Uendeligt: An Infinitely Forever Novel

by S King

  Brushing the thought to the back burner of my mind, I spun around with my back to Shang and Luminous bursting from the only exit we could find. Without blinking I shot each of the five guards charging toward us. Two received shots to the forehead, one caught a bullet in the throat, another right between the eyes. And the final one? Well, the final guard was the man who had ripped Luminous’s pants from her.

  Smiling wickedly, I adjusted my aim and fired. One bullet lodged itself into his groin and the other rammed into his heart. The big man dropped with agony filled cries bouncing from the sterile white walls, bringing music to my ears.

  “Get out,” Karina’s voice had the all too familiar giddy excitement that always came right before her explosions ignited the world in fire.

  I glanced at her in the rafters and nodded once before clearing the threshold of the lab entrance. Without thinking twice, I tucked the guns back in the waistband of my pants and zeroed my sights in on Luminous.

  She was still clinging to Shang like a life line, completely unashamed about her lower half being fully exposed. I couldn’t blame her, but damn it I didn’t like it.

  The ground started to slowly shake behind me, signaling the underground wiring was about to become some of Karina’s best work. Shang ran faster before sliding his way into the faint tree line just outside the radius of the explosion. I followed suit hooking a right to my own tree.

  “Thanks,” Luminous’s voice sounded far away even though she was standing just a few short strides away from me.

  Glancing at her, I had wanted to make sure she was ok. But I had to ensure Karina and Dristan made it out of the flames. When this lab went there was no doubt everyone stupid enough to be caught inside were going to go down with it. The first explosion made the three of us jump back at the massive flash of light. Mix it with the debris and shrapnel shooting into the sky like a fourth of July celebration, I knew instinctively the chemical room was gone.

  Somewhere in the roar of flames and whining metal, I heard Karina laughing and Dristan telling her to come on already.

  Another explosion, this one slightly closer to the tree line went off followed by the merciless screams and eruption of the generator room. The parts of the building that had yet to be touched by Karina’s pyrokinetic kiss went black.

  “Get your ass out here!” Dristan’s head snapped above the smoke coming from the exit me, Luminous and Shang had taken.

  “Oh hold your britches! I’m coming no—biyee!” Karina had the actual audacity to wave to whoever was racing down the hallway toward her and my best friend. But the woman knew what she was doing. To drive the point home, she shook a little box at the on-comers right as her finger lifted off the button.

  “Damn it!” Dristan ripped her from the door as the rest of Whitmore Crystal Labs went to hell and couldn’t bother coming back.

  I covered my eyes as the bright light forced out the darkness and the world boomed around us. All the while, Karina was busy laughing her ass off like she had just watched a comedy special with some of the greats. When the dust settled after what seemed like forever, I finally found the courage to lift my head and check the damage.

  Sure enough, Karina had done what she said she was going to do. Sitting in the middle of the isolated mountain tops, burning from hell to high heavens was the leveled lab that had demanded Luminous and her womb. Nobody came strolling out of the flames like some movie star and anyone unlucky enough to still be alive was getting charbroiled like a Burger King whooper.

  “Lumi!” Karina knocked Dristan’s hand away from her as she rushed her sister.

  “I’m—” Luminous didn’t even get the words out before her best friend bum rushed her down the mountain in a bear hug.

  “Awe damn,” Dristan rolled his eyes and kicked at the rocks as the two women rolled their way back to the path we hadn’t seen in the darkness.

  Shang made like he was about to follow Dristan when I grabbed his arm.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” I asked.

  He raised a brow at me, “I’m going to check on Luminous.”

  “Do you think that’s for the best?”

  “Do you?” He met my challenge with a sarcastic smirk covering his face. “Or have you forgotten why and by whose hand she was in there?”

  The bastard had a point. It was true, I wanted to smooth things over with Luminous, but I couldn’t very well do that if her attention was going to get diverted to the Platinum Guard sect leader.

  “Leave her to me.”

  He snorted, puffing out his chest, “we tried that before. Look what the end result is.”

  I grounded my teeth together and narrowed my eyes, matching his stance. “I’m warning you, Wylan. Leave while I’m still being nice. Thanks for your help, but it stops here.”

  “What does Luminous want, Losett? Because I can guarantee it’s not you.”

  My rage ignited like the flames at my back, “say it again.”

  A slow, malicious smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “What do you fear the most Demir Losett? What keeps you up at night? When there’s nobody around and you can’t escape your own mind?” He lowered his voice and stared into my eyes, “tell me.”

  For whatever reason, I was transfixed. Even though I knew it was all Shang forcing my darkest fears from me. I couldn’t stop the images from forming in my mind. All he had to do was pick from the lot. Somewhere deep in my lower conscious I heard Karina’s voice telling me Shang loved to play on the desires and fears of his opponent. And now, I was lucky customer one-hundred.

  Satisfaction morphed his face as he said, “how long do you think you’ll be able to keep it from her?”

  Pulling one of the guns from my waistband, I laid the hammer down and pressed it to his jaw.

  “Give it a try Shang and find out for yourself.”

  “I never said I’d tell her, but—” he pulled his own gun and pressed it to my own jaw. “I can tell you this is a bridge you don’t want to cross.”

  Just as we were about to see who had the faster trigger finger. Another explosion sent us flying away from each other. Why was it when Karina was involved it always demanded someone to perform a full circus worth of acrobatics? My back slammed against a tree before gravity decided it missed me a little too much. My arms and legs flailed as the ground came into painfully clear crystal view.

  In my mind, I wished Slade were here and braced for impact. Tucking in on myself, my ribs were the first to make contact with Mother Earth before I rolled and flipped my way across the rocky terrain.

  “God!” My back twisted painfully as my legs went over my head and my arm was pinned behind my back.

  For a moment, I simply stayed still. Every fiber within my body was cursing me with the wrath of a thousand suns. Why couldn’t I have just abandoned the courts and my guard? Why did I have to try to save everyone at once?

  Ok sure, I hadn’t done anything for Slade, but we all knew the risks before starting this suicide mission. And as it stood and flopped now, Karina was going to take all of us out.

  Grinding my teeth against the pain, I willed my legs to return to a suitable position and groaned as I wiggled my arm from behind my back. If Dristan didn’t learn to put reigns on that woman he was going to be a damned rotisserie chicken before it was all said and done.

  “Demir!” Speak of the damned devil.

  Slowly, I opened my eyes and found Dristan jogging toward me.

  “What the hell? Didn’t you two know about the final showdown?” He offered his hand. To which I knocked away.

  Flopping over to my side I ground my teeth again, “the better question is. Why didn’t you remind me?”

  He shrugged and stepped back to give me enough room to stand up. “I figured you—”

  “Shit!” I slipped on the muddy ground and grabbed for the rock closest to me. Naturally, I fell that much harder and cursed.

  Yep, go figure. I had a shattered femur and several broken ribs. Not to mention a throbbing
in my brain was taking priority over anything else. Grabbing my head I ignored the blood pumping out of my hand.

  “Come on big man, you’ve got a pissed off female waiting and you’re about two seconds away from blacking out.” Without warning Dristan took my weight and hauled me across his shoulders. “God, do you do anything but eat?”

  “I’m not fat,” I let my head lull against his back knowing better. But still, I closed my eyes.

  §§§§§

  “Well shit,” I breathed, staring at the two people who I had thought were tucked away in a safe hiding place. Especially after Karina had taken them far away.

  But no, I was staring at Luminous River’s parents right in front of me. Burton River was the kind of man who had always given me the vibe of kind, gentle, easy to talk to. But now? He was everything opposite of my prior thoughts.

  Standing easily at six-foot-four, he was built like a linebacker and hadn’t lost any of his muscle tone from his advanced age. A few more silver hairs lined his temple and a wrinkle or two were more pronounced than before.

  Shifting my gaze over to his wife—the woman who gave birth to Luminous, I almost cried. Blonde hair flowing in waves down to her waist created a waterfall of gold. Her blue eyes were bottomless orbs that seemed to pull someone in and never let them go. Luminous took after Guinevere’s height but somehow, Guinevere made the stance look Amazonian.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” Sadvidge’s nauseating voice broke through the deathly silence. “I’m sure those of you that have served on this bench long enough to remember.” She nodded to Mrs. and Mr. River, “the ones who sponsored the scientists. The people—who essentially created all of this,” she motioned around the courtroom, nailing me with a hard glare. “Mr. Burton River and Mrs. Guinevere River.”

  Oh shit. Oh shit. How in the hell had I missed it? The answer was crystal fucking clear from the beginning. The mysterious calls, the bribing of the random guard member. Knowing Luminous was alive when nobody—not even myself said anything. Helping me before anyone else.

  It had all been them behind it.

  I bolted upright, cursing the entire way as I grabbed my ribs. Between my back, knees, neck and head I didn’t know which body part was screaming at me worse.

  “The mind is a terrible thing, isn’t it?” The all too familiar voice of Shang Wylan came across the pounding in my mind.

  Forcing me to look at my hands for a second before, rolling my eyes. With any luck he’d have just as many injuries as I had and would be just as sore, so there wouldn’t be a fight. Instead, unfortunately, I found him leaning against a dresser with a cocksure smirk covering his face.

  “Why are you in front of me right now?”

  “That’s no way to say thank you,” he stopped staring at one of my smaller daggers and finally looked at me.

  “Fuck you,” I tossed my legs over the edge of the bed and grabbed my head. “Where the hell is Luminous?”

  “Around.”

  “Where is she, Shang?” I growled.

  A slow, malicious smirk lifted the corners of his mouth as he stared at me.

  “Why so serious? Do you really think she’s going to buy anything you have to say after what you had done? Not to mention the little secret you have lingering around in your mind?” He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and shook his head.

  Grounding my teeth together, I narrowed my eyes on him, “why don’t you worry about your own fucking business?”

  “Snappy, snappy.”

  If I had enough strength in my legs to get up and beat his ass from hell and back, I’d have easily done it. Considering how my legs were shaking and it wasn’t because of the adrenaline forcing my heart to hammer against my chest. I knew better than to do something so stupid as soon as I had woken up.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I cradled my head in my hands wishing someone like Slade would just come in and take the pain away from me.

  Shang sighed, content with the fact I wasn’t fighting him right out of the gates. “So, when are you going to tell her?”

  Naturally, we were the same when it came to asking questions. I had a feeling the move came from being a sect leader. Hell, Luminous did the same thing when she was forced into a difficult situation.

  “What?”

  Of course my bladder was screaming at me to release the pressure or there was going to be a bigger mess than figuring out a way to demolish Shang Wylan. Grabbing the nightstand I groaned and forced my legs to cooperate.

  “You know? How her parents have been hiding an even bigger secret than just remaining alive. When are you going to tell her?”

  “Why is it any of your concern?” My legs were still wobbly, but it didn’t stop me from kicking the door shut. We may have been men, but I had never been the type to want company when I used the facilities.

  “Considering you’re in my house, my aunt saved your ass and I’m sheltering you and that pyrokinetic couple from your courts. That would be why it’s of my concern.” His voice floated through the door.

  I rolled my eyes, leaning my head back on my shoulders. Unfortunately, whether I liked it or not Shang was right. There would be no way in hell I could keep this secret from Luminous for long. Not only that but I didn’t know fully if her and her parents had the best of relationships to begin with. So, how in the hell was I going to weasel my way out of it?

  If I hadn’t known any better, I’d have made the assumption that I had all of the time in the world. But I knew better than to trust anyone outside of myself and Dristan.

  Shang had a thing for Luminous and asking him to keep his mouth shut on the newsflash would be like wishing for gold in a third world country. Pointless and not worth the breath it’d take to get the words out.

  After flushing the toilet and washing my hands, I ripped the door open. I leveled my eyes on him and tilted my head, “how would you handle the news? Hm? Do you think it’s something she’s just going to be able to shrug off and accept?”

  “That’s not the point,” he kicked off the dresser and came to stand in front of me. “Whether we like it or not pretty boy, what we did last night isn’t going to just be swept under the rug and tossed to the side. You are aware that with your involvement, it’s fucking war on the courts.”

  I grounded my teeth together again before stabbing a finger in his chest, “you let me worry about what the next move is going to be.”

  He snorted, “no, Losett, the thing about this situation is it’s all of us. You don’t have the luxury anymore to dictate whether or not you can keep your friends and Luminous out of it.”

  “You think I’m incapable of handling this?”

  “No,” he shook his head and lowered his voice, “I know you’re incapable of handling this. There are more sharks in the water than you can handle by yourself and I’m not—”

  “What? You’re not going to let me do something?” I challenged.

  “Not if it involves Luminous, I’m not.”

  “Wake up, Shang, all of this involves her and there’s no way she can avoid it.”

  “And whose fault is that?”

  “Don’t think for one second that you’re going to weasel your way into getting close to her.”

  “I don’t have to,” he tilted his head, “she spent the past three months with me. In her eyes, I’m more trustworthy than you. Wouldn’t you say so?”

  Checkmate. The cartoon character had locked me into a fact check that handed my own ass to me. The problem? I had no defense for proving otherwise.

  Looking out the window, I saw Luminous and Karina walking along the riverbank talking.

  “She can’t find out,” looking at Shang I dropped my tone in warning. “Not yet not now. She’s just getting to the point that maybe things—”

  “She knows all of this isn’t even close to over, Losett.”

  “Not yet,” I warned again. Glancing out the window again, I couldn’t stop myself from tracking Luminous.

  He f
ollowed my line of sight and clenched his jaw. As sad as it was to admit, Shang and I were in the same boat. We had wanted to protect a woman that had been dealt a fucked up hand. No matter how either of us looked at it, this wasn’t going to be the last time Shang and I worked together. In the hopes of saving Luminous from a fucked up fate that forced her to be the center of attention.

  Between the two of us, Shang and I were staring down a rabbit hole full of problems and what was worse? He was right. We all were in this together and there wouldn’t be any way around it. Each of us had something completely different to offer when it came to strategy and executing plans. Whether it was Karina’s ability to blow everything to hell. Dristan’s strength and ability to see into someone’s mind. Luminous’s wit and will. My talent for sensing death. Or Shang’s passion for playing on someone’s fears and desires.

  It was a sick realization and without Shang’s help tonight, I didn’t know if Luminous would be able to stand on the riverbank talking to her sister right now.

  Finally, Shang stopped looking at Luminous and raised a brow to me. With a tone as hard as either of our jaw lines, he made it no secret where he stood.

  “I’m only giving you two days, Losett. Otherwise I’m telling her myself.” With that, he left the room and me to my thoughts.

  Two days wasn’t enough time for anything but maybe decide our next move. However, I didn’t have much of an option. I was a gambling man on the best of days and would even go as far to bet that Shang wasn’t playing around. He’d tell Luminous just as an underhanded stab in my direction.

  Getting my jacket, I kept an eye on Karina and Luminous talking before leaving the room. As I stepped out of the bedroom Shang had given me, I took in every little detail of the silent house as a whole. Minimal decoration and luxuries filled the space within the four walls and had I not been hellbent on clearing things up with Luminous, I might have taken a look around the house just to familiarize myself with the exits.