car door and hops inside with Daisy who will probably look as bitter as she does now, for a while.

  But she still manages to blow me a kiss as they speed off.

  Chapter 8

  NATHAN FOLLOWS US BACK to their house and while I’m up in Isaac’s room grabbing a few items of clothing to take, Zia comes running into the room, laughing hysterically. I jump when she squeals coming around the corner and slams the door behind her, pressing her back against it.

  “What the hell?” I say, trying not to smile, but it’s kind of hard not to.

  Her body jerks against the door when a loud bang hits the other side.

  “Help me hold it!” she says to me, laughing.

  The door jerks open an inch every few seconds as whoever is on the other side continuously bangs against it.

  “Adria!” Zia shouts and finally I run over to help her hold it shut.

  “Open the door, Z!” I hear Sebastian growl from the other side.

  He doesn’t sound happy.

  “What did you do?” I say, still trying to hold back my own laughter. My back jerks against the door and I’m wondering all of sudden why she didn’t just reach up and lock it.

  I go to turn around, still bracing one hand against the door and just as my fingers pinch the flat cone-shaped lock to twist it locked, one more bang hits the other side and the door swings open, sending me and Zia onto the floor.

  Sebastian storms in. Completely bald.

  While I’m trying to register what I’m seeing, frozen in my spot on the floor, Zia is trying to scramble away in the other direction toward the window. Sebastian rushes her and grabs her around one ankle. She can’t stop laughing and it’s really the only thing keeping me from thinking Sebastian is here to literally kill her. There’s not an ounce of humor in his body or in his face, which has grown even more enraged over the past few seconds.