by Lola StVil
“Go and wipe her mind. East, it’s the only way you can protect her,” I reply.
“Yeah, yeah, I guess,” East says as he gets up and heads to the door.
“Oh, and Easton?” I call out.
“Yeah?” he says, sounding troubled.
“I lead this team. You follow. That is your job. When I tell you to Mind wipe someone, you damn well better do it. Is that clear?”
“Yeah,” he says under his breath as he exits.
“And I hear you have given your kingdom over to Hollander. Is that true, Bexington?” I ask.
“Don’t feel bad about it. What matters is that giving up being Kon helped get you back. And really don’t thank me; I’m just glad you’re safe,” he says.
“I wasn’t planning to thank you. I was planning on asking what the hell you were smoking when you gave your kingdom to a jerkoff like Hollander!”
“What? I did it for you,” he pushes.
“Yes, and it was a dumbass move. Now we have the biggest power hungry asshole in the Para world running things.”
“I don’t care about that. I care about you,” he says, growing angry.
“I’m one being; you cannot put one angel over your kingdom. If you do, what kind of king will you be? You let Hollander play on your emotions. I need you to grow a brass set of wings and give Hollander this,” I say as I hand him a small flat crystal the size of a quarter.
“What is this?” the Para asks.
“It’s a Plate. There’s a message inside only he can read. Take it to him; tell him it’s from me. And tell him if he does not release the kingdom to you, I will be down to headquarters at first light. And as the humans are finishing up their morning coffee, I will be standing over him watching as the last sign of life fades from his eyes.”
“Pryor, you can’t bluff Hollander like that,” Bex replies.
“Who the fuck said I was bluffing?”
He looks back at me, worried and on edge.
“Do I need to make this an order because I will.” I warn him.
He shakes his head and walks out to do as I instruct. I look to the twins, who now remain before me.
“Swoop, I need you to stop all your DJ gigs,” I tell her.
“What? No! Why?” she asks.
“Because it keeps you out late nights and I want everyone inside at a reasonable time.”
“Pry, that’s not fair. You know how much I love what I do,” she pleads.
“Being a DJ is not what you do. It’s a hobby. And the time has come for it to end.”
“No, I’m not giving it up. Music is the only thing that’s mine. It’s the only thing that belongs to me,” she protests.
“There’s a DJ app on iTunes. You’ll be just fine,” I reply.
“Why are you acting like this? Why are you being such a bitch?” she yells.
“What is it in my voice that makes you think I am in the mood to be tested?” I ask in a deadly tone.
“Swoop shouldn’t have to give up her music just because you want her to,” Key says.
“Well, she can always count on you to take her home, if you’re not high and drunk, that is,” I counter.
“Pryor, don’t!” she warns.
“You are the third strongest Noru in this room and you have the self-control of a two-year-old human! How dare you take drugs knowing how much we count on you?” I rage.
“Leave her alone. She was going through a hard time,” Swoop says, taking her sister’s hand protectively.
“Well, that just makes it all better, doesn’t it? I don’t give a shit what your reasons are, Keyohmi. I ever catch you in the vicinity of drugs and you’re off this team. Do you understand?”
“You have no right to talk to us like this,” Key replies bitterly.
“I did not hear an answer to my question, so I will try again. You will not touch so much as a bottle of Coy so long as you are on this team. Am I clear?”
“What is wrong with you?” she asks.
“AM I CLEAR?”
“YES!”
I turn my attention back to Swoop. She silently agrees to stop being a DJ and staying out all night. Ruin marches down the steps and storms past us. She heads out the door and Aaden glares at me as he takes off after her.
A short while later, I put my jacket on and head towards the door.
“No one leaves the house without notifying me first. I will be back,” I tell the twins as I place my hand on the doorknob.
“Where are you going?” they ask.
“To meet the Board. It’s time we came to an understanding.”
* * *
I meet him a few blocks from my house, in a seedy alley with no lights. I knew he would be on time because I told him if he was late he wouldn’t get paid. And the one thing Spider loves is money. Spider is a Pawn. That means he’s a human who services evil, yet he still has his soul. Most Pawns are slaves and captives, but not him. He’s too damn slippery to ever be contained. And while many in the Angel world want his head on a spike, the fact is he’s very useful.
Spider is arguably the Angel world’s greatest thief. He’s only slightly taller than me. He has stringy dirty blonde hair, a thin frame, and a few stray hairs he’s been trying to convince people will someday grow into a full beard.
“Do you have what I asked for?”
“I’m Spider, baby,” he says, slightly hurt that I would even ask.
“Good, hand it over,” I reply.
“You know, I’m surprised you came to me. I mean, aren’t you angels all ‘holy’ and stuff? What are you doing with a thief?” he asks.
“I need to associate with beings I can trust,” I tell him.
“Wow, and you trust me? You know, that warms my heart a little,” he admits with a sly smile.
“I trust you to be money hungry and sneaky.”
“Well, I try. You know, it’s not easy nowadays. Even the humans are getting more savvy about personal security. I was at a friend’s house just the other day and he put a padlock on his refrigerator!”
“That’s amazing.”
“I know, right? I mean, who secures their deli meats and apple juice?” he says.
“No, I mean it’s amazing that you have a friend.”
“Well, I do. And I have an opening for one more. So…you wanna be my friend?” he asks suggestively.
“I can’t be with you, Spider. You’re just too much man for me. I mean you have three…four…oh no, five hairs on your chin. I don’t think I could handle you,” I quip.
“For your information, I have seven hairs and there’s an eighth one coming in.”
“Honestly, why don’t you just drink a mixture to grow hair?” I ask.
“Because that would be mendacious.”
“Did you just say ‘mendacious?’” I ask, perplexed.
“It means ‘deceitful’ or ‘underhanded.’ I got me one of those calendars; you know the ones with a new vocabulary word for each day? And today’s word is ‘mendacious.’”
“So this is you trying to educate yourself?” I ask.
“Well yeah. I figure I can’t be hustling forever. Someday I’d like to steal a nice little home somewhere and start a family with…”
“Swoop,” I add.
“Well yeah—it can happen,” Spider says quickly.
Spider has been deeply infatuated with Swoop ever since I can remember. He goes to all her gigs and waits for her backstage. Swoop never has the heart to tell him she’s not interested. So she smiles and plays along. But over the years, his infatuation has grown.
“I promise to tell her that you asked about her. Now, give me the information I need,” I reply.
“Okay, okay. Here it is; the location of the Board. I got it by digging around in the trash bin of the—”
“Save that story for later. I gotta go,” I reply as I rush away from him.
“Hey, tell Swoop I can’t wait for our next mee
ting. It’s gonna be auspicious; That was yesterday’s word!”
* * *
I stand in the center of London’s financial district and look up at the skyscraper before me. Inside are the most powerful members of the Angel world. Or at least what remains of them here on earth. They form the Board. Their job is to protect us since we are the strongest angels ever created. I only know one of their members, Uncle Rage. I know he’s on assignment and won’t be there. That makes what I’m about to do much easier.
I get on the elevator and get off on the twenty-third floor. I walk past the human at the reception desk and head straight for the frosted glass double doors with the silhouette of wings flapping in the air. I enter the large conference room and find ten impeccably dressed angels and The Face. Judging by the looks on their faces, they weren’t planning on me walking in. And I am not a welcome sight.
“I’m hurt; did my invitation get lost in the mail?” I ask.
“Ms. Cane, this is a closed meeting,” the angel with the gray hair at the head of the table says.
“Well, I’m opening it up,” I reply with a smile.
“This is highly irregular,” the Para with the pinstripe tie says.
“Don’t worry, this won’t take long,” I promise them.
“You are not allowed in these meetings. How did you even know where to find us?” the only female member asks.
“I did a Google search,” I quip.
“You cannot be here. We have important matters to discuss and we are not opening our meeting to you. We are here to ensure your safety. We are not, however, obligated to tolerate your insolence!” the Para at the head of the table informs me.
“See, here’s the thing: the Board had one job. Just one. That was to keep the Noru safe until our parents returned from the light. How’s that going?” I ask.
“We know there have been some setbacks…” the female says.
I look over at her with great disdain. I then address the group.
“I was sliced open and gutted. Is that what you mean by ‘setback?’”
“Ms. Cane—”
“SHUT UP!” I snap at the Para with the pinstripe tie.
The group glares at me and silently warns that my outburst could have consequences.
I look each and every one of them in the eye and don’t back down. When I open my mouth to speak again, I sound more like my father.
“For the past few months we have been told what to do and what not to do by the Board because we believed you were all looking out for us. However, I have a hard time believing that The Center could have existed right under your noses and you missed it.I have come to two conclusions: the Board is either filled with ineptitude or treachery. So, which is it? Are you guys morons or traitors?”
“Now see here, Ms. Cane!” the Para on my left says as he raises his hand to attack me.
I am faster and far more pissed off than he is, so before he can even think to strike me, I have drained nearly half of his life force from his body and he lies on the floor in pain. The rest of the Paras go to help him and I warn them that I will kill their friend if they so much as move an inch towards us. The Face pleads with me to rethink what I am doing. I pay her no attention at all.
“All we have ever wanted to do was help the Angel world and protect humanity. That’s what we were raised to do. But instead of celebrating how powerful we are and will come to be, some of you have come to see us as a threat. We have done nothing to earn your fear or your hatred. Yet some of you plot and conspire to destroy us.
“We have had enough of your so-called ‘protection.’ From now on the Noru will protect ourselves. In fact, the only being whose opinion we will take under advisement is Mrs. Greenblatt. She is the person that my mother appointed to look out for us, and she is the only one we will turn to guidance. And even then, the final decision on what we do and don’t do will rest with me. I am the First Noru. I will ultimately decide what is best for my team.
“And I want all of you to pay very close attention because I am only going to say this once. If anyone at this table even associates with an angel or demon that means us harm…I will crack your skull open like a coconut and feast on the white meat.”
I angrily release the Para, turn on my heel, and head for the door. The leader calls out after me.
“You think you can tell us what to do? You are sadly mistaken. You may be Marcus’s daughter, but there are more of us Paras than there are of you, Noru, ” he spits.
“My only concern is my team. They are my family. And if I have to slaughter every single Para on Earth to ensure their safety, so help me Omnis I will. Oh, and for the record, I’m not coming to you as Marcus Cane’s daughter. Or even the daughter of Death. I am coming to you as the sister of a sociopath; push me, Para, and you will learn exactly how very alike Malakaro and I are.”
Chapter Twenty-Three:
Before I Am An Angel
I am so engrossed in the Muse I am reading, I don’t even hear Aaden come in. I’m guessing he’s been leaning in my doorway for a while now, just looking me over. I pull myself away from the journal and address him.
“What is it?” I ask.
“I heard about your visit to the Board.”
“And?”
“Well, don’t you think it’s something we needed to talk about before you went ahead and did it?” he replies.
“No.”
“I’m gonna need a little more,” he says, trying to control his temper.
“The Board is full of shit. They are more harmful than they are useful.”
“Agreed, but they are representing the Paras. You can’t just dismiss them,” he insists.
“All I did was tell them that we will take care of ourselves. And Bex represents the Paras. Not the Board,” I argue.
“You heard Hollander returned Bex’s birthright back to him?”
“Yeah, it’s trending on Twitter.”
“Yeah, hashtag #LongLiveKon. Hollander is making believe he never even tried to take the title from Bex.”
“I told you. Hollander is an asshat. He would find a way to spin it so the whole thing was just a ‘misunderstanding.’”
“What did you put in that Plate that made him give up that easily?” he asks.
“We signed a contract, my father and I. Ever since I could sign my own name, every year I agree as the leader of the team that I will not form an alliance against the Paras. It’s a safety precaution because we are so powerful. It was no big deal since none of us ever wanted to go to war. But today I sent him a note reminding him that I had yet to sign the contract this year.”
“I’m just glad he agreed to step down. Thankfully he didn’t announce becoming Kon to anyone outside of his circle. A few more days and the news would have been everywhere,” Aaden says.
“That’s one fire out. Now, another springs up,” I reply.
“What is it?”
“It’s my father’s secret journal. Spider stole it off a demon named ‘The Gentleman.’ They were at some club—he turned away and Spider swiped it. He texted me and told me about it.”
“How much did he make you pay?”
“It was free if I agreed to make Swoop go out with him.”
“Does Swoop know about this deal?”
“No, I thought I’d wait until she doesn’t hate me.”
“Its gonna be a while,” he replies.
“Yeah, I know. Take a look at this,” I tell him as I hand the book over to him and show him the highlighted passages.
“So your father knew about Malakaro the whole time?” he wonders.
“Yes. He even met with him—three times. I still don’t know how I feel about him walking away from his own flesh and blood.”
“Pryor, you read it. Malakaro was evil from the start. Your father had to keep you and Sam safe. He did what he thought was best,” Aaden says.
“I keep reading about their meeting over and over again.
I keep hoping that I will find some clue as to how to destroy him, but there’s nothing.”
“You’ve been through so much right now, can’t we just table the ‘killing of Malakaro’ for today? There’s other things going on.”
“What things?”
“For starters, you threw out the one person who has repeatedly saved our lives during this whole mess.”
“You mean Ruin?”
“Yes, that’s exactly who I mean. Pry, she was vital to us rescuing you. And when you were in the Trauma Center, she provided the Healers with information that helped them combine the right mixtures to heal you. You can’t just discard her.”
“I don’t know that I can trust her. I know she has helped but we were betrayed, Aaden. We have to be careful who we let into our lives,” I caution.
“Who ‘we’ let into our lives or who ‘I’ let in?” he ventures.
“Excuse me?”
“I don’t think you’re being hard on Diana because she’s a demon. I think you’re sending her away because she’s my ex.”
“Did you really just say that to me?”
“Well, Pry, what else am I supposed to think?”
“You know what, think whatever the hell you want.”
“This is stupid. You are being completely unreasonable. Diana belongs on the team just as much as anyone else.”
“Before you question my motives, I think you should examine your own, Aaden.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means maybe you like having Ruin around because you like having her fawn all over you. You like knowing that she is mad about you and would do anything for you. But this isn’t a harem, Aaden. It’s a team and I am not going to place some girl on my team just to boost your ego.”
“That ‘girl’ is the reason we are not going to two funerals today. She deserves your respect.”
“Fine, tomorrow I will erect a statue in her honor.”
“You are being impossible right now!”
“Why are you fighting so hard for her? And why the hell didn’t you fight that much for—never mind.”
“No, finish your thought,” he dares me.
“Forget it.”
“You don’t think I fought to be with you?” he asks, stunned.
