by Lola StVil
“It might not. It may only weaken them.”
“Cobalt is genocide in powdered form. It has been outlawed for a reason,” I bark.
“We added other herbs to minimize the effect on the others, I told you that.”
“Cobalt links them all together. You kill Malakaro and you kill them all. I am not willing to take that chance.”
“Well, I am!”
“Hunter, what the hell is wrong with you?”
“WE ARE BEING HUNTED!”
“We can’t allow Malakaro to make us lose touch with our soul nor our sense of right and wrong. We won’t kill off an entire race of beings! Pryor and the others are your friends. You took Key to the ball, for goodness’ sake!”
“Yes, they are friends of mine. And Omnis help me, I love them, but the fact is, I didn’t realize just how dangerous Pryor’s brother was until he stood across the room and forced me to bash my own head in! Bex, he massacred a room full of Paras with a thought! Just one single thought!”
“So now you’re willing to kill Pryor and her whole team?”
“Bex, we are at war with the Noru.”
“No, we are at war with Malakaro. No one else.”
“Why are you so naïve? Just because Pryor and her team are kind and amiable today doesn’t mean that they will always be this way. Even if they are good for the rest of their lives, what’s to say that their children won’t be evil or their children’s children?”
“I want Malakaro dead just as much as you. And I am willing to do what it takes, but not this. I will not do this,” I vow.
“You don’t want to do this because of Pryor, and that makes you a bad Kon. It makes you weak and foolish.”
“I am not going to let you murder innocent Noru!”
“The Paras at the ball were innocent too, Bex! Who’s going to stand up for them?”
“I am!”
“How can you when you’re thinking with the wrong head?”
“Watch how you speak to me!” I warn.
“Bex, our kind is getting slaughtered every day. If we don’t do something drastic, we will be wiped off the planet. And once that happens, the beings that we were supposed to be protecting, the humans, they too will face extinction. Look, I don’t want to hurt Pryor or anyone else on the team. But this is no longer about what I want. It’s about what needs to happen. We need to kill Malakaro by any means necessary.”
“We have to find another way. We can’t do this.”
“Argh! Bex, you need to start thinking like a Kon and not like a lovesick puppy who followed the First Noru home.”
“This has nothing to do with my feelings for Pryor!”
“EVERYTHING HAS TO DO WITH YOUR FEELINGS FOR PRYOR!”
“I don’t give a damn what your thoughts are on this issue. The Freedom Project is over. You are to disband any and all Healers. No one is permitted to work on the Void capsule. You will destroy any existing samples.”
“You can’t do this! We are nearing completion. This is a year in the making. It’s the only way we can save our people!”
“I SAID NO!” I yell so loud the foundation beneath us starts to shake.
The guards run into the room, not sure what is taking place. I manage to calm myself and speak in a soft but firm tone.
“You will discontinue the Freedom Project. We will not speak of this again.”
“You gave the head of the Omari, Cash, an order. You told him not to fire on Pryor’s house and he disobeyed you. Omari don’t disobey, but he could tell you were compromised, so he took it upon himself to defy you. Know that this is just the first step, brother. Many more Paras will abandon you,” he says with hatred in his voice.
“Are you formally challenging me, Hunter? Is that really how you want to die?”
“I’m not challenging you; I’m warning you. Your time as Kon is coming to an end.”
Before I can dismiss him, a pattern appears on my upper right arm. It’s the same sign that appeared when Pryor was in trouble in the park. It means the pendant I gave her is detecting a major strain on her soul. She’s in trouble.
“I see someone needs you; I wonder who that could be?” Hunter says bitterly.
I ignore him and take off into the sky. He calls out to me from the ground.
“Go, little puppy, find your owner!”
Chapter Twenty-Three:
How Does It Feel?
Normally what Hunter said as I flew away would be foremost in my mind. However, not knowing what kind of danger Pryor is in, all I think about is getting to her as quickly as possible. The glow on my arm starts getting brighter the closer I get to the pendant. I find myself somewhere in the Ukraine.
I look down at the mountain ranges below me and wonder if I’m in the right place. I don’t see a sign of a battle having taken place. Nothing has been set on fire or destroyed. I don’t see anyone from the team, and there is no sign of Pryor at all. A current of dread goes through my body as I land just outside of a cave whose opening is shaped like a bird’s wings.
This is Blue Dove. I’ve heard of it before, but I’ve never been. What was the team doing here? Where did the danger come from, and where is everyone?
I hear movement inside the cave; I rush in and find Pry sitting on a large stone with her head down.
“Pry, were you under attack? Where are the demons? Pry, what’s wrong? Tell me!” I plead as I kneel in front of her.
She looks up at me, and I know from the stricken look on her face, this had nothing to do with work. There is a lake of tears in her eyes, on the verge of spilling over. Seeing this, I go from concern to outright panic. Pryor does not cry. The last time she did was when her brother was murdered. And even then, it was hard to get her to let the emotions take over.
“Pryor, what happened?”
“Aaden…he doesn’t…he…”
“What about Aaden?”
Shit, is he dead?
“Pryor, what happened to Aaden?”
“He doesn’t want me anymore,” she says as she bursts into tears.
The sound of her cries sends currents of pain across my chest. I have to get my hands around Silver and end him for hurting her.
“Pry, I’m so sorry.”
Her sobs fill the cave and echo back to us. I have never heard anyone, angel or human, sound so wounded and pained. I move in close to hold her, but she stands up and backs away. She places one hand over her mouth to stop the sobs from escaping and the other she holds out in front of her to signal to me that I need to keep my distance.
“Pry, I just want to help, I swear!”
“I don’t have my cell phone,” she says, frantically searching the watery cave.
“Why do you need your cell? Who do you want to call?”
“We’ll use your cell! Do you have it with you?”
“Yeah,” I reply, confused.
“Good, I need you to set the timer on it for me. I need to time something,” she says desperately.
“Time what?”
“Give me sixty seconds to cry, and when the sixty seconds are over, you make me stop, okay?”
Oh no…
“Honey, I don’t think that’s how it works,” I reply sadly.
“Please, do this for me. Set your alarm for sixty seconds. Give me sixty seconds. Don’t let me go past sixty, okay?”
“Okay,” I whisper.
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, she wails as if someone has ripped her heart from her chest. She crumples onto the floor, rocking back and forth. I get down beside her and hold her.
“It’s okay, I promise. Everything is going to be okay,” I assure her.
“I can’t. I can’t take this,” she begs to the heavens.
“Shhhhh, it’s okay. Everything’s going to be just fine,” I vow as I hold her even tighter.
“I’m not strong enough. Bex, I’m not strong…” She moans.
She places her arms over her
midsection and desperately holds on. It’s as if she fears letting go will cause her to literally come apart. She lowers herself so far down to the ground that her forehead touches the cave floor.
I stroke her back and repeatedly remind her of how strong she really is. The alarm on my cell phone goes off. She looks up at me, nowhere near ready or able to stop crying.
“It’s not the alarm. It’s just a text. Your sixty seconds aren’t up yet. It’s okay to cry. It’s okay,” I reply as I hold her and bring her into my chest. She sobs against me, and I try to focus on her and not my hatred of Silver. But the more pain she’s in, the harder it is to stop picturing ways to end Silver’s life.
She stayed on the floor of the cave for what felt like sixty seconds to her. In reality she cried in my arms for two days. When she realized how long we had actually been in the cave, she feared that it meant she was weak and unworthy of being a leader. I reminded her that two days was just sixty seconds that came around 172,800 times…
Naturally, by the time we get back to New York, the entire Angel world knows about the breakup. It’s the hot topic all over the world. There are blogs, YouTube reaction videos, Vine spoof videos and, of course, it’s trending on Yahoo and Twitter.
Everyone wants to know who broke up with whom. They wonder if Diana set out to sabotage the happy couple or if the pressures of being a leader caused Pryor to end their relationship. The speculations are endless in our world.
When we get to the house, Pry takes on her official voice and tells them that she is fine and that she’s okay. They can all see she’s not, but out of respect they don’t contradict her. The team rallies around her, offering to help in any way they can. She just thanks them and insists she’s fine. Randy doesn’t care how much she protests; he follows her up to her room and insists she talks to him.
“You can’t keep these things inside, Pry, you know that,” he says as they enter her room.
I stand outside in the hallway and listen in, hoping that Randy will be able to help her. She promises that she is okay and that she had a chance to cry it out in the cave.
“And that’s it?” Randy says.
“I think two days of weeping like a damn baby is more than enough,” she says, disgusted with herself.
“Well, I’m not leaving this room until you talk to me.”
“Randy, please, I really just want to be alone. I know you love me and want me to be okay, but right now, I just need to be in here by myself. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, I guess. But I have to show you extra love and appreciation. That’s what the job of being your best friend calls for today.”
“Randy…”
“Okay, okay, I’ll go. But only on two conditions.”
“What are they?” She sighs.
“One, I am going home and coming back with Mr. Frog. I’ll leave him with you until you’re better.”
“Deal.”
“And two, I need you to tell me one thing about how you feel—just one thing—so I know you are not bottling your emotions. I know how dangerous that can be for angels with your power.”
“Okay, what do you want me to tell you?”
“One thing, anything.”
“I’ve been thinking about boxes,” she replies.
“Boxes?” Randy asks, uncertain he heard correctly.
“Humans put people in caskets when they’re dead—large, shiny boxes. Then you dig a hole and put them in the ground. Humans do that because the thing they love is dead. And I was wondering what kind of box could hold my future with Aaden…”
I’m guessing he hugs her, because that’s the kind of guy Randy is. He would never let her suffer without trying to comfort her. I don’t get to hear the rest of the conversation because just then Silver comes up the steps.
“You don’t think you’re actually welcome in this house, do you?” I demand.
“I came to check on her. I didn’t come to get into it with you, Para.”
“That’s too bad, because that’s exactly what’s happening,” I inform him.
“I’m really not in the mood to do this with you,” he warns.
“I should have killed you when I had the chance. You’re a selfish asshole, and I don’t give a damn what your wings look like, there is no part of you that’s an angel. You are one hundred percent demon. I’m just sorry it took this much to make Pryor see that,” I spit.
“I’m not doing this to hurt her. I am doing this because—”
“I don’t give a damn what your reasons are. She was fine until you walked back into her life. You shit on her, and now you’re walking away with your new family. Tell me, have you always been this cruel, or is this a new talent you’re crafting?”
“I didn’t want to hurt her. I did what I did for Sparks.”
“Bullshit, Silver! You did this for yourself. Every damn thing you do is for you. Things get hard and you bail. It’s what you do. It’s who you are.”
“Yeah, whatever,” he says as he heads towards Pryor’s bedroom. I quickly block his entry.
“You better be willing to kill me, because that’s the only way you will get past this door,” I vow.
“I’m good with that,” Silver counters.
“You’ve already broken her. Why isn’t it enough for you?” I snap.
“I am not here to justify myself to you. I love her, and I am going to check on her. Get the hell out of my way, Para!” he demands.
“Okay, go right ahead. But I have a question for you: When do you plan to start loving her the way she deserves to be loved? You take off for a year and don’t check to see if she’s even alive. You come back to New York with a knocked-up demon and a sad story. And despite all that, she finds a way to forgive you. She finds a way to love you. Then you take that love and beat her to death with it.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about, and I won’t ask you to get out of my way again.”
“Okay, maybe you do love her, in your own ‘broken little boy’ way. But when you love someone, Silver, you think about what they would want. Do you think she would want you to walk into her room right now?”
He’s about to argue, but thinks better of it and folds his hands across his chest.
“In fact, I’m pretty sure she doesn’t want you in the house, let alone her room,” I continue.
“I didn’t want to hurt her. I love her,” Silver explains.
“Then do right by her. Take Diana and go.”
The twins promise to let me know if Pryor gets any worse or if she gets better. I’d love to stick around and check on her, but there is no way to do that. Right now the Para world is in flux, and everyone wants to know what I plan to do about Malakaro. The one leading the charge is my own brother, Hunter.
Over the next few days, I gather Healers and herbalists in the lab to come up with a solution to our problem. Anything that they come up with is to be approved by me. Since we failed to take due caution with the Center, I am determined not to allow the Noru to be hurt by us again. And as I enter the laboratory to check on their progress, Hunter follows me, desperately trying to convince me to let the Freedom Project go on.
“I told you, we can’t use any mixtures that involve cobalt. It doesn’t just affect one being in that species. It will affect them all. We are trying to find a way to kill Malakaro, not eradicate every Noru!” I bark at him.
“You just don’t get it, do you? Right now the Para world is facing something they never have before—fear. They think that Malakaro will mean the end of them. And their leader is too busy pining for Malakaro’s sister to stop him!”
“We will use any means to kill Malakaro, but only him. I am not about to sanction the making of an elixir that will end all the Noru. It’s bad enough the Center happened. We have to approach this with caution.”
“That’s just a nice way of saying we have to back down. It’s bullshit, Bex, and you know it!”
“Why are you so eager to end innocent lives? That is not what we do here, H
unter!”
“No, what we do is die! That’s what we do now. We stand there and get picked off one by one by that evil asshole. And you just let it happen.”
“I have Healers working around the clock.”
“Yes, and nothing they’ve come up with even comes close to the power the Void capsule will have. Bex, we’ve done it! We made the capsule.”
“What the hell are you talking about? I told you to stop working on it!”
“Bex, I’m just looking out for our people.”
“You have been gone for years at a time. You take off whenever the hell you want and now you want to be in charge?”
“I am here so that we can work together. We need to be on the same page or Malakaro is going to finish us.”
“There is no ‘we.’ The Paras have only one Kon. One. You ever go against my wishes and you will regret it.”
“Fine, but the mixture is already done. Now let’s just use it.”
“I will not permit a capsule that could harm other Noru!”
“YOU ARE NOT HERE TO PROTECT THE NORU! YOUR JOB IS TO PROTECT THE PARAS! DO YOUR FUCKING JOB!”
I grab him, fling him to the ground, and place my foot on his neck before security can get over to us. I lean in as close as I can and whisper in his ear.
“You talk to me like that again and brother or not, I will end your life,” I promise him calmly.
I help him up and assure my security team that everything is fine between us. Once they go back to their posts, I address my wayward brother.
“The Freedom Project is over. I will have the lab burnt to the damn ground by the end of the day. We are done talking about this. Am I clear?” I order.
“Yes, Kon. You are clear.”
I march out of the lab and head to the throne room. The rage seething inside me makes it hard to focus, but I stay calm and order the Omari to stand before me. Once they gather, I address them with calm fury.
“We will find a way to defeat Malakaro the same way Paras have helped defeat evil in the past. We will not turn on innocent angels because of who they are related to. No one is to touch the Noru or any member of their team. Malakaro is our enemy. No one else. Am I understood?”