The Dying Rain | ✔

20.

The warmth from the cement pavement seeped in to a pair of battered leather boots. The fairly feminine legs resting in them just scratched the crests rising on the uneven surface. A bored sigh left her lips as the summer breeze brushed past her sundress. 

She never liked Aegina. It was like the notorious cousin of Athens. Very notorious. The stink of dead fish lured from the port of Aegina and reached her nose. She leaned against the closest tree to the stone house, waiting for any signal.

Her mouth felt dry with the heat. She just wanted to be done with this already. Drag Alessandro Lykaios back to Athens and throw him at the feet of the Alpha. 

Will he make her his right hand then? Perhaps, she'd even be a competition to Melanthios. 

Her wearied eyes gazed through the silent neighborhood. The muscles in her calves screamed at her to sit down. She had ran all the way towards Egypt with her assigned pack and hadn't been for nothing.  The windows closest to the target stone house crackled against the wind. What a strange place to hide! 

The small stone house sat on one of the sides of the street where a number of other houses lined the creaky pavement. Her eyes watched the other two sides of the house which were being watched by her team-mates. She rolled her eyes.

The two men were doing nothing to hide their huge bodies. One of them, Otho, stood right in front of the house, no cover. Great. He stared at the back door with a strange expression. Otho looked like he had seen a ghost. The other one stood guard the far end of the street with his head up in the leaves of a small tree. Does he really think he's not visible?

A groan left her lips. As if on cue, Otho passed the signal they had been practicing. This was her cue. So, the most renowned Lykaios did just take shelter in a very exposed setting. Not very renowned-ly behaviour. A loud honk tore through the wind when a school bus came gushing onto the streets. Several tiny heads bobbled out and within few seconds the street was filled with children rushing to their houses.

She knew she didn't have time, her feet moved fast. She had her eyes on Otho who broke in from the back door. The other man had the front door covered. 

Just when she reached the small stone house, she stumbled as three kids ran in her way. Her knees felt wobbly and she crashed onto the cement pavement when a small head rammed into her stomach. 

The bright afternoon sun was blinding and she winced. She didn't have time. When she pushed herself off the hot cement, the street was empty again. The school bus winded off the corner and disappeared. She had her own children but they were nothing like these devils.

She managed to break in to the stone house with her heart pounding. Otho stood in the kitchen door and the other man stood beside an ancient looking television with TV static. 

"He was right here." Otho said in nothing more than a whisper. 

~

Lykaios pushed away the need to punch into something. The three of them stood in the middle of the school bus with their hearts reaching for their throat. If they had been a second late....

"How did you find out?" he asked Maximus who rested his back on a seat to balance himself. 

"They smelled like raw fish and Egypt. What do you mean, Doc?" Max threw his hands in the air. "Neither of you smelled them?" He added, rubbing the back of his head where it felt like his brain would jump out of.

"I was...distracted." Lykaios admitted, "Did you mask your smell? They could be onto you if they found out." His eyes wandered across Eliana's pale face and widened eyes.

"I'm a lab rat...I don't exactly have a smell." Her voice was not more than a whisper.

"I might have to disagree." Max scrunched his nose which earned him a punch in his shoulder.

~

"What do you mean it's gone?" Melanthios howled, the long window in his room shuddered in response. His crisp white shirt wrinkled as his fist landed on the table making a loud noise.

Basil didn't dare move from his spot right under the tomb ceiling. He had messed up. The lines in Melanthios' face grew deeper and his face grew darker. 

Basil couldn't help but take a step back into the darkness where the long rays of sunshine, coming in from the long window, couldn't reach.

"What possessed your thick brain to track Alessandro's murders?" Melanthios hissed. 

Castor knew better than to tell Melanthios that he didn't trust the guy. He couldn't admit to his foster brother that he had been keeping record of all the killings Alessandro had been assigned. 

"Answer me, Adrian." Melanthios voice grew quieter, "And...be careful of what you speak."

Basil loosened his neck tie and gulped. His face did no justice to the fear that had crept into his heart. He maintained a stone face, a rather nonchalant expression. 

"I needed to know if he was really erasing our competition." Basil let out, thankful that he didn't stutter.

Melanthios didn't say anything. He stared right into Basil's eyes. Contemplating...calculating.

"...It was safe in my desk." Basil said. Gods above knew how much he wished to find the binder laying on Melanthios' table.

Melanthios got out of his chair and walked around the mahogany table. His steps echoed in the room. He came to halt beside Basil and spoke as he faced the door. "Find it before it falls into the wrong hands." He said quietly, "or you will be disowned...brother."

~

After making sure that the old door to his bedroom is securely locked, Gabris slumped in his work chair by the small air cooler. He ran a hand in his peppered hair. Air from the cooler brushed against his skin, he still couldn't stop the tingling warmth in his stomach. 

He felt tired but the excitement in his nerves kept him up past midnight. 

His calloused fingers brushed the cover of the binder sitting on his knees. A small smile tugged at his lips when he read the words written neatly on it in brown ink. 

'Hitman cases: Alessandro Lykaios'

This could be it. This could be the one door which leads to the destruction of The Chaconas. Bastards. 

Lykaios could help him...sure, Gabris' ways would be a little unethical. But he had lost a brother to them. He had every right. 

Gabris opened the binder with noodle fingers. His excitement grew to a peak. The first page of the thick binder consisted of an index page. It consisted of names. Just names. 

His brows furrowed. Gabris imagined it to be a thick book consisting of information on who Lykaios really was and his relationship with the Chaconas. 

But as he flipped pages, there were three pages of only index. The columns consisted of names with their credentials. 

Juana Marie, Lawyer, Mexico. Weapon: Spear.

Ted Barrs, Director, America. Weapon: Dagger.

And many more. When Gabris reached the last name on the index, his stomach dropped. He couldn't bring himself to read the name out loud...his throat burned.

Naomi Bane, FBI, Vietnam. Weapon: Pen.

A shiver went down his spine and he shut the book close. He flipped the binder and opened the last page.

Gabris hand froze. The air somehow grew colder...he thought. With the side of his eye, he swore that he saw ice frost on the window pane. His fingertips grew blue. 

The air grew thick and his eyes wandered on the picture. A young woman, twenty five or twenty six, smiled formerly in the picture. Naomi Bane's olive skin glowed animatedly in the black backdrop. 

~

A/N:

Sorry for the small chapter, I promise to make the next one longer. Keep smiling. <3