Ethereal Underground (Ethereal Underground Trilogy) (6 page)

She took the vase from him and took a large gulp of the liquid inside. It burned her throat as it went down, and she almost spit it back up. The coughs were uncontrollable as they came from her, her hand going up to her throat and looking at him in question, “What kind of poison is that?”

“Liquor, sweetheart, it’s the devil’s potion, that which calms us in even the most absurd of situations,” he said and took the vase from her carefully and gave a hearty laugh as he took another drink and sat it back in his place. “I believe you are getting your first taste of love.”

The words caught in her throat as he turned back to her with a wave of his hand, as if that explained everything. He had surely lost his mind. Seraphs did not love, they simply…were. Sure they formed attachments, but they were not capable of love. Still, she was confused at this weird feeling in her stomach as he spoke of love.  “You do not know what you are talking about. You are delusional from that awful concoction in your vase. I shall return when you are not so crazy,” she said, shooting a glare at him before turning to leave. She bumped into him, however, as he had teleported to beat her to the doorway, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to him.

“It’s okay, Annalise, I remember my first time as well. Not love so much really though…maybe fascination.”

She pulled herself out of his arms and shook her head, trying to ignore this weird sensation in her body, “How do you know this…Ash?” Why did she care so much?

“He’s one of my charges. A rather competitive and cunning keeper at that. I quite like him. That boy and I have played many a game of cards in the Underground.”

“What is a keeper?” Annalise asked, her curiosity peeked when her friend seemed to know more about the mortal.

Finlay laughed, clearly amused by her sudden interest, “Oh my dear Anna, we really must get you a little more educated on the ways of the mortals if you are going to be spending so much time with them.”

“I do not plan on doing such a thing. Just answer the question.”

“Sure, sure, whatever you say,” he said with a roll of his eyes, “A keeper is a part of the government that makes sure that the planet is protected during times of war. They also take on assignments and fight for the good of the planet among its own inhabitants. They are stronger and faster than the average mortal, carrying a keeper blade that makes those features even more empowered.”

“Why would they do such a thing?”

“Why would a guardian seraph watch over their charges? Anna, don’t ask such silly questions. It makes you sound naïve and I know you are smarter than that. You just have to think before you speak.”

She knew that he was right in what he was saying. It was just that saving this mortal’s soul had her so confused and erratic all of a sudden and she needed to know more about them.

Finlay interrupted her as she opened her mouth to speak and held his finger up as if to ask her to be quiet, “They are duty bound just as we are, but they are taken from their family as an infant and trained to be the best. Worst thing for them is having to learn to fight their emotions and control them. Some do well with that and others struggle…that Ash of yours, he’s quite the rebellious type.”

“He is not mine,” she clarified and threw her hands up in the air in front of her.

“Whatever you say, sweetheart. I don’t know why you saved him. Do you know why you saved him?”

Annalise paused and shook her head, “No, no I do not.”

“Then you should ask him.”

“Ask him?” Was he really trying to convince her to go speak with the mortal? To go to the human world and confront the one who she had saved? The one who she had shown herself to? Surely he would remember her and turn her in to these keepers. Then the Elders, and Leon, were sure to know what she had done.

“Of course. Why not? Hide the wings, and the mortals will never know the difference,” he laughed and pointed to the thick golden bangle each seraph wore that not only alerted them of available duties but could also hide their wings.

Annalise shook her head in amazement. She knew that Finlay spent most of his extra time with the mortals, but it never occurred to her that he would be showing himself to them and taking on their attributes.
Seraphs spoke without slang, without contractions, and most of the time Finlay spoke with both of those as a mortal would do. It was something she never wanted to do, and she certainly did not want to go hunt down this young man. “If you are his guardian, then where were you when he was dying?”

“Where I was supposed to be, beautiful, away so he could die,” he said matter-of-factly, as if the very life he was in charge of didn’t matter.

“How can you be so nonchalant about such things, Finlay? I have never once broken the code of honor and disgraced myself in such a way, and here you are, squandering away your life and walking a fine line between seraph and…and…fallen. Even encouraging me to do the same.”

“That’s quite the accusatory statement there, but lucky for you I take no offense,” he laughed facetiously and took her face in his hands, “I will make sure you escape, scotch free, I promise you that. Can’t be having Leon’s little lady
getting into trouble. We are all meant to fall, my dear, all of us. Some just get caught quicker than others.”

Annalise shook her head and pulled herself out of his grasp, “You are wrong. We are meant to thrive, Finlay, survive and do our duty.” She paused, feeling the adrenaline rush leave her and suddenly feeling
faint. Seraphs rarely slept, only when their powers were at their lowest or after a great battle did they need rest. Annalise felt the room began to fade out and she reached out to grip Finlay’s shirt before she fell over.

“You must have really worked yourself up over this one,” he laughed as he picked her up into his arms.

She threw her arm around him to balance herself. She wanted to insist that she could walk herself home, but she knew that she couldn’t when she felt her vision blur a second time. “Please do not leave me alone. I am terrified. I do not know what is wrong with me.”

“I will make sure Leon is still home before I leave
. Just don’t cry in front of him, I need to figure out why that’s happening to you,” Finlay reassured her, “Just remember, if you need directions for teleportation, your globe answers all questions.” Before she could ask him exactly what he meant, she felt them teleport away to her home nearby, and as soon as they arrived, she felt herself pass out.

Chapter
Three

Ash

The faint sound of horrible singing is what prompted Ash to open his eyes. His eyelids felt heavy, as did every other part of his body.
His head pounded as if he had drank too much ale last night, but he couldn’t remember much from the night before. As soon as he realized what the sound was, he groaned and rolled over to hide his head under the feather pillow. Arie was at it again. She knew how much he hated it when she sang. It flowed piercingly from the kitchen, off key and making his splitting headache feel even worse. On top of that, his entire body felt sluggish and drained. Unable to sleep through what could easily be mistaken as the sounds of a dying mutant, Ash stood up slowly and started to stretch. He had to cut back on his drinking. He noticed he was dressed in a shirt and brown pants. It had to be Sasha’s clothes. He had no idea how he came to be in Arie’s bedroom, but he was just glad he didn’t wake up naked. Since Arie lived with her father; that was a situation he didn’t care to explain his way out of. Before he got a place in the eighth layer, he frequently stayed the night, but each night Sasha had expressed the many ways he could kill Ash if he touched his only daughter. Ash made his way into the kitchen area, not caring if his hair was sticking up or how awful he looked. It was just Arie, no need to impress her. She had seen him hung over before. The Raines’ home was modest, no fancy decorations or top of the line furnishings. It was simple and clean. Arie kept a small vase of flowers in the hallway. Flowers were hard to find, a rarity that only the top layers could afford. Somehow, Arie always seemed to find a few to spruce up the home. They lived in a small flat in a building near the Ethereal Underground. It wasn’t the nicest part of the eighth layer, but then again, there was no nice part of the eighth layer. He took a seat upon one of the old metal kitchen chairs before throwing the closest thing on the table, a paperback book, at Arie. She squealed as the book hit her thigh.

“You woke me with your awful singing,” Ash complained. He felt his stomach grumble when he inhaled the scent of something delicious.

“Careful boy- I’ve got a pan of hot grease here. I’m making razda. Your favorite.” She held out the small pan that had held the razda meat. Ash took a small sniff and let the aroma fill his nose. Razda meat was impossible to get on the planet. In fact, anytime Arie and her father left the planet for hunter business, he made her bring him back a case of it. Animals didn’t live on their planet, and meat was practically nonexistent. Most things had to be imported from other planets, and it was up to the keepers to allow the traders to pass through the layers. These days, the keepers didn’t allow many traders past the fifth layer. Something about the rebels who lived in the deepest layers. Whatever the reason was, the keepers kept a tight supply on any essentials the people needed. They claimed that they were protecting the planet from outside threats, but in recent years Ash felt that their methods had become extreme. There was the underground market though; one could get almost anything from them. If you needed a weapon, food or medicine, it could be easily found if you knew where to look. The underground market was where he had gotten his trusty dagger. He was just starting to get used to being without his keeper blade. It was hard at first, to not have that familiar weight hanging from his belt. Still, the dagger gave him a sense of security.

Ash leaned back and placed his hands behind his head.

“What happened last night?”  He couldn’t remember much, just a few flashes, and his head was in too much pain to process the memories.

Arie brought a hot plate of steaming red meat
and a glass of water over to him and sat down. “You don’t remember anything?”

Ash licked his lips hungrily and started to dig in to his food. “No, not really.” Eating was much more important right now.

She wiped her hand across her forehead and sighed. Her red hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and she was rockin’ a pair of tight pants and a tank. Ash tried hard not to instinctively stare at her, his stomach screamed out in hunger instead.

“Well, you have to be the luckiest man in the world because your wound is gone.” Ash almost spit out his food; he took a drink from the glass to help him wash it down. That was right; he had gotten stabbed by Loki. He had seen a fallen last night.

“So that wasn’t a dream!” he cried. Of course it wasn’t. It was all coming back to him now. The fight, Arie looking for help, and then there was someone else. He struggled to grasp the small memory before it disappeared. A girl? He remembered a face with the bluest eyes he had ever seen, a girl with golden hair, and she was speaking. She was on top of him speaking words he couldn’t understand. He placed his hand over his chest where the sword had gone through his body. There was nothing there. He lifted up the shirt he was wearing, which he presumed was Sasha’s. His skin was smooth and unharmed. Looking up, he raised an eyebrow at Arie.

“Take a good look Raines, because you aren’t gonna see abs this good ever again.” He watched her roll her eyes before
he slowly lowered his shirt.

“Your clothes were covered in blood, do you want to explain what happened, because people just don’t magically heal from a sword wound.”

Ash took the last few bites of his food and shrugged. Maybe people did magically heal, he knew that yesterday was not his time to die and it wasn’t. Maybe a higher power knew that too. Still, he was hesitant to tell Arie about the girl. He almost missed Arie starting to lecture him. He recognized the familiar words and groaned.

“Maybe the blood was Loki’s.”

“You are lucky Loki didn’t tear you apart right then. I’ve been studying the legends Ash- he is dangerous. That’s why I didn’t go running unarmed and with no backup. You have to be the most selfish, careless, immature little keeper on the planet.” She stared at him with disbelief.

Ash stood up abruptly at the mention of the keepers. “I’m not with the keepers right now,” he yelled, letting his temper get the best of him. “And if they come around here don’t tell them a thing.”

After the incident, the keepers had made it very clear that if he was caught breaking the rules again, he would never be allowed in the conservatory again. He knew what happened to keepers who were kicked out. Most were never seen or heard from again.  He started to feel bad for yelling at his friend.

“I’m sorry
, doll.” He tried to smile, and took a deep breath to calm down. The keepers were already too curious about him and Arie’s relationship. Romantic encounters were strictly forbidden; a keeper had to get special permission and an official pairing to get married. Keepers were supposed to focus on being warriors; not on emotional ties. He had done such a great job of hiding his secret life in the underground, but someone had betrayed him. The Officials knew everything now. The fighting, gambling, and the women.