Evigheden

by S King

  Still, what did that make me if I was the one egging Luminous on with my own pursuit? I internally snorted at the hypocrisy and went back to thinking about my own consequences should I find myself on the receiving end for enticing Luminous, knowing she was already marked for someone else’s hand.

  She slowly pushed herself from the doorframe and crossed the floor to stand in front of me. “You are not from my guard and I am not from yours, correct?”

  I couldn’t stop the smirk lifting the corners of my mouth. She had no idea who I was, but she knew I wasn’t someone so familiar to her. Unless she remembered the kiss in the alley; if that were the case, she’d know it instantly.

  “That would be correct,” my voice was husky with lust and anticipation. After years of fighting with this woman in battles, I knew how her mind worked when it came to strategies and reasonings.

  Her hand touched my chest and slowly started an ascent to my neck, “the masks stay on.” She breathed.

  “Deal.”

  Fuck it. I yanked her to me and crushed my mouth on hers in a furious kiss that would make a porn star squeal with genuine happiness.

  Luminous met me head on, her short nails biting into the back of my neck as she pressed closer to me. It was no surprise to me she was one to leave a trace of her on me, even when we parted.

  I had gotten so caught up in the moment, I had forgotten about my special talent and removed my gloves. Thanks to my carnal instincts running through my blood, I unzipped her dress and strapless bra, touching her bare skin with the tips of my fingers. I was trying to be careful, I really was, but that brief contact sent up a movie screen in my mind and showed me just what I had been dreading since I started having feelings for her.

  Luminous’s wide eyes, standing still on a cliff. She looked down at her stomach before lifting her gaze to meet…mine. I didn’t look down to confirm what I already knew and didn’t make an attempt at apologizing for what was now her ending.

  “Why?” She rasped as tears slipped from her eyes involuntarily.

  “Because it is by the order of Onyx Elite, you Luminous River meet your end at the hands of Gold Guard.” My voice was flat, my tone nothing more than that of a meteorologist describing the weather.

  She shook her head, pain radiating outward as she stepped back, “Demir.”

  Her hand grabbed the open wound, trying to stop the blood. But the damage had been done; even the best of the best wouldn’t be able to fix her now. Still, knowing that, I felt my lips tick up in a smirk before I said.

  “Goodbye,” my foot shot out, kicking her over the side of the cliff to the waiting rocks below.

  I jerked away from Luminous as the forewarning started replaying in my mind. Squeezing my eyes shut for a second, I had to look around at my surroundings to confirm I wasn’t still on the cliff. With an internal sigh of relief leaving me, I realized I was back in the room while Luminous was staring at me.

  She looked as if she knew I was seeing something in my mind. As if she knew who I was. But neither of us said anything. Probably for the best considering what I now knew. Still, I didn’t move or saying anything to her.

  One wrong word would seal our fate with the Honor Guard and if the vision were anything to go off of, I was going to do everything in my power to protect her from my sword.

  “What’s wrong?” She finally asked, her voice full of hesitation.

  Shaking my head, I stepped away from her, “I have to go.”

  “What?”

  Holding a hand out to keep her away from me, I shook my head again, “I have to go. I’ll…I’ll find you later.” Not wanting to wait any longer, I spun and nearly ripped the door from its hinges as I bolted from the makeshift ballroom.

  I needed to get the fuck out of here and not look back. It was one thing to stab her, but what had pushed me to—literally—kick her off the edge of that cliff? Even on the worst days of my duties, I’d never kick anyone from a cliff. Especially not a woman.

  Bursting through the front door of the building I ripped the mask from my face and just started running. Dristan had done like next to everyone and rented a car for the night, but I couldn’t stay around here and wait for him. Nor was I going to try and find him in the mass of people and risk the possibility of running into Lumi again. God knew she’d find me and demand and explanation; hell, if I were her, I’d want the same thing.

  So, I ran. I ran through the snow-covered roads, careful to keep to the right side so the tire tracks would hide my footprints when the ball was over with. All the while trying to think of the reason why OE had revoked their stay on Luminous’s Diamond Order. To my knowledge they had allowed me time to figure out who the real person was behind the killings. They had given her time. So, why was I seeing myself killing Luminous in less than six months?

  I kept running through the night, ducking out of view as soon as I heard the rumble of engines or the crunch of tires on the packed snow-covered road.

  Unlike any other city in the US, Castlehedge didn’t believe in city snow removal or clearing the streets. After all, we were in the heart of the Colorado mountains and if you were stupid enough to not own a 4X4 then you deserved to be stranded. At least, that was the thinking of people who held city offices.

  It was times—and situations like Lumi’s—I hated my ability to see death before it came, more so now than ever. Luminous did nothing to die in that way and the worst part was I didn’t know how I was going to stop it from coming.

  Like life, it didn’t matter one way or the other if I tried to rage against the machine or fight the ending. In some fashion or another, the results were the same and time carried on.

  As that unforgiving reality settled in over me, bitter, hate filled tears stung the back of my eyes as the harsh wind bit at my skin and strained my lungs. There was no way I could possibly avoid the vision or the outcome. Not unless, I died first. Of course, the latter could come sooner rather than later.

  The bullet came fast almost too fast for me to track; my legs skidded out from under me as I dodged the fatal shot and rolled off to the side of the road. Of course, this would happen when I had nothing but my fists.

  Landing in a crouch, I found the idiot with the gun. “What’re you doing Jeffery? I thought you were upstate.”

  Jeffery Cardenas smiled at me like a feral cat. Disgraced BC judge and dishonored Gold Guard Senior; he had hated me for finding the evidence to send him on a first-class trip to Castlehedge’s hidden reformatory institution for the experiments gone wrong.

  “You forget I have a debt to repay you,” he circled me as I gained my footing and stood up to face him. This was not something I needed right now, but at the very least, it was a good distraction.

  “Are you still mad about your judgement?” I asked, keeping my eyes trained on the gun loosely gripped in his hand.

  Motioning to his face he jerked his head toward the direction of the hall I had just left.

  “Another ball for the elite and bastards huh?”

  “I’m sure that’s not what you’re here for. Had you just covered up that explosion sight you call a face you could’ve joined in on the fun.”

  He bared his teeth to emphasize his distraught state of mind and just solidified the feral look covering his already screwed up face. The scientists had really done a number on him as far as looks went. Granted, his parents had some part in that too, but still.

  A jagged scar going from his left temple, across his nose and down to his jaw burned red with irritation as if the thing were freshly healed. His right eye was slightly cocked while his left eye twitched every now and again. Add one being brown and the other an electric blue, he wasn’t a pretty sight to look at. His top lip had been permanently slashed open by some form of weapon and the cleft in his chin did little to hide the hole left from an arrow years ago.

  Standing at roughly six-foot-three he walked with a slight limp and always favored the right leg more than the left. Why I didn’t know and frankly, given the
situation I was in right now, I didn’t care. All I did know was, Jeffery Cardenas was a gnarly son of a bitch that had a bone to pick with everyone.

  “So, are we going to find out why you’re here or is this going to be a repeat performance?” I asked finally choosing an eye to focus in on.

  He raised the gun but kept his finger from the trigger, “you did this.”

  “I’ll admit that.”

  “So, now you’re going to fix this.”

  “I can’t fix ugly, Jeffery, try again.”

  I knew he wasn’t talking about his face and knew moreover this had nothing to do with him being ostracized for his misdeeds. No, this right now was thanks to his bloodlust for getting revenge. On me.

  Again, he bared his teeth like he wanted to rip my throat out for turning him over to the high courts. As I stared at him, a thought occurred to me.

  “You killed the three members of Gold and Silver, didn’t you?”

  A sick smile lifted his mouth for a moment, “I haven’t had time to visit either guard, if you must know. But I would be honored if it were me.”

  “Then what’re you trying to accomplish?”

  “You, in the ground. Pretty boys like you think the world is yours and you only have to do half of the work everyone else has to do.”

  “I beg to differ,” I said in a bored tone. Crossing my arms over my chest, I kept my eyes trained on the gun pointed at my head. “I have to do the same amount of work as everyone else, I just get it done faster and more efficiently.”

  “You stole my life!” He snapped.

  “How?”

  “For starters, I had a plan to put Gold above the courts. They were going to be the most feared and loved organization in both the night and daytime!”

  “That makes zero sense, all of us were created by the same deranged scientists that thought they could build a better race than the human race. They were the ones that locked us into the darkness of night, and they did that for a reason, Jeffery.”

  “Oh yeah? And what would that reason be Demir?”

  “We’re too dangerous to face the day and everything that comes with it.”

  “All the more reason to show them the truth. We weren’t created to stay hidden in the shadows. If that were the case, why bother?” He raised a brow at me and smiled psychotically, “the scientists know we can be weapons and civilized at the same time. Why? Because they know we are better.”

  I shook my head laughing under my breath as I looked at him, “you honestly think the esteemed judges, police departments, and lawyers would really be able to handle what we have to offer? Tell me something, Jeffery, you’re able to feel when someone is in distress right?”

  “So what?”

  “Do you really think you’d be able to walk down the street without losing your mind because of all the heartaches filling normal people’s minds? They go through more trials and tribulations than we can even imagine. What makes you think you, of all people, would be able to just walk past someone without helping them? You were created to help people, whether you like it or not.”

  “That’s not true!” He fired a warning shot toward my head, but I didn’t even flinch. The barrel and the trajectory of the bullet wouldn’t have hit me thanks to the light breeze in the air.

  I smirked, “is that so?”

  “I can do what you and your band of GG idiots can do on any day.”

  “I doubt that, if you could, you would’ve made the commanding member position before anyone in the guard. Instead, you got your ranking from helping people before Silver came along. You did that.”

  His eye twitched with irritation as he stared at me. Whether he wanted to admit to it, Jeffery was a good guy down to the core. He had just taken things too far and something in his mind snapped. Deciding to defy court orders when he was a judge and refusing to issue necessary Diamond and black orders led him to become the first—and only—judge and senior member to be exiled from his position. Couple that with his willingness to turn a blind eye to crimes being committed within the guards and on the streets, he was just as bad as any other criminal.

  Spreading my arms, I smirked, “if you want to really fight me, I won’t object to it.”

  “You’re not afraid,” he narrowed his eyes—as much as he could with the twitching eye component. “You’re upset about something.”

  “I’m not, trust me.” He was using his own abilities to read my emotional wall and right now, thanks to his stupid observation, I knew he was seeing my conflicting emotions toward a certain Silver guard member.

  A sickening smile covered his mouth, showing his crocked teeth, “you don’t like what you saw. You’re upset about someone’s impending death, am I right?”

  Clenching my teeth, I counted down the seconds before I would dive for the gun, “no.”

  “Always the liar, I see.” He cocked his head to the side, “maybe instead of biding my time with you…I’ll visit a certain female you have yet to bed.”

  “Contrary to popular belief, I’m not a whore, Jeffery. So, you would have one hell of a time figuring out that one. And even if you did,” I smiled, showing off my perfect teeth just to add another nail to his coffin. “You’re making the assumption this illusive female would be unable to defend herself against your rampage.”

  Being done with the back and forth, he allowed a battle cry to rip through his throat before he charged me. I was ready for his attack and met him halfway; threatening someone from either guard was one thing, but threatening—or at least implying—he was going to go after Luminous River? I was not going to allow that. Even if in the end I was going to be the one to kill her.

  I used that anger, hurt and downright distraught feeling to fuel my punches and kicks against the other man. This time I wouldn’t allow Jeffery to get the luxury of sitting in a cell with three meals and a snack. He messed up when he threatened Luminous and that was his own stupidity.

  Stepping out of his way, I landed a superman punch on the side of his head and smiled as he fell to the ground, coughing out blood. Apparently, the prison had weakened his ability to take a punch and withstand pain like he used to be able to. Still, that didn’t stop Jeffery from blindly grabbing a handful of snow and throwing it in my direction.

  “Really?” I asked, wiping the slush water from my face and grabbed his ankle before dragging his flailing body away from the road to the tree line. There was going to be a mess and if I could prevent the courts or the guards from finding the blood trail, all the better.

  “Let me go!” He snapped trying to grab for something to make the trip more complicated than it needed to be.

  “Why did you really come here, Jeffery?” Using my back, I lifted his body from the snow and threw him against the tree.

  A sickening thud floated in the air for a second before his coughing fit erupted the silence of the forest.

  “Hm? Was it because you got bored? Or were you thinking I’d lose some of my vigor when it came to fighting?” I cracked my knuckles, waiting for him to lash out again.

  Pushing himself up against the tree he shook his head, “I want you to feel the same thing I felt.”

  “In what way?”

  I was already calculating where I was going to bury him along with what I was going to eat when I got home. Maybe a bottle of tequila would satisfy my hunger long enough for me to go to sleep and forget this night.

  He wheezed and held his stomach, “you have everything and…you took everything away from me.”

  “We already covered this.”

  “You think the courts favor you because of your ability, but” he cleared his throat and took in a heavy breath. “They have bigger plans for you and that woman. So much bigger than you can imagine.”

  “Meaning what Jeffery?”

  Leveling me with a twitching stare he dropped a bomb I wasn’t ready to handle. “You two are meant to join the guards. All of that training? All of the honors and privileges you have?” He chuffed a laugh, “everything w
as already decided before you were even born. You’re not special and neither is she. Both of you are expected to lead Silver and Gold to take down HG.”

  “What?” I stepped back not wanting to believe what was coming from his mouth. Painfully slow, the pieces started falling together in their rightful places and the bile in my throat was becoming too much to handle as his next words sent me stumbling back in the tree behind me.

  “Luminous River was specifically conceived to be your wife, Demir. Her parents didn’t want another kid, they wanted the power,” he took in a hard breath and let his head roll to the side as he continued. “Onyx Elite have, with her marriage to you the power between the two guards and the backing of the courts will dismantle the HG.”

  I shook my head, not wanting to believe what he was saying. None of this was making any sense.

  “She isn’t going to marry that kid from her sect and if she so much as tries it the courts are going to have him killed. You are the only one she’s allowed to have as a husband because that’s what the courts and the scientists want.”

  “She’s nothing more than a pawn,” I breathed.

  “Exactly, once the guards are joined and you two take your rightful places as the most powerful people between the guards and courts.” He flashed that nauseating smile again, “she’ll be killed. There’s no saving her in the end.”

  Finally, a question that had been swimming in my mind had been answered. I was going to kill her because that was how the cards fell. Still, I tried to find a hole in his newsflash.

  “The courts will lose a valuable asset if they kill her.”

  “The courts created her!” He snapped and leaned toward me, “she means nothing to anyone around her. What part of that don’t you get? Haven’t you wondered how she was able to convince the courts to give Silver red and black orders? It wasn’t because she made a good argument or she’s capable. It’s because she is a weapon, specifically created to be one half of the ultimate couple.”