by S King
Sure enough, as I headed toward the general direction of GG territory, Greenaway sent me Svenia’s location thanks to the help of the black courts. Unsurprisingly, she was straddling the edge of Silver and Gold turf; probably knowing what she had done was beyond sound reason.
Like Demir, Svenia and I had had our fallouts. Granted, ninety-nine percent of the time those fallouts resulted in Demir having to pull Svenia back in on her leash and me having to pull Karina away from her bag of explosives. But tonight, neither Demir nor anyone from Gold Guard was going to save Svenia.
I kept my mind away from thoughts about Inessa and my fight tonight, not wanting to add any more gasoline to an already out of control inferno as I kept my eyes trained on the road in front of me.
Twenty minutes later, I was stepping out of the shadows to face Svenia standing just outside the HQ territory of her respective guard.
“I had figured you would come for me.” She said, staring down at the lit end of her cigarette, not bothering to face me like a woman.
“Why wouldn’t I? You killed my sister in cold blood.”
She scoffed, glancing at me over her shoulder and smirked, “I did. There’s no use in denying it.”
My whip cracked through the air as it wrapped around her lean body in four neat rows before I jerked the thing—and her—back into Silver territory.
The leather uncurled from her, leaving slashes across her leather outfit from the razor wire embedded in the rope. On her knees, she bowed her head and stayed silent.
“Why’d you do it?” I asked, needing to find some closure to give to my parents.
An idle shrug of her shoulders told me she wasn’t sorry. She knew what was coming to her and she knew she was going to die tonight, so why bother answering my questions?
“You have nothing to say to me?”
Finally, she looked up at me as a sad smile covered her lips, “whatever I say isn’t going to bring her back is it?”
My nerves became steel rods as I tightened the grip on my whip.
“Can I ask you something stupid right now?”
“What?”
She wiped her nose and laughed under her breath, “tell my guard to bury me in my favorite colors, will you?”
I couldn’t form the words to give her a response, instead I simply nodded. I was about to let the whip fly when a thought occurred to me.
“Do you regret it?”
She let out a subtle snort and stared at the ground for a second. When she looked up at me, an apologetic glint lit up her washed-out gold eyes. “Not one damn second, and you would be wise not to regret anything you do either, Luminous.”
I took in her words, allowing my whip to fly in the wind and crack through the air. In the same fashion that brought her to her knees, the whip wrapped its leather braids around her throat. With a quick tug of my wrist, Svenia Lovanna, elite member of Gold Guard was no more. Her head rolled from her shoulders and bounced on the snow-covered ground. Having nothing to hold onto, my whip fell on the other side of the forgotten body and waited for me to pull in its length.
It was done. I had exacted my revenge on Svenia for killing my sister, but why wasn’t I happy? Some people never got the opportunity to avenge their loved one’s deaths. They didn’t get to see the old saying an eye for an eye come to pass. In reality, I should’ve been dancing on Svenia’s grave. But for the life of me, I couldn’t bring myself to feel at ease for what had been done.
I took a deep breath and sent a quick text to Greenaway to send out the dogs for clean-up duty. Maybe I would find some form of peace before the sun rose over the horizon. However, after the night’s events, I wasn’t banking on it.
Chapter 14 Tides Turn, Enemies Become Allies
I couldn’t stand the look of utter loss and despair covering Luminous’s face as she stood over Svenia’s body. Inessa’s death was never supposed to happen; the order was meant for a woman with the same name that walked around during the day light hours. She was a horrid person.
Killing animals at first and then going for kids and steadily making her way up the food chain. The final straw for the courts was when Inessa River started executing people in the dead of night because she wanted to. There was nothing to warrant the deaths, let alone rhyme or reason behind the senseless killings. Of course, she’d left nothing behind for Castlehedge’s finest other than a smiley face in the bodies of her victims. In comparison, she was the evil doppelganger of Luminous’s sister.
I had tried to stop Svenia from executing the order and tried to get to her location in time, but I wasn’t fast enough. I hadn’t made it in time to—at the very least—warn the good Inessa River what was coming down the tailpipe for her.
Now, here I was leaning against the brick wall of the alley, looking at Lumi staring down at Svenia’s body. She didn’t want to kill a member of my guard. That much I knew, but the question at the forefront of my mind was, why? In all of the years she and I had played this cat and mouse game, I’d never seen Lumi look like this.
“Demir?”
Glancing at Dristan over my shoulder, I returned my attention to Luminous.
“What is it, Dristan?”
“Well, first of all, why are you staring at her like a caged cat?”
“I’m not.” I was. Admittedly, I was watching Lumi because I found her irresistible and I wanted to be there for her when she finally allowed herself to grieve. Although, I’d never tell my best friend the truth on the subject.
“Yeah, ok. Listen,” he came to stand beside me and took a deep breath. “The courts have handed down their orders.”
My head snapped around to stare at him in the shadows we were hidden under. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“It means, boss, I have to execute her Diamond Order. The black courts issued out their final warning earlier tonight and—”
Moving faster than he could track, my blade was pressed to his throat as I lowered my voice, I warned him.
“You so much as think about touching a hair on her head and the only thing you’ll be handling is picking your brains from the gutters. Do I make myself clear?”
His eyes narrowed, “I understand you feel some type of way about her, but you’re not listening to me. BC has ordered her Diamond Order to be executed; the lack of evidence to prove her innocence or even her lack of involvement has not been fulfilled. Their patience have run thin and you standing here not gathering her evidence is almost like spitting in their faces.”
“I’m warning you Dristan. Don’t you fucking dare.”
He shoved me hard, not even flinching at the scrape of my sword. “You’re losing your shit over a dead woman. Do you not understand that?” He pointed to Luminous still standing over Svenia’s corpse. “She is dead, how much clearer can I make it until you understand? The entire Gold Guard is after her now and if something isn’t done, the honor guard is going to be after her. Wife or not, she’s dead, Demir.”
I didn’t give myself time to think about what was going on or what I was doing, my sword sliced through the air toward Dristan’s throat.
He knew what was coming for him and ducked out of the way, pulling his own sword to defend himself. My rib slammed into the metal siding of the dumpster, shooting pain radiated through my body as I kicked out my leg to knock my friend off balance.
“Demir,” he warned, jumping the swinging leg and grabbed the wall to balance himself. “I don’t want to have to hurt you,” he swung his sword toward my thigh after haphazardly missing the tip of my own sword from puncturing his bicep.
I ran up the side of the wall, coming down to kick him in the chest as his back slammed into the back of the alley. When he slid against the brick, I stood over him with my sword aimed directly over his heart.
“I will handle the courts, if you or anyone else gets the bright idea to go after her in anyway, I will see to it that your blood runs in the street.”
He scoffed and glared at me, “why don’t you just leave the gu
ard?”
A sick smile covered my face, “even if I leave.” I leaned down to stare in my friend’s eyes, “I will leave a trail of blood in my wake and I promise you, I won’t regret a damn thing when I do.”
Dristan dropped his sword, wordlessly admitting defeat and raised his hand as he turned his head to look at Luminous. “I hope she’s worth losing your life over.”
For one reason or another, his words struck a chord and forced me to pull back so he could stand up. I knew the risks I was taking in protecting Luminous over following a simple Diamond Order. I knew I was fighting a lost cause, but at the same time something in my blackened heart told me she did not do this. She was not the one to kill GG senior members. There was no way in hell she was the one. Maybe I was being a hero to a lost cause, but Luminous River was my lost cause, and I was going to save her by any means necessary.
Not wanting to admit the obvious, I stayed silent as Dristan picked up his sword from the ground and stormed from the alley with nothing further. In a way, I was trying to buy time for not only Luminous, but myself.
Taking a hard breath, I raked my fingers through my hair and pushed the locks away from my face as I leaned against the brick and went back to watching Luminous. Dristan’s words rang in my head like bombs going off.
She’s dead.
Over and over two simple words wreaked havoc in my mind.
Lumi called her cleanup crew and turned on her heels to leave when she stopped. I stiffened, staying still in my alley and stared at her. Slowly, she turned and stared in my direction; almost like she knew someone was watching her. She narrowed her damning eyes and tilted her head to the side. What was she doing? Better yet, what was she thinking about right now?
“When are you going to come out, Demir?” Her voice was hollow and didn’t fit her pretty face, but she had caught me.
I took a deep breath and met her halfway in the middle of the street. “Do you feel better?”
“About what?”
Nodding to Svenia’s corpse, I stared into her eyes, “you got what a lot of people never get.”
“Is it supposed to make me feel better?”
“Yes?”
She smirked and nodded, rocking back on her heels, “right. Tell me something, Demir, where were you when your guard member was murdering my sister?”
I knew the knife was going to cut deep; knew it was going to hurt. But I never knew how painful it would be to look someone in the eye and say that stupid five letter word that meant nothing in a situation like this one.
“I was trying to stop her.”
“You did a shit worth job doing that.”
“I’m aware, and I’m sorry.”
A bitter laugh left her as she sniffled and pushed back her hair, “is this the part where you tell me you love me?”
“No,” I smirked, knowing she needed some type of a relief from the pain coursing through her veins. “This is the part where you let that whip fly and you try to kill me.”
She snorted, tilting her head to the side, “are you seriously offering me a fight right now?”
“If you want a fight, I’ll keep you company.”
Her eyes narrowed as the grip on her whip remained steady, “whose turn is it to go first?”
I cracked my neck, pulling my sword from the case, “ladies first.”
The whip shot out, catching the early rays of the sun as it kissed the horizon and sent a flash of light through the alley. Both of us jerked our heads to the east, watching the fire orange push away the darkness.
Glancing behind Luminous, I saw Svenia’s body had already been removed from the crime scene and nothing was left to indicate someone lost their life while Castlehedge slept away another night.
Turning my attention back to Luminous, I smirked, “I’m sure we’ll pick this up again.”
“Naturally,” she agreed and calmly walked away from me with her whip wrapped in a tight bunch. She was going to go home for the morning, but I didn’t get the luxury of following her, just to make sure she was really ok.
With a fleeting look in her direction, I sheathed my sword and ducked into the alleys. It didn’t matter if the sun was rising or everyone in the guards would be heading in for some much-needed sleep. I had to still address the courts about their overzealous attempt at taking Luminous’s head. Along with finding out what their plan was for my own head.
Rubbing my neck, I slipped past the light patches in the street and lowered myself into the tunnel that would lead me to the depths of the black courts.
“Enter Demir Losett,” Judge Holt’s voice boomed through the stone tunnel before I could even get halfway to the door.
I stared at the low ceiling, choosing my words wisely before I pushed through the steel door. To my surprise, the chamber was lit with the early morning sun. Of course, the judges were in their designated seats and didn’t appear to be lacking any sleep. But even with the most powerful people in the room staring down at me, my temper began to rise as the memories of Dristan’s words came crashing into my mind.
“What is it that has brought you here, Mr. Losett?” Judge Holt raised a bushy brow at me and looked over his glasses.
I cleared my throat and took a deep breath, “I’m here to inquire about the Diamond Order placed on sect leader, Luminous River.”
“Oh?” Judge Sadvidge smirked in a knowing fashion as she narrowed her eyes.
“And why should you be surprised, sect leader?” Judge Sooter crossed her robe covered arms and leaned back in her chair.
“Because the last time I checked, there was still a month left on her stay.” I didn’t mean to snap. Really, I didn’t. Yet and still, they were taking things to the extreme.
Judge Holt snorted as he tilted his head to the side, “you are aware we have the power to revoke stays when we see fit, correct?”
“Yes.”
Judge Sooter narrowed her pretty eyes on me, “I know you’re having some regrets about Miss. Lovanna, sect leader.”
“Is that so?” I challenged.
“Am I wrong to assume that?”
“Horribly so.”
“Then tell the courts, Mr. Losett, what is that runs through that handsome mind of yours?”
She was challenging me by a way of admission to something I didn’t want to admit to. Not to myself. Not to Dristan. And definitely not to the courts.
“What basis do I have to tell you?” I was playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the very court that had issued a Diamond Order on myself.
A sinister smiled lifted the corners of her mouth as if she could read my mind. Then again, considering we all were created by the same group of psychotic scientists, it wouldn’t surprise me if she could read my mind. After all, Dristan was able to see into my mind just by looking in my eyes.
“I will take a gander,” Judge Sooter continued, “the name begins with an L and ends with an S. The last name starts with an R and subsequently ends with the same letter. Am I correct?”
I was beginning to sweat as my mind quickly put the pieces together of where the conversation was going. I needed to salvage the situation because right now I was a pig on the table ready to be eaten by the judges sitting in front of me.
Sounding as indifferent as I could, I said, “I’m going to need a little more than that, your honor.”
Her eyes narrowed for a moment in irritation before her calm demeanor returned. “Luminous River, sect leader of squadron eight, Silver Guard. Sounding familiar?”
“Yes.” I said through clenched teeth.
“Since you have been defiant in finding evidence to prove her innocence as well as questioning the authority of the courts. It is by the order of Onyx Elite, I hereby order you, Demir Losett, to execute the Diamond Order on Luminous River, sect leader of squadron eight, of Silver Guard.”
My heart stalled in beating while my lungs stopped functioning altogether. I had come here in the hopes of defending Luminous and now thanks to my cocky, oversized ego I h
ad just allowed the courts to transfer the execution order from Dristan to…myself.
“If that’ll be all, Mr. Losett,” Judge Sadvidge nodded to the door behind me with a satisfied smile covering her ridiculously smooth face.
“If I refuse?” I was already headed down a dangerous path as it were, might as well add insult to injury.
“Insolence!” Judge Holt slammed his fist on the stand and shot out of his chair, “you have been given chance after futile chance to prove her innocence and what have you done with it?” He pointed an accusatory finger at me, “nothing. You will be wise to execute the Diamond Order assigned to you without question or you will face the gallows of the courts.”
Narrowing my eyes, I kicked up my chin in defiance, “the courts are seriously trying to make me execute a Diamond Order on the very woman that was specifically created to be my wife?”
Silence filled the room as I dropped the ultimate checkmate on the honorable judges. A pin could have dropped on the marble floor and it would have sounded like a bomb going off. Was I out of line? Yes. Should I have thought better of showing out in front of the judges? Undeniably. Was I sorry for the fight I had started? Absolutely not.
“You are aware of the circumstances surrounding her existence?” A judge who had remained silent during every visit I made was looking at me curiously.
“We’re supposed to join Gold and Silver, right?” When none of the notable judges answered, I pushed onward. “How is that supposed to happen when you expect me to kill the most prominent member of Silver Guard? Not only that, but you expect me to kill someone who was wrongly accused and was designed to be mine.”
If any of the judges still wielded their weapons of choice, I would’ve been dead in two seconds flat judging from their irritated and outraged looks. Still, none of them said anything, giving me the perfect opportunity to continue.
“I respect the court’s decision to make their judgements. However, I will not respect or accept a Diamond Order on an innocent person,” I took a deep breath and didn’t realize what I was saying until it was too late. “Or my wife.”