Dark Deceit

by Imani L Hawkins

  “I created a room in your mind, someplace comfortable and private. I need you to understand a few things.”

  She relaxed as best she could, though he could still sense her concern.

  “Do you think the Fallen has been watching us?”

  “No.” Had the Fallen seen him through the cameras, they would have come to collect him within an hour. Everyone would have been taken in, charged with aiding and abetting, though they knew nothing of what they were doing. “I think it’s someone within the compound. I think it’s the same person who alerted the Fallen we were coming to collect David.”

  Letta’s mouth fell open, but no words escaped. Instead, she pushed a hand to her mouth to stifle a response.

  “Earlier, you told me that a woman named Tracy was able to take down a few Fallen.”

  “It wasn’t just Tracy. It was her, Brayden, Jackson, David, Benny, and Giselle. They used to go out about once a week, trying to bring people to our cause. A couple of Fallen discovered what they were doing and attacked them. Jackson was killed the first time, but they managed to kill both Fallens. The next time they went, they were more prepared and took out two more. That was when Brayden came up with the idea to turn this into a militant group. Once he knew how to kill them, he thought he could train us all to do that same.”

  “But that didn’t happen,” Tyrin stated.

  Letta sighed. “They were all captured the third time they left the compound. We didn’t hear from them for a week. We were beginning to think they were all dead until Brayden showed up with that scar on his face. He said they tortured him for a week, trying to figure out how much of a threat we were before letting him go.”

  That made no sense. Torture was rarely a tool the Fallen used, being able to obtain information by creating a simple bond. Torture was only used for those strong enough to fight the bond and he’d only seen that twice in his life. Once from a man who’d made it his mission to slaughter an entire village of women and children, his evil intentions so strong it repelled the bond. The other was Benny though he hadn’t exactly been as successful as the first.

  “David didn’t go with them?” Tyrin asked, his mind trying to connect the pieces of the puzzle.

  “David wasn’t here. He left earlier that day stating there was something important he needed to take care of. At first, we thought maybe he’d tipped them off, but we knew David. He’s such a gentle person and would never have done anything to harm anyone. He would have killed himself before turning us in.”

  Which explained why the others were so willing to put their lives on the line for him. He would have done the same for them. It made perfect sense which left the question, why was Brayden so willing to give up on his brother? If everyone was willing to risk their lives to save him, why was Brayden so set against hit?

  Tyrin could smell the lies coming off of him as he spoke. He feigned concern over the lives of the people there, but his words lacked conviction. Letta had attributed that to the fact Brayden had gone through a lot over the past few months, but Tyrin couldn’t see that. He didn't carry on like a man too tired and hurt to care. Instead, he’d been like a person who had given up long before offering even the slightest bit of hope that David could be saved.

  But why?

  Tyrin needed to speak to David. He had no choice. Brayden was clearly up to something, something sinister. He’d given up Tracy and her team to the Fallen. That part was clear. There was no way they would have allowed him to return to the compound if they hadn’t found some value in him. The fact they hadn’t raided the compound was another clue. It wouldn’t have been difficult to figure out where they were.

  “Tyrin?”

  Letta’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.

  “I need to speak to David.”

  Before Letta could ask how, Tyrin pulled himself from her mind and rushed from the room. Across the commons area, he knocked on Rene’s door. She peaked her head out, gesturing with a finger to her lips he needed to keep quiet. Slipping from the room, she tossed one last glance in before carefully closing the door behind her.

  “What’s up?”

  Tyrin paused at the sound of her greeting. It was lighthearted, missing the sadness and timidity he’d heard from her before.

  She stood before him, her shoulders back and her chin high. So caught up in her appearance was he that he’d barely registered the concerned expression that began to form on her face.

  “Tyrin?”

  “I’m sorry. You just look…” he paused again, trying to think of the right word for it. Happy? That wouldn’t do. There was nothing happy about her. Still, she glowed. It was as if the spirit within her had finally been released, showing him a glimpse of the woman she would have been were it not for Benny. “You’re glowing.”

  The smile on her face told him she’d understood. “Even with all the bad happening around us, I feel like things may work out for us in the end. I don’t know why but I do know I have you to thank for that.”

  Tyrin tilted his head to the side.

  “You don’t have to pretend you had nothing to do with Benny’s disappearance. I knew it from the moment Letta came to me with that weak story. As possessive as Benny had been, there was no way he’d simply leave me for another woman. He’d had plenty of chances, but could you imagine the effort it would take for him to break in a new punching bag? Also…” she leaned in close and whispered. “His father gave him that car. There is no way he would have left that to me.”

  Tyrin grinned. He’d never thought that far ahead. “So, you know what happened?”

  “You were missing the morning the call came in, and from the look on your face the night before, it wasn’t hard to imagine what you could have done. Benny had always said only death could keep him from me.”

  Her laughter warmed him. For once, in a long time, he’d done something good. He’d done something that had changed this woman for the better, something that healed her broken spirit, and the thought brought him a peace he hadn’t felt since the day his sister was taken from him.

  Filled with emotion, he tugged her into his arms, hugging her close. Where once he’d hated humanity, he found himself admiring their courage. Their ability to overcome even the darkest of obstacles astounded him and he wished he’d have seen that before.

  She ended the hug, giving him a gentle push. “Did you need something?”

  He’d almost forgotten why he’d sought her out in the first place. “You’ve spoken with David. How is he?”

  “He was fine,” she said before adding, “But he really wasn’t too happy to learn that Brayden sent me to represent him. He’d been happy to see me before that.”

  “Are you planning on visiting him tomorrow?”

  “That was the plan.”

  “Okay, listen closely.”

  He pushed his instruction into her head, worried someone might overhear. She was to deliver David a message, but she had to promise to keep it from Brayden. He could sense Rene was a little taken aback by his instructions but her gratitude toward him had her in full agreement.

  Seventeen

  Worry motivated Letta as she made her way to Brayden’s room. He’d been acting strange and she had hoped to get some answers from him.

  It didn’t help Tyrin felt suspicious of him. Though she’d made every attempt to shrug it off, she had to admit his reaction to the team’s updates had been far different than she’d expected.

  David and Brayden had been closer than any sibling pairing she’d ever seen. They were like ying and yang, balancing each other out so much it felt like the two of them together would make the perfect person. It should have been hard for Brayden to make that decision, yet it seemed easy.

  Her flip-flops slapped against the concrete stairs as she ascended them, her hand gripping the cool metal rails. His door was straight ahead and the light shining through the crevices told her he was awake.

  She came to stop at the door, her fist in the air. For the first time, she wasn�
�t sure if she should knock or walk in. Before, she’d never question it, understanding Brayden’s need for privacy, but with Tyrin’s suspicion and the other’s concern over his actions, she found herself doubting his sincerity.

  She placed a gentle hand on the knob but didn’t press further. It felt odd, her sudden distrust of him, but she couldn’t ignore the fact he’d definitely been different from the moment he returned from his torture session with the Fallen. Tyrin seemed to doubt he’d been tortured at all, the look he’d given her displaying that doubt, but she’d seen the evidence. She saw the cut that marred his face when it was fresh, the flesh torn and bleeding. She’d been the one to tend to the wound and stitch it up as best she could.

  She thought back on the day he returned. Blood poured from the wound, staining his clothes. Initially he’d suggested he was able to sneak away, but they knew better. They questioned him endlessly before he admitted they’d simply let him go once they deemed him no threat. Though hard to believe, it made more sense, especially with David coming to his defense.

  That was the problem. David had come to his aid so effectively no one else dared question his story, no matter the holes it contained. Well, David wasn’t there to save him and she had a lot of questions of her own.

  She turned the knob and pushed the door open. A bright light hit her eyes, blinding her as a shadow of a man shuffled about the room. She rubbed at her eyes to clear the fog the light had produced.

  “What the fuck? Letta? Don’t you know how to knock?”

  Brayden snatched something from his bed, sliding it under his pillow.

  “Hiding something?” she asked, making an attempt at sounding playful. Instead, it came out with an accusatory edge to it that had Brayden gawking at her.

  “What do you want?”

  “I want to know why you’re no longer interested in saving your brother.”

  Brayden gave her a blank stare before tears began to form in his eyes. The corners of his lips dipped. She could see him fighting the emotion, trying to shove it back into the corners of his mind, but he lost that battle. Tears poured unhindered from his eyes.

  “Do you know how hard of a decision that was to make?” he whispered, pushing himself up on wobbly legs. Catching his balance, he stepped toward Letta. “Do you know how hard all of this has been for me? There are thirty-two families out there counting on me, and I’ve done everything I could to keep them safe. But at what cost?”

  He stumbled toward her again, this time nearly falling to the ground.

  Letta looked toward the pillow he’d tried to hide his evidence under. Peaking beneath it was a bottle of a dark liquid she knew to be whiskey. From what she’d heard, it had always been his drink of choice and judging from the way he was acting, he’d drank far more than he’d intended.

  She placed her hands on his shoulders to steady him, looking him in the eye. “We know how much you’ve done for us and we’re grateful for it.”

  “Are you? Are you really grateful for the choices I’ve had to make to keep everyone here alive? Sacrifice the few to save the many. David knew this very well, but that didn’t stop him from trying to save the entire world. He’s going to die for that choice and there is nothing I can do to stop it. They’d kill him before they ever let him go and all of our efforts and sacrifices would be for nothing. Not a damn thing.”

  His words began to merge with the next, making it difficult for Letta to keep up with his rant. Still, his words lingered in the air like some kind of beacon toward a truth she hadn’t wanted to face.

  “Sacrifice the few to save the many.”

  “Yes,” he agreed, righting himself. He closed his eyes while reaching one hand up to caress her cheek. “Sometimes I’ve had to sacrifice the few for the many and I’m so sorry. If I had another choice, I would have gladly taken it but the pressure of keeping everyone here and everyone outside of these walls alive, the pressure of trying to fight a battle that seems unwinnable, watching everyone suffer, watching everyone…”

  He opened his eyes and Letta could see the sorrow beyond the tears. “I am so sorry, Nicolette. I should have made a different choice. I should have…”

  His words slurred to a point she couldn’t make out a word he was saying but still she tried to listen. She tried to understand. What any of it had to do with David, she didn’t know. But his words were tugging at her, swatting at her as if they were trying to wake her up and they did.

  “When I watched you walk through those doors, I was so relieved.”

  Nicolette. Sacrifice the few for the many. “You set me up?”

  Letta pushed away from him. He stumbled back but remained on his feet. He closed his eyes and lowered his head, a gesture of guilt.

  She stood motionless, almost forgetting to breathe as it all sank in. The angel Tyrin had saved her from had called her by her name. He’d expected Letta to be there and she’d always wondered how.

  She could feel her temperature rising to such a degree she felt she’d pass out from it. Her hands began to shake, and she clenched her fists on both sides of her, tightening her muscles to hold in the violent rage that was forcing its way out of her.

  He’d set her up. He’d sent her out there, knowing she could have died that night, leaving Aurora without a mother. What kind of man would do that? Leave a child motherless?

  None. No real man with any respect for human life would sacrifice a single mother after all she’d been through. Instead, he would have sacrificed himself and he should have.

  She looked at him with renewed eyes. Who once she’d considered a strong man and a great friend, she now saw as the coward he was. He’d made it back to the compound safely because he’d given up Tracy and the others. He’d allowed them to die to save his own ass. Yet, he’d sat and cried with the rest of them, putting on a show of solidarity when there was none. There was only survival, his survival.

  “I’m sorry,” he uttered, reaching out for her.

  She slapped him, her hand connecting to his cheek hard enough he fell backwards. Nursing her hand against her chest, she fled from the room.

  Part Two

  Myleah

  Eighteen

  "You can't keep me in here forever, you little bitch!"

  Mykael spat at her, the wetness staining the floor before her. She watched as he struggled against the chains she'd wrapped around him, trying desperately to break the links. A few chains would have been an easy feat for the angel but a hundred? She smiled, worrying a syringe filled with clear liquid between her fingers. Even if he'd broken through ten of the chains, his inebriated state wouldn't allow him the strength the tackle them all before she returned the following day.

  Stepping from the shadows, she let the light of the sun pouring through a small window in the basement bathe her with warmth. The warmth of it seeped into her skin, melting away the chill his icy gaze produced. She stared into crystal blue eyes, noticing how the light glinting from them betrayed his arrogant demeanor. He was terrified, as he should have been. Though he hadn't set her up to be captured, he'd caught the man, taking pleasure in stripping every shred of humanity left within him - something only Myleah deserved to enjoy.

  A flash of memory taunted her. She could still feel the cuts and bruises the man had caused, though she'd healed long ago. Being held hostage in the man's torture chamber, she'd endured the worst pain possible, unable to break free due to the same medicine she now held in her syringe.

  Mykael's eyes widened when she raised it up for his inspection. "You can't do this. I did everything you asked. I brought him here..."

  "How long did you know of his whereabouts?"

  He shook his head, trying to push himself away from her. The chair, tethered to the ground with chains of its own, refused to budge.

  "How long," she repeated, though the look he pinned her with gave her the answer she sought. He'd always known. He'd known from the moment he'd come to her rescue, yet refused to bring the man to her. But why?

  Sh
e took a step forward, ready to plunge the syringe into his neck. But, first, she needed answers. She needed to know how long he'd been aware of Lydian's deception. She needed to know why he'd refused her the vengeance she'd sought so long ago. And she needed to know why he'd gone along with the council's plan to kill Aria.

  Bridging a connection with him, she raced through his mind, searching for answers, but something was wrong. She could feel a mental push, shoving at her, trying to force her out. She concentrated on the blockage and imagined herself tearing through the wall. It cracked a bit but the harder she fought the tougher it got. A force shoved against her, tossing her from his head so violently she fell back away from him. Her back hit the ground hard enough the impact forced the air from her lungs. Gasping for breath, she rolled onto her side.

  Myleah inwardly slapped herself. She should have known he'd resist her but she'd never imagined he had the strength enough to force her out. He certainly never had before, which meant either he was determined to hide whatever lurked inside his head, or he wasn't the one who'd created the blockage. Standing to her feet, she approached him again. A flash of surprise lit his features.

  "I don't know how that happened," he murmured, closing his eyes.

  That answered that question. Resigned she'd get no answers from him that night, she plunged the syringe into his neck, releasing the clear liquid just beneath his skin. She hadn't expected it to work immediately, but his head slumped forward and the tension in his body relaxed. His breathing shallowed and she knew he was out.

  ~*~

  It was a long walk home, at least to the place she called her home for the time being. Dealing with the council, she never could be too sure how long she'd be welcomed there. Not that it mattered. Once she got her hands on Lydian, she would give them every reason to kick her out, but not before her hands were coated with the angel's blood.

  She thought back on the past week. After years of exile, due to the loss of her wings, Mykael had shown up at her door with news of Gemma's death. The council sent him to collect her, knowing she'd be the only one to solve Gemma's murder. She'd never once considered Gemma was the cause of her death in a desperate attempt to bring Myleah back into the fold.