Reapers -- The First Familiar (Reapers Chronicles Book II)

28 - Luci's Lab (1 of 2)

I stood in front of a familiar mansion, staring up at the giant willow tree. Skirting the gaping mouth of the Gate that guarded the home, I headed to the front door.

Before I could knock, a raven-haired girl in a collared dress pushed the double doors open.

“The Masters do not expect your visit, Alessandra,” Mei said in a thick accent. Her forehead wrinkled ever so slightly, as if in search of words to translate her thoughts into. “This may not be an… ideal time.”

That was when I figured out that I was still reliving a part of Alessandra’s memories. If I was seeing this by purpose or by accident, it was hard to tell. This time, I couldn’t get any of her thoughts. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move. It was like I was locked up behind a glass window, forced to watch everything.

From the gap between the doors, I saw a boy walk by. He was no less than fifteen, just in the brink of manhood. Just below the delicate waves of his dark hair, a pair of large blue eyes watched me with sheer curiosity.

Vincent! My mind cried.

With a slight nod, he smiled a smile I had never once seen before. The gullible, gentle smile that was now lost forever.

Laughing, he ran across the corridor. In a few moments, he was back, towing the frail but smiling Adrianna into view.

“Look, Addie!” Vincent said to her, excitement undeniable on his once blithe face. “Look who has come to see you!”

Addie. The thing about Vincent is, never in your wildest dreams would you imagine that he was ever a child. And a cheerful one. Honestly, I thought he was born with congenital mid-life crisis. For a moment there, a tinge of envy crept within me.

Adrianna sure got all the luck in the world, getting to be with Vincent when he was still possibly nice. I would bet if she met the Vincent of today, she would beg someone to put her back to sleep.

Mei stepped aside and gestured for me to come in. I could tell she was wary of my presence—of Alessandra’s presence. Having killed two Immortals in one sitting, I guess it is possible to get infamous overnight.

As Vincent and Mei left, Adrianna all but shrunk in a corner in the presence of her sister. Perhaps, it was the cold merciless air about Alessandra. Perhaps, she could somehow tell that the girl in front of her was no longer the same person as the one she once called her sister.

“Prepare your things,” Alessandra ordered. “We shall have to leave before nightfall.”

Gently, Adrianna shook her blond head. “I cannot, sister.”

I could feel Alessandra’s outrage by the way her blood boiled. “It is not a request, Adrianna. Come dark and the Grandmaster’s sentries shall come here to take your master’s mother. An edict to capture all immortal concubines and their execution had been issued. This once, the Grandmaster shall no longer be capable of protecting her, including this cabal should they retaliate.”

Adrianna’s brown eyes probed into Alessandra’s, perhaps in search for the sister she once knew.

“I told you. I cannot,” she answered tenderly. “The Grandmaster himself has arranged for the Mistress to flee into a place unreachable to Immortals. Now I must stay to protect her sons.”

In half a heartbeat, my palm landed hard on her cheek. I had never slapped anyone before and it was  horrible.

“I have become a murderer to buy your freedom and this is how you repay me?!” Alessandra’s stern voice resonated against the walls. “That boy you are protecting is not even of Immortal blood!”