Why Are You My Remedy? [Book 1]

31

His sister.

I try to shake off the nerves. I try to smile at the girl studying my face, studying the pathetic pieces of fabric barely covering my body. How did I not know Luka had a sister? How could I have never known?

Juleka turns to Luka. "This is Marinette?"

I'm standing here like a lump of nonsense. I don't remember my manners. "You know who I am?"

Juleka spins back in my direction. "Oh yeah. Luka talks about you a lot."

I flush and can't help but glance at Luka. He's staring at a point on the floor. He clears his throat.

"It's really nice to meet you," I manage.

Juleka cocks her head. "So do you always dress like that?"

I'd like to die a little.

"Hey, kid," Luka interrupts. "Marinette is going to be staying with us for a little while. Why don't you go make sure you don't have any training bras lying on the floor, huh?"

Juleka looks horrified. She darts into the darkness without another word. It's quiet for so many seconds I lose count. I hear some kind of drip in the distance.

I take a deep breath. Bite my bottom lip. Try to find the right words. Fail. "I didn't know you had a sister."

Luka hesitates. "Is it okay . . . that I do? We'll all be sharing the same space and I-"

My stomach drops onto my knees. "Of course it's okay! I just-I mean-are you sure it's okay-for her? If I'm here?"

"Whew? Okay! There's no training bras anywhere," Juleka announces, marching forward into the light. I wonder where she disappeared to, where the house is. She looks at me. "So you're going to be staying with us?"

Luka intervenes. "Yeah. She's going to crash with us for a bit."

Juleka looks from me to Luka back to me again. "At least I'll have another girl around here." She sticks out her hand. "Well, it's nice to finally meet you."

All the color drains from my face. My heart is pounding in my ears. My knees are about to break. I can't stop staring at her small hand outstretched, offered to me.

"Juleka," Luka says a little curtly.

Juleka starts laughing. "I was only kidding." She drops her hand.

"What?" I can barely breathe. My head is spinning, confused.

"Don't worry," Juleka says, still chuckling. "I won't touch you. Luka told me all about your magical powers." She rolls her eyes and adds finger quotes around magical powers.

"Luka-told-he-what?"

"Hey, maybe we should go inside." Luka clears his throat a little too loudly. "I'll just grab our bags real quick-" And he jogs off toward the tank. I'm left staring at Juleka. She doesn't conceal her curiosity.

"How old are you?" She asks me.

"Seventeen."

She nods. "That's what Luka said."

I bristle. "What else did Luka tell you about me?"

"He said you don't have parents, either. He said you're like us."

My heart is a stick of butter, melting recklessly on a hot summer day. My voice softens. "How old are you?"

"I'll be eleven next year."

I grin. "So you're ten years old?"

She crosses her arms. Frowns. "I'll be twelve in two years."

I think I already love this kid.

The cabin light shuts off and for a moment we're immersed in absolute darkness. A soft click and a faint circular glow illuminates the view. Luka has a flashlight.

"Hey, Juleka? Why don't you lead the way for us?"

"Yes, sir!" She skids to a halt in front of Luka's feet, offers us an exaggerated salute, and runs off so quickly there's no possible way to follow her. I can't help the smile spreading across my face.

Luka's hand slips into mine as we move forward. "You okay?"

I squeeze his fingers. "You told your ten-year-old sister about my magical powers?"

He laughs. "I tell her a lot of things."

"Luka?"

"Yeah?"

"Isn't your house the first place Agreste will go looking for you? Isn't this dangerous?"

"It would be. But according to public records, I don't have a home."

"And your sister?"

"Would be Agreste's first target. It's safer for her where I can watch over her. Agreste knows I have a sister, he just doesn't know where. And until he figures it out-which he will-we have to prepare."

"To fight?"

"To fight back. Yeah." Even in the dim light of this foreign space I can see the determination holding him together. It makes me want to sing. I close my eyes. "Good."

"What's taking you so long?" Juleka shouts in the distance.

And we're off.

The parking garage is located underneath an old abandoned office building buried in the shadows. A fire exit leads directly up to the main floor. Juleka is so excited she's jumping up and down the stairs, running forward a few steps only to run back to complain we're not coming fast enough. Luka catches her from behind and lifts her off the floor. He laughs. "You're going to break your neck."

Juleka protests but only halfheartedly. She's all too happy to have her brother back.

A sharp pang of some distant kind of emotion hits me in the heart. It hurts in a bittersweet way I can't place. I feel oddly warm and numb at the same time.

Luka punches a pass code into a keypad by a massive steel door. There's a soft click, a short beep, and he turns the handle.

I'm stunned by what I see inside.