7

Sal

"Get up, Sal," Osiris barked.

My eyes looked up at him, narrowing. I was a better fighter than this. Maybe because he was shirtless with sweat dripping down his body. That was distracting. Or was it the extra weight of my arm? I was always in pain when it rained, even if it was only a little bit in the morning.

Osiris was showing me no mercy, and I was getting my ass kicked.

I rolled onto my good arm, pushing myself up. I put up one fist, the other not moving no matter how much I pushed it.

Osiris was the first to strike first, his fist hitting my block. I pushed his arm away, throwing a few kicks his way. He blocked each and every one until his back hit the wall.

But he was fast, grabbing my ankle, hitting his palm against my chest, and taking me down. His large sweaty body pinned me to the ground. I wheezed from the pain radiating from my back.

"I thought you were Spectre? You lied," he teased in a chuckle.

My eyes dropped to the space between us, which wasn't much.

Slowly, his eyes dropped over my body, and he sat back on his heels. This position didn't help either, lust hitting the pit of my stomach.

"Stop beating up the poor girl," Jinn called across the room.

"Poor girl?!" I snapped, foot kicking Osiris's chest.

He grabbed my ankle and then punched me in the throat. The air in my body seized as I rolled over on my stomach.

"Reflex! God! I'm so sorry, Sal!"

Waving him away, I sat there coughing for a moment and feeling defeated. I was an amazing fighter. I was trained by the best, even with one arm. Why couldn't I do it now? What was wrong with me? Even with the vampires, I lacked. Was I getting soft? Or was something wrong with me?

I sat up on my heels, breathing hard. Abel moved to me, sighing.

Kier was out for the day, doing whatever he… does… Briar and Cain left to get what Cozen needed for my arm, leaving Osiris here to kick my ass while Abel, Jinn, Cozen, and Beck watched.

Lovely.

"Let's take a break before our next lesson," Jinn suggested, and I nodded.

Kier

I sat at the desk, finger tapping against the desk with nerves. It had gotten to the point where she invaded my head. All I thought about when I left was, "Will Ashbourne be okay?"

I'd had girlfriends and never cared too much about their safety, mainly because they weren't her. She was a skilled killer or said to be. I watched her on the cameras get her ass beat by my brother. It was sort of satisfying to watch.

But at the same time, I was nervous. Did she play us? No, she did alchemy better than most. Not better than me. But better than most Bishops. Her fighting skills were just flawless.But that was with one and a half arms. If she had full control, she would be unstoppable.

But if she had… no control…

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Theo told me upon entering the room.

I glanced over my shoulder before standing before the Father. He was high ranked and close to being a High Priest.

Theo snickered at me. He loved seeing me stand down to him. Together we sat down at his desk, across from each other.

After a few moments of looking down, he nodded.

"Paperwork has been done by all the Bishops on the incident at the academy," I explained, tapping my fingers on the desk.

"Mhm," he said, barely listening.

"When will the academy open back up?"

"Hard to say. Frazier and I haven't decided. A lot of… other things to take care of."

"Mhm…" I sat back, stopping my tapping.

He started his round of taps. "Did you see that new bar down the street?"

My brows pulled. "The Titty Bar?"

He chuckled. "Fancy meeting there soon?"

I rolled my eyes, letting the tapping fill in the secret message. "Will you actually ever settle down? Or will you just be finding random fucks all your life?"

"Watch it, Kierry. I am superior to you."

"By a few points," I stated, standing.

"Whatever. Have a good night. All the paperwork here for me?"

"Yes, sir. And sir about those runes… Did you guys ever figure them out?" That was safe to ask…. Right?

"Out of my rankings. The Fathers above us will be taking care of it now."

That didn't leave many people on our side to talk to about it.

"Okay, thank you." I moved out of the room, replaying our tapping conversation. It was morse code, something different that only he and I knew.

I said in taps, "Spectre is with us. Getting her ready to join us."

He replied with, "I want to meet her."

He suggested the club down the street from his place, but that wouldn't do. Ashbourne was going to think I was a pervert. Why do I care about what she thinks?

Once I got back to my house late at night, I threw my coat on the rack and walked into the kitchen. Ashbourne's childhood friend was at the table, sipping water and writing something on paper.

"How did it go?" I asked, moving to grab a beer.

"You tell me, Kier. You have cameras."

I wasn't fazed by that. "My cameras are for me and my friends' safety and yours as well."

"And where does she land? The friends or the girl you're leading on for your own gain?" he spat.

I chuckled, turning to him. It was about time he let down his facade. "Where does she land with you? A friend or the girl you didn't have the balls to get?"

His eyes snapped to me. I could tell from the moment he came up from behind us at the station. The hesitating steps and the skipped steps as she laughed. Then the way he looked at her. Like she was something radiant, and she was.

"Or better yet. The girl you didn't want to see die, so you stayed away and faked your death?" I fired with a smirk on my lips.

Cozen licked his lips. "So what? You're going to tell her?"

"Hell no. She doesn't need any more heartbreak right now."

"You barely know her."

I shrugged. "That's true. But I know her better than you. I saw her face when she saw Jade. The hurt. The rage. If it is her, and she finds out that her best friend left because he was heartbroken over losing Jade and couldn't stick around to watch her die, then I will not break that to her."

"You're good at reading people, huh? You think I'm the bad guy?" He cocked a brow.

My eyes fell on him. Though he was handsome and smart, back from the past, none of us saw him as a threat to Psalm. She would never choose him over Abel or Beck and soon I wouldn't be left behind. I saw the way she looked at us, mainly Osiris and Briar. Fuck even Father Nero was asking about her, fire in his eyes. I wasn't stupid.

"No. You won't hurt us because it will hurt your precious P that you still love," I crossed my arms over my chest. "Instead, I want you to help me. Is her arm dead weight right now?"

He looked down, sighing. "Yeah. It is. Psalm is prideful. Not many knew she has one arm. It's affecting her fighting, trying not to snag anything on it while fighting. She's cautious and it hurts her."

I nodded. "I've seen her fight, and it was nothing like today. She can beat my brother."

"And you?"

"No. She won't ever beat me, no matter who taught her."

"The guy who taught her," Cozen said, leaning in. "Is Viper."

My skin crawled as the smirk fell from my face. "I thought he was dead."

"A lot of people are ‘dead' in Nirva."

Of course, he lived there. The dead lands, a place outside the safety of the walls.

"Whatever… We have to get to do better or else she won't be in the academy."

Cozen nodded.

"How long before you can get that arm done?"

"Depends. How much am I getting paid?"

I sent him a glare. "State a price."

He licked his lips. He was trying to think of a good upscale price to do. He knew his shop prices—what the owner didn't. He was going to upcharge me.

"Twenty for dinner time tomorrow."

"Thirty thousand and have it done by noon."

His brow cocked. "For someone who hasn't had her pussy, that's a lot of money."

"That's nothing to me. I'll probably spend another thirty on her just to give her what she never had."

"Possessive over her?" he snorted.

"Very," My jaw tightened.

"Okay. Done by noon, then I'll be out of your hair."

"You can stay another night then say you have to go. That's it."

"Are you threatened by me?" He tilted his head to the side.

"Not at all," I chuckled. "Good night, Cozy."

He scoffed, eyes narrowing as I moved my ass upstairs. Part of me didn't want to trust him. But part of me had to.

He was her friend.

At the top of the steps, a door opened. I glanced over to see Ashbourne stepping from Beck's room.

"Hey… You just got home?" she asked, tone nice with me.

"Yeah."

"Did you eat?"

My eyes dropped over her body, and she scoffed. Oh, she obviously didn't mean like that.

"I was going to make you something, but I remembered you don't deserve it."

"I ate, Ashbourne. Don't look too worried about me."

She moved to the steps, rolling her eyes. Her face was red and a bit bruised from Osiris' beating, and though I would have done the same, I stopped her.

"Are you okay?" I hooked my finger under her chin and lifted. Our eyes locked, and my cock hardened in my pants. Why did she have to be so fucking gorgeous? My dick got hard too often around her. Her dark brown eyes scanned my face, her heart shape face framed by her long jet-black hair. It was down right now and I kind of liked it like that.

"Why do you care?" she asked, moving past me and down the steps.

She didn't notice my erection and why would she? She didn't see me like that because I came on too strong. Now pride held me back from being nicer to her. She had Abel and Beck being nice to her; why did I have to be?

"Meet me in the training room early, Ashbourne. At seven."

She groaned, like a little kid who was told they had to go to bed early to get up early.

"Did you hear me?"

"Sadly," she muttered, which was good enough for me.

I moved to the room, instantly taking off all my gear and moving to the bathroom. I flicked on the shower hand before stepping into it. My body was sweaty and gross from being out at the academy for more investigation. I washed my body before my hand cupped my throbbing member. My eyes blurred a bit. This girl had a way of getting me painfully hard. Each time she spoke back, she looked at me or glared. I wanted to slam her against the wall and slide my dick into her for even glaring at me.

I heard her cry with Abel and Beck, and I could tell it pained all of us. I wanted to be the reason she was screaming. I wanted to hear her moan into my ear.

My hand moved up and down my member, eyes closing. It felt amazing, but I bet she felt better. My hand rubbed my member as I thought about slamming into her. Her screams would fill the house as she tightened around me.

My fist tightened, balls tightening as well. My hips bucked as I thought about all the ways I would get her to submit to me. Her on her knees, begging for me to give her my come.

I bit my lip, gasping for air as my hand moved faster.

I needed her, but I was too stubborn to admit it. I wanted to taste her sweet pussy, have her bent over for me, and begging for more.

"More, Kier. Please!" She cried in my head, and I thrusted one last time, imagining I shoved myself deep into her pussy and shot my warm cum into her.

I hissed, head dropping back as my legs shook. I don't know how much longer I could deal with this.