Page 42 of Seduce & Destroy

“Yeah, like I’ll shoot a load for ya, don’t worry darling.” They chuckled, hitting each other on the shoulder.

I rolled my eyes and moulded my face into a look of pure disgust. One of the guys saw me then.

“Oh, look she agrees, you’re welcome to join us, Kk.” He winked.

I turned away. “Assholes.” Instead, I casted my mind back to the visual of Laney in disarray, spent and wanting in her chair. Where she most likely placed her delectable ass now.

“Attention!”

My mind was too preoccupied with lunch to pay full attention to the session, but I understood the gist of it. You’re in too deep. Think about your family.

When we got dismissed, I charged for the backdoor leading to the Ravencroft gardens, which a guard had told me was a memorial for Laney’s late mother. But before I could turn toward the firepit, a hand gripped my upper bicep, and I was accosted by a man in black clothing. Well, I mean, neither the black attire nor the men were exactly rare, but it still shook me.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I yelped.

In a lower voice, he spoke close to my ear. “I need to speak with you. It’s urgent. You need to leave.”

“Excuse me—” I tugged my arm out of his grip. “Who do you think you are?”

“Doesn’t matter. This is turning into a hostile takeover. You are being blinded by grandeur, but it’s not safe, K.”

I shook my head in confusion. Did he…did he know? There were more people on this mission? This man was obviously given a redacted brief. We weren’t leaving again. “I’m not leaving,” I asserted.

“The organisation here is shoddy, soon to implode. It makes staying very dangerous. I advise you to make your move and get out. That’s an order.”

I tried hard not to shout. “What order? I don’t know you!” People were already looking and causing a scene was a sure fire way of getting myself placed in the interrogation room. I needed to delay that happening as long as I could.

His features dimmed at the declaration. He seemed dismayed but also weirdly hopeless, as if I were a lost cause. If anything, I now had a good reason to stay. And that reason was waiting in the woods for me.

“You don’t understand. You will not hear the marching of soldiers, they are silent killers.” He spoke in riddles.

“I understand very well,” I said, pushing my chest up. I didn’t have time for this nonsense. Since when did Dad hire imbeciles who’d give up justice for safety? That wasn’t my family motto. We’d waited too long for this. “And,” I continued, condescending, “I can be quiet.” I spun away from him and walked toward my target, my Laney, my primary reason for staying.

Before I left, I could faintly hear his final words. “Meet me in twenty minutes. Courtyard. Tell no one.” I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued, but I didn’t break my stride toward Laney, though my mind seemed to have been left where he still stood.

My heart raced as I pushed through the garden toward the firepit, the urgency of the mysterious man's words clashing with my desire to see Laney. Duty and love were waging a war within me, each step echoing with the silent conflict. I tried to shake off the unease, focusing on Laney, my anchor in this tumultuous sea.

When I came to the clearing, she wasn’t there, the coals cold and seemingly untouched for days. Where could she be? She promised.

I looked around me, rapidly, looking for any compressed grass that could indicate whether she came earlier, or perhaps, a second note showing me the path to her. But there was nothing.

Then, a reflected light caught my eye. In the distance, a figure sat on the stoop of the backdoor with a glass of water in hand. Her caramel blonde hair unmistakable in the sunlight. I released the breath I was holding.

“This isn’t the firepit, princess.” I said cheerily as I approached. She jumped at my words and when I saw the listless look on her face, I knew immediately something was wrong. “What happened?”

Surprise replaced her sad expression, her eyes wide as if she were taking me in. “Uh–nothing.” She quickly defended, but I stayed silent. There was more. “Just, I haven’t been sleeping very well and I feel a bit unwell, dizzy. I took medication for it, but it honestly made me feel worse.”

“Is it the stress?”

“Or the grief, I don’t know. These past couple weeks have been so unsteady.”

Placing a firm hand on her back, I sat beside her and kissed her temple as she leaned into my side.

“How have you been handling it?”

She only shrugged. “I’m not sure what more I can handle.”

My thoughts strayed to the mysterious man that I spoke to. If he brought more stress to her or this operation, he’d regret it. She could sense my distraction.

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