by S King
“Don’t worry about it, I just need to find her.” I finally said, turning the Hummer toward the underground club and kept clenching my teeth in order to avoid an outburst of waterfall mouth.
“Good luck with that,” Dristan growled before clearing his throat. “What do you need us to do?”
“Nothing,” I snapped too quickly for my comfort.
Dristan didn’t deserve the outburst or the attitude that came with it. He wasn’t the source of the problem and I’d be an idiot to put him into deeper shit. Blowing out a hard breath, I bit back the apology and slowed the SUV as I pulled into the parking lot of the club.
“Don’t do anything. Had I known this was going to be our new way of life, I’d have never involved any of you to begin with.”
“Ok, Demir you’re worrying me. What the hell is going on?” Karina had obviously taken over the phone call during my silence and forced Dristan to stay out of it.
Glancing at the dark sky above me, I gripped the steering wheel tightly and gave her the only warning she’d need to know at this point.
“Karina when I call you and say run, you need to do it. Do you understand me?”
Movement from the corner of my eye, forced my attention away from what I was telling her and my best friend to do. Watching as Judge Alexi and Heaton crossed the parking lot in their normal designer suits, I wondered what the hell I had agreed to before leaving the OE HQ tonight. They had invited me to the underground club after the court was shaken up like a damn bag of glitter in water. And naturally, they didn’t tell me anything as to what the meeting was going to be about.
The only thing I did know was we needed to be somewhere private and away from anyone who may or may not be in cahoots with Sadvidge. None of us could afford to risk the chance of getting on the bitch’s bad side. Not now with her hidden connection to the only two people who would annihilate us without so much as a second thought.
“Hello?” Karina’s voice brought my attention back to the conversation at hand.
“Sorry?”
“Why do we need to run when you call, Demir?”
She needed an answer. Anyone in her shoes would, but I couldn’t risk her going off the deep end and think she could just throw a couple of Russian Heart bombs at the people behind this entire thing. She’d never get away with it and even if she did there was nothing guaranteeing the puppet show ended with the two people who shouldn’t have been the source behind our problems in the first place.
Instead of giving her an answer, however, I took a deep breath and got out of my SUV. “Just be ready. I’m going to get Luminous and then we’re going to figure something out.”
I hung up, not offering her anything other than a surface level answer. Now was not the time to have a back and forth with Luminous’s sister. Besides, nothing would come from a shouting match with her anyway. For once, Karina Rizzo would have to blindly trust me and hope I knew what I was doing in the process.
Shaking my head, I snorted on the thought. Karina and Luminous were known to look someone dead in the face and tell the offending party just how much bullshit they weren’t going to buy. Now was no different. With the exception of Luminous not being around.
Crossing the parking lot, I made sure I wasn’t followed as I stepped through the guarded door of the club and narrowed my eyes on the dim lighting within the corridor.
The club didn’t have a name or any distinguishing logos. Unlike Nine Lives, this place was about as bland as a prison and worse than a concentration camp. Whatever hid behind the doors and within the walls was yet to be determined. But I had gotten a general idea of what I was walking into as the dim white lights overhead started fading to red. There was no music or drunken chatter to mute the sound of my footfalls. No screaming or moans to hint at the environment I was headed toward.
An eerie silence clawed its way through the hallway as I advanced on the room Alexi had told me to come to. If it weren’t for my station or the fact I didn’t want to be entirely caught off guard, I’d have turned around just to confirm I was alone. Then again, I’d never been one for the horror show of not trusting my own paranoia.
“Demir.”
I nearly jumped out of my skin as Judge Heaton came from the room to my right. Seemingly out of nowhere.
“You okay?” He asked, offering me a drink.
I was hesitant to take the amber liquid but needed something to calm me enough to get through the rest of the night. Not only that, but if I were being truly honest with myself, I was ready to bolt from the building and not bother looking back. But I couldn’t do that? Could I?
Not with Luminous still missing and now with the newest bomb hanging over our heads, bolting wouldn’t be in my best interest. So I did the only think I could in this situation. I took the drink and nodded to the other judge.
“Yeah, I’m fine. What the hell is this place?”
He nodded to the room he had just come out of, “it’s something of a boys club.”
My eyebrows slashed down hard as I followed him in the room only to be greeted with an eyeful of blood, punches being thrown, and deliverance being handed down.
“A fight club?” I asked, looking around the room.
It was nature for me to check all of my points of entry and possibly routes of escape. Years from being a guard member, I had concluded. Hell, it wasn’t like anyone that had been classified as an experiment didn’t check their surroundings. In fact, it’d be odd if they didn’t. And even odder if they just took the invitation from two senior judges as a night out on the town.
When I concluded there was nothing more than the door we had come through and a wall of two way mirrors being the only way any of us were getting out of this room. I took in the details of what was behind the mirrors. As if this were an auction club, the fighters had only the two way glass to fall against while getting their ass handed to them.
“Retired guard members blowing off steam,” Alexi sighed and watched the fight going on. Like with anything else, the older man looked about as enthused about the fight as watching paint dry.
Heaton fell into the chair beside a small table. Opting to focus on his drink and me instead. “I’m sure you’re wondering why we invited you here.”
“I am,” I nodded, staring at the fight in front of me.
“Take a seat,” Alexi turned away from the two guard members beating the hell out of each other. “The judges are debating whether they should go against Sadvidge or remain as is.”
I made a face as a low blow was dealt before asking. “And your stance is what?” I asked looking between the two men.
Heaton and Alexi looked at each other for a moment as if having a separate conversation amongst themselves. Maybe it was from years of serving on the bench together. But I’d be a liar if I said I liked when they acted this way. The two older men were like bad little kids and the result from their mental conversation was usually something bad.
I raised a brow at either of them, waiting to be let in on the secret I was missing. Finally Heaton looked at me and took a deep breath, like he was bracing for a war. As if he already knew what my answer was going to be before he said anything.
“We want Luminous to kill Sadvidge.”
I had been swirling the drink Heaton had given to me before entering the room and was about to try the amber liquid when his words hit my ears. For a second, I considered putting the drink down and leaving just to come back and try again. But I knew there was no use in trying to rewind time.
Looking at the judges who had taken me under their wings, I frowned.
“Excuse me?”
Alexi sat up and rubbed his hands together, “Luminous is alive and well, we know that much. We want to help you two—”
“But you need something in return,” I finished for him leaning back in the leather seat as I stared at a new fight getting ready to start.
It was one thing for them to know I wasn’t fully embracing my role as a judge. It was something completely diff
erent to know they were on my side and wanted to help in any plan I could come up with to save Luminous and leave. But why now? Just because Sadvidge had crossed the line?
If we were being honest right now, I knew Sadvidge had done things just as bad as tonight in the past. For Heaton and Alexi to have had enough at this point was telling me there was more to the story and I just needed to figure out what.
“It’s not just that, but…” Heaton trailed off forcing me to look in his direction.
“But?”
Lifting his eyes to me, I saw the demons that tormented him. “It’s time to end this.”
For a second I couldn’t do anything but stare at the two of them. Never in my life had I thought Heaton and Alexi would be the type to know when to call it quits. Sure, we all had our limits and what was more important was knowing when those limits had been reached. Afterall, we were a specially designed society of individuals who promoted law and order. Demanded nothing in return and took very little for granted.
Having been trained in the art of war, combat and fighting to stay alive. It was really no surprise to me that Heaton and Alexi were just as fed up with our reality as me, Dristan, Karina, and Luminous were.
“Losett,” Alexi looked at me, the dim light in the room casting haunted shadows over his face. He looked older than he normally did. Actually, he looked exhausted. As if everything he had gone through and dealt with had come crashing down in this moment.
“We know you and sect leaders Rizzo and Slater were the reason Luminous was able to escape from Ravendowager.”
I could pretend to be ignorant to the situation or I could find out why they decided to erase the little tid-bit of information within the announcement from the PG’s members. Like when I changed the laws about guard members cross-mingling, both of the judges in front of me had managed to photoshop and scrub the announcement to their liking.
Only what they wanted everyone else to see was given and the rest? The real notice. Well, that golden scroll of information was gone from this world without a trace. At the thought, I smirked but in truth, I knew my guard had to be up.
“How?” I finally asked, throwing caution to the wind. Whatever was going to happen would either play in my favor or be my end. So in reality, this was just a gamble I’d have to take.
“It was in the original announcement.” Alexi admitted.
So they had photoshopped the official notice, knowing Sadvidge would have a field day ripping me and my friends to shreds. Well, it was good to know my own theories weren’t that far off from the truth. Still, I remained neutral as the conversation continued.
“Makes sense,” I grumbled, throwing back the amber liquid. Whiskey. My favorite.
“Demir, do you remember what I told you at Nine Lives?” Alexi asked.
I nodded, pouring another drink.
“I meant it, and this is the way to make things happen.”
Rubbing my hands over my face, I sighed. They made a valid point, but the problem was simple. They were banking on the not so true fact of Luminous being easily accessible to me.
She was gone and of course, I knew I was going to have a hell of a time finding her. Especially with her talent for hiding when she didn’t want to be found.
Years of knowing her had played a key benefit when it came to going hand-to-hand with my perfect match. But that didn’t mean I knew what went on in the darkest parts of her mind or where she retreated to when life became too much.
So, how in the hell was I supposed to find Luminous when she was in the current mind state that had her hiding from me? Mentally, I played devil’s advocate as I considered the fresh glass of whiskey.
Assuming I found her and told her the truth about the people behind our creation. She could either set out to kill said creators and help Heaton and Alexi. Or she could flat out deny the truth and go back into hiding. If she chose the former, how was I going to convince her to kill Sadvidge?
This time I did laugh at my own mind. Who was I kidding? She had killed Lovett without batting a lash and didn’t seem to be torn up by the end result. So, would going after Sadvidge be any different? Probably not.
Looking at the carpet, I decided to put my faith in the men sitting across from me. “I don’t know where she is now.”
“What do you mean?” Heaton’s brow furrowed, “what happened after Ravendowager?”
“She didn’t know about Slade Zuko being executed. When I told her she left and,” I shrugged, frowning at the floor. “just disappeared.”
“This isn’t good.”
“Ya think?” I asked and met his eyes, “she’s like a damned ember in the wind that I can’t contain.”
Alexi rubbed his forehead, “not that, but Sadvidge and the owners have ordered the Regal Guard to find her. She has maybe three months, max.”
“They’re that good?” I asked.
Heaton scoffed and watched the new fight going on behind us, “from what we know.”
“Why are they doing this?” I mumbled to myself as I stared at the floor.
“Who? Sadvidge or the Owners?”
“Both.”
Heaton stared off into space while his voice took on a sinister tone. “Luminous killed Holt. Sadvidge was in love with him.”
“So, you’re saying this is payback?”
Alexi shrugged. “If you want to split hairs about it.”
The three of us fell silent as the muffled grunts and bones cracking sounded behind us. To a certain extent, I understood where Sadvidge was coming from. If someone killed Luminous, I’d want to bathe in the killer’s blood. But my understanding ended when the two people who had been behind this entire situation appeared seemingly out of thin air.
They may have thought they were doing the right thing by keeping the truth hidden behind whispered orders and hushed commands. But once Luminous and the others found out the truth, both Sadvidge and the creators’ days were numbered.
Taking a deep breath, I finally lifted my eyes to meet Heaton and Alexi’s.
“What happens if she’s caught by PG or RG and brought in front of us?” I didn’t want to ask the question, but I had to know. The game had been set in play and there was no getting out until it was over.
Heaton grounded his teeth together, “if the worst comes to that then we’ll have to play dirty too.”
“Meaning?”
With a solemn look covering his face, Alexi leveled me with a look of determination that I hadn’t seen before now.
“Keep sect leader Rizzo and her explosives close.”
Chapter 15 Joker & Harley Quinn
“I’m fine!” I wasn’t but I’d be damned if I allowed Shang to know the truth about what was happening to my body. Ripping my arm from his vice like hold, we stumbled into the cave on the edges of Ravendowager.
How was it that every time I tried to go back to Castlehedge, I always ended up in Ravendowager? It was as if the smaller city was something of a beacon to my hellbent life.
Pushing my hair away from my face, I looked around the cave with narrowed eyes.
“You look like shit!” He shot back, tossing his backpack against the cool rock.
“You’re one to talk!” I flapped a hand at his ripped shirt and shorts.
Although I was thankful for the view, I didn’t like how part of his skin was hanging by a thin slice from his knee. Or how his handsome face was beginning to swell and change colors from the abuse he had taken from the hands of his sister and her minions.
“You look like you’ve been ran over by a deli slicer!”
He jabbed a finger at me, “had I not gotten you out of there you’d be dead right now.”
“I didn’t ask you to save me, prick.”
If I knew exactly where I was, I’d have just left and headed back for Castlehedge. But I didn’t know my precise coordinates and was too beaten and broken to care. Besides, it wasn’t like anyone outside of Karina was looking for me. And if Demir decided to shut down his tough guy act, I wasn
’t too confident on allowing him to stand in front of me without a little blood of his own pooling at his feet.
Meril had said Demir was the one to send her. Granted, taking the words of a mercenary over the man I had known for the better part of my life wasn’t smart on my part. But for the time being I didn’t have any other options. Whatever order she was trying to execute, Demir’s signature had to be the one on the order.
“You’re going to get me killed.” Shang gripped and fell on the ground to examine his knee.
Narrowing my eyes on him, I debated with myself to just kill him here or leave him be. I had had enough of men telling me I was an inconvenience to their lives. I hadn’t asked Demir to save me in any situation. I hadn’t asked Shang to protect me from his psychotic sister, yet here we were. Both of which had taken it upon themselves to insert themselves in my affairs and wanted to point the finger at me when things got hairier than they already were.
Deciding the best move I could make was staring me in the face, I remained calm as I said.
“Then let me make things easier for you,” bowing to him in a mock fashion. I spun on my heels and headed out of the cave. Or at least, I thought I had.
Shang grabbed my arm, jerking me backward, “are you insane?”
“Yes! Now let me go!”
My ribs couldn’t handle too many more falls, jerks, or pushes. But given the current state my body was in, I had to get out of the cave. With the lack of light and the inability to see fully in the dark, I didn’t need to force his hand and get into a physical fight with him.
If the situation took a turn for us to have a hand-to-hand then I’d surely be thrown against a hidden rock and telling Shang to be gentle wasn’t something I was about to do. Besides, he’d more than likely have yet another reason to bite my head off if he found out I was trying to breathe through the pain.
I was about to open my mouth and demand he let me go, but he did the complete opposite of what I was expecting. Pulling me closer, he put a big hand over my mouth and pressed me to his chest. What the hell was going on now?
