Retribution

“Come now my beautiful monsters, feast on his flesh, blood, whatever takes your fancy. Do as you wish, as long as you make him scream. When he stops, throw him into the lava and return to your usual duties.”

She brushed her hands together, as she walked towards me.

“My poor little hybrid, come now, your favourite person will make you all better,” she sent me a sweet smile and her nickname of little psycho would forever be set in stone.

I couldn’t believe he was gone, I mean I was glad it had been him and not my little psycho and the brutality of it called to a deeper, darker part of myself. I guessed all I could do was hope my next instructor wouldn’t offend he

r so easily.

It turned out my new instructor was a better fit, and I was soon brandishing dual wielded daggers like a pro. I wasn’t fond of the swords or any of the other long reach weapons, it seemed too impersonal to me.

The only exception was the bow and throwing stars/knives, it was amazing knowing that I could pierce a foe’s throat from a distance greater than a stone’s throw away.

After I mastered the hand to hand combat, as well as I could, Adiran began to describe a way for me to hide in plain sight. It even included being able to travel to new destinations, and all I had to do was connect with the shadows within the room. I found that one hard, which seemed to frustrate Adiran.

I couldn’t understand why my lack of skill would affect him so, but it didn’t seem important enough to ask him about it. Besides, he only seemed willing to discuss what he wanted, whether or not I had any interest was irrelevant to him.

The next time I was summoned to Hades was four weeks after the banquet and I still hadn’t seen Malachi, clearly he had been avoiding me. It was hard for me to figure out why, but Hades was soon to offer me an out from my engagement.

“How are you settling in Unya, I hear from your instructor they no longer feel the need to continue your training. Does that mean your memories have resurfaced?” He had been trying to act nonchalant, but I could see the strain around his eyes, which hinted he was worried about that outcome.

“No my lord, nothing of the sort I’m afraid. It became a lot easier for me to pick up, once Yana disposed of my previous instructor,” I replied, followed by a quick bow.

“I have noticed you haven’t been spending a lot of time with Malachi of late, I hope you two haven’t fallen out. Although if that is the case I have a fine substitute, if you would prefer.”

There was a glint of something sinister in his eyes, when he spoke of a substitute. It made me nervous, but I was careful to keep my emotions shrouded from his detection. Maybe this other guy would be a better fit, but I hadn’t been able to shake the sense I would learn to regret it, if I were to take Hades up on his offer.

“Everything is fine between us my lord, I have been busy on becoming acquainted with this life. I must admit though, I have been wondering since our first meeting, where my parents were. Surely they would want to see me, wouldn’t they?”

I noticed his bodyguard stand to attention at my question, he also shot me a curious look, but I didn’t get enough time to decipher what it meant.

“I am sorry child, but both your parents are no longer with us. Your mother killed herself, damning herself to an existence of a shade. As for your father, he was killed when Lawson tried to kill me. It was a great loss and I had not wanted to burden you with the knowledge, until you were ready.”

His story felt false to me, but I did not want to argue with him, knowing that course of action to be unwise. I did not understand at that moment what my future had in store for me, all I knew was, for a little while at least, I was at his mercy.

By the time another week passed I was bored, Adiran was not entertaining and Malachi was still a no show. I wasn’t sure what it was I desired to do, until a human like creature entered my room with a tray full of food.

“For you miss, courtesy of Malachi,” he said, barely looking me in the eyes.

I walked over to him and wondered just what kind of creature he was, I don’t know what came over me but I was cupping his cheek with my hand. His eyes became glazed and almost vacant looking, as he just stood there staring straight through me.

“Did Malachi send this food?” I asked, not trusting anything at face value.

“Yes, he said I had to come straight here and I was not to stop for anything,” he replied, sounding almost eager.

It was almost as though he wanted to please me, but the minute I took my hand away he snapped back to his senses and began to back track towards the door.

I snapped his hand into mine, and the glazed look soon returned. Turning towards Adiran, he informed me I could command the male species. I’ll admit it aggravated me that he only deemed it noteworthy to tell me that then, but I let it slide, at least for the time being.

I told the male to wrap his arms around my waist, which he did. Although he must have had some hidden strength within him, as it grew hard to catch my breath.

With a quick order, he released his hold before answering my next command with a toe curling kiss.

I’ll admit it lacked the heat and passion that Malachi had induced within me, with just one simple kiss and I soon found I didn’t enjoy kissing this being. It was then that Adiran came up with a suggestion to curb my boredom and although I thought about it for a moment, I decided I wasn’t ready for that kind of cure.

6

Malachi