by Lucy Rains
“Our world was in the midst of a war. She said it was really bad. My parents were assassinated. And...someone kidnapped us with the intent to murder us. They were coming to earth because it was the only way they could do it without leaving any evidence.”
“Why would someone have to go twelve trillion miles away to murder children in order to keep it a secret?” Kyson asked.
“What went wrong?” Pierce asked, wanting me to continue.
I swallowed. “I guess their ships, technology, whatever, does not work in our atmosphere. That was why our shuttle ended up crashing, like we saw in the pictures.”
“How does she know this?” Pierce asked, his voice filled with doubt.
“Because she, this woman, had come after us. Her ship also crashed, she said she almost died.”
My hands wrapped around my arms and I shivered. A cold ache pulsed under my skin. Perhaps it was the nerves of having all four guys hanging on my every word? I shouldn’t be cold in the early evening on a hot Paris day.
Pierce glanced at my hands and scowled. Gavin copied his expression.
“But why?” Kyson asked again. “Why would someone steal us?”
I swallowed, deciding to avoid answering his question. “Well, um, you guys are my victri.”
“Your what?” Gavin leaned forward.
“My victri. I don’t know, that was just what she said. I was so overwhelmed, I didn’t know what to say or ask.”
“The hell is a victri?” Gavin wondered aloud, looking at Pierce.
“Totally. Badass.” Alex smiled.
“She said I needed to free the fifth, and come live with our people.”
The guys looked away from me to glance at each other, digesting the information I had shared with them. Their minds were spinning, just like mine. Their curiosity had only intensified.
“What is a victri?” Kyson asked again.
“What about our abilities?” said Gavin.
“And where the hell does this woman live anyway?” Alex chipped in.
Pierce stared at me, unmoving. Not even blinking. I shivered. My legs crossed and I hunched over on the bench. The food in front of me no longer looked appetizing.
“What else?” he asked.
I swallowed again, my lips sealing shut. My head turned and I looked over the vast green grass of the park. Eyeing the couples that walked hand in hand, all ages and ethnicities. Of course he would know I was holding something back.
“When we came into the office you were pale and close to fainting,” Kyson said.
Still avoiding their eyes, I pushed my sandwich in front of Alex.
“Tell them,” Alex said.
I shot him a wry look and worked my jaw, trying to decide how to say it. “She,” I paused, shifted, smoothed my hair, “she called me ‘your highness’.
Kyson released a breath he had been holding and Gavin leaned back in his seat.
“What does she mean?” Pierce asked, not letting me off the hook. “You’re royalty or something?”
I nodded.
“Jade,” Alex warned.
“Damn it, Alex,” I hissed. I raised my eyes to Pierce and said the words I had been dreading. “She said I was the Empress.”
“Holy shit,” Kyson slipped.
Gavin shared his own colorful cursory words. Pierce remained still as stone and Alex gave me a clap on the back. “See? That wasn’t so bad.”
I reached out my senses to feel Pierce, wanting to know his reactions. Shock. Disbelief. And...pride. So much pride.
“What if she’s lying?” I asked, helping the guys to see another side of the picture.
“Why would she be lying?” Kyson asked.
My hands flew up, “Who knows?! But it’s possible, right?”
“You don’t want it to be true?” Pierce leveled me with a stare. “You doubt her? Or yourself?”
His words cut me and I scowled at him. “I am not royalty,” I stated firmly. “No way am I any kind of...” I looked around me, making sure the coast was clear, “empress!”
Alex tapped his chin, “So, on the scale of power, where does an empress sit?”
“She is a ruler,” Gavin answered. Arms folded and staring at me. “She rules an empire, and is highest on the chain of power.”
“So,” Kyson said, his eyes out of focus, “the term ‘victri’? That must be our word for bodyguards, protectors, something.”
“Victri sounds way cooler than bodyguard,” Alex said triumphantly.
“What kind of bodyguard is a lie detector?” Gavin said.
Alex protested but I became lost in my own thoughts. Tuning out their bantering as my heart began to ache.
I blinked, “My parents....they were killed. She said the war was for power.” I looked up to Gavin.
Gavin nodded. “Your parents were the Emperor and Empress.”
The throat thickened and I could no longer speak.
“Which means, you were next in line for the position,” Alex added.
“Which is why someone stole you. And us,” Kyson finished. “To kill us.”
My body shook, the cold creeping in deeper. Alex put an arm around me and pulled me closer to him. I looked at Pierce, who had remained silent. “Say something.”
He blinked, looking at the other guys and then down at the table. “I always knew you were special,” he admitted.
My head immediately began to shake, to oppose his statement. “I’m not,” I whispered. “I’m no one. I…” My past flashed through my mind, my mother, my home, how I was raised. Special was the last thing I felt. Pierce was special. Gavin was special. All of them. I had always seen myself below them.
Pierce reached out and grabbed my chin, holding my stare. “Do not give your past the power to define your future. Too many things add up, you can’t argue with this. It explains so many things.”
The pride he felt flowed over me and into my mind. The sensations in my chest burned and I closed my eyes to allow the vibrations to calm me. Emotions from the other guys came over me as well, their happiness, but also their fear. Knowing what I was, or was thought to be, put a whole new level of pressure on them.
“I’m so cold,” I whispered. My eyes opened and the happiness shifted into something dark.
“How the hell can she be cold?” Gavin muttered under his breath. “It has to be at least 90 degrees out here.”
“Let’s get back,” Kyson suggested. “She needs a hot bath.”
I was not about to admit the fatigue that was biting into my bones. A bath sounded like too much work, and I would be lucky if I made it back home on my own two feet. Carrying me was not an option on the busy sidewalks of Paris.
Thankfully, the guys sensed this and slowed their pace to match my own. Pierce took the place of Alex and put an arm around me. No one spoke as we walked back, everyone lost in their own thoughts at what I had just shared.
As Pierce held me close to him, shortening his stride to match mine, I realized I was relieved to have shared Nara’s information with the guys. Whatever I was, empress or not, it was not a secret that I would allow to hold me down. Going forward, the question would be what to do with it.
Chapter 21
A chill bit into my entire body.
It lasted for hours. Long after my hot shower and when I had settled into bed. Vague memories of a warm body pressing against my back pushed into my consciousness. An arm around my waist. My back against a hard chest. Low soothing whispers of comfort into my ear.
When I awoke the next morning, alone, the outside light suggested it was already late morning, the cold had still not left my body. My hand reached out and traced over the pillow next to me, holding Pierce’s scent. The pillow still dented from the weight of his head.
I threw my senses around the condo, searching for the guys. Nervousness was evident from all of them. Rubbing my eyes, I reached out to Pierce.
What time is it?
11:00.
Pulling myself up, I piled on sweatpants a
nd a hoodie to try and ease the constant shivers, and then headed to the kitchen. All the guys were sitting in various spots, at the counter top, at the kitchen table, except for Gavin who was standing in a corner feigning disinterest.
Charles greeted me and I smiled in response. I sat on a stool next to Kyson, who wrapped an arm around my back and pressed a kiss to my temple. When his eyes ran over my body I felt his fear spike.
“Mr. Bruno is here if you would like to speak with him,” Charles said, setting a plate of eggs in front of me.
I glanced at the guys, “You haven’t spoken with him yet?”
Kyson shook his head, “We wanted to wait for you.”
“What if I had slept all day?”
“We would have woken your lazy ass up,” Alex spoke up from behind me. He said this with seriousness but I felt the humour from his mind.
"We would have waited for you," Gavin said.
Knowing Matteo was near and that we could obtain more information, I quickly spooned down my eggs and drained my water glass. “Thank you, Charles.”
He nodded to me and I pushed off of my stool. The guys followed silently.
We walked into the office area of the condo, where Lettie and Matteo were in a conversation about Japan and something about exported optical equipment. They added a few more sentences before stopping and looking at us. I was relieved his other two male helpers were not currently present.
“Ready to talk again?” He asked with a smile.
Without responding we settled into our various seats, the guys bringing them closer together to form a semicircle.
“I heard your conversation with Nara was a bit of a shock for you?” Matteo asked me.
I scowled at him, “Did you know?”
“I did not, and still don’t,” he answered. “All I know is that you are very important. Nara only tells me what I need to know. She requested that you call her as soon as you are ready so that you may continue your conversation.”
My eyes dropped from Matteo’s and I studied the gleaming white tile. Speak with Nara again? The idea was both exciting and daunting. I would need to organize my questions before speaking with her again.
No one spoke and when I looked up, I realized Matteo was waiting for me to respond. I cleared my throat, “I’ll let you know.”
He smiled and clasped his hands together as he leaned back in his chair.
“Why are you doing all of this?” Gavin asked, his tone distrusting.
“All of what?” Matteo asked.
“Helping us? Letting us stay here, eat your food. I know she hired you to find us, but then Charles came in and saved our asses. And now you are helping us to find some other guy in the middle of Russia.” Gavin waved a hand at a large black and white map that had been hung on the wall. The outline and shapes showing that it was indeed a map of Russia. “Tell me why we should trust you and not kill you.”
“Gavin,” I hissed.
“Well, Gavin has a point,” Alex jumped in. “He knows more about us than he should for not being a doctor or scientist. We don’t know him. We don’t know if he’s waiting to ship us off to some lab once we have the other guy with us. So yeah, I echo Gavin’s question. Why are you doing this? What’s in it for you?”
Matteo straightened and smiled. “I do not mind your questions. They are, in fact, expected due to the harsh upbringing you have experienced in this life. I have tried to be open and honest, and if I wasn’t, you would know, right?”
He winked at Alex, but Alex did not respond.
Matteo sighed, “Nara has paid me well. Very well. I do not know how she gets her money, but she has paid me for years to get you out of the scientist’s custody and then continue to watch over Jade.”
Lettie pushed her glasses up her nose and crossed her legs, “It doesn’t seem like she knows how to use Earth’s tech very well. She uses simple cell phones, standard laptops, nothing other than the basics. She has enough money to buy all the tech she needs to do what we do, but she wouldn’t know what to do with it.”
“Do not simplify what I do,” Matteo scowled at Lettie but with a small smile. “It takes more than tapping on a keyboard to infiltrate buildings, and hard drives.”
“So, you do this for money?” Pierce asked, unimpressed by Matteo’s answer. “And what guarantee do we have that you wouldn’t sell us to the highest bidder?”
“If I had wanted to make a profit on you, I would have done so long ago,” Matteo answered. “As I said in Washington D.C. when we first met, this is not the kind of man I am. But, I will be honest, when we complete the task of freeing your friend, Nara has promised a bonus large enough to allow me to retire.”
I glanced at Alex, looking for any signs that he sensed deception. His face was calm, blank.
“This has been the plan from the beginning. Get the boys out of the facility first, remove Jade when she was old enough,” he motioned to Pierce, “thank you for your help with that.”
Pierce nodded humbly, I bit back a sharp comment on how unpleasant that whole experience was.
“Then bring you to Paris, guide you to help free your friend in Russia, and finally ” Matteo clapped, “I am done.”
“So what do we do now?” I asked, bringing my knees up to my chest. “Will you help us get to Russia?”
“Of course,” Matteo nodded. “I have connections that will get you into the mountains, and then drop you off close enough to the compound for you to go in on foot.”
“What do you know about him?” Pierce asked.
"Roman," I clarified.
Lettie began typing on her keyboard in response to Pierce’s question. Matteo stayed silent for a moment. When Lettie stopped typing, she sat back in her chair and tilted her computer monitor in our direction.
My body stilled as I stared at the image. Grainy, low quality, hard to see, but there was a small distorted image of a young male. His hair dark hung to his chin. I couldn’t see his profile clearly, but my heart swelled and I knew that I cared for him already.
The angle was low, looking up from something like a table, or chair. The lighting was harsh, the colors black and white. “Who took this picture?” I asked, my eyes not leaving the screen.
“This came from the bug we had planted on one of our insides, posing as Roman’s tutor,” Lettie answered, tapping on her keyboard again. A new picture came up on the side of the screen, of an eldery woman who looked to be in her 60’s. She was round, with sharp blue eyes and white hair.
“This is Anna,” Matteo explained. “She goes in weekly to tutor Roman on his English.”
“She works for you?” Kyson asked.
“When I need her to, yes.”
“Is she going to help us get him out?” I asked.
Matteo shook his head sternly, “No, she has done her part.”
Gavin leaned closer, his eyes studying the screen. “How old did you say he is?”
“24 or 25,” Lettie answered. “We aren’t sure what day they mark as his birthday.”
“It’s not like any of us came with birth certificates,” Alex chuckled.
“What is his ability?” I asked, curious about my missing link.
Lettie looked at Matteo and Matteo frowned. He stood up and paced behind his chair. “We don’t know. We haven’t gotten close enough to him to know these things.”
I looked down, turning this in my mind. It couldn’t be something physical, like my own, it would have been seen, recorded, documented. Like the other guys, it must have something to do with his mind.
“Do you have any other pictures of him?” I asked.
Lettie tapped a few keys and three other images came onto the screen, blocking out the first one. All were low quality, all were hard to see. He was never smiling and never looking directly at Anna.
My fingers came to my lips and I traced them, my mind becoming caught up in the questions about this unknown male. How much had he suffered? What would he do when we came in? What kind of barriers would be between us
? How damaged would he be?
My eyes flicked up to Gavin and my stomach dropped. He had been a tough nut to crack. Still was, in fact. I had a feeling this guy would be even harder.
I covered my mouth as a yawn slipped out, the idea of going back to bed sounding enticing.
“You will need weapons,” Matteo said. “Technical defenses, radios, gear.”
“We have some,” Gavin said. “But we will need more.”
“Can I have a gun this time?” I spoke up. “I think I have shown myself capable of handling a firearm.”
A couple growls answered my question and I lifted an eyebrow.
“We will discuss this later,” Pierce said.
Suddenly the front door opened, and the familiar sounds of male voices entered the condominium. I stiffened and clenched my hands together, a curse slipping from my mouth.
The guys all frowned at me and I shrugged. I was about to leave the room when I heard heavy footsteps behind me.
“Belle femme!” Tobias called out.
Clive sat down next to Lettie and handed her a white steaming cup. She smiled her appreciation and began whispering something to him.
I glared at Tobias and took a step away.
He lifted a hand and called out, “Attendre! Please, I just want to give my apologies.” Tobias bowed his head, placed his hand on his chest and attempted to look apologetic. “You are not interested, I understand. No more, I promise.”
My eyes glanced at Alex who glared openly at Tobias. I had a feeling Tobias wasn’t being completely truthful about backing off.
I narrowed my eyes on Tobias, his pretty boy face holding no lasting marks from my slap. “If you touch me again, I will break your face.”
Matteo let out a huge bellow of laughter and sat back down in his chair. As soon as he did, Clive leaned forward and began speaking in rapid french, pulling his attention away from us.
Tobias looked slightly more chasitined as he digested my words and felt the stares of my four males surrounding me. He shifted his feet and cleared his throat. Turning his attention away from me he said, “Um, we are going down to the work out area, if you guys would like to join us?” He was looking at the guys when he asked this question, the invitation not directed to me.