I’m in shock and I want to object, but as his consort, I do his bidding…not the other way around. I have to try and reason with him. I have to get him to understand how big of a mistake it would be to keep Reaper away from Noah. If anything, knowing Noah as well as I do…he won’t rest until he can be a part of his son’s life.
“Thien, we can’t take Reaper from Noah.” I sigh.
“Reaper will have Royal Blood in his veins Aria. That alone makes him stronger than most. He’ll also be a half-breed like me, which means he’ll have all the strengths and none of the weaknesses of being both. A child like that in a demon’s hands is asking for trouble. You know I’m right.”
“Yes, but Noah isn’t the type to just sit back and take something like that. If we threaten to take Reaper away he’ll do everything in his power to get to him.” I argue.
“Then terminate the pregnancy.” Thien suggests.
My mouth drops open and I glare at him in wide-eyed astonishment. How could he say such a thing? How could he even suggest something like this?
“You want me to kill my child?”
“Yes.”
My hand moved at the speed of light and struck him across the face. It did absolutely nothing to him. His face didn’t budge, he didn’t bat an eye…nothing.
“I will not, do you hear me…I won’t do that.”
“Then deny access to the child. In Noah’s hands he can be turned into a weapon and used against us Aria.” He argued. “Don’t make me be the bad guy here. Don’t make me make it an order.”
“As your second in command you can order me around, but as your consort your demands should be well thought out with the consideration of my position in all of this. If you order me to kill my child you’ll be killing me in the process.”
Thien took in a deep breath and carefully considered his next words. “I won’t lie to you, this is hard for me? There’s a part of him inside you and I wish it wasn’t there.” He admitted. “That being said, with his powers and his strength, your son poses a threat to every being within the Legion. You’ll be giving birth to the beginning of the end of this system of things Aria. I won’t be the guy who tells you what to do with your own body, but if you should choose to keep the child, Noah can’t be a part of his life. That part is an order.”
“And how would you suggest I do that?”
“Send the child away to where no one can find him but us.” Thien suggests.
“Okay.” I nod. I’m not completely sold on the idea, but I don’t want to argue. Instead, I’ll use the time I have to find another way.
“Hey. Look at me.” He grasps my head between his hands and forces me to look at him. “When the shit hits the fan, I’ll take full responsibility for this.”
“He’s never going to forgive me.” I sigh.
“Not at first, but in time he’ll understand.”
No he won’t…he’ll kill any and everything in sight to find him…including me…
I nod and Thien pulls me into his arms. His phone vibrates between us and the shocked look on his face tells me whatever it is, it’s bad. “What’s wrong?”
“They have the third weapon.”
“Okay, so what? We knew they were after it, it was only a matter of time before they got to it.” I shrug.
“You don’t understand.” He sighs. “The house where the third weapon was kept…it was sealed. Only Royal blood can break the seal.”
“How did they get in then?”
“With your blood.” He answered. The two of us are silent for several minutes before Thien breaks the silence. “I’ve been wondering why someone would stab you but not make sure you were dead. What if the demon wasn’t trying to kill you last night? What if he just wanted your blood?”
“That makes no sense. Why wouldn’t he want me dead even if he was just after my blood? He would’ve done the demon realm a favor by killing me, and demons never leave victims alive.”
“Unless he was specifically told you shouldn’t be harmed.” Thien said what I was thinking.
“The only demon who would care even remotely about my being harmed is…”
“Noah.” Thien finished my sentence.
We stared at each other in shock. Another long silence ensued. “That doesn’t make sense though. Noah looked just as surprised as we did that I was attacked.” I point out. “Not to mention the fact that he wouldn’t risk our child like that. The child gives him leverage.”
“You’re right.” Thien agrees, deep in thought. “Who else would benefit from something happening to you and the baby?”
“Qi.” Her name jumped out at me. “She wants me out of Noah’s life and she doesn’t want me to have any ties to Noah.”
“If Qi is behind this, then she probably knows how to find Gavin and the third weapon too.” He points out. “Let’s alert the team. We need to learn everything there is to know about Qi.”
Thien kicked into ‘leader mode’ and we both went downstairs. Thien filled Wake and Hydro in on what was going on, while I filled Willow and Pru in. They were all as surprised as I was, but in the end it made sense. The reason why Gavin was always two steps ahead was because he had inside information.
I didn’t want to say anything, because I didn’t want to cast any unnecessary attention on him, but Qi rarely did anything without Noah’s consent. While she had the most to gain from killing the baby and I, part of me wondered if Noah played a part in it too. I keep my suspicions to myself for now and decide to watch him closely.
A knock at the door puts us all on edge. Hydro answers the door and immediately bows. We all bow. Sensei Bleak enters the room, followed by two virtues. The virtues came for me, while our Sensei addresses the team.
“When I received my weekly update from the Republic I expected to hear about all of the wonderful things you’ve all accomplished.” He slowly walks the room eyeing every last one of us like he’s disgusted. “Imagine my horror as I read that not only have you managed to lose the third weapon, but your second in command is pregnant by a demon, and your general has lost his focus, surrounding himself with human girls doing things I cant even speak of. I sent you all down here as warriors among men, not a bunch of drunken…sex-crazed, teenagers with no self control or morality.”
“You have disgraced yourselves, the house of Muerte, your family’s and the entire Legion with your conduct. That is why I am here.”
“Forgive us Sensei.” I beg for his forgiveness. The others followed suit.
“A team is only as weak as its leader, so going forward, Shadow, you have officially been reinstated as General of this team. Havoc, you will be her second in command. Should you all feel the need to disappoint me again, I will dismember your team and replace it with your successors. Have I made myself clear?”
“Yes.” We all spoke in unison.
“Good. I will be staying here for the duration of your mission. Training resumes at three in the morning.”
Sensei Bleak headed down the hall to pick a room for himself and Thien followed. He wasn’t happy with being demoted and I knew that feeling all too well. When I was demoted it felt like the world had just given me a giant middle finger. Leading was the one thing I felt I was exceptionally good at.
Thien was never fond of taking orders from me, which was why we fought so much growing up. Don’t get me wrong, he loved me, he just hated having to obey me. He’s headstrong and prideful like that. The affects of this on my union to him should be…interesting.
“No offense, but that guy looks like he eats children for breakfast.” Ginger, code name Ghost whispers to me.
Noah and his team knew nothing of Bleak and what he was capable of, but we knew his methods all too well. “Shadow darling, please come with me.” Bleak insists.
I follow him into a banquet hall at the back of our large estate. Bleak rattles off several requests to Thien, who is trying to persuade him not to replace him as general, and then with a wave of his hand, Thien is sent away.
After closing the doors, Bleak eyes me from head to toe. “Havoc has one weakness…well…maybe two, but the one I’m most concerned with is you. You weaken him Shadow. Every bad decision…every demon you share a bed with…and every child born to you that does not belong to the future King of Blood Harbor is a threat to Muerte. Make no mistake about it, you’re responsible for his demotion and his reinstatement will be in your hands as well. Should your team fail to do what they were trained to do…what they were born and bred to do, I will disband every last one of them, except you.”
“What? Why? Why not punish me instead?”
“Consider it your punishment. A punishment I don’t want to have to dish out, but I will. You’ve forgotten the golden rule of being a part of Muerte. Yes, we deal death to those the Legion deems fit, and yes, sometimes it involves doing things we’re not proud of…but whatever we do, we do it together, we do it in the name of MUERTE. What part of sleeping with that demon put the interests of the Legion, the interest of your people, and the interests of Muerte before your own? NONE. You acted selfishly and with little regard for anyone but yourself and the space between your legs.”
“Sensei-”
“I AM NOT FINISHED!” He took my mouth away with a wave of his hand. I have no way to speak anymore. There’s a giant patch of skin over where my mouth should be. “Havoc has his faults, but you Shadow…your future is a bright one that you were willing to squander for a few moments of pleasure with the likes of Noah Archer. You put your ENTIRE TEAM IN JEOPARDY! Now look at you…you’re carrying the demons child.”
Bleak motioned for the virtues to begin extraction. I was rendered motionless as the larger virtue attaches itself to my navel. It jams something into my abdomen and begins to siphon the blue spark out of my body. Meanwhile, the other virtue attaches itself to my chest, monitoring my vitals. It injects something into my body that makes me calm.
“The child will be taken to a secret location where it will be nurtured until it reaches its full growth. Shadow…the Republic cannot risk the child falling into the hands of the demons. Noah Archer cannot be in the child’s life, not even for a second.”
He waved his hand over my mouth giving me back my ability to speak. “Noah will come after him and he won’t stop.” I argue.
“Then the child will be terminated.” He replied as if he’s talking about the weather or what he plans to make for dinner.
The larger virtue succeeds in extracting the baby spark from inside me and disappears in a burst of light. The second virtue follows. My son is gone and if I want him back I have to do as the Republic instructs.
“I hope you’re still as skilled as an assassin as you are with spreading your legs.” He laughs.
Furious, I lunge at him. Effortlessly he grabs hold of my wings, slamming me to the ground. I shoot sparks at him with my palms and he swats them away like they’re flies. “That was terrible.” He scoffs, shaking his head.
I flip myself onto my feet and then I go at him again. He manages to avoid my fists, sweeps my legs from under me and slams me down hard on the tile floor. “Again, but with more focus and less fury. A butterfly is more dangerous than you are right now.” He continues to taunt me.
I’d had enough and I was determined to end him right here…right now. I lunge at him, but this time I was able to activate a butterfly affect that rippled my image, creating three more of me. All four of me attack with deadly force. He rips the heart out of the first me, decapitates the second, split the third in half and stops short of impaling me between the eyes after I hit the floor. The tip of his spear is embedded in my skin and blood is running down my face.
“Tell me, what was the point of this exercise?” Bleak asks.
“To beat the crap out of me.” I reply sarcastically.
“No. That was just an added bonus.” He relishes. “Shadow, you’re led by your emotions. Had you have been focused instead of angry, you would have realized the obvious.”
“Yeah and what’s that?” I scoff.
“That had you have humbled yourself to begin with, you could have avoided the ass-kicking. I would have been pleased with your respect and allowed you to walk out of here in tact.” He pointed out. “Instead…”
He flipped his spear to the opposite end and struck me in the temple. Everything went dark after that.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
