by S King
“Demir!” Dristan’s voice came through my security system on the back wall of my bedroom.
Frowning, I looked over my shoulder at the monitor before glancing at the time. What the hell was he doing here?
Rolling my eyes, I detoured from the bathroom and allowed the locks to grant Dristan access to the interior of my home.
“Why are you not at HQ?” I asked, raking my fingers through my hair as I met him in the living room.
“Boss, you’ve got bigger problems to worry about than my whereabouts, ok?” He tossed down what looked like an official report on my glass coffee table and pointed to the thing. “That right there is your Diamond Order for killing Silver’s district member.”
“What?” I snapped, before grabbing the report from the glass, “what the fuck are you talking about? I came home right after I locked down HQ.”
Flipping the report open, I read and reread the words until I had the thing memorized. Sure enough, with the same M.O. as the accusations against Luminous someone had cleverly done the exact same thing to me.
However, they had taken it to the extreme. Silver Guard’s district members were equivalent to the president. Which meant if they said I killed the president of Silver? I wouldn’t be facing a Diamond Order, no. Not even close. I would be facing a fucking Black Diamond Order. The worst of the worst.
“What the hell is this?” I said holding up the report to Dristan.
He made a face and tilted his head, “you tell me, boss. Because how I see it right now, you’re looking at one hell of an uphill battle with the courts.”
I closed my eyes, gritting my teeth so hard I saw stars behind my eyelids. Ok, this was not happening. Then again, ignoring reality was only going to make things harder on me.
Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked at my friend, “when did this happen?”
“Two this morning, the body was—”
“Do not tell me they found a body.”
“Ok, I won’t.” He fell silent and raised his brows at me like I was going to beg him to tell me a lie.
“What the hell happened?” I asked again, looking at the report for some type of clue to tell me where to begin to look for the real person behind the killings.
Luminous was lucky in the sense GG’s bodies were discovered nearly right after the time of death. She wouldn’t have had time to get out of the territory, let alone not get caught within the same timeframe. She had a leg up on the accusations in that essence. But what about me?
Looking at the report, the time of the murders as well as my whereabouts, the two lined up perfectly. At least, it would have had I not had security cameras set up around and in my house.
“What’s Silver ’s standing ground for pointing the finger at me?”
“They’re not the ones blaming you,” Dristan said as he got comfortable on my couch.
“Then who is?”
“The one and only, honor guard.”
“What?” I threw the report on the table, “they have no authority in either of our guards. So, where do they get off saying, I was the one to kill anyone from Silver?”
“Don’t look at me, I’m just telling you what I’ve find out. So far, Silver hasn’t made a motion to either the courts or honor.”
“They’ve gone silent?” I raised a brow at my friend in disbelief.
“So, it would seem.”
“What about BC? Are they saying anything to the charges other than the obvious?”
“Like hell they are,” he rolled his eyes and rubbed a hand along his jaw. “Right now, Ken-y wants you to lay low and since you got the bright idea to defend Luminous against the courts, he’s ordering you to put all of your attention on justifying your actions.”
“Like I wasn’t doing that already.” I grumbled and stared out the windows.
“How do you want to handle the red orders tonight?”
“What’ve we got?”
“Child molester, wanna be serial killer and a trafficker.”
“All of which were let off on insufficient evidence and technicalities.” I added.
At the nod of his head I started raking my brain for some way to keep myself from finding Luminous tonight and confronting her about my Black Diamond Order.
“What’s Svenia doing tonight?”
“Nothing that I’m aware of, why?”
“Give her the trafficker, tell Scranton and Jerry to take the serial killer.”
“Are we taking the sick fucker?”
I got off the couch and nodded, “I’m not staying hidden while the guard tries to figure out what the hell is going on.”
He nodded but didn’t say anything while I went to my closet.
If Silver were really handling red orders of their own, it wasn’t such a far stretch to hope I would run into Luminous tonight. I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t juiced up with the possibility of having a fight with her just to get my mind off things. It had been a minute since her and I had fought with our weapons of choice and to say I was twitching for a little hand to hand with the woman of my nightmares would be an understatement.
When I was finished getting ready and had my sword attached to my back, I met Dristan in my driveway.
“Ready?” He asked, stamping out his cigarette and cracked his back.
“Let’s go,” another night of violence was what I needed right now. Especially, knowing I had a Black Diamond Order over my head.
It took us thirty minutes to get back into the city limits and find our way to the alley behind the strip club.
Dristan had filled me in on the order as we were walking; Sanjay Mulvarickrich was a forty something year old that had money rolling out of his ass like shit. Of course, when the daytime authorities tried to arrest and charged the sick fucker he had lawyered up from every angle.
Having so much money, he had bought off the judge on the case and like leaves in the wind, Mulvarickrich’s charges were dismissed. It didn’t matter what the daytime authorities did or tried, the slimy bastard got off every time and was left to continue his life as he saw fit. Granted, he was going to meet a bloody end so at least his victims would indirectly get their justice.
As we waited, I kept scanning the alleys and rooftops for any movement. It wasn’t because I was worried about any of the flunkies surrounding the club or someone from Honor Guard. No, I was keeping a weathered eye out for one Luminous River. Everyone in Gold and Honor knew Silver’s hidden talents and abilities.
Silver had a tendency to be parkour enthusiast and could climb next to anything if given good enough incentive to do so.
“I don’t know if this question is allowed,” Dristan said in a low voice, watching the entrance of the strip club across the street. “But what’s going on with you and Svenia?”
I frowned and tore my gaze from the alley across from us, “nothing.”
“I’m just curious.”
“About what? There’s nothing there,” I went back to staring at the alley.
“You know she really likes you,” he continued.
“Sounds like a personal problem to me.”
“Ouch,” he sighed, raking a hand through his shorter hair. “Look, I know you don’t like relationships and all that, but you can’t be alone forever.”
“Says who?”
“Dude, it’s just not right. When was the last time you got laid?”
I cut my eyes to him and lowered my voice, “when do any of us have the time for extracurricular activities? We don’t like the daylight hours, we’re always having to look over our shoulders and—most importantly—we have to keep our identities hidden so we don’t end up on a table.”
“I get that, but it’s within our own guard.”
“And that’s the problem,” I grumbled.
“If you were in— “
“No,” I snapped and glared at him, “I’m not attracted to Svenia in any way, shape or form.”
“I’m just— “
“Did she set you up to ask?”
His eyes dropped to the sordid ground as he fell silent.
I took a deep breath and shook my head, “don’t broach this subject again.”
“I’m going to ask you one more question,” he said, barreling on, “do you have a thing for Luminous River?”
My teeth clenched involuntarily as I slowly turned my head toward him. “Why is my sex life or my feelings any of your concern?”
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned his head on the brick wall.
Had I not caught sight of our target for the night, I would’ve knocked his teeth from his skull for bringing up the very woman I was trying to not think about.
“Take the left alley, we’ll meet in the middle.” I said, already heading out of the alley not waiting for him to say anything. He needed to focus on the task at hand and not worry about my love life—or lack thereof.
I knew damn good and well Svenia had had a thing for me since she joined the guard, most of the new female members did.
Someone had once told me it was strictly due to the station I held and the power running through my veins. I had reason to assume it was more so thanks to the monarchy that took place amongst all of the guards.
Silver and HG had their leaders and ranking systems, but Gold was closer to the BC than either of them. Which meant if you played your cards right, you could reign over the courts one day. Get in a beneficial relationship and your road was paved in gold.
Ducking in the other alley I slowed my breathing and narrowed my eyes on the approaching shadow. I pulled my sword from its confines and waited.
“This is my red order,” I spun around and stopped the blade in time to not to decapitate Luminous River.
“Says who?” Smooth, Demir, real smooth, I chided mentally.
Her grip on the whip tightened as she nodded to the steadily approaching shadow. “The courts.”
“Since when are you handling red orders? Your sect doesn’t have the credentials or the experience.”
“You can’t gain experience without a chance.” She countered.
True. But I wasn’t going to tell her that. Narrowing my eyes on her, I tried to calculate a way for her to be out of the way and get the target at the same time.
“You killed my guard’s senior member?” It wasn’t an accusation, but a genuine question filled with confusion.
“If I say I didn’t, would you believe me?”
“That’s not up for me to determine.”
“Why ask?”
“Curiosity and what not.”
I was going to miss my opportunity, glancing at her I lowered my voice, “can we continue this conversation later?”
“No,” she stepped in my path and challenged me to a fight with a devil-may-care smirk dancing on her lips.
“Well, well, well, look what the cat drug in,” Dristan appeared at the end of the alley and smirked at Luminous, “I’ll handle this, you,” he nodded toward me, “handle that. Deal?”
Luminous made a disgusted face as she looked at Dristan, “how about both of you leave this order to its rightful owner?”
“No dice, sunshine, we got the order first.” Dristan said pushing off the wall and stepped toe-to-toe with her. “After all, you’re in Gold territory—”
Holding up her hand, she stopped him, “actually we are in neutral territory. If you really want to split hairs, all of us are in HG turf right now.”
Well damn, she had a point there. Grounding my heels in the soggy ground, I looked at Dristan, “handle him.” I turned my gaze to the woman who caused a riptide to roar through me and smirked. “Let’s dance, beautiful.”
Dristan laughed under his breath, happy he got to do something tonight other than standing around waiting to be told what to do.
Luminous on the other hand glared at me, those harsh slate eyes of hers igniting with rage. “Don’t make me laugh.”
She made the first move, swinging that damned whip over her head before the unmistakable crack went through the air and hissed at me before the tail sliced through my leather sleeve. Oh, she wasn’t playing tonight.
Taking the challenge with stride, I blocked her next attack with my sword and started thinking about everything I wanted to ask her. If I were going to do it, now was the time.
“Why do you think I killed one of yours?” I sidestepped another attack, slicing off four links on the whip.
Luminous growled at my assault before pouring all of her power into her legs and ran up the side of the wall just to flip over my head and land behind me.
“Because that is what the report said.” She threw out the shortened whip and caught the side of my leg.
“Your report said the same thing,” I ducked, slicing the air with my sword, just barely—purposefully—missing her ankle. “What motive do I have to go after your guard?”
“You tell me, Losett, you’re the one being accused of murder.”
“I defended you when your order came in, I wouldn’t turn around and commit a crime against your sect.”
She faltered, grabbing at the wall to stop her from falling into a dumpster as she stared at me.
“What?”
I let my sword lower before I leveled my gaze on her, “the sole reason you’re breathing right now, is because of me. So, I’m going to ask you to do the same for me.”
For a moment, the world stood still and there was nothing but the two of us standing in this damp alley, staring at each other. She didn’t raise her whip to strike out at me like a cobra and I didn’t make a move to cut her down when she was most vulnerable. We were strictly weighing our options and risks against the other.
Finally, she asked me in the only way she could, “why would you do that?”
“Why not?” I wasn’t going to tell her oh because I find you ridiculously attractive and want to get you in my bed. You’re probably the only woman I’ve ever seen that enrages me and excites me all in a matter of a few seconds. I like the way your hair catches the light. Yeah, I think the fuck not.
“What’s your end game?”
I smirked, “why do I need an end game?”
“Because it doesn’t make sense.”
“Nothing in life makes sense.”
She narrowed her eyes at me, searching my face for some kind of dishonesty.
“You want me to defend you against the courts because you did the same to me?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you defend me, Demir?”
The way she said my name was like a sinner whispering a prayer before death. Sultry, full of promise and downright my undoing.
If I stayed in this alley for too much longer, I was going to end up doing the very thing I didn’t need to do right now—or ever for that matter—and I couldn’t allow things to go down the drain.
Taking a deep breath, I internally cursed the soft breeze for carrying her spicy perfume in my direction. Leveling my eyes on her I gave her a short answer.
“Because I know you didn’t do it.”
“How?”
“You love your whip too much to use anything else.”
The checkmate was written all over her face as she stared at me. Little did she know, I wasn’t trying to coax her ego or flatter her in anyway. I was being selfish because I valued my life above any and everything else first.
She was the first to break eye contact, obviously considering her options carefully.
“If I do this,” she looked at me, those slate eyes narrowing into hard slits. “You will let my sect and guard handle the red orders we are given from here on out. No question, no wasting time.”
A woman after my own heart. She didn’t care for anyone coming into her turf, messing things up or stealing her jobs. It didn’t matter if she would get the credit in the end or not. Luminous River wasn’t going to let anyone overstep into something she needed to have control over.
Of course, I wasn’t going to allow Dristan to sign off on the red order when he f
inished the job with Sanjay. I was going to give Luminous the thunder and sit back to watch what else the courts would give her.
Taking a deep breath, I clenched my teeth and stared at her. “Only after I get the stay on my Black Diamond Order.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.” I agreed.
She gave me a sidelong look that told me she wanted to say something else on the subject. Yet, she didn’t and simply spun on her heel and walked out of the alley, hung a right, away from Dristan and Sanjay.
When I heard her footsteps completely disappear from ear shot, I sagged against the dumpster and held my waist as the pain radiated through my body.
The injuries from last night along with the new injuries from tonight weren’t anything to be proud of. I wasn’t vain or worried about the scaring that would come. In fact, right now given my current pain level, I wanted the scars to come sooner rather than later.
With another deep breath and a string of curses, I pushed off the dumpster and headed for the alley Dristan had dragged Sanjay into. Why did that woman have to taunt me with her kiss me smirk or her devil’s wife grey eyes? Never in my life had I been forced to interact with someone so damn nerve racking.
“How’s your woman doing?” Dristan asked with his back to me as he continued to break Sanjay’s body down to nothing more than a ball.
“Don’t call her that,” I snapped, bracing my body against the brick wall and stared out the alley opening.
Dristan sighed, putting all of his weight into snapping Sanjay’s lower leg against his thigh.
“Look, boss, we’ve been friends for a long time, and I get what you’re saying about relationships and whatever.” He wiped the sweat from his brow and straightened his back. “But you have to understand something when it comes to Luminous River,” he glanced over his shoulder at me. “Whether you want to admit it or not, you and that woman—no matter how much I can’t stand her—” he pointed out the alley. “That is your woman, and you’d do damn near anything to make sure she is safe.”
“Dristan,” I warned.
“Tell me I’m wrong and you can beat the living hell out of me. Look me in my eye and tell me I’m wrong, Demir Losett, I fucking dare you.”