The Trials of Ruin and Longing

Lys Bakkar

Lys fucking hated rain. Couldn't stand it one bit. And as she sat on the roof neighboring the jewelry store she was scoping out, it was miserable. Her vibrant red hair was now stuck to her head, the white money-pieces constantly getting in her mouth. She had just wiped the pieces back behind her ears, and she could feel them crawling over her face already. Fuck her dad for making her do his dirty work. Lys bared her teeth at the alley-cat below, anger pricking along her bones and the grip she kept on her magic. Shadows crawled along her fingers, dancing at the tips of her finger as Lys watched them, listening to them whispering a language she knew nothing of.

Shoo.  The shadows crawled into her jacket sleeves and disappeared, obeying her silent order. She shot one last glare at the cat before returning to the jewelry store. She could tell by the gleam on the cameras they were expensive and probably spelled. But she could get around that easy enough. Lys pulled a small device out of her pocket and pressed a few buttons. Grabbing her phone, Lys opened her messages. She scrolled through the long stack of scam texts, old friends asking how she was, and many other messages. She stopped deleting them when her mother disappeared six years ago. Had stopped answering them too. Her throat bobbed as she finally found what she was looking for. 

A conversation that had what looked like a bunch of random security details.

Lys smiled slightly as she read over the information the detection device had found. She had been right about the cameras being no problem. The security shield was another issue. She frowned, studying it. Lys never saw anything like that before. Neither, apparently had the device. She stood up in a smooth, swift motion, pocketing both of the items. Lys looked back at the jewelry store, irritation rising once more.

Her dad better know about this stupid fucking shield.

Ξ

The bell dinged as Lys made her way into her dad's cheap gas station. The lights flickered, ready to go out any minute. She dipped her head to Ralfiel, her father's human assistant, sitting sour-faced behind the counter. He dipped his own return. 

"He's in his office." Lys threw him a thumbs up as she retreated down the aisle to her favorite verbal punching bag. Lys lifted a middle finger to Ralfiel's demi-Fae younger brother, Revellen, who laughs.

"Whats the matter, princess?" Revel purred, looking her over with mischievous amber eyes. Lys paused to look at him. "You look slightly more pissed off than usual."

"Keep your nosy ass out of my business, Revel, and stop calling me princess," Lys orders. "Just because you look like a god doesn't mean you get pretty privilege from me." And gods, he did. Muscles curved and carved his body, with scars flecking the tan skin like confetti. His chestnut hair was curly and fluffy, his sharp-pointed ears peeking through. Revellen definitely got the good genes as far as looks go. Ralfiel, with his pale skin, blonde hair, and dark eyes, was handsome, but it had something rotten in it. Something that made her skin crawl.

"So you think I'm a god now? I like the improvement." Revel grinned at Lys. "Is that what you'll call me when I rail you?" 

Lys felt her toes curl as his voice dropped an octave as he said that. As heat blazed across her cheeks. She was pretty sure he always had that affect on her. And as they got older, it just got worse. Lys had hated him for it. It had been, still was, if she was honest, fucking terrifying, especially once her mom had left. Having him around had been unbearable during those first two years.

     "You think an awful lot of yourself, you know," Lys drawled, walking over. She sat on the delivery Revel was unpacking, which earned her a miffed look from him. Lys merely smiled. "I said you look like a god, not are one."