35. Chapter 35
Morning came fast. Yareli blinked, rolled over to check the time, and groaned from how sore she was.
It was past nine, but the room was almost pitch-black.
Fumbling with the bed sheets, she reached for the lamp on the bedside table.
Orange light soon pervaded the room, fighting off the darkness.
She noticed a pattern in her life: She often woke up in a new room.
This time, much to her chagrin, it was a guest room in Allyah’s villa.
Although Erick had done preliminary first aid, she had shooed him away to pass out in bed before he could take care of all her injuries, leaving her sore and in pain. The consequences of sloth, she thought.
Memories of last night replayed in her mind, particularly the memory of the rushing wind and the drop in her stomach as she dove into the black lake.
By the time she had emerged from its waters, having struggled her way to shore by sheer stubbornness—and panic, but she wouldn’t admit that to anyone—Augrys, Erick, and Leo had been waiting for her outside the arena.
Teeth chattering, bleeding, and exhausted, she hardly remembered what they had said to her coming out of the challenge.
She did, however, remember one thing: Grinning and proclaiming, “I fucking did it.”
After that, it was a blur; she had been taken to her assigned room and promptly fallen asleep. There was a single knock on the door before Erick strolled in. Yareli sighed. Would he ever properly knock?
“Mornin’ sunshine!” he chirped, striding across the room and settling in a cushioned chair. “Although I dislike her, I gotta admit, Allyah’s interior decor is bee-tiful.”
Yareli rolled her eyes, to which he responded, “Forgive my ass for being sick of hard, wooden stools!”
She laughed, then winced as her ribs protested the movement.
“Let me take a look.” Erick stood, plucking her arms away from her midsection. “I’ll heal your remaining injuries and apply a numbing agent for your bruises.”
“Thanks,” she said, leaning into the headboard as he got to work.
“Have you had any more headaches?”
She thought about it, but it had been a while since the last one. “No, I haven’t.”
“That’s a good sign. Do you mind if I take a look after I finish up here?”
“Actually, I have a question about that. Do you see the lake?”
“Lake?”
She hesitated before explaining. “When my memories of Augrys returned, I was submerged in this lake in my mind, and it was like… when the water rushed through me, I remembered. Even now, I can return to that lake, and I can sense where certain memories are stored.”
Erick remained quiet for a long moment. She peered at him, nervous that she had admitted that something was wrong with her and ruined her chance at continuing with the Fire Festival.
“While I haven’t seen a lake, it’s not unusual.
Mind magic is understudied, but you may simply have an affinity that allows you to manifest your mind as a tangible space.
The lake, then, might be your subconscious tapping into your magic to create something that gives you an understanding of its fractured state. ”
She mulled over his words; it made sense.
“Then, the tar I see… it must mean the wound still inhibits their retrieval.” At his questioning glance, she explained the bubbling tar that hid her family’s memories.
“You could be right, but more importantly, what did I say about forcing it?”
She looked away, staring at the thick, black curtains that covered the entire right wall. Of course, he had fixated on her recklessness and not on the reason underlying her decision.
“It’s easy for you to say,” she snapped. “You’re the one with all your memories. I can’t remember who I was. Or who my family was!”
His sharp look softened, and he pulled his hands back to his side, presumably done healing. “I know it’s hard, but you’re risking never remembering.”
“I don’t even know if I have a dad,” she cried out, her voice pitching an octave higher. “I bet you knew I could speak Spanish, but I didn’t. Do you know how fucked that is? I’m a stranger pretending to be myself.”
She was yelling, and she knew it wasn’t fair for her to take it out on Erick, her doctor, but she was tired of listening—following their instructions without any empathy on their end.
She wanted to be heard, and if that required her to shout, then she’d shout until her throat was raw and their ears bled.
He opened his mouth, then closed it, reminding her of a fish, and she laughed.
“Can you at least tell me my brother’s name?” she asked bitterly.
“Fernando.”
She tested the name on her tongue. Yes, it felt right. He was… older than her? Or was he younger? Excitement drove her forward; she shot another question at Erick.
“What about my dad? Do I have one?”
“Yes.”
“Is my family okay?”
Erick’s shoulders slumped, and he shoved his curly blond hair away from his forehead. “Last I heard, yes, but you should talk to Augrys if you want to know more. He’s your best bet for the latest information. My connection to the human world has been severed since I’ve returned to Izmari.”
He paused before continuing. “I’m sorry.
Sometimes I forget you don’t have all your memories, because you act almost like the Yareli I knew, but I realize now that you were more than my coworker, and I can’t speak to what you’re missing.
What I can offer… is attempting an intense mending session.
It might let you remember more of your family.
It’s harder on your mind and requires more recovery time, but we can squeeze it in. ”
Yareli cleared her throat, her guilt for her outburst ballooning at his offer, before she responded. “Sure, thanks.”
“We can do it after the next challenge. You’ll have three days to recover before the last event.” He wore a small smile, the kind that held doubt in the eyes, and she almost apologized.
Another knock sounded at the door, and Leo’s head popped in.
“Everything okay here? I heard shouting.”
“Everything’s okay,” Yareli responded, feeling self-conscious about having an unintended audience for her outburst.
“I was bringing you some breakfast. Should I come back later?”
“No, I mean, yes. Erick’s done here, but I wanted to take a bath.” She was acutely aware of her disheveled appearance—torn clothes, tousled hair, and dried blood all over her.
“You got it,” Leo said, turning to Erick. “I’ll walk with you.”
Erick gave her another hesitant smile. “The day after tomorrow.”
“It’s a promise,” she replied.
She waited until Erick closed the door behind him before scrambling to the adjacent bathroom.
A square bronze tub sat waiting for her.
A steady stream of water poured into it from a bronze tube that erupted from the floor like a small geyser.
Water cascaded over its edge like a waterfall, flowing into the floor below and disappearing into the ground.
Neatly folded black towels lay on a short bronze table next to the tub.
She scanned the bathroom, suspicious that her accommodations were so nice, but she found nothing out of the ordinary.
Stripping away the ruined uniform, she lowered herself into the steaming water.
Despite the hot soak, she couldn’t relax, so she bathed quickly and changed into a set of clothes she had brought—a T-shirt and string-tied pants.
She absentmindedly rubbed her throbbing temple. Her anger had been swift, seemingly out of nowhere.
No. That wasn’t right. Her frustration had been there all along, simmering in a cauldron until it boiled over.
She exited the bathroom, and Leo returned.
“Let’s brighten things up in here,” he said, striding to the windows and shoving the curtains aside.
Sunlight streamed in; the harsh brightness hurt her eyes, and she squinted. The sun was high in the sky. She hadn’t noticed time passing with the blackout curtains. Light transformed the room, opening it up like a blossoming flower, and she dropped her head onto her chest, suppressing a groan.
Erick was right. Allyah had taste, and she hated that, too.
The onyx-black floor was paired with light-gray rugs and furniture with bright rustic orange as an accent.
Sleek, modern pieces, like something she’d see in a designer magazine, furnished the room.
There was even a table for two on the other side of the room, past the sofa, where Leo walked to.
She made her way over, angry that she enjoyed the floor’s smoothness.
“Thanks for the food,” she said, sitting down in the chair.
Goddammit, it’s cushioned. She sighed; it was hard to remember her dislike of Allyah when there was enough to admire about her that shook the foundation of Yareli’s anger. She stabbed a vegetable. Her dislike would be renewed once she spoke to her.
“Hey,” Leo said. “How are you feeling?”
At his question, her mood did a one-eighty. She beamed, riding the high of her success. “Like I won the lottery.”
He cocked his head. “Won what?”
She frowned, thinking before saying, “It’s a gambling thing in the human world. You buy a ticket and hope your number is pulled.”
He looked at her for a long moment, and she squirmed under his scrutiny.
“What?” she asked.
“You’re really starting to remember, aren’t you?”
His tone was light and airy, but his comment stuck to her like a piece of gum on her shoe. Had she heard a note of unhappiness underneath it?
“I guess so, yeah,” she said. “It’s still slow, but Erick promised to do a mending session with me the day after tomorrow.”
“That’s great.”
“I want to remember my family.” Yareli defended herself, but she wasn’t sure why she had felt the need to do so in the first place.
He startled, his eyebrows raised. “Yes, of course! That’s important, of course. You should.”