Shadows of Truth and Deception (Levi • OC)

CHAPTER 9 - Fateful

fateful /ˈfeɪtf(ʊ)l/ — having far-reaching and often disastrous consequences or implications

     The sound of busy streets and birds chirping made Reinae's lids flutter. Sunlight reflected off small glass decorations that hung from the ceiling, creating rainbow circles on the walls. The window was slightly ajar, letting the warm summer breeze sway the curtains in a calming, repetitive motion.

     As soon as she tried to move, she gasped from the shooting pain. It reminded her where she was and why. Immediately tense, she took in the rest of her surroundings. She was in a big, soft bed in a cozy room. No signs of danger. Her bag was resting on a chair beside the bed—with all the imprinted key boxes still inside.

     "You really think I'd steal those? I don't even know what they're for."

     A man leaning on the room's doorframe observed her calmly, amusedly as she dug through her bag, counting all the boxes. Reinae took in his appearance, his warm, chocolate brown hair and equally brown eyes, his slender face with defined cheekbones that looked just like someone she knew...

     Reinae's jaw fell into her lap.

     "Theo?!"

     The man grinned, the skin around his eyes wrinkling in the same way as Charlotte's did whenever she smiled. The similarity between the siblings was uncanny.

     "It's an honor you remember me," he said. His voice was a lot deeper than it was seven years ago when she'd last seen him.

     "I thought you were... I don't know, not here?" Reinae stammered, feeling as if she were still dreaming.

     "Where else would I be?" Theo Roche said as he leisurely made his way to the bed, sitting beside Rei.

     "Charlotte never speaks of you."

     "Did you ask?" He tilted his head to the side, a smirk on his curvy lips.

     "... No," Rei admitted shamefully. Theo chuckled, removing the sheets that covered Rei's body, and nudged her to lay back down.

     "I won't take it to heart," he said as he removed the bandages from her wound. "I asked my sister not to speak of me. Barely anyone knows we're siblings."

     "Why?"

     Reinae winced when he disinfected her wound, the stinging causing her eyes to water.

     "It's bad for her business to be a sister of a military officer of my rank."

     Her head snapped to find any traces of sarcasm or teasing on his face, but Theo only raised an eyebrow at her baffled expression.

     "You're in the military?!" she snapped. "After all the trouble I went through to get you and your sister out of the underground, you joined the bastards?!"

     "Calm down for a moment, will you, Rei?" He rolled his eyes, her name casually rolling from his tongue as if it were mere days ago when they last saw each other. "Why do you think I joined?"

     She stared at him for a long time, partially still in awe of the man he'd become, partially connecting the dots. With a sigh, she leaned back into the pillow, letting him apply ointment to her raw wound.

     "If you can't beat them, join them," she muttered, and Theo only hummed in confirmation, focusing on his healing task.

     He and Charlotte were orphans from the underground. Reinae had met them in the first years of her 'reign'. Theo was a year older, and Charlotte a year younger than her. The siblings, who could very well be twins, grew to be close friends of the Agnars and Jasper—well, more so Charlotte than Theo. He was too busy fighting on the streets to have time to bond, but he and Reinae were always on the same wavelength. Charlotte dreamed of a life above ground, so when Reinae managed to grant her citizenship, she did so for Theo, too. And she had not seen the girl until four years ago when she'd joined the Scouts and visited her pub, and she'd never heard a thing about Theo. Until now.