The Life, Love, and Death of Adara Marshall

by Phoenix Williams

  Releasing her hand, I grabbed her hips and slammed her down on the stairs. She howled in pain. Didn’t matter. She’d get used to the way I’d treat her sooner or later.

  My hands scrambled as her hips tried to buck me off. Her hands reached above her head, thrusting her breasts towards my chest. I groaned, my dick harder than granite.

  That’s it. Don’t deny me what’s rightfully mine.

  Adara Mashall was going to be mi—

  Pain sliced my right eye. My field of vision immediately decreased by fifty percent. I roared in pain as I fell off her, clutching my eye.

  “You fucking bitch! What did you do?”

  Adara stood, her chest heaving. The air smelled like pennies. Her face was nothing short of furious as I heard my blood dripping in a steady pit pat.

  “Get the fuck off my land.” She took the steps one at a time, and I took retreating ones backward, unable to fully see. “Never speak to me again. Do not search for me in crowds. If you see me on the streets, you better run. The next time, I’ll take something that doesn’t come in a pair.”

  She waved a blade in front of my good eye. My heart stuttered in my chest when I took in everything from her fingers clutched tightly around the handle to my eyeball hanging from the blade.

  Adara Mashall was more dangerous than I would have ever thought.

  “You have no idea what you’ve just done, you cockteasing bitch! You just started a war.”

  And, to my surprise, Adara Mashall uttered two words that would change the destiny of everyone in this fucking town.

  “Bring it.”

  CHAPTER 15

  ADARA

  The constant banging of a hammer had scared away all the nearby birds. I smiled as I sipped my tea. Alonzo was on my roof taking care of the holes I didn’t notice until I ventured up the second level.

  After that discovery, I went into town and asked around for a handyman. Everyone recommended the Leones family. They were supposedly wizards with a hammer.

  Alonzo took a walk around the house and gave me a list of major repairs that needed immediate attention. For the last few weeks, he had been getting this old place in good shape.

  I didn’t plan on selling it, but I knew if I did that it would get me a large sum of money. Luckily for me, and unfortunately for everyone else in this town, I wasn’t short on cash.

  “You gonna stare at me all day?”

  A half snort half chuckle escaped me as I rolled my eyes. “Come on down. I made lunch.”

  I ogled his body as he climbed down the ladder. His shirt was soaked with sweat and clung to his skin. I was hit with the sudden urge to lick him.

  Good Lord! What is wrong with me?

  We filed inside and washed our hands. Soon, we were seated on the back patio with bowls of Japanese style crab salad. Companionable silence filled the space between us as we ate, looking out at the forest.

  “Thank you for helping me, Alonzo.”

  “No worries, Adara,” he replied around a mouthful of salad.

  “Seriously, you really came through for me. I would have damn near drowned if it rained,” I laughed. “I’m not used to depending on anyone, but you showed that some people can be relied on.”

  “I was happy to do it.”

  “Good. Then it’s settled. You’ll take my money.”

  Alonzo set his bowl down and sighed. This was the only source of contention in our…relationship? Friendship? Situationship? He refused to charge me for all the repairs.

  “I’m not arguing with you about this, Adara…”

  “We’re not arguing. We’re having a discussion.”

  “Either way,” he continued. “I will not take your money. I know…I know you haven’t made up your mind on staying. But, there’s still going to be upkeep on this house…”

  “I got it.”

  “You just got here and don’t have a job yet. I can’t take your money in good conscious…”

  “Alonzo…”

  “It’s not charity, Adara. It’s just the honorable thing to do.”

  And, it was in that moment that a chunk of my heart tethered itself Alonzo Leones.

  “I have money,” I whispered.

  “Adara,” he groaned in frustration.

  “No,” I said, grabbing his hand. That same electricity that always surrounded us flowed through my veins as our skin connected. “You don’t understand. I have money.”

  I took a deep breath, readying myself to tell a story that I had never revealed to another living soul.

  “You don’t have to tell me how,” Alonzo stated, apparently seeing the pain on my face.

  For some reason, I wanted to tell him. I wanted him to know all of the broken pieces that made me who I was. A sick part of me wanted to see if he would run when he learned the truth. The desperate part of me hoped that he wouldn't.

  CHAPTER 16

  ADARA

  “When I was thirteen years old, I woke up in Japan. It was so strange. I definitely remembered falling asleep in my bed in Chicago. I woke up days later in the foreign land. I was lying on a cot in a room with windows that overlooked a koi pond and a mountain range. I remember it being foggy. My throat was dry, and my stomach growled."

  Alonzo gripped my hands tighter as they began to shake.

  “I sat up and my eyes collided with an old woman. She stood at the foot of my cot, a wooden staff in her hand. She placed the end under my chin and lifted it as she inspected my face. Then she spoke in broken English, ‘What’s your name, girl?’ I told her, scared to ask the questions running through my mind. She nodded at me and lowered her staff. Then she said, ‘Your training begins now.’ She walked away from me, but I yelled out to her. I asked her name, and she smiled and told me she didn’t have one.”

  “Wait. She didn’t have a name, or she didn’t want to tell you?”

  “She didn’t have one,” I answered. “Everyone in that small village just called her The-Woman-With-No-Name.”

  “That’s fucked up.”

  “For the next two years, The-Woman-With-No-Name trained me in the art of swordplay. We started with wooden sticks then staffs. Finally, I moved to actual blades. I was a natural. From pocket knives to glaives, if it had a blade, I could wield it. The-Woman-With-No-Name tried to make life as comfortable as possible for me, but I still missed my family. I missed my home. I missed America.”

  “I can only imagine.”

  “I held out on the hope that I would eventually go home…until that day. After two and a half years of training, Sora came to visit. He took one look at me and The-Woman-With-No-Name battle and announced I was ready. He wanted to send me on an assignment.”

  “Jesus, how old were you?”

  “Fifteen,” I answered with a shake of my head. “I knew that I could die if Sora sent me on an assignment. I wasn’t stupid. I was a scared child. When I refused, he dropped a bomb. My parents had sent me there to gain experience. He said they didn’t care if I died. If I did, then I wasn’t strong enough for the plans they had for me. I didn’t believe him until he showed me a video of my father saying those same words.”

  “I’m so sorry, baby.”

  He pulled me into his lap and held me close.

  “That night, I went to the edge of the cliff and built up my courage to jump. If I was going to die anyway, I would do it on my terms.”

  Alonzo’s arms held me tighter, and I breathed out the tension filling my body as I felt his lips caress the top of my head.

  “I had one foot off the edge when The-Woman-With-No-Name yanked me back. She told her own story, one eerily similar to mine. With tears in her eyes, she told me that I was not meant to die here. She said that I was the only student that she knew would escape this life. I would prove everyone wrong. I had the destiny of a dragon. I was a beast. That night, to me, she was no longer The-Woman-With-No-Name. I gave her the name Tsunade, after one of my favorite anime characters.”

  My body shook, and tears fell from my eyes. My parent
s’ abandonment was still a gaping wound.

  “Finish it, Adara. Tell me and be done with it.”

  “So, I didn’t fight it anymore. I took one assignment, then another and another. Somewhere along the way I just…broke. I stopped wanting to return to Hell Fire Valley. I never wanted my grandma to see me like this. I quickly rose through the ranks of Sora’s organization, becoming his number one assassin. Money poured in. But no matter how many expensive soaps and perfumes I bought, the stain and scent of blood always clung to my skin. I became a broken killing machine. I didn’t even recognize the good parts of myself until I got here.”

  Silence surrounded us as I let the truth of the last decade settle. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

  “Do you think I’m a monster?” I whispered, afraid of his answer.

  “Yes,” he answered without hesitation.

  Disappointment filled me until I thought I’d burst into tears. “Oh.”

  “That’s a good thing, baby.” He lifted my chin until we were eye to eye, breathing in the same air. “Now, I’m sure you’re perfect for me.”

  “How?”

  “Our monsters match.”

  CHAPTER 17

  “The Thirsty Howler?” the younger woman asked with a giggle. “What kind of name is that?”

  “One that matches the level of intelligence and imagination of the owners,” the older woman replied with a smirk.

  The two women sat in a back booth, sipping warm beer. It was the first time the older woman had bought her pupil to town. They had spent the last few months locked in her countryside home until the younger woman had gotten a basic grasp of her powers.

  The last thing they needed was her exposing their existence…not yet.

  “Okay,” the older woman stated. “Time for training.”

  “Now? I thought we were taking a night off!”

  “Quit your whining. We don’t have time for nights off. A storm is brewing.”

  The young woman rolled her eyes. Her teacher had been saying this for weeks, but it had been nothing but sunny skies.

  “Open your senses. Tell me what you see.”

  The young woman did as she was told and gasped, her body plastered to the cheap vinyl booth.

  “Damaged auras. Broken spirits. Sick souls.”

  “Good, now listen closely. Find a conversation and follow its thread of fate.”

  The young woman’s body shook as she channeled her energy. Sweat broke out her brow. Her breath came in gasps.

  The older woman wasn’t worried. The more her pupil trained, the more natural this would become.

  The younger woman’s ears twitched as she heard a conversation worth following.

  “That bitch needs to die.”

  “Calm down, man.”

  “You challenging me?!”

  “No, of course not. But, we don’t need to draw attention. Not in here.”

  “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

  “Maybe…we should let this go.”

  A low growl broke the silence. “That bitch took my eye. I’m going to take her life and her land. Her screams will belong to me. Her pain will belong to me. Her blood will coat my hands, intertwine us. She wasn’t mine in life. But, Adara Mashall will belong to me in death.”

  The young woman followed the strand of fate hanging from the conversation. Her eyes fluttered as her mind tried to process all that would happen.

  Breathing deeply, she turned her attention back on her teacher.

  “What did you learn?” the older woman asked with a smirk, having followed the same conversation.

  The young woman drained the rest of her beer before wiping the remnants from her lips. “There’s a storm brewing.”

  CHAPTER 18

  ADARA

  I was officially in love. It only took two months, but I finally got wifi up at the cabin. I damn neared cried. I could finally catch up on my animes. The place was perfect.

  I was also in love with Alonzo. That had been simmering for a while but when he told me that we matched…my heart was gone, but somehow more present than it had been in years. He had me leaning towards staying in Hell Fire Valley. Though, I wasn’t making any hasty decisions. There was still a lot of unfinished business back in Japan.

  He never made me feel like I had to be something that I wasn’t. I was free to show him all of my demons, and he would show me his in return.

  I had just settled down with a cup of tea and a bowl of popcorn when my phone rang.

  “Sonofabitch!”

  Snatching the phone up and my katanas, I headed towards the door before answering the unknown number. “Yeah.”

  “I see the years haven’t made you anymore polite than the last time we spoke.”

  My heart thundered in my chest. My palms were sweating so bad that I almost dropped the phone. My mouth was so dry that my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth.

  “Dad?” I whispered, my voice shaking.

  “Yes, and your mother is on the line too.”

  “Hello, Adara.”

  Tears welled up in my eyes. Unfortunately for them, they weren’t from joy. They were bitter and angry.

  “I…I..”

  “When are you going back to Japan, Adara?”

  My mother’s melodic voice did nothing to soothe the burning rage building inside.

  “Huh?”

  “If you can huh then you can hear, girl,” my father drawled. “You need to get back. You’ve been there long enough. Sell the land and leave. It’s not time for you to be back yet.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  “Watch your tone, young lady.”

  “Fuck you, old man!” I roared. “Any right you had to respect from me shriveled up and died when you abandoned. I don’t owe you shit. But, you owe me answers.”

  “Adara, listen…”

  “No, you listen. You discarded me. Your own fucking child. You dropped me off without so much as a courtesy letter. You had me trained to kill. I don’t hear from you in thirteen fucking years and the first time you call is to tell me to go back to the hellhole you left me in. Well, fuck you! Fuck the both of you! I’m not leaving Hell Fire.”

  “You might want to think this through, Adara,” my mother said calmly. “We don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  “Of course not, you wouldn’t want your prized assassin dying on you.”

  “When can we tell Sora to expect you?”

  “The twenty-fifth of Neveruary!”

  “Is that your final answer?” my mother asked.

  “Yes, you shitty excuse for a mother.”

  “Have it your way, Adara,” my father growled. “Don’t say you weren’t warned.”

  The line went dead, and that was when I heard it. The rustling in the trees. My eyes scanned the woods and landed on shadowy figures.

  My fucking parents!

  Of course, they had an insurance policy. Picking up my katanas, I gripped them tightly as the fifty men eased out from between the trees.

  “I’m giving you one chance to turn around and leave,” I called out.

  Condescending laughter was my only response.

  “All right then. Don’t say you weren’t warned.”

  CHAPTER 19

  ALONZO

  I wished I could be anywhere but here. If I had my way, I’d be laid up with Adara right now.

  “Answer me, Alonzo!”

  “What do you want me to say?”

  “I want you to explain yourself,” my father said, slapping his hand on my dining room table. “I gave you one job. Get the Mashall land. Now, you’re sitting her nonchalantly telling me that not only is she keeping it but you’re helping her fix it up. Why?”

  “I don’t see the problem—"

  “Why?”

  “As long as a Mashall keeps the land, everything will stay the way it always has—”

  “Why?” he asked again getting in my personal space.

  “I’m not
going to pressure her into selling.”

  “Why?”

  “I can’t,” I gritted out through clenched teeth.

  Taking my collar in his large hand, he shoved me against the wall. “WHY?!”

  “BECAUSE I LOVE HER!” My father dropped me to the ground, and I quickly stood. “She’s mine. I won’t allow you to take that land from her, old man.”

  I watched as his stare morphed from anger to understanding to humor.

  “’Bout damn time.”

  “Huh?”

  “I had hoped the old bat was wrong,” he muttered. He shook his head and sighed heavily. “Alonzo Leones, my eldest son, you fell in love with the Mashall girl. You no longer belong on my land. You belong on Mashall land with your mate.”

  “Dad…”

  “I’m sorry, son,” he said, cutting me off. “I knew better than to try to change fate. Different paths, same destination.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Go to her.”

  My father picked me up by the collar and shoved me out of my own house before slamming the door behind me.

  Mind swirling in confusion, I ran towards Adara’s. Cutting through Woodson Landing and the forest got me there in less than five minutes.

  The scent of gunpowder reached me before the sound of gunfire and screams of death. Blasting through the trees, my body stiffened as I watched the woman I loved in the middle of a battle. The ground littered with at least thirty bodies.

  She was deadly grace as her blades sliced through anyone crazy enough to go near her. Unfortunately, guns were long-range weapons. My mate was dodging bullets like a pro, but a few grazed her perfect frame.

  Storming the field, I screamed her name before giving into the rage building inside me.

  It was time to show her my monster.

  I just hoped she’d forgive me once she saw it.

  CHAPTER 20

  ADARA

  My body burned from exhaustion and pain. Years of training had taught me to push it out of my mind. Refocusing, I spun in time to miss a punch to the face. My blade swirled in the air before connecting with the assailant’s torso. Sliding it all the way to the left, I watched as his innards spilled out before he dropped the ground.