Intertwined

Chapter 14 | Confessions

Chapter 14: Confessions

“Are you going to go along with it?” asked Jade. They stood at the balcony of Jade’s room at the GAA headquarters about a hundred floors up, the strong winds tousling their hair.

Jade glanced over at Lance. He’d been very quiet for the past few minutes, eyes distant. Seeming to notice her eyes on him, Lance turned to look at her and gave a weary sigh. “It’s somewhere I haven’t been back at for three whole years, síerrí. I need to think this through. When I left that place, I wasn’t planning on going back. Ever,” he said quietly. His hair fell into his eyes and he brushed it away absentmindedly. He seemed awfully calm and silent but there was something burning at the back of his eyes that Jade couldn’t quite fathom. The last time she’d seen him wearing this expression, he had been telling her about his exile.

“We’ll go,” Lance said finally.

Jade looked up at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking, but his face was blank. It struck her that he was wearing the same mask she did when she had something to hide, or emotions she was trying to quell. “Lance…” Jade started to say.

“It’s going to be dangerous,” Lance said, interrupting her. “We’ll do it quickly, enter, sweep the chamber and then out before they even realize their defenses have been breached. I think I remember where the chambers were. I used to wander around there with Lyden bef– ” He stopped abruptly.

Lifting his hand, Lance conjured what looked like a miniature three-dimensional palace out of a few wisps of darkness that floated out from his palm. “That,” he said. “Used to be my home.” He lifted up his other hand, feeding it more smoky trails of dark light. The palace morphed into a beautiful couple. While the woman was slender and somewhat elfin, the man, Jade noticed, was very well-built, with striking features – Jade recognized the piercing eyes, straight eyebrows and sculpted face. He looked uncannily like an older version of Lance. “My parents,” Lance told her.

Darkness swirled around his right hand, amassing into a churning dark sphere. She watched the muscles in his forearm ripple as he flung the orb of darkness at the 3-D image. It hurtled through the air and collided into the image in a soundless explosion of dark light that caused Jade to start. She took an uncertain step back but what was left had already dissipated into the air or gotten swept away by the winds.

Lance took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. “They didn’t want me after they found out I was – am – a dark elemental. They couldn’t accept me for who I am,” said Lance darkly.

“Do you miss them?” Jade asked. Lance looked at her questioningly and she bit her lip. “Sorry, that was kind of a sudden question. Sorry, it was on impulse. You don’t have to answer it if y– ”

“Sierri, you asked the question because you wanted an answer.” Lance paused. “Sometimes it hurts to love those who don’t – and will never – love you back in the same way, yet, it doesn’t stop you from loving them, does it?”

It took Jade a moment to process this. “They say a parent’s love is unconditional and knows no bounds. Maybe they still love you, you know. Maybe they still think about you every day. Maybe they regret their decision but are too stubborn, or scared, to go back on it. Maybe, maybe… Maybe instead of breaking in we could just pay them a visit. Say you want to see them again and tell them about me. Maybe they might show us to the Keeper’s Chambers by themselves. It would save a us a lot of trouble.” She bit her lip uncertainly, gauging his reaction.

“That’s a lot of ‘maybe’s,” Lance said finally. He ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it. “How are you so sure they would want to see me?”