Evigheden

by S King

  “Go ahead and ask,” I grumbled, catching sight of him for the umpteenth time sneaking looks at me.

  “I mean,” sighing he made a face at me, “don’t you want to tell me a little bit?”

  “Not really.”

  “Ok, then what about this, how about you tell me what OE wants you to do and I can figure out the rest?”

  Narrowing my eyes at him, I considered the question. Dristan knew next to everything about me and in truth, there was really no purpose in hiding anything from him. But the judgement was there, and it was obvious. Still, what could I possibly have to lose?

  “I have to find evidence to prove Luminous is innocent.”

  His eyes bugged from his head before letting the room fall silent again. I knew he was probably going to say something to the contrary or some smartass remark—as he always did, but instead he left me to my thoughts.

  “I’m just saying, assuming you can’t find the evidence to prove her innocence. Why do you think she did it?” He asked, breaking the silence of the room yet again.

  Raising a brow at him, I tried to keep my temper in check, “what?”

  “Why do you think Luminous killed three of our senior members?”

  Obviously, he hadn’t heard anything I had just said to him. Scrubbing my hands over my face, I stared at the ceiling for a moment.

  “There’s no definitive proof she did anything”

  “But the courts are bound to find something on her.”

  “What if it’s a frame job?” I snapped.

  He made a face and looked at me over his shoulder. “Playing devil’s advocate much?”

  “I’m just saying, Dristan. What reason would anyone from Silver, let alone the sect leader, have as a motivator to come after GG? Not only that, but why would OE allow me to find evidence to prove her innocence if they knew for certain she were guilty?”

  Rolling his eyes in silent agreement, he went back to examining his blade. “Don’t let Svenia and the others hear you defending Luminous, boss.”

  “What is that supposed to mean? You asked me what the fuck OE wanted, I told you. Now you’re telling me I shouldn’t be doing what the black courts have given me permission to do.”

  “It means,” he jumped from the counter and faced me, “you’ve been going soft on her since next to day one. Add the fact you’re actually defending her and trying to find shit to protect her? Is there something going on between the two of you I don’t know about?”

  “I have not,” I snapped, “as for any relationship or whatever you’re hinting at, you need to fucking drop it. Ok? Onyx Elite told me to prove for certain she wasn’t the one to kill our senior officers.”

  “How do you know that!”

  “The weapon was a fucking blade like the very one you’re holding, Dristan! Tell me something, have you ever once in your life seen that woman kill anyone with anything other than a whip!”

  I couldn’t believe for one second, we were seriously standing here arguing about Onyx Elite’s instructions and Lumi’s dos and don’ts. Yet and still, here we were throwing our points around like we were arguing about fucking theories.

  Dristan was the first to shake his head and look away. For now, I had won the battle. As far as who would win the war in this situation, well, that was up for debate. Wasn’t it?

  “Yeah, ok.” He rolled his eyes before stabbing a finger toward my chest like he had just now thought of yet another point that had to be proven. “Explain this to me, boss. You were given her Diamond Order, right?”

  “Yes.” I let my head fall back on my shoulders and regretted telling Dristan anything.

  “You’ve faced off with her how many times?”

  “I don’t know, does this have a point?”

  Dristan scoffed in disgust as he glanced out the windows. “Why have you been unable to kill her? Out of all the orders you’ve been given, you’re telling me,” he pointed to himself. “She’s the only one your sword can’t catch? Not just that, but what makes her so special you’re seriously willing to stick out your neck for her?”

  I ground my teeth together and looked away from him. Unfortunately, he had a point. Luminous and I had been after each other’s throats since we both made sect leader. Probably because we had been pitted against one another since she was born.

  It didn’t make sense to me, but from the time she had stepped onto the scene the scientists and trainers had made it perfectly clear to me, Dristan and Svenia along with others from Gold to watch out for Luminous River.

  I’ll admit she was like a sly fox and snake in the grass all in one. She was too easy on the eyes for comfort and to know she could play the political bullshit game as well as anyone? Yeah, she was a threat to be avoided at all costs.

  Still, even with that knowledge, Dristan’s statement was true, and his concerns were valid. But no matter the case, I couldn’t give him a solid answer as to why we were never successful in our attempts to kill each other.

  Turning my attention back to the conversation at hand, I made a face at him and narrowed my eyes.

  “Are you questioning me as a man or as a superior?”

  “Boss—”

  “Because to me,” I pointed to myself just to emphasize my point. “It’s sounding like you think I’m purposefully finding every chance I can to protect someone who doesn’t need my protection.”

  “Demir—”

  I shook my head, scoffing, “you’re crossing a very dangerous line right now, Dristan and I’m warning you.” I shoved a finger toward his chest, “I know what I’m doing, and I don’t need you to doubt my choices.”

  “That’s not what I’m saying, Demir,” he shook his head and pointed the tip of his sword to me. “I’m simply saying, you and she are unable to kill the other. Injure? Sure, but kill?” He shook his head. “Neither of you have been able to finish the job. It’s almost as if you two are playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse.”

  Looking away from him, I didn’t want to admit the truth. Hell, if I took off my coat and shirts right now the proof of Dristan’s words were right there embedded in my flesh from Luminous’s fucking whip. Brushing my thoughts to the side, I scanned the area outside of the bank.

  Keeping my tone neutral and my face void of any emotion, I tilted my head at him, “are you saying there’s something more to our inadequacy? Or is it you think there’s something we’re all missing in this situation?”

  “Yes,” he deadpanned.

  Making a face at him, I spread my arms, “yes, what? To which one?”

  “Both,” he blew out a hard breath and shook his head, “it just doesn’t seem right.” Jumping on the counter again, he went back to swinging that leg of his. “Honestly, I’m beginning to think those scientists really did a number on you two.” Glancing at me, he raised a brow, “and probably not for the best.”

  I averted my eyes first and clenched my jaw; I wasn’t one to admit when I was wrong or when someone had a valid point. Unfortunately, my best friend’s words were more than likely true. In what way? I had yet to figure out, but I knew one thing for certain. I was going to fight tooth and nail to get Luminous River’s Diamond Order overturned. And it was an unspoken promise I planned to keep.

  “I’m sure we’ll talk about this later, but for the time being,” he cracked his knuckles before nodding to the door. “Incoming.”

  Turning my attention back to the task at hand, I pushed the conflicting thoughts of Luminous from my mind and took a deep breath.

  Robbers and murders were a certain type of crazy and any leeway on my part would result in Dristan and I getting hurt. As if I needed anything else on my head to worry about, either of us getting hurt was not on my roster for the night and I wasn’t about to add to it.

  “Get to the vault and open it, after this we can drink something, right?” A short man—in comparison to my almost seven-foot stance—roughly about five-nine, maybe ten on a good day, looked over his shoulder at his partners in crime and rolled his
eyes at their reply.

  If I could thank the scientists who had created us for anything it would be for the ability to stop our breathing without losing consciousness. On one hand the talent had its perks while on the other hand, I felt like a circus freak.

  If we were big into Halloween, we could very well be features in haunted houses and displays. Granted, we would have a hard time pulling off the comedy aspect of the job and would end up fighting the people who had been scared. Internally, I snorted at the scene playing out in my head all the while keeping a close eye on what was going on around me.

  Three more men, with bags slung over their shoulders nodded, grumbling something in a different language. If I needed any other reason to hate the scientists who had created me, it would be the fact they didn’t implant something to make me automatically translate different languages. Ok, sure, I could’ve done like everyone else and studied for years on end. But when I was expected to train with weapons for fourteen hours day in and day out, where was the time to study language?

  Pushing the pity party aside, I stared at the grumbling thieves as they walked past Dristan then me, straight to the vault. So, this was going to be easier than I thought it would. Well, at least something was going to be easy tonight.

  Dristan jerked his head toward the turned backs of the criminals before silently jumping down from the counter with his sword ready.

  “Why are you doing it that way? Do it like this,” the ringleader said, showing his minions how to wire the bombs to the door.

  “The better question,” I said stepping out of the shadows and twisting my wrist, so the blade caught the moonlight. “Why are you doing this at all?”

  Dristan stepped beside me as the men jumped in surprise, “not only that, but what do you think is going to happen when this doesn’t work?”

  I nodded, “good point.”

  “I thought so too.”

  The ringleader looked between me and Dristan. “Who are you? This is our heist.”

  “Oh?” I pointed to the man but looked to my best friend, “this their heist.”

  “Well, damn.” Dristan clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “Whatever are we going to do?”

  “Leave,” the leader interjected as he ripped a gun from his waist band and pointed it at me. “This is your final warning.”

  “Final warning.” Dristan nodded to me, “did you hear that?”

  “I did”

  “Tell us something,” he turned back to the leader, “what’re you going to do if we don’t? Take heed to the final warning, that is.”

  I saw the move before it happened and took a subtle step to the side as he pulled the trigger.

  The offending bullet missed my knee and bounced off the well-polished floor lodging itself in the wood of the counter.

  He looked at his gun before looking between Dristan and I, “leave! Get out!”

  “I hate it when they shoot at me, don’t you?”

  “Especially when they miss.” I agreed, tightening my grip on the sword and ground my teeth together.

  “Show time?” Dristan followed my lead and cracked his neck.

  “Show time,” I nodded, smirking at the confused looks of our targets.

  Without any further commentary, I dodged right while Dristan ducked left as the guns went off and lit the lobby of the bank in flashes of white light. Gun smoke filled the air, clouding the vision of the robbers while allowing Dristan and I to gain an easy advantage. Another perk to being genetically enhanced by mad scientists.

  My sword sliced through the air, connecting with dumb-dumb two. In one swift motion, the man’s head fell from his neck and rolled away from the body. At least, unlike his victims in that office building, he had a quick death. But I couldn’t guarantee the same for his buddies; rolling to the side in order to avoid getting shot. I jumped to my feet and tracked the third idiot who thought a gun was going to save him.

  “G’head,” Dristan snapped landing a solid blow to the ringleader.

  Not bothering with words, I chased the squirrel like man out of the bank and into the back alley.

  Much like his shooting, the man was horrible at running. He skidded into a nearby dumpster and cursed in his native tongue, before pushing off the metal bin to stagger down the alley.

  “Do you really think running is going to make things easier?” I tilted my head and stared at him. His steps faltered for a moment before he stopped and looked at me for a moment, glancing toward the end of the alley and back.

  “Go ahead,” I stepped to the side, sweeping my arm toward the opened end. “Make my day.”

  “It wasn’t my idea.”

  “Ok.” Here we go again.

  Always with the blame game and begging for leniency. What I found even more interesting was the fact everyone I seemed to be getting lately, had more knowledge about any and everything than I cared to hear.

  Maybe it would be another point of conversation to have with the judges of OE. Granted, I wasn’t entirely sure that conversation would be advisable as long as the Diamond Order was hanging over Luminous’s head and I was hellbent on defending her.

  Tilting my head, I continued to listen to what twitchy had to say.

  “He said we’d get away with it. He was only going to kill her.” Mr. No name sputtered out, keeping his eyes glued on my sword. “We didn’t know she was a part of Silver. We didn’t, I swear.”

  “Not my problem,” taking a step closer to him he continued.

  “How were we suppose to know she was the sect leader?” He jumped and had to grab the wall for support.

  “What?” Unlike with Vance, this man seemed to be talking about Luminous in a different type of perspective that drew me in.

  Whether or not, any of them were telling the truth was up for debate. But at the same time, I’d be a damned dummy if I ignored it. Someone was after Luminous, that much was clear, but what wasn’t clear—aside from the obvious—was why? If the man in front of me was talking about an assassination attempt on the other sect leader, I needed to know why.

  The man waved his hands in front of me, “some people with weird eyes and…” he waved a dismissive hand at me. “She was weird and the guy with her didn’t fair too better when it came to that fact, wanted me— us!” He corrected, “to get the chick and get rid of her.”

  “Why?” Maybe he was talking about another sect leader. After all, there were ten different sects between the three guards and there were just as many women as there were men in the positions. So, he probably wasn’t talking about Luminous.

  Running through the list of different female sect leaders in Silver, I breathed a sigh of relief internally as the list was longer than a couple. Tuning back into the conversation, I narrowed my eyes.

  “Give me a name,” I demanded.

  “I don’t know, they claimed they worked normal jobs and nothing else.”

  “How’d he know about your position?” Judging from his somewhat new threads, I knew he was a part of the honor guard, which meant he was really really good at committing crimes, all in the name of honor.

  “I don’t know, really I don’t. They just came up to me one day, handed me some cash and a name.”

  I smirked, closing the distance between the two of us and pressed my sword to his throat.

  “Feeding me a bullshit story really wasn’t in your best interest.”

  “No,” he smiled and grabbed my wrist, “but it was worth it.”

  In the split second it took me to see his bloodied and broken body lying on the cement ground of the alley, his fist shot out and stabbed me in my ribs.

  Son of a bitch, I couldn’t do anything but react. Throwing my forehead into his nose, I stepped back in time for the second blow of his curved blade to miss my heart.

  Getting too close to a target wasn’t smart on my own part. But I didn’t liked to be dragged along and toyed with; instead, I preferred to get straight to the point and be done with the entire thing.

 
“You really shouldn’t be as gullible as that, you prick.” He jumped out of the way from my haphazard footwork and laughed in his throat.

  Looking at him, I calculated the distance between the two of us. “And you shouldn’t talk so much, you jackass.” I smiled as the confusion morphed his face for a split second before the undeniable shock froze him.

  Dristan yawned and bent down to the idiot’s ear, “how unfortunate to not collect the reward.” Ripping his sword from the man’s back, he shook the blade of the dripping blood.

  When the body dropped and only my friend and myself were breathing, Dristan looked at me.

  “Why do you always get the talkative ones?” He made a face at the blood on his sword and dug the tip in the ground. Leaning on the grip, he twisted his mouth, “I am curious about one thing though.”

  Examining the blood from my rib, I didn’t bother trying to hide my own confusion. “What’s that?”

  “Why are all of these targets talking about Silver and Luminous? What does she have to do with the bigger picture?”

  “Hell, if I know,” I pushed myself from the dumpster and held onto my side. “Who do you think is behind the red orders.” I pointed out.

  “The BC,” he shook his head and sheathed his sword. “I wonder what the big deal is that they are hellbent on bringing her down.”

  “Don’t waste your time,” I sheathed my own sword, “they’re an anomaly within and of themselves, so trying to figure out what their bigger picture is would be like finding a black diamond at the bottom of the ocean.”

  As we walked back to GGHQ, silence followed us with both Dristan, and I lost in our own thoughts. Me wondering about BC’s plan to take out Luminous and why everyone I encountered on my shift wanted to try to give me information.

  Even if I did listen to the words of dead men, what the fuck was I going to do with the information? It was a bold move to talk back to the courts when standing in front of them. But to ignorantly call out the courts for their rulings? Only a fool would do that.