Bound (16 page)

She took the photo to her closet. On the top
shelf she kept a box for old photos and keepsakes. She pulled it
down, placed the photo on top of the pile, and replaced the box.
For a split second she considered reaching for the box and
destroying the photo, but then she stopped herself. It was just one
photo. What could it hurt?

The following day, Kira got up early and
spent the morning moving her desk into the living room and placing
some of her personal items around the house so the space didn’t
seem so bare. She’d just grabbed her backpack and was on the way
out the door for school when Lydia’s thoughts slipped into her
head.

Kira. Octavion found out and he’s not happy.
He’s coming. I’m so sorry.

Kira’s heart leapt into her throat, but
before she could react, the door flew open and Octavion stormed in
with Lydia not far behind.

“What have you done?” he roared, as he came
at her.

Kira’s first instinct was to cower, but her
newfound courage took over and she stood her ground, meeting his
stance with her head held high.

“Get out!” she yelled, pointing to the door.
“You have no right to come in here and talk to me like that.”

For just an instant, his expression changed,
as if he reconsidered his angry approach. But then he took a step
back and began shouting again. “You have put us all in danger. What
were you thinking?”

“Octavion. Stop it!” Lydia forced her way
between them.

“Stay out of this.” He pushed her aside, but
she came back with fury in her eyes.

“Octavion! Knock it off!” Lydia doubled her
fist and tried to hit him, but he caught her hand.

As he turned to face her, he tightened his
grip and pushed her halfway to the ground. “I said, stay out of
this!”

Kira hit him—hard—right in the stomach. Her
hand bounced off, but it got his attention. He let go of Lydia and
went after Kira. When he grabbed the front of her shirt in his
hand, she was ready to fight. She took hold of his vest and twisted
it in her fist.

“Go ahead, hit me,” she said.

Octavion’s face instantly softened and he
released her, stepping back. Kira was surprised to see shame and
embarrassment in his eyes.

“I would never hit you. I am angry because of
the situation you have put us in.” He held out his hand toward
Lydia and grabbed a newspaper out of her hand. He shoved it in
Kira’s face. “Explain yourself.”

Right there on the front page of the local
newspaper, a picture of Kira holding a little white dog looked back
at her. The caption read: “Mystery Girl Saves Toddler’s Puppy.” If
that wasn’t bad enough, it happened to catch a little heart pendant
suspended in midair dangling below her right wrist.

Kira leaned against her desk. “It happened so
fast. I didn’t think . . .”

“You are right,” Octavion said. “You did
not
think.”

Lydia plopped onto the couch and folded her
arms. “You should have told her about the Crystor. You can’t blame
her for that.”

He shot his sister a glare.

Kira looked closer at the picture. “Look, as
bad as this is, you can’t see my face. You can only see the back of
my head. The picture is focused on the little girl and her dog.”
She waited for a response. When she didn’t get one, she continued,
“Besides, if they knew who I was, it wouldn’t say ‘Mystery Girl,’
right?”

“She has a point,” Lydia said.

Octavion grabbed the paper out of Kira’s
hand, took another look, and tossed it on the floor. “This better
not come back on us.”

Whew. That was fun.
Lydia thought.

Not so much
. Kira expected Octavion to
make another rude comment, but his attention had shifted to
something behind her. She tried to follow his line of sight, but
the only thing he could be looking at was a group of pictures she’d
just tacked to the far wall. “What are you looking at?”

Octavion crossed the room and ripped the
photo from under the tack.

“Hey, stop messing with my stuff.”

He looked closer at the picture, then turned
it so Kira could see. “What is this?”

Feeling like she needed to lighten the
atmosphere, Kira answered very slowly. “It is a
pho-to-graph
.”

He raised one brow, and she could tell he was
trying not to smile. He walked closer and held it up to her face.
“Is this you?”

Kira leaned back a few inches so her eyes
could focus. The photo was of her at an archery tournament her
sophomore year in high school—a side view of her pulling back her
bow. “Yeah, why?”

Lydia stood and tried to get a better look.
“You’re an archer?”

“What’s the big deal? Archery was one of the
most popular clubs—until they dropped it.”

“Do you still have your bow?” Octavion
asked.

“Yeah, it’s in my closet. Why?” One minute he
wanted to rip her face off, and the next, he wanted her to relive
her glory days. This guy needed some serious therapy.

“Get it.” He ordered, but then changed his
tone. “Please.”

Kira hesitated before going to her closet. It
took her a few minutes to dig through the mess, but she finally
found the bow against the back wall. “It needs to be restrung, but
it’s still in good shape,” she said as she handed it to him.

He’s like a kid with a new toy
, she
thought so only Lydia could hear.

Lydia grinned. “We’re gonna be late for
school.”

Octavion glanced briefly at both girls and
then dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

* * * * *

“Well, that was interesting,” Lydia said as
she pulled out of Kira’s driveway.

“For you, maybe. I seem to have a gift for
getting under his skin.”

Lydia laughed. “Better you than me. Who do
you think he’s been practicing on all these years?”

“At least you didn’t scratch the crap out of
his back. He won’t even let me heal it.”

Lydia took her eyes off the road and glanced
at Kira, then looked back with a smirk.

“What?” Kira asked.

“Oh, nothing.”

Kira poked Lydia on the arm. “Tell me. Did he
say something to you about his scratches?”

“He didn’t have to. But the fact that he
won’t let you heal them speaks volumes.”

“Well, not to me,” Kira said. “Is he still
mad and planning to get even or something?”

“Not hardly. It’s an animal thing—like when a
dog marks his territory.”

This time, Kira laughed. “Dogs
pee
to
mark their territory.”

“Okay, so that was a bad example, but the
truth is, I think he likes that you’re the one that gave him those
scars and he’s wearing them with pride.”

“In your dreams, maybe. He hates me.”

Lydia pulled into the parking lot and shut
off the engine. She turned so Kira could see her face clearly. “He
cares about you. He has for quite some time.”

A little swarm of butterflies took up
residence in Kira’s stomach and began to flutter around.
He
likes me?
“But he’s only known me for a few days. How could he
like me?”

“That’s not true. He’s known you as long as I
have.”

Kira hadn’t thought about that. “But we’ve
never met.”

“Well, actually . . .” Lydia bit her bottom
lip. “You’ve met, he just . . .” She paused for a moment and then
whispered, “He made you forget.”

“What?” Kira felt the blood drain from her
face. They’d messed with her memory and she had no idea? It
certainly explained why Octavion’s face seemed so familiar to her.
He’d obviously left some image of him in the back of her mind. “How
. . . how many times has he done that to me?”

Lydia avoided her eyes.

“How many times? I want to know.”

Lydia brought her head up and looked at Kira
with a guilt-stricken expression. “Just one other time, but it was
my fault, not his.”

“What exactly did I . . . forget?”

“I tried to tell you about myself once, but
Octavion found out. He said it was too dangerous, so—he erased it
from your memory.”

“And that’s the only other time? You
swear?”

“Yes.”

“Well, don’t do that again. Not unless I know
first and say it’s okay.”

Lydia nodded. Then she flashed her crooked
smile. “I really am sorry.”

Kira shook her head and smiled back. “You
better be.” It was impossible to stay mad at Lydia for very long.
She had this uncanny way of making things seem okay. “So tell me
something,” Kira said. “If he likes me so much, why is he always
mad at me? I mean, you said he wanted me dead.”

“
Kira
. I didn’t say he
wanted
you dead. I said he
thought
you’d die. There’s a big
difference.”

“Not to me,” Kira said. “He didn’t seem to
have any problem asking me to wear the Crystor, or wanting me to
give my life to save yours. That doesn’t sound like someone who
cares about me.” Her stomach twisted into a knot.

Lydia sighed. “He gave his word to protect
me. He honors that above everything, even his feelings for you. It
isn’t the first time he’s sacrificed his happiness for my safety,
and I doubt it will be the last.” She found Kira’s eyes. “You don’t
know how hard it was for him to watch you in pain. If he could have
taken your place, he would have.”

Kira thought for a moment. “Okay, so that
explains the wanting me dead part, but why is he always so angry?
His temper sucks.”

Lydia smiled. “How would you feel if you
liked someone, knew everything about them and wanted a relationship
with them, but they didn’t know you even existed? You’d be pretty
frustrated, too.”

“Well, that’s not
my
fault. Why take
it out on me?”

Lydia shrugged. “He’s a man?”

When the girls arrived at Kira’s house after
school, Octavion waited near the front door. He motioned for Lydia
to park, then ushered them both into the house and slammed the door
behind him.

“Now what did I do?” Kira asked.

He walked over to her desk, picked up a small
photo album and held it out in front of him. “That depends on what
you plan to do with these.”

Kira had gone through some of Lydia’s best
shots and arranged them in a little album to give her as a
graduation present. “What are you doing snooping through my stuff?
That was supposed to be a surprise for your sister. Give it to me!”
She tried to grab the album out of his hand, but he was too fast
and raised it above his head so she couldn’t reach it.

“Are there any more?” he asked.

“Yes, but why does it matter to you?” Kira
tried to grab them again, but missed.

Kira, what pictures did you use?

They’re just of scenery, the ones you took
months ago.

With the book still in his hand, he turned to
face his sister. “I told you how dangerous this could be. You gave
me your word.” His voice was calm, but a hint of anger hid behind
his words, like the calm before a storm.

Lydia slowly lowered herself to sit on the
couch, but said nothing.

“Lydia!” Octavion yelled. And then the storm
hit. “I want all of them,
now!
” He threw the book against
the wall, breaking open the metal rings and spilling pictures onto
the floor.

“Stop it!” Kira cried. “What’s wrong with
you?” She stepped to where the book landed and started picking up
the scattered pages. Lydia jumped to her feet and tried to help by
slipping some of the photos back into their plastic sleeves. She
picked up a picture of wild flowers decorating a weathered
gravestone and tears instantly filled her eyes.

Octavion let out a huff of air and went to
her side to comfort her—a complete contrast to his earlier
outburst. He took the photo in his hand and studied it for a
moment. “Please tell me this is not what I fear it is.”

She looked into her brother’s eyes, tears
streaming down her cheeks. “It is.” Her voice was barely a
whisper.

“But . . . how?” he asked. His brow furrowed
in confusion.

Lydia took one last look at the photo he
still held in his hand, wiped the tears from her face and stood.
“I’ll get my camera.” But instead of walking out the front door to
her car, she threw the door open and took off on a dead run past
the living room window in the opposite direction. Kira jumped to
her feet to go after her, stopping when she felt Octavion’s hand
clamp down on her wrist.

“Let her go.”

“No! She needs—”

“To be alone,” he said more sternly. “She
needs time to herself.”

Kira jerked her arm out of his grasp. “Fine!
Then explain to me what just happened.” She took the photo from his
hand and studied it. “How could you hate something so
beautiful?”

Octavion gathered the photos and stood. “Come
and I will show you.” He took her hand and led her to the couch
where they both sat. He selected three photos from the pile of
loose pictures and laid them on the table where she could see them
clearly. One was the gravestone and the other two were different
angles of a crumbling stone structure. He opened the album to a
photo of an old iron gate. “These are not of your world. They are
of Xantara.”

“What?” Kira looked at him in disbelief. “But
how is that possible? You said you haven’t been back and . . . oh,
Lydia.” The hair on Kira’s arms pricked at her skin. No wonder he
was so angry with her. Lydia had discovered a way to go back
without him knowing.

“Now you understand?”

“Yeah. I think so.”

“Will you help me destroy them?”

Kira looked one last time at the photos, then
slid them closer to Octavion with a quick swipe of her hand. “No,
you’ll have to do it. I can’t bear to break her heart. She loves
taking pictures. It’s who she is.”