Page 2 of 3013: Hellion

“It would be his own fucking fault,” Xian responded coldly. “And yours since you should have been watching them. Your son and his friend violated about a dozen different rules here on Evo, for what? So they could have bragging rights for sneaking onto an island that isn’t open for beta testing yet? It’s not open to the public for a reason. Because it’s too fucking dangerous. That is also why it is age restricted. All of you have been informed about the rules that apply to the restricted areas. I know you have because all of you had to sign waivers as soon as you arrived.”

“Sometimes boys break the rules,” one of the men snapped. “What’s the big deal? Just send someone to get them and bring them back here.”

“We have to go get Eddie ourselves,” the woman insisted.

Xian just said, “No.”

The woman stiffened with insult. “I want to speak to your commanding officer.”

Xian’s smile was as sharp as a blade. “I am the commander.”

The ironic thing was that Xian was actually covering a shift for Zenix Li, Evo’s Head of Security. Nix was busy spending timewith his new mate, the famous singer Ayla D’Nye. They were setting up the new venue for her residency there on Evo, and her safety took precedence above all else for Zenix. Since Xian was the commander on duty, the elites were stuck dealing with him.

“Contact one of the Artane brothers. I want—”

“I don’t give a shit what you want. If the Artanes came here to deal with you, I guarantee they would tell you the same thing I am. You are not going to that island. I’m not having you risk anyone else’s safety just to cater to your whims. We’ll find your kid. Now, shut the fuck up and wait for me to bring your idiot son and his friend back.”

Dismissing them, Xian turned and waved over the two security officers who had just arrived. Conack was a shorter Krytos male who was almost twice as wide as Xian, while Aubri was a tough Helios female who had three claw mark scars across her face. He had worked with both of them before, so he knew they were both more experienced with handling problem situations than Booker was.

“Booker will fill you in on the situation. Escort these three visitors back to their quarters and lock it down. I don’t want them attempting to launch a rescue mission on their own.”

All three of them said, “Yes, sir.”

“You can’t just lock us in!” one of the men argued.

“Sure we can,” Conack countered cheerfully.

Just to be an asshole, Xian added, “If they don’t comply or try to leave this island, feel free to stun them.”

Conack’s dark eyes gleamed with satisfaction as he nodded. “Got it, boss.”

“See? This is why we don’t trust Krytos,” one of the men hissed. “We never should have come to this shithole planetoid.”

That stopped Xian in his tracks and he slowly turned back around to face them again. Fed the fuck up, he removed his sunglasses. As he stared them down, he thoroughly enjoyed thestark expressions of fear that crossed the trio’s faces far more than was probably appropriate considering the situation.

It was too bad for them that he didn’t care about niceties.

Xian was one of the rare Krytos-D’Aire hybrids. He had inherited his big, muscular frame from his Krytos father and his imposing height from his D’Aire mother. Together, those traits made him physically intimidating, but it wasn’t what made most people avoid him. His fierce scowl, wicked temper, and the fact that he had one iridescent blue eye and one black eye were why most people were so afraid of him.

Some people thought he wore dark glasses to hide his unusual eye colors, but the truth was he didn’t care what people thought of his appearance. Actually, he would have preferred to let people see exactly who he was since it would keep them the fuck away from him. Very few individuals could hold his gaze for more than a few seconds, and that was exactly how he liked it. Unfortunately, he couldn’t scare everyone away while he was on duty so he wore his shades most of the time.

But this particular situation definitely called for added intimidation tactics.

He knew anger had made his black eye turn bright red, making him look even more terrifying. He wanted them to see it. To actively fear him and what he would do to them if they continued to run their mouths.

There was no mistaking the menace in his voice as he spoke softly. “What the fuck did you just say?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that,” the man sputtered out as the trio backed up a few steps.

But it was too late.

Xian was officially done with them. While he could tolerate belligerent visitors when necessary, he didn’t have the patience to deal with bigoted idiots. Turning on his heels, he put his sunglasses back on as he stalked toward the transport center.The elites might not trust Krytos, but it had been fucking foolish to insult the people going to go rescue their kid.

The teens couldn’t be blamed because their parents were horrible people, though. Despite being young and foolish, they sure as fuck should have known better than to pull a stunt like this. Both of them would be held accountable for their own reckless behavior and pay for violating the rules, but that didn’t mean they deserved to die.

That meant someone had to rescue them.

He could hand the task over to some of his officers, but he wasn’t willing to ask anyone else to risk themselves when he could do it himself. He nodded in response to calls of greeting as he entered the transport center but didn’t bother stopping to speak to anyone.

---