by S King
“Who cares!” She spread her arms wide and looked around the room, “Lumi, you cannot tell me that the man can’t hang a suit.”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never seen him in a suit.”
“Smartass,” she rolled her eyes, “Shang Wylan is out of this world gorgeous and if you saw what I have in his mind when he looks at you.” She blew a hard breath.
“And pray tell, old wise one what have you seen?”
Wagging her brows at me, she simply winked and went back to picking apart her food.
“Wait a minute,” tilting my head to the side, I looked at her. “Aren’t you with Dristan?”
“Ok and? Just because I’m dating someone from a different guard—period,” she corrected herself, “doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate what my eyes catch.”
“Wow Karina.”
“Oh shut up, you know damn good and well Shang is like a damn vampire with those fucking looks and just imagine what he looks like without his clothes.”
I had imagined what Shang looked like beneath his black get up. Especially when he was working out and running along the riverbank. Hell, I had to stop myself several times from marveling at him through the window of my bedroom when I would wake up with the sun.
Rolling my eyes, I pushed the nasty thoughts aside. In my mind, I reasoned with myself. I was confused. Demir was doing one thing and saying something entirely different. Shang held too many secrets for a damn vault to hold and I didn’t know how much of his actions were sincere and how much was just enough to keep me on a leash.
“But on to more important topics,” Karina grabbed her Mountain Dew and raised a brow at me, “did you really kill Lovett?”
“Does shit stink?” I countered.
Burping away from me, she looked at the carpet, “you know the courts want your ass on a silver platter right?”
“Yeah, so they can hand me over to the scientists for God knows what reason.”
“No kidding,” she pushed her burgundy hair away from her face. “The good news is, I’m the new sect leader.”
“Congratulations,” I smiled at her. Genuinely happy my sister had taken the reigns of the very team I would’ve died for less than six months ago.
“Yeah, but it’s not all good business.”
“Meaning?”
“I have to deal with your ex, husband, whatever the hell he is now. And let me just say, I don’t like how he’s handling all of this.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Demir is as elusive as a fucking spirit, we all know this.”
I nodded but remained silent.
“One second he’s passing down orders and not batting a lash. The next?” She shrugged, “he’s asking me, Dristan and Slade to find shit out on Shang and the other PG members.”
“What?”
“Mind fuck, right?” She smiled sarcastically and nodded, “apparently Demir is working both sides of the tracks.”
I frowned, not liking where my mind was going on the subject. Demir had a history of doing things that didn’t make sense at the time. But when everything was said and done? All of the details that had been hidden away were revealed and made the situation and its outcome a thousand times better.
In turn, everyone involved was blindsided with the bigger picture. Granted, the bigger picture always played out in my favor—for the most part. But the point was, I didn’t know how much his methods presently were for my favor or if he were doing these things because he wanted to be over the judges.
I sighed, looking at the food. Demir had never been easy to figure out and when I did get a shed of light into his inner workings the fucker decided to shut down and spin things to the point I was returned to square one all over again.
Karina shook her head and sighed. Pulling my attention back to her as she said.
“I don’t know what’s going on or what he plans on doing. But whatever it is, it’s going to be big.”
“You think so?”
“Oh yeah, the question now is what in the hell does the courts want with you to the point of delivering you back to the scientists?”
If that weren’t the truth. Every guard member—no matter their station—did everything they could in order to avoid going back to the labs in which we came from.
Grinding my teeth together, I tried to think about everything everyone from the judges to the scientists had told me in their final moments. There had to be a hidden hint somewhere and now it was just a matter of figuring out where the said hint was hidden.
“Lum,” Karina touched my hand and looked at me. “No matter what, you know I’ve got your back right?”
I smirked and nodded, “I know, and I love you for it.”
Squeezing my hand her face became serious, “now seriously, tell me. What did Shang look like naked?”
“Karina!”
“What’d I say?”
We laughed together, passing the night away with pointless stories and updates—mostly on her part, about what I had missed during my little comatose session up in the high mountains of Springcrest.
But no matter how I tried to focus on what she was saying. My head and heart kept bouncing between wanting to know what Demir was planning. Along with debating with myself to go back to Springcrest. To Fefe and Shang. Normal, experiment or otherwise I was still a woman. And my heart was torn between two completely different men.
Chapter 10 Shoddy Motels and a Heart Full of Hope
Shifting in the driver’s seat, I stared at the isolated road in front of me. Alexi’s words had sent me into a tailspin to the point of not knowing if I was doing the right thing by going after Luminous. There was no doubt, I wanted her back. I needed to have her standing beside me. Come hell and high water, I needed to have my woman by me.
In her absence I had felt completely and utterly lost by the hold she left when she was gone. Now, I knew where she was but didn’t have a way of getting her back. Not without the possibility of both of us getting dead. At the thought, I remembered our somewhat reunion.
She hadn’t wanted to see my face, nor did she want to hear my explanation. Yet and still, she didn’t kill me on sight. As she had done with Lovett, so I had that going for me. But she didn’t want me anywhere near her either.
Rubbing a hand over my face, I tried to think about what I was going to do in order to mend the relationship with her. Figuring there was nothing left to do on the subject since I had no clear answer as to where Luminous truly stood, I steered the Hummer off the main road and onto my isolated driveway.
“Incoming call from D,” my speakers announced.
“Answer,” I leaned into the door, keeping my eyes trained on the path and surrounding trees. The last thing I wanted to do was have a run in with Bambi and friends.
“Hey Demir,” Dristan sounded as defeated as I felt.
“What’s wrong?”
“Karina isn’t home and she’s not picking up the phone. For some reason, I can’t find anything to do that’ll appease me.”
“So you call to whine to me, thanks,” I smirked and sat up straighter as my house came into view.
“Eh well you know, it’s kind of the nature of the beast. What’re you doing?”
“Going home.”
“Ok, but why is some of our guard members telling me they saw you and Alexi in Nine Lives?”
I rolled my eyes throwing the gearshift up and looked around to make sure I wasn’t about to get ambushed in my own house. It wouldn’t be the first time and knowing Sadvidge the way I did, I had half a mind to be hyper cautious when it came to retreating to my home.
I didn’t know how many guard members she had in her back pocket and didn’t want to risk my own life just because I was tired. Tuning back into the conversation with my best friend, I gave him part of the truth.
“Because I needed to get answers from the kisser fish.”
He was silent for a second, putting the pieces together. “Oh that makes sense. Wait a minute, y
ou and Alexi are that close?”
“Apparently,” I grumbled, getting out of the Hummer with my sword clutched in my hand. Grabbing the phone from the charger, I placed it between my ear and shoulder. “Where do you think Karina is?”
“How the hell am I supposed to know? She becomes sect leader and forgets about me. I feel so dirty and used,” he griped.
Raising a brow at the phone, I waited for him to pull himself together. The two of them had been damn near inseparable after the whole cliff ordeal and a part of me felt bad for my best friend. But the other side was just downright jealous of him. He got to be with the woman he loved on a regular basis and got to spend time with her talking about anything and nothing at all.
Sure, Dristan’s and Karina’s relationship was not smiled upon from anyone in the BC. Granted, none of the other judges knew about the relationship and would throw both of them in the incinerator should the news leak out. But Dristan and Karina were smart. They weren’t going to get caught and thanks to me changing the rules, the other judges would have one hell of a time punishing the two.
Even still, the jealousy radiating through me had been clamped down every time I saw the two of them together. In the back of my mind, I told myself that it would be me and Luminous one day, but I just had to be patient. Patience was a virtue I’d just have to harness while I manipulated everything against us.
Stepping through the front door of my house, I stilled and narrowed my eyes on the living room. Something wasn’t right. There was a shift in the air that hadn’t come from me and I knew for a fact nobody could’ve just strolled in because of the upgraded security system I had put in. One wrong move and the system would’ve gone off and alerted me on my phone.
Putting the phone on speaker, I tuned out Dristan’s ramblings about wanting all of the drama to be over with and unsheathed my sword. Walking softly across the floor, I checked every nook and cranny for someone waiting to have a makeshift surprise party on my head.
“…anyway, Slade thinks he might’ve found something on Shang.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked absentmindedly as I rounded the corner of my kitchen. But there was nothing there. Everything was as I had left it.
“Yeah, rumor has it that he has a weak spot for some chick named Talay.” Dristan continued as I slipped from the kitchen and headed for my bedroom. “She apparently can tell when someone’s lying and the two of them hit it off back in their training days. Whether or not they’re together, it’s a mystery. But” a hitch in his voice made him sound like he was excited for what he was about to tell me. “Rumor also has it that since he got his paws on Luminous, Talay has been debating with herself about taking your Silver Angel and hand delivering her to you. Or just taking care of the problem altogether.”
Nothing was touched, moved or otherwise out of place in my bedroom or bathroom. But there was still my office. Pretending I had been listening to Dristan the entire time, I grunted.
“And I’m supposed to be excited about the possibility?”
“Well I mean, you could, but looks like Shang isn’t letting Luminous go for nothing. What do you think his end goal is?”
“Probably to get in her pants.” I grumbled. With a deep breath, I tightened my grip on the sword before turning the knob and opening the door to my office.
“Wait a minute, didn’t you see her? Yesterday? Why didn’t she come with you then?”
“I’ve gotta go,” I said, hanging up the phone as I stared at the gold letter sitting on my desk with the lamp in the corner being the only illumination to the room.
“Are you still here or do I need to find you?” I didn’t make a show of looking around the office. If someone were stupid enough to stay around after successfully getting around the security system then they probably knew enough to get out before I showed up.
Silence met my ears. Narrowing my eyes on the letter sitting in the middle of my desk, I crossed the floor in a few short strides. Snatching the thing from the black top, I sliced the thing open.
On paper of the same shade of gold was the note I had been dreading. In black ink, mocking me as I skimmed over the words, I knew the night had only begun.
It is with great pleasure to announce a status update about the location and apprehension of Luminous River, former Sect Leader of Silver Guard. On this date, Miss. River was spotted entering Long View Lodge in Ravendowager, 2 ½ hours from Castlehedge.
The guard members of Platinum Guard humbly ask the honorable judges of Onyx Elite for permission to enter in Regal Guard’s territory to apprehend Miss. River.
Grounding my teeth together, I reread the letter and confirmed what was right in front of me. Whoever had put in the request was close on Luminous’s heels. Just as I was about throw the thin paper in the fire place a thought occurred to me. Well, several thoughts occurred to me.
First, why was Luminous in Ravendowager? Second, did Shang get his feelings hurt because she didn’t want to be with him? And lastly, how in the hell did the request get in my house?
As if all of questions were about to be answered, my phone rang. Digging the device from my pocket I didn’t bother looking at the caller ID.
“Explain.”
A soft chuckle. The type a female would have. So, the first person I talked to was a man. The man Pexi had warned me and Alexi about. Which meant this was the woman in the power couple.
“Is that any way to greet your ally?”
“From where I’m standing it doesn’t look like you and your husband—or whatever he is, is helping me.”
“A pure observation, I’ll agree. However, Mr. Losett, the notice in your hand has yet to be handed to your black robed brethren. If I were you I’d make sure to pack an overnight bag and get to Ravendowager before it does land on the bend. Of course, that would be dependent on if you want Lumi back in your arms.” With that said, the call disconnected and left my head spinning.
Staring down at the notice, I questioned the validity of the olive branch given to me. There was only one way to find out. As I raced from my office back to my bedroom, I pressed Judge Alexi’s contact and put the phone on speaker.
“Hello,” he sounded as if I had roused him from a much needed slumber he had been denied over the course of his life.
“Sorry to wake you, but has a notice come in from the PG?” Shoving clothes in my Dior saddle backpack I held my breath as I waited for his answer. All the while mentally begging him to say no.
“Not that I’m aware of,” he groaned and blew a hard breath. “Sadvidge is only going to give them three more days before she grants the order to the Finders.”
“The who?” My hand stilled on closing the backpack.
“Finders. They’re a specialized group of retired guard members and judges who made a career at handling difficult cases.”
I bit back my questions as to why Sadvidge was so hellbent on finding Luminous and nodded.
“Thank you Alexi, go back to sleep. I’ll talk to you later.” Without giving him a chance to respond I hung up and jogged to the safe in my closet. While I punched in the code and stuck my eye in the retina scanner, I called Dristan.
“What’s up rude ass?” The safe beeped and the door popped open.
“How bored are you?” I asked snatching the box that had found its home in the safe months ago.
There was a pause before, “ass kicking time?”
“More or less, I’m on my way. Pack an overnight bag.”
“Awe—wait, what’s going on?”
“There’s no time, just be ready.” I kicked the door of the safe closed and ripped my backpack from the bed. “I’m on my way.”
§§§§§
“I’m not feeling too confident right now,” Dristan shifted on his feet as I kept staring at the motel.
“Why?”
He hadn’t batted a lash when I told him about meeting with luminous. Or how someone had gotten into my house and left the notice on my desk. Dristan hadn’t even acted surprised when I told hi
m about the phone call. And now? Now he wanted to act crazy. I’ll admit, it wasn’t the first time he had changed tunes when a situation took a turn for the dangerous path. But he was bordering on the line of getting slapped into agreement.
“Something feels off. Like…” her trailed off and shook his head. “Are you sure she’s even there?”
“Not really,” I readied my gun and started for the motel.
“What!” Dristan followed behind me, pulling his own gun.
“You’re not Lil Jon,” I hissed, shooting him a warning look over my shoulder. “Now shut up and come on.”
“Don’t make fun of me.”
I didn’t answer him as we silently crossed the parking lot. I paused, looking at the two levels of the building. Why in the hell hadn’t the notice said which room she was in?
“How are we going to find her?” Echoing my own internal questions, Dristan looked at each of the doors.
I opened my mouth to tell him we would ask the teenager at the front desk when the door at the end of the balcony opened and Karina stepped out.
“What the…” Dristan pushed past me and stormed up the stairs.
“Dristan,” I hissed, looking around the parking lot before following him.
“What the fuck, Karina?” Dristan spread his arms as he ignored me and met Karina head on.
The live wire of the Silver Guard matched Dristan’s pissed off demeanor for everything he had.
“What the hell are you two doing here?” She glared at me and ground her teeth together. “Especially you.”
“Nuh uh, don’t change the subject.” Dristan stepped between me and her. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she raised a brow and focused on her boyfriend. “I needed a break.”
“From what?”
“Everything.”
“Nah,” turning up his lip, he walked past her and headed for the door Karina had been half-assed guarding with her back. “You’re hiding something.”
Against my better judgement, I followed Dristan and prayed to the heavens that another man wasn’t waiting for Karina’s return. The last thing I wanted to do was get in the middle my best friend’s relationship. Then again, anything was better than watching Luminous die in front of me—for real this time.