Lethal Combination

CHAPTER 6

Ainsdale groaned as she opened her eyes. What she did first when her eyesight cleared was look around her surroundings. She is resting in a cozy room - in fact, very cozy for an abducted individual like her. She's lying in a queen-sized bed and the curtains are gently swaying with the wind from the outside. The french doors that lead to the veranda are open and a vast landscaped garden can be seen from there. Is she still at the Arcane's manor? What suddenly changed after she passed out? She is expecting she will wake up in the same room she woke up in before, where they cuffed her to the bed.

Her head was throbbing still and she could feel her temperature was higher than normal. "A fever," she thought with dread.

Her muscles are aching and her shoulder is painful. She didn't even have the strength to sit up on the bed she is currently lying at the moment. She is sick and it must be because of what happened in the interrogation room. How long has it been anyway?

Her train of thoughts was disrupted when someone knocked on the door. Without asking her permission to enter, someone on the other side opened it and her eyes widened in surprise upon seeing who it was.

"Drake?!"

He stopped in his tracks and his eyes too widened in shock. It wasn't only her who was surprised. Alessio's cousin stared at her as if he was seeing a ghost. Who would have thought they'd see each other in the manor owned by his family after that night?

"Aster?" He frowned. "No, I shouldn't be calling you that here."

Shit! She thought Lewis had contacted him already. What is he doing here? She knew he was Alessio's cousin, but she didn't take it into consideration that she'd be seeing him there.

"You are Alessio's fiancée?" Stefano combed his hair with his fingers and sat on the nearby chair. He frowned. "That shouldn't be you. A few months prior, you were still working in the organization and both the Simonettis and the Arcanes were already planning to push through the engagement then. Euphrosyne couldn't have been you. You couldn't have been at different places at the same time. Who are you?"

She stared at Stefano intently. "Should I lie to him?"

He glared at her. "Don't even think about it," he threatened, as if he had read what was going on in her mind. He is on his guard. He may have owed her his life, but if she's here to threaten his family, he might have to kill her here, right now, when she's vulnerable. "I know what you are capable of. You have stolen identities and made it your own just to get to your goal and none of your victims were even aware of what you did until the last minute. What is your reason for being here pretending to be my cousin's fiancée?"

She stared at the ceiling. "It was never my intention to bring harm to your family, believe me. I'm only here to get answers."

"What answers?"

She sighed. Stefano knew who she was, there is no use hiding her purpose. "My name is Ainsdale, the adopted sister of Aizen Castiglione, who is working with your cousin. I'm sure you have met him," Stefano nodded, but he stayed silent so she continued. "I don't have a memory from when I was a child and it just so happens that the missing fiancée of your cousin Alessio, whom he wanted to find no matter what through the aid of my brother, is a spitting image of me."

"Could you somehow be twins?"

"Who knows? But Euphrosyne didn't have a twin, did she?"

"Ah… yes." At least Stefano knows that much.

The late patriarch of the family, Julian Simonetti, only introduced Euphrosyne as his only granddaughter back then during the banquet hosted by the Arcanes in this very same manor where Euphrosyne and Alessio first met. There isn't even any news about the family having twin heiresses to inherit the Simonettis' wealth when he was still alive. Then if Ainsdale, who had lost her memories as she just said, looks like Euphrosyne, where will she fit in the puzzle?

He stared at the woman in the bed. She is presently sick after having undergone the inhumane interrogation done by Lucien. He understands that it is the family's protocol. He, too, would've done the same thing to get the answers out of her. After all, for them, Ainsdale is Euphrosyne who had betrayed the Arcana. But knowing her, she may have to lose some fingers, but still she won't say a word. She is, after all, a killer who was trained that way. If she has to die, she'll die bringing the information she knew to the grave.

Ainsdale's breathing is not stable. Her chest rises up and down at a rapid rate. Her cheeks were a darker shade of rosy pink and she was shivering. He knew it wasn't just because of what she went through under the hands of Lucien - that she was this sick right now because of what was injected into her.

"Have you ever talked to Lewis?"

"Yes."

"And I guess he wasn't that pleased."

Ainsdale chuckled. Stefano must've been on the receiving end of Lewis' rants. "You can tell."

"I'll fly to Moldova tomorrow night. I promised him I'd bring you the neutralizer for the flagrare that is presently in your system. And seeing you suffering right now, I swear I'll bring it to you as soon as possible."

"You didn't have to hurry. I'll be fine."

"You are dying, Ainsdale. How can you say you'll be fine? You'll be six feet underground before you even find the answers you came here to seek. How's your shoulder?"

"I don't know. I haven't had the time to check on it these past few days. I was in a coma for a week, then underwent interrogation the next. And upon waking up in this room, I was so sickly and bedridden that I didn't have the strength to even lift an arm."

Stefano could see she was about to go back to sleep again but he stood up and walked towards her. He stared down at her.

"What?" She sleepily asked.

Without a word, he pulled the collar of her shirt away from her neck to check on the part where she was injected with the drug. He cursed under his breath at what he saw. If she could be this sick after having that drug in her system for only several weeks, how is she going to fare a few months later?

She isn't supposed to over exert herself, but she fought Lucien in a hand-to-hand combat before she was abducted. She also underwent torture for more than an hour, so it wasn't unexpected that she'd end up this way.

To see the extent of her darkened veins, he removed a few of the upper buttons of her shirt without a word and pulled her collar further.

"f**k!"

He was about to scold her but the door to her room opened and in came Alessio, who first glanced at Ainsdale, who blinked her eyes to keep herself awake before looking at Stefano with a murderous intent.

Stefano immediately stood away from the woman. The minute he opened his mouth, he knew it was a mistake to do so. "You got it wrong. This isn't what it looks like."

Alessio walks toward him slowly like a predator would its prey. He was calm but Stefano knew he was far from that. "What does it look like exactly? Doesn't it look like my cousin is opening the shirt of my fiancée while she's vulnerable and sick?"

Stefano glared angrily at his cousin. "What is your problem? You didn't even like her in the first place."

"But that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want to do with her. You are inside my house and she is still my fiancée!"

"If you care about her that much, then you shouldn't have let Lucien do what he did to her in the first place! She underwent torture at your command, so who are you to act like a saint as if you aren't the one who is behind all this?"

Without a word, Alessio swung his hand to punch his cousin in the face. Who is he to question him about his decisions? He is the head of this family. He had to act like one. And if the one threatening its safety is a woman adored by his grandfather, he had to grit his teeth and do what must be done. With much hate, Stefano punched him back but he was able to dodge.

Ainsdale, who at that moment was so sick, tried to sit on the bed. She just knew that if no one interfered, someone would end up dead from these two. "Stop!"

Moving a little exhausted her and her breathing became even more uneven. Stefano, who was so focused on his cousin, didn't notice that Alessio's attention went directly to the woman in the bed, so he was able to punch him in the face.

"P-please, stop…"

It was then when Stefano noticed her. Blood was now slowly trickling down her nose, which made him stop immediately.

"s**t!" Alessio cursed before he sat beside her. "Call Dr. Petrakis!"

Stefano held his nape awkwardly before he nodded and followed what his cousin ordered. He didn't even have time to think about his busted lip. Damn! Alessio got him good.

If she wasn't sick, Ainsdale would have laughed at the sight these two cousins had just made her watch.

Alessio hated her, but seeing her suffer like this, his hate suddenly went down the drain and the affection he had for her back when they were young seemed to have come back in that moment. He frowned when he realized something. His hands were trembling as he held her close to him.

"Forgive me, Scion…" she whispered, which stunned him.

She looks like she's not even aware of what words just came out of her own mouth since she's almost about to fall asleep. When he looked down at her, he saw how her eyes changed colors from ashen blue to an ash gray before she closed her eyes while she was in his embrace.

When he met her again after growing up with no contact at all, the first thing he asked of her was about her eyes, in which he had never forgotten that they change colors. She told him her eyes' color stayed a dull brown when she came of age. And upon meeting her for a few times these past few years, he could tell what she said was the truth. So how come her eyes are changing colors now?

She even called her Scion. Though in a half-sleepy mind, she still called him by his name, which only she, at her young age back then, had the nerve to call him. The grown up Euphrosyne whom he was engaged with never called him by his middle name. She addressed him the way everybody calls him, as if she had forgotten that she never once called him Alessio when they were young.

Is it because she's sick and unaware that she called him Scion?

When Stefano arrived with their family's resident doctor, Alessio stood by her side. Dr. Petrakis had to prescribe her pain medications and some other medicines for her to take within the span of a week to help reduce her fever.

"What happened to her shoulder?" Alessio asked. Upon seeing how blackened her veins turned out to be, he came to realize that it must be what Stefano was looking at when he saw him hovering over her a while ago.

"She has been injected with flagrare and she is currently suffering the effects of it. In a weeks' time, she will recover from her sickness, but it won't change the fact that her life is in danger unless she's injected by a neutralizer."

Flagrare. A drug which the Brovinos have been developing this whole time to sell on the black market. They must have decided to bring it to a test and she is the unfortunate one to have been tested with it. They must have injected her with the drug after discovering that the data from the Arcana which she handed them was completely deleted. Alessio still has to thank Aizen's sister because of that.

"Is it normal for the drug to take effect this early?"

"I'm afraid she already has the drug in her system for much longer than we all think."

"Almost three months, actually," Stefano informed them. If Ainsdale got it in Black Lake, then he is right.

Alessio glanced down at the woman who was sleeping with a frown on her forehead. She must be suffering. "So she is saying the truth when she said she and her family were threatened by Carlos Brovino?" He tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear. "Why didn't you ask for my help?"

"Would you have helped her if she did?" His subconscious asked him and he sighed.

"Probably not."

"I'll come and check on her again tomorrow. Make sure to have her take the medicines I prescribed every after meal."

Alessio nodded and said his thanks, but he didn't leave Euphrosyne's side.

Silence filled the room. Neither Alessio nor Stefano said a word until Stefano decided to break the silence. "I'll be flying to Moldova tomorrow night."

"Why?"

"I'll get her the neutralizer. And that is where I'll start."

"Do you even have any idea what the drug is?"

"Flagrare is something that was involved during our sabotaged assignment a few months back. Several people with high positions in the government had a hand in its manufacture and distribution. My whole team was disposed of because we knew about it. I assure you, I have enough knowledge about it."

"You didn't like Euphrosyne. Why would you be helping her?"

"You didn't like her either, yet you're staying by her side."

"She's… different."

Stefano smiled knowingly. "Of course. She is, after all… a completely different person."

Stefano then decided to leave his cousin inside Ainsdale's room. He knew how dangerous her situation was and he knew he needed to get the neutralizer drug to counter what was in her system right now. Who knew how long it would take him to do that? Upon reaching his room, he decided to call Aizen and after a few rings, he finally decided to pick him up.

"Stefano?"

"When are you coming back? Your sister is in danger."

"What?"

They must have planned it all for him to be acting indifferent even after hearing what his sister was going through. "Ainsdale… She fought Lucien in a hand to hand combat and underwent torture for more than an hour just because she decided to steal the identity of Alessio's fiancée."

"What do you know?"

Aizen is nothing but calm and his voice just sounded murderously lethal. He is threatening him and Stefano isn't stupid not to know that.

"She saved my life. I'm going to do my everything to save her this time," he assured her, which made Aizen calm down for real this time.

"You worked with her."

"Hmm, not directly, but we once used to work under the same organization. With the help of the organization's director, I'll be getting the neutralizer for her."

"How is she?"

"She's sick. A repercussion of what happened these past few days was intensified by the drug injected into her, but the doctor said she'll recover after a week or so."

"Alessio. Did he…"

Stefano chuckled. If Aizen saw how his cousin treated his sister like a precious crystal glass, he would have questioned whether he really hated his fiancée or not.

"She's being taken care of. Don't worry." Now, what he really wanted to ask was, "where is Euphrosyne?"

Aizen didn't say anything for a moment. Stefano even thought he hung up the phone. "Which one?"

Stefano was taken aback. Aizen didn't seem to be joking. Is it something to do as to why Ainsdale is here at the manor pretending to be Alessio's fiancée? "What do you mean, which one? I'm talking about my cousin's fiancée."

"She is there with you at the manor right now."

"What?"

"If you mean about the woman who betrayed the family," Aizen paused, "she has become a total mess after crying and pleading, screaming and bleeding out under my hands. She should never have done what she did in the first place. Oh but she's alive. After I'm done with her, I'll be going after her so-called parents."

Stefano was left speechless. He stared at his phone after Aizen ended the call without even saying goodbye. Aizen is seething in anger and it seems like he does know something they don't.

Does he need to tell Alessio about it? No. Aizen is being discreet. He is moving and doing things on his own without saying anything to the family. He must have had his reasons.

"Damn it! I'll have to prioritize what needs to be done first."

***

While watching his fiancée sleep, Alessio couldn't help but remember the first time he had met Euphrosyne. For him, it was a precious memory and something he had treasured within his heart. For someone who grew up in a family who has had dealings underground, she was a speck of light…

"Cavolo, sei carina. (My, you're pretty.)"

Alessio, who just turned twelve that day, blushed like a red rose. Who in their right mind would describe a boy as pretty?

"What?" He knew his words sounded rude but he couldn't help it.

Everyone is up and about, busy preparing for the banquet that will be held in the banquet hall of the manor tonight - an occasion to celebrate his twelfth birthday. His parents, along with his grandfather and his grandfather's friend, found themselves on the patio with this girl that particular morning.

"You're beautiful."

Alessio looked at the girl in front of him as if she was from another world. Her ashen blue eyes glistened in admiration as she stared at him unabashedly.

"Alessio, meet Euphrosyne Amherstia Simonetti. She's eight years old and the granddaughter of my friend Julio," his grandfather, Don Alonzo, introduced. "Euphrosyne, dear, this is my grandson Alessandro Scion."

She frowned but she kept looking at him. "Your name is long," she said, as if it was a problem.

"Yours is four letters longer," he pointed out in return. "Shouldn't I supposed to be the one having problems?"



She grinned. "You can call me Rose."

"Why? That isn't even your name."

"Because the flower is beautiful. And I like it."

"No."

"I'll call you Scion?" She bargained.

"No."

"Come on, call me Rose."

"Rosemary."

She pouted. "But that's an herb."

"Azalea then."

"It's a shrub."

"You prefer to be called a bush rather than a shrub?"

She was about to retort but the elders who were with them laughed at their exchange of words.

Alessio is reserved and his grandfather Alonzo didn't expect he would break down his walls for Euphrosyne. He never talks much, but Euphrosyne can actually make him retort to everything she says. He was afraid his grandson would never like the girl because she was chatty, but he could see they'd be just fine.

"Alessio, why don't you show her the gardens? I'm sure she'll love the blooming flowers there."

"Oh, are there any roses? I love roses." Euphrosyne said in an excited voice as she unknowingly tugged onto Alessio's sleeves. "Come on, Scion. Let us go see the roses."

"Flowers, tulip. Not just roses."

"Be sure to come back here before lunch."

"Sì, lo faremo. Andremo allora, nonno. (Yes, we will. We'll be going then, grandfather.)" Alessio said as he let himself be dragged around by Euphrosyne, who was at the moment being driven by her excitement.

When they reached the vast landscaped garden behind the manor, Euphrosyne couldn't contain her excitement anymore. She ran like the child she is and went straight to the tea roses she loved the most. They have a garden in her grandfather's manor but it was never this wide and it is more like a garden with trimmed plants.

With a broad smile, she looked back at the boy her grandfather talked to her about almost every day. At age twelve, he already looked so mature. The way he stood tells anyone that he's an heir of a prominent family. He really is handsome but she preferred to call him beautiful because she likes everything that is beautiful and she likes him.

"Scion, these are beautiful."

Alessio was left staring at the girl. He had never met anyone as innocent as her. For him who already has blood tainting his hands at such a young age, she is a sight to see. A sudden sense of protectiveness surged from him at that moment. He wanted to protect her from the world.

"This is awkward," he thought to himself. "Why am I suddenly being kind?"

"Scion? Are you alright?"

He smiled as he walked towards her. "Just thinking, lily."

"You're calling me flower names but you never called me rose. Don't you think I haven't noticed?"

He chuckled as he ruffled her hair.

"Hey! Don't do that," she pouted. "It took some time to have my hair arranged this way."

"Don't worry, you'll still be pretty no matter what, hibiscus."

"Really?"

"No, just kidding," he immediately said, which made her smack him in his arm. "My, you're violent."

"You're not beautiful anymore."

"I know. Because beautiful is not the word, but handsome."

Euphrosyne looked around suddenly. "Have you noticed?"

"What?"

"The wind suddenly blows strongly."

When he read between her words, he chuckled. "Shut up."

After going around, stopping every now and then to look at the different kinds of flowers blooming, both of them ended up under the big oak tree on the hill at the back of the manor beyond the gardens. The sun is up but the breeze is cold and refreshing. Alessio was reading a book while Euphrosyne was lying down with her head on his lap. She couldn't see his face because the book he was reading was right in front of it. Silence accompanied them both, but it was never boring. In fact, it was peaceful.

"Scion…"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you for taking me to the gardens."

Behind the book which Euphrosyne cannot see at the moment, Alessio had an affectionate smile etched on his lips. "You're welcome, plumeria."

She noticed he kept on calling her flower names but never a 'rose'. How many flowers does he even actually know? "It's your birthday today, right?"

"Yes."

"I didn't bring any gift."

Alessio put down the book he was reading beside him and looked down on the girl lying on his lap. A frown was written on her forehead and her now green eyes looked sad. She mentioned a while ago that her eye color changes depending on her surroundings, so he is no longer surprised.

He ran his forefinger in between her brows. "It's fine, sweet pea."

"Oh," she said when an idea suddenly came to her mind as she held onto Alessio's wrist. "I have thought of something."

Euphrosyne sat up immediately without letting go of his hand. She kneeled in front of him as she stared at him directly.

Alessio blinked. "What?"

Without a word, Euphrosyne leaned closer to him, which made his eyes grow wide. She kissed his cheek tenderly before she moved away, leaving him blushing more than ever and speechless. No one, aside from this girl, was daring enough to do what she just did.

An innocent smile made itself known to her lips before she hugged him. "Happy birthday, Scion!"

"Grazie (Thank you)," he whispered as he gently hugged her back in return.

Euphrosyne giggled and tightened her embrace.

When the night came, Alessio could see through the large windows of his room the cars of their guests, who were now arriving one after the other. Most of them were their relatives, while others were people who had had business dealings with his family, either their company or the mafia. The Arcana's men were dispatched around the manor in case something happened tonight.

When he heard a commotion by the door, he focused his attention towards it and when it opened, in came Euphrosyne, whose grin was plastered on her lips. She, along with her grandfather, stayed at Terra di Sienna for the day. Alessio and Euphrosyne spent the whole day lazing around, talking about nonsense things until it was time to get ready for the night. He had fun with her actually.

"Scion! Scion!"

"You're noisy." He reprimanded, but she didn't listen.

She ran towards him and then twirled while holding the hem of her dress. She was wearing a red velvet floor-length gown with arms that went longer than her own but was slit up to her shoulders which showed her hands. Her mahogany red hair was braided messily and was adorned with small flowers and little hair ornaments made from precious stones. She looked like a human red rose.

"Aren't I beautiful? Your mom helped dress me up."

He looked at her. "Pretty."

She crossed her arms and pouted. "I feel like you are complimenting the dress and not me. Why are you bullying me?"

He chuckled. "That's just your imagination running wild, freesia."

"Rose," she corrected.

He grins mischievously. "Heliotrope."

"Urgh," she said with a stomp before turning to leave. He'd just ruffle her feathers more if she stayed there with him. It would be better to go down the banquet hall first before him.

"Where are you going? I have something to give you."

That made her stop and turn around. She raised her brow in question and watched Alessio walk towards the table before he pulled something out from the table's drawer. It's a rectangular box.

"What is that?"

"I like you, so I'm giving you a gift."

"A gift?"

That night, the only jewelry she is wearing is the necklace her grandfather gifted her. It wasn't an ordinary necklace because the pendant was actually a seal, something that would make their vassals recognize it was her. At such a young age, she understood what he meant.

Alessio opened the box and Euphrosyne's eyes grew wide when she saw a gold necklace within it. Its pendant is a symbol which she knew was the Arcane Family's crest. It was delicately adorned with glittering little stones which she was sure were natural diamonds and behind it, the name 'Scion' was engraved intricately in cursive writing.

Scion literally means 'heir' and this boy here in front of her has that word attached to his name, both in the aspects of it.

"W-why are you giving me that?"

"I told you, because I like you. Give me your hand," he said, which she somehow immediately followed. She is presently wearing a necklace, so he'll just have to make his gift a bracelet.

Alessio tied the necklace to her wrist and made it look like a bracelet. "Don't lose it. I won't be able to marry you without it."

"What?"

Alessio laughed. "Kidding, dianthus. Why are you so jumpy? Just don't lose it. Come on, they must be waiting."

Euphrosyne followed him but once in a while, she couldn't help but look at the necklace turned into a bracelet on her wrist. Though small, she knew it was worth thousands. Yes, with an 's'. It was gold and adorned with diamonds. So why did he just give it to her? They went down into the banquet hall as a pair and they were told to pose for a picture on the grand stairs before they went in and mingled with everyone. The Arcanes were shocked when they saw what was on the young girl's wrist. They knew Alessio had taken a liking to her. They just never expected he liked her that much to literally mark her.

The banquet was in full swing when the old patriarch of the Simonettis received an urgent call and had to leave immediately.

"I apologize, Alonzo. Something came up with our family."

Euphrosyne held Alessio's hand tightly. She knew about the struggles within the Simonetti family and it seemed like something had happened again which her grandfather could ignore any longer.

Alessio looked down at the girl beside him. She's worried and her reddish brown eyes are showing what she felt openly.

"Euphrosyne Amherstia…"

Euphrosyne glanced at Alessio, her eyes wide in surprise. It was the first time he had addressed her with her name.

"I will come and see you soon," Alessio assured her before she heard her grandfather calling out to her…

Alessio sighed. No one expected that both the patriarch of the Simonetti and his granddaughter would ever meet an accident after they left the banquet. His grandfather's friend died that very same night and the Simonettis had hidden Euphrosyne from the public due to the threats to her life at such a young age, because she was the sole individual named by Julian Simonetti to inherit all of his wealth and assets according to his will.

It was only so many years later that he got to meet her again. But she was already different from what he remembered her to be.