Noru 5_Ways Of The Wicked

by Lola StVil

  “It doesn’t work like that. I told you, we can’t just replace her.”

  “Yes, we can. We can at least try.”

  “Maybe you can, but I can’t. I’m sorry.”

  “GET OUT.”

  “Diana—”

  “GET OUT OF MY ROOM!”

  She turns away from me and faces out the window. It’s clear nothing I say will make things better right now, so I do as she asks and walk out of the hospital.

  Honestly, I feel like shit. I hated turning Diana down, knowing how fragile she is, but having another kid would be a mistake. The only good thing is that the team is on their way to see her. She will be in good hands with them. I know Pry will find a way to help Diana. That’s her strength as a leader: compassion.

  I think about staying in the hospital to see her and the team but then decide against it. There’s a shop nearby that can reconstruct events from the past; I called to have them make me a Replay of the day Sam died. I take flight to check on their progress. On my way there, I head over to Roslyn.

  I can honestly say that out of all the places in the world I have been, that glass house is my favorite. I go there when I have gone to the Hole too many times. I like walking in the house, knowing that Pry once stayed there. I recall the little things like her laugh or the way her hair smelled when we were on the sofa and she was leaning against me. I recall the shower and the fun we had that night.

  Yes, the sex was beyond anything I had ever experienced, but that’s not what makes Roslyn house so special. What makes it the best place on Earth is that here is where Pry and I were able to daydream about having a future together. In that glass house, everything was possible.

  I don’t like to fly directly to the house. I love the winding path that leads up to it, so I land there. I take out my cell to call Pry. I know I said I wouldn’t and that she needed time to herself, but after the visit with Diana and all the crap that’s happened, I miss her. And what would it hurt to hear her voice, right?

  What if my dad is right about us? Is there a chance for us to get back together? Okay, no matter what happens, when I see Pry, I’m just going to tell her how I feel. Fuck it. I’ll just be straight with her.

  You know what, why wait? Call her now.

  I pull out my cell to call her and tell her just how much I love and need her. She needs to know that I was an ass and that I’m sorry. I hold the phone in the palm of my hand, but before I can press the button to reach Pry, Roslyn house comes into view.

  “What the hell…”

  The entire house has been burned to the ground. All that remains of Roslyn is melted metal and shattered glass. It feels like a Soul Chaser has been placed on my chest and has sucked the soul right out of me, if I still had one, that is. I am rendered speechless with a mix of anger and despair. I don’t need to investigate. I know it in my bones; the girl I love did this. This is her way of making it official.

  Aaden and Pryor will never get back together.

  The plus side is, Diana looked much better when I found her in the alley behind the supermarket. I don’t know what Pry said to her, but it worked. Diana had life in her again. I never thought she would come back to reality after she asked to have another kid. But in that alley, she was close to her old self.

  After laying eyes on Diana, I focused on Pry. I hadn’t seen her in over six months. And there she was, narrowly escaping a horde of humans turned demons. I wanted to hold her and tell her how much I’d missed her. I wanted her to know how much she meant to me. And moments later back at the café, I did just that. And she told me how she felt, even after seeing what she did to the house. She told me she hates any part of her that has ever loved me.

  Aaden, enough with looking back! Focus on what’s going on now!

  I scold myself for drifting into a flashback. What the hell is thinking back going to do for me? The only reason I’m going back in my mind is because it hurts too fucking much to go forward; I’m standing in this alley right now, watching Pryor standing a few yards away from me kissing Bex. It feels like someone dipped a blade into scalding liquid fire, plunged it into my chest, and twisted it until the blade came out the other side. In short, I’m in hell.

  Aaden, stop thinking about what’s going on with Pry because she has already made it clear she doesn’t want to get back together. You need to focus on finding the Midnight Kiss flower so you can help the team save Swoop from Raven. When that’s done, you and the team can focus on killing Malakaro. You need to stay on track.

  I’m saying all the right things to myself, yet I know I am two seconds away from marching over there and shoving a fire ball down the Kon’s throat. He’s just taking advantage of how bad Pry feels that she attacked Swoop. What an asshole!

  I know it’s wrong, but I don’t give two shits about right or wrong. I start to walk over to them when my cell goes off. It’s my dad. Maybe he has a sixth sense and can guess when his hotheaded son is about to do something stupid and impulsive.

  I stop walking and answer my cell. My dad tells me he reviewed the contract and brought in several other angels to look it over to make sure that he wasn’t mistaken. I ask him what Hunter is trying to hide, and he tells me about the last clause of the proposal.

  “Are you sure?” I ask.

  “Yeah, I am.”

  “Damn him!” I shout as I hang up the phone and march over to Bex.

  “WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOUR FAMILY? WHY ARE ALL OF YOU DEMENTED ASSHOLES?” I demand.

  “Silver!” Pryor yells.

  “Will you stop calling me that!” I bark.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Bex replies sternly.

  “Did you know? Did you and Hunter cook up this little proposal?” I ask.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but you need to watch your tone with me,” he warns.

  “ARGH! Bex, why haven’t I killed you yet?”

  “You still don’t know the answer to that? You’re too damn weak,” he snaps.

  “Okay, everyone needs to pause and tell me what’s going on,” Pryor says firmly.

  “What’s going on is that this ass-wipe and his family have once again put their wings where they don’t belong. Why can’t you Paras ever take the hint and stay the fuck out of other angels’ lives?” I reply.

  “Is this about the kiss, Silver? Are you pissed that Pryor finally picked someone who is actually worthy of her?” Bex says.

  “Bex!” Pry scolds.

  “I’m sorry, but he needs to know that he can’t just come back into your life whenever he wants. Things between you and him are over, and him standing here raging like a maniac isn’t going to change that. You know, that’s so typical of you. You fly off the handle for no good reason. And we’re all supposed to stop and make sure you’re okay. Well, the little baby is going to have to fend for himself and learn to deal with his emotions better,” Bex informs me.

  “Too bad no one taught your uncle how to handle his shit; then maybe my mom wouldn’t be dead right now.”

  “Silver!” Pry shouts.

  “Stop calling me that!”

  “Your mom’s death wasn’t my fault,” Bex replies heatedly.

  “Nothing is ever your fault, Kon. I get tortured in a program you sign off on and it’s not your fault. An order is given and your Omari team blows up Pry’s house, with Easton in it. Oh, but that’s not your fault. And now, with this proposal thing, I suppose that’s not you either, right?”

  “Why don’t you just admit what you’re really upset about?” he replies.

  “And what would that be?” I ask.

  “The fact that Pryor didn’t kiss me out of pity like she normally does you,” Bex counters.

  “Bex, that’s enough!” Pryor shouts.

  “Pry, I know you hate me right now and basically want me dead, but you really need to pick better guys,” I tell her.

  “Don’t blow up at her because she finally sees who you really are and wants nothing to do with you,”
Bex says.

  “Bex, you have no idea what she wants,” I snap.

  “Oh, and you do?” Pryor says, turning to me with her hands folded across her chest.

  “So you’re turning on me for him?” I ask.

  “I’m not doing anything but standing here trying to figure out what the hell just happened,” she says.

  “Fine, I’ll tell you what happened. You picked the wrong guy to have revenge sex with on the side of a mountain,” I shout before I can stop myself.

  Shit!

  “What? How do you…?” The words die in her throat.

  “He told me. He’s going to use it against you,” I reply, lowering my voice.

  “What’s he talking about, Pry?” Bex asks.

  “I wasn’t trying to put the info out there like this,” I assure her.

  “Silver, put what out there?” Bex orders.

  Pry and I exchange a look of mutual regret and alarm.

  “Pryor, what is going on?” Bex now demands.

  “Bex, I was going to tell you, but there was never a good time,” she says to the Kon.

  “Tell me what?”

  “A few days ago, I did something epically stupid. I slept with Hunter.”

  The color drains from the king’s face. He’s stunned. Followed by anger and profound betrayal.

  “You…you slept with my little brother?” He gasps as if punched in the gut.

  “I’m sorry. It was just a really bad time and I wasn’t thinking,” she pleads.

  “I-I can’t be here,” he says as he takes to the air.

  “Bex, wait!” she says.

  “Hey, you can’t go after him,” I remind her.

  “Damn it, Silver, can’t you just back off so I can deal with this?”

  “Don’t snap at me! I was trying to help.”

  “How? I didn’t want Bex to find out this way,” she says.

  “Well, I’m sorry the show didn’t go as expected. But you need to know what’s going on with Hunter.”

  “Okay, what is it?” she asks.

  I tell her part one of the bad news.

  “Hunter taped us?” she says.

  “Yeah, sorry. I tried to keep you out of it, but…”

  “But what?” she asks.

  I tell her the second part of the bad news. The part that will surely piss her off to no end.

  “He’s blackmailing my dad into signing a proposal about the Noru. It has some hidden clause that my dad was able to make out after consulting some Healers.”

  “What does the clause say?”

  “It says we are the last Noru,” I reply.

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means Hunter wants all of us sterilized.”

  Chapter Eighteen:

  Fire And Ice

  Pryor calls my dad to get all the information. I guess it wasn’t enough that she heard it from me. A part of her doesn’t believe Hunter could actually be that big of an ass. I have no problem believing any awful thing a Para does. In fact, I’m genuinely surprised when they are useful.

  I can hear my dad swearing over the phone and vowing to kill Hunter. Pry does the smart thing and doesn’t add to the Akon’s rage. She tries to calm him down and focus on solving the problem. She tells him that we have other things we need to attend to as a team, and he demands to know about the current mission.

  She fills him in and it takes nearly twenty minutes to convince him that it would be better if he stayed behind. In the end, the only way he agreed was if we worked with a guide, a longtime friend of his who was familiar with Odessa and could provide weapons that would help us. The team flies over to see my dad, and Pryor sends a text to Bex, letting him know where we will be.

  So far Key has been able to hold in her emotions, but once my dad opens the door and hugs her, she loses it. He promises her that everything will be okay, but her fear is etched on her face. My dad takes her down the street to talk as Randy stands there looking stricken and helpless.

  “Do they make pills in the angel world that can make you less of a jerk?” he asks us.

  “Yeah, but they cause impotency,” East says.

  “Do you have one with you now?” Randy replies.

  “He’s kidding, Randy,” Pry says.

  “East, stop playing games. I was so awful to Key. I can’t believe I behaved like that,” the human says angrily.

  “Why did you?” his best friend asks.

  “Duh, because I’m an idiot!”

  “Randy, you just got a little jealous when she turned to the Para. I can see why. He’s got super-charged-up powers, a kingdom, an army—”

  “Diana, not helping,” I reply.

  “Oh, sorry,” she says.

  “I should’ve been supportive. She’s going through hell, and instead of being there for her, I act like a jealous ass.”

  “There’s this thing I’ve heard of and, supposedly, it can fix everything—it’s called an apology,” Pry teases him.

  “It doesn’t fix everything,” I mumble to myself.

  She shoots me an evil stare as if warning me not to push the issue of the two of us. My dad comes back over to us with a more composed Key. He tells us to go inside the house and that our guide is waiting. He then takes off again in hopes of finding out more about Hunter’s plans.

  “I’m sorry for the way I acted. I—” Randy says.

  Before he can finish, Key reaches out and embraces him. We enter the house and find a familiar face: Mrs. Maybelle’s friend Harris. He helped us out when we went to Mercy Island. He’s the half-angel version of Indiana Jones, as Randy put it. He has blue eyes, silver hair, and his signature worn leather jacket. Standing beside him is a guy about our age with blond hair and brown eyes.

  “This is my apprentice, Mateo. This is the first mission he’s going on,” Harris says.

  “I’ve heard so much about your team. I’m happy I get to be a part of it. I mean, really, you guys are…impressive,” Mateo says to Pryor as he shakes her hand.

  He might have been speaking to Pry, but he was looking at Diana the whole time. In fact, I don’t think he knew the rest of us were alive. I’m used to Diana getting attention, but it’s been a while since I saw her take an interest. She smiles with her eyes, stands up straight, and stares at him with growing interest.

  “Your devices were so helpful on our previous mission, Harris, thank you. What did you bring?” Pryor asks.

  Pryor is on autopilot. I can hear it in her voice. She is saying all the “expected” things a leader should say. However, under her composed tone, she’s stressed.

  “Shouldn’t we wait for Bex?” Key asks.

  “Bex may not be coming,” Pry says carefully.

  “Why not?” Key asks.

  “You know, they have a lot of ‘Kon’ crap he has to do,” I reply.

  “But he should be here. No offense, Randy,” Key says.

  “No, you’re right. The more help we have to get Swoop back, the better. He should be here. Wait; is he avoiding us because of how I acted before? Is this my fault?”

  “No, Randy, it’s mine,” Pry says softly.

  “Did you two have an argument?” Diana asks.

  “That doesn’t matter. I can’t believe Bex would bail on us over some spat he had with you,” Key says, perplexed.

  “It wasn’t just some spat,” Pry says.

  Everyone in the room looks at her curiously. I’m sure she’d like to discuss this with the team members and break it to them gently, but the fact is we need to get going and there’s no time to sugarcoat things. When she tells them about Hunter, the room is silent for what seems like an eternity.

  “How could you do that to him?” Key asks.

  “I know, I messed up,” Pry replies.

  “We need to stay on track. Harris, tell us what weapons you brought with you so we can get going,” I instruct.

  “Ah…yeah, sure. The first thing you should know about Odessa is that it’s the land of balance. So while there are sw
eltering lava rivers designed to kill, there will be frozen tundra designed to do the same thing,” Harris says.

  “Fire and ice. Got it. What else?” I ask, trying to move things along. Judging by the way Key is looking at Pry, the sooner we get going, the better.

  “Are there any hot babes there?” East asks.

  “Really?” Diana says.

  “After we save Swoop, I still need to make plans for my weekend,” he jokes.

  “I brought along the Inka,” Harris says, holding up the crystal in his hand.

  “That’s the device you gave us before that identifies creatures and tells us what their powers are, right?” Diana asks.

  “Yes, and if memory serves, you are a very skilled Healer,” Harris says to Diana. “By the way, when this is over, I’d love to have you. I mean—I’d love to have your take on some mixtures I’ve been working on.”

  “Sounds good,” Diana replies.

  “Do you have a device that can stop my leader from ruining every damn thing she gets her hands on?” Key asks.

  Crap.

  “I wasn’t trying to ruin anything. Hunter and I made a mistake, and why do we need to focus on that right now? We need to help Key. That’s where all of our attention should be,” Pry says.

  “I would love to do that, but there’s a Para whose powers we won’t have because once again you can’t control your damn emotions,” Key counters.

  “I know you’re worried about your twin, but you need to watch how you talk to me,” she warns Key.

  “The only thing I need to do is save my sister and get the hell away from the sinking ship you call a team!”

  “My invitation for you to get off this team still stands, Key. You want out?”

  “Maybe I do!” Key shouts in return.

  “That’s it! Pryor, upstairs, now,” I order.

  She is about to argue, but then she sees the hard expression on my face and she marches up the steps to the landing of the second floor of the house.

  “Harris and Mateo, whatever you have to show us, you can do it when we get there. We don’t have any more time to waste. Everyone head to the alley. We will be right behind you,” I inform them. They walk out of the house as I take the steps three at a time and confront Pryor.