by S King
It was one thing for her to come back from the dead once, but twice? The courts—namely Sadvidge would want her laid out on a silver platter just so they could take turns driving the knife in one at a time.
Blowing out a hard breath, I glanced at Slade, “just do what you’ve been doing and make sure you find her first. If she is alive, she’s going to come gunning for Lovett.”
“Can you blame her?”
“No, I’m just saying though.”
He nodded understandably and sighed, “ok, boss, anything else?”
“No, thanks. Have a good night,” I looked at my watch and started getting ready for the night ahead.
“You too, boss.”
§§§§§
Nine Lives Nightclub was the exact same as I had last seen it. Bouncing lights, happy drunks, flirtatious laughter mingling with the latest popular songs and thrashing bodies of guard members taking the night off from handling orders.
The scene was nostalgic at best; flooding my mind, memories of the last time I had been here came rushing past my mind’s eye like a movie screen. Luminous in her short dress, the curves being hugged in a seductive way. That devil may care smirk lifting the corners of her mouth as the mask hid away the rest of her features. She was stunning that night and what was worse, I hadn’t even told her.
Swallowing the regret, I weaved through the crowd. Dristan, Karina and Slade were tucked away in a corner booth, roped off for VIP members. Granted, Travis and Maggie—the owners of the establishment—only considered VIPs to be the ones with the highest bankroll for the night. If you couldn’t pay, you couldn’t play. There was no politics in the reasoning or the method behind how they had ran their business. A pleasant surprise and relief when it came to needing a break from the rules and orders between the three guards.
“Demir!” Karina shot out of her seat and pushed Dristan out of the way as she ambled toward me. “I didn’t think you were going to come.”
I smirked, giving her the present I had picked up on the way here. She knew better than to touch me, understanding what would happen if she did. The only reason Luminous knew about me seeing her death was thanks to mine and Karina’s big mouths spilling the truth. Needless to say, Karina never touched my hands and I never stared in her eyes for too long.
“Congratulations on your promotion,” I said, nodding to Dristan and Slade.
“Why thank you,” she smiled, staring at the box wrapped in gold paper. “What is this?”
“Open it,” I took a seat next to Dristan and grabbed a shot glass as the gold paper went flying around the table.
Karina—at times—looked like a little kid when she opened anything meant to be a surprise. Maybe she enjoyed the feeling of being a kid on Christmas that came with receiving a present.
“You didn’t,” she stared into the box, too shocked to touch the contents.
“I did,” I said sarcastically as the first burn of whiskey hit the back of my throat.
Laying in black and gold paper were two military grade grenades and several compact bricks of C4. Beneath the paper, a set of army throwing stars engraved with her initials and the design she had created for her Russian Heart bombs.
“Oh Demir,” she breathed, her finger running over the design.
“You’re welcome,” I took a quick scan around the room. Nobody who had been in my list of black orders was living their best lives within the walls of the club. A good thing, I’ll admit. I didn’t want to have to call in the Honor Guard on such sacred grounds. But I was still a judge of Onyx Elite and had a job to do.
The four of us fell into a steady stream of conversation about nothing of any importance as the late hours raged on. And for a short time, I had almost pushed the memories of Luminous aside. That was until my phone buzzed once, twice and a third time to alert me of a text from the judge’s chatroom.
“Excuse me,” I said through clenched teeth as I quickly went to the bathroom.
Locking myself in a stall, I dug my phone out and stared at the screen.
A meeting with the judges of Royal Sapphire Courts will be held at 22:30
My head fell back against the stall wall as I ground my teeth together. I had maybe forty-five minutes to get back to the neutral meeting grounds and find out what in the hell Royal Sapphire wanted. The only time the blue elite jackasses wanted to meet with the Onyx judges was when they received a Black Diamond Order and a request for marriage at the same time.
Another text came through, making me look at the device again. But this text wasn’t in the group chat. Instead, judge Lucieller from RS was strictly addressing me.
Be advised, your vote will hold no power.
What? I frowned at the text, flipping back to the group chat to see if I had missed anything. My vote for what? That didn’t make any sense and if I were telling myself the truth, I was almost afraid of what I was walking into.
From what I could tell, the text was as simple as one could get. There was a meeting. The two most powerful courts amongst the experiment society were having a little get together. What was so confusing about that? Moreover what in the hell were we going to be voting on that my vote wouldn’t count?
The possibilities were endless when it came to what the RS wanted to talk about. But still, what was coming down the pipeline? Rapidly, I forced my mind to think of every possible scenario as I kicked off the stall wall and headed back to the table Karina, Dristan and Slade were sharing.
“Hey, you ok?” Dristan asked me as I took residence in the booth beside him.
“Have you heard anything on the streets about the Royal Sapphire courts?”
“In what way?”
I shrugged, watching Karina and Slade dance on the buzzing dance floor. “Anything, anything at all.”
I was grasping for straws. That much I was aware of. But I couldn’t tip my hand at telling Dristan what was going on. The last thing I wanted to do was drag my best friend into yet another shit storm that was probably going to turn out horribly. Just like last time.
He twisted his mouth to the side and narrowed his eyes on the back wall. If I could count on anyone, it was Dristan. Since taking over my position, he had been able to keep me filled in on what was going on in the guard, the streets and next to everyone’s personal life.
“Well there was…” he trailed off frowning as if he were trying to remember the details of what he was going to say.
“What?” I asked, sitting up a little straighter.
With a frustrated sigh, he raked his fingers through his hair before looking at me. “Rumor had it after all of the changes took place, the OE and RS were discussing a possible creation of a new guard.”
“What?” I snapped.
“Yeah, the blue guard? Platinum?” He pursed his lips and tilted his head, “something weird. Anyway,” he shook his head, “once all of the stuff with yours and my promotion, all talk died on the subject. The judges never got a chance to discuss it—you know with the hunt for Luminous’s body and all of that.”
“But why would the courts want to create a new guard?”
“Hell, I don’t know, probably because they have you now and realized they needed Luminous in order to take down the HG.”
It made sense but I didn’t want to face reality. If OE and RS created a different guard under the guise of adding much needed members to the field, neither Silver or Gold were going to approve of the move. If it was a ploy to hunt down Luminous in the hopes of HG being demolished. Well, that was a different story within itself.
Slowly, I shook my head, “something’s not adding up.”
“Does anything ever make sense?” He countered and looked at me from the corner of his eye.
I made a face in agreement and checked my watch, “I have to get out of here.” I shook my head and sighed at his accusatory look, “I know I just got here, but a meeting’s been called, and I have to go.”
“Such a fucked up society we live in.” He grumbled as he nodded in understanding. �
�I know you can’t tell me what it’s about but do me a favor.”
I shrugged on my coat and looked at him, “what?”
“Watch your back with them, ok?”
I smirked and shook his hand, “I always am. Give my apologies to Rina for me, yeah?”
“You got it,” he nodded, turning his attention back to the dancefloor where Slade was keeping a respectable distance between his gyrating body and Karina’s.
Smart man, I thought to myself as I ducked out of the back of the club and into the cool air. Winter was coming to its end and I was thankful—like most of the experiments, for the warmer temperatures and ability to leave home without the bubble coat that made it hard to move.
Taking a deep breath, I made my way out to the isolated highway and back to civilization. All the while thinking about one of my happier moments with Luminous.
“What the hell is this?” She stared at me with her hair tied up in a high bun. While her half-awake eyes tried to focus on the pocket gun-knife contraption I had found in one of the drawers in the dresser at the hotel.
I rested my weight on my elbow as I looked at the thing and frowned, “I really don’t know.”
“You woke me up…to show me something you didn’t know about?”
“You have to admit it’s cool.”
“I’ll admit if you wake me up one more time then we’re going to have problems.” She laid the thing down at my wrist and rolled over with her ass in the air and her face buried under the pillow.
It had been three weeks since we had said goodbye to our friends and only one week since my little break out from the BC. Granted, the break-out was more of a rebellion thanks to Karina deciding to blow the underground chambers to shit and back.
I smirked, putting the thing on the dresser as I crawled into bed beside her and looked down the length of her body.
“What?” She said from under the pillow.
“What, what?”
“Why are you staring at me?”
“Why can’t I just look at you?”
Tossing the pillow to the floor, she propped herself up on her elbows and glared at me.
“Demir Losett, you are probably the most annoying thing in the morning. You know that right?”
I shrugged, crossing my arms over my chest, “I wouldn’t know. Had someone allowed me to sleep the other night I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in now.”
“So, you’re saying this is my fault?”
“Not entirely, a majority?” I considered her and made a face, “absolutely.”
Rolling those harsh slate eyes, she blew out a hard breath. “What do you want as an apology?”
My eyebrows popped into my hairline, “are you offering something I can’t get from anywhere?”
She had understood my meaning and wasn’t having any of it. Slapping my chest, she pointed at me, “I was going to buy your coffee, but now you’ve just screwed yourself out of that.”
“Lumi!” I balked.
“Hmph,” turning her back toward me, she swiped the pillow from the floor. “Should’ve been smarter with your words,” shoving the goose down cushion under her head, she closed her eyes without a second thought.
I slid down the bed to her and wrapped a loving arm around her waist. The warmth coming from her soft body, warming the bed to just the right temperature.
“Have I told you lately how beautiful you are?”
She grumbled something incoherently, telling me she was no more listening to me than a man in the moon. At least, I could face her for another night of fighting without any embarrassment flowing between us.
I snapped away from the memory as I came closer to the edge of Onyx Elite’s court yard and breathed in the tainted air. Lingering in the shadows and throughout the rock of the building, were remnants of Karina’s explosive fuck you to the courts I was now a part of.
Gun powder had been ingrained in the cracks of the rock siding and cement stairs that led up to the historical building. Hiding behind a retaining wall, the building in question was something to marvel at. Especially at night.
A historical masterpiece, Castlehedge’s elite had called the building when it was visible to the public. With its arched windows and stained glass watercolor designs and Victorian style doors, I’ll admit the place was beautiful and something to marvel at. However, what laid behind the doors were secrets even the devil himself wouldn’t be able to endure.
Taking a deep breath, I glanced around to make sure I was alone. As if anyone within their right mind would think about stepping foot into the lion’s den. I rolled my eyes on the notion before jogging up the stairs and pulled the heavy door open.
Like the outside of the building, the interior was seamlessly designed from another world. Original crown molding, smooth rock walls with the ability to retain heat during the harsher months of winter and remain cool in the scorching summer. Solid mahogany wood flooring glossed to a high polish and artwork so meticulously placed along the walls made up for the perfect backdrop to a princess themed wedding.
My steps were light as I crossed the floor and hooked a left to go to the meeting chambers. Whatever the judges of either court had up their sleeves, I needed to keep a leveled head. But how was I supposed to do that when the only thing I kept hearing was Dristan’s rumor?
Pushing through the door of the chamber, I quickly made note of the judges that were present and who we were waiting on.
“Judge Losett,” Sadvidge smiled wickedly at me before nodding to a chair further down the long table. “Pleasure to have you here.”
For a second, I thought about snapping off her head for being such a bitch. Then again, I had to remind myself, she was nothing more than a bitter old woman who had gotten off on the misery of others for her entire career as a guard member.
“Judge Sadvidge,” I confidently responded as I took residence next to Judge Alexi.
He was much older than any other judge and didn’t waste his time with useless commentary or back and forth of why the sky was blue. Instead, he preferred to handle business with as little drama as possible and go back to his home tucked away in the mountains. Keeping his mouth shut until necessity demanded it, he simply sat back and watched as a scene unfolded in front of him.
“How are you?” I asked the older man as I took off my coat and modeled his crossed arms position.
He raised a bushy white brow to me and snorted, “I would’ve much preferred this to be done on a virtual call.”
“What is it about?” I asked, keeping my voice low enough that Sadvidge couldn’t put her little two cents in.
Alexi leaned toward me, knowing Sadvidge and the other female judges would interrupt him should he say something they didn’t like.
“From what I know, the RS want to recruit the Platinum guard.”
My heart kicked up its thump, thump, thump routine as Dristan’s words came slamming to the forefront of my mind.
“The who?”
“They’re the guard that handles the worst of the worst cases. Word got out to the scientists how Luminous River’s body was never found, and they want her either back in the lab or in the ground.”
“Wait a minute,” I frowned, looking at him. “So there’s already a fourth guard?”
He shrugged an idle shoulder, “there’s always been four guards. The scientists demanded those who had concrete knowledge of the guard to keep their mouths shut.”
“From the beginning?”
He nodded.
I tried to put the pieces together as I asked, “so this is a summons from the scientists?”
“Yes.”
“But why? The HG are doing everything they can to find her body.” It killed me to play the role of avid supporter to a guard I loathed worse than anything else in the world. But I had to keep my plans and reasoning close to the vest.
Alexi shrugged, “it’s not good enough. All of this is coming from the very top and we don’t have another option but to either play it the easy way,
or the hard way.”
“Meaning?”
“We either agree to allowing the Platinum Guard coming in to clean house within the guards, or we pull rank on the scientists and continue to handle it ourselves.”
“I’m assuming RS is wanting to—”
“They’re split half and half, that’s why we’re here. They need someone to fall back on should the wrong decision be made.”
“All of this for Luminous River?” I asked looking around the room for a second.
He nodded, a ghost of a smile coming across his lips, “the kid’s got balls—even if she doesn’t.” Glancing at me from the corner of his eye, he shrugged again, “the scientists knew she was special but hadn’t known she was capable of such destruction. Not on this level.”
“They want her head more than putting her back on the table.”
Alexi shook his head subtly, “on the contrary. They want her to be part of the main driving force for the next generation.”
“As in…” I trailed off feeling the whiskey rushing up my throat and prepared for an evacuation drill.
He nodded, “they want to breed the poor girl like a damn dog.”
Chapter 3 Tears of Gold
I clenched my teeth and tried for the fifth time to hoist myself out of the wheelchair long enough to pull my pants down. With a growl of curses and pure determination, my arms finally took the weight of my lower body. For a second I heaved several heavy breaths over the sink and tried to think of a way I could build my strength back. It hadn’t been so long I had mentally forgot about my training and the methods the scientists used to make me the most feared sect leader among the three guards.
Memories of how I had jumped from building to building; fought with an opponent double my size. Scaled down a ladder and jumped on a dumpster floated into my mind. I had taken advantage of the simplest task some people never got to experience and now I had to start all over. I wasn’t complaining or feeling sorry for myself. After all, I hadn’t asked for my current situation, but I wasn’t going to wallow in self-pity.
