Reapers - Master of Souls (Reapers Chronicles Book III)

32 - Roots (1 of 2)

It sounded like he was saying that to patronize me. True enough, it had crossed my mind once or twice: what if Alex was my master? Or Kyoshiro? Vlad, even. Could things have been... how should I put it? Easier? Less complicated?

Then, we looked into each others eyes and said in chorus, "Not really," and we both laughed.

Yes. As hard as it was, I could never see myself being somebody else's familiar.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Alex said when I fell silent. "But you have to promise that you will not hate me."

I pretended to think for a moment. Funny. The thought of hating Alexis had never even occurred to me.

"I'll try my best," I humored him.

Upon seeing my reaction, his face dimmed. "There's a reason I don't take human familiars. Especially, females."

"And what is that?" I asked when he hesitated.

He looked down on his boots. "There are... complications which are unavoidable."

"By complications, you mean?"

With a deep sigh, he propped his elbows on his knees and began wringing his hands. "Females tend to... like me too much."

I copied his position, trying my hardest not to laugh because he looked really distressed with his so-called complications. "Oh, really?"

"Yes," he answered unblinkingly. "And that's where the complication is. You see, I have been born with this... uh... ability--like Vincent's barriers and Vladimir's Binds--but it has a greater effect on females. Sometimes... sometimes people do what I tell them."

"Like... mind-control?" A giggle slipped out of me.

Alex glanced at me and frowned. Shaking his head, he looked away.

"Sorry," I placed a hand on his arm when I realized he was being serious. "I didn't mean to..."

Half of me wanted to laugh. It sounded ridiculous. Half of me automatically made a mental list of reasons why I should believe him. Like how I had seemed to automatically trust him from the start. How I could tell him things I wouldn't even reveal to my own master. Or that time at Luci's lab when he was able to calm me down and make me enter the vat without the littlest resistance. And there was this instance back in the motel when...

I shook my head, blinked. How could it be true, what he was saying? This was Alex. All this while, was he just manipulating me? Us?

"I always wonder if... my friends are my friends because they like me or because I'm unconsciously forcing them to like me," he began rambling, his eyes distant, blank. "And you. You think you like me but you don't. It's only because you're a girl that I have that effect on you."

For a while, I looked at him, unable to say anything. I had no idea he was troubled about this. He had always been the one who fixed things for us, who helped us clean up after our mess, that I forgot he has broken things and messes of his own. And so far, no one was helping him.

I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth, my brows scrunching up. "You know, Alex, we've been through a lot. Now, out of everything that happened, I'm starting to think how much of that was you and how much was mind-control."

With his slouch getting lower, he gave me a shrug.

"But you're right," I nudged him lightly. "We're friends because you make us like you. Alex, you're maybe the most honest person on earth. Too honest, actually. And we like you because you're you. Not because you mind-controlled us."

Slowly, his face lit up with a smile. Not the nervous laugh or the wry grin. Just Alex, smiling. "Vincent's right."

"About what?"

"You always know what to say."

I glanced at my master, who was watching us now. "Not always."

Looking at the face of the girl sleeping in the tank, I curled my hands into tight fists. Before I knew it, I was already on my feet.

I took in one shaky breath before saying under my breath, "Alex, can you lend me your Diviner's Charm?"

Without taking my eyes off Adrianna, I reached my hand out to him, palms open. He didn't ask why, but I could sense the question in his eyes as he stared at me. Hesitantly, he handed the earring to me.

I put it on and went right to business.

"Belial," I called mentally.

Just one word and suddenly, inescapably, all heads were turned on me. One word to ruin the moment. There was no other way. It was a general Link after all.

I couldn't think with all those stares. But even as I turned my back on the others, I could still feel their eyes boring into the back of my head.

"Yes, Hun?"

Relief washed over me when she finally responded. I chose my words carefully before letting them out.

"I need to talk to you," I threw a furtive glance at Vincent. His brows pulled down the moment our gazes locked. "About the Offering."

The intensity in the air seemed to lighten a little. But the stubborn crease stayed there, between Vincent's brows.

"That's a pickle... We're here at Vincent's house to use their Door. I'mma help Cairo get Irvine and Sharifa to Halo real quick first. Then I'mma head straight to you; is that okay, Hun?"

"No, I'll go there." I needed to talk to her alone. Because it wasn't just the Offering I wanted to talk about.

"A'right then," she answered, seeming to read me straightaway. "See 'ya in a jiffy, Hun."