Parallel Lines- *RAYOR*

Chapter 14

My twin is the only person who can make me feel bad about things I don't even know are wrong.

I watch the salt water bubble in the pot. There's only a teaspoon in the whole thing, which I'm glad of because I was worried I would be drinking water from the Atlantic. And I'm worried about my sodium levels if I had drunk that much salt.

The wolfsbane, hagstone, and all the other ingredients are bubbling in the pot. When it was time to put in the wand, I began to worry about how clean it was.

"Will I die of infection?" I ask doubtfully.

"You can't die," says Blake. "And anyway, it's magic."

It's cold, about seven in the evening. We're all crouched round a fire, but Blake has the gas stove up too because it would be too risky to hang the pot over the fire. We don't have the tools to.

Aster has heated up milk and made hot chocolate. Levy's chilled fingers are wrapped around a cup but they're still a raw reddish colour from the cold. Mine are also wrapped around a mug. It's scalding, but I still take tiny sips which burn my throat and make my tongue tingle with sugar. It's definitely worth it.

I watch Blake carefully poke the wand into the water. It seems to glow with heat, even though the water can't be more than a hundred degrees Celsius, and the water carries on bubbling. It looks childish, a pot of water with random things dropped into it.

"It needs to cook for a night, so it will be ready by morning," says Blake. She accepts a mug of hot chocolate and lets out a wince when it burns her fingers.

I sip mine, trying to look decorous in front of her. But I can't hold myself back and soon the mug is gone. Aster refills it.

I take out an orange cream, drop it into the liquid and watch it melt. I look over at Levy- but he isn't looking at me. I haven't forgiven him for shouting at me earlier.

Still, I feel bad. My twin is the only person who can make me feel bad about things I don't even know are wrong.

"So. We're here for two days." Blake glances over at all of us.

"Are we going to do anything?" I ask.

"I don't know," says Blake. "I'll need to help Arielle make a few friends."

"Why?" Levy has a milk moustache. I know I do, too.

"She's lonely."

"Doesn't she mind you saying this?" Levy says.

He's the only person I know who would have been worried for her over that.

"I don't think so," says Blake. "She says it loudly enough herself."

"Okay," says Levy apprehensively. "Why can't she move to a more crowded area?"

"She doesn't know one. She's not good at socialising. She's more angel than human," says Blake. "And I'm worried she'll get hurt. Or tricked, somehow. And she has no schooling."

"Then- why don't you take her to Elysium?"

Blake freezes, staring at Levy. Then at Aster, who's wearing the same dumbstruck expression.

"That's... a very good idea," she says, astonished. I cross my arms, feeling hot and bothered.

"That would work," says Aster. "And she wouldn't grow old. It's..."

"It's perfect," says Blake. "Levy, you genius."

He blushes. He may not like Blake but no one can deny that she's striking.