Jayden

I fell back against the hallway wall, desperately trying to calm my thoughts. Images of Seraphine—Sera smiling at me burned through my mind. It was a real smile, one that I had given her, and my soul lit up at the memory. If I had this reaction just to her smile, what would I do when she laughed? You’ll be completely useless, that’s what, my mind teased me. I had only ever felt like this once before, when I was twenty. A girl I met in the park, who would smile at me as she walked by the bench where I would sit to read. I was so distracted by her that I never read the books I brought to the park, I just thought of her and waited for her to smile at me again. I never saw her again after I became the Uniflux bearer.

My mind traveled back to when Sera and I had first met, when I saw the pain in her eyes. Suddenly I had a desperate need to free her from that pain, which was probably worse after last night’s events. I smacked my forehead with my hand, bringing my thoughts back into focus. You can’t have a crush on her, I told myself, she’s a depressed, suicidal murderer. But she was also breathtakingly beautiful. Damn it.

“Sir?” Joe was standing at the entrance to the hallway, his head cocked as he looked at me in confusion.

“Sorry, I was just… showing Seraphine to a room.” Sera, my mind reminded me. I followed Joe into the main sitting room, running through scenarios that could have contributed to Sera’s troubled past.

“Sir, I’ve sent the horses we brought from Marxus to the city barracks, where I’m sure they’ll be put to work. Did you want me to bring the news of the Tamani to the council?”

“Please, if you could,” I replied. “Don’t mention Seraphine, just let them know the Tamani attacked the village. I’m sure they’ll send a team down there to investigate, which should give us some time to formulate a story.”

“A story, sir?”

“Well we can’t exactly tell them that she killed the fox and all the surviving guests, now can we? They would send assassins after her, or have her imprisoned.” Joe raised an eyebrow at me. It wasn’t like me to grow attached to someone this quickly, and he knew it. I hadn’t made any friends since I moved to Arden—I rarely even left the house.

“Yes sir,” he said finally, grinning.

“Oh, just go.” Honestly, was it that obvious? Probably. Joe left without another word, and I retreated to the library. I tried to focus on my books, reading about the balance and distance of the moons when they were in orbit, but all I could think about was Seraphine. What happened to her that was haunting her, even before the night of the festival? And why were her powers sealed in the first place?

I tracked down a book solely on the Marx family and Elysium, scouring its pages for anything useful. From what I had always read, the Elysium bearer’s powers remained dormant until they were physically and psychologically mature enough to control the powers. She only would have needed her powers sealed if they had started unlocking when she wasn’t ready. Elysium bearer’s powers will consume the vessel if they are unlocked too soon, so biologically they don’t unlock until the bearer is ready or there is a traumatizing event in which the bearer needs his or in this case, hers. So, what triggered her powers to unlock early?

I made a list of what traumatizing events could have happened to her, ranging from abuse to witnessing the death of a loved one, but none of them felt quite right. Maybe it was more than one event, I thought, realizing that’s probably what it was; a smaller traumatizing event compounded for many years in addition to a larger event. I picked up my pencil again and started cross referencing minor and major events… but after a couple minutes stopped myself. There were thousands of possible combinations, and any one of them was just as plausible as the next. I was never going to know what happened to her unless she told me.

Going back to my original research, I scanned a book and a half for information before giving up. I couldn’t get Sera out of my mind, and wouldn’t be able to until my curiosity was sated. The Uniflux pulsed in my wrist, reacting to my thoughts before I had even realized them. But how do I know when she’s going to wake up? I wondered. To speed up time, I had to focus on a specific time, but without a point to focus on I could easily get the timing wrong.

Perhaps… I closed my eyes and focused on my emotions, my curiosity, and my desire for her. The Uniflux buzzed, burning my skin as I felt time pass quickly. Just a bit longer, I thought, my eyes still closed. In the whirlwind that was the time around me, I heard someone calling for me. I opened my eyes early, releasing my hold on time.

“Sir, are you with me?” Joe asked, hunched over the table.

“Why did you do that?” I demanded, unsuccessfully hiding the anger in my voice. He knew better than to disturb me while I was bending time.

“I’m sorry sir, you have a visitor.”

“A visitor. You disturbed me for a visitor? Just tell them to leave.” I closed my eyes again, but Joe put his hand on my shoulder, keeping me from tapping into the Uniflux’s power.

“She’s traveled a long way, and says it’s very important, Sir.” I sighed and stood up, walking to the front door. I opened it to find a young blonde girl, no older than nineteen, with enormous brown eyes.

“This had better be important,” I growled at her. She smirked and tugged on the chain around her neck.

“I think this is my ticket inside,” She said, pulling the Elementorium out from under her shirt. My eyes widened and I grabbed her by the shoulder, pushing her into the house. I poked my head out the door, looking around to see if anyone was nearby. Luckily, the street was empty and quiet, as usual. That was one of the reasons I had picked this location. I closed the door behind me and turned around, only to find the girl roaming my sitting room, trailing her hands over the rather expensive couches.

“I’m guessing you didn’t earn that necklace,” I said to her, breaking her thoughtful wander.

“Straight to the point, I see. I almost earned it, and probably would have if they hadn’t kicked me out,” she started, then stopped when she saw my expression. I was not in the mood to entertain young teenage guests. “Yes, I’m the one who stole it. Name’s Claire, by the way. Since you didn’t ask.”

“So, what brings a thief to my house?”

“Well, from the looks of it you should have thieves here practically every night…” she trailed off again as she met my eyes. “I was hoping you could help me, but you’re clearly not in the mood to help anyone.” I sighed, my propriety not allowing me to be callous to her any longer.

“I’m sorry, I was just a bit… busy. Do you want something to drink?”

“That’s more what I was expecting from you, Jayden,” she said with a smile. “Your mother offered me a drink before I was even through the door.” Anger and suspicion flared in me at her words.

“What were you doing at my parent’s house?” I demanded.

“Oh calm down, I was just looking for you. Your parents are fine, and I swear I didn’t steal anything.” I felt my heart rate increase as I heard a quiet footstep in the hallway. Turning, I saw Sera, wearing her dress from last night and looking like she had just run her fingers through a bad case of bedhead.

“Jayden, what’s going on out here?” Sera asked, sounding tired. How much time had passed since she had gone to bed? I wasn’t sure, but it seemed to be sometime in the early afternoon judging by the sunlight coming in through the windows.

“Black hair, teal eyes, salty disposition,” Claire listed, studying Sera. “You must be the Elysium bearer, I’m Claire. You didn’t tell me the whole gang was here,” she said cheerily, turning back to me. Wonderful. Not only was I harboring a murderer in my house, I now had a cheerful thief calling us a gang.