In Shadows We Rise

Chapter 45

Reia

"Do you want me to call just Xander or the whole group?" Atticus asks once I'm done eating. I feel so full I could pass right out.

"Don't care, you'll tell all of them anyways." I enjoy the frown on his face my comment triggers.

"I won't if you tell me not to."

"Sure. Let's just get this over with." The man to my right seems to go things over in his head once.

"I'll open your chains and we'll go downstairs to talk, sound good?"

"About as good as a trip to my own personal hell," I mutter and it makes Atticus pause.

"If you're not ready, we can wait."

"I will never want to talk to you. The only reason I agreed is that you're blackmailing me. I said let's get it over with." He inserts the bronze key in the lock of my shackles and slowly turns it. He doesn't like it, I can tell as much, but he doesn't hesitate before taking the metal off my wrists.

Atticus is watching me intently as he waits for my reaction. I do the same. The last time I took off this kind of restrains, my powers came flooding back at once. It was overwhelming and messy but at least they came back. Right now I can't feel a difference. My eyes snap up to meet Atticus'.

"What did you do?" I ask accusingly while moving to get off the bed.

"Nothing. I swear, Reia, I don't know what's going on. Rarely do these days." I get to my feet between the bed and Atticus, leaving no inch of space between us.

"Don't play with me, Atticus. Give me my powers back!" I shove at his chest and he takes a step back, looking lost.

"I took the shackles off! How am I supposed to have your powers?"

"You must've done something! They can't just be gone!" Skies, please don't let them be gone.

"What's going on up here?" Xander has just burst into the room. He and the other rebels are at their leader's side in no time and I can barely hold back a laugh. I'm still the bad guy in their eyes. I'll always be the enemy to them.

"Her powers aren't back," Atticus explains. Five pairs of eyes simultaneously drop to my wrists while Atticus holds my gaze. I can feel my hatred for them simmering dangerously.

"What did you do?" I repeat slowly.

"We didn't do anything, Oscurina. Let's calm down and talk downstairs," Xander interjects.

"I won't do shit!"

"We made a deal," Xander protests.

"The deal was you give my powers back and I'll pretend to listen to you."

"The deal was we take your shackles off," he corrects me. My body warms with all the things I want to do to them. I want to hurt them, make them scream while I smile.

"You tricked me," my voice is shaking and I try nothing to hide my anger. The people before me look uneasy as they look at my clenched hands.

"Reia," Naiara whispers, pointing to my fists.

Right when I'm about to say more a familiar sound invades my mind. Miss us? the whispers ask. They're back? I don't understand. See, you don't need us. You're just as dangerous without us as you are when we're in control. I look down at my hands, all thoughts gone apart from one as I look at the four half-moon-shaped wounds caused by my nails leaking blood in each of my palms. I've been more than happy to blame my powers for the darkness within me but maybe they are right. Maybe everyone has been right all along and I am a monster. Even my human part is rotten.

"Rei?" Naiara repeats even quieter as if scared her voice will make me snap. It makes me want to but I suppress the urge. I don't just kill people, that's not me. What would my brother think if he saw me now? I feel sick at the thought.

I put a mask of complete indifference on and head for the hall. I walk with the rebels at my back and finally stand still behind a chair at the dinner table. Xander's the first to take a seat opposite me and his friends follow his lead. They sit down next to him, leaving me alone on the other side of the table and making the situation we're in even more clear. They're a union. I'm alone.

I don't take a seat.

"Do you want something to drink?" Atticus asks awkwardly.

"Cut the bullshit and tell me what you want," I reply coldly. I'm not going to pretend this is where I want to be and I won't let them do it either.

"We want to make things right, Reia. You're one of us and we want you to come back," Xander says.

"One of you, huh." I let my eyes trail along the table, taking in our seating, or standing, arrangement. When the rebels notice they seem ashamed. Just for fun and giggles, I gather some darkness in my right hand. I play with it for a few seconds, pretending not to notice the tension in the room thickening, and then turn it into a fine line. It snakes its way across the table, closer and closer to Sorin's hand. He pulls away and narrows his eyes at me while I keep the darkness in place.

"I'm one of you. Doesn't that mean you should trust me?" I ask innocently.

"Trust goes both ways," Sorin answers but it only brings a small smile to my lips. I'm able to lose myself in the game I'm playing and it's refreshing.

"I, other than you, have never given you a reason not to trust me though, have I? Why don't you take the first step to salvage our relationship?" I ask sweetly. None of the others try to tell Sorin what to do. If I had to guess, I'd say none of them is comfortable with what I'm asking but if they're serious about their intentions then they'll have to play my game.

Sorin reluctantly places his hand back on the table and I beam wider, letting my darkness slide over his fingers and encircle his wrist. Then I let it dissipate without having left a single mark or so much as an itch.

"That wasn't so bad, was it? You're always so eager to make me your villain."

"That is not what we're trying to do, really. We're sorry we made feel that way," Xander says.

"Now, don't go ahead and speak for everyone. I want to hear them say it." I look at Calista expectantly. She's sitting at the very edge of the table and has been awfully quiet all this time.

"I completely agree with Xander. We messed up big time when we met you. We were intimidated and scared because we'd never heard of anyone like you and we made mistakes. I'm sorry." The corners of my mouth dip into a frown. This is no fun if they get all sentimental. I turn to Sorin in the hope he'll be his usual infuriating self. He hesitates.

"Me too. I- I'm used to being suspicious and I tried to protect my family but I pulled the wrong conclusions when I should have just talked to you. I regret that." My mouth is on the brink of falling wide open but I pull myself together.

"You've really disciplined them since I left, haven't you? They try to act fake a lot harder than they used to," I finally tell Atticus. He looks about to speak but I'm not done. "Why am I here? And cut the whole family bullshit. Do you need me for another mission? Just stop wasting my time and tell me. If you beg nicely, I might comply."

"No, that's not-" Atticus gets cut off by Xander.

"Sure. If that's what you want to believe, Oscurina, then we'll let you. You're here because we need your help. Naiara has spoken a prophecy telling us we need to be seven to succeed in our plans. Please, by the gods, please help us with what's to come." My eyes snap to his like all the others in the room. I take my time letting the silence stretch between us.

"You will not talk to me unless it has something to do with a mission," I condition, and even though they look reluctant, especially Atticus, they nod. "Then it's your lucky day. I still have a score to settle with our governors."