TAKE TWO, kotlc

Chapter 24- Arella

"....but you can at least admit she's kind of cute." 

"I.... no. Adryan, I'd thank you to kindly stop flirting with the moonlark's daughter."

"I'm not flirting.  She's falling for me easily.  Besides, a personal relationship could be crucial to getting inside information."

"I suppose.  Where's Joselyn-?"

"Right here. I'm trying to find a way to wake the girl up. She won't be of any use to us if she's knocked out."

"Can't you just jolt her? You are a Charger after all."

"Don't hurt her."

"I thought you said you weren't developing feelings for her, Adryan."

"I'm not. I'm just- she's waking."

Arella pushed her eyes open to find herself sprawled across grass. Everything around her was just trees and bushes and rocks. And three cloaked Neverseen figures.

"How is our little prisoner doing today?" one of the Neverseen members asked.

"Splendid." Arella squeezes her eyes shut, hoping her sister had managed to escape on time.  She remembered the blazing flames.... the heat licking at her skin... the sweetness coating her tongue and sending her off to soothing oblivion...

The shortest figure pulled back his hood, revealing the much too familiar Wayward. "I'm Adryan- nice to meet you."

"Don't pretend like you don't know me, you idiot," Arella snapped, hacking up the smoke in her lungs.  "I can't believe the nerve of you-"

"Let's not get too upset here now." The tallest figure flipped up his own hood, and his features were so similar to his son's, it was scary.

"Let us introduce ourselves! This is my son, Adryan, who I'm certain you've already met. And this is my daughter, Joselyn."

The last figure tugged on her hood until it fell against her back.  She looked just like her family- dark hair that fell down to her hips and dark colbalt blue eyes that almost looked black in the shadows.

"Where's my sister?" Arella demanded, trying to sit up- then flailing back down onto the grass as she noticed her wrist and ankle were chained to a rock. "Where did you take her?"

"We-"

"Will not talk about that at the moment," Joselyn cut in, swinging her hair behind her shoulder.  Oralia recognized the Charger's voice from Paris. "You must excuse my brother," she added, ruffling his hair ruefully.  "He's rather new to the organization."

"How long have you been here?" Arella wondered.

"Almost six years. I joined when I was thirteen," Joselyn replied proudly, sparks crackling at her fingertips.  

"What are you going to do to me?" Arella tried not to meet Adryan's eyes.

But the former Wayward was already unhooking her chains, strapping her wrists together with more of the cold, interlocked metal. He offered her his hand.

"We have a lot to talk about. Want to take a walk?"

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"I don't get you," Arella decided, kicking a pebble across the grass and sending it scattering ahead of her.

Adryan laughed. "Me neither." He glanced at her. "For what it's worth, I tried to tell my dad to make a capture plan that didn't include almost killing you."

"Gee, thanks," Arella grumbled, turning away from him.

Silence followed.  Arella told her cheeks not to blush- this was not a romantic stroll through the woods. She was handcuffed, probably being stalked by a bunch of Neverseen members, and smelled like smoke.

Which wasn't fair considering how cute and put-together Adryan looked.

"Your hair looks cool," Adryan offered, pointing to the singed strands of hair outlining her face. He winked. "Makes you look all emo."

Arella blushed against her will and made a show of displaying the burnt strands. "Better now?"

"Perfect," Adryan promised, adjusting a bit of her hair. His fingertips brushed against her cheek and Arella felt like tripping over her own feet right there.

His adorable smile drove her crazy- and she hated it.

Oralia was right.

She was falling in love with a bad guy.