Ethereal Underground (Ethereal Underground Trilogy) (15 page)

“Leon!” she cried, stepping back from Ash so his arm fell off her shoulder.

The male seraph stepped into view, his eyes settling on Ash for a moment, staring coldly at him before turning his attention to Annalise. Ash tried not to glare at him. He didn’t like being ignored. He didn’t even know this seraph, but just looking at him made Ash want to kick him into the ground. He didn’t like the way he looked at Annalise- it was as if he knew her secrets.  As if Annalise was Leon’s only focus in the world, and Ash was just an annoying gnat that swarmed around the two of them. If they started finishing each other’s sentences, Ash would throw up right now.

“Annalise. I have been looking everywhere for you.” He held a large sword in his right hand, one much like Endarial had been carrying, and he carefully slipped it into a sling behind his back. Annalise didn’t move, didn’t say anything to him. Ash could feel the worry and uncertainty coming off of her, not knowing if she should go closer to him or not. Ash shook his head and gave a loud pretend cough; he hated awkward silences.

“Is this the mortal?” Leon demanded, taking a step forward and studying Ash. They were almost the same size.

Ash puffed his chest up and spoke. “Yeah, I’m the mortal. What’s it to you?”

Annalise took a step toward him, her arms out to stop the two men from getting too close to each other, “Leon. I can explain if you will just listen to me.” Annalise held her hand out for his, asking for a moment of retreat.

To Ash’s surprise, Leon’s eyes softened and he grabbed her small hand in acceptance. It made him sick that he forgave her so easily, and took her hand as if Ash wasn’t standing there. He crossed his arms in front of himself, trying to suppress the irritation building up inside of him. Why was he getting so worked up over her?
Ash didn’t get these feelings often.

“Leon, I made a mistake.  I had to try and find out why I broke the rules.”

Leon pulled her close, making Ash feel a bit more uncomfortable, again. Was it even possible?

“I think I am going to give you two some space to talk…I’m going to go wash up,” he said, eyes settling on Annalise before turning to go inside and attempting to make himself presentable in their small home. At least inside he could listen in if he needed to. He could make sure Annalise was safe, and not have to see the way the two of them were acting around each other.

Annalise

Pulling away from Leon to turn and address Ash, she was disappointed to see that he was already inside of the house. She gave a small sigh and turned back to her counterpart, afraid to say anything else. She could feel the conflicted feelings flowing off of her mortal friend and she wasn’t quite sure how to deal with it. It was some of the same things she was feeling when she had seen him protecting Jedzia. What was this new irritation that she had felt? She would have to ask him when they had a minute alone. Shaking her head, she realized that she was considering trusting in the mortal, inquiring from him what these feelings and thoughts were, not Leon. Not the one who had been her best friend and confidant for her whole life. Somehow, things were different now, and she had never dealt with any sort of change before. Things had been the same for as long as she could remember.

“What is on your mind, Anna,” Leon asked, getting her attention once again.

She turned to him to give him a small smile and a noncommittal shrug, “I just do not know.”

“He likes you.”

Her head snapped up to look at Leon in confusion, a spark of hope igniting in her as well, “What do you mean?”

“I think that he believes he has a chance to be your mate.”

“Oh dear,” Annalise whispered, bringing her hand up to her face to hide it as if in shock but really to hide the burning that had crept up into her face. What was it making her act this way? She knew that there would never be anything between her and Ash.  “He is silly, really, we seraph do not love. Becoming a mate and focusing so much into a relationship is simply…ridiculous.”

When Leon did not reply, she felt her heart sink for just a second, making her think there was something more in his
silence. Was he considering a relationship that was more than what was normal for seraphs? She lowered her hand from her face and looked up into Leon’s serious green eyes, “It is silly, right?”

“Yeah of course,” he answered with a nervous cough as he took a step from her and pursed his lips, “Anna, that boy is going to get you into trouble. You are to reap these souls, take them to the
Grand Hall. That’s it. You cannot heal them as you please, it is not natural and it does things to those mortals. I cannot say what, but it is enough for the Elders to be very upset with you.”

“I know, Leon, but if you would just listen to me-”

“It does not matter what your reasoning is, Annalise, this is serious. I am surprised that you are not taking it as so.”

At that point, Annalise found herself speechless. Rarely did Leon call her by her full name, and rarely did he refuse to hear her out on her thoughts and her feelings, no matter how ridiculous they were.  The worst of it, however, was that she could feel Ash’s presence, knew that he was close enough to be eavesdropping and hearing her being spoken to as if she were a child.

“I am not that naïve, I know how serious this is and I do not need you talking to me as if I am a small child or one of your charges that needs protecting. You do not know anything about Ash and I do not appreciate your accusing words toward him. He is a fighter and you should be thankful that he has helped to keep me safe with the fallen around.”

“Fallen?” Leon exclaimed, moving to take her by the arm, his strong hand wrapping around her forearm as he bore his eyes into hers, “What fallen?”

“The fallen that attacked us while we were at Ash’s friend’s home. They killed her, Leon, it was terrible. They are ruthless, just like you said. Killing machines. But you will not believe this, they do not look like monsters! They look just like you and I, like they did when they were seraphs!” she exclaimed, her voice rising in excitement as she told him of these things and expecting shock to spread over his face. But it did not. She lowered her eyebrows, realization dawning on her, “You knew!”

“It is not something you needed to know.”

“You lied to me!” she insisted, trying to pull her arm from his grasp, “How dare you. I trusted you, and all these years you have lied to me. What else have you lied about? Do you sit under the Lilligan tree with all those gossipers and laugh at silly old Annalise and her naivety?”

Leon frowned and let her go, “That is something we are required to tell everyone. It is a widely kept secret to keep those who would hunt them out from doing so. The fallen are evil creatures, yes, but they do look like us. Who was it that you saw?”

“Endarial,” Annalise said, unsure of why she was still talking to him, “She was the same as before, except for her black eyes, but she could no longer create fire. Just as you said.”

“Of course not, they are stripped of their powers once they are cast out.”

“But she was wearing a ring that enabled her to manipulate fire…she carried a lighter with her. Oh and she was angry, Leon.”

The male s
eraph froze, his eyes searching Annalise’s for more answers, “I had no idea. None of us did…that they had such things. This must be a new development. I must tell the Elders.”

“See, I can give you information. I can get it for you, be a spy perhaps.”

“No.”

“I can do what I want, Leon, you cannot stop me. I have to help him. Ash. He and I have this connection. He can manipulate water, and I can feel him. His…feelings. They are intense, overwhelming at times. It is not natural. These things should not have come to pass, but I have made them
so. I must make it right,” she explained, stepping towards her friend and putting her hands in his.

Leon shook his head, sadness creeping up into his face, one that Annalise had not seen on his face before, “My dear Anna, that is not something you can do. The Elders have given us an ultimatum. They know about
what you have done, and that the keeper was killed in the process. They think that you two are somehow working with the fallen since you were there when Jedzia’s soul was reaped. You were not supposed to be there during her reaping, this I know. She was one of my charges. It was her time, but you were not supposed to be involved. The fact that you were has thrown everything off balance. Things are not as they should be and everyone is scared. The Elders have decided that you should be cast out. Either this or you must prove yourself, that you are not a spy in our midst. You must kill the boy, Ash.”

Annalise felt the breath catch in her throat, fear and panic setting in to her being. That was her choice? Kill the mortal or be cast out? “That is not fair,” she cried out, stepping out of Leon’s reach and wrapping her arms around herself, “I cannot kill someone, especially that mortal. What if we are bound? What if it destroys me as well?”

“That is our choice, Anna, our only choice. I could not stand it if I had to cast you out.”

“You?” she asked, taking another step back from him, “What are you talking about?”

Shaking his head, he apologized and took a step forward.

She took another step from him and glared at him, “You are still keeping secrets from me! If you had been honest with me in the first place, I would not be injured right now. These fallen, they have some sort of substance on their weapons that causes us not to be able to teleport, makes it more difficult to heal those who we need to heal, or ourselves.”

“Are you hurt?” Leon asked, looking her over from head to toe, pausing when he saw the blue spot on the front of her dress. He walked over to her and fell to his knees, examining the wound. She was still angry, so angry she wanted to step back from him, but if she and Ash were to get anything accomplished, she needed to be at her best and healed.

“Endarial ran me through with her sword with that substance on it. I do not know what form of alchemy she could get that from, but it was the same as what made it hard to bring Ash back. I am sure of it.”

Leon ran his hand over her wound, taking it in, and looking up at her, “I will have her head. Don’t worry about that. Please stand still. I will heal you. Release your wings.”

Annalise did as he asked, tapping her gold bangle and giving a content sigh as she felt her wings release to their full span. It had been several hours since she had been free, let herself be seraph and nothing else and it felt so incredibly good. Opening her eyes, she turned her attention to Leon and hoped he would be able to repair the damage that had been done.

She watched him place his large hand over her wound and put pressure on it. Closing her eyes, she tried not to make a sound. It was painfully excruciating, and she knew that it was worse than she had originally thought. Annalise had never been wounded before, never had a reason to be in battle. Leon had countless times, however, and a guardian’s way of healing was rougher and more intense than a reaper, often needed in the heat of the moment.  He began mumbling his blessing, fast and deep, low enough that she could barely hear it. As he did so, he pressed his hand closer to her, his other one coming to her waist as he steadied her. She put her hands on his shoulders and bent over slightly at the waist, the pain flowing from the wound and out into her body. She hoped Ash couldn’t feel this, the intensity of this healing. And the pain. Letting out a small cry, the pain retreated back into the world and she fell to her knees. It was gone.

Annalise opened her eyes, meeting the green ones staring back at her in worry, “Are you okay? I’m so sorry it hurt you.”

“I am fine,” she mumbled, lost in the moment for a second and realizing just how close they were to each other. For a minute, she wondered what it would be like to be this close to Ash, what it would feel like for him to touch her sweetly instead of always protectively. Would they ever have a chance to just talk? She could feel herself opening up to the mortal, thinking of him as a new friend, and looking forward to getting to know him more.

Suddenly she stood up, opening her eyes in shock, feeling Ash’s feelings slamming into her.

Something had happened.

She turned to the house to see Ash running from the door and taking a hold of her arm, his blue eyes locked on hers, “The fallen are here.”