Alexandra felt certain that the heat was literally melting her flesh from her bones as she sat in front of the wheezing fan. This summer had been particularly brutal and the weatherwoman predicted no break in the heat on the horizon.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeriously, Grandma Jean, can we turn the freaking AC on?\u201d The fan distorted Alexandra\u2019s voice making it all the more pitiful.<\/p>\n
\u201cLanguage, young lady.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFreaking isn\u2019t a curse,\u201d she muttered under her breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the intent. And that\u2019s all the more important given our abilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, yeah. Like I’m going to start a fire by saying freaking.\u201d She\u2019d heard the speech far too many times in the last year living with her grandmother. \u201cAbout the AC?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve managed to survive living here without air conditioning for a decade, I think you\u2019ll be able to survive your next few years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen let me go to my friend\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat boy is not your friend<\/em> and no. There\u2019s no point in becoming too close to humans, it\u2019ll just make it harder later. Besides, it\u2019s my birthday and I want to spend it with you. How about we go for an ice-cream later?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not a child who can be bribed with sweets.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, but you have inherited my sweet tooth. Now come on, let\u2019s go to the basement. I have a gift for you.\u201d<\/p>\n Alexandra felt her nose twitch in anticipation of the scents that would assault her when they descended those stairs. She wanted to argue, but it was Jean\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re supposed to get gifts, not receive them on your birthday grandma.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s my birthday and I can damn well do as I please.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLanguage?\u201d Alexandra laughed.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m older than eighteen and it\u2019s my birthday.\u201d She flicked on the light to the basement and flounced down the stairs in all her pink fluffy glory.<\/p>\n How she was ever a Guardian I\u2019ll never know. Maybe she was only one in name<\/em>, Alexandra thought as she was assaulted by scents that varied from vanilla to bergamot and lavender to sandalwood.<\/p>\n \u201cI know it\u2019s here somewhere,\u201d Jean opened a velvet lined wooden chest and rustled through contents that clanked and rustled. She lifted out a tarnished-silver handled dagger and dug around some more.<\/p>\n \u201cAh ha!\u201d She pulled out a flat black jewelry box with scuff marks in several places. \u201cHere you go.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUh\u2026 thanks?\u201d Alex gently took the box from her.<\/p>\n What? Are you expecting it to bite you or something? <\/em>She thought when she felt nothing more than its simply weight in her hand.<\/p>\n \u201cWell open it girl, it\u2019s not for show.\u201d<\/p>\n The box revealed a shiny wire charm bracelet that looked remarkably like Jean\u2019s.<\/p>\n \u201cUh, thanks. Now we have matching bracelets.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was supposed to be your mother\u2019s but she left rather than accept the burden and privilege of being a Guardian.\u201d Jean reached into the jewelry box and plucked the bracelet out. With a tinkle of her own jewelry clicking together, she fastened it around Alex\u2019s wrist.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat does this<\/em> have to do with being a Guardian?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is a family tradition.\u201d She touched the bracelet. \u201cEach charm represents someone different. This one here,\u201d she fingered a small diamond charm, \u201cused to be an earring of a brand new Architect of Lore. She had become overwhelmed with her lust for human blood. She should have been taught better by her Maker, but she wasn\u2019t. So I took her life.\u201d<\/p>\n Alexandra nearly missed the last sentence. \u201cSay what now?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s our responsibility to protect both human and Architect alike.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo each of those\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEach one is a reminder of the life I\u2019ve taken.\u201d Jean\u2019s bracelets jingled and Alex realised for the first time that Jean was far more than she had ever realised. \u201cEach is made from something that belonged to my targets.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHoly shit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLanguage.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think a little cursing after the bomb you just dropped on me is allowable. You\u2019re a bloody mass murderer!\u201d Alexandra flung her hand out to indicate the countless bracelets whose tinkling had suddenly taken on a haunting melody.<\/p>\n \u201cCome on now Alexandra. You certainly didn\u2019t think Guardians kept the Architects of Lore secret through words and smiles?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd how do you propose we keep the humans safe from Architects?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy can\u2019t they just police their own?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCome on Alexandra, don\u2019t be na\u00efve. You know very well that Architects can be feral beasts when they go rogue. Most are<\/em> caught by Clan Enforcers, but for those who aren\u2019t we are the last line of defence for the unwitting humans.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s funny that you can make killing more people than Ted Bundy sound like a charitable thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Grandma Jean\u2019s jewelry tinkled as she laughed. \u201cYou have a way with words, Alexandra.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI just\u2026\u201d Alex searched for words to explain the emotion that was threatening to smother her.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s overwhelming. I know. It\u2019s why I didn\u2019t stop your mother when she decided to turn her back on her people and live among the humans.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd if I choose to follow suit and leave?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI hope you don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy?\u201d Alex folded her arms over her chest.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause you are a bright, gifted young woman and our community would greatly benefit from your presence. But you still have a year left to decide.\u201d Jean waved a hand as if to physically push the discussion away.<\/p>\n \u201cSo this is my murder bracelet.\u201d Alex looked down at the seemingly inoffensive silver bracelet.<\/p>\n \u201cI prefer to think of it as a soul bracelet.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell here\u2019s to hoping mine remains fairly empty.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat would indeed be nice, but you\u2019re a Firestarter and life\u2019s a bitch.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGrandma!\u201d Alex exclaimed at the curse.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat? It\u2019s my birthday. Oh. This is yours too.\u201d She tossed Alex the tarnished blade. \u201cIt\u2019s for rituals and stuff, oh and it belonged to your great-great-grandmother. She was a bit of a self-righteous cow, but she\u2019d love that you were using it now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGrandma!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat? Let\u2019s go get some ice-cream and absinthe to celebrate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUhhh, I\u2019m too young to drink.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHaven\u2019t you heard, Alex? It\u2019s my bloody birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Alexandra felt certain that the heat was literally melting her flesh from her bones as she sat in front of the wheezing fan. This summer had been particularly brutal and the weatherwoman predicted no break in the heat on the horizon. \u201cSeriously, Grandma Jean, can we turn the freaking AC on?\u201d The fan distorted Alexandra\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[176],"class_list":["post-10080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","tag-charm-bracelet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10080\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}