Read Online Candescent (The Opalescent Collection Book 1) by Isabelle Gallo - Free Book Online

glimpse of a metallic shine from the candlelight, reflecting off his left hand. Why had he switched his rings to his other hand? I focused on his new ring. It was no more than a silver band. I grabbed his working hand to look at the ring and he hastily snatched it away.
    “What is that?” I eyed his hand again.
    “Drink this. I’ll be back.” He handed me a vile filled with liquid and powder, completely ignoring my question.
    I waited for his return which seemed like a while, a while considering he was in such a rush to leave. He didn’t return. After several minutes, Pete’s figure filled the doorway.
    “Fitzray intended to give this to you.” He handed me a glass of water that was only half-full, wet at its sides as though it had spilled. I tried to wrap my mind around what he meant by intended . When he came closer to hand me the glass, I sank back. The left side of his face suffered an ugly bruise. I sat up, nearly dropped the glass onto the nightstand, but managed to set it down.
    “What did you do to him?”
                  He gave me a deep chuckle, leaving the room. I clutched the covers and Rasha came into the room.
    “It’s ok Rallen, she’s in here. She looks all right.” She called back. She came over to me, helped me up and led me to the stairs. The Allies were crowded around a body lying on the floor. I rushed down the stairs to kneel beside Fitzray.
                  He coughed harshly. “He tried to drown me in the plumeberry juice,” he explained. I glanced at Pete and turned back to him.
    “Can’t you just behave at one social gathering?”
    “He gave you the plumeberry juice and it made you sick. He knew what it could do.”
                  Before Pete could contradict his brother, Rasha glared at him and looked down at Fitzray. “So you punched him?” She turned to Pete. “And you nearly drowned him?”
                  Pete’s fists tightened at his sides. “I can take a punch.”
    “You’re lucky he switched his rings to his left hand or he would’ve given you more than just a bruise.”
    “It’s those rings that started it,” he hissed. He knelt beside me reaching to grab Fitzray’s hand to show us the rings. I quickly grabbed Fitzray’s hand to shield it from the aimed attack.
    “What about the rings?”
    “It’s just that one, the silver band. It’s called a Ceremony Ring or Ceremonial Ring.” I recalled I only formally performed the Ceremony with Lucian and hardly performed it with Fitzray, but I never recalled any rings. “He was going to present it to you tonight. He waited until you came back from reincarnation and vowed that when you did, he would perform the Ceremony with you due to my unworthiness.”
    His voice grew louder and he let out a growl as Fitzray sat up.
    “What makes you think I would have performed the Ceremony with him?”I felt Fitzray’s shocked expression come over me, but I knew he would understand. All I wanted to do was cool Pete’s temper before he became uncontrollable. I couldn’t risk that. He turned away from me without much rage, turned to Fitzray, and left. I touched his face, still wet from the juice. The Allies disbursed back to their meal. Rasha stayed behind to talk with us.
    “Is it true?”
                  Fitzray nodded his head. I was glad they all knew what Ceremonies were and that they didn’t need to be explained. “I’ll leave you two alone then. I’ll be right down here in the dining room if you need anything.”
                  We watched her go when Fitzray was suddenly on his feet, pulling me up to his room. He shut the door and stared at me for a short while. He then picked up the glass of water. “You should have had this.” I shrugged my shoulders and he poured it on his face to wash the juice away. He sat me down, took off his silver band and pressed it into my hand.
    “This is a Ceremony Ring. I’m sure you’ve never seen one