Oriana's Eyes Read Online Free Page A

Oriana's Eyes
Book: Oriana's Eyes Read Online Free
Author: Celeste Simone
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there, eroding my composure. The blank look I’ve always managed to maintain, until now.
    A hand clamps down on my shoulder, fastening itself and stopping me from moving. I gasp, and my eyes flicker out of focus. I don’t scream, just draw a breath, but in my ears it’s as loud as a scream. I stare wide-eyed into a face, too bright to see.
    “Oriana, what’s the matter with you? You’re paler than pale!” Aurek has me unwillingly gripped by the shoulders. He wraps his arms around me, and I sink into his body trying to hang onto a fading consciousness. I am frozen, hidden in Aurek’s shadow, the world shifting out of view. He strokes my hair. “You’re ice cold. What’s happened to you?”
    I shiver but do not respond. I only answer within myself as my stomach lurches. Fear, I speak without my voice. Fear is what has happened. I fall backward as Aurek’s face disappears into the pinpoint of a black tunnel.
    All I can hear is a buzzing interrupted by a steady heartbeat. I sit in the darkness. My body floats above me. I’m headed straight for it. We will connect soon. I feel myself return, and now I can control my eyes. I open them to get out of the darkness—to get out of the black and then white: white walls and light and sheet and face.
    I blink to organize things. Everything is blurry except the face. My eyes remain there. I sit up, my eyes still fixed. My hand reaches for the skin. I see it is slightly darker than my own. I pull back as soon as my wits return. I do not touch it, him, Dorian.
    “What are you doing here?” I ask. My voice is raspy and I reach for the glass of clear liquid in his hand. He raises it to my lips concentrating on allowing me to drink.
    Once I have finished he answers. “I work here.”
    “The medical ward? They allow half-bloods to treat patients?”
    “Well, I mostly clean the rooms. I’m not really supposed to be talking to you.”
    I stare at him in shock before gaining back my voice. “Since when?”
    “Since awhile … I don’t know; last year maybe.” He shrugs.
    I suppose it is a credible answer. Those who are not pureblood are often required to volunteer in the school’s facilities in exchange for classes. Half-bloods are usually assigned to the monotonous work of sorting files and cleaning.
    My questions take a new route. “Have you heard what’s wrong with me?” I stare at the ceiling, as if I’m not worried, but I listen intently.
    “Nothing.”
    I look at him strangely, “Nothing? Then what am I doing here? Why did I faint?”
    “They don’t know,” he answers frankly. “They don’t have a clue.”
    “They?”
    “The doctors, examiners … whatever you want to call them.” His voice gets significantly lower, and he looks down at his hands, “I know.”
    For a moment I think I have misjudged his meaning. Yet his confident expression of a well-kept secret confirms otherwise.
    “Are you insane? What do you mean, you know?”
    He grins at me slyly and brings his face closer to mine, “I know what’s happened to you, and you know too.” He draws back and shrugs again.
    I avert my eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about—”
    “Then what happened?”
    “I don’t know! And you don’t either, so stay out of my life!”
    It seems so simple just to admit that there is something different about me, something that I had control of before but no longer. Still, I can’t, and in a final defiance I lash out, “I could get rid of you, you know—” I stop myself knowing I shouldn’t have said that. I look him in the eyes. He sits on the edge of my bed, close enough to touch my legs beneath the sheets. Why is it that I notice every detail when he is near, every expression, every moment?
    His mouth flickers with a smile.
    “You’re not afraid …,” I say. It isn’t a question because the answer is obvious. His eyes are unblinking without a trace of fear. Something inside me sinks.
    “No, but you are.”
    Dorian rises from beside me
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