Strong arms enfold me in their embrace, only I push him away. “Why would you do that to me?” I ask, not understanding this.
“I was trying to make a point.”
“A point? You wanted me to see your slain sister, because that’s who it was, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, but the point wasn’t to see her, Serena. You asked about whether I would rather feel if I never had a family. I wanted you to understand how I felt and what Charity’s family never had to feel.”
While I understand part of his logic, he still misses my point. Wiping my face, because tears still drip, I say, “I’ll concede to part of your logic, but the other part, no. Their memories of the joy they had of her are gone, too. And those are priceless. Think of the times you shared with your brother and sister. How would you feel if someone stripped those memories away from you? The bonds of love wouldn’t be there. I wish I had a family who cared for me as you did. And even so, I wouldn’t want to lose my memories of them.”
He’s silent at first as he mulls over what I’ve said. His lids shutter closed and I sense his personal struggles. “It cannot be any other way. If we allow them to remember, too many questions would be raised and investigations would ensue. That would endanger entirely too many people. Our way allows for minimal risk. I do understand your point, but Serena, it is the only acceptable way.”
With the way he explains things, I fully understand it. He’s right. If memories weren’t wiped out, there would be countless unanswered questions, people seeking solutions to things they could never solve, and more of them would die in the process.
“I would hate to have your job,” I tell him.
“But you are caught up in this as much as I am.”
“Oh, no. I don’t have to risk my life. I don’t have to wipe out memories. You have an awful job, Sabin.”
He shrugs. “I wish it were easier, but perhaps some day it will be unnecessary.”
We’re still on the bed with me sitting halfway on his lap and I say, “I never did get the chance to say this, but I am extremely sorry for you and what you experienced when your family was killed. I hope someday you find who did this terrible thing.”
He nods in response, but his eyes convey more than words.
If I could get my hands around Ali’yah’s neck, I would strangle that bitch for what she did to Serena. The fact that she broke through my security is one thing, but to threaten my claim and make false statements about our relationship as if it is still ongoing, that is something else. She will pay for this if I have to use every last resource I own to see to it.
I knew Serena would face danger here, but not on my goddamn property. She should be safer here than anywhere, and now I have to enlist a guardian for her. And then Rafe gives me more bad news.
“The Council has refused to banish Ali’yah.”
The glass I’m holding breaks into pieces.
“Damn, Sabin. Have a care, will you?” I hadn’t noticed I was bleeding. He walks to the wall, taps the panel, and calls for a MSI. A mobile unit shows up almost immediately to take care of it.
“What the bloody hell is wrong with those idiots? It’s almost like they want to see us destroyed.”
“She’s one of them. That’s why they won’t banish her, not to mention they’re pissed at you for the shit you pulled on exercising your birthright,” Rafe reminds me.
I drum my fingers on the desk. “We have a bigger problem now. We have to get Serena out of here because with Ali’yah still around, she’s in mortal danger. Even with a guardian, Ali’yah will find a way to get to her. I don’t trust anything here, Rafe.”
Rafe paces. “What about Judgment Day?”
“We need more men, dammit.”
“Sabin, we can’t lose sight of that.”
I spin and face him, with temper flaring. “Don’t tell me about my job!”
Rafe’s hands go up in the air. “I’m not. I’m just pointing out that for the last day, we haven’t even talked finding it, and when we don’t, it gets further and further out of our reach.”
“It’s not like I haven’t had other things to deal with,” I counter.
“Not saying you haven’t. But the fact remains, our first duty is to locate it. We need to focus on that.”
I swore I would rein in my emotions, but with his last word, my hand sweeps the items on the top of my desk into the air. They fly in several directions. Rafe, who is used to my uncontrolled outbursts, ducks.
“Goddammit, I am trying to focus on things. Serena is in danger, Ali’yah gained entry here, which she shouldn’t have been able to, the Council doesn’t see fit to banish her, and Judgment Day is who the hell knows where? It’s not like my plate isn’t running over! If you have any brilliant ideas in that mind of yours, speak!”
Rafe cocks his head, and stares for a few long seconds. “The League.”
My brows arch and I’m fairly sure they extend pretty damn close to my hairline. “Are you fucking kidding me? They’re the ones who keep refusing to give us more men!”
As if on cue, Graylyn enters and says, “I’m sorry to disturb you, L’han, but there is a summons from The League.”
Rafe and I share a glance. What the fuck. Are they horning in on our conversations now?
“Graylyn, tell them I request their presence here.”
“L’han?” she asks, shocked.
“Just do it,” I growl.”
“Yes, L’han,” Graylyn answers as she scurries out.
“Get The Seven,” I tell Rafe. He’s on Graylyn’s heels. What a shit day it is.
The Seven arrive a few minutes later, grumbling among themselves. They hate the League almost as much as they hate the Council, and I can’t blame them.
“Be prepared, men. They should be here soon, and they won’t be happy we didn’t go to them. I’d rather fight them on our turf.”
Edge speaks out. “It shouldn’t have to be a fight every time we encounter them.”
“Truth. But we deal with what we have to.” The words barely leave my lips as the door opens with Graylyn announcing their presence.
The League consists of thirteen members—ten men and three women. They all come from sovereign houses with military backgrounds. As expected, their greeting is cold.
The leader, Zatere, opens the conversation. “Sabin, it is with displeasure we find ourselves here.”
“And why is that, Zatere?”
“You have caused a great uproar among the Council.”
The Seven laugh. “Is that so? What have they told you?”
“You have violated their edicts and claimed a human without their approval.”
As usual, they distort the truth. “That is an incomplete truth. I have exercised my birthright and claimed who I wish to claim. Did they bother to explain that?”
Zatere’s brows knit together. Clearly, the Council didn’t explain a thing.
“The Council claims you have ignored their requests as well.”
“Zatere, let me explain.” And I do, but add in my request for the banishment of Ali’yah.
“What you tell me is the truth?” he asks.
“The absolute truth.”
There are murmurs from the League members.
I decide to take my chance and go for it. “Zatere, we need more men.”
Zatere whips around and gives me a stone-faced look that says he is unwilling to hear this. “We’ve been over this a dozen times.”
“I’m not talking about in the field. I need men here to help with relaying information to us while we’re in the field. And I’ll need men to guard Paradox as soon as the vault is completed.”
He is silent. I use it as my opportunity to sell my position. “Zatere, you know me and you knew my father before me. You knew him to be honorable and trustworthy. Have I ever given you reason to doubt The Seven or me? I know we have erred at times, but the Shaurok are not the easiest to track, nor is the Mastermind. We are getting ready to go into his turf. We need assistance o
n this end and we need it with those we can put our trust and faith in. And it’s not the Council. None of us trust any of them. I won’t tell you how to feel, but be wary. If they are trying to protect Ali’yah, there has to be a reason for it.”
Zatere shakes his head. “Sabin, can it be that they deem her unworthy of you?”
“Perhaps. Perhaps not. Either way, Ali’yah had no business breaking through my security and onto my property. That is a punishable offense alone. And since Serena is my claim, that is also punishable. She nearly killed her.”
The League nods in agreement. Alisha, one of the females speaks out. “He is correct, Zatere. The Council allowed Ali’yah to break our laws and is now defending her. That cannot be permitted to stand.”
Again, they mumble. Then Zatere announces, “We shall speak to the Council. Exactly how many men do you need, Sabin?”
“At least ten. Six for security at all times so we have a rotation of two in shifts around the clock, and four to man our sec center here. And I want final approval and vetting.”
“As if I didn’t know,” Zatere says sarcastically.
“Strong military background, with operations experience.”
“Anything else, your highness?”
That gets a chuckle out of me, but only briefly. “Zatere, we have an issue here. Something is going on in the Council and I suspect it goes back to my family’s murder.”
“I agree. We will call the Council to order and see how they answer these claims. Would you like to be present?”
“No. I think they will be more likely to blur the truth if I’m not there. Make sure you bring in outside witnesses. It may get ugly. And remember to trust no one there. The League and The Seven were formed after the death of my family. It was done specifically to protect and guard Paradox and Judgment Day. Do not forget that.”
The League departs.
“What do you think?” Edge asks.
I scrape my hands through my hair. “I don’t know. I’m not sure who we can trust anymore. I know Zatere is safe and Alisha is on our side, too. But the rest … I couldn’t guess if I had to.”
Helios asks, “So, what’s our plan? Do we hunt the Mastermind?”
I don’t know a lot of things, but I do know one. “I want to get Serena out of here. She’s guarded now, but she’s not safe. There is too much shit being thrown at her and sooner or later something’s going to stick.”
“Earth?” Helios asks.
“Got any better ideas?” I ask. My body feels like it’s so tightly wound, I’m not sure how long I’ll last like this.
“Yeah,” Helios says, “a good fighting match.”
“No time right now. Verus, logistics.”
“We have several options. Denver, Beaufort, Atlanta, New York, San Francisco, or we could do the off the beaten path thing.”
“Don’t give me all that bullshit. I want to know the safest place for her. Nothing more, nothing less,” I bite out.
He’s quick to reply, “Off the beaten path.”
“An island then. Make it somewhere warm, where she can visit her underwater friends. Way off the beaten path, Verus.”
“Understood, boss.”
Flashing him a blistering look, I say, “Stop calling me that. I have a name. Use it for fuck’s sake.”
He nods, and practically sprints out of the room. I glance at Edge and he appears as though he has something that’s dying to burst out of his mouth. “What?” I snap.
“Can we tell her?”
“Jesus, you’re like a fucking animal waiting for a treat. No, you cannot tell her. Let’s wait and see if Verus can find a damn place first.”
Drey stands against the wall. I motion to him with my head. When he gets in front of me I say, “You’re staying behind for the time being. I want you to train the men Zatere finds for us. I need them competent in the sec center before we leave them on their own. And I mean competent enough to guide us into the Mastermind’s headquarters. It’s a huge undertaking. You comfortable with that?”
“Of course,” he huffs.
“Don’t fucking get pissy with me. I need the best, Drey. I’m not trying to offend you. Pull your damn panties out of your ass for a minute. We have a critical situation here. If we don’t get this right, we could be sitting ducks out there. If you don’t want to do this, speak up now.”
“No, sir, I’ve got it.”
That’s better. I’m tired of all this girly-assed behavior. “Good. I need you in the sec center to check things out to see if anything needs to be changed in order to accommodate the new arrivals.”
“On it,” he says as he marches out of the room.
Rafe’s back is to me. “Rafe? Thoughts?”
“We need a solid strategy for locating and invading the Mastermind’s territory.”
“Truth, but I want surveillance first. When Verus gets done with finding our next headquarters, I want him to send out an explorer.”
“I can do that, Sabin,” Edge offers.
Edge does have experience in MSI explorers. Maybe he can handle this. “Do you think you can get one in undetected?”
Edge’s eyes dance and sparkle. When he acts like this, asking about his proficiency is a waste of time. “I once got an explorer into the academic institution and hijacked all the exams. It went undetected for two months before any of the instructors found it. I was only ten years old at the time. This will be elementary for me.”
“Wait. Repeat that for me.”
Edge laughs. “Yeah, I hijacked the exams for all the upper level students so they didn’t have to study.” Then he grins. “They did compensate me for it.”
“You’re the one?” I heard about this when I was at the academy at the time. I was older, but a couple of years below the class whose exams were hijacked. It was the talk of the academy for ages.
“Uh huh.” He beams. “My ass was in deep shit over it when they found out. I had to confess because if I didn’t, the entire upper level class would’ve been held back. I was interrogated for weeks when they figured out I was the one who did it. They had to redesign their security on the complink. It took them a while before I couldn’t break their cryptic codes. I never told them that I eventually was able to get back in. But I never hijacked another exam. It wasn’t worth all the bullshit. I’m damn sure I can do this, Sabin.”
I process all this about him. “Why did I not ever know this? All this time I thought Verus was the tech expert.”
“I thought you did. And Verus is. My forte is breaking into shit. Encryption is me.” He grins like a twelve-year-old who just heisted a handful of cookies from his mother’s cookie jar.
Maybe it’s Edge’s immaturity level that sidetracks me all the time, but I’ll have to tap into this side of his expertise from now on. “Okay, you’re on. Design something that can find the Mastermind and get us in there to figure out what’s going on. See if it can find out whether they even have Judgment Day. It may save us a trip.”
“On it, sir.” He hustles out of the room as I chuckle to myself.
“Who knew?” Rafe comments.
“We need to keep an eye on him. If we tap into his mind more often and make sure he stays focused, he’ll turn into a fine operative that we won’t have to continually worry about,” I respond.
“Agreed.”
“Rafe, team him up with Verus. Let Verus show him some stuff. Maybe we can end up with two tech experts. You never know.”
“What do you think the League is going to come back with?”
“I don’t care. We still have a job to do. As long as they bring us extra men, that’s all I care about. We’ve been at battle with the Council from the start. This won’t make much of a difference.”
“But, Sabin, there’s something wicked going on there.”
“There always has been.”
We share a look and Rafe knows. He asks, “You think it’s Ali’yah, don’t you?”
“I think she has something to do with it, but she’s
not smart enough to act on her own.”
“Then who?”
“That I can’t answer. It kills me because my family had no enemies that I am aware of.” I walk to the window and glance out to see Serena sitting by the pool. What the hell! She’s wearing a bikini that barely covers her intimate parts. My cock surges to life and tries to force its way out of my pants. Shit. Rafe is talking and I have no idea what he’s saying because all I can think of is ripping that top off her and taking her nipples into my mouth and …
“Sabin? Did you hear what I said?”
My arms stretch out across the windows and I lean against them, fantasizing about the woman I’m eye fucking. Swallowing my desire, I clear the knot out of my throat and say, “Uh, what?”
“What the fuck is wrong with you? I’ve been yapping my fool head off at you for minutes and you haven’t heard a word.”
He walks up behind me, takes a look at the scenery, and says, “Get the hell out of here. Your concentration turns to shit when you look at her. You’re worthless, you know it?” Then he stomps out of the room. I hear a deep chuckle and I spin around to see Helios leaning in the corner. I forgot all about him.
“I was waiting to see if you wanted to spar, but I can see you have a different kind of sparring on your mind.” His head dips down and then back up. I follow it and realize what he means. The outline of my erection is clearly visible in my pants.
Then his smartass mouth says, “I think you’ll be working off those frustrations through other means.”
Before I can think of a clever reply, he’s gone. In several long strides, I’m through the door and by Serena’s side. “Come with me.” My tone is harsh.
“What’s wrong?”
“Come.” Her bright green eyes cloud with confusion, but she rises from the chaise. My fingers shackle her wrist and practically drag her up the stone staircase that leads to my quarters.
“Dang, can you slow down a bit?” she huffs.
I pay her no attention. When we get inside, I kick the door closed, and face her. I fight for breath as I absorb the sight of her. Her breasts are barely covered by two miniscule triangles of flimsy cloth. Nipples are visible as they almost punch their way past the fabric. What is she thinking wearing this? My finger twists the string between her breasts and it snaps.
Sabin, A Seven Novel Page 20