Page 63 of Aleko
“Yes,” said Killian, and the word was barely a whisper.
And there it was. Killian had sacrificed his future for Pellos.
“All right,” said Alex. “Show me the spell.”
Episode 33
The Wand
Eliandra
Lia stumbled to a stop, leaning against a fence cordoning off a rundown building. There wasn’t any place they couldn’t track her. She needed to go someplace where her scent would be lost. The rain had stopped for the moment, but she was still wet. And her head still hurt. She put her hand up to her scalp again. She thought the lump had gone down slightly, but it was hard to be sure.
She had run from the house like Sebastian said. Run until she’d fallen over, sliding in the scrubby grass. Lia wasn’t sure how long she’d lain in the grass while thunder and lightning battled overhead, but eventually, she’d picked herself up and stumbled out to the road. She’d walked until she’d reached the outskirts of Kavala. She’d spent the remainder of the night in someone’s garden shed. Her white dress was now filthy and gray.
She shivered as the wind plucked at her skin. At least the rain had washed most of the blood off.
She’d had to wait until the owner of the shed had left for work before crawling out of her hiding place. She had nothing. She’d violated her own rules by not keeping a little cash tucked into her bra. She’d had the temerity to feel safe and happy, and now she was paying the cost. She’d worked her way toward the town center and the homeless center. She’d gotten a little food there, but they’d wanted her to fill out paperwork, and then a police car had come by, and Lia had hurried away as fast as she could. Alex wouldn’t have to use magic against her—Pellos was human, and so was she. He could just call the police.
Ahead of her, she saw a man come out from behind the fence. Peeling away a section of the chain link and then lowering it back down before hurrying away. He had the dirty look of a vagrant.
Lia approached the place in the fence and peered through. She could smell fire and something cooking. There were a lot of humans in there—stinky, smelly humans who would disguise her scent.
She slipped inside. No one noticed or seemed to care that she was there. She walked inside. It was dark and smelled like shit. She edged down the hall and then toward the back of the house. She passed someone cooking a little bit of heroin on a spoon.
“Lia,” called a voice, and she turned back with a jerk of fear. “Lia, what are you doing here?”
She looked down into Rami’s face and hurried back to him.
“Lia, you shouldn’t be here,” he said as she sat down beside him, huddling in an empty space against the wall.
“No,” said Lia. “This is good.”
“No, it isn’t,” said Rami. “It’s a crack house.”
“There are a lot of people. They won’t find me.” Rami looked like he might ask who wouldn’t find her. “I’ll watch out for you while you shoot up,” said Lia, hoping that would stop him from asking more questions.
“OK,” he said, nodding after a long moment.
He put the needle in his arm, and Lia tried not to watch. She put her arms around her knees and tried to make herself small so no one would see her. A couple of people passed them, but they were intent on their own troubles and didn’t look their way. When the flame was extinguished, and the needle put away, Rami sat back with a sigh, leaning against the wall with her.
“They said Ash had you,” said Rami, his voice thick.
“He did,” said Lia. “But he decided he didn’t want me anymore.” That wasn’t fair to Alekos, but it kept her from crying.
“Sorry?” said Rami, like he was unsure if that was the rightthing to say.
“Rami,” whispered Lia, “do you ever think about maybe just jumping into the ocean and forgetting how to swim?”
“All the time,” said Rami. “But you know what I really think about?”
“No,” said Lia, shaking her head.
“Just killing myself, that doesn’t do any good. I’d be dead, which would be nice for me, but it wouldn’t help anyone else, would it?”
“No,” agreed Lia.
“No, see, what I really need is a djinn or magic wand or something like that. Something that would give me a wish. Because then I could wish that I had never been born. And that would help everyone. I would never have to...” The silence stretched on while Rami struggled. Lia didn’t fill it for him. She had no comfort to offer, and she wouldn’t presume to know what pain he was looking to name. “And then all things I have done to everyone else. None of that. All gone. The only thing suicide would do would be to prevent me from hurting anyone else.”
