Nobility (The Dystopian King Book 1)

by Mason Dakota

  Sometimes things do go according to plan.

  In less than a second, the flawless Lady’s face went from beauty to shock to anger before settling into rage. She reached for a concealed gun on her person, but I was already on the move. From the corner of my eye, I saw the guardsman draw his pistol just before Chamberlain struck and knocked him out cold.

  Alexandra hesitated just briefly, probably deciding which target to shoot. The hesitation cost her advantage. I grabbed her wrist, the one holding the gun, and twisted the gun free as I grabbed her by the throat with my other hand and pushed her back against the wall.

  “You do not want to do that; you could hurt yourself, Gorgeous. All I want is a little chit-chat and then I’ll be gone, and you can go back to ruling and terrorizing Chicago,” I whispered to her.

  I twisted around and threw her into the chair in the center of the room. Her impact rocked it back. She tried to leap to her feet to fight but froze at the sight of Chamberlain’s pistol and mine pointing right in her face.

  Very slowly she sighed and sat back down, careful not to make any sudden movements. Her expression wasn’t one of fear or worry, but of sheer annoyance. She looked perfectly comfortable in the face of potential danger. She stared at us with her arms and legs crossed and frown on her face that all said, “I’m waiting.” I smiled behind my mask and put away the pistol. Chamberlain kept his out.

  “That’s a good girl. None of this would have happened if you weren’t so determined to have my head. You really must learn to be nicer. All you do is walk around with this big frown on your face. You know they say life is a little sweeter when done with a smile, and you, Missy, just seem to be doing a poor job of that. How is a guy supposed to come and have a private adult conversation with you when you are so adamant on killing him before getting to know him?” I asked.

  “You certainly have a distinct way of getting my attention,” she said, “If all you really wanted was a chat, then you should have knocked. I’m not above accepting chivalry from my guests. I might have even spared your life if you had done that.” She gave a little smirk that sent a shiver down my spine.

  “Nah, I prefer keeping all my organs where they belong. I’ve grown quite fond of them working the way they do. Though I will admit that sometimes my stomach and spleen don’t get along after eating Greek cuisine. It makes them start boxing and my liver has to separate them. But what can I say? They’re rowdy, but they’re mine, and what sort of owner would I be if I allowed them to be put at risk by doing what you wanted?”

  “This is twice now that you have wrongfully misjudged my character and acted maliciously against me. In the manner of a day you have stolen from me, framed me, assaulted my men and me, and worst of all insulted my reputation. In all of this, the only convenience afforded to me is that you have sealed yourself off down here with no escape. It amazes me that you clearly still see yourself in the right, though I do not recall making any move or committing any wrong against you to invite such disrespect even in my own home.”

  “Let’s just say I believe in preventive medicine.”

  She shook her head and said, “I’m not sure what makes you more foolish, the fanaticism that you are acting as some sort of hero here, or the idea that you are capable of walking away from this.”

  “I fully intend to do both of those, and I’ll do it with style just to spite you.”

  “Why are you here? Are you simply looking for another opportunity to strike at someone innocent?”

  “I think you are the last human being who can call herself innocent.”

  She smirked once more, like a cat catching a mouse in a corner, and said, “Did you not just moments ago confess to actions that involved harming both me and my business out of fear, not out of justice but from wrongdoing? I believe you called it…preventive medicine.”

  I really didn’t have a witty response to that, she had me there. She smiled more and settled back a bit more comfortably in her chair like a queen getting adjusted to a throne.

  “Tell me…how were you planning to escape tonight? You can’t possibly hope to just walk straight out the door like you came in, can you?”

  “With style and a bit of elbow grease.”

  “Like how you jumped onto that moving monorail to escape? I have never heard of someone being so…stupid.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “Why the mask. It begs the question…what are you trying to hide?”

  I shrugged. “Who’s to say there has to be a reason or that I hide anything. Maybe I just like the soft feel of it on my face.”

  She chuckled. “Men who do what you have done are far too prideful and arrogant not to show their faces. Perhaps you’re afraid. Cowardice chokes a man’s pride like a parasite. You’ve made sure everyone knows you’re an Outcast. Someone who does that undoubtedly hopes to inspire your people into action. But fear makes you hide your face. It makes all your efforts vain. How can you inspire bravery with cowardice?”

  She continued her lecture, “It’s really quite pathetic. You’re nothing more than a scared little kid. Your charade won’t last. It will crash and burn all around you. Your people will turn on you. Your friends will abandon you. Everyone will hate you and despise what you have done because of your own cowardice to act like a man. Even I’m getting sick of your little show. It only makes me want to kill you and your little friend even more. So unless you’re going to prove me wrong, or allow me to do what I really want, I ask that you go ahead and end this torture for me because it’s shaming to be in your presence for this long.”

  “That is enough,” I growled. I could feel my temper growing. I hated that she could read me so well, hated that I was so predictable, hated that she was probably right about my future. But that didn’t mean I needed to hear it.

  She tapped her chin with her finger as if thinking to herself. She then said, “I only wonder how this all started. It had to have been something bad that caused you to put on this little cowardly act. What was it…daddy issues…didn’t get hugged enough as a boy? Or was it the typical spiel of your wife and kids getting murdered? I’ve seen it all and believe me nothing surprises me anymore. It’s always the same with men like you.”

  “I said that’s enough,” I growled again with my fists clinched at my sides.

  “No…I’ve seen men who have sought revenge for a dead wife and that’s not you. You’re not as trigger happy as they were. No, this had to be something further back, something from your childhood maybe? Something that pushes you to prove yourself. Something you failed at, and someone got hurt in the process…maybe even died. I see it now, you’re not motivated by revenge…you’re crushed by guilt instead.”

  Then her eyes got a little bigger and brightened up in realization. “You watched someone you loved die—maybe a parent or both—and you blame yourself. You failed them and now they are dead because of you. You couldn’t save them, could you? What makes you think you can do anything different now wearing that mask in the shadows. You’re a failure and people will continue to die because of you.”

  “THAT IS ENOUGH!” I shouted. I raised my hand to back hand her. She did not even flinch. She just stared at me in her little victory. I froze just before hitting her as it dawned on me. She wanted me to strike her, to lose control, to forget why I was there at all. She wanted to throw me off, make me lose my focus. Meanwhile, she would get enough information to track me down later—if I managed to escape—to kill me.

  Who’s really being interrogated here?

  I felt really outmatched, like I was dealing with an opponent too smart for me. I feared her more then than ever before. She was a master.

  I lowered my hand and laughed. I took two steps back and continued to laugh. Chamberlain glanced nervously back and forth from me to Alexandra. Alexandra cocked her head to the side. A wicked smile slowly spreading across her face.

  “You’re good, really good in fact,” I said as I continued to laugh, “You almost had me there
. What were you thinking? That after I struck, my partner here would fight to control me, giving you enough time to make your move or create some manner of discord between us? Or maybe you would fight back and cause enough noise to get your men’s attention?”

  She didn’t try to hide it as she shrugged. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.”

  “Yes, I can actually. Now all we want is to ask a couple of questions and to live. Then you can go back to hunting us and we’ll go back to making your crew look foolish. The answers don’t concern you, necessarily. We just think you have a greater chance of knowing them,” I said, wanting to get it over with before I actually did lose control. I felt dirty and exposed before her and desperately wanted to be out of her presence.

  “You intend to let me go?” she asked, and I almost believed her shocked tone of voice.

  “Let’s just say I’m too much of a coward and a gentleman to gun down a pretty lady tied up. All we want is some information, and then we’ll be gone, and you will be free. Do we have a deal?”

  “Ask away,” she finally relented. Her sudden acceptance to help caught me off guard. It did not seem like her to comply so easily.

  Careful, Griffon. She’s only looking for more ways to exploit you.

  “What do you know of a man named Ziavir Yiros?” I asked. My blunt question threw her. I watched her face morph from one of stoic control to shocked innocence. It made her look years younger, like she suddenly flashed back to a time before she’d spilled blood. She quickly changed her expression back to her cold attractiveness, doing her best to hide her slip up. But, I had seen it, and for the first time, I saw her as a human.

  “Ah, so you know of the man. Tell me where I can find him,” I said.

  That got her laughing. “One doesn’t find the devil, he finds you.”

  I sighed and tried again. “Okay, then tell me what you know of him.”

  She scrunched her brows together and stuck the tip of her tongue out in thought. She tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair. She was nervous, as if she were afraid that telling me what she knew would cause her trouble. It’s a bad sign when you see someone as dangerous as Lady Alexandra afraid.

  “I knew him a long time ago…before he was a killer,” she said after regaining her confidence, “Even then he was incredibly intimidating…and charming…and brave. He had a way of inspiring people to his way of thinking and did it with…such…ease. Text-book narcissistic…and yet acted with believable good intentions. But, he always thinks he is the hero of his own tale…just like you, Sweetheart. Oh, and my favorite part…he also wears briefs.” She finished that last sentence with an uncomfortable wink to Chamberlain.

  If she knew that Chamberlain is an Illegal, then maybe she’d stop trying to seduce him.

  “How does any of this help me find him?” I asked, a bit frustrated by her antics.

  She eyed me up and down and then smiled wickedly. “He’s the one then, isn’t he?”

  “The one?” I quickly responded.

  “He’s the cause for your guilt and need for redemption, isn’t he? And now you’ve finally gotten the courage to face him. Forget front row of your execution, I want to see him kill you. The man truly is an artist with a blade, as passionate with killing as he is with everything else.”

  “I ask again. Where can I find him?” I snarled.

  “Sorry, Sweetheart. I don’t have the slightest clue. He could be anywhere in the world or even dead for all I know. It’s been years since we last spoke, but you’re free to sit and wait here for him. He likes to visit me every now and then,” she said as she crossed her arms. I wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth or lying to me, but I wanted to strike out again. Thankfully, I was smart enough to keep my cool that time. I wasn’t going to fall for the same trap twice.

  Besides a gentleman never strikes a woman and if my mother taught me anything it was how to be a gentleman.

  It was odd that Alexandra didn’t know Ziavir Yiros was in town when she claimed such a close relationship to him. The man really was a ghost if even the Lady didn’t know he was in Chicago, unless she was lying to me. In that case, I was spinning around in circles. I felt like the job got a whole lot harder.

  Well I guess it was pointless for us to come here tonight. All we accomplished was to motivate a dangerous mob boss to kill us sooner.

  “Hey, Guys, you may want to hear this. Alison got something from one of her contacts. Apparently one of her guys at the docks reported that the docks are being cleared tonight for some unexpected special delivery by Alexandra’s orders. She has pulled even her own men from the docks. Some private security company has taken their places to watch over the delivery,” said Michael through my earpiece.

  “What’s at the docks?” I quickly asked trying to throw Alexandra off guard.

  She raised an eyebrow at me. (Apparently, she liked that look, or it was her face’s way of calling me an idiot.) “My guess…boats,” she said with a shrug.

  “You’re pulling your men and the workers from the docks for some special delivery, and a private security group is now managing it. If that doesn’t smell like you are in league with Ziavir, I don’t know what does. So I’ll assume you’ve been lying to me to try to throw me off guard, and I don’t appreciate that. Either start talking, or I go back on my promise and leave this place burning behind me. I like using explosives to make my point. They’re quite effective…and put on a good show.”

  Unaffected by my threat, she said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have any shipments coming in tonight, nor do I have any idea what is coming in down there. I was merely paid a handsome fee to loan my docks to another party this evening. Their activity doesn’t concern me, as long as I’m paid. People rent my territory at my discretion all the time to indulge their…hobbies and passions. It would be wrong of me to snoop.”

  “You expect me to believe that the infamous Lady Alexandra has a crime slipping under her nose and she has no idea about and no curiosity about what is going on? Nothing goes on in this city without your knowledge, or so the saying goes. Now answer my question,” I demanded.

  “You robbed me right under my nose without my foreknowledge—I never thought anyone would be stupid enough to do that. I don’t know what’s at the docks and I don’t have the desire to know. I don’t know where to find Ziavir either. If I knew I would tell you so you could walk right into the path of his next bullet. But, if you are so willing to get yourself killed, then think for a second. If a shipment is coming in that not even I know about, it’s worth looking into, wouldn’t you say? Maybe you will find your devil there.”

  I believed her, even if that last bit may have been her luring me into another trap.

  “What do you wish to do?” asked Chamberlain

  Just more puzzle pieces thrown together on the table with no clue on how they all fit.

  Alexandra might be in league with Ziavir or she might not be. The terms of their relationship were unclear at that moment. However, it was clear trouble was brewing and needing some snooping.

  “We go to the docks.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  I drew the gun I’d taken from Alexandra and aimed it right at her head. Chamberlain understood the message and stuffed his gun into his belt loop. Alexandra watched carefully but made no movements, not even when Chamberlain stepped forward and strapped her arms and legs to the chair.

  “So, this is your grand plan to escape? To be honest I expected more fireworks,” she said with a face that could break a man’s heart. I was far too mad to be affected by her charms. I won’t deny it; the urge to shoot her proved a strong temptation. She was a killer, and over the years I knew a few individuals who perished after crossing her.

  Pulling the trigger would be a public service, would it not?

  Michael said something, but my self-talk drowned him out.

  With just a twitch of my finger I can cripple the mob. I’d be saving countless lives, wouldn’t I?

&nb
sp; I’d never killed anyone before, and never thought I would, but right at that moment I began to see that I was capable. It would have been so easy. She was defenseless. I would have been declared a hero all over again. I would have done Chicago a favor.

  But, killing Alexandra would make me a murderer no different than those I hated, those I stood against, those I fought every night—no different than Ziavir. Maybe that was the only thing truly separating the two of us. He saw himself as a hero willing to do evil for what he believed to be a good end. I lived by a very similar code. But if I pulled the trigger I committed myself to becoming just like him. I’d be a killer.

  Could I live with myself after that? I can’t kill her. I’m no murderer even if she is. Even if she deserves death.

  I barely saw Chamberlain scoot toward me and place his hand on my wrist. I didn’t realize my hands shook.

  “Easy now, Shaman, don’t do anything you will regret,” said Chamberlain. He added force to my wrist to lower my gun, and I didn’t try to stop him. He smiled and moved toward the door, leaving me with the gun still in my hand. It was enough for him to stress his will but still allow me to have my own.

  Chamberlain cracked the door open and checked the stairs leading back up to the main floor. He gave me a whistle letting me know it was all clear. Then he slipped into the stairway. I didn’t know whether he moved to make sure the stairs stayed clear or so he wouldn’t see me lose control and kill Alexandra.

  What would he do if that ended up happening?

  All I could do was stand there, dumb-founded, and stare down at Alexandra, thankful for the mask as I battled my demons. Alexandra suddenly threw back her head and laughed, knocking me out of my daze.

  “Such a child, can’t even point a gun at someone without wetting yourself, can you? You’re a coward! I almost feel sorry for you…so weak. You’ll walk out this door and be dead in moments.”

  I gave a big dark grin behind the mask and whispered, “You’ll just have to miss out on the show then.” Then I snapped my fingers.