I had been talking to Aiden for the past hour or so. He still seemed angry, but he replied politely to every question I asked. As if he had had lots of practice locking in his emotions.
When Selene came back, she seemed oddly happy. Almost hysterical.
“What happened? Did you take her home?” I asked.
“Yes, I did,” she replied.
“What happened?” Aiden repeated. His demeanor changed from distant and angry to concerned. Could he feel something?
“Nothing. Did you show Aiden everything?” She said, her voice way too cheery.
“I did, but I wanted to talk about what you told the police and Rebecca’s parents. About Aiden. All of the legal parts. Does anyone in Zabaria know about Aiden and Avery? I know there are spies.” I said, my voice serious, knowing what would happen if they knew.
“Probably,” Selene answered calmly. I didn’t know why she was acting so weird. Like nothing was wrong. I know she cared about her life, our lives, even if she behaved otherwise sometimes.
“It doesn’t matter,” Aiden said. What is he talking about? “Because something’s wrong. She is going to do something. She knows something.”
“What are you talking about? How do you know?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” He said with his eyes closed.
“Nothing is wrong. I will be okay. You will save me. You’ll figure it out. Don’t worry.” She said, her voice breaking. She sounded non compos mentis, very unusual.
“Okay, you’re scaring me, both of you. Selene, what did you do? Aiden, what do you know? Where is Avery?”
“Safe.” Her body fell to the once lush evergreen grass that was dead around her with that last breath.
I surged forward, “Selene!” I pressed two fingers on her neck, feeling for her pulse. Aiden moved me aside. He held Selene’s head and closed his eyes. His whole body glowed blue.
“She’s dying but slowly. Pick her up. We’re going to the car.” Aiden’s voice was steady. As if he had done this before. Was he a healer? I did what he said.
I put one arm under the crease of Selene’s knee and the other under her shoulders. Running as fast as possible with her in my arms, we got there quickly. Aiden sat shotgun while I took the keys from Selene’s pocket. I laid her in the back seat and put the car in drive.
“Stop!” Aiden shouted. We were in the middle of a street.
“What? I can’t just stop anywhere.”
“I need to get something. It’s there!” He pointed to a flower. “Hawthorn. It will help her blood circulation. The poison blocks her blood flow.”
“Poison?” I stopped immediately. We couldn’t lose her.
He ran out of the car and picked a bouquet worth of the flower. This happened two more times on the way, but every time he would give it to Selene. He said it would help slow the process of her body decaying until we got home. I felt as if we would never get home because of the stops I took for Aiden and the annoying red lights.
“Soror maneat fortis,” He whispered.
“What is that? What did you say?” I asked.
“It was Latin. How come you haven’t learned it?” He knew Latin? How did he know it? Selene learned it fluently because she had to, and I learned a few phrases just in case. I couldn’t keep thinking Aiden was the same little boy I knew thirteen years ago. He was different. He had gone through things I couldn’t even imagine.
“I didn’t need to. Call Aunt dahlia, tell her what happened,” She would know what to do.
Avery
I laid on the comfy crimson sofa, staring up at the brown ceiling fan, turning faster and faster. I hated waiting. I tried watching a movie, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what I would do. It was hopeless. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t make a decision.
The doorbell rang. Finally!
I opened the door without checking, assuming it was Justin. “Finally, why did you—” Except when I opened the door, it wasn’t Justin. It was Aunt Dahlia.
“Ms. Cornelius? Why are you here?” I asked, confused. She came in and started doing random things. She moved the sofa, then went upstairs and came back downstairs with thick blankets and a pillow. She laid the blankets folded in half and stacked in place of the couch. She put the pillow on one end of the folded blankets like a makeshift bed. Then she went into the kitchen, grabbed a big bowl, and filled it with water. She set the bowl beside the makeshift bed. Then put more water in a pot to boil on the stove.
“What are you doing?” I asked. She didn’t respond.
Suddenly the door slammed open, and Justin came into the living room with Selene unconscious in his arms. Aiden followed behind him with a bouquet in his arms. Justin set Selene down on the makeshift bed, and Aiden sat next to her.
What was happening? Was she hurt?
Aunt Dahlia took the bouquet from Aiden and went into the kitchen. I watched as Aiden set one hand on Selene’s forehead and the other on her hand. Then he started chanting four words over and over again. I somehow understood what he was saying, no, what he was doing.
Respirare anima, reparatione meam
Was he healing her? With magic? I watched as Aiden’s body glowed blue and as Selene’s followed. Aunt Dahlia came back with a clear glass full of dark purple water. Aiden fed Selene the water and said, “I’ve worked with this poison before. I used it and treated infected victims. It is serious, but I think she will be okay. She will need rest. Justin, could you take her upstairs?”
Justin laid her on my bed. I couldn’t speak. I didn’t know what to say.
Justin made Selene comfortable on my bed and pushed her hair back off her face. He came toward me, barely spared me a glance, and, without a word, left the room.
Desperately I followed him. “What happened? What’s wrong? How? Who did this?”
The look Justin gave me was of pure annoyance. He grabbed my arm and took me into his room, and closed the bathroom door. He whipped back toward me, letting go of my arm.
“Avery, look at her. Did you see her? She’s dying. No matter what Aiden says to calm us down or distract us, I know. I know because if I go downstairs, he’ll be sitting there, solemn, because he knows that he can’t help her, at least not here.”
“What are you talking about? He said she will be fine. He said that he treated people like this before. He said—” He cut me off.
“You don’t understand. It doesn’t matter what Aiden said. Selene will die if we stay here. I know that, and Aunt Dahlia does too. That’s exactly why she’s here, to take her away. Selene is the heir to the crown. She’s not gonna put her life in the hands of a kid, whether or not he’s family. We are all in constant danger, and Selene—” he paused for a moment. Like something had just occurred to him. Suddenly he ran out of the room. My head was spinning. What was going on?
Walking out of the room, I heard loud voices downstairs.
“No! She said it. Aiden, you heard, right? She wanted this. It was supposed to be a chance.” I heard Justin say. I hurried down the stairs and into the living room. I saw Aiden. He sat with his head hanging between his knees, hands on the back of his neck. Aunt Dahlia sat with him, rubbing his back, and Mr. Ced—Uncle Amel and Valerie were there. They must have called them over while we were upstairs. Valerie and Aiden kept glancing over at each other then quickly looking away. Did that mean the dream was a memory? Was she the valerie in his dream? She looked different now. Was her hair dyed? I couldn’t tell earlier but in the dream it was a reddish brown. Or was that blood?
“A chance for what? Justin, we can’t waste time. You don’t know what she meant. She was poisoned. She could have been hysterical, uttering nonsense.” Aunt Dahlia countered.
