The drama between Thien and Aria gave me the diversion I needed to send Gavin a warning text. Thien won’t say where we’re going, but I know it has something to do with my brother. Qi and I exchange worried glances. Usually when I text Gavin I get a read receipt that lets me know he read my message. He hasn’t read it yet and I know we’re closing in on him.
“Down there.” Thien points. Like a bullet from a gun he aims himself at an abandoned hospital below. We land just outside and I know we’re close. I can feel Gavin’s presence.
For the love of Chi pick up your damn phone and read my text.
“Peace.” Thien calls out to Ethan, code name Peace. Ethan steps forward and scans the building. He has the ability to see all forms of life through every structure in the human world and most within the Legion.
“Second floor.”
Shit. Gavin’s out of time…
We enter the building through an open window and slowly make our way up to the second floor. Gavin is sitting in a chair surrounded by girls and Asher is tied to a chair seated across from him. Most of his team isn’t here, which means they’re probably out searching for the second weapon or clues on how to activate the first. I have to do something and I have to do it now. I give Qi’s hand a squeeze and she pretends to trip over some cans lying on the ground. The noise is enough to alert Gavin and Thien springs into action.
Gavin hurls spheres of dark light towards the door so no one can get through it. It’s too late. Aria and Thien are already inside. Thien flies through the air, latches on to Gavin and tosses him into the wall with a sickening thud. The half naked girls go running and screaming from the room.
My brother lands on the tile floor of the hospital and Thien is all over him. I want to help, but I can’t blow my cover. Thankfully, his team has returned and they send dark light after ray of dark light down into the hospital room causing us to retreat. Gavin joins his team in the sky, leaving Asher behind, whom we quickly surround. He contemplates coming back for him, but knows he can’t. Thien is way too strong for them to take on without some serious power behind them and I still need more information. I nod to him indiscreetly and he takes off with his team.
Aria rushes to Asher’s side and releases him. The first thing he does is rip off his blindfold. Realizing we saved him, he wraps his arms around her. “He’s weak. He needs to eat.” She informs us.
The closest thing to the abandoned hospital is a burger joint. Thien tosses some cash at the owner who agrees to close down for the night. It’s just Asher and us. He’s had two plates of burgers and fries and is currently working on his third.
“My parents are going to have a heart attack when I tell them what happened.” Asher raves.
Thien glances over at Hydro who places his index finger to Asher’s temple. It’s like being remote wiped via fingertip. Asher’s eyes flutter and then a blank expression surfaces. In a stern voice the future king leans over to Asher and rewrites the history of Asher’s mind with the power of suggestive thought. Asher blinks a few times and then he goes right back to eating his food and talking…NON-STOP.
“Do you talk so much because you’re nervous, or because you really have that much to say?” Aria asks.
She took the words right out of my mouth.
“Am I really talking that much? I mean my mother-”
“YES!” Everyone shouts in unison.
“Okay.” Asher raises his hands in the air. “My bad. I didn’t know being a great conversationalist was an issue. I mean we can’t all walk around brooding with RBF stares and what not. I mean think about it…if everyone in the world decided not to talk then-”
His voice caught in his throat as Aria’s blade pressed against his Adams apple. He was afraid to swallow. “I swear to Alpha if you don’t shut up I’ll cut out your tongue out of your mouth.” She warns him. Thien forces her to lower her blade and Asher swallows hard.
“Talking is bad…got it.” He nods. “So which one of you is taking me home?”
“Actually, you’re coming home with us. Call your parents and let them know you’re okay. Give them twenty seconds, tell them you love them, and you’ll come home tomorrow.” Thien instructed.
Like a puppet following the directions of his puppet master, Asher does exactly as he’s told. I’m so amused by Thien’s ventriloquism that I don’t feel my phone vibrating until it vibrates for the last time. I don’t have to take my phone out of my pocket to know who it is. It’s Gavin. Only I cant answer my phone at the moment, so it continues to buzz for the next ten minutes.
“You gonna get that?” Thien asks.
“Its not important.” I shake my head.
“What, you don’t like to text all of a sudden?”
I ignore his comment and glance over at Aria. In order to get his focus off of me, it needs to be on her. She meets my glance and he notices. “Did you enjoy yourself last night?” I ask.
Well I’ll be damned. Aria bliss is blushing like a little schoolgirl.
“What I do, how I do it, or how well I enjoy it is NONE of your business.” She replies.
“I beg to differ. The whole damn house heard you two going at it like two dogs in heat.” I smirk. “Tell me, how does his pregnant fiancé fit into all of this?”
“Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Wait a minute…you two are together and he has a pregnant fiancé?” The motor mouth practically salivates over the salacious gossip.
“We’re not together.” Thien replies.
From the look on her face, Aria is just as confused as the rest of us. “What do you mean we’re not together?” She asks.
Thien motions for her to follow him outside. The windows in the burger joint are thin and everyone is holding a bated breath, so we can hear everything they’re saying.
“Look, what happened last night…I didn’t mean for it to happen. I’m just glad we didn’t get very far.” Thien sighs. “Katnis tried to kill herself last night with my baby inside her. She did that because of this right here…you and I, and everyone is pissed from the Magistrate to the Watch, to fucking Petrem. They made me promise to put an end to us. At least until Katnis gives birth and I agreed to it.”
“Without talking to me?” Aria asks, hurt. “You’re not the only one in this relationship Havoc.”
“THIEN.” He corrects her.
“Did you stop to think for one second about what this would do to me?”
“Aria-”
“No…don’t say my name. You don’t get to do this to me and say my name.”
“I’m not calling you Shadow, its stupid, your name is Aria or Ar-star.” Thien replied. “And why the fuck did Noah call you Skittles that night?”
That was so long ago, I thought maybe he hadn’t heard me or didn’t care. It intrigued me that he would choose now to bring up my pet name for Aria. “Not that I owe you any explanation, but when we were younger Noah and I would come down here just to see what it was like. We were playing at what the humans call a ‘park’ and we made friends with some kids. One of the girls…Olivia…she gave me a handful of sour Skittles. I really liked them so whenever we snuck down here I would always buy a bag and smuggle them into the castle. So Noah started calling me Skittles.” She explains.
“Look…I’m not saying I don’t want to be with you. I do. Just not right now. I can’t.”
“So then you’re breaking up with me. Over Katnis Bolton.”
“Over my child.” He corrects her.
“You said it wouldn’t change anything.” She replied.
“That was before I found out she tried to kill herself Ar-star.”
“So that’s it? After last night are you really standing here telling me its over between me and you?” She asks with the sting of betrayal in her eyes.
He swallows hard and nods. “Yeah.”
Now things are quiet. Tears fill her eyes and they’re locked in an intense gaze that seems to go on forever. No one is breathing at this point, and then it happens. Aria unsheathes her blades at lightening speed and drives them into Thien’s chest. FLAWLESSLY.
His eyes widen in shock and he grips her wrists as he drops to his knees and pulls the blades out. His white blood squirts everywhere. The burger joint erupts into screams as everyone race to help Thien.
The KING. HAS. FALLEN.
ns 15.158.61.19da2
