Lapidary

Wings were wrapped around my small body as if they could drown out the screams. The world was changing. Shaking. I didn’t know which way was up, down, left or right. Until I was falling. My breath caught, and I was too scared to scream. There was a banging sound, and for a moment I wondered if it was my head hitting the pavement that had caused it.

“Ryker!” I screamed as I sat up in bed.

The banging was coming from the front door. I ran a hand through my oily hair and got out of bed. The apartment was in the same state it had been in three days ago, after the break-in. I hadn’t summoned the courage to clean up, and the cleaners hadn’t arrived. Did they think that I couldn’t pay them? Was that why they had stayed away?

“I’m coming!” I said as the knocking continued.

I passed my broken violin, passed the counter-less kitchen, and flung open the door. Ace Wingswind stood in the doorway, his brows pressed together. He sniffed the air. Could he tell that I hadn’t bathed in three days?

“What?” I snapped.

“It’s time to read Ryker’s will,” he said.

“That’s tomorrow,” I corrected him before trying to close the door.

A strong hand caught the wood and held it in place until I met his gaze. “It’s not.”

“Then when is it?”

“It started twenty minutes ago.”

I realized with a jolt that he was serious “Shit!”

I ran back into the room and threw on formal black pants, boots, and a collared shirt before tying my filthy hair into a messy bun. There was no time to put concealer on my hollow eyes or pink nose. Ryker would have set me up for life, and his mother would hate me even more for it. I just wished Ryker was still here; all his riches couldn’t fill my life the way he had.

I ran to the front door and pretended not to see Ace studying the mess I called an apartment. There was no judgment on his face – only worry. And that seemed to make everything so much worse.

“Let’s go!” I pushed past him.

Ace gently caught my arm before I could run out the front door. “Flying will be faster.”

He was right, but the idea of flying, especially from the balcony where Ryker had jumped, made me want to puke. My face must have shown it because Ace released my arm and left the room. I closed the door and locked it. The gems, crystals, stones, and rocks were all gone, but other valuables, like the TV and radio, remained. We paid a lot for security, and it was astonishing that someone had managed to break in. Ace had investigated it.

“Did you find out how someone got into my apartment?” I asked.

“There was no sign of forced entry.” Ace jabbed the elevator button. “Who had keys to the apartment?”

I got into the elevator before answering. “Only Ryker and I.”

I glimpsed my horrific reflection in the elevator’s mirror. I looked like a homeless person, so I averted my eyes. “Does that mean someone with wings had broken in through the balcony?”

Ace’s expression grew darker, and I realized he thought I was accusing someone of the Sky Watch. The angels weren’t the only creatures with wings, so I added, “There are winged daimons…”

The light crept back into his eyes as the elevator went down. “I didn’t find any traces of daimons.”

I swallowed hard before asking, “Do you think anyone could have been at the apartment before I woke up…when Ryker….”

“Ryker jumped.” Ace’s voice was a whisper. He had removed any doubt that someone would have come to the apartment and pushed Ryker.

My heart felt bowstring tight, and suddenly the elevator was too small. When the doors opened, I pushed past Ace and rushed outside. I hid my shaky hands in my pockets before heading to the taxis.

I got into the back of the yellow taxi and kept the door open for Ace. He took one look at the small space and said, “I’ll meet you there.”

He shot into the sky, and I closed the door. I gave my taxi driver, a fawn with a bold head and young face, the address of the attorney’s office. Of course, we got stuck in traffic, and the ride took twenty minutes longer than it should have. Once we reached the building, I realized I had forgotten my purse and couldn’t pay. I scratched through my pockets for change, but I was two silver coins short. The taxi driver cursed at me, and I got out of there as soon as I could.

Ace was waiting for me on the steps of the skyscraper. Only now did I notice that he was wearing a well-tailored blue suit. I looked so bad. Fuck. And I was late. Double fuck.

The automatic doors opened, and we went inside. I was trying to rub out crinkles in my shirt, and not looking where I was going, when someone bumped into me, and hot coffee spilled onto my chest.

“Fucker!” I cried as it burnt. “Watch where you are going!”

The man whose coffee now stained my clothes had a body that recalled an inverted triangle, with his broad shadows and narrow hips suggesting that he swam a lot. The main thing about him that stood out, however, was his grass-green hair.

“Natka,” he said.

I wasn’t sure how he knew my name, as I had never seen him before, but it didn’t matter. Ryker was well known as the son of Bellevue Featherswallow, and he and I had made headlines when our relationship became public knowledge.

Instead of responding, I turned around and went to Ace, who had stopped a few feet from me. He nodded politely to the man, who did the same, and I wondered if they knew each other.

“Are you okay?” Ace eyed the coffee stain.

“Never better,” I grumbled.

“Wait up,” the grass-haired man said.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“I’m also going to the reading of Ryker’s will,” he said.

I knew most of Ryker’s close friends, and all his family in New Peace, yet I had never seen this stranger before. What could Ryker possibly have left for him?

“You’re late,” I told him.

“I was getting coffee,” he said. “Since everyone at the will reading has been waiting for you two.”

My stomach twisted, and I clenched my fists, unable to find words to justify that I was late for the reading of the will and that I had wasted everyone’s time.

“Let’s go then,” Ace said.

We got into the elevator, and I fought against my acrophobia. We went up…and up… and up… Like Ryker had fallen down…and down… and down. The grass-haired man must have noticed how uncomfortable I was because he said, “Do you have any idea what Ryker could’ve left me?”

I looked pointedly at his green hair. “A lawnmower.”

Ace barked a laugh, and the green-haired man narrowed his eyes at me. I couldn’t decide if he saw the humor in my reply.

“It’s not every day that Neron Shelby gets put in his place,” Ace said.

Neron Shelby, only prince of Arameer – the merfolk city. Of course, he’d be at the reading of the will. Ryker had, after all, brought peace between Arameer and the city of Vesea when he had dated Princess Lakelyn, Neron’s sister.

The elevator’s doors opened, and we continued to the attorney’s office. When Ace pushed open the door, I saw a head of silky black hair, and my stomach turned. Slowly, Bellevue turned around to regard us with her abyss eyes.

I couldn’t find the words to speak.

“Sorry we are late,” Ace said.

Before Bellevue or the beady-eyed attorney could respond, Neron said, “You’re not Ryker’s attorney.”

Ryker’s original attorney had been Zimran Waverly. He used to be a merman, but had remained on land too long, which had caused his fins to shrivel away in the heat. He had turned human and was unable to turn back. I’d seen him before and would never forget his dashing, shoulder-length blue hair.

“I’m his new attorney, Puck Greenfield,” the fae said. He had white hair, slicked back, and his fingers were interlaced on the desk.

“This is bullshit,” Neron said.

“Mind your tongue,” Bellevue warned.

Neron met her gaze. “I was there to witness the signing of the will – I met Zimron Waverly. He was the attorney Ryker chose and trusted.”

“You think my son would choose a merman above his own?” Bellevue responded with a wicked smile.

“Yes, he told me so himself,” Neron said. “He said your relationship was ‘strained’.”

I had a feeling Ryker had said a whole lot more about his relationship with Bellevue, but Neron wasn’t going to tell. Ace’s jaw was firm, and I suspected he also wanted to come to Ryker’s defense. But he was captain of the Sky Watch in New Peace, which was in the Elvin Kingdom, which was ruled by Bellevue. Indirectly, she was his boss, and she could have him fired. She could ruin his life – or anyone who lived here.

“Our relationship had ups and downs because of this bitch.” Bellevue glared at me, and I looked down. I felt Ace slightly expand his wing so that his feathers rubbed against my shoulders.

“Let’s get this over with,” Puck said.

Slowly, we all took our seats. I chose the one furthest from Bellevue, and Ace sat next to me, as if he were my guard dog. Neron had the choice to sit close to us, but he bravely sat next to Bellevue. I admired him for not being intimidated.

Puck broke the seal and opened the will. He hardly read anything. “It all goes to Bellevue Featherswallow.”

I wasn’t sure if I made a sound. I could hardly breathe.

“This is foul play,” Neron said. “I saw the original will in which he left most things to Nat! He left Ace his apartment in Sloria, and he left me a string of pearls.”

I was shaking in my seat as I realized that there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t go against Bellevue, and judging from Ace’s silence, he felt the same.

“You’ll have to buy new ones,” Bellevue said.

“Those are moonpearls. They are irreplaceable.”

The muscle in Neron’s jaw jumped. He was no doubt clenching his teeth to prevent himself from shouting. He glared at Bellevue with such rage, the same rage I felt, and for a moment I thought he would throw a tantrum like a kid. But, of course, he was much stronger and could do much more damage than a child.

“According to the will, Ryker had a safe in Arameer,” Puck continued. “You will have to hand it over to Bellevue.”

“Fuck that!” Neron jumped to his feet. “I understand why he hated you.”

Bellevue’s eyes darkened. “He might have hated me, but he trusted me more than anyone.”

“That was his mistake,” Neron said.

He left the room, and the doors banged against the walls before violently swinging shut. With Neron gone, Bellevue turned her hateful gaze to me, and I sank away in my seat.

“He left me everything,” she stated. “I want you out of that apartment by the end of the day.”

I shuddered. I had nowhere else in New Peace to go. Other than, maybe, some friends. Friends whom I hadn’t heard from since Ryker’s passing.

“Can I see the will?” Ace asked.

Puck handed it over, and I couldn’t help but look as well. In the right bottom corner was Ryker’s signature. The date told me he had changed the will on the same day he had proposed to me. It couldn’t be right. Bellevue must have somehow changed it and forged his signature.

I saw the previous attorney Zimran Waverley’s signature as well and made a mental note to talk to him. Bellevue ruled this city. She was above the law. Even if I could prove that she had forged a will and signature, it wouldn’t change anything.

“I’m taking everything,” Bellevue said. “From your apartment, to the clothes in your cupboard, to the money in your bank account.”

“Why?” I croaked. She was wealthy and certainly didn’t need it.

“Because he was my everything, and you took him from me. I had nothing then, and I want you to know what that feels like.”

I hated that my eyes filled with tears. I got to my feet and rushed out of the room, only letting the tears flow freely once I was hiding inside the elevator.