He still regretted what he had done. His actions had got Aisline out of that god-awful situation. However, he did regret assaulting Kelton. That was a bad move on his part. But, in his defence, it had been his only course of action. Unfortunately, he still had to answer for his actions.
It wasn’t an intentional action. It wasn’t like he purposely set out to assault the head of the Sons of Satrina and the most badass warrior in Lamia history. It was a heat of the moment thing that he’d acted on. Jackson would have barrelled through any obstacle that stood in his way to get Aisline out of that place and, unfortunately, that obstacle had been Kelton. He still had to pay for it, though. His actions had been out of order and there was no way he was going to get away with it unpunished. He’d just have to suck it up.
“Here we are.”
Kelton had brought Denver and Jackson around to the back of the mansion, to the wastelands that most of the student body had not yet had time to explore. The rest of the place was coming together nicely with thanks to all the hard work that they’d put in, but the exterior still left a lot to be desired. There was mountains of rubbish and weeds littering the area and to put it bluntly, it looked a complete mess.
“Where are we?” Denver frowned, looking around in the darkness.
Jackson didn’t say anything. What was the point? Kelton would tell them what was going on when he was good and ready. Plus, if this was the punishment, then he wasn’t entirely sure that he wanted to know what it was all about. Kelton’s punishments were legendary. The more imaginative, the better. Jackson had been waiting for this day to come with baited breath so he could get it over and one with.
“These are your tools.” Kelton indicated a pile on the floor next to him.
“Tools? What are they for?”
Jackson threw him a look. Denver had clearly found his voice again and Jackson wished he’d shut the hell up.
“This entire area needs to be cleared.” Kelton spread his arms wide dramatically to show that he meant the whole are behind the mansion.
Denver jumped back and glared about him incredulously. What the hell did Kelton think they were? They weren’t bloody superheroes! There was no way that they’d be able to clear this place with their bare hands. This was impossible? Was he mental? “No way.” Denver shook his head.
“Yes way.” Kelton replied sternly. He took a single step closer to Denver. “Maybe next time you will think twice about acting like a dumbass out in the field and putting your entire crew in danger.”
Denver shrank away from him. He had been trying to regain his cock-sure confidence after the knock it had received, but any time he saw Aisline or the incident was mentioned, he coiled up in himself again.
That had been the worst night of his entire life. He knew that he had acted like an idiot the moment he’d gone back to check out the Mortuorum activity, but it wasn’t like he had intentionally put Aisline’s life, or anyone else’s, in danger. He wouldn’t have ever wanted to get anyone hurt. He’d just wanted action. He’d tried to hunt down the enemy, which was the whole point of the bloody field exercise to start with, wasn’t it? Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out quite the way he thought it would. And, any reminder of what a jerk he’d been cut him like a knife.
“You need to clear this entire area and pile the rubbish, weeds and bricks over there,” he pointed to an area near the far corner of the house. “And someone will come by to remove it.” Kelton glared at them both. “Right. You both know why you’re out here. You both know what you need to do. It’s not rocket science. It’s hard work. It’s not going to be easy going and you are going to have to work together on this. This is a manual task, but manual work also gives you time to think about what you did and why you won’t be acting in that way again in the future.”
Jackson nodded in understanding and Denver sulked with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at the dirt and rubble like they were the deadly enemy.
Kelton carried on, “You need to think about what happened to you and because of you. You need to think about what would have happened if you hadn’t been there. You both need to think hard about how you would act in the future should a similar circumstance occur. You are both warriors in training. You need to think about what you will be facing out there in the real world and decide how a warrior should act.” Kelton turned to walk away. “I’ll be back to check on your progress when I’ve decided that you’ve done enough to warrant a break.”
Denver watched as Master Warrior Kelton walked off, his mouth hanging wide open and unable to believe that he really meant to leave them out there to sort out all of that crap by themselves. It was an impossible task and Kelton was mental if he thought they’d be able to do it without any help.
“Well, don’t just stand there, dumbass. We’ve got work to do.” Jackson snapped as he began to move a wheel barrow over to the nearest mound of rubble.
He could entirely understand why Denver looked quite so gobsmacked, but what was the point in arguing about it? This was the last thing that Jackson had expected as punishment, but in a way it made sense. Physical work left you tired and your mind registered why you were tired and why you were doing it in the first place. Honestly, this place looked like it would take a whole construction crew several weeks to sort out and with just the two of them at it, they’d still be moving mounds of rubble and dirt for the next six months.
“Seriously? How the hell does he expect us to do all of this by ourselves? It’s stupid.”
“It’s a punishment, Denver. It’s not supposed to be easy.”
“It doesn’t make sense.”
“It doesn’t have to.”
Denver glared at him, refusing to acknowledge that he was right. “What are you being punished for, anyway? Weren’t you one of the heroes of the hour?”
“That’s none of your business.” Jackson snapped back. Only the warriors that had been out in his group during the rescue mission knew anything about what had happened between him and Kelton. He wanted to keep it that way. He had acted purely in Aisline’s best interests, but he didn’t want his disrespectful actions towards Kelton becoming common knowledge. “Just get on with it and keep your mouth shut.”
It wasn’t going to be easy, Kelton was right about that. But, it wasn’t just the hard work that was going to be the problem. Jackson and Denver had not got on since the first moment they set eyes on each other on the day of induction. Denver was an arrogant jerk who never knew when to quit. Like when Bartholomew, the leader of the Lamia Matris, died and he poked fun out of Jackson for the physical pain he was feeling because of that loss. It had been a pretty dumb move on Denver’s part, seeing as every member in Bartholomew’s bloodline had been feeling that same sickness and loss feeling. Trying to make fun of Jackson had simply earned Denver a problem with several more of the trainees who had jumped to Jackson’s defence.
Denver mumbled something under his breath and kicked around a few stones at his feet. He hated this kind of thing. Manual labour. He’d had more than enough of it these last few weeks. He’d done his due and cleaned this pile of bricks without complaint, and now they were expecting more? This kind of stuff would ruin his skin and he’d had more than enough of it already, thank you very much. Denver had the kind of hands that had never seen a hard day’s work before all of this. Knowing that he was going to leave home to become a warrior and protector of their race, Denver had been treated like a prince when he’d been growing up. He hadn’t yet realised that he was out in the world and actually had to look after himself and pitch in when others needed help.
Jackson hefted huge stones for what felt like hours. Sweat was dripping off his body and he was thinking about what everyone else would be doing while he was out there. They were inside, in the clean and warm house, probably starting up their training in the gym or the sparring rooms. He was out there, in the dirt and the cold and getting blisters that were going to hurt like a bitch tomorrow. In a warped way, he would actually prefer to be out there
doing what he was doing in the cold. At least he would have something to show for his hard work once he’d finished.
Aisline hated it. She still wasn’t allowed to go back into training and sitting on the side-lines was really starting to grate on her nerves. She had never been one for inactivity and seeing as she was now feeling fine, there was no good reason for her not to be allowed to train with the rest of them. Her ribs had all but healed and most of her bruises had faded enough so that they were no longer quite so noticeable. At least she wasn’t getting those awfully sympathetic looks from everyone she encountered now.
Kayleigh had popped in to see how everyone was doing and grinned at the face-like-thunder expression on Aisline’s face. Ash didn’t see the funny side of it.
“I just mean that it’s great the way that you’ve embraced this life to such an extent.” Kayleigh explained with a sheepish grin. The poor girl really did look heart-broken not to be fighting with the rest of them.
Ash rolled her eyes. “It’s not funny.”
“I know it’s not. You just need to wait for the all clear from the doctor and then you’ll be back there with the rest of them. Take this time to concentrate on the instructions. Brush up on the theory and then when the practice time comes, maybe you’ll see some benefit to sitting out.”
“I doubt that.”
“Just give it a try.”
“But, for how long? How long am I going to be sat here like this?” Aisline hated to sound like she was whining, but sitting there and watching as the other got stuck into it was beyond frustrating.
“When she thinks you’re ready.”
“I’m ready now. My ribs are fine. I’m fine. I don’t see what the problem is.”
Kayleigh lowered her voice. “It’s not just the physical side that Doctor Phillippe is taking into consideration.”
Ash didn’t say anything. She knew what Kayleigh meant and there was no way to prove to any of them that she was mentally capable of returning to training. Thank god the doctor didn’t know the full extent of what had happened to her or she’d probably never let her train again. Only Kayleigh knew and that was more than enough.
“Just give it a little more time, okay?”
“I don’t suppose I have much of a choice, do I?”
“Nope.” Kayleigh smiled cheerfully. “Enjoy the rest while you can. You know that when you get back to training that Kelton’s going to give you a rough time. He wants everyone at their physical peak and he’s not going to be holding any punches.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” Aisline finally cracked a smile. It wasn’t Kayleigh’s fault that they weren’t letting her train yet. But, she’d been put on light duties during the clean-up and she was feeling restless at the lack of activity. She missed the physical burn of pushing her body to the limits.
They both winced as Dylan got a hell of a punch to the side of his face that he failed to block, sending him sprawling on the mat in front of them with blood trickling out of the side of his mouth. Now, that kind of pain she didn’t miss. And, the sight of the blood immediately brought back other memories, just as she feared it would.
Aisline breathed in deeply and forced herself to look at Dylan. It would have been too easy to look away and pretend that it didn’t affect her, but that was the coward’s way out. Ash could never be called a coward. She had to meet this head on.
Finally, she had to admit to herself that maybe they were right to hold her back from training for the time being. Just for now, at least. The sight of a spot of blood had triggered the memory of what she’d had to endure during her abduction. Plus, that was someone else’s blood. How would she handle that when she was back in training? Would she toughen up and move past the trauma? Or would she crumble and fall? Only time would tell.
Kelton came out to check on Denver and Jackson a few hours later. He had to hold back a grin when he saw the sweaty, dirty sight of the pair of them.
Jackson stretched out his back as he stood up straight. The bones cracked and strained in his body but he didn’t complain. He had no right to complain. This was a punishment and he’d work through it like a man.
Not like Denver, who complained continually and loudly all through their break time. Not that Kelton or Jackson took the slightest bit of notice of him. Jackson was just pleased to have a few minutes rest. It felt like they had been out here working for days rather than mere hours.
The break didn’t seem to last nearly long enough and soon, they were back at it. Shifting jagged rocks that cut into their skin and dust that stung that eyes. Awesome. Still, Jackson didn’t complain. He knew by the way that Kelton was acting that this was only the beginning of their punishment. There was no way to guess what could be next, but whatever it was, it wasn’t going to be any easier than this. Jackson was sure if he was looking forward to it or not.
Climbing into bed, Jackson didn’t even have the energy to wait up for Trey to come in from training. He had just about managed to wash the dirt and grime from his skin in the lukewarm shower and had to fully concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other just to make it to his bed without collapsing.
He was beyond exhausted and was thankful that this beautiful old mansion had provided them with an en-suite bathroom and that he didn’t have to share and queue up with the rest of the boys anymore. If that had been the case and he had to wait, Jackson would have gone straight to bed and not cared about sleeping in his own muck.
He’d wanted to find out from Trey how the first training session had gone on, who had led them, if there had been any changes, etc… Also, he wanted to find out how Aisline was doing. Was she back to training with the rest of the guys? How did she look? How was she coping? But, his eyes wouldn’t stay open a single second longer and he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Chapter Ten
Coming back to their punishment as soon as they had eaten breakfast, if Jackson hadn’t know any better, he would have said that someone had come out here during the daylights hours and dumped another boat-load of crap out there. The amount of rubbish seemed to be multiplying. This punishment would be never ending the way things were going. Seriously, they hadn’t really put a dent in it yet.
It was hot and sweaty work, even out in the winter chill and finally Denver was starting to work without voicing complaints every two seconds. He must have realised that it was pointless and that Jackson wasn’t even paying any attention to him. No matter how much they complained about it, they were going to be stuck out here until it was done, so they may as well get on with it.
Plus, Denver was looking to the wrong guy if he was expecting any sympathy from Jackson. In his eyes, Denver deserved everything he got and so much more for what he’d done. He had played a big part in what had happened to Aisline and for that, nothing the guy would ever do would make up for that. Jackson’s mind was fully made up about Denver and there would be no budging on that opinion.
“I’m on my way.” Kelton said as he hung up the phone. “Shit!” he slammed his fist down on the desk in front of him, rattling his half empty coffee cup that sat on the edge.
“What’s wrong?” Kayleigh asked as she walked into the office, looking concerned at the rage on his face.
Kelton ran a hand over his bristly hair and took in a deep breath. “I’m not sure yet.” He said, sounding cryptic.
“Who was it on the phone?”
Kelton took in another gulping breath and tried to calm his temper. “That was Patrick on the phone. I need to go out for a bit.”
“Now?”
“Yes. He has some information for me. Can you arrange for Sol or one of the other warriors that are free to cover my class? I planned on weight and running circuits for this period to try and build up some endurance. And can you get someone to check up on Jackson and Denver? I don’t want them slacking off.” He was already reaching for his leather jacket as he spoke, confident that Kayleigh would help him.
“Of course. No problem. Sounds serious?” Kayleigh
tried to smile, but it was clear that although something big was happening, she wasn’t going to find out what it was just yet. She hated the feeling that he was hiding things from her, but in his line of work, he couldn’t tell her everything that he was involved in. Anything that was warrior business was of no concern to her, and in all fairness, she didn’t want to know half of it. She knew enough to worry and any more would have sent her hair grey. But still, she hated to be kept out of the loop. They shared everything else in their lives and that would have to be enough.
She watched as Kelton loaded himself up with daggers and a couple of high calibre pistols.
Not that he planned on using any of them, but it was never a good idea to go out into the night unarmed. He knew that he probably should tell someone where he was going, what he was doing and who he was expecting to see, but he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t speak to Kayleigh about what he was going to do. He couldn’t lie to her about where he was going, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell her the truth, either. Kelton knew that she would try to talk him out of going there alone. There was no way he could speak to any of the other warriors about this. This was something he had to do by himself and for himself.
Merion had been found.
Kelton knew that every other warrior and member of the Lamia Matris race wanted to get their hands on the son of a bitch who had betrayed them all. But for Kelton, this was personal. That man had caused the death of their leader and Bartholomew had been like a father figure to him. He had been more than just a leader. He’d been family. Plus, Merion had been the asshole who had leaked the information and helped orchestrate Aisline’s’ abduction. For all of that, he would pay.
Kelton would make sure that he paid for what he’d done.
Moreover, the man had been a goddamn warrior. He had been Kelton’s second-in-command and he trusted Merion with his life. He had lost count of the amount of time that they had gone into battle against the Mortuorum and Merion had always had his back. There had never been a single doubt in Kelton’s mind about him.
Dawn of a New Age: A Sons of Satrina Novel Page 10