Wicked Glory

by Gladden, DelSheree

  Backing off a bit, Ketchup says, “I only know what the text said, that David took her to the compound for the weekend.”

  “What time? What time did you get the text?”

  “At like five in the morning,” he snaps. “I’ve been on the verge of losing it for the last two hours since I got up and saw it. I’ve tried calling her and texting, but she won’t answer.”

  “No,” I say, my breathing beginning to calm, “she wouldn’t. If she’s with David, he won’t allow any distractions. If she has her phone, it’s locked up in her dorm room while she’s working with him.”

  The line is silent for a few tortuously long seconds. “Working with him doing what?” Ketchup asks.

  “I don’t know, but you can bet it’s not dancing or throwing knives.”

  The string of curses that spills out of Ketchup’s mouth catches me off guard. Even when things get serious, he usually still manages to keep things light. Right now, he sounds terrified. The relief I felt knowing she was with David and not captured by the Eroi vanishes. Ketchup knows something, but I’m almost too afraid to ask.

  Choked by my own fears, I finally say, “Tell me.”

  “She figured it out,” Ketchup says. The strain is his voice sets me on edge. “She figured it out, Zander. She knows what David is really training her for.”

  “When?” I ask.

  “The night she missed curfew because she came to my house after work.”

  I remember that night. David was pissed when she walked in at one in the morning, Ketchup was waiting by the door to make sure she got in okay, and he didn’t have to step in and clean up the aftermath. I’m used to watching Van and David argue and fight, but watching them that night was surreal.

  After David’s initial blowup after her missing curfew, Van dropped her dance bag on the floor and met his eyes. The fire that usually erupts in her expression before a fight with him never came. I think it unsettled us both to see pure ice in her eyes that night. She didn’t raise her voice. All she said before walking away was that it wouldn’t happen again.

  “Damn it, I should have known something happened that night.” I shake my head. “I mean, I knew something had happened, but that definitely wasn’t what I thought it was.”

  Ketchup hesitates before asking, “What did you think had happened?”

  “I thought…” I drag my hand down my face, feeling a little embarrassed. “I thought you two had slept together.”

  “What? Why would you think that? Van was a little scary that night.”

  I laugh. “Yeah. Scary is a good word for that night.” I take a deep breath, actually a little relieved I was wrong. “I couldn’t think of anything else that would make Van risk David’s wrath at the time except being with you. The way she handled him, I thought for sure something had happened between you two, and she wasn’t about to let David ruin it for her.”

  “Damn,” Ketchup says. “I had no idea that’s what you were thinking, but it makes sense, I guess.”

  “So, you and Van didn’t… haven’t…?”

  “You can say sex, Zander. I’ve heard the word before.” He laughs, but it’s not his usual laugh. “No,” he finally says, “but we came damn close that night.”

  “What stopped you?”

  “She told me she knew David was training her to become an assassin, and I told her it was okay.”

  Confused, I have to take a deep breath before speaking again. “You told her what?”

  “I told her I’d already figured it out, and I’d accepted it,” he says. “No offense, Zander, but this deal with Isolde is never going to hold. It’ll be years before you and Van can get the kind of information she wants, and that woman is not going to wait. Van’s only real option for survival is to become exactly what David wants her to be.”

  Irrational fury builds around me. It’s a miracle I don’t crush my phone in my grip. “You told my sister it was okay to kill people?” I seethe.

  “I told the woman I love more than anything else in this world that it was okay to do what she had to in order to survive, to protect her family, to keep herself alive. I told her I would be there for her no matter what that meant, and nothing she did would ever scare me away because I know who and what she is underneath all this Godling crap. I told her she should let David train her because she was going to be the best assassin he’d ever seen, and he will never see her coming when she kills him.”

  My knees buckle, and I slump to the bed. “What?” I can’t breathe. I can barely even think. “She’s… no. No, she can’t go after David. Ketchup, he’ll kill her. What have you done?”

  “Listen, Zander,” Ketchup says, “you and Van haven’t been training together lately. You haven’t seen her.”

  “She can’t do this,” I say, pleading.

  Ketchup sighs. “I know it might be wrong to say this, but watching her fight, watching her put her whole focus into training… it’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. It’s beautiful. If you could see her now, you wouldn’t doubt her for a second.”

  My chest aches. I let my head fall into my hands for a brief moment, embracing the agony, before pulling the phone back to my ear. “It shouldn’t be her. Do you have any idea what doing something like that will do to her?”

  “She’s stronger than you realize, Zander,” Ketchup says quietly.

  Weight presses down on me, crushing me. She shouldn’t have to be that strong. It’s not her responsibility to protect us. It’s mine. “She’s the only one left, the only one of us not consumed by guilt for our mistakes.”

  Ketchup releases a breath slowly. “If that’s not already a lie, it will be soon enough.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask. The answer is floating in the recesses of my mind, but I refuse to give it purchase. I don’t even want Ketchup to answer, but I can’t block out his words.

  “David didn’t take her for more training,” he says, his earlier cursing putting weight behind his words. “I think we both know her training is over. Noah said it wouldn’t take long. He took her to put her to work.”

  “What is that going to do to her?”

  I hear Ketchup sigh. “It will either shut her down, or it will fuel her hatred. Either way, it’s going to be scary as hell.”

  Nodding slowly, all I can say is, “Yeah.”

  “Listen, my mom is calling for me, so I better go,” Ketchup says. “Call me if you hear from her first, okay?”

  “I will,” I say numbly before ending the call.

  Dropping my phone on the bed, my head falls into my hands. How did everything get so messed up? Why did I ever think I could save her? I’ve fought for control so long, my whole life, and I thought it was close. I thought I almost had it in my hands. How did I go from being so sure of myself to feeling like my whole world is breaking to pieces? I was supposed to save her from all of this, yet she’s the one being sent out on a mission, planning to kill her mentor.

  Snapping up from the bed, fire rushes through my entire body. I can’t stop the missions, but I can sure as hell keep her from risking her life in an attempt on David’s. I just have to beat her to it. Barely thinking, I finish getting dressed and barrel down the stairs. The strange woman in the kitchen barely gets a cursory glance on my way out. The bag of medical supplies she was messing with gave her away as the hospice nurse David had mentioned would be coming in to help my grandma.

  A pang of guilt rushes through me at the thought of my grandma lying in bed alone. I start the car anyway, looking over my shoulder as I pull out of the driveway. There’s nothing I can do to help her. I can’t even stand being near her pain right now. Even walking by her room sets my hunger raging. Part of me wants to be there to comfort her, but part of me hates her for dragging all of us into this mess. She did nothing to keep Van out of David’s clutches. Maybe she didn’t have a choice, but she didn’t even fight for us, and that pisses me off more than the lies.

  The tires of my truck screech at me when I brake in front of the t
raining facility we’ve been using. I’ve spent a lot of time here lately, with and without David, though not since David disappeared so suddenly. I can only assume now that his taking off had something to do with him dragging Van off this morning, but I don’t know for sure. I took the reprieve happily, but not anymore.

  Slipping the key into the lock on the back door, I slip in and pull the door closed behind me. The darkness of the gym is only broken by dim, dirty light filtering in through a few dingy skylights. David could have found something better, but this was his choice. I wondered at first if it was his way of saying we didn’t deserve better, but as I consider the amount of noise I’m about to make, I realize it was based more on practicality than pride.

  I don’t turn the lights on. I rarely do when I come here alone. It only ups the difficulty factor as I train if I can’t see my targets clearly, if I have to work harder to hit the mark. This isn’t just about increasing my time or power. It’s about saving my sister from having to do something that might destroy her. Every ounce of focus I have goes into making my body do exactly what I want. Pain screams through me with every hit. My hunger lurches inside of me, desperate to feed. It’s all I can focus on.

  There’s no telling how long I’ve been pounding the hell out of every piece of training equipment I can make use of when the banging finally breaks my focus. Stumbling to a stop, I drip sweat off every inch of skin. I stand there, confused by the noise, until the pounding starts again. I walk toward the back door and yank it open.

  Annabelle’s shoulders fall in relief. “I thought you might be here.” She steps over the threshold and throws her arms around me, not seeming to care that I’m drenched in sweat. “Ketchup called me,” she says when she pulls back.

  “Why?”

  “Because he couldn’t get ahold of you, and he was worried you were off to do something stupid.” She glances around the gym and then back at me. I can see the concern in her eyes, but I don’t say anything. Annabelle sighs. “You are planning something, aren’t you?”

  Planning might be a strong word for the situation, but she’s basically right. “How much did Ketchup tell you?”

  “Just that David took Van to the compound for the weekend, and it’s most likely not for more training. He sounded pretty freaked out.”

  “Yeah,” I say, “but not just because David is most likely christening Van as his newest assassin right now.” I shake my head slowly as the same thoughts that dragged me here replay in my mind. My taped up fists clench, making Annabelle worry even more.

  “Zander, what is it?”

  My fists slams into the nearest punching bag, sending the heavy bag swinging like it weighs no more than a few pounds. “She’s planning to kill David as soon as she’s learned enough and has a clear shot.”

  “What?” Annabelle says in utter shock. “Are they insane?”

  “They’re both convinced she can do it, and honestly, I don’t doubt her.”

  “Me neither,” Annabelle says, “but it’s still madness. Van… emotionally, I don’t know how she’s even going to handle the mission this weekend. You have to stop them, Zander.”

  I shake my head wearily. “Nothing is going to change their minds. There’s only one thing I can do.”

  Annabelle closes her eyes. She already knows the answer, but she asks the question anyway. “What are you planning?”

  “I have to kill David before they make their move.” I hold my breath, waiting for Annabelle’s reaction, unsure of what it will be.

  Her breath flows out of her body in a long, steady stream. When she opens her eyes, there is fear, but there is also blazing determination. She shrugs out of her jacket to reveal workout clothes. Kicking off her shoes, she gestures to one of the grappling mats. When I hesitate, she says, “Who else are you going to practice against, Zander? The only way you’re going to kill David before your sister at this point is to unlock your gift. Now, come on. No holding back this time.”

  As I square up in front of her, I’m struck not only by the fact that she looks insanely sexy standing in front of me, ready to beat the living hell out of me, but by the fact that she is as set on this route as I am. Once a virtual foundling, Annabelle has truly become a part of me. There is nothing she won’t do to help me protect our family, but as I settle into my stance, I know deep down that fighting her won’t be enough. There’s only one person who can cause me the kind of pain I’m going to need to take down David, and I fear I’ll be forced to turn to her for help before the end.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight: No Choice

  (Zander)

  Rolling away from Annabelle is the last thing I want to do after the beating we both took last night, but my phone pings at me from the nightstand. Annabelle murmurs when I disturb her sleep while reaching for it. I snatch it off the nightstand and curl back against her. Swiping my finger across the screen, I bring up a text from Van and sigh in relief.

  I’m okay. Be home late tonight. Talk then.

  Despite the fact that I very much doubt her claim to being all right, I at least know she’s alive and hasn’t yet attempted to knock off David out of revenge for whatever he put her through last night. She’s safe, for now, and that lets me relax a little. I send a quick text back, knowing she’s probably about to be whisked off to something else by David.

  You’re stronger than he is. See u tonight.

  I drop the phone back onto the nightstand and curl back around Annabelle. She pulls my arms more tightly around her, still half-asleep, and sighs contentedly. For a brief moment, peace settles over me. Pressing my lips against her hair, I close my eyes and soak up the moment. This feeling… it’s what I’ve been searching for my whole life.

  In my darkest moments, I lost hope that it ever existed. In my most self-obsessed moments, I thought I could force it into existence. Every day was this insane struggle to find even the smallest hint that I wasn’t on the verge of spiraling into oblivion or madness. No one could have ever convinced me that giving myself up to someone else was the answer.

  Part of me regrets that I have yet to tell Annabelle how much I love her. I think she knows, but I’m not stupid enough to think it’s the same. I could lose myself in her very easily. If we weren’t caught in a web built by the Eroi and Godling spiders intent on sucking us dry and tossing away our dried up husks as soon as they’ve gotten what they wanted, I would be at her mercy.

  I can’t resist the urge to pull her against my chest more tightly. She smiles, letting me know she’s awake, and reaches up to press her hand against my cheek. “I love waking up like this,” she says softly, eyes still closed.

  Turning my head so my lips can press into her palm, I murmur, “So do I.”

  She slides her hand back into my hair. It’s gotten long enough that she can twist her fingers around the strands and pull me closer. I kiss the tip of her ear… behind her ear… down the curve of her neck. Her breathing changing pace, Annabelle turns toward me. I don’t hesitate to kiss the entire length of her collarbone. I groan against her flushed skin as her fingers tighten around my hair, press me even closer.

  My hunger rises, and so does hers, but like before, it doesn’t beg for pain or suffering, just intensity. I’m helpless to resist. Rolling from Annabelle’s side, I find myself hovering over her before I can even process the thought. Annabelle’s wide eyes and pulsing chest gives me a moment’s pause. I can’t tell if she’s scared, or if this is what she wants. I’ve never been this aggressive with her before, but I would never do anything to hurt her. Her obvious hesitation makes me pull back, but before I can complete the movement, Annabelle grabs my shirt, her fingers twisting into the fabric, pulling, refusing to let me back away. “Zander,” she whispers. I can see it in her eyes, then, the desire, the need, the hunger.

  My hand slips behind her head as I lean back down and taste her sweet lips. Any kiss we have shared before this vanishes from memory. This instant feels like the first time we have ever touched, like the first time I have ever touched
another person in my entire life. It feels like every other interaction I have ever had was only practice for this one excruciating, yet intoxicating experience. My hunger rages. It reaches out for her, but not to wage war. It curls around her beautiful frame as our bodies crush together, and I don’t even attempt to stop it.

  For the first time in my life, it feels right to let my hunger run free.

  My skin feels like it’s on fire as Annabelle’s hands slide up my chest, peeling my t-shirt away. Ripping it off the rest of the way, I toss it to the side. A shudder runs through me as I turn back and see Annabelle biting her bottom lip with so much force I fear she’ll break skin. Not wanting to ever see her hurt, I pull her up to meet me and take away the possibility. She groans against my mouth as I pull her bottom lip between mine.

  I press my hand against her lower back, intent on keeping her as close to me as possible, but the feel of her bare skin against mine saps the last shred of self-control I had left. My fingers are fighting against her nightshirt a second later. Our mouths leave each other just long enough for me to pull the fabric over her head and toss it aside. As soon as it leaves my fingers, my lips are on her skin again, every inch of it I can possibly cover. We fall back against the bed, no other thought in my mind than how much I love and want her.

  Nothing seems able to break through until Annabelle’s fingers brush the waistband of my sweats. Suddenly, my head clears. Annabelle is startled when I pull back. We’re both breathing hard, and seeing so much of her gorgeous skin nearly breaks me, but I hold onto a small sliver of rational thought.

  “Annabelle, I don’t have anything… any protection. Are you…?”

  Her cheeks flood red, but she answers all the same. “No. I… I didn’t even consider. I’ve, uh, never needed to be on birth control before.” She bites her bottom lip again, which absolutely kills me, but I can see the question in her eyes, begging for an answer.