Chapter 39

chapter Thirty Nine

*Ariya*

"Keo is my twin brother."

"What? NoThat's notThat's not possible. I killed him" Boss stammered, looking at me wide-eyed.

Justin looked frozen in place. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. His face had a mix of unreadable expressions.

"It is, Boss. I couldn't believe it when I walked in that room. It caught me off guard for a second and I didn't believe my eyes at first either. But it was him. It was really him."

Without warning, Boss grabbed me around the throat, glaring at me. Justin took a step closer to me. Bold move if he was going to try to protect me. Especially going against Boss.

"Shut your mouth!" Boss shouted at me, the rage dripping off of him.

"I'msorry." I choked out.

"He's dead. There's no way." Boss loosened his grip as he was trying to process what I had told him.

"He's not. I swear. That's my brother."

Boss released me. "You're happy about this, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry. All this time I thought he was dead. He's my brother. I can't help but be happy he's not dead."

Boss eyed me suspiciously, "Justin, deal with her. I'll let you off the hook since you've been honest, Ariya. You get to eat tonight. You'll need your strength for tomorrow anyway."

Boss left the room in a hurry after that. He didn't push further. I would have to have Drake lock the reason that Keo was still alive when they reached out.

Justin walked closer to me, "Well that was stupid. Why did you do that, Ariya? You promised."

I sighed, "I didn't start that part of the conversation. Boss did. If I lie to him he'll really get angry. I have to keep telling him the truth for now."

Justin narrowed his eyes, "How did that conversation start?"

"Boss asked me why I warned you about fixing my nose first and then when I lost control"

Justin flinched, "I'm sorry. I have to tell him something. I didn't know it was going to cause a problem. I was hoping telling him that would help you out a little bit."

"It did, I got food now, didn't I?" My stomach growled.

Justin laughed, "Yeah. That's true. You realize that I have to basically feed your food to you right now right? Since I wasn't given permission to undo the restraints."

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize. I don't mind." Justin grinned.

"You need to be careful, Justin." I warned him.

Justin paused, "Are you hungry in the other way?"

"That's not what I mean. You need to be careful. If Boss realizes how you have been treating me, he's going to take his rage out on you. Do you even know what ability he has?"

Justin seemed lost in thought. He gave me food, which I thankfully chomped down, while he was thinking. I was almost done with all the food he had brought when he finally spoke again.

"I don't know his ability. Which is odd now that I think about it. I know I need to be careful, Ariya. I will be. Don't worry about me. I can handle myself."

I looked at Justin, concerned, "JustinI worry about you"

Justin reached up and brushed my cheek lightly with the back of his hand, "I know. But you have to worry more about yourself right now. I'll be okI worry about you too though."

"You'll be the one to fix me up after each night though right?"

"I will. I promise. I will also bring food each time as long as I'm allowed."

"I will look forward to that then."

"Ariyapromise me you'll do your best not to piss Boss off too much."

I shifted uncomfortably, "This is basically war, Justin. I can't promise I won't end up pissing him off. But I will do my best to be careful. I don't want to make things harder than they already are."

"You mean, harder than they're about to be?"

I flinched, "Yeah."

Justin's expression softened, "I care about you, Ariya. I think a part of me has always cared about you, since you were my trainee. Please, just be careful."

"I willI care about you too."

Justin came closer and hugged my head to his chest. I breathed in his scent trying to commit it to memory. I would need something to think about while I was being tortured tomorrow. I was scared of what was to come. Justin kissed the top of my head.

"You should rest. Well, as best you can." Justin said softly.

"You're leaving?" I asked, the panic starting to set in. I was afraid to be left alone here. I was scared of what was coming tomorrow.

Justin nodded, " I need to leave soon."

"Please don't go yet." I whispered.

Justin sighed, "Just a little longerAriya, how did you get the scar over your eye?"

I blinked at him, "Oh! Umwell I was trying to protect Mya. The rabid went after her and picked up one of the swords that we dropped during the fight. As he went to bring the sword down, I had my arms up to use my arm guards to block the attack. I was in a rush and so I wasn't perfect in my form. The tip of the sword got my eye."

Justin winced. Thinking about how it happened and how it must have felt was probably an incredibly freaky thing to some people. I wonder if Boss would have the same reaction. Justin reached up and traced the scar on eye.

"I guess it's a good thing that you turned. You might have been blind in that eye otherwise."

"That's true. I couldn't see out of it after it happened but there was a lot of blood so I couldn't really open that eye anyway."

"Waitdoesn't your brother have the same scar? How did that happen?" Justin asked, the wheels in his head visibly turning as he tried to piece the puzzle together.

"I'm not sure how. I don't have my memory of it yet. But I think it was from the night of the attack. Boss said he had killed Keothi. Maybe it was during that?"

"If Boss thinks he killed him, how is Keothi alive?" Justin asked.

"Are you asking to tell Boss?"

Justin laughed, "No, Ariya. I'm asking because I'm just curious. I'm not telling Boss about our conversations. But I do need to tell him things that happen. For instance what is broken, what I fixed. How many vials of blood I have to give you. Stuff like that. I was trying to win you some points by telling him that you warned me about losing control. That obviously backfired a bit."

I thought for a minute. Telling Justin could prove useful. Whether he told Boss or not, I would know where his loyalties were. It wasn't like Boss would never find out about Keo turning already. I didn't think it would matter if Boss went in knowing that Keo was already a vampire or not. I decided to tell Justin and test if he really did care about me or if he was just blowing smoke to make me think he did.

"Keo turned the night of the attack."