After the stabbing, he’d been crazy protective, barely allowing anyone except Lallielle near me, which might have had something to do with Brace’s abrupt departure. Even Lallielle and I were ... better. I was growing up, accepting her tough decisions. And she was giving me the space to come to terms with it.
“Hi, where have you been today?” I looked between the two of them as they dropped into armchairs on the other side of my bed.
Lallielle leaned forward, excitement across her nobly gorgeous face, green eyes alight.
“We had to speak with the town chair about possibly throwing an event for your birthday.”
I shook my head as I sat up again. “No ... seriously. No way. I don’t want to be the center of attention.” I looked toward Josian in desperation. “I’d rather be stabbed again.”
Lallielle shook her head. “Don’t even joke about that, Aribella.”
Josian chuckled. “Sorry, baby girl.” He’d taken to calling me that constantly. “I’ve been outvoted by your mother.”
Rolling my eyes, I groaned. “There’s no way for me to get out of this, is there?”
Lallielle shook her head. “No, Aribella. You need to be revealed to First World. And ... it’ll be fun.”
I stared at the ceiling. “I heard that hesitation. What are you not telling me?”
She smiled brightly. “Nothing. I just want to show you off.”
I gritted my teeth. Lucy was practically bouncing next to me she was so excited. “Next week, we’re getting new dresses,” she said.
Lallielle clapped her hands together as she stood. “I’ll start prepping the ballroom immediately.” She walked off, muttering about how much she had to do.
I turned panicked eyes on Josian. “Reel her in, Dad, or I won’t be responsible for my actions.”
Leaning over, he kissed me on the forehead. “I’ll see what I can do. Don’t lose it yet.”
With a wink, he took off. I groaned. This event was all I’d hear about from Lucy and Lallielle until my birthday.
Later that week, after managing to shower and change, I was downstairs in the living room, sprawled back on plush couches so soft that I sank into their depths. Lucy was on the floor, stuffing her face with popcorn.
“Your newfound love of junk food is astounding.”
She couldn’t answer; her mouth was too full. Any attempts to speak simply spluttered bits of kernel from her mouth.
We were watching a movie. Apparently First World didn’t have an entertainment industry, so everything we had was pirated from some network connection to Earth. Don’t ask me how it worked. Samuel was the Flecho here, dominating all things technological and manmade. They were the same movies we used to have back home. I smiled as an animated ogre argued with a donkey. This was one of my old favorites. Now this world made perfect sense to me.
Samuel appeared in the doorway. I averted my eyes as he swept Lucy up off the floor for a kiss. For some reason, the pair couldn’t go more than ten minutes without touching. Lucy was the calm to all the broken that was Samuel. She didn’t seem to mind, but I worried that he might be damaged beyond repair.
Lucy was breathless and flushed. She smiled into his face. “What’s up, my sexy Sam? Everything okay?” She seemed to like teasing him more when I was around.
His hard features gentled. The only time I ever saw his mask fall was around Lucy. “Yes, I just wanted to see you.”
He looked over his shoulder toward me. I stared resolutely at the screen. “Mom wants you, Aribella. Something to do with color sashes.”
I groaned. It never ended. What center piece? Help with the seating charts for people I had no idea about. And there was no point avoiding it. She was tenacious.
The pain was minimal now, so without much distress I strode out of the room, relieved to be escaping their distinctive murmurs and soft laughter. I was halfway down the hall when I realized I’d left my necklace on the couch. I’d taken it off earlier that day to show Lucy both the moonstale and my marks. Clutching at the neckline of my shirt, I suddenly felt naked.
Turning, I made my way back to the room. But at the sound of conversation I paused outside the slightly open doorway. Lucy and Samuel were in the midst of a discussion, their tones somber.
Lucy’s soft voice drifted out to me. “I’m just worried about her, Sammy. She’s not sleeping well, despite what she thinks. And I hate that no one knows her future.”
Awesome. She was discussing me with my idiot brother. I couldn’t wait to hear his reply, considering my serious doubts about his intelligence.
“From what I have seen of Aribella, she’s a strong person. I have no uncertainty that anything thrown her way she’ll deal with.”
Hmmm, maybe he was smarter than he looked. I was shocked to hear that almost positive-character-trait observation from Samuel.
“When I was locked in the cage, all I could think about was getting to Abbs. And then watching that bitch Olden stab her, thinking she was lost to me again, forever this time ... it changed me fundamentally. I can’t live in a world that Abby isn’t in.”
I was hearting Lucy so much right now.
“I understand. Abby, in a manner, is your soul mate.”