The world outside had long since turned to the night when Alex’s consciousness finally began to co back, bit by bit, like a drowned man rising out of the depths.
The initial feeling was that of warmth, a subtle heat against his chest, rising and falling with each gentle breathing pattern that was not his own.
Slowly, with difficulty, his eyes opened, trying to adjust to the pale light that ca through the slits of the silk curtains of the chambers.
Lucy.
She lay in his arms, her body curved into his as though she had been crafted to fit there.
Her long dark hair spilled across the white silk pillows like spilled ink, creating a striking contrast that made his breath catch.
In the silver light, her pale skin seed almost luminescent, as though she were carved from moonstone rather than flesh.
Even when sleeping, there was the trace of a smile on corners of her lips, and with one hand, she was holding onto his robe as if she was afraid that he would vanish into thin air if she let his hand go.
Slowly, he began to extricate himself from the bed. His feet ca into contact with the cold wood of the floor as he stood up slowly.
Just then she seed to moved slightly sensing that he froze in his steps.
Lucy let out just a small sigh of discontent, adorable and childlike, before nestling into the warm spot he had left.
Sensing no further movents, he turned towards the chair where his clothes were, moving silently across the room.
"Brother Alex...?"
The soft voice caught him in mid-step.
The voice was drowsy, foggy, with a tinge of anguish that made him turn at once.
He turned to find Lucy awake, sitting up in bed with the sheet modestly clutched to her front.
Her hair was delightfully disheveled, spilling in waves around her shoulders, and her cheeks were flushed pink. Her eyes were heavy with sleep, but they were fixed intently on his.
"I’m here," Alex whispered, giving up the robe and coming back to the bedside. "I’m right here, Lucy. I just needed to...."
"Don’t go," she whispered.
"I wasn’t going anywhere," Alex assured her softly, returning to sit back down on the edge of the bed.
"Brother Alex," she started to say, then stopped, as if gathering courage for what she was about to say.
"Yes, Lucy?"
"There should be no secrets between us, right?"
The question was simple, innocent even, but sothing in her tone made Alex’s instincts prickle with warning.
"Of course," he carefully replied, examining her face in the moonlight. "Why are you asking, Lucy? What’s bothering you?"
"Brother Alex, I.... there’s sothing I’ve been wondering about for a while now, actually."
She stopped, and then took a shaky breath.
"But I didn’t know how to ask. I didn’t want you to think I was prying or that I didn’t trust you, because I do trust you, more than anyone in the world, but..."
"Lucy," Alex interrupted softly and turned her chin with his other hand so that she had no option but to look at him. "Whatever it is, you can ask . You don’t have to be scared."
"Why do you live in the warehouse?"
The question was short, but spot on, straight to the point.
Alex blinked in surprise at this particular question. "What?"
"The warehouse," Lucy repeated, a small amount of strength coming into her voice now that she had begun to speak.
"You spend so much ti in the warehouse, Brother Alex. You go in there for hours at tis, and sotis even days. And then you co back and you never tell anyone what you did in the warehouse."
She gazed at her hands, then returned her attention to him.
"Our Grandfather has offered you space in this place months ago. However, you have always refused. You have always preferred returning to that old warehouse rather than staying in this place, why?"
Alex began to open his mouth for a response, however, Lucy just continued, words spilling out of her mouth rapidly.
"Is there... is there sothing wrong with us? With our family? Is that why you won’t stay here? Do we... do we make you uncomfortable sohow?"
"Lucy, no, not that," was the imdiate denial, with the hand that had been holding her chin shifting over to her cheek. "No, that is not what I an. Your family has been very welcoming with . That is not the reason."
"Then what is the reason?" she asked, her voice betraying a slight catch in her throat. "What is it about that warehouse that is so important? What is it that you can’t have in here?"
She leaned into his touch, but her eyes never left his face, searching for answers.
"I noticed it weeks ago," Lucy continued quietly. "The way you’d leave in the middle of the night sotis. The guards ntioned it once, that you’d gone back to the warehouse. And I wondered why. Why would you leave a comfortable bed here to go sleep in a warehouse?"
"Lucy..."
"And then Nathan said sothing yesterday," she interrupted, her voice barely above a whisper now. "He was saying that how maybe you are keeping a mistress in there, he was joking about it, Of course I don’t believe him and beat him too."
"But Brother Alex... Is it just your hobby?" Lucy asked. "Or is there more to it? Sothing you’re not telling ?"
Alex hesitated for just a mont, his mind racing through the implications, the potential consequences.
He could lie.
Yet looking at her face, noticing the vulnerability in it, he just couldn’t do it.
So, he smiled, with that sa smile that never failed to work its charm on anyone before.
"Lucy," he said softly, his hand still cupping her cheek as he leaned closer. "I’m going to tell you sothing. Sothing I’ve never told anyone else in this world."
Alex took a deep breath. "But before I tell you, I need you to promise sothing. Can you do that?"
"Anything, Brother Alex."
"Promise you’ll, no matter what I tell you, you won’t repeat it to anyone. Not your grandfather, not Nathan, not anyone. This secret... it’s dangerous, Lucy. Not just for , but for anyone who knows it."
Lucy actually looked worried for real, but she squeezed his hand and spoke.
"I promise, Brother Alex. I won’t tell anyone. Whatever it is, it will stay between us."
Alex studied her face for a long mont, then nodded, "Lucy, I’m not from this ti. The warehouse..."
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