After my encounter with Desmond, I texted my brother and told him what happened. He wants to meet and gives both a location and time. Now all I need to do is figure how to get away from the team without anyone growing suspicious of me. Qi will be the hardest person to get away from. She never leaves my side. Still, I have to try.
“I need to do something Qi and I need you to not ask questions.” I confide in her.
“Does it involve Aria?”
“No.”
“Then consider it done.” She agrees. “Tell me what you need me to do.”
“Its simple. I need you to keep suspicion off of me while I run a few errands and I need you to do whatever Havoc tells you.”
“For how long?”
“As long as it takes.”
Qi nods, wraps her arms around my waste and plants a passionate kiss on my lips. “Don’t be long. I have a thirst only you can quench.” She smiles seductively. I smile back and head towards the door when she calls out to me. “Tell Gavin I said hello.”
I pause and turn around to face her. “How did you…?”
“I’ve known you for a long time Noah. You may be a lot of things, but a traitor isn’t one of them. I also happen to know how much you value family. Gavin couldn’t have gotten into this Galaxy unless you pulled some strings for him.”
“Aria can’t know that-”
“She won’t.” Qi assured me.
I nod and make my way downstairs to the foyer. Aria is at the base of the stairs talking to Willow. Our eyes meet and their conversation is quickly over as she follows me outside. “Where are you going?” She asks. I hate lying to her, but I have no choice.
“To run some errands.” I explain. Okay, maybe a half-truth.
“What did Desmond say to you last night?” She asks.
“He was asking me about you.” I lie. I’d been preparing that lie since it happened.
“What about me?” She frowns.
“Because the moment I accepted the offer to work alongside Muerte, my loyalty came under questioning. Now I’m being called a traitor and he wanted to know why I accepted.”
“And you told him I was the reason.” She deduced.
“You’re the reason why I do a lot of things.” I reply, mostly to myself.
“When will you be back?”
“As soon as I find what I’m looking for.” I sigh. “Can I go now?”
Aria nods and I take off into the sky. It’s Saturday, so I don’t have to bother with the human invention of school, thank Chi.
I fly to the coordinates I got from Gavin and make sure to check my surroundings before I enter the abandoned warehouse. His guards are on high alert until they see my face. “Where is he?” I ask Two. Two is Gavin’s lifelong friend and the General of his army. He points to a door and I walk through it. Gavin is sitting in a chair surrounded by beautiful human girls who are naked from the waist up. He’s always been a breast man for as long as I can remember.
“Glad you could make it.” He smiles, tossing me a box.
“What’s this?”
“A gift.” He smiles mischievously.
I open up the box and inside is dark stone. Dark Stone is also known as the black diamond. Its one of six stones in existence, and very hard to find. Now I know why he wanted us to meet.
“You want me to kill Desmond.” I realize.
“If you’d be so kind.” He nods.
“Killing him will raise suspicions.”
“You mean Aria.” He scoffs, shaking his head.
“I mean everyone.” I correct him.
“The way I see it little brother, you have two choices. You can take the stone, kill Desmond, and absorb his powers making you one of the most powerful fuckers in every Galaxy. Or…you can let him live, eventually everyone will find out who’s helping me and Aria will kill you herself.”
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
“Don’t fuck this up for me Gavin. What I have planned for the Magistrate and the Republic cannot be derailed by your idiotic crusades. Are we clear?”
“Crystal.”
“Good.” I get up to leave.
“Oh, brother…” He calls out to me.
Sigh. “What now?”
“Nothing. I’m just wondering how Aria fits into all of your…BIG PLANS. Surely you don’t expect her to be okay with you annihilating her whole family, do you?”
“Let me worry about Aria. Focus on not leaving me any more messes to clean up.”
“Hey, what are brothers for?”
I take to the sky allowing my fury with Gavin to propel me through the sky. I enter the house through a window I left open and Qi is lying on the bed waiting for me. “That was fast.” She rolls over to face me. “What did he want?”
“He wants me to kill Desmond and absorb his power.” I reply, handing her the dark stone. She admires its beauty until I snatch it away. “He’s making a mess of things.”
“I told you…you should have killed him a long time ago.”
My hand wraps around her throat even before I realize what I’m doing. Fear fills her eyes. “He’s my blood. He may be getting in my way, but he’s also the reason we have more Intel than we did before. He gave Muerte and the Elite a common interest. As long as they’re focused on him, they’re not looking at us.” I give her neck a tighter squeeze. Tears fill her eyes. “Don’t ever talk about killing my brother. EVER. Or so help me Chi, it will be your blood I spill out on the floor.”
I release her and she flees from the room in tears. “What’s wrong with Qi?” Eli, code name Harm, asks.
“She’ll be fine.” I assure him.
He hesitates and then leaves. Eli has been in love with Qi from day one, but she’s too enamored with me to know it. She’s the only one who doesn’t know it. While he’s loyal to me now, I fear his feelings for Qi will eventually cause him to betray me and then I’ll have to kill him.
I could just let her go, but she’s the only thing that keeps me from going after Aria. Aria is like an addiction for me and Qi is the twelve-step program I’m using to break that habit. I lie back on my bed and stare up at the ceiling. As angry as I might be, I have to go after Qi because I need her.
When I find her, Eli is consoling her while Thien and Aria look on with curious glances. “I’ll take it from here.” I tap Eli on the shoulder. He stands his ground, openly defying me, which forces my hand. I jab him in the throat with my fist, lodging his trachea and blocking his windpipe. He stumbles backwards into the wall and begins to turn blue.
“Stop!” Qi places herself between us. “He’s just trying to protect me.”
“I don’t give a damn what he’s trying to do, when I give a direct order I expect him to follow it.”
“He will, won’t you Eli?” She kneels down to ask.
Eli nods and all is right in the chain of command again. I wave my hand over his throat and his color begins to return. “The next time I give you an order that you disobey, you’ll be dead before anyone can plead your case. Now go.”
He hurries out of the room and I turn my attention to Qi who slaps me across the face. “That was fucked up Noah. He was just trying to protect me!”
“I’m sorry.” I apologize to her.
She looks stunned. “What?”
“For earlier…I’m sorry.”
Her anger subsides and her expression softens. “I’m sorry for what I said.” She apologizes.
“Are we good?”
“Yes.” She nods.
“Good.” Clenching her shirt in my fist I pull her into me and press my lips against hers.
ns 18.68.41.141da2
