Chapter Twenty-Six

I ’m met by stares as they all process what I’ve said.

“Okay, could you just repeat that, so I know for sure that you said what I think you did?” Mayhem asks.

“Sure, I think we need to kill my father, and I think we should have a nap and do it tonight before he can mobilise any plans. I will not let that man finally succeed in killing me.”

“No hesitation?” Storm asks, watching me carefully.

“No.”

“Alright, let's do it then. We aren’t going to be able to get any information out of him. He’s well protected, and we’re going to have to get this done quickly so that we aren’t caught.” Killian starts to plan; as his tail starts tapping on the seat while he thinks it through.

“I only have one request,” I start, and they all look at me expectantly, “I get to end his life.”

Again, I’m watched cautiously, but they all eventually nod in agreement.

“So, how do we find out where he is?” Storm asks me.

“That’s easy enough. I can send Poca to locate him; he has no idea that he exists.”

“Good, do that now. We’ll see what he comes back with, and then we can plan from there. I suggest that we don’t leave until the early hours of the morning.” He replies.

“That’s a good plan. We’ve had one hell of a day, and we need to get some sleep at least before we go out on another mission.” Reaper points out.

“Poca, go and find out where Father is,” I ask him, and he disappears from sight, “it shouldn’t take him too long.”

“I’m going to order some food. We can plan and eat and then still get a good few hours of sleep before we have to get going again.” Loki says, getting up to order the food and then stopping and turning back to face us, “shit, how are we going to get to wherever he is?”

“Well, hopefully, luck will be on our side, and he’ll be somewhere I’ve been before. If that’s the case, then I’ll be able to use the Void to get us there. I can only do it if I’ve been there before, or it gets a bit iffy, and with me taking all of you through at the same time, I don’t want to risk it.” I explain.

“Right, we can cross that bridge when we get to it,” Storm replies.

Once everyone has given Loki their orders for what they want food-wise, we all sit back down.

“We locate her father, and then what?” Rival asks, leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees as he looks around at the rest of us.

“I think that depends where he is,” Reaper points out.

“I agree,” I start, “if he’s somewhere we know other people are, we’re going to have to stick to the shadows, literally, and follow him until he’s somewhere I can kill him.”

“Which might complicate our need to get in and out as quickly as possible. The longer we’re there, the more chance we have of being seen or of someone here noticing that we aren’t in our rooms like we should be.” Mayhem muses.

“What about his magic? Is there anything we need to be concerned about?” Storm asks me.

“He is involved with dark magic. That’s how he’s managed to injure me so badly and keep me injured.” Something suddenly clicks, “I think that maybe he was using it to suppress my magic. It’s been playing up recently and feels a hell of a lot stronger than it did, and that’s saying something.”

“Fucking cunt, I’m glad we’re killing him.” Loki callously interjects.

“Me too,” I agree, not caring how it makes me sound that fucker has put me through hell over and over and over again, and I finally have the chance to end his control over me. You bet you’re fucking arse that I’m going to take it. “The point I was trying to make was that we need to be especially cautious. If he gets any idea of what is about to happen, then he’ll throw dark magic at us, and I refuse to lose any of you to that.”

“I know you want to kill him yourself, but Ryu wants me to make the suggestion that if shit hits the fan, you just let him eat your father,” Reaper suggests.

I burst out laughing, “Why do I get the feeling that you’re both on board with that idea?”

He shrugs but doesn’t deny it.

“We can call that plan B.” Storm reasons, and Reaper nods.

“I want to be the one to take him out but not at the risk of any of you or of him escaping, so if you get the opportunity, take it.” I try to clarify. I’m not pig-headed or vengeful enough that I’m losing sight of what’s really important. At the end of the day, he’s not only trying to kill me but is also putting all of the guys at risk, and I’m not okay with that. Despite the odds, I care about these fuckers, and I will protect them with my last dying breath.

The plan we have is relatively simple, and that’s purely because we don’t have the information that we need. Hopefully, Poca will come back with good news, and this will be simple enough. As if I summoned him, Poca suddenly appears in the middle of the room.

“Hey!” I greet him happily, rubbing behind his ears, “that was quick. Did you find him?”

Poca starts sending me images rapidly, clearly excited that he’s done a good job.

“Whoa, buddy, slow them down a bit. I can’t see.” The guys look at me curiously, so I explain, “he’s sending me images but too quickly, so I can’t actually make them out.”

“That’s so cool. Do you think he’d be able to send them to the rest of us too?” Mayhem asks.

“Whoa, I take that as a yes. Thank you, Poca,” Loki exclaims.

“If you close your eyes, it’s less disorientating,” I warn them, remembering how weird it was seeing a double image when he first sent a picture to me. “Okay, Poca, where is he?”

The first image he sends is of the giant castle where I grew up, well, in the basement dungeons unless I was needed to keep his image up. Next, he does something he’s never done before and sends us a memory of what he’s seen, complete with sound. In it, I see my father talking to one of his guards; he tells him that he has business to attend to and will be in his office for the rest of the night. Not to let anyone interrupt him and stay on guard outside of the door before he closes it and goes to sit at his desk.

“That was incredible,” Rival compliments as the images fade, and Poca sits looking at me expectantly. I, of course, give him more ear rubs.

“Yeah, that memory with sound was a new thing. He’s never done that before.” The guys look at me with understandably impressed looks while I compliment Poca, “you did so well.”

“Could it be possible that because your magic was being dampened, his was too?” Storm asks, his sparking horns giving away his anger.

“I suppose it would make sense; he is connected to me.”

“And because he is your familiar, he would’ve been feeding you as much of his magic as possible in order to top up yours and make sure that you were protected.” Mayhem adds.

“Seriously?” I ask. It had never occurred to me that he would be doing that.

“Absolutely, it’s one of the main functions of a familiar.” He replies.

“I actually don’t know much about familiars other than what I’ve learned from him. It wasn’t like I could ask questions and look it up, not with the threat of my father hanging over me.”

“I can help with that, but first, we need to get rid of your father,” Mayhem replies.

“I’d really appreciate that. As far as my father goes, I can get us into his office easily. If Killian and Storm could cover us in shadows as much as possible, it will help conceal us, so he’s unaware of our presence for as long as is feasible.”

“We can do that easily enough.” Storm says, and Killian nods along.

There’s a knock on the door, and Loki gets up to answer it, “That’ll be the food. Let's eat and then nap.”

“Sounds good. We’ll set off at about two am and should be back before anyone notices that we’re gone.” Storm finalises the plan.

**********

I didn’t get nearly enough sleep, but I’m ready to get this over with; we need my father out of the picture. He poses too big a threat to us all. I’ve just finished getting dressed, and I’m contemplating which weapons to take when I suddenly remember the last time I went into the Void. I couldn’t remember how I got back, and until this moment, I had completely forgotten it even happened. Before I start to panic, a wave of calm washes through me, and I know without a doubt that whatever happened was not a threat to me. I still don’t know what it was, but I feel like I’m not meant to know yet, as frustrating as that is. I also don’t know if it’s going to happen again, but I guess we’re going to find out very shortly.

With that somewhat put to rest in my mind, I turn my attention back to the weapons. I know that it might not be the brightest idea to take one of my custom-made, black blade weapons, but they have certain spells embedded in the purple gems that have magic dampening properties. If I can get to him without him noticing me and move quickly enough to dispatch him, then I should be able to end him easily. It’s that thought that cements my decision, and I place it in the concealed weapon holder on my hip and make my way out of my room to find everyone ready to go and looking sombre.

“Ready to go?” Storm asks.

“Yep, let’s do this,” I reply with confidence.

I call my magic forward, relieved when it comes when I call and has been replenished while I napped. My father is a powerful man, and if this doesn’t go as we planned, then I’m going to need my magic to be at full strength.

“Everyone needs to be touching,” I explain, and they all grasp each other’s shoulders, and Loki and Reaper thread their fingers through my hands. “When we get near to the exit, I’ll pause, and if Killian and Storm could then cloak us in shadows, we can move forward. Poca, could you go ahead and alert us if there’s anyone else in there? If I don’t hear from you, I’ll assume it's safe to proceed.”

Poca immediately disappears to do as I’ve asked.

“He can get a hold of you in the Void?” Rival asks.

“He can, but he doesn’t like being there. That’s why I won’t make him come just to tell me that everything is okay.” I explain and then add, “ready?”

Once everyone’s confirmed, I pull us all into the Void with surprising ease. I’ve never travelled with this many people before and wasn’t sure if I could manage it. I knew no one was going to be willing to stay behind, so rather than make an issue where there may not be one, I decided to bring it up if it became a problem.

“Whoa, how do you even know where you’re going?” Mayhem asks as we walk through the Void to the point where I know the exit will be.

“What do you see?” I ask curiously.

“The same as you, I assume.” Storm answers.

I grin, “Humour me.”

“Nothing, just all-encompassing blackness. I can’t even tell what we’re walking on, and I can’t see any of you.” Storm answers.

“That’s not what I see. It’s dark, but I can see shapes, and I’m aware that things and creatures are around us. Right now, there are two walking next to us. I couldn’t tell you what they are; I can only see vague shapes, they’re cloaking themselves, but I can tell you that they have no intention of harming us. At least these ones don’t.”

“That’s, wow, that’s just fucking crazy,” Killian mutters.

“What do you mean these ones don’t?” Mayhem asks, picking up on the last thing I said.

“There are plenty of things here that will kill you happily if you stray too far away from me. They don’t wish to harm me, and I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe it’s because of my gift, I don’t know, but they won’t hesitate to consume others.”

“Well, now I’m thoroughly freaked out,” Loki admits, his hand gripping mine tightly.

“Just don’t let go.”

“Never,” he replies fiercely.

“You smooth fucker.” Mayhem chuckles.

“Do you guys see the light, just up ahead?” I ask.

“Nope,” Storm replies.

“Okay, ten more steps and then I’ll stop, and I need you two to conceal us in shadows.”

“Got it,” Killian replies.

It takes mere moments for us to be at the doorway, or what I consider a doorway, and the guys have us concealed quickly enough. With one last check to see if everyone is ready, I take us through the door.

I tense when we see my father sitting behind his desk, a single light on in the vast room casting shadows up the walls, perfect for everyone to stay hidden. When my father doesn’t even pause in writing as he quickly scribbles in one of his many notebooks, I breathe a slight breath of relief. I motion for the others to stay put and motion to Killian, silently asking if he can keep me concealed and hoping that he can understand me.

He seems to, and I move forward on silent feet. Stepping over the boards that I know make a noise and being temporarily thrown back in time to when I used to do this when my father let me out for functions, I was determined to find something I could use against him, but I never found anything of relevance in the short time I had to explore before I’d be noticed as being missing. Killian follows in my footsteps, his tail wrapping around his leg, so it doesn’t accidentally knock anything. I move behind my father’s chair so I have easy access to his throat; he tenses slightly but soon relaxes, no doubt thinking it has something to do with the slightly cracked window.

I pull out my blade, the ones I’ve used for my assassinations and move quickly to place it against his throat. It’s a good fucking job that I moved swiftly because Killian was so shocked by the weapon that I felt the magic of the shadows drop from my skin. I can feel my father trying to ready a spell, but without my instruction, my magic has strengthened the magic dampening spells on the blade and is holding my father completely immobile. I’m not sure how long it will last, so, wasting no time, I lean forward, putting my mouth near my frozen father’s ear. I have a few things I want to say to him before he descends down to the Realm he truly deserves.

Making sure my voice is low enough that the guard stationed outside can’t hear, I say, my voice deadly, “Hello, father, since you’ve decided to end my life, I decided to return the favour. I thought it poetic that the weapon I used in the many assassinations you’ve sent me on since I turned fifteen be the one to end your miserable life. I have more blood on my hands than in my body, and that’s thanks to you.”

With nothing left to say, I swipe the wickedly sharp blade across his neck savagely, listening as he gurgles and chokes on his own blood. My magic holds him still and tells me when his heart has stopped. Wasting no time, I activate the spell that lengthens the blade and then sever his head; it thumps onto his desk. The sound echoing in the silent room, I throw a very powerful ashing spell on both the head and the body and watch as they disappear into black ash. I then command the air to take all traces out of the crack in the window.

Without looking at Killian, I ask, “Can you clear all of our magical signatures and any DNA from the room, please?”

I see him nod slightly from the corner of my eye and walk away from the area and back to the others, still not looking at any of them and keeping my face blank. I know they all saw the blade, and I know that they’ve all heard the stories of the assassin who uses black blades embedded with purple gems. They’ve also just listened to what I’ve said to my father. They’re going to have questions, and if they don’t decide to abandon me, I will answer them. It's time that they knew that part of my life. No matter how nervous it makes me. I’m preparing myself for rejection and mistrust. How that will play into the fact that we’re stuck together for life as a team, I don’t know. Not to mention the Warrior games.

I jump when I feel a hand rest on my back. I have no idea who it is but my hope soars. They wouldn’t touch me if they were about to abandon me, right? Poca appears at my side, and I bury my hand into the fur on his back, needing his unending and unconditional support.

“It’s all done. All traces of us are removed. We need to head back.” Killian says, barely above a whisper.

I nod and pull my magic forward, feeling two of them thread their fingers through mine as I pull us into the Void, and we start forward along the path that only I can see in silence. I can practically feel the questions hanging in the air.