The Devil's Masquerade: The Remedy

by Jennifer Loren

  “Will you just concentrate on watching Kayla? She is determined and can slip by you before you even know what has happened,” I say, smiling in Kayla’s direction as she huffs. I look down at Cat and study the ball of fiery innocence. “Fine. But you better not slow us down. We only have so much time before Nick gets here. He is supposed to go with her, but she is coming early to set up the flight. That process only allows us enough time to go in, take out her guards, and get her out of there.” I step towards her and look down. “And if you get hurt, don’t blame me.”

  “I know the plan, and don’t worry about me. Just watch for my signals,” she says forcefully. I follow after her, mocking her focused determination. Ryan smacks me in the back of the head, laughing.

  “Alright, so everyone understands their roles and is good with the plan, right?” Ryan asks one last time. Everyone nods except for Amery.

  Amery perks up and sighs. “Sure. Why not?” he finally says, halfheartedly.

  “Then let’s go,” Ryan says, glancing my way. We both really hate him.

  We are all vibrating with anticipation and even more so when Galena arrives. This woman is captivating. It is nearly impossible to be near her and not want her. She has a dark sadness about her, but it is blended with a mesmerizing sexiness. This fucking family is blessed for sure.

  “Be careful, Scruffy. Galena is exceptionally beautiful, but her stamina would kill you. She would fuck you to death,” Catriona says. I glance back at her with excited interest. “Idiot,” she whispers as if I can’t hear her “Alright, I’m moving in,” she says and immediately takes off. I have to run to keep up with her.

  Catriona rushes in, screaming orders at everyone. We all do our best to follow them while trying to avoid being killed by Galena’s guards. These fuckers are nuts! They run at us with full force, screaming like mad men, all while trying to inflict as much pain and destruction as possible. None have any regard for their own life; instead, they only focus on protecting Galena. I avoid a few and shoot some others when I back up to several more coming at me. They fling themselves at me while I try to dodge them from the right. Instead of playing offense, I decide it’s just best to stand back to the left and let them come to me. I shoot everything that comes at me with a foaming mouth. One doesn’t die easily though; he grabs my leg and starts screaming for no reason at all.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you? Die already!” I yell, stomping him and shooting wherever I can. When he finally relinquishes my leg, I sit back and breathe for a second.

  “Will you stop goofing off and help us?” Cat yells at me.

  “I was … Did you see that psycho?” I say back to her as she runs off to take on another guard. “I need to get new friends.”

  Ryan takes down his last attacker and drops him at Galena’s feet. We manage to fight off enough guards to leave her more than vulnerable. Galena decides to surrender and has the few guards left put down their weapons. We force her guards into another room, lock it, and add barriers just in case these psychos change their minds about listening to Galena’s orders. Galena’s expression is that of fear, and it feels good.

  “Hello Ryan. How are you?” she says calmly.

  “I am good, Auntie. How about you?” Ryan says with a wide smile. Galena suddenly steps back. “Don’t try to run. You know I can out run you as much as I can kill you before you reach that door. You can either come with us peacefully or die. I don’t want to kill you, but I will if I have to.”

  “Why me? I have nothing to offer you? My father will never make a deal for me. He will certainly not trade me for Nick, so you might as well kill me,” Galena says with little emotion.

  “We only want to level the playing field some. If we take you out first, then we can go after Nick …” Galena interrupts Ryan, laughing.

  “Oh, you have no idea what you are doing. Nicholas is not the same as you remember. You would be better off killing him than trying to get him back,” she says, causing Ryan to swallow hard. Galena gets down on her knees and raises her head high. “Go ahead … kill me. I prefer it to be you, Nephew.” Ryan stands back in shock, and I realize he won’t do it no matter what happens. Galena realizes it to.

  “Ryan, we have to go!” I yell at him. He needs to force her to her feet and drag her out of here if he has to.

  The beautiful family moment is quickly interrupted by the beating down of a side door. We all hide our faces until the smoke clears. Nick walks in with a scowl that I don’t enjoy seeing. The sudden trembling of my bones when he looks my way isn’t what I would describe as pleasant either. I don’t think this is going to go well.

  “I wouldn’t touch her if I were you,” Nick says to Ryan.

  “I wasn’t going to touch her. I was going to kill her, Ryan says, exchanging strong glares as the two walk towards each other.

  “Damn it, Ryan! This is not the time to test your skills! Let’s go!” I scream at him.

  Nick lifts his head slightly and Ryan goes down, screaming in pain. Fuck! Son of a Bitch! Fuck! Alright, here goes nothing. I rush at Nick with full force. I don’t get within a few feet before I am flying through the air backwards and into a wall. Catriona suddenly starts running at Nick before I can stop her. She tries to battle him, but it is of no use. He handles her effortlessly and slams her to the ground near him. Dwayne follows her as does Terrence and Bo, but as many times as we all go after him, it is for naught. Meanwhile, Ryan is fighting for his life and is of no help to anyone, not even himself. While I am trying to pick myself up off the floor once again, I spot Kayla, walking through the door. No. No! NO!

  She slowly walks towards Nick and Ryan slowly until Nick looks her way. “Nick,” she says simply. “Don’t hurt your brother anymore. Please.” He watches her carefully and with clearly no memory of her.

  “Kayla, get the fuck out of here!” I yell, watching as Galena stares hard at her. I can only assume how much she wants to kill her. Nick snarls, looking her over. He steps towards her, becoming angrier with each step. She is not affected by him, and it is clear how irate that is making him. When he is face to face with her, the entire room stops breathing. Nick flinches and tries to take hold of her throat, but she knocks his hand away with a quick move of her forearm against his elbow. She denied him? No one is more shocked than Nick. His fists clench, his nostrils flare, and then she whispers something to him. Instead of trying to kill her again, he reaches out, touches her hair, and smells it. Kayla follows him by reaching out herself and touching his face with the back of her hand. Nick stumbles backwards as if she punched him.

  “Who are you?” Nick asks, but before she can answer, Savage storms in and circles Nick, forcing him out of the building with Galena following after. They all run, and fast. Out of breath, I lie back, hoping they aren’t coming back to finish the job because I have nothing left to fight them with. Everyone is breathing heavy and struggling to get up as Kayla stands, fighting the tears that are building within her eyes.

  The only thing that could get me up right now is her. Once I reach her, she looks up at me, shaking her head. “I know. He didn’t recognize any of us,” I say to her before focusing back on Ryan who manages to stand while still trying to catch his breath and ease his pain. “Are you alright?” I ask him. He nods but is clearly weak and in need of some medical attention. With Kayla helping Ryan, I run to Catriona and check her bleeding head. “I think you might need some stitches, Short Stuff. Are you dizzy? Do you need me to help you up?” I ask her, only to receive a punch in the gut before she gets up. “Oh yeah, you’re clearly fine. I was only trying to help you.”

  “I don’t need your help, Eli,” She huffs back at me.

  “I don’t need your help, Eli,” I mock back.

  As we make our way back to our cars, we find Amery still stretched out and relaxing on the hood of his car. “How did it go?” He smiles.

  “Motherfucker!” I rage at him, but Catriona steps in front of me and Ryan grabs my arm, shaking his head. “You were supposed to
be looking out for us. You know, warn us if someone like, oh say, Nick, showed up to kill us all. The least you could have done was do the one thing you agreed to do, which was watch out for Kayla! You Son of a Bitch!”

  “What are you getting so mad about? Everything turned out okay,” he says, jumping down and looking directly at Kayla. “It all turned out better than expected considering.” Amery smiles wide at Kayla as she looks up at him strangely. He leans down and whispers in her ear, instantly causing her to come out of her trance. When he steps away, he holds a large smile across his face as if he carries a secret that no one else is privy to, except Kayla. I wonder what he said to her when he takes in a deep breath. “I told you, and now we know for sure,” he says back to her, loud enough for us all to hear. He steps into his car and leaves with his usual cocky wave.

  “I hate him! I hate him! Oh how I fucking hate him!” I yell, kicking everything in sight.

  “Eli, let’s go. There is nothing more we can do right now. Besides, Ryan needs to see a doctor and so does Catriona,” Kayla says, patting my chest.

  “I’m fine,” Catriona says.

  “Of course you are, but I will get you a doctor anyway for my own peace of mind,” Kayla says, surprisingly calm. She slides into the car and waits for us to leave, but I know she is far from calm on the inside. I take her hand as we head back and so does Ryan; her grip tells us both she is putting up a good front for everyone else. I want to ask her what Amery said to her, but I respect her enough to give her time. I know she could fall apart any minute and is just counting every second until she can get home and hideaway in her room where she can privately release her pain.

  Chapter 10

  Kayla

  While we wait for the others to go after Galena, I pace next to Amery and his car. “You want to go in there don’t you?” Amery asks.

  “I hate not knowing. It drives me crazy, I … yes, I like to have control. Something I haven’t had a lot of lately.”

  “I can understand that; I like control, too. However, I have learned that control comes at a price, and sometimes it is more glorious to be in the foggy cloud of ignorance than in the sunny clearing of knowledge,” Amery says as he sits playing with an odd brain teasing game. He works it and reworks it and does it again and again with little trouble of getting the silver ball around its teasing corners and rapid slides to get the puzzle to release the other imprisoned silver ball. I watch him until he looks up and hands it to me. He has done his best to put it back together, trying to make it more complicated for me. I love when people assume they can outsmart me. I may not be an expert at this game, but I paid attention to what he did and play it in reverse. I gleefully hand the game and the bright silver ball right back to him. For a second, he looks surprised, but like most men, he refuses to believe he was outsmarted. So, he quickly erases any sign of shock from his face.

  “You don’t trust me?” I ask him.

  “I don’t trust anyone,” he says.

  “You never have trusted anyone?” I ask again, more determined. He glances my way.

  “Once, I loved someone, but she was taken away. Now, I …”

  “Now you seek revenge,” I say plainly.

  “No, not revenge. Justice. That is what we are for, justice, final justice. That is what my father taught me. That is what I have lived my life on. You cannot feel emotion and inflict proper justice; emotion always clouds your judgment.”

  “And she meant nothing to you I am sure. She is just a number that you are inflicting justice for,” I say with my chin tilted slightly up to his piercing eyes. “Lie all you want, but it is hard not to have an emotional response at some point.”

  “Savage never feels emotion. His own children die, and he never sheds a tear. Although, he does show anger, which I guess is technically an emotion. So I suppose you are right. Everyone shows emotion at some point,” Amery says with a sarcastic grin.

  “And why is that? Why is he so hardened?”

  “Greed. His greed has taken over his soul, leaving him heartless. I am not sure when it happened because he has been that way since I have known him. The only time I have seen him smile was when Nick came out of the water with my friend’s lifeless body in his hand. I know he didn’t smile at my friend’s death because I have seen him kill before; he smiled because he realized Nick was still alive. He treasures Nick. I doubt that he loves him, but he certainly would do all he can to protect him. He values him like no one else, even over Galena. He will never come for her; he would let her die rather than miss his lunch. He was forced to allow her to live. Her mother announced her birth to the High Council so he couldn’t touch her. He would have had to answer for any action made against her. What really bothers me is why he was so desperate to get Nick away from his home? At first, I thought maybe it was because of his brother or son, but then I met you. I felt your strength, and then I thought, perhaps, it doesn’t have anything to do with anyone other than you.”

  “Why me?” I ask.

  “History shows that Nick should have already become a killer, maybe not an unfeeling one, but one who would use his power to kill as he needed. However, from what I have learned, he has been using a gun. He used normal human reactions to things and kept himself from being who he is. He stayed calm in situations and even let the brother that tortured him most of his life live, in order to make good on a promise to an ordinary man, a cop even. Why did he do that? Does he like this man? Does he have a relationship with men, too?” I laugh, and he smiles. “Okay then. Why? Why would he keep his word to a man that, from what I can tell, means nothing to him? Is it because of his sister?”

  “No, they weren’t even seeing each other at the time. Nick has morals. He honors his word, even to a cop. Brady helped him save me, and in return, Nick helped him. Besides, Brady is a good friend of mine, and Nick knew I wouldn’t be happy with him if he …” Amery looks at me awkwardly. “What?”

  “He did it for you. No one else. It seems Nick did a lot of things for you; that is not natural for him. See, it is you. Savage is scared of you, scared you will mess up his treasure. I wonder how much. I wonder how worried he is that you have more power over Nick than he does.”

  “I doubt that he is that worried about me.”

  “Maybe we should try and find out?” he says, looking over at me, but his eyes refocus over my shoulder and widen. Turning, I see a car pull up, and then I see Nick get out heading towards the hangar. I gasp, moving forward only to have Amery hold me back. Nick breaks down the hangar’s barricaded door with ease. I look back at Amery, begging with my eyes to let me go. “If you go in there, he will either kill you or … Savage will come running to rescue his treasure from you,” he says.

  “They don’t stand a chance with Nick in there,” I say to him.

  “But they do if you go in?” he asks, but his words somehow sound like a statement rather than a question. The more time that passes, the more anxious I become.

  “I have to go help them. I have to see him. Are you going to come?”

  “If need be,” he says.

  With an intense exhale, he releases me. I rush in, finding him, finding a resemblance of him, but it is not Nick, not my Nick. I have an overwhelming sense of relief with a touch of fear. I was becoming increasingly worried that I would never see Nick again, but now that he stands in front of me, I begin to fear that I may never be able to feel his loving touch again. Nick nears me with a desire to kill, and I can feel him wanting me dead with every step forward. When his frustration reaches a boiling point, he reaches out to strangle me, but I block his efforts. Kamini prepared me for this, but it is much harder than I thought it would be. I want to feel him touch me so badly, even if it is his fisted grip around my neck. I have to fight every desire inside me and stand up to him with full control and strength. His gazing eyes over my body prove he wants to know who I am, but his trembling hands cause me to believe that he is starting to fear me. I begin to go over my training in my head while trying to remember
to breathe and not show any signs that I fear him.

  Kamini said, “Act calmly but precisely. Give him no sense of your fear of him. Show him only your strength, and lure him into you. Draw him in with a whisper, with a light touch, and make the draw so unnoticeable that he doesn’t even realize what is happening until it is too late.”

  I don’t move towards him. I only stay locked on his eyes and whisper, “Do you want me, Nick?” He doesn’t move, but when I touch his warm cheek with a soft hand, he jumps back from me. I must have moved too quickly, or I did too much, or maybe he is just too strong for me? I never get to find out. Savage roars in and pulls Nick away. I am able to gain one last look into Nick’s eyes as he is pushed out the door. He looked back over his shoulder at me just like he did when he first saw me at his club. Only this time, Nick really does want to kill me.

  I don’t know why Savage took Nick away or exactly what he has done to him. The only thing I know for sure is that I still love Nick Jayzon.

  Leaving the hangar was the hardest thing I had to do. I wanted to believe he would run back, run back for me. I stood so strong and defiant in front of him that now, when I have to move, I can’t feel my legs. I can’t enable my body to move away from this spot. It seems as if even my body craves my love to come back and carry me away, safely in his arms. By the time we arrive back at our cars, I have no memory of ever moving from that space where I felt his warmth against my hand.

  “Kayla, are you okay?” Ryan asks. He breathes in deeply beside me as a commotion begins around the car. The whispers and the conversations become blended and distorted; it is all unimportant to me at this moment until Amery whispers in my ear.

  “You know you hold all the power, Kayla. You alone are the only one that can defeat Savage. You saw how he ran, how he removed Nick. Why would he do that? Why would he force Nick out when Nick could have easily killed everyone by himself, not to mention with Savage’s help and Galena being there, to? There was something Savage was scared of, and that something is you,” Amery says with some sort of hope in his voice, something I had not heard from him before. He steps away with a large smile. “I told you, and now we know for sure.”