Ethereal Underground (Ethereal Underground Trilogy) (39 page)

Finlay leapt out from behind the door, his sword high in the air. “What crimes has Ash committed?” he asked Sune.

Sune stared at Finlay with distaste. After a moment, he started to speak.  “You are a seraph. We have been interested to learn that your kind has been living among us for thousands of years,” he stated. Finlay put the sword down and let a smile light up his face. The regular Finlay charm oozed out of him.

“Pleased to be at your service, Official Sune.”

Sune seemed to let his guard down for just a moment. He looked intrigued to see a seraph defending Ash. “Ash, you have been charged with treason and for leading the fallen enemies into our homes. You provided them with our keeper technology, stolen from our alchemist. A fallen was injured in the fight and after much interrogation he told us about the keeper who they had working for them. We tried to question our lead alchemist, but he too had disappeared.”

Ash
glanced at Finlay. They both knew it had been Jaron who had betrayed the keepers, not Ash. Ash tried to find the words to explain his innocence; or at least the energy to fight Sune if needed. He wasn’t sure what to say, though. Finlay decided to interject and speak up for his friend instead.

“Ash is innocent. In fact, we just came back from slaying the fallen that took Jedzia’s life. In that quest, we found out who gave out the keeper technology. It was Jaron, and I disposed of Jaron’s body myself.” Finlay reached over to hold Ash’s hands up, the blue blood still stained them. The stain proved he had slayed a fallen.

Sune looked back and forth between the two who stood before him. Ash kept his face up, looking his former superior in the eyes. After a few minutes, Sune started to speak. “I believe that the seraph is telling the truth. I have always defended you, but I am afraid this time I cannot protect you.”

Finlay held his sword up high
er and pointed it at the other Officials who stood outside the door. “If you want Ash; then you will have to get through me,” he demanded. Sune put his hands up and took a step back. His face remained calm.

“One
moment, seraph. I will speak with the others.”

Another O
fficial pulled his hood down. It was Julian.

“Put your sword down. You have no proof that Jaron was the traitor.  Jaron was one of our best keepers.” Ash watched as the Officials bickered back and forth on who was to blame. He had so much he wanted to say, but in this case, he decided that it was best to remain quiet. Eventually, Sune turned around to speak quietly to the others. He could hear them bickering softly, but couldn’t make out what they were saying.

He looked over at Finlay who seemed to be straining one ear to listen in. Ash opened up his mouth to ask Finlay what they were talking about, but one glare from Finlay changed Ash’s mind. He kept his mouth shut again. He hoped that Annalise didn’t walk in the room. He didn’t want her to see him getting escorted away. It pained him that they wouldn’t have a proper goodbye, but it was best she didn’t remember him as weak.

After a few minutes, Sune turned back around. Ash tried to read his face, but it was emotionless.

“We believe you- well the majority of us do.”

Ash let out a sigh of relief, knowing that the battle was now half over.

“Thank you, Official Sune,” he said with a bow of his head.

Sune put a hand on Ash’s shoulder, and lowered his head in regret. “Still, I am sorry to tell you Ash, the other Officials and I have decided t
hat your sabbatical has ended.”

Ash let all his hopes dissolve. He should have known. A keeper for
life, that was what he had always been taught.

“We cannot offer you a place back among the keepers,” Sune told Ash. “We realize your loyalties lie somewhere else. So we want to offer you a truce. In exchange for the sparing of your life, you will give us another life when the time comes.”

Finlay smirked and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Depends. What type of life truce are you offering Ash?”

Ash moved closer to stand next to Finlay and nodded for an answer. There was no way he would turn down whatever they were asking of him. If they wanted him to catch someone or bring in a traitor, he would do it. It would be like old times again. Just him and Arie. They had worked together many times in the past as keeper and hunter.

Sune didn’t seem to like the pressure of being put on the spot. Ash assumed it was because Sune had thought Ash wouldn’t ask questions and normally, yes, Ash would have taken the truce no questions asked.

“When the time comes, a favor will be called upon for you to bring us a life. A child with the keeper qualities to become one of us.”

Finlay laughed, dropping slightly to put his hands on his knees and catch his breath. He rose up slowly and smacked Ash on the back. “Oh friend, this one is all you.” He walked over to the chair and sat down, the smile never leaving his face.

Ash scrunched his face. “Like my child?” He had always wondered what families the keepers had come from. Is this how he came to be at the conservatory? Did Sune make a bargain with his own mother or father for their child? Did they put up a fight? The answer was pretty simple. Ash was never going to have any children, he didn’t like them. He wanted to be with Annalise, who wasn’t human and if he couldn’t have her he would die alone.

“What’s the catch?” he asked Sune.

“The keepers are essential to protecting the planet. We need to train more soldiers to replace the ones who grow old
or die. If you make this life truce, you are bound to keep it; if and when we call upon the favor we will come to you and ask you to bring us a child of our choosing. This truce is not limited to your own kin, though your bloodline will be strong and proud.”

Ash snorted, he forgot to mention short-tempered, erratic, disobedient, and moody.

“Sure. Whatever,” he said with a shake of his head.

What could this life truce hurt? He wasn’t having a family, and he didn’t have any brothers or sisters who would have children.  

“Excellent.” Sune held out his hand and Ash gripped it firmly. He had never made a truce before, but knew that they were to be taken very seriously. Sune pulled out his keeper blade and started to make a small cut on Ash’s forearm. Sune etched the outline of the keeper symbol on the skin. Ash winced as he felt the blood start to appear. Sune pulled a glass bottle from his cloak and caught a few drops of blood inside it. He watched as Sune did the same to his own arm. The alchemist magic that spelled the keeper blades would bind the truce, not allowing either one of them to break it.  Sune turned to Finlay and held his hand out again.

“You will be a witness to th
is life truce? You will bear this responsibility?” he asked Finlay.

Finlay gave the Official a dirty look, “How did I get dragged into this?”

Sune gave him a smirk. “We will ask the redhead in the other room, huh? We know she will do anything to save her friend’s life.”

Finlay jumped up and came forward to stand right in front of the Official, his face mere inches away. “You will do no such thing. I will witness this life truce,” Finlay whispered firmly. They
joined forearms in agreement, the look of hate never leaving Finlay’s face. Finlay didn’t even move as Sune ran the blade against his arm, the blue blood pooled into the glass bottle. Sune looked pleased, as did the other Officials behind him. Ash was certain they had other motives to taking the seraph’s blood.

“As long as
all three of us are alive, the truce cannot be broken. If something happens and Ash cannot fulfill his obligation, Finlay will be forced to bring the child instead.”

Finlay pulled his arm out of Sune’s grasp. “I know what a witness for a truce is,” he said sharply. Sune placed the bottle back into his cloak. As Ash watched the bottle disappear, he couldn’t help but feel like he had just done something terrible. He was now under the obligation of the keepers.

Arie walked into the room with her father. They were both smiling and catching up. Her eyes centered on the cloaked man in her home and Finlay hovering over him, angered.

“Who are you?” she spat out.
She dropped the salve in her hands. In the blink of an eye, she pulled a knife from her boot and raised it in the air.

Sune turned to face Arie. “You must be Arie. We have heard much about you.”

Arie’s father pushed her behind him and held out a laser gun. It was a good thing the man wasn’t drunk or else they would all be in danger. “Sune,” Sasha said with a nod.  He and Sune continued to stare at each other, each daring the other to look away.

“Sasha. Long time.
” The Official’s voice did not waver, but Ash could tell how uneasy he felt.  There was something there. The two had met before and it wasn’t on good terms.

Sune was the first to break the gaze by turning back to Ash.

“When the time comes, we will call in our favor.”  The cloaked man turned and walked out the door. He pushed past the other Officials and keepers. Arie ran up to the door and closed it behind them. She locked it quickly.

“That is Sune? Seriously? No wonder you have so many messed up intimacy issues,” she told Ash. When she noticed
the look of relief, confusion and disbelief on Ash’s face she looked at Finlay and then back to Ash again.

“What’s wrong?” she asked them both. Finlay shrugged and playfully grabbed Ash.

“Ash here,” he said and squeezed Ash’s shoulder firmly, “Just agreed to a sacrifice in order to keep living in the underground.” Finlay let out another smirk and grabbed Arie by the waist, swinging her around. Arie rolled her eyes. She thought they were joking.

“Jokesters…” She wriggled out of Finlay’s grip before Sasha killed him. “Come meet my dad, Fin.” She tugged at Finlay’s hand as she pulled him across the room and dragged both of them into the kitchen for an introduction.

Ash didn’t follow them. He was still trying to process the situation. The keepers were going to let him go, just like that? Maybe it was luck of the draw, but the keepers hardly ever let a crime go unpunished. It was how they scared the people into living underground. Jedzia had always told him that the Officials treated him differently, but until now he hadn’t really noticed.

“Ash?” The small voice made Ash snap out of his thoughts and look up into the eyes of the small seraph standing across from him. She walked closer to him, and Ash smiled. She was the one that had made this all worth it.

“Anna, are you feeling okay?”

She nodded. Ash felt a wall slam in front of her emotions, it was sudden but it wasn’t quick enough to hide everything. Ash pursed his lips as he processed the feelings he just got from her.

“You’re going back. Aren’t you?” he asked her.

Annalise nodded.

“You’re not coming back here, are you?”

She shook her head. She kept her head down and kept the wall up. Ash felt like he had been run over by a ship. Everything inside of him wanted to throw something, hit someone or yell. He didn’t want to scare her, so he tried to
clear his mind. He struggled to control his breathing, but the tightness in his chest made it too hard to bear.

“You don’t want to go. You are good for me, Anna- and I’m good for you.”

He refused to beg, there was no way he was going to beg her to stay. He tried to catch her eye, but her eyes darted everywhere but on him.

Annalise let a few small teardrops slide down her cheek. “I know you say I make you a better man, but all I have brought you is death and destruction. You are better off with someone else.”

Ash’s body tensed up. Is that how she really felt? That all she did was hurt him? She had saved him. She had made him so much better than he was. She was the calm in his life.

“I know how you feel Anna. I lost someone too, but we need to stick together. This bond between us, it’s meant for us to be together.”

Annalise only shook her head as small tears began to stream down her face. Ash hated seeing her so upset.  He reached out to wipe them away.

“It’s not the same. Leon and I were together for so much longer. I made him a promise, a promise that I would return home. I need to go back and face the Elders for my crime.”

“This isn’t just about Leon is it?” he continued, “You’re scared of what you feel.”

“This is your home
, Ash. Back there, is mine. I do not know what to believe anymore, there is just so much I wish I could take back. I would do anything to keep from losing Leon.”

No matter how hard she tried, Ash could feel her wall crumbling. She felt tremendous blame for Leon’s death. She had been the one to ask him to fight the fallen. Now he was dead and she wouldn’t let herself be happy.

There was nothing left to say. She had already made up her mind and Ash was helpless to change it. Her words cut into his heart like a knife. But he also knew how loyal she felt to her kind, and he knew that nothing he said would stop her from going home. They had both known from the start how things would turn out; this was not an unexpected surprise.

“If this is what you want, I understand. I hope you will find me someday; when you’ve gotten everything figured out,” he told her. He pulled her close and ran his hands through her tangled blonde hair. He bent down and kissed the top of her head, he didn’t dare kiss her anywhere else. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to let her go. As she pulled out of his grasp, he couldn’t help but wonder what might have been if they had both come from the same world. If they had both had the same duties, maybe they wouldn’t be saying goodbye right now. He wondered for a brief second if maybe it was the bond that made him feel so strongly for her. It connected them in so many intimate ways already. Ash gave her a small smile full of regret as the others entered the room.