::CHAPTER 35::

We'd been moving from place to place for nearly a week and the girls were already getting irritated. Ria didn't complain like Ana did, but her brand of irritation had always been passive aggressive. It didn't help anyone's mood that she was utter shit at fighting. She didn't have much muscle or much in the way of speed. She dropped her fake blade more times than should be statistically possible and she was terrible at taking direction.

I should have seen this coming. She had always been short tempered and stubborn from the second we'd met. I just hadn't anticipated that it would translate to fighting too. Most of the time, she did the polar opposite of what I asked her. I was starting to think it was on purpose.

Ana was practically a natural. It turns out that she'd spent a lot of her time in my care drawing the soldiers while they practiced. She'd seen enough to pick up a thing or two. She was obedient. Careful. Determined. If only some of that would rub off on her sister.

Ria was such a brilliant girl when it came to plans and tactics and finding flaws. She was so good that I'd assumed she'd be a natural at this too. She was short and small, so she needed an entirely different skill set to fend off someone and use her blade. If only she would pick up on it.

"Get up!" I snapped watching her take her sweet ole time to rise, "I need you to run through those moves again and faster."

"I can't go any faster!" she snapped.

"Then find a way to! Ana can do it. Why can't you?"

"I don’t know!" she glared, "I'm trying! Stop yelling at me!"

"I have to yell at you! You refuse to do what I'm telling you! It's been three days and we've gotten nowhere!"

"I'm sorry!"

"I don't need you to be sorry! I need you to be better!" I shot back, "I have no use for a dead girlfriend!"

"What?"

"You think I want to see one of those traitor bastards kill you?" I demanded, "Get your act together and pay attention. You aren't going to be fighting humans. You need to be faster."

Four drills later and it became glaringly obvious that we weren't going to get any further. Maybe I'd have been more lenient before the incident in the pub two days ago. Now I'd seen with my two eyes that Samuel had been sending soldiers on the lookout for us. They came in flashing holopics of us around the pub. I was grateful that we'd chosen to dye and cut the girls' hair. The 3D holographic images of them seemed like completely different people. Loki and I were just ordinary enough looking for immortals not to draw too much attention. The girls had been the ones to worry about.

Still, the men were armed and didn't appear to be there just to talk. We couldn't afford to be in one place for more than two days at a time. It was difficult enough to find somewhere private to spar. I didn't need Ria making things even more difficult. I just wished that she would get it faster. Or at all.

I didn't appreciate the worry I'd learnt to feel. Before now, I hadn't cared about anything enough to experience worry. Now, I knew the protective instinct and the wrath I would bring down on my enemies in the name of protecting her. I wish I didn't have to protect her. She needed to stand on her own. I had to be able to do what needed to be done without holding her hand the entire way.

I ended training and congratulated Ana on another good session. I said nothing to Ria. She was already wearing that face she had when she wasn't talking to me.

We met Loki at the inn we were staying in at the moment. He was in his room busy tinkering with a deflection suit that he was building from scratch. He'd transformed his and Ana's room into a makeshift workshop overnight.

Ana had made the suggestions for a new prototype layout of the suits. Her altered design left more room for mobility in the neck while also protecting said neck with 67% more efficiency. The old design required the wearer to turn entirely to see left and right. She'd drawn out a more fitting version. Loki had already sent the new design to the various companies.

It was a great advantage that I would enjoy having over Samuel's men.

Ana bounded over to Loki and dropped a kiss on his lips. She was usually in a pretty good mood after training. It was only when she got to the room that her mood would darken. Loki had made it pretty clear that mechanics and putting things together in general wasn't her thing. He got so absorbed in his tinkering, that he didn't have the attention left for her.

Loki had always been like that. When it came to his machines or inventions, he threw himself into it fully. He obsessed. That was the same with me and combat. In training, Ria was not my girlfriend. She was treated as equally as Ana. Their bruises and cuts were equally ignored and their triumphs equally praised and their faults equally criticized.

Ria left me without a word to sit at Loki's side. He glanced up and beamed, happy to have his new partner to work with. It turned out that Ria's clever  mind was apt for mechanics and putting things together in a way Ana's wasn't. She'd never done it before but with a bit of logic, she figured out ways that it could be done. She was a marvel to Loki and he loved having her in his makeshift workshop.

"I thought you didn't even like him," I raised a brow at their happy humming.

"I didn't like you either," she shrugged, "I've changed my mind."

"Yeah, she's changed her mind," Loki grinned up at me before returning to his work.

I rolled my eyes at his smugness but left her at it. If she preferred getting down and dirty fixing and tinkering with Loki to support the cause, who was I to stop her? Four hands were better than two.

Knowing that she wouldn't let me feed from her tonight, I ordered some bottled blood to take up to my room. I couldn't wait until this was over. Roughing it when it came to food was not for me.

The next day, Loki and Ria produced the two completed deflection suits. The new and improved ones. I knew the girls were sore, but we were low on time and we'd already encountered yet another group of Samuel's soldiers. They weren't actively looking for us, but if we'd been spotted then I'd have to deal with a confrontation far sooner than I'd like.

I didn't want to face Samuel or the men until I was fully prepared and ready to tear them skin from muscle, muscle from bone, bone from cartilage. They deserved nothing less and I would not settle for anything less.

Now that everyone was occupied, I slipped away into my room and locked the door behind me. I wanted privacy for this. As much as I'd like the ease of mind that came with fully trusting the only people I could rely on, I couldn't trust them. Or perhaps I could, but wasn't ready yet.

Ana, Ria and Loki all had reasons to want to see me strung upside down and swinging by nothing more than the skin of my ball sack. I didn't blame them. Not that it was entirely my fault what happened to them on my behalf. If they'd co-operated when I gave them the opportunity, my hand wouldn't have been forced. Alas, they're stubborn and they had it coming.

Unfortunately, my actions were bad enough that I didn't believe it was possible to be forgiven. This was the perfect time to exact revenge if I ever saw it. If I were them, I'd have planned the sweetest double cross imaginable. But at the moment I had no choice but to accept the help I was seemingly getting. Still, I was no fool. I was not going to tell them what the next step was. They'd see when they got there. And by then there'd be no way to alert anyone of anything.

Pulling out my phone, I voice dialed my most trusted soldier. Loki didn't know he existed and I knew Samuel certainly didn't. I'd known him since I was human and never realized it until I'd began getting those memories back.

Before regaining my memories, the first thing I remembered of the soldier was walking with him through the streets long before I'd met my immortal father-to-be. He was from the mental hospital like I was. He was the patient that I'd have fetch me books and snacks and do my bidding. He fed off my praise and appeared to short circuit at anything less.

I remember trying to ditch him in the city while I met with the immortal who found me fascinating enough to Change me. The boy and I met up again in the city not very long after that. With my thirst still uncontrollable and the urge to release the venom in my teeth, it didn't take much for him to convince me to Change him too.

The venom, working both on a cellular and psychological level that science was still yet to fully understand, erased the more erratic side to his mental state. That wasn't to say that he was your average Joe now, but he wasn't as susceptible to suggestion from any and everybody now. He did latch onto me though. Like a child.

I wonder why the burns on his face had never triggered a memory of the hospital fire.

I'd kept him near for years while I gained power and influence in my family. He didn't know anyone else and didn't seem to enjoy making friends. Like me, he'd also been sent to the hospital despite it being far from home − as if he didn't need more reason to attach himself to me.

We'd gained a sort of understanding between each other. He never questioned the things I did any more than I did with him. While my new father schooled me and the rest of his children in many things, I took to art and all things militant unlike the others.

I went on to teach the same to my new charge. He didn't take up art very well, but goddamn did he hone in on strategy, tactics, weapon handling and combat. He became a hobby. I enjoyed teaching him all that I learnt. He was good and got better over the years.

Legally, he was my child as the immortals saw it. As he was Changed and wasn't a Pet, that was the default category. It was my duty to look over him in the vulnerable years of feeding and Changing. We never had a parent-child relationship and he had accepted that we never would. Still, he was loyal and stuck by me as he did when we were human. I used to keep him always near, paying for his room and board at whichever inn, hotel or bed and breakfast was nearest.

It was only when I began gathering people and building my own private army did I leave him to go on his own. He lead my soldiers and trained them the way I taught him. I've checked on them almost obsessively over time and I've never once been disappointed with his work.

"Sire," he answered on the second ring. I paused. I haven't heard from him in a while. I'd almost forgotten that he sometimes called me that in the privacy of our calls. "I'm coming in for a visit," I swapped ears on the phone. I could hear his smile even in the silence. "Have our men prepared for me. I'm bringing my new Pet and brother with me," I went on.

"You've never brought company with you," he said with a sliver of excitement filtering into his voice, "You've never introduced me to your family. Far less your Pet." His silence was now weighted. "Something's wrong, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," I rubbed my eyes, "And I'm going to need your help."

"You know I'm always at your beck and call, sire."

It hit me how sarcastic and false that would sound coming from anyone else talking to me. He'd always been a safe bet. I shouldn't let my guard down so much with anyone at a time like this, but the idea of any betrayal from him wasn't even a possibility in my mind. It was why I'd protected his existence from anyone who would think to use that trust against me.

"I can always trust you to have my back," I agreed, "Now I want to oversee the training with the men when I get there. I'll send you one of my quad-encryption messages very soon." I hung up.

I sat and typed out possibly the longest message I'd sent in a while. Only after it was sent and deleted did I unlock my door again.

Overall, it took the majority of two more days for Loki and Ria to finish the final three deflection suits. Ana made an impressive amount of progress with her training. She was swift on her feet with quick hands for a human. With the surprise moves and dirty attack tricks I'd taught her, she'd be relatively well off if she needed to defend herself in close quarters. It was Ria who still needed the work.

For now, I felt better knowing that the altered blueprints Loki had made for stronger deflection suits had better mobility and could be concealed beneath clothes. Hopefully Ria would be safe with that.

Once our private suits were complete, we packed our things and  I had Loki call in his contacts to see how much progress we'd made on the factory made suits. The overall number that I got was less than half of what I'd hoped to see by now.

We abandoned the old submarine and waited for the one I'd had sent for us. No one talked to me. It was obvious that I wasn't in the mood. Stress was not something I was used to and I never wanted to feel it enough to get used to it.

The soldier who piloted the sub kept glancing over at me with wide eyes and the sort of blind hero worship I often saw in my private army. I think it was as a result of leaving them under the ultimate command of a man who had an unhidden hero worship for me himself. I didn't doubt that it rubbed off on them. It used to concern me when I'd first noticed it decades ago. Now I'm too accustomed to the soldiers' attention to care.

Now wasn't the appropriate moment for it. "Look at me one more time," I muttered. No further threat was necessary. He didn't turn to me again.

Loki looked at the map on the deck and squinted a bit. "Where the hell are we going?" he asked, "And why did we have to ditch the old sub?" Ria scoffed and caught my eye. She stared at me long and hard without speaking. I could see the cogs in her mind turning even as those blue eyes fixed on me. "You're not asking the important question, Loki," she said, "The one that would answer both of yours and more." My eyes narrowed.

"Who is this soldier that just showed up in a sub that we've never seen the likes of and is manually pilotting it? No one manually pilots subs anymore unless they have to," she eyed the man, "And I've been with Alejo all day. He hasn't made any calls."

I smiled. My clever girl. "You don't need to know his name, but he's from my private army. I organized to have him meet us here today when I left you guys last night. I had us swap subs because regular ones won't work where we're going."

"Why is he manually driving this thing?" Ria asked.

"Because it is not technologically possible to lock onto the co-ordinates of where we're heading. Auto pilot won't work."

"And where is this place?" Ana signed.

"My army's base."

They didn't get any more out of me after that. It was a while later when Ana and Loki lay asleep in their corner that Ria jerked. She stared at the map on the wall and the little green dot that marked our sub. "Are you kidding me? That's where you hid your private army?" she turned to me. I smiled and kissed the shock off her face.

By now Loki was awake and looking around him at the sudden noise beside him.

"What are you going on about now?" he yawned.

"Your brother hid his army in the freakin' Bermuda Triangle," she spluttered.

"You do know that the whole technology-shutting-down myth is − well − a myth. Right?" Loki sneered.

"It's not. I've been ensuring that myth is reality for the last couple of years. Technology not designed by my main guy on the island will shut down immediately once it crosses into my waters."

"Your waters?" Ria asked, "As in, you've claimed it."

"For all intents and purposes, yes."

"So all of those missing aircrafts and ships?" Loki frowned.

"Drowned with vigor," I smiled to myself, "The island is cloaked from the outside as well as the set radius and that shuts out all outside tech."

"Brilliant," Ria peered at the map.

"Yes. I am."

The soldier knew exactly where to drive to get through the cloaking entrance and onto the busy island. We trekked in with our things where a car met us and took us to the barracks. Most of the island comprised of barracks and we were met at the one organized especially for us.

"Sire," a voice said behind me. I was outside while the others packed inside. "Is everything acceptable?" he asked. I nodded and ushered him inside to meet the others.

"This is my brother, Loki. His Pet, Ana. And my Pet, Ria," I introduced them, "Everyone, meet my second in command."

"Does he have a name?" Ria asked holding out a hand and shaking his.

"No," he shook his head and Ria's handshake went limp, "It was forgotten during my Change."

"What do the men call you?" Ana signed.

"Sir. Just Sir."

"Do we call you that too?" Loki looked to me though the question wasn't for me.

"You might as well. There's nothing else to call him," I said, "Sir's become a sort of name for him with me."

"So you actually call someone sir?" Ria smirked like the smug bastard she was.

"Only when he absolutely has to," the soldier replied, "I don't mind."

He touched his still lightly scarred cheek. It was a memory reflex he was yet to break out of. It didn't matter. No one had ever figured out why he did it. No one but me.

Ria's eyes narrowed on the movement though. She frowned and turned to me, accusations in her gaze. I shook my head at her and she nodded. I knew exactly what she was accusing me of, but I had not burned the man alive. Not this particular man at least.

Mind at ease, Ria offered him a smile, "Well it's nice to meet you all the same." His eyes softened and he returned the sentiment. I got the feeling that it was important to him that she liked him. "Have you ever considered giving yourself a real name?" she asked suddenly.

"Um…" he glanced at me, "Yes, I suppose. I never got around to it."

"It would be so much easier if we had something to call you. I mean, everyone should have a name," she said eying me as if I should have thought to give him one, "It's the most basic human right."

"I'm not human but you're welcome to it, miss," he shrugged looking not so secretly pleased.

"Oh okay. Uh…how about Garth?"

"No. No I don't think so, miss," he screwed up his face.

"You're right. What about Nico?"

"Alejo and Nico," I tried out the names.

"I like that one," now-Nico cracked a smile that pulled at his scarred face and was in no way attractive but seemed to warm the girls' eyes.

"Yes but the men will continue call you sir," I added, "You and they aren't friends. There is no first name basis here."

"But it's still nice to not have to go through eternity with no name identity," Ria added on top of that with a pointed glare.

"Thank you, miss," he said clenching and unclenching his hands in that spastic way he sometimes did, his head bowed at an angle.

"Ria," she corrected. His eyes shifted to me and I nodded permission.

"Ria."

"I'll see you around soon, Nico," I said and watched him stand a little straighter at the sound of his new name.

He left us to ourselves while we unpacked a few things. I tossed a look at my Pet. I honestly had never thought of assigning a name in all the years that I'd known the man. It hadn't even occurred to me. I had him do what I needed and there was never any reason to call him by name. I didn't think it would mean that much to him. He seemed to have such a confidence boost.

I wondered if Ria would work with the army once this was over. She had the intellect and the curiosity to learn more. She'd admitted to me before bed last night that she'd been reading the military books in the library where I often left her to roam. I wanted to work side by side with her on this. Our little situation now opened my eyes to potential I didn't realize she had.

While Ana and Loki were busy in their corner, I took her aside and grabbed the spare deflection suit. "I'm going to go check on my men. Do you want to come?" I asked. She grinned and followed behind me grabbing my hand. "When this is over, I'm  going to need to do some rebuilding of this army structure. Care to join me?  As partners?" I asked. Her steps faltered and she stared up at me. Her brows furrowed. Again, I could see the cogs in her mind turning.

"Partners as in equals," she said slowly, "You want us working together…as equals? Have you ever worked with someone without you being the boss?"

"No, but I'm willing to try with you," I shrugged, "How hard could it be? I put up with your crap everyday anyways."

"Ha. Cute," she made a face but grinned in spite of it, "I’m growing on you and you know it."

"Shut up and walk," I pressed a kiss to her lips and leaned my forehead against hers, "I only like you sometimes. Not even a whole lot either to be honest."

She rolled her eyes and dropped a peck between my eyes. "You know, we could just stay here. We would be safe and hidden and Samuel wouldn't be able to get to us," she looked around the island.

She was right. We could in fact do that. Loki, Ana, Ria, Nico, my men and I could be perfectly fine here and have our supplies smuggled in as it had been for decades. "But you won't do that, will you? Not when they have to pay for what they did," she finished. I didn't need to agree out loud. She knew. She gave a resigned sort of sigh and pulled away.

We drove one of the vehicles parked outside to the training center and delivered the suit to Nico. He was especially pleased to find that I'd had one made for him because he was a part of my inner circle. Ria beamed up at me as if it meant anything special that I'd thought of him at all.

While we waited for Nico to get changed, I took Ria to see the men and women who were standing ready and waiting for instruction. They stared straight ahead. They weren't like the other army; the traitors. They were well trained. They didn't try to sneak looks at me or my guest and they certainly didn't need Nico present to do what they needed to.

"Far more obedient than the last batch," Ria scanned the room, "No one's even trying to be defiant."

"Most of these soldiers came here willingly. Orphans, without family, broke, single, homeless. Each of them are here because they have nothing to return to. They need me."

"Must be empowering for you."

"It is. Not that I particularly need it," I said resting my hand on the railing of the balcony we stood on.

"But you are addicted to the power. Even after this is all over, you're going to want to continue running the governments."

"Yes. And?'

"And you're not fit to rule the world," she said and met my displeased stare head on, "You're going to need me for balance."

"You would be my new advisor?" I scoffed, "Samuel's replacement?"

"Don't be an idiot," she gave me a look, "I don't know nearly enough about this stuff for that."

"Then what are you proposing?"

"Partners. Like you said. You can − uh − consult me and we can make the decisions together."

"You don't trust me to do this alone."

"No one who's seen into your mind, see the things you've done or heard the threats you've made would trust the world to you."

"Fair enough," I smirked, "I suppose the world won't be much fun to play with if I break it."

She shook her head at me like she always did when I said things along those lines. Nico came out wearing his uniform. You couldn't even tell there was a deflection suit underneath. It was far less bulky than the original ones.

"Let's go see your soldiers," he nodded to us and lead the way downstairs. He moved with that nervous, almost shy way he'd had since we were children. Ria looked at him and then me with doubt in her eyes. She doubted his ability like many had before her.

When he came to stand before the group, they straightened a fraction. He filled them in on what we'd agreed they needed to know and they all frowned collectively but there was a sudden fierceness in them that I liked.

Nico lead a series of rapid-fire drills and sparring sessions while Ria looked on with wide eyes. The moves and discipline required for their bodies to be in such good form were up to standard. Nico had not slacked in my long absence like many may have without direct supervision. "You did a spectacular job," I said to him, "Dare I say, I'm almost proud." Nico's eyes lit up like they always did at the sparing amount of praise I allowed. He thanked me and returned his attention to the group.

I told him to organize a sparring session with knives. They were with wooden prop knives that I'd ordered him to have made. They were the same size, shape and weight as the UV blades. Bullets and hand to hand would only hold off the enemy for a short while. I wanted to see how they moved with the blades. I wanted to see how they would hold off my enemies permanently.

 I watched their fighting style and smiled. Nico had gotten just the right mix. I had allowed him to design the blade sessions on his own. He'd been challenged to research multiple moves from different cities and create something doable and effective that could become signature to my soldiers and they alone. They'd been altering and improving on this style for years, but this week is the first that they sparred with UV blade props. I was pleased.

For the first time I believed that we would stand a good chance against the men who'd been trained by both me and Ares. I had been concerned about that. With moves signature to their own cities, my style and Ares's own all put together, Samuel's army would be formidable. That had been my plan all along for them after all. Except they were supposed to be on my side, not against me.

I saw a bit of kickboxing but it was far more brutal than anything I'd ever seen. More so than some of the altered muay thai jabs and kicks that I saw. It was dirty, sure. Not at all fluid or pretty. But damn it, neither was war or battle. They were quick on their feet. Some quicker than others. They needed some work, but I noticed that they compensated with sharp elbows that sometimes came airborne at an opponent before the wooden knife was jabbed at  the other.

Everything was a flurry of movement and sound. Bodies dropping and grunts of dull pain. They had to be careful of how they fought. The enemies would be clad in deflection suits. They'd been taught how to unclasp the neck guard clip and aim for the veins sending UV light properties straight into the bloodstream. A stabbing in the face was also effective. Beheading was always a safe bet too.

They knew. The question was, were we ready?

The Communications Centre in the middle of the island was the second largest building there. In it, there was a constant stream of news from all over the world depending on which sector of the world you were interested in. It ensured that the men never lost track of what was going on in the outside world. Total isolation would be counterproductive if they needed to be briefed about an event and moved at a moment's notice.

Over the next couple of weeks, I spent a lot of time in the Centre. Samuel was not laying low like I was. On the contrary, here he was all over the screens announcing his return to the media. Infamous and beloved priest as he once was, I expect he was accepted with open arms. That was not my concern. My concern was over the reporters who wanted the scoop on why he'd faked his own death.

As far as the world had been concerned, Samuel was dead for years. They'd mourned and lit candles and did the whole bit. Now he'd returned saying he'd been alive all this time and they wanted to know why. He never said. No matter how many interviews he gave, he always evaded the question with a secret smile.

He knew I was watching.

He knew I was watching even as he promised to release the full story two days from now. Things would get bad and fast if that got out. They'd be seen as accusations at first, but he had an army full of missing, mistreated persons who'd been kidnapped from their cities to testify. This could not get out.

I was in a position of too much power; the eldest immortal alive who was not in Slumber. I had supreme rulership because of this status and a scandal like this could result in more than prison. Now was not my time to die. Samuel was playing a dirty game holding this over my head. The media was all over him and his story. They wanted to know and were not letting up about it. Samuel knew too much. He'd seen too much. He could not be allowed to release a single story about me.

This thing needed to end quickly. I knew him just as he knew me. He wanted me to come to him because I clearly could not be found. He was ready. And he held secrets that I did not need the world to see at this point.

It was time to bring this mess to him. My concern was ensuring he was taken out. The other soldiers under him had no power. Their word held no merit as his did. It was Samuel I was worried about.

Right now I had Nico insisting that this was a terrible idea to attack at this moment, but he didn't  understand. He didn't have as much to lose. Loki and Ria agreed with him, but I didn't care. I needed this threat gone as soon as possible and waiting around was no longer an option.

It didn't matter that the men didn't all have deflection suits. Enough of them did. The ones that could get me close enough to Samuel. The army was not my priority. The safety of my status was.

As such, I had the men packed and prepped and sitting in the submarines that very night. Not a day can go by again. I couldn't afford for him to change his mind at the last minute and decide to release the story tomorrow instead.

So while Loki tried to reason with me and point out that he'd have enough deflection suits for everyone by next month, I donned my own and suggested he do the same. He refused. There was no way he was "willingly walking into a bloodbath because of your egotistical stubbornness". I allowed it. He did far more than I'd expected already. He wasn't necessary. When it came to soldiers, I already had the numbers. We were outnumbered but mine were a more cohesive unit that could work together. It was the protection and armor that was missing for many.

It was the main reason Ria and I had been fighting for hours. She insisted that she come along and natural I, like anyone who had seen her fight, told her to stay behind. She was of no use and was no more than a liability in war. A deflection suit didn't cover the face and there would be weapons aiming for all angles. No sane person would allow it.

She cried that night. Angry tears as she called me every insulting name under the sun for going through with this so early. I would have left her initially, but I couldn't. Her emotions came at me from so many directions that I knew it would distract me into my own death if she kept it up. I allowed her to come for the ride on the subs for the least. She wouldn't be permitted to leave, but she could come along.

It calmed her enough to calm me. Loki and Ana were left behind at the island while Ria and I travelled along.

The ride was tense. No one spoke and the air was stifling. Being trapped underwater for those hours did not help. The men wore their uniform of all black with the red and gold pins of my crest on their breast. They work half masks over their mouths to protect their identities and it worked at a communication system where their voices could carry through the device. These men and women had effectively dropped off the face of the planet. They did not exist. They would continue to not exist no matter how many people saw them in war.

The submarines rose to the surface and two by two, the soldiers emerged fully armed. Not all of them were lucky to have UV blades and not all of them were lucky to have deflection suits, but no one had neither. Few had both.

We were impressive in number as they marched into the city Samuel was known to be staying in. The other man had not made it any secret at all. People closed up their houses and locked their shop doors as we passed, but we had no interest in them.

The rhythmic crunch-crunch-crunch of synchronized combat boots hitting dirt roads seemed to echo with their vast numbers. Samuel would hear us approaching. No matter. I had no doubt he was waiting for us. Not after he'd baited me so well.

We bombed the front gates open. There was to be no talk of compromise or peace. He'd put me through too many unnecessary emotional and financial shit storms to back away now. The frontline was alert and ready. They still were not prepared for the sheer amount of armed and defended men and women standing before them. Every single one of Samuel's people had a deflection suit and UV blade..

I didn't need to give the word. They already knew not to hold back once inside. Those with deflection suits covered those without and the ones with blades covered those without in a tag team strategy Ria had helped devise. I could feel her worry in my gut but I pushed it aside. It would be over soon. Once I got to Samuel.

I left the others to deal with the soldiers while I worked my way through to get to the building I was sure Samuel was in. The courtyard was too saturated with people. People who had spent too much time in my care could not miss my eyes when they saw them. The near instant recognition on their faces every time one locked onto my eyes was almost flattering. At least they remembered me. Guess I made an impression.

Of course, with that recognition came years of anger. They came at me with no sense of self preservation. I had to dodge, bob, weave. Elbow, knee, punch. Kick, drag, push. Stab, cut, disarm. I took the blades from some and distributed to my own people who didn't have. It was frustrating. Every time I made progress toward the building, I was pushed back again.

The searing burn of a UV blade slicing across my cheek stopped me in my tracks. It burned and my eyes stung at the sensation of my own flesh sizzling beneath it. The smell of burning skin and meat. It wasn't a killing strike but damn it did it make you want to be extra careful of them next time. There was no masochistic pleasure for me to get from this pain. Before I could shake off the disorientation and blurred vision, I was dragged to the ground and kicked to the face.

I went down embarrassingly easy and the person did not waste any time kicking me again. My sight cleared only just in time to see the blade coming down towards my face. I knocked one of my attacker's arms from out under him so that I could roll across from under him and up to my feet. Deactivating the soldier's deflection suit by the clip behind his neck, I ran the blade through his back and heart. I'd have wanted to draw his death out slower if I wasn't busy trying to get out of this over crowded courtyard.

Passing one of my unarmored, female soldiers as she snapped the necks of two men, I passed her my now dead attacker's blade. She didn't say thank you, too busy moving on to dodge a bullet to the face and stabbing the two men she'd disabled.

There was a flurry of movement around me. There was barely enough room for everyone to work at optimum, making it harder to get past anyone without hindrance. That brilliant bastard. He'd made it near impossible to get to him before getting killed in the process.

Spotting a half burnt face in the distance, I fought to get to Nico. He was busy with none other than Ares Odin himself. The traitor. I watched them despite it being the least opportune time to not pay attention to my surroundings. It was worth it. It felt fitting to see my most loyal soldier avenge me in a savage act no one would ever expect of Nico at first meeting.

I couldn't savor it for long. It was in that moment that everyone seemed to notice me. I'd never hated how much my eyes stood out until now. Four men and women gathered around me in a very Ares structured stance. It took away an arsenal of ways I could have otherwise taken them out at once. All attacked at the same time, not giving me time to move slowly.

My face bled from where two blades sliced at my face and I hissed at the pain even while snapping the neck of two men and shooting one of the women. I was free to stab all four straight through the head before I was faced with yet more people who'd recognized me.

My frustrations were growing. The noise was deafening and my skin highly irritated and taking longer than acceptable to heal. The blood was growing sticky on my face even as fresh scarlet pooled up past the wounds. The pain was near blinding and I cursed my brother for inventing these weapons in the first place. Even in the safety of evening, it was like pure sunlight cutting through my skin and flesh. I could scream, the pain was so infuriatingly horrible.

This newfound anger fuelled more unnecessarily brutal kills following this. I was getting pissed off. I should have been inside by now. There was absolutely no reason that I should still be in the fray. I didn't care about Samuel's army. My own army would retreat the moment we knew for sure that Samuel was gone for good. I wanted to hurry this up and get back.

Even as I kicked a would-be attacker in the face, knocking him unconscious, I mentally cringed at the hours to come of Ria being pissed off with me because of what had happened to my face. She'd say she told me so and huff about it all week. Great.

"Sire!" Nico panted before me, "I saw you wanted me." I nodded, glad that he'd made it over to me when I couldn't get to him. I motioned for him to watch my back and follow me. He and I worked together to make it through the crowd. It took far far too long to make it even half way through, but it was further than I could have hoped to on my own.

We moved back to back one step at a time, trying our hardest to get past the other group. The other soldiers were irritatingly adamant about guarding their new leader. Nico protected my back with a focus that few could maintain in battle as bloody as this. Already the dirt beneath our feet was saturated in many areas with deep red congealing in the dust. The ground no longer went crunch-crunch-crunch but the slicker squish between dry spots.

It was not a sound for someone with a weak stomach. I walked over large bodies laying wet and cold on the ground. Some were my own men, but now was not the time to think these thoughts. Forward on.

I ignored the way the blood of others slowly stuck my hair to my scalp more and clumped together as time wore on. Instead of sweat, my uniform stuck to my chest with something far thicker. It was hot and sticky and immensely uncomfortable. I wanted to get out of this place now. I whirled around at the sight of one of my soldiers. She wore my uniform and half mask over her mouth, but she'd seemed so small for one of mine. I frowned. She'd disappeared before I got a good look.

Busy with the people trying their darnedest to disarm and kill Nico and me, I didn't get the time to linger on that for too long. Nico helped to clear the way and we could finally see the entrance to the building off to the distance.

My breaths were coming shorter and my arms hurt under the weight of the blade in my grip. Why did Loki's tech have to be to heavy? We were going to work on something lighter once we got back. This was just ridiculous.

My recently dislocated arm had been set back to normal, but the dull ache did nothing for my mood. If I was pissed with Samuel before, I was raging now.

Nico and I crossed the threshold of the building; and walked through the pillars. The door was opened like I'd expected. "Return. Look after our soldiers," I ordered. He hesitated for the first time since I knew him. He usually accepted ordered better than this. I could see the concern in his eyes. "Go, Nico," I pointed behind him, "Now." He looked reluctant but stepped back into the fray.

I dipped my hand into the water fountain and washed the still healing cuts on my face. My hair alone, contaminated the entire pool of water when I'd dunked it inside.

Blade raised, I slowly made my way around the ground floor. There were four floors in the building. I suspected that Samuel was at the top, but I searched every inch of every floor. It was at the fourth floor that my stomach clenched. He was not here.

Taking a deep breath, I walked over to the window. The soldiers below were still fighting hard. Was that his plan all along? Goad me to come here and have my men taken out while he stayed in hiding? My fingers clenched against the window pane.

Unacceptable.

With new determination, I combed through each floor again with added meticulousness. There had to be a hidden hallway or something of the sort somewhere. I tested every nook, cranny and crack in the wall. He had to be here.

I was back at the ground floor again with no luck. Looking around, I was seconds away from giving up when I saw the bookcase. There were no offices, bedrooms or seating areas on the ground floor. The bookcase was in a highly impractical place. I frowned and approached the structure. Who even owned a bookcase anymore? Everything was digital, audio and holographic now.

With all my strength, I tried to push the thing aside but it wouldn't budge. It was as if it were bolted to the wall. Running fingers through still damp hair, I walked around the front of the bookcase. There was something not right about it. I tried pressing different sections like they did in old movies to see what would happen. Nothing.

Suddenly my eyes caught a book that was considerably less dusty than the others. Pushing at it, still nothing happened. Maybe… I pulled at it and saw that it was heavy as if it were attached to some mechanism. I flinched backwards when the bookcase began to swing open without warning.

There was a staircase leading to a basement of sorts. It was sufficiently lighted. Raising the blade higher, I slowly made my way down. There was a sense of irritation burning under everything I was feeling at the moment. After all I'd done to prepare for this attack, all I'd done in the mess still going on outside, all the injuries I'd acquired and then a wild goose chase looking for this man who was hiding underground all this time. I still hadn't decided how I wanted to kill the son of a bitch yet.

Perhaps it was my distractedness, maybe I was just too worn out, but somehow three soldiers had gotten the jump on me. My deflection suit's clip was switched off and my blade taken before I was punched in the face and dragged to the chains on the wall.

"Took long enough to get here," Samuel said from the couch near the fireplace. The entire room looked like it belonged to a grandmother of an entirely different era. This was no torture chamber. Not initially at least. There were too many things on doilies and an alarming amount of ceramic ornaments, beaded curtains by the doorways, stained glass lamps and fabric with floral prints.

I made a face, "Love what you did with your lair." Samuel gave the place a once over before he shot me a look. He never appreciated my sarcasm.

"It'll do for what I have to do," he said and nodded to the soldiers who'd strung me up. They nodded back and left through the exit past one of the beaded curtains on the other end of the room. I wondered if it was an exit straight into the madness outside.

Samuel ripped my shirt away and detached my deflection suit from my body. "This is new," he ran his fingers over it, "Loki hid away the good stuff I see." I didn't say a word, wondering what he − Mr. I Loathe Violence − planned to do to me. It was oddly satisfying to see that I'd brought him to this point. The idea brought a smile to my face.  "Get this over and done with," I said.

He looked at me like he wasn't going to do a thing, but then seemed to change his mind. "No," he scowled, "You deserve this." Grabbing a UV blade, he ran the tip down my chest, across my stomach and to my ribs. It was like a noon sun beam against my skin. The smell of steaming flesh made me wrinkle my nose even as I hissed.

"That's for the butcher," he whispered as though not wanting anyone else to know he was doing this. He ran the blade over the exact same place. My gut seemed to fall at the sudden pain over pain. "That's for trying to kill me," he scowled even more. He continued to cut just a little deeper over the same wound. Each time, he would name another name or refer to another person.

The list was extensive.

It felt like an hour when he finally got through perhaps half of the people whose hearts I collected. He seemed to know each label's name. By now I was a writhing, swearing, screaming, sweating, bloody, weakened, pissed off mess.

The blade was easing too far into my flesh. Anything significantly deeper again and my insides would spill onto the floor in a sloppy pile of soft organs and tissue. Soon enough, the tiny progressions would count as a stabbing with the UV blade. There was too much of it entering my bloodstream. A younger, weaker immortal would have died by now. Maybe fall unconscious for the least.

There was agony in this simple act. So much agony. My arms and legs were numb under the tight restraints. My body hung lax as I swung here at his mercy. There was no mercy to have. Not with that emptiness in Samuel's eyes. My own eyes were wet in a way I'd never felt them. They burnt as if the dampness held salt or some other similar irritant. I grit my teeth under a new wave of pain and nausea that came with yet another slice to the exact spot again. The breath punched out of me.

So much. I'd never felt so much before. I knew it would be a trap, but I'd wrongly thought I'd be able to overpower the threat. I was wrong. All I could think now was stop, stop, make it stop. I needed it to stop. Any other form of torture I could handle. This was one designed specifically for my species. A type of torture that was inherently abhorrent in my kind. This kind of pain felt worse than dying could possibly feel. In fact, for the first time, I actually considered that I may finally find out what death was like.

It had probably only been hours but it felt like days as Samuel tore me apart slice by slice. My mind felt splintered. Too broken to fully grasp anything more that what was happening now.

I looked up suddenly out of reflex. I'd seen a dark shadow move in my periphery. I saw nothing anymore. Samuel had stopped, my mind realized belatedly. Looking over to his face, he seemed to be gathering himself to do something. It didn't take a genius to figure out what that could be when he gripped the blade tighter than before. His angling was different. This wasn't for a slicing cut. This was for a stabbing motion. Swallowing around the dryness in my throat, I glared at him with the last vestiges of strength I had remaining.

"This is for everything," he whispered.

I never got the chance to feel what "this" was. One moment I was looking Samuel in the eyes awaiting my execution, and in the next moment his head was sliding off his neck and the tip of a UV blade poked through his heart. I watched him fall to reveal a soldier standing behind with a pair of big, green eyes looking absolutely mortified.

I blinked through my haze, too weak to smile. "Good…job, Ana," I breathed. She was busy staring at the body of her first kill.

Nico came running down the stairs and stared at Samuel before his eyes went to Ana and then me. He undid my restraints before hefting me over his shoulder.

"Sir! What do you need me to do?" he demanded.

"Burn…his body. Take the head…to his men. Tell…our men…to retreat. Lead us back…to the island."

"Yes sir. Hold on, sir. Please hold on for us."

"Yes. Yes," I let out one more labored breath before falling unconscious, the battle won.