by Jada Tarrant
A few of the other darklings took the young kid away as he approached the office. Closing his eyes, he whispered a silent prayer. Nothing bad, I hope.
Nope, it was nothing bad at all as the leader's face said that he was impressed by something. The thing was, what did he do? That was the main thing going through his mind.
“Based on the test results so far you have a great hold on your mental beast and you're in great shape. We think you can make it into second major class,” the leader said. Second? Drew's thoughts hollered. From what he remembered he was in fourth. The man laughed. “We divide it based on mental performance, differing abilities, and shifting skills.” The man was tapping his fingers on the desk, making Drew nervous. “You can shift into Alpha Wolf, which is second class. Dragon is first.” Then Drew raised a brow in question. That's just odd, he thought. But the leader had more to say. “You'll be with us for a while, but you deserve a break tor est.” The leader then shooed him away, making him leave the room. “Goodnight Hayes.”
The darkling that was just with him earlier was in his bedroom, practically taking the upper bunk bed. Drew sighed, since it was in his best interest to keep them close somehow.
“What's the name kid?” Drew asked and the darkling froze. His eyes had nearly flashed him blind. “Eric Sarson,” he said as his gaze dropped from the floor back to Drew. “I prefer Sarson though.” Ah, likes to keep it professional, Drew noted to himself. He perked up a smile sensing the kid's fear. “Don't worry about me lass,” Drew said and rocked the boy's shoulder. It hardly seemed like he was moved.
“Thanks,” Sarson said and buried his head into a pillow. The sight nearly made Drew want to sleep, but there was too much going on. He thought he'd be alone to make a phone call, if the person answered. Shoving that thought aside, he pulled out the phone and dialed Nathan. It went straight to voicemail for the tenth time, and Drew tightened his grip on the phone. Why won't you answer me?
Frustrated, he threw his hands up having a fit with himself before he jumped onto the bed below. Sarson believed that he was upset beyond words that he could tell, and it all seemed to fit the bill so perfectly. But Drew didn't muster a single word as he sat there, in fumigated. The only thing he wanted right now was to make sure that his baby was safe, and the damn guy didn't answer his phone.Idiot! Drew smacked his head, exhaling in relief as he felt the blood rush back to his skull. This week was the most frustrating one by far, only making him more mad. Hell, it's been about a month since Nathan had responded to anything.
For the past few months Drew had debated on whether or not to tell his boss about his daughter, labelled as 'troublemaker' by RAD. But seeing as to the angels were pissing off every death agent known to man, he said screw it.
Primarily, the boss wanted to see him when he woke up so Drew maybe slept for four hours before waking up. Sarson's snoring was the reason as to why he woke up so early. Glaring at the young one, he slipped out of the bed to put on the uniform given to him the other day. The only significance of it was the fact that it told everyone his class, which second class was rare. Too many of the rules had changed since he had grown up with any. Only one thing didn't seem to change. The thirst to make order happen.
Once Drew cracked the door to the office open, he was immediately seated by the leader's intense glare. The sight of his power always made him uneasy since he could kill him at any given moment.
“I hope you slept well,” the man said and smiled, seeing Drew's exhaustion. “You'll be trained by another person and I of the same class. To kill.” The word kill repeated itself in Drew's head, making him shiver. “We'll start when Mr. Kyra arrives.” With that, he guessed that it was the other person in his demon class. The two people that could very well tear him apart, but at least at the moment they were allies. Knowing that made him confident that his death wasn't anytime soon.
“All right. So where do I stay until we start?” Drew asked. He was getting antsy to do something, because being the focus of the leader made him nervous. The man laughed. “In that seat until I say so, hayes. You haven't earned the privilege to free roam yet.”
The thought made him grown, and he already knew he couldn't leave. Blood oaths were dangerous and he agreed to one. He had only one reason to, and it was to save his daughter. But all that effort seemed to be wearing away on the man. His daughter's demon just surfaced a few days ago, making him cry out. If he hadn't been immortalized a while ago, it would have killed him by now not seeing her. Instead, it was annoying the shit out of him. At least his demon was now intertwined with his thoughts instead of speaking to him. That part of being a demon always drove him crazy.Why? Because there's no designated creature the demon can relate to but the human. It's like a clone of himself that's more improved with intelligence beyond his years. Having that knowledge come to him naturally now felt like a relief than having to deal with the demon's voice in his head.
Mr. Kyra walked in the room about an hour later. Drew and the leader had fallen asleep waiting for the man. Being the first one to open his eyes, the man smiled at him.
“Sorry for being late,” Mr. Kyra said and the leader woke up. “No problem. How did last night go?” the leader asked. The man took in a deep sigh. “Mission completed. But rumors have kicked up from the faerie courts that there's a rogue darkling,” he said and the leader became speechless. “That's all I know Maverick.”
Then the leader flexed his fingers a bit and let out a sigh. “Dispatch some class three people,” Maverick said, keeping his gaze on the ground. “See if they can find out more.” After that, he let his gaze fall on Drew.
“Guess we have some personal one-on-one training for now.” Maverick rose from his chair, watching Drew's face. It was unreadable, and he wanted to know why. “Follow me.” Then Drew got up, following him to the elite training arena.
Most of the people were shifting into their beasts as Maverick and him entered the room. Everyone stopped for a second to give Drew a cold stare that made him feel unwelcome. The door slammed shut behind them, and Maverick looked like he was ready for a bloody fight. That was the main thing freaking him out at the moment.
“Everyone's practicing fighting in their animal form. But we'll be doing something different,” Maverick said, handing a dagger to Drew. “Our shadow halves will be battling for a while.”
Drew blinked at the words, for he believed that Maverick meant the middle shift by the term shadow. It confused him as he thought about it, and Maverick saw the fear as it was all in Drew's tightened fist.
“Concentrate on half of the shifting when I lunge for you. Your whole body will become ghost-like which means the blade will go right through you. Begin.”
The leader leapt forward as Drew forced his mind into the shift, making his body dematerialize the moment the blade reached him. His pulse thundered. So now I attack him?Maverick couldn't see him anyway, but somehow he managed to turn to the dust the moment the dagger touched him. The whole point of the lesson was to help him when fighting darklings or shades, which he didn't believe they'd have to fight against. Angels, demons, and uncooperative faeries would be the main targets.
Nearly nine hours, and it looked like the man was just beginning to get tired. But he did a grunt that meant time out, and Drew figured he was done for a minute.
“The others will train you later on dealing with faeries and demons,” Maverick said sternly, giving Drew a cold glare. It almost made him want to run away. “Who will I be training with?” Drew asked, curious. “With third to fifth class,” Maverick said, turning his back to him. “You are dismissed.”
CHAPTER 18
DARK COURT
~Maverick~
Shuffling files around on his desk, Maverick was searching for a letter that RAD had sent him. Despite being disorganized, he forgot what it was about. Surely it was a threat for all he could remember.
Frustrated, he let out a sigh and concentrated on a different subject. Drew and Sarson, as they were the newest editions to t
he team. But rather than that, he expected both of them to be very inexperienced with their demons. Hayes shown that he had good control over his half and he had him initiated barely two days afterwards. Hell, he was the most impressive darkling he's ever met with one flaw. He doesn't use his powers to fight. Now that was what everyone was working on changing at the moment.
Knock, knock! Maverick shot his gaze up to the darkling's that entered. It looked like some people were waiting behind him. The smell calmed him which meant one thing, they were demons.
“What's going on?” Maverick asked as he let them sense the surprised tone. No one has ever dared to step foot onto Dark Court premises for nearly a century. And yet, that has ended today.
“Doom Crew wants a favor,” the third-class darkling said, looking over his shoulder. “It's quite interesting, so we brought them to you.”
Curious, Maverick waved them away so he could get a better look. It wasn't their leader, for he knew he was a death angel. These two looked like well trained demons that could make him work for a minute, maybe two.
Pushing all those thoughts aside, one was ready to speak. “Tristan Amber, shifter specialist. Wolf shifter,” the man said humbly. The other one was still quiet. “Julies Velasquez. Seer,” he said with his arms folded. Well, at least that pointed out the possible threat as he pinned his eyes onto the wolf. “What favor do you seek?” Maverick asked as he rubbed his fingers along the edge of his desk.
“Usfer requests a tutor for the young darkling in our crew,” Tristan said as he saw the shock on his face. Their words sank in very quickly. That must be the rogue darkling everyone's talking about.
Noticing the demons were stirred, he knew he had shown too much interest. So he took a moment to breathe as he slightly mulled over it. “And what is the purpose if I do it?” Maverick asked, raising a brow. The seer appeared ready to answer. “An ally against RAD,” Julies said blankly. Mentioning RAD made Maverick's stomach churn. He'd be an idiot if he rejected help. His team might be well-trained, but RAD would outnumber them. That was the only thing holding him back from making a move.
Both of the demons smiled as they knew the leader was interested, and they were happy that the rumors about him didn't match up to be true. It looked like he was a man torn between duty and his family he had created. As if the man was like their leader's other half as a demon, but something wasn't quite settling right. Maverick hadn't uttered much and seemed to have a secretive personality. One that would take trust to open up to.
“I don't know who we'll assign to your darkling yet, but he/she will get trained. I'll need two weeks,” Maverick said as he felt the demon's hearts jump with glee. “But if he/she is at the age of initiation, they'll need to be transferred here.” And with that, the darkling would be stuck working for him if the person hasn't allegiantly signed with Doom Crew. A weird feeling told him it was probably already done. Having DC as an ally would be good enough for now.
-
~Drew~
Drew overheard the whole conversation as it was being told when he should have been taking his lunch break. But not, his gut told him to follow the demons as they might have answers. It was right, as his daughter seemed to be going down a path of being turned into a trained killer. The only thing going through his mind now was getting Maverick's approval. Or if worst comes to worst, tell him the young one is his. But then even that would make him suspicious and put him back at square one. Drew had worked too hard to gain the privileges he has now.
As if the meeting had ended, the demons looked lost as they stumbled out of the office. Maverick had slammed the door shut, which clearly meant he was busy.
Drew crossed paths with them as he figured it would be time for his next lesson. One of them lightly grasped his arm as he came to a halt.
“How do we get out of here?” Julies asked. Drew blinked, but he knew they'd ask. “Follow this hallway down and fork a right.Exit is three doors down,” Drew said as he watched his words sink into the demon's head. He smiled. “Thank you,” Julies said and they left. Now he just had to suck in a few breaths before Mr. Kyra kicked him around again. He swore that the man knew no bounds and took whatever measures it takes to kill.
After about three hours of being slammed into a wall, Drew was getting tired. Mr. Kyra wasn't even following the 'no magic' rule he implied. It didn't say anything about shifting, so he'd try that approach next.
Mr. Kyra was using the middle-shift to his advantage to keep himself untouchable. But based on his patterns there was a moment when he was visible. He'd have to shift that second and pin him to the ground.
Deciding that moment was soon, he let his alpha side take over. Mr. Kyra just realized that he made a mistake once he had become visible. Drew lunged and pinned him to the ground, growling as if he was angered. “Well done Hayes. Now get off of me,” he said and Drew got up, shifting immediately into human form. The animal still wavered in him, as he bared his teeth at him. It was one of those moments where he didn't care if the demon took over. The feeling felt good.
“Was that angel or faerie?” Drew asked, curious. He wanted to know if there were anything else that was tedious. Especially since the angels were far worse than faeries. The frown on the man's face told him there was much to do. Fuck.
“Either,” Kyra said, getting closer to Drew's face. But the man cupped his face, making him stare right at him. “Angels are rather unpredictable, depending on what type. That's why we're constantly training.” Then Drew let his gaze roll over to the others hard a work. Well, that explains everything.
“Okay, what's next then?” Drew asked. But he was sure that was a stupid question as Kyra's eyes intensified with fire. “Whatever you need to learn. Research, pursue, and learn from your mistakes. We all build from the ground up here,” he said, looking around. “Everyone's had their fair share of losses. Nothing's perfect in this world anyway.” Then when he turned around he sensed Drew had another question. “Rest. Recover. Research. That's what you do for the next few days.”
Well, Drew was looking for something more interesting to do than sit on a laptop all day. The damn thing took nearly ten minutes to load to google. He flipped back onto his back and cried out silently in frustration. He desperately wanted to be reunited with his daughter, and yet it required so much bullshit.
Drew had already learned what faeries were capable of at Jada's school, which made him focus on one thing, angels. Arch angels, death angels, and fallen angels. At least those were the ones that popped on the screen other than Nephilim.
Death angels and arch angels were trouble. In fact, the leader of both DC and RAD are death angels. Drew scratched his head wondering why, but based on the little information there wasn't enough to make a connection. But one article stated that arch angels send them out to do missions for them, which he assumed they were the big bosses with the power. They hardly reveal themselves on Earth, as they blended into society so perfectly.
Lastly, fallen angels. They make about a good sixty percent of RAD's members. Why? Because they wanted to gain their wings back or become human with the help of a death angel. How? The mystery seems to have too many secrets to be put on the internet. Besides, the page only had two measly little paragraphs.
Creak! The dorm door opened to reveal five lower class demons. They were just kids though, of the darkling that entered. Kyra, what the hell? But before he could respond the kids jumped into his lap and made themselves comfortable. Kyra looked happy.
“Surely you have kids too,” Kyra said and chuckled. Then he looked down at the laptop. “Thought you could use a little break.” Kyra, kind? Something's wrong. At least that's what Drew felt being around kids. His daughter kept coming up to the forefront of his mind. Don't tell him. The task seemed simple enough.
“Yeah,” Drew said, agreeing with him. Kyra's eyes then lit up. See, all he wants to know is too personal. Keeping that personal knowledge to himself, he met Kyra's gaze. The man wanted him to elaborate. “How old are you?�
� he asked. “42,” Drew said and Kyra seemed surprised. “You haven't aged one bit, as you look like a young boy. Is there anything you'd like to tell me?” he asked. Everything in Drew's body told him to yell no, but he kept calm. “Nothing I can think of at the moment,” Drew said with a coy smile. It seemed to unnerve the man. “I think ti's time to put the kids to bed.”
After that, Kyra eyed the time. “All right kids. Time to go home,” he said and eyed Drew. “Boss wants to have a meeting between Sarson, you, and I. Something about an assignment.” The man shrugged, and Drew hoped it was about whatever he eavesdropped on earlier. “Sweet dreams.”
CHAPTER 19
DARK COURT
~Drew~
Sarson and Drew were the first ones in the conference room just like Kyra had ordered last night. Drew's pretty sure it was about sending one of them off to help his daughter. And he sure as hell wanted it to be him.
Nearly an hour later Kyra and Maverick arrived. They both looked like they hardly slept at all last night, but Maverick seemed to be more alive. It was like insomnia was something the man was used to.
“I haven't told any of you what's going on. And Kyra, I figured out who that rogue darkling is,” Maverick said and Kyra's eyes snapped up. Now the man was paying attention. “Who?” he yawned. “A very untrained darkling with our new ally. Doom Crew. Speaking of that, I need to send one or maybe two of you to assist the darkling,” Maverick said as he felt Drew's hot gaze on him. It made the leader nervous to think about what was on his mind. “But I think Kyra would be the best choice in retrospect. You three can all discuss it as I go get coffee to wake up.” Then Maverick left the room, hoping he'd come back to more talkative people.
