Evigheden

by S King

  “Because Silver Angel, the world is changing and as orders are handed down and judgements are made, there really is no reason for three guards. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  “Silver and Gold are handled differently with their rules, visions, objectives, all of it are polar opposites.”

  He raised a brow for a moment before kicking up his chin and leveled his eyes on me.

  “Under the united guards, there would be different rules and standards set in place.” He said with finality.

  “If I’m so important why are you trying to kill me?”

  “Because your time—as most people’s do in these cases—has run out, my sweet angel.”

  The nicknames I had gotten from these judges’ tonight were something. It was obvious in Sooter’s face and now Holt’s too, they had had high hopes for me once upon a time, maybe they still did. Maybe there was more to the discretion hiding in their silence than I cared to admit.

  “Do you want to know why I’m not afraid of you right now?” He said, his voice breaking through my rambling thoughts.

  I shrugged an indifferent shoulder, counting back the minutes until this was over.

  “Because I had lived a beautiful life, however wrong it may have been.” He stared at the amber liquid in the glass. “I lived and that’s the point.”

  I remained silent, not wanting to interrupt his regretful thoughts. It was good he had lived his best life, because right now that life was coming an end.

  “Don’t you find it interesting?” He tilted his head toward me, narrowing his eye against the glow of the flames from the fireplace.

  “What’s that?”

  “Silver Guard had made you a warrior and expected you to be normal. It’s no different than throwing a bomb in a building and expecting it to erupt into confetti.”

  “Who allowed that to happen?” I said through gritted teeth.

  He smirked, ignoring the question as he finished off his drink. “It’s a paradox, isn’t it?”

  I frowned, trying to think where his mind was, “care to explain?”

  Setting down his glass, he looked into the flames housed in the hearth. “People complain about living but are too afraid to die.”

  I uncurled my whip and shrugged an idle shoulder, “it’s only human nature to be afraid of death. No matter what you’re made of or into.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” he agreed absentmindedly, “but I’m not normal, am I, Luminous River?” Judge Holt looked at me with a sad acceptance dancing in his eyes. “Will you allow me to pass down my final order?”

  I gave him a curt nod as he slowly stood up and walked in front of the flames. When the whip completed its mission, his head would fall into the fire and fill the air with the stench of burning flesh.

  “I hereby order you, Luminous River, to fulfill your duties and execute the black order against me, Judge Theo Holt. Allow me to say, it was an honor knowing you for all of these years.”

  “I wish I could say the same,” I breathed, “anything else you would like to add?”

  A sad smile lifted the corners of his mouth, “there is one other thing.”

  “What?” I was beginning to lose my patience with him and started feeling the rage from earlier consume me.

  “The courts knew—” he cleared his throat and looked away from me, “know who is behind the deaths of your senior members as well as those of Gold Guard as well.”

  “What?” I snapped and stared at him in disbelief. “Then why the fuck are you and the courts trying to pin the deaths on Demir and me?”

  Another sad smile came across his face. Instead of answering or giving me a straight answer. Judge Holt simply spread his arms with his back to the flames and nodded to my whip, “if you would be so kind to allow me to see what lies beyond the veil of death. I would be eternally grateful to you.”

  There was no point or purpose in arguing with him about finding the truth. The stubborn bastard was going to take the information to his grave and I was going to be the one to send him there.

  I narrowed my eyes on him and for the final time, said “Your wish is my command, Judge Holt.”

  Chapter 16 Fallen Woods

  I drove my sword through the chest cavity of the guard member before he was able to grab the gun under the beat-up Kia. Ever since Luminous and her friend left us, Dristan and I had found ourselves on the wrong end of the lucky stars.

  As soon as we stepped foot back into Gold territory, the hounds that were kept close to the black courts charged us. We were forced into a fight or flight mode. The problem now? Finding a way to get the hell out of dodge in one—somewhat—solid piece. How hard could it be?

  I pushed my hair out of the way in time to see three more guard members coming at me; rolling out of the way of an attack by a throwing star, I skidded behind a dumpster. If I had ever needed a gun, the time was now. My sword could only take so much damage and in this moment, I was pushing the limits on the metal.

  “Demir, you good?” Dristan shouted in an alley down the street from me.

  Unfortunately, I had dragged my best friend into my fight—literally and figuratively—and now he was going to be facing his own black order for defending me. Still, even with the dire circumstances, I was glad to have my best friend fighting beside me.

  “I’m fine!” I shouted back, looking between the guard members advancing on me.

  It was now or never; twisting out of the way, I ran up the side of the building and launched my body in the air. As I came down, I threw in a little twirl just for show; the sword decapitated all three of the men who had been sent to kill me.

  For a moment, I couldn’t do anything but simply sit on the cold cement and take in gulps of air. The nights were beginning to run together and thanks to the orders in place, Dristan and I had been fighting day and night against people trying to take our lives.

  I looked down at my body taking note of the oozing wounds on my legs, in my waist and along my arms. At least, I didn’t have any threatening injuries that would prevent me from fighting for my life…or Luminous’s.

  As I leaned against the dumpster and rested my head on the metal bin, I had to stop myself from going to sleep. Instead, I opted for remembering how one of the HG members was on the talkative side and thought he was going to throw me off my momentum.

  “Ey boys, look who I found!” He was on the uglier side of the handsome scale and had the breath to hint at just how ugly his insides were.

  “I wouldn’t worry too much about your friends,” I had quipped, adjusting my stance in the alley, ready for anything they were going to throw at me.

  The pompous idiot had the audacity to laugh, “once we finish you off, guess what? I’m gonna have fun with that sweet bitch of yours from Silver. She’s going to howl like a god damn werewolf before her death.”

  A round of laughter bounced off the brick siding, “let’s take turns Bub.” Someone from behind the jackass who was originally talking added with a fit of laughter mingling with his words.

  My rage ignited and I didn’t hear anything else as I charged forward with my sword leading the way.

  “Demir?” I snapped my attention away from the memory and focused on Dristan standing in front of me with a fresh pair of clothes while his body blocked out the early morning rays.

  I took the new wardrobe and ditched the bloody, torn threads that had carried me through the nights.

  “When did you have time to get new clothes?”

  He shrugged, raking his fingers through his hair and looked around. “When I was down by Norington’s.”

  I nodded, accepting the answer as suffice. As long as the threads weren’t off some dead guy I didn’t care. Quickly, I donned the new outfit before leaning on the dumpster again to relieve myself of some of the pain running through my body.

  “How long have we been doing this?”

  He sighed, leaning against a brick wall and stared out into the street. “Four days, I think?”

  I pushed m
yself from the dumpster, dressed in my new threads and sighed. Thanks to the bright morning sun, I had to squint to focus on our surroundings.

  “Anything on Luminous?”

  Dristan smirked after snorting in his throat and nodded as he let his sunglasses fall over his eyes. “Yeah, Judge Holt and Sooter were found slaughtered in their houses the other day and the courts are saying it was Luminous who cut the honorable judges down.”

  I rubbed a hand over my face as I put on my own sunglasses, “she’s trying to earn her order since they pushed the guards on us.”

  “You think so?”

  We walked down the sidewalk, appearing to be nothing more than two businessmen on their day off heading for breakfast.

  I nodded and kept my voice low, “it’s the only thing that makes sense, don’t you think?”

  “True,” he agreed and sighed, “Karina’s working on something.”

  “Like?”

  I scanned the faces of the people who passed us and was thankful I didn’t recognize anyone from any of the guards. Tonight there’d probably be another wave of jackasses trying to make a name for themselves and Dristan and I had to be ready for it.

  “I don’t know. Slade had run into her the night after the slip and slide the four of us were pulling and offered her help. But she said it was top secret and a direct order from Luminous to keep her mouth shut.”

  “Whatever she’s working on, I’m getting the feeling it has to do with Castlehedge’s nightlife as a whole and not just the guards.”

  “Is she really crazy enough to go against the black courts by herself?”

  My sunglasses slid down enough for him to see my eyes as I raised a brow at him, “have you met Luminous? Or even Karina?”

  At the mention of the other Silver guard woman, Dristan smiled, “yeah.”

  I stopped just shy of the coffee shop entrance and stared at him, “what?”

  “What what?”

  “Do you have something going on with Karina?”

  He scoffed, brushing past me to go into the small shop and got in line. “Me? Her?”

  When he shook his head, I knew I was missing something.

  “Dristan.”

  “Do you want blueberry or banana nut?” He asked as he contemplated the menu.

  “Dris.”

  “I’m thinking jalapeno pepper latte. Ooh no, what about the ghost pepper latte with the hot sauce doughnut.”

  “Dristan,” I hissed, punching his arm and stared at him.

  The line wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and I’ll admit I was acting like a teenager for wanting to know my best friend’s dirty secrets, but he opened the door. Besides after the last ninety-six hours, I needed something to fill my mind other than when the next attack was coming or where it was coming from.

  “What?”

  “Did you and Karina…”

  “What?”

  “Did you two,” I raised my brows at him, hoping he wasn’t going to make me start cursing in the early hours of a new day. I really didn’t feel like getting a speech from the little old ladies in front of us about my choice of words.

  He made a face, twisting his mouth to the side, “I mean—”

  “Get the fuck out of here,” I said a little too loudly. Sure enough, the three ladies spun around, holding their weight on their walkers and glared at us.

  “My brother has Coprolalia,” Dristan punched my arm and cleared his throat as he addressed the women.

  One of them, that resembled my grandmother, frowned and tilted her head, “is that like Tourette’s?”

  He nodded and smiled, “somewhat, yep. Sorry ladies.”

  The women took the explanation as suffice and turned back to their own conversation.

  “Coprolalia?” I asked, frowning at him.

  “Didn’t your mother ever teach you to watch your mouth in front of ladies?” He jabbed.

  I rolled my eyes and slapped his arm, “that’s not the point. You and Karina?”

  “At the ball,” he finally confirmed and shrugged at my shocked look. “What can I say, I like her body.”

  “Wow.”

  “What?”

  “And you judged me for feeling some type of way about Luminous?”

  “Hey,” he dropped his voice, “you two were designed for each other, ok? Karina and I? Totally different.”

  “Me.”

  “What?” He frowned and stared at me.

  “Karina and me,” I corrected him, looking over the menu above the counter.

  “Oh shut the fuck up,” Dristan barked, catching another round of squirrel eyed looks from the ladies in front of us. He mumbled an apology to them and ducked his head, as if he were a child in church.

  “Doesn’t feel so hot, does it?” I asked, smiling in triumph at my accomplished mission. Coprolalia, who’d ever heard of such a thing.

  Ten minutes later we were sitting across from each other in our usual booth nursing the hot coffee and shoving doughnuts in our faces like we’d been starving. In actuality, we had been denying ourselves of the basic nutrients we needed in order to survive.

  “I want steak,” Dristan announced, finishing off one of the three boxes of doughnut holes.

  The man could eat like his life depended on it and didn’t think anything about the scale. Of course, after years of being told what we could and couldn’t eat, who could blame him.

  I dusted my hands off, looking out the window, “that makes two of us. But right now,” I nodded to the two women that had preoccupied our minds since this shit show started. “We need to find out what’s going with their end.”

  Dristan—being Dristan—didn’t follow my line of sight and motioned to the two unopened boxes of doughnuts we hadn’t touched. “I’m still eating.”

  I had gotten up out of my seat, keeping track of Luminous and Karina out the window. For a quick second, I glared at him before I pushed the boxes into his hands and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, “come on.”

  We had gotten halfway to the entrance when he finally caught on and adjusted his jacket with the boxes of doughnuts.

  “Why didn’t you say so?”

  I rolled my eyes and pushed through the door, “keep it in your pants, Dristan.”

  “Says the one always thinking about Nine Lives.”

  “Shut up—Lysandra!”

  For the time being, the four of us could address each other with our code names and not have a fear about getting dead in the small distance that separated us.

  She looked over at me, with a touch of a smirk lifting the corner of her lips as she and Karina detoured from their destination.

  Dristan and I closed the distance with Dristan offering a box of doughnuts to Karina, “we took the liberty of getting breakfast for you two, considering all four of us are in this together.”

  Karina let her sunglasses fall to the tip of her nose as she looked between me and him, “what’d you put on it?”

  “Now that just fucking hurts, Karina.”

  “I rather have you hurt than me and my sister be dead.”

  A sincere smile took over my best friend’s face as he leaned down to be at her eye level, “if we wanted to kill you two, trust me, it would’ve been done by now. So, take the damn doughnuts,” he shoved the box in her hand before straightening and offering Luminous her own box.

  “Thank you, Dristan,” Luminous’s voice sounded hollow and exhausted. Rightfully so, considering the situation we had found ourselves in. Turning her attention to me, she lifted a brow, “what’re you two even doing out and about?”

  “Long story,” was all I offered, catching sight of two honor guard members down the street staring at us. “I need a shower, what about you Dristan?”

  “Huh?” Him and Karina had gotten lost in their own back and forth about something or another to the point he hadn’t even noticed what I was seeing.

  What in the actual hell was going on with the two of them? Sure, I knew about their tryst at the ball, but
I didn’t give the incident a second thought when it came to the after math. Apparently, I was missing more than I had realized.

  “Shower,” I prompted.

  He looked at me over the rim of his sunglasses before looking over Karina’s head at the punks debating whether or not they were going to make a scene in broad daylight. It would be unheard of but given the circumstances, I didn’t put it past the HG to do something stupid.

  “A shower sounds great, why don’t you two come to Demir’s place for some coffee with the doughnuts. He has a great latte machine.”

  If it weren’t for the situation at hand, I would’ve told him I no more had a latte machine than McDonalds had a working ice cream machine. Instead, I plastered on a fake smile and nodded in agreement.

  “Just know, I keep C4 and dynamite on stock, should either of you try anything stupid.” Karina whispered before winking at Dristan and looped her arm through Luminous’s, “lead the way, boys.”

  §§§§§

  Dristan, for whatever reason, had gotten the bright idea to keep Luminous and Karina in the living room for the entire day. Of course they weren’t going to stay at my house for just any reason; it wasn’t like we were high school students, or college students studying for finals and whatever happened in higher education. So, between the two of us, we explained to both women what the hell was going on from our end and promptly asked for their side of the story.

  When it was Silver’s turn to explain their side of the story, Karina was careful to not mention whatever orders Luminous had given her prior to Slade’s run-in.

  Somehow the two of them had been saved from the wrath of the Honor Guard but were facing the wrath of the remaining judges. Needless to say, the girls weren’t having any better luck with keeping their lives than Dristan and me.

  By the time the sun had set over the horizon and died for another day, Dristan and I had decided to start a fire. Luminous and Karina hadn’t objected and seemed to be enjoying themselves. Of course, Karina was busy filling Dristan’s ears with how to build an idiot proof bomb. Naturally, he was listening diligently and engrossed in the conversation at hand. But I wasn’t paying attention to them, instead, I was watching Luminous.