The Art of Truth (TRC #2)

Chapter 17 - Lifemark

A/N: First up - sorry for the delay in updating! Things have been really hectic lately at university. I was sick for two weeks, and then had to catch up and had a bunch of tests and very little time for writing. Fortunately, I'm back on track now, so hopefully I can get back into writing every day as usual. Also, the current chapters that I'm working on aren't of the best quality because of how little I've been writing, and I'm really unhappy with them, but, I'll probably still upload them anyway in a few weeks. Thanks for the understanding! Read, vote, comment and share, if you enjoy! Thanks!

~Hikari

Chapter Seventeen - Lifemark

We were back at the graveyard. I pulled my jacket tight around my body, shivering as a gust of wind caught me. I didn’t want to be back, didn’t trust the look in Kairo’s eyes when he pulled into the parking lot. He’d left Anna alone at the flat, locking her in completely. I still had my knife with me and kept a hand on it. I was scared.

I followed Kairo through the graveyard. I was prepared if he wanted to go back to the old part of the graveyard; I had rehearsed my answer in my mind during the drive. The only way he’d get me to go was if he picked me up and carried me there, and even then I’d put up a fight.

My sigh of relief was lost to the wind as he stuck to the path and walked in a different direction. Towards his parents’ graves, I realised with a shock. If I’d known, I would have convinced him to get some flowers at the least.

We finally stopped at the graves. Two granite rectangles about half a metre high. Kairo took a deep breath and knelt in front of them. His eyes were closed and his head tilted forward. I turned around and walked away, giving him a moment of privacy.

I looked up at the sky while I waited. I couldn’t return immediately, but I didn’t want him to leave him alone too long. I didn’t trust that symbol in his possession, remembering how he’d wanted to bring his parents back.

I smiled at an elderly couple strolling hand-in-hand down the path. They smiled back. I glanced up at the sky. I frowned and shook out a shudder. They were nowhere to be seen. It felt like the right time to go back.

“Where did you wander off to, Maya?” Kairo asked. Sunlight streamed into my eyes, rendering only his silhouette visible. He stood with his back to the graves, one hand in his pocket. He’d heard my footsteps crunching on the grass.

“Just thought I...I’d...” I stumbled over the words, startled by his disheartened tone.

“Relax. I know what you did. Or rather what you were trying to do,” he cut me off and gave me a faint smile. I smiled back and walked up to him. Cautious, I placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. To my utter surprise, he turned around and pulled me into a hug. After the moment it took for me to adjust to the sudden change, I closed my eyes and held him, feeling a deep blush rise to my face. He let go of me almost immediately after that and looked away.

“I’m sorry, Maya,” he murmured. “This is going to hurt.”

He took my hand, turned my palm up and sliced across the skin with my dagger. I gasped at the sudden pain and shock, closing my hand automatically. He pressed the symbol against my hand as the blood poured out from the wound. The stone felt deliciously cool against the burning pain, but there was a strangeness to it. I couldn’t place it but suddenly the world lurched and spun. I let go of the stone and Kairo caught it.

He held the stone up to the sun. Streaks of red – my blood – filled in the engraved ridges. The symbol was visible.

“Perfect,” he murmured, gazing at it in wonder. “It worked.”