Bella gave me a look that told me to shut up or die, so I quit asking questions.
“Souler, what is your idea?” Lu asked, looking at Blaise.
“I think we should send Zac, er, the Seeker, back to America. I think he needs to learn his fighting ground, understand his opponent. We should leave in January, I think. Until then, we can decrease his combat training and begin teaching him about the Palace and what we know. He needs more information on the Signs.”
“So be it. I trust you have everything you need?”
“Yes, sir. But what about you? If Ares is here, you should be watched.”
“I will have protection,” Lu said, brushing off Blaise’s concern. “A simple god of war will not overtake me.”
“Of course,” Blaise said, holding out his hand and slumping his shoulders, as if he were bowing in his chair. “I was just trying to cover all my bases.”
“Your only ‘base’ to cover is the Seeker,” Lu said. He was smiling pleasantly, but his voice had an acidic edge to it. “You may return to your home.”
Everyone got up from the table and filed out of the room, into the dark hall that led outside. I followed Blaise and Bella out to the tiny car we had. The drive home was silent save for the sounds of the city.
“Bella,” I said quietly, grabbing her arm. It was late and I had been waiting for her to come to her room so we could talk.
She smiled at me. “I want to talk about earlier. At the arena, when you kissed me.”
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“Heat of the moment,” Bella said with an embarrassed smile.
“Why were you so afraid? You love fights,” I said, suddenly a little too shy to strike up the “let’s be together”
conversation.
“I can’t stand death,” she said, the smile fading. “I was forced to watch those fights when I was little – I saw demigods younger than me be brutalized and murdered. Their deaths weren’t justified, even if they were fighting against us. They were just children.”
“Thor is hardly a child,” I said, resisting the urge to laugh.
“No, but it makes me remember the children. I think the deaths of the gods are justified, but not the children.”
“What about the Sign? She’s younger than us.”
“She is too young, but it’s for the greater good,” Bella said, putting her hands on my chest. She looked into my eyes and smiled again. “I know this isn’t what you wanted to talk about.”
“I’d actually prefer if we didn’t talk at all,” I said, Bella’s hands on my chest making me a little braver.
“Fine by me,” she said. I started leaning in for a kiss, but she dodged me and ran down the hallway, towards the stairs to my room.
I followed her slowly, curious what she was going to do.
When I finally got upstairs, I found her in my bedroom, shirt and pants kindly removed.
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Interlude
Bella
I wasn’t sure how Zac was going to react to my sudden urge to have sex with him. Well, it wasn’t exactly sudden, I guess.
I’d been dreaming about him for months. Until today, I wasn’t sure what he thought about me. I could be pretty blunt and rather mean sometimes, but hey, I was raised by the Core leaders.
“Tact” is an unknown word to them. I could also kick Zac’s ass at almost anything, from video games to hand-hand combat, so I was worried he might be intimidated by me. But he seemed to take the kiss rather well, so I thought I’d be extravagant and jump out of my clothes right into his bed sheets.
I raced ahead of him and threw open the stairs to the attic, climbing up and removing my clothes faster than that one winter I fell through the ice and had to change my clothes outside in the snow. I jumped on his bed and tried to display my (rather toned) body as best I could. I heard Zac come up a few seconds later, and bit my lower lip in anticipation of his arousal – er, arrival.
(Freudian slip, excuse me.)
The look on his face said it all: oh my god I want you. I propped myself up on my elbows and grinned.
Zac came towards the bed and slowly crawled towards me, his eyes raking my body as he did. I started to squirm and wrapped my legs around him, grabbing his shoulders and yanking his face towards mine. We started to kiss as I pulled his shirt over
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his head and tossed it somewhere to my left. I unbuttoned his jeans and he shimmied out of them with such ease I wondered how many times he’d done it before.
I ran my fingers over his extremely well-muscled chest and moaned, beyond ready. He was ready, too, but clearly was going to take his time in getting there.
After what seemed like hours of kissing and touching and rolling around, he finally removed my panties. It took way too deliciously long, but when we were finished, he pulled the covers over us and I snuggled up against him, falling asleep in minutes.
It was the best night of my life, and only the first of many more best nights.
172
Samantha Steele
Chapter eleven
It was June. My flight to Alaska would leave that evening. I woke up very early next to a lovely naked Bella and kissed her forehead. She readjusted herself but didn’t wake up, so I went into the kitchen to make us some breakfast.
Bella woke up about twenty minutes later and came sleepily into the kitchen wearing one of my favorite tshirts. She rubbed her eyes and sat down at my counter, sucking down the orange juice I’d set out for her.
“It smells amazing,” she said. “I can’t wait to go back to America.”
“Alaska isn’t exactly hot and humid like Louisiana,” I said with a smile, scraping eggs off onto a plate for her.
“I know,” she said, taking a bite of bacon and getting up to open the utensil drawer. She grabbed two forks and set them on the counter, and then went to the fridge and removed the butter and maple syrup for the pancakes I’d just finished making.
“It’s pretty though,” I said, sitting down next to her and starting to eat.
“Anything is better than England,” she sighed. “Blaise loves it here, but I am so ready for American attitudes and cleanliness.” I laughed and we finished breakfast. The rest of the day was spent packing and preparing for the trip. Blaise grilled me on last-minute history-of-the-Signs questions all the way to the airport. Bella was the only one going back to America with me, and to be honest I was quite happy with that arrangement.
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“Oh American homes, how I missed you!” Bella cried when we got to our new condo. Blaise had set everything up and paid for the place in cash about a month ago. It was a small one story, one bedroom place off Dimond Boulevard. It wasn’t fancy, but it was in a convenient location and… wow, I sounded like a housewife.
“We should unpack,” I said. “There isn’t much time before we have to meet with the American Core.”
Apparently the Core existed in chapters, and the American one had recently migrated to Alaska to accommodate the impending fight. They would be stopping by the condo in a few hours to make sure Bella and I had everything we needed, and to make a plan.
The next morning, I woke up next to Bella and forgot where I was and what was going on. As I started to remember, I stared at her and wished everything could just go away so Bella and I could love each other in peace.
But I had to kill Sam first.
Since I always woke up before Bella, I thought nothing of getting up and walking into the kitchen to make breakfast. I turned on the TV absentmindedly and started watching the news.
“A local Alaskan teenager has become a big star in Hollywood,” the newscaster said. “Young Samantha Steele and her band, Speechless, have taken the music scene by storm and are topping charts all across the country.”
I dropped my spatula and slowly turned to look at the TV.
I couldn’t hear what the newscaster was saying, b
ut sure as I thought I heard, there was a picture of Sam, Cami, Annika, and two strange guys.
I stalked into the living room and stood in front of the TV, my jaw set. What the hell had happened while I was in England? Mitch never mentioned… oh, I never talked to Mitch while I was in England. I never talked to anyone but the Core anymore. I’d pretty much ditched all my friends.
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I watched a clip of Sam prancing around on stage in a black and white corset, black panties, fishnet stockings, and big chunky heels. And then opportunity knocked.
“Speechless will be playing at a fundraiser carnival next weekend in the Sam’s Club on Dimond parking lot. Tickets for the carnival will be twenty dollars, and Speechless will be playing at seven PM. The event will be catered by her cousin.”
The newscaster continued to speak, but I shut the TV off and went to wake up Bella. I told her the good news and she kissed me deeply and excitedly.
“This is it,” she whispered.
I got to the carnival at seven thirty and paid the twenty dollar admission fee. Sam and her band were playing inside a giant red and white striped tent. There were lots of rides, including a massively sized Ferris wheel in the middle of the parking lot. I wondered how they’d gotten it in there – it was too big to be the ride form the Alaska State Fair, so I assumed it was something the famous people had brought in.
I went inside the tent and didn’t recognize the song they were playing, but Sam was the one singing. I worked my way around the edge of the tent until I was towards the front, and then I slowly worked my way to the middle. She had to see me.
I stood there for about ten seconds before our eyes locked. Her voiced faltered for only a second before she caught herself. Her eyes never left mine for the rest of the show. When it was over, she jerked her head towards the side of tent and followed the band out of the back. I went outside and stood in the general direction she’d gestured to. I looked around for her, but all I saw were stupid little girls in slutty outfits in line waiting for autographs.
But suddenly the crowd around me froze. It was rather disconcerting at first, but I was hyped up for the fight. It was time.
“Come out and play, my little rock star,” I shouted.
“Don’t hide among the untalented.”
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“I’ve been waiting for you,” she said from behind me. I turned around and the feeling arose. My heart started pumping harder and my breath came quicker. She seemed relaxed.
“I see you’ve been practicing,” I said with a nod. She smiled.
“You have no idea, Zac.”
I lunged, but she moved out of the way, barely missing a man frozen in a laugh. She smirked at me.
“Let’s go somewhere less crowded,” she said, jerking her head towards an open patch of grass near the Ferris wheel. She bolted through the crowd and I chased after her, knocking frozen bodies out of the way. They’d wake up and be confused, but it was all for the greater good.
When I broke through the crowd, I couldn’t see Sam. I walked into the clearing and looked up, but something hit me on the back of the head and I fell forward.
“You seem a little out of practice,” she said, standing behind me holding a board. She threw it to the ground. “I’d think you’d be on top of things after a year with the Corrupted. Then again, I got a few hundred extra years at the Palace.”
I rolled over and swept her legs out from under her. She tried to gasp, but the air left her lungs as she hit the ground. I climbed on top of her and wrapped my hands around her throat, squeezing hard. She started to struggle and grasp at my hands, but I only squeezed tighter.
And then she smiled evilly. She took a deep breath, even through my grip, and said, ” Boo. “
Suddenly Sam disappeared from beneath me and my fingers collapsed into a gnarled double fist. I screamed in rage and jumped to my feet.
“I thought you were the Warrior!” I shouted, looking for her. “Astral projection? You coward! Fight me! “
“I’ll fight you when I want to,” she said. Her voice sounded so close, but I couldn’t see her. I knew she wasn’t invisible, or speaking inside my head – no, I was immune to those things. “I’ll fight you on my terms,” she said.
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Finally I spotted movement on top of the Ferris wheel.
She was sitting in the very top cart, smirking at me.
“Clever,” I whispered, jumping over the gate and starting to climb into the nearest cart. I stepped over the couple inside it and grabbed the bars of the wheel, beginning to climb to the top.
Sam just sat there, waiting for me.
When I reached her cart, she smiled.
“Oh, it’s so good to see you,” she said. “You know, I thought this would happen one day. You and I, up here alone.”
“It wouldn’t if you’d let us choose our own futures,” I growled.
“Oh but Zac, you did choose this future,” she said seriously. “The Corrupted don’t understand why I exist. I’m not evil, Zac.”
“Lu said you would say that.” I was perched on the edge of the cart, waiting for her to make a move, but she didn’t.
“I really don’t want to kill you,” she said.
“Don’t lie,” I growled.
“I exist to keep order, Zac. You have no idea what would happen if I died. Everyone would get what they want. I’ve seen what happens when I die.”
“And that would be bad?” I laughed. “You want people to be miserable? You want people to live lives like mine? You want people to be abused and poor and worthless?”
“No, Zac, I don’t.”
“Then why do you let them? You could stop everything.
But you don’t.”
“I didn’t make your father hurt you,” she said gravely.
“Nor did I make you what you are. Lucifer did that. He did it all, not me.”
“Lucifer?” I laughed. “You want me to believe in the devil now? You Divine will say anything.”
“You’re Divine,” she said.
“I serve the Core, not the Palace,” I spat. “I support free will, not utter control.”
“Don’t you see? Lucifer is utter control. He manipulated you into thinking I’m evil. I don’t take away free will, Zac. If
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everyone had what they wanted, the world couldn’t function. It would be chaos. Some people can’t have what they want.”
“Enough,” I said. “Now we fight. If you believe in destiny, whoever wins is right.”
“Please don’t do this,” she begged. I stepped into the cart, slowly. It rocked.
“It’s the only way to get what I want.”
I lunged for her throat, catching it. She kneed me in the nuts and I let go, falling backward and almost out of the cart.
“I don’t want to fight you,” she said loudly. “But you leave me no choice.”
She waited for me to stand up before throwing the first punch. She got me in the eye. My head flung sideways but my feet stayed secure. My fist collided with her side and I felt ribs crack. She cried out in anger before grabbing my shoulders and throwing me over the side of the cart. My low back was pressed against the ledge and her face was inches from mine.
“I will kill you,” she breathed.
The next moment was short. It almost seemed surreal. I gripped her hips with my hands and flung her over the edge of the cart.
Her scream ripped through my ears. Sam was clutching my jacket so tightly I flipped over the edge with her. My legs swung over my head and my lower half landed on the cart below us, but Sam had so much momentum going she ripped off my jacket and continued to fall, still screaming.
I watched her fall straight through the wheel, missing one of the bars. But she hit the second one and I heard a snap –
probably her leg. She landed head-first on the ground and the Ferris wheel burst into
life.
About twenty seconds later, there was a scream. Thinking fast, I hunkered down in the cart, hoping I hadn’t been seen leaning over the edge.
“She’s dead!” someone shouted from below. The Ferris wheel stopped. I grinned to myself.
I won!
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Short Stories
The following short stories are being released for the first time in Night Prowler Part One. These stories fill in a few gaps concerning Alice, Jacob, Blaise, and Agent Lark. I’m not much of a short story writer, but I hope you enjoy these tales as much as I enjoyed writing them, and I hope they fill in a few possible plot holes. There are more stories to come in Night Prowler Part Two, and maybe even an extra novel set in the Alaska Teen world…
until then…
The Death of
A Chaos God
Alice
2004
Age 18
There’s nothing like the thrill of causing chaos.
My whole life had been dedicated to causing problems for others and never getting caught. But this time, I did get caught.
See, I thought it would be funny to run a fake ID
scam. I, through nefarious means, had gotten a fake ID realistic enough to run the scanning and black light tests with flying colors. When some kids at school found out, of course they wanted these IDs, too.
I charged $150 per ID. Everyone paid me in cash on Friday and I promised to bring the IDs on Monday. Some of the kids who asked me were little tiny freshman – young enough to most certainly rouse suspicion with an ID that claims them to be 21. I did bring the IDs, but I used the same barcode for every ID. I profited close to a thousand dollars.
I didn’t count on any of the freshman being snitches. Hell I didn’t even give them my name. But sure enough, a few days later a cop came and got me during calculus. It was more frustrating than embarrassing – I had gotten behind in that class because I was spending a lot of time at home trying to hack into the state government mainframe and erase my criminal record. Every bit of class time was important.
The cop who picked me up was rather unreasonable, and no matter how often I asked him to stop and get me some fast food he never accepted. When we got to the police station, the cop put me in an interrogation room with a guy in a fancy black suit.
Night Prowler Part One Page 33
