It pained me to see him touching her. To see him kissing her. Part of me wants to go over there and shove a spark down his throat, but the other part of me is afraid to lose control. I’ve only lost control once, but once was enough. The sheer force I unleashed that day rippled throughout the Legion down into the human galaxy. The humans called it Global Warming. They have no idea how close they actually came to annihilation and since then, my actions have called the amount of power we Muerte have into question.
My parents took preventative measures to make sure I couldn’t do anything like that again. This included binding my powers until I could learn to control them.
“I’m sorry, does this amuse you Aria?” Marcum’s booming voice pulls me from my thoughts. Aria has interrupted our briefing for a second time and he’s had enough.
“First you show up here late, setting a fine example for your teammates as Lieutenant General, and now you’re disrupting a briefing. This is exactly the kind of behavior that landed you in prison. You may be here to help your team and your title may have been restored, but you’re still a disgrace to this family.”
I can tell his words have caused her great pain. She allows a single tear to fall from her eyes before she blinks the rest away in an attempt to be brave. I should be angry with her after what she did. No…I AM ANGRY, but standing by while her father breaks her spirit is something I’ve never been able to do. I want her to know she’s appreciated.
When I address the team, I make a declaration first. “We’ve planned out a course of action and honestly, we couldn’t have done it without Aria.” I glance in her direction. I said it mostly because I wanted to cheer her up, but also because her father needed to hear it. “From what we know about Gavin, we believe he’s somewhere in the In-between. Noah has been there before so he’ll be our guide. We should leave at once; Gavin’s army is growing. There are those who wish to overthrow the Republic.”
“Very well then.” Her father nods to me. “May our Alpha be with you.”
The meeting is adjourned and our families have come rushing up to us to say goodbye. “Pleas be safe Thien. Most importantly, keep your team safe.” My parents both hug me.
Where my father hugs me with pride, Aria’s father doesn’t hug her at all. He just stands there in his indifference. He thinks he’s helping her somehow, but he’s always been way too hard on her.
We’re march off towards the Vortex, all twenty-eight of us. I quickly catch up to Aria and slide my hand into hers. She gives it a gentle squeeze and then we both let go.
We make it to the Vortex that’s supposed to take us to the In-between and gather at its entrance. Noah enters first and everyone follows his lead. Aria and I are the last two to enter, but before we do I stop her. “Before we do this, I just want you to know something.”
“What?”
“I’m pissed that he was your first kiss, and I’m pissed that you didn’t tell me about him. I don’t know what he means to you Aria, but when we get back, we need to have a serious conversation about exactly what it is we want from each other.” I tell her.
“Okay.” She nods. I motion for her to step through the Vortex and then I quickly follow. When I make my way out on the other end Aria grabs me. We have zero visibility. There’s a dense fog blanketing the area and we can’t see further than an inch in front of us.
“Don’t move!” Noah shouts back to us. “It should pass in a matter of minutes.”
Holding hands, we all kneel down and wait for the fog to lift. It seems like its gone on forever when it finally starts to lift, revealing a beautiful Green forest complete with waterfalls, tropical birds, and creatures of the likes we’ve never seen before.
Noah motions for everyone to follow him and do so quickly. The soil beneath our feet is soft and moist, muddying my boots and threatening to swallow my feet hole with each step.
The forest is beautiful and majestic. It’s nothing like what I expected it to be. Noah was right. “This place is BEAUTIFUL.” Willow looks around in awe.
“Don’t be fooled by what you see here. Some of the Legions most deadly creatures live in this forest. TOUCH NOTHING.” Noah warned.
As we walk to only Alpha knows where, I notice Aria and Qi are exchanging awkward glances. It could only be about one person. Alpha knows I don’t need any more reasons to want to see him dead, so why does he continue to test my patience?
“Stop.” Noah holds up his hand. He points to a group of what looks like over grown tulips and places his index finger against his lips. “Don’t make a sound.”
One by one we began to tiptoe through the maze of giant white tulips. One of his people Trix, code name Mercy, accidentally brushes one with her shoulder and I watch in horror as what once was a tulip turns bright red in color and opens its mouth to reveal its fangs. It looms over her ready to strike at any moment. I tried to summon up a spark but nothing happened. My powers…they’re gone. I want to yell to her to watch out, but screaming would put everyone else in jeopardy. I can’t do that.
Aria notices the carnivorous plant looming over Trix now too. Everyone behind Trix stops walking and just watches in horror as it silently creeps up on her, planning its attack. Realizing everyone else has stopped, Trix alerts the others in front of her. She doesn’t see the plant hovering over her head, salivating, until it’s too late. The tongue of the plant punches a hole in the back of Trix’s head rendering her paralyzed. Next it opens its mouth wide and swallows her whole, crushing her bones at it constricts. She never made a sound. She didn’t have a chance to.
Noah whips his head in our direction just in time to see one of his members fall. Qi starts to speak but he clasps his hand over her mouth. We’re all afraid to move. We watch and we wait as the petals on the plant turns white and it nestles itself back in its resting position.
We make it out of the maze of giant tulips and onto dry desert ground. Qi drops to her knees and begins sobbing uncontrollably. Noah kneels down and wraps her in his arms. “Come on Qi. We have to keep moving or her sacrifice will be in vain.” Noah whispers to her, stroking her hair.
Qi finally nods and stands up. Noah glances over at Aria and the two of them share an intense gaze for a moment.
“The village we want is in the center of this desert.” Noah informs us. “Obviously our powers do not work here, so be careful and only step where I step.”
Everyone nodded. We formed a single file line and followed Noah across the sandy desert. “Help me.” The voice of a child called out to us. Everyone began looking around.” Help me.” It called out a second time.
A small child stood about fifty feet away from us, but there was something behind her. “Ahhhh!” Her blood curdling screams pierced the air.
I don’t know who stepped out of line first, but several of us rushed to get to her. “GET BACK IN LINE!” Noah shouted. His voice was quickly drowned out by the sheer terror in the screaming child’s voice. Only it wasn’t a child at all. I couldn’t see who it was because a sandstorm kicked up and sand flew wildly around us, but as soon as they got close enough an enormous creature emerged from the desert floor. Its body was still embedded beneath the dirt and sand, but its head was that of an octopus. Its tentacles lashed out at those who tried to save the girl. I started to turn back when I realized one of the people fighting was Aria.
Shit!
With no choice, I run over to help. Pretty soon, everyone is joining the fight. The twenty-seven of us against this beast with eight tentacles proves to be deadly. We kill it in a matter of seconds and spill its green blood all over the desert around us.
“What in the HELL were you thinking?” Noah lashes out at Aria.
“Stand down.” I warn him.
“TO HELL WITH YOU!” He shouts at me. “Aria, you could have gotten yourself killed!”
“The little girl…I thought there was a little girl…I thought-”
“I GAVE YOU A DIRECT ORDER! I TOLD YOU TO STAY IN LINE AND THAT’S ALL YOU HAD TO DO!”
I shove Noah out of Aria’s face and place myself between them. “Lower your tone and watch the way you talk to her or so help me Alpha, these fucking creatures out here will be the least of your worries.” I warn him through gritted teeth. “SHE. MADE. A. MISTAKE.”
Noah glances over at Aria and forces himself to calm down. He goes around me to talk to her and she backs away from him, swatting his hands away. “I’m sorry.” He apologizes, gently gripping the side of her head with his hands and forcing her to look at him. “But don’t you realize?” He rests his head against hers. “Even if it WAS a girl and she was in danger, you can’t just go running towards danger Skittles. I’d lose my shit if anything ever happened to you.”
“Really?” Qi scoffs.
“Qi, don’t.” Noah sighs, clenching his eyes shut.
“I’m never going to be good enough for you, am I?”
“Do you really want to do this right now?”
“I love you Noah, but all you see is HER!”
“Is there a point to your rambling?” He swings around to face her. “You knew what this was when it started. I told you not to fall in love with me.”
“But I did, and you know what…I deserve better than this.”
“Then GO FIND IT!”
Pain spreads across Qi’s face and she turns away so he won’t be able to see her cry. We don’t have time for this! We need to find Gavin, get Asher, and get back to Petrem. “That was cruel Noah.” Aria surprisingly speaks up. “You know, it might help her to understand the boundaries of your relationship if you’d STOP SLEEPING WITH HER.”
Gratitude spreads across Qi’s face and she nods to Aria, thanking her. Noah’s flabbergasted that she would even come to Qi’s rescue. Me…I’M PISSED ALL OVER AGAIN.
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