Kaeron loosed a deep breath in the chilly evening air just to watch as the puff of steam floated into the cloudless sky and quickly vanished.
He had never considered Viandra to be a beautiful city, and after the... incident. With Lex, he could now only see the hell hole for what it truly was. Disgusting. The people who lived in it constantly fought and oftentimes killed each other. The buildings were littered with gang graffiti, and almost everywhere you went was covered in garbage, even with empty trash bins only feet away.
He let loose another breath and watched it disappear as he felt somebody's presence behind. He turned slightly to reveal Bonnie Quasar, one of the three new child recruits to the infamous Hells Mob, Kaeron being the second.
She was giving him the same look that Lex would whenever she had done something wrong, and she was afraid that one of their mothers... one of that woman's, boyfriends, would find out and take it out on Kaeron.
"What's wrong, Bonnie?" He whispered, fully turning to face her. They weren't alone here in this alleyway. Two older members of Hells Mob stood around waiting for the arrival of the boss.
Draefin. The man who had found Kaeron in his most desperate hour, searching for Lex after she had been taken, and helped him find her, but at a cost. Joining these thugs and becoming another one of his puppets to do with as he wills. But as much as Kaeron hated his new leadership, he would have made the deal one hundred times over as long as he got his little sister back safe.
"Something about this feels off." She whispered back at him, grabbing onto his arm. Her blue eyes that he had mistaken as white when they had first met darted around the quiet alley as if she were sensing something that he could not see.
What were they thinking letting such a weak girl join their ranks? Even his five year old little sister had tougher skin than this girl, both mentally and physically. Was Draefin so in need of Dragon Shifters that he'd collect a girl that was soft and bound to get herself or somebody else killed.
But it was hard for Kaeron to hate the girl. The way she clung onto him like he could fix everything bad in the world reminded him of Lex. He had to protect her no matter what.
He slowly brought his hand up to her blue hair, which, although it was darker than her eye color, it wasn't much darker. He gently used the hand to brush the long wavy hair from the top of her head down to her lower neck, drawing her in a little closer.
"Everything is going to be alright." He whispered the lie with ease.
He could hear her breathing begin to level.
"Can you two stop that already? I swear if you two embarrass me in front of the master I'll make you regret being born." Scowled the third and final of the child recruits who Kaeron had been thrust into training with for the last two months. All traces of his normal arrogance were gone, replaced by anxiousness and annoyance. Logan.
Logan was the older of the three, being fourteen years old. He was one year older than Kaeron and two years older than Bonnie, and if Logan had a last name, he hadn't deemed the two of them worthy of knowing it. Kaeron tried keeping his distance from the boy even though they trained together almost every day. He wasn't able to get a read on the kid, and Kaeron didn't trust anybody who kept as close to the vest as himself. He was hiding something.
"Shut up, kiss ass." Kaeron fired back. That was the one thing Logan let bleed through his mask. He was obsessed with the boss. Like most people. He wanted the bosses reputation, his power, his influence, and just like most people, he'd never obtain it, and Kaeron loved rubbing his face in it.
"Say that again, sister lover." Logan growled, unsheathing the sword he kept strapped to his back at all times.
Kaerons plan had backfired, and before he could get a handle on himself, he was already moving, one of the flimsy daggers he was issued for training in hand. There was no chance that it would survive a head-on collision with Logans sword, but attacking head-on was never the plan.
Kaeron charged forward, inching closer and closer, waiting for the second he got into Logans strike zone, quickly dashing to the right, but Logan didn't flinch, his eyes tracking every movement at unnatural speeds.
Out of the three of them, Logan was the only non Dragon shifter, but he was anything but a pushover. Kaeron had never seen anybody with reaction speed like his and those eyes.
Kaeron stayed just out of Logans strike zone, huffing a breath from the strainuous effort to move faster and faster, watching, waiting... he tossed the dagger from Logans left without breaking stride, and as expected, Logan deflected it with ease, but Kaeron was already closing in on his flank, moving as if he had teleported, but Logan turned around so quick that if Kaeron hadn't planned on it he'd be questioning what he had just seen. Logan was quick, even more than himself, but he had made a fatal error. Logan was faster, but Kaeron was pissed.
Kaeron covered his fist in flames in the split second it took for Logan to lift his sword up and swing downward. Fist met steel, and the impact echoed throughout his body, rattling his bones, but he refused to give in. Somebody needed to teach this kid some respect.
"Please stop them! They're gonna hurt each other!" He heard Bonnie cry out.
Kaeron gritted his teeth as he knocked away the blade with his left hand, following it up with a sweeping kick, trying to get Logan to jump, but instead, the smart bastered spun back avoiding the kick but staying in striking distance. He didn't hesitate, and Kaeron threw up his arm to block, but he only had one choice as he watched the blade that would split his arm in half if he didn't act quickly.
Well shit. He felt the sickening nausea he had begun growing accustomed to ever since unlocking this new power of his. It had happened every time other than the first time, before the shift...
"That's enough, you two." The blade missed Kaerons arm by inches as Logan was pulled backward by the adult male vampire who had been watching them fight it out the entire time. "Please shift back into your human form, kid. I don't feel like cleaning up his charred remains."
"Let go of me!" Logan demanded, squirming against the mans hold but getting nowhere. "I had him right where I wanted."
The man sighed. "You're both morons. Sure, you could've beaten him if he couldn't shift, but he can. He was holding back, the moron." He looked at Kaeron as if he had just hopped off the short bus. "And you. I know you think you're invincible, but you're not. Even in that form, you would have lost an arm. I don't know if any has told you this before, but having your arm chopped off hurts like hell? Even more so when it grows back, dumbass, and besides. If the boss found out that his new favorite toy got injured on our watch," the man shuttered, pointing between him and the female lion shifter who was awfully close to Bonnie, "he'd burn us alive. So I'm putting an end to this now! Consider the two of you on time out. No more fighting."
Kaeron scoffed. Like he'd let this waste of oxygen tell him what to do. He was just about to give a clever retort when the woman spoke.
"Look at this one. She's shaking like a leaf." The woman laughed, grabbing Bonnie from the lower part of her chin with one hand squeezing her cheeks. "What's wrong, little girl? Were you scared for your little friend? Or maybe.. I scare you?"
Kaeron was up on his feet and moving before he knew what he was doing.
He knocked away her hand, inserting himself between her and Bonnie and growled. "Don't touch her."
She stared down at him, and the shock in her eyes quuckly morphed into disgust. "You dare defy me, you little shit!?" Her voice raising, she raised her hand, protracting claws easily sharp enough to rip through the dragon scales that lined Kaerons body in this form. He prepared himself for the strike as she brought down her hand.
"Don't even think about."
She stiffened, stopping her swing mid swipe before turning just enough to reveal Logan with his sword pointed to her back.
"Move, and I'll cut you in two." Logan warned. "If anybody is going to takedown that arrogant jerk, it'll be me, and as for Bonnie. She's off limits to someone like you, got it."
Kaeron scoffed. "Nobody's taking me down, just like nobody asked for your assistance, Logan. I had it under control."
Logan huffed a sarcastic laugh. "If you call cowering for the second time tonight under the pressure of a more powerful fighter as 'having it under control' than by all means, go ahead and contin.." The word died on his tongue as the atmosphere shifted and all heads swung toward the entrance of the alleyway where Draefin stood with two men to his left holding still another man who had clearly been brought here against his will, if the dark purple bruises that marred his body were any indication or the gag shoved in his mouth muting his screams. The missing fingernails on the three fingers that hadn't been chopped down to the knuckles even gave Kaeron pause. What could this man know or have that Draefin wanted so badly that he'd do... this.
"Whatever this was. It ends. Now." Draefin ordered.
As was the first time he had met Draefin, he was shifted, and Kaeron was starting to believe that he stayed that way not to command fear or respect, but because he trusted nobody, not even his own people to see any part of him that could be considered vulnerable. Draefins serpentine eyes, the same eyes as Kaerons apparently were when he shifted, narrowed in on Kaeron openly assessing him. Logan quickly sheathed his sword, and the woman side stepped the three of them falling back.
"I'm sorry, sir, I tried to stop them, but things got of hand so quick and..." The male vamp tried.
Draefin lifted a hand in the black suit that was perfectly tailored to his unnatural body length, and that's all it took for the vamp to stop speaking. Kaeron felt a twinge of jealousy travel up his spine, but it was immediately replaced by a shiver as Draefin nodded, approval flashing in his eyes.
"You got the boy to shift. That's more than I could say about Barlett." He said out loud to nobody in particular.
Kaeron felt Bonnie inch closer to his backside, probably remembering one of the multitude of training sessions she and Kaeron had had with that old bastard before Draefin had declared him unfit to train the two, and had him killed while Kaeron watched.
Another death on his hands.
Logan beemed from where he stood in front of Kaeron. "Thank you, sir."
Kaeron barely restrained his scoff. Draefin probably already knew who had been responsible, but the sadistic asshole seemed to like testing them. He'd pretend not to know things just to see if his subordinates would tell him the truth or not. Lieing was punishable by death, even if it were something as small as taking credit for something that somebody else had done.
Draefin smiled at Logan, showing off his rows of dagger like teeth and continued. "But you can shift back to normal for this. Theirs no need for the both of us to be shifted at the moment." He paused, a devious smile playing on his lips. "Scratch that. I want you to have the honors.."
Kaeron closed his eyes and took a deep breath, centering himself as he let go of the overwhelming rage that he usually tapped into in order to shift, and even though he his senses were still on overdrive, he felt the loss of power the very moment he shifted back.
He opened them again, doing his best to ignore the intense smell of shit, alchol, and cigarettes, or the almost intolerable sounds of the highway a few minutes walk behind the dead end that they stood in, and played it cool. "Honors, all yours. Sir." He added, dropping his gaze to the ground in the hopes that the refusal wouldn't cost him a bunch of broken ribs like the last time Kaeron had denied one of Draefins requests.
Draefin laughed, but there was no warmth in it, making Kaeron regret his decision.
"Bonnie. You will do it in his stead."
Kaerons head shot up as if mimicking Logans reaction, and as if synchronized, they both let out a terrified "What!"
Kaeron could hear the lion shifter snickering, but he didn't dare take his eyes off Draefin. How dare he! Bonnie wasn't like them. She had never killed before! She was just an innocent little girl.
"Sir, please.." Logan tried, but one look from Draefin had him shutting his mouth.
Draefin returned his narrow gaze onto Kaeron, nothing but anger in those nightmare inducing slits. "Either you do it, or she does. Choose."
Kaerons own anger burned hot inside him, heating his skin to a boil, demanding to be released, and he spun to look at Bonnie. A big mistake.
She was staring at him in wide-eyed horror, and he broke. He took a deep breath, steadying himself before smiling down at her. "It'll be fine." Is all he said before closing his eyes, bracing himself for the shift once more. The wave of nausea almost took him out at the knees this time, and he had to fight to stay upright. He had never shifted back to back like this before, talk about unpleasant. His head swam, his mouth tasted like ash, and every muscle and joint felt stiff, but he fought through it, turning from Bonnie and back toward the man he would be executing tonight.
He took a few steps forward. "You have any last words, stranger?"
"He doesn't get any." Draefin growled his disapproval at Kaerons offer.
Kaeron nodded once. The two men holding the man tossed him to the ground. Kaeron took a moment, digging down to the flames that sang in his blood; calling to it, shaping it, and letting it out in a torrent, aimed straight at the man.
There was a muffled scream, but that didn't last long as the flames devoured him whole, and he collapsed to the pavement below, and with him went another piece of Kaerons soul.
Kaeron was just about to look away when Draefin appeared in front of him, seemingly out of nowhere hand around Kaerons throat, lifting him off the ground before he had a chance to stop it.
"I will not be disobeyed, Kaeron."
Kaeron fought for air that wasn't there as stars began entering his vision. Shit! What would happen to Lex if he died here? She can't take care of herself she's only five years old. He had to fight.
With the little energy he had left, he summoned all of his flames to his fist...
Draefin dropped him, and Kaeron gasped for air, choking it down, his flaming fist extinguished.
Draefin laughed. "Were you really going to strike me? That is why you're my favorite!" Kaeron didn't raise his head (couldn't was more like it). He continued to fight for air as he reverted to his normal form, relief almost making him smile. Lex wouldn't be losing her big brother today...
Draefin stopped laughing, and the relief Kaeron had felt quickly evaporated, leaving a chill throughout his body.
"But as much as I like that fiesty spirit." Draefin said, voice void of any emotion, "I will not be defied." He was behind Kaeron in a flash Kaerons arm in his hand a foot on Kaerons back and a second later... Kaeron screamed as white hot pain raced from his shoulder to the rest of his body. Draefin had pulled it from out of its socket.
The roaring in Kaerons ears only got worse as Draefin let go and kicked him to the pavement face first. He was vaguely aware of somebody calling his name, but he was too focused on not giving this asshole the satisfaction of seeing him cry, pushing back against the pain, quickly locking it away in his little mental box, like he would do whenever one of their mothers boyfriends would beat on him.
"Leave him. He will walk back."
Kaeron never looked up. He didn't move an inch for hours. Not even as feet shuffled passed him, and he felt the alley empty out. He just lay there staring at the cracked pavement below him as if he could burn a hole into it by just staring. He didn't move until the thoughts of getting back to Lex safely, beat out the thoughts of him marching down to Hells Mob headquarters, and torching it all to the ground while he killed Draefin slowly. Painfully. Once he finally did decide to get up, he froze again. Locked in on the face of the man he had just burned to death.
Ratford Orintail's decapitated head lay in front of him, his tired smile staring back at him.
Kaerons eyes shot open.
"What's wrong, Care?" Lex asked, looking over from her phone. He could hear Lamb's and the other unwelcomed guest's slow breaths as they slept in the back of his car.
A dream. It was all just a dream. He steady himself with a deep breath before quickly responding. "It's nothing. I'm relieving you of watch. Get some rest, Lex." He for sure wouldn't be getting anymore, anytime soon.