Seraphine

We pulled into Rein’s capitol city, Arden, just as the sun was rising over the trees. I had read about other cities, of course, but had never traveled anywhere. The small, cruel village of Marxus was the only place I had ever known, and I’m responsible for destroying it. The Tamani had fed off of the power I released when Maya sealed my powers, giving it the strength to break free of its prison. Michael and I saw the broken prison when we went for a ride in the forest the day before the festival. He thought the ride would help clear my head, but my mind was already made up by then. That day I asked him to take my life, because he was the only person I knew who would truly care about my death. Yet here I was, the morning after the night I was supposed to die, in the carriage of Rein’s richest bachelor. My whole village was killed instead of me, which hardly seemed like a fair trade.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Jayden asked. He was awake now, and seemed much more talkative now that he had gotten some sleep. I hadn’t slept at all on the ride here.

“We don’t have pennies anymore,” I replied. He smiled and laughed under his breath.

“It’s an expression, Seraphine.”

After a long pause, I finally said, “I should have died last night.” Jayden sighed.

“A lot of people died last night, Seraphine. If you were meant to be dead, you would be among them.”

“A scholar that believes in fate, how intriguing,” I said, managing a small smile.

“Perhaps you needed to live on, for your brother, and for me.” I looked up when he said this, meeting his eyes. I needed to live for his sake? I don’t think so, we barely knew each other. In fact, he had practically kidnapped me. “I just mean so that you can help me understand these powers we’ve been given,” he said quickly, obviously seeing the shocked expression on my face.

“You think I can tell you something that your books haven’t? I can’t even control this power, Jayden.”

“Seraphine, I’ve been the bearer of the Uniflux for three years now. I didn’t know how to control or use my powers when I first got them, either,” Jayden said, obviously trying to cheer me up.

“Well your power doesn’t kill people, Jayden. You didn’t just murder everyone you’ve ever known and not even remember it.” What was I going to do? Michael was alive, but was anyone else? Did my mom and dad get killed? Was I the one that took their lives? Not to mention all the guests, who I didn’t even know. They all had families, lives to get back to. None of them deserved to die. “Who am I to decide who lives and dies,” I mumbled aloud, not realizing I was speaking until it was too late.

“Nothing is going to make last night go away, Seraphine,” Jayden said as the carriage slowed to a stop outside of a large house at the end of the street. “That doesn’t mean that you can’t try to make up for it by doing some good in this world, or by helping others understand how our powers really work.”

“We’ve arrived, Sir,” Joe called from the front of the carriage. I ignored him. I barely even knew Jayden, and here we were at his fancy house in Rein’s capitol city. He thought I could help people, and that I could give him information.

“So my kidnapper needs my help,” I said angrily, glaring at Jayden through my eyelashes. He sighed deeply and ran a hand through his dark brown hair.

“Seraphine, I brought you here because you were lying unconscious in the middle of over a hundred dead bodies, some of which you killed. Your brother asked me to take care of you. If you think I kidnapped you, then you’re wrong. You can leave this carriage right now and never see me again if you want to, or you can come inside and maybe find a way to help future generations with these powers we’ve got.”

Future generations? Sure, there would be new Elementorium and Uniflux bearers, but Elysium was passed down genetically. Every member of our family lived in Marxus, and they were all slaughtered last night. It was just Michael and I left to carry down the genes. Maybe it would be better if I just stopped it all now, killed myself when there was no chance of a new bearer being born.

“Well, are you coming or not?” Jayden asked, standing outside the carriage door with his hand extended to me. I could see the outline of the Uniflux under his skin, which I studied for a moment. I hadn’t had the chance to really look at it before, it looked like two teardrops intertwined with a stem running down the middle, the pointed ends of the shapes pointing to his palm and up his arm. I had read that the Uniflux picks the host with the most compatible genes, whatever that meant. It would bury itself under the skin of the nearest suitable host, which is why it has two razor-sharp pointed ends. However, the material that Usarium was smelted into gives off a toxin that’s poisonous when it’s entered the bloodstream. Every Uniflux bearer is constantly poisoned and healed by the metal under their skin. Once a bearer is chosen by the Uniflux, they have it for the rest of their lives. It is possible to surgically remove it, but the moment the charm is removed from their body, the poison would spread and kill the host. I suppose Jayden was stuck with his powers against his will, just like I was.

I took his hand, feeling a strange electricity as our hands met. The mark of Elysium seemed to burn, and an angry burn appeared on Jayden’s wrist where the Uniflux was resting. Jayden winced in pain, but the strange reaction was gone as quickly as it had appeared. I could understand the power of the moons having some sort of reaction when they came in contact, but why didn’t it happen before? Your powers were sealed before, I realized.

“That was a strange reaction,” Jayden said as he helped me out of the carriage. Our hands were still touching, but there wasn’t anything happening with the Uniflux or my mark. Strange, indeed.

“Does that thing burn you very often?” I asked, watching the burn fade to a pink splotch on his wrist.

“Only when I tap into its powers, though it did have a similar reaction last night when you were…”

“Out of control?”

“Something like that. It seemed like Elysium had taken you over, and she called me Usarium when she saw me. Damn thing burned its way up to my neck—trying to get close to you, I think.”

“Maybe we do have some things to learn about after all,” I replied as we approached the house. Most houses on Rein were built out of wood because of the expansive forests, but Jayden’s house was a mosaic of stone and brick, with dark wood trim. That much stone must have cost him a fortune; it was a very expensive building material. The stone extended up to the tall roof, which was trimmed with dark wood and sported dark shingles. The interior of the house was just as impressive; the walls were painted a calm blue with the same dark wood trim running throughout the house.

“This place is like nothing I’ve ever seen,” I said breathlessly.

“Do you like it? I had it fashioned after an old Earth Victorian home. I became infatuated with Victorian architecture as an adolescent, so once I had the money for a new house I couldn’t help myself.” I followed Jayden down a hallway, our footsteps echoing on the dark wood floors. He opened the door to a massive library, its walls lined with books save for the spaces where two large windows let in the early morning light.

“I did warn you about the books,” Jayden said, amused by my amazement. He took off his jacket and slung it over one of the chairs assembled around the large table in the center of the room. I watched as Jayden casually strolled to a section of books and plucked several of them from the shelf, returning to the table with a stack.

“I figured we could start with the reaction we felt when we touched, so I’ve gathered everything I have on the connection between Usarium and Elysium…” His voice trailed off as he studied me. I was still in awe, looking around the room at the massive amount of books and dusty sculptures.

“Seraphine?” Jayden said, pulling me back to reality.

“Sorry, Jayden. Got a little lost there,” I said, still slightly drifting. He must get paid a fortune by the Rein council to be able to afford all of this.

“It’s fine. So, as I was saying—”

“Jayden, this is really a lot to take in right now. I haven’t eaten or gotten a good night’s sleep in days, and with everything that’s happened in the past day, I think I just need some time to myself to rest,” I said, interrupting him before he could pull me into his world of books. I couldn’t read or think about my powers right now, I just couldn’t.

“Of course,” Jayden said, standing up. I followed him out of the library and down the hallway, passing three more doors before we stopped. “There’s plenty of spare bedrooms, so you can choose whichever one you like, but I thought you might like this one.” He opened the door to reveal an enormous bedroom, furnished with plum-colored bedsheets, cushioned chairs, and a rug, along with the deep brown wood making an appearance in the bed frame, dresser, floorboards, and wall trim. The walls themselves were painted a pure white, which stood out among all the dark furnishings. However, the most stunning part of the room was the enormous window that covered nearly the entire wall across from the door, looking out into the green forest.

“Just how much money do you have?” I asked, running my hand over the soft bed cover.

Jayden laughed shyly saying, “I have more money than I ever wanted.” This room felt homey and welcoming, and it was the only place on the planet that I wanted to be right now. I looked up at him, unable to hide my smile. “Did you want me to bring you some food? You said you haven’t eaten in days,” Jayden offered, his brow furrowing. It wasn’t that I hadn’t been eating, the problem was that I couldn’t eat. I didn’t feel hungry—I haven’t since Hector and Ty…

“I’m fine, Jayden. You’ve done more than enough,” I replied, cutting off my thoughts.

“Well I’ll leave you, then. You know where to find me, Seraphine,” he said, starting to walk out of the room.

“Please, call me Sera,” I asked him as he closed the door behind him.