Greys IV - Chains

Chapter 32 - Gray, Green, Gold

I had the itching feeling I had been here before. The winding hallways, the furtive glances the mages tried to hide from me, even the scent of magic was eerily familiar. My body seemed to know which turns would lead me to a darkened gymnasium under renovations, a giant terrarium, a cafeteria, even living quarters that seemed...personal.

The gray-eyed Half was silent as we made our way through the maze of corridors, the traitor next to her. But the dead mage had disappeared as soon as we entered, probably to brief Abby, who I assumed was the mage responsible for the impressive fortress around me. I had felt the communion of multiple magics in the wards that pushed against me as I entered, like an invisible skin that didn't want to let the needle in. Which was wise, as they surely were meant to keep enemies out, keep threats out, and I was both.

I felt like I should be able to remember the woman, the images she had shown me, and how her eyes met mine, searching like they knew me, made that apparent, but I didn't, not at all. Ambriel had said my old life didn't matter, she had ordered me to leave it behind. She said I never had anything or anyone anyway, nothing worth remembering. She said she pulled me out of the darkness, out of the cold, empty place I had been in, the hell I could sometimes still remember when I was alone. I knew it was true, I knew she had gotten me out. I remembered foggy snapshots in the beginning; bright lights, a warm room and cold skin, dark eyes and pointed teeth, mages, many of them, magic and blood, so much blood. She said she saved me, and I believed her. I always did.

I thinly remembered Malachi or knew of him at least. Ambriel had told me to kill him if I got the chance, slowly, but everything else was blank, though I recognized his scent, it had been in Ambriel's room, old but thick, he had been there often. But everything before just a few weeks ago was clouded. I had the occasional prickling memory of a dark place, of being cold, being alone and in pain, being crushed by fear and desperation and hopelessness. That's what Ambriel had saved me from. And she was right, there had been nothing for me there, no one.

"It's not your fault you're so fucking evil you know."

I was pulled from my thoughts at the traitor's words, said casually like we were some sort of friends. I didn't know how to respond to the wolf-eyed man. So I didn't.

"Did she tell you I was the one who trained her? Turned her into the masterful manipulator she is today. I was the first draft for your collar and compulsion, too, the test subject. Compliments Amb's powers well, don't it? Seems they hit you with all three. Yikes. She's only been back, really back, for a little over a year, dead and then returned, like Ailech. She was with your Clan before, you were her leader, actually. Funny how she's convinced you that you're under her now - heh, literally. You let her die, too. It was you who killed her a couple of Springs back. Do you remember that? You killed her because she was an evil, frigid bitch who sold her soul to your asshole father, betraying you. Oh, and she was sleeping with your brother, Kael, and then me...and now you. But yeah, what you two have seems real special. She's definitely not using you or the power I trained her in to control a Fallen. Well, I think that about gets you caught up."

He rolled out a low laugh, clapping me on the back, and I had the overwhelming urge to bite him, as my hands were still bound. But instead, I asked about the one word that had snagged my mind.

"Kael is my brother?"

"Not by blood, but yes. You made a Clan, a family, and Kael was the first. They were yours."

"They?"

At this, he chuckled again, deep and rumbling, too rough to match his face's refined lines and angles. He was as pretty as his sister, though twice as grating.

"Nevaeh, she's your family too. It's messed up that you don't remember, but then, that's exactly what I taught Amb to do, to take people over in little layers until only her reality exists. I bet those fancy tattoos and all Baraqiel's mages helped too. And, I mean, you butchered yourself up, right? Split yourself apart and compartmentalized so they couldn't break all of you, at least? That was smart, it's exactly what I would have done to save myself, it's just a shame it played into their hand."