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For those of you who don’t remember Michael was introduced in the first book as M.L.A, the VP of Lockstar. He was one of the main villains in the second book before he willingly got arrested so he wasn’t murdered by the real M.L.A, aka Valentin, who was angry at Michael for exposing Lockstar to the world. In the third book Aura broke him out of jail to keep Valentin away from her and allow her and her friends time to flee. She has not seen him since.
Chapter 8
Date: Unknown
Location: Somewhere in Colorado
Time: Night
I sat on the car turning the blade over and over in my hands looking at the initials of his fake name, the one I was so used to hearing that came along with fear and panic. Then flip, it’s the initials of the man I was in love with and that hurt more than a blade being shoved into my chest.
How could he do this? How could he lie to me?
Valentin was M.L.A, he had been lying this whole time and I wasn’t smart enough to connect the dots. I wasn’t smart enough to recognize what had been staring me straight in the face.
“Let me go!” I looked up from the blade and saw two of my men, well they weren’t really my men just guys from the Lucky Criminal organization that wanted to help me out.
The cars headlights illuminated them as they brought the struggling prisoner forward and I almost laughed at the cliché of him having a bag over his head. I felt like I should be reading lines from a movie, I already had the scenery and the men to back me up. Resting the blade on the hood of the car I nodded towards one of the men and they ripped off the bag.
Michael looked around wildly before his gaze landed on me and his eyes narrowed. He didn’t look cocky or comfortable like he had in his cell, he looked nervous. As odd as it may seem that was his territory and now we were in mine, even if mine happened to be an abandoned street in the middle of nowhere.
“Carter,” Michael started out pleasantly enough. “How can I help you?”
I’m sure he was confused as to why the hell I broke him out, why I would break him out of all people, but in the end he was the only person I knew I could trust to handle this situation delicately. Plus if he died, I wouldn’t be mourning over his loss.
Not saying a word I picked up the blade and his eyes widened a fraction of an inch and I knew I wouldn’t need to say anything. He knew what this blade was, he replicated it himself when he pretended to be M.L.A. In a few short seconds he was completely caught up with what happened.
“So you know?” He merely questioned.
“Leave,” I said to the two who had brought him here. They had done their job, and the information that was about to be revealed next wasn’t something that they needed to hear.
Luckily the men didn’t seem to question me, as most were prone to do, and left with only giving Michael another stare and handing me the keys to his cuffs. Once they were out of sight Michael walked over and sat on the hood of the car next to me. I was surprised I didn’t have the overwhelming urge to stab him with Valentin’s knife after what he had done.
“Sucks doesn’t it?” He asked getting comfortable and making the car jostle with his movements. “Why can’t the truth ever be pleasant?”
“I didn’t break you out of jail for small talk,” I said in a clipped tone, not in the mood for whatever pleasantries he wanted to exchange.
“Then why did you?”
“I’m going to confront Valentin about who he is,” I mumbled the words, not sure if this was necessarily the right decision to do. The whole thing about Valentin, not Michael of course.
“Then what? You going to go out for some pie?” Michael questioned sarcastically.
“No, I’m going to leave.” Not even looking at him I knew Michael gave me an odd look with a raised eyebrow.
“He’s not going to let you leave,” Michael said with a breathy laugh. “He’s not ever going to let you go.”
“That’s where you come in,” I finally turned to look at him. “You’re going to hold him back while I get away.”
At that Michael’s face pales and he looks as if I’m the mad one and he’s the sane one even though he’s wearing a prison uniform. I knew Michael was terrified of Valentin and would rather be locked up in a cell for his entire life if that meant he was safe. Putting him near Valentin practically guaranteed his death.
“He’ll kill me,” Michael confirmed my thoughts.
“You owe me,” I shot back just as quickly. “You do this, I’ll make sure he never bothers you again.”
“That’s if I live after that day,” Michael practically shouts and I give him a dead look. He looks like he wants to continue ranting, but knows that it would fall upon deaf ears. “He won’t ever bother me again?”
“No,”
“I’m guessing that I’ll owe you something in return,” He continued knowing that the deal wasn’t as simple as it appeared to be. “That just stopping lover boy from following you won’t be enough.”
“Whenever I need help, I’ll call you and you will come running,” Now that sounded like a classic badass line that I almost patted myself on the back for.
At this Michael jumps up and starts pacing, but the chains around his legs and wrists make it a little difficult for him to do. The only noise are his restraints clanking as he ponders the offer for freedom on the run or if he wanted to go back to his confined cell.
“Well I didn’t get a call, but it looked like you needed help,”
Michael had accepted my offer and I hadn’t seen him since and now he was here after saving my life which made me think that this was all a dream. His hair was shorter than I remembered and he didn’t look as wild or as crazy as he did when I first met him nearly three years ago. He had a stern look on his face, but I could see a hesitant smile edging forward.
“Thank you,” I say walking over towards him and away from the dead bodies, wondering what we should do.
Without saying anything Michael pulls out a few wet wipes and hands them to me which I gratefully accept as my fingers were starting to get sticky. Wiping off the blood I shoved the wet wipes in my pockets and look at the scene, knowing that others would be quickly behind us, ready to finish what these guys hadn’t.
“The others will find them,” My own voice sounded cold and unforgiving to my ears. “They’ll bury them.”
At least that’s what I would say to help myself fall asleep at night.
“Aura are you okay?” Iris yelled running forward. At the sight of Michael she pulled out her gun and he raised his hands looking quite bored. “Step away from her Michael.”
“He’s working for me Iris,” I interjected before she could pull the trigger. “Put the gun down.”
“He’s been working for you?” She looked at me like I had a second head. “For how long?”
“Nearly a year,” Michael replied figuring we shouldn’t really go into detail about how he only did one thing for me. Well, two now.
“He saved my life,” Not that people saving my life counted for much anymore seeing as I was always getting into trouble.
“So that means he can be trusted?” She didn’t even believe her own words.
“No of course not,” I shook my head. “It just means if he betrays us I’ll tell V where he is and he’ll be dead by the next morning.”
“Oh,” Iris said while pocketing her gun. “Sounds good to me.”
“Of course it does,” Michael mumbled.
Before they could get arguing or someone said something they’d regret I pulled out my blade and pressed it against his throat, applying a little pressure to know he’d feel the bite of the blade. His eyes widened but he was smart enough to stay still.
“How’d you find me?”
I hadn’t told him where I was and he should still think that I was dead like a majority of the population still believed. Even if I wasn’t dead he wasn’t smart enough to track a hacker, especially if said hacker didn’t even know exactly where they were.
“Coincidence,” He replied and I pressed the blade a little harder and he glared at me. “Alright, calm down! I’ve been taking out Reapers, I got bored sitting around doing nothing. I saw some running through here and thought I could take a few more of them out and I found you.”
I searched his face to see if he was lying to me, but I couldn’t find any hint of deception. Then again he was a criminal and good at schooling his face, he did after all fool an entire country into thinking he ran the largest human trafficking company. It was hard to believe anything anyone said anymore and I would have to be taking a leap of faith with him.
“Why kill Reapers?” I merely asked knowing that if one were to take out a Reaper, then five more of them would come after you for revenge. You didn’t just kill Reaper’s because you were bored.
“They killed someone I cared about,” He said through gritted teeth.
I paused at his choice of words, wondering if Michael could ever care about anyone. Then again I didn’t think Valentin would care about anyone considering he was an assassin and he fell in love with me. Stranger things were possible.
Then it was the last part of the sentence, he said “cared” which meant that whomever Michael did have feelings for was dead. He was looking for revenge and I knew that that almost always ended badly, but I had no room to judge.
“I’m sorry,” I say pulling back but both he and Iris knew I wasn’t apologizing for pressing a blade against his throat, but rather offering my condolences over his loss. We all knew what it felt like to lose someone we care about.
Before we could continue chatting we heard voices in the distance and feet stomping through the forest. The other Reaper’s lost their ability to care about being stealthy and were closing in fast, which meant we had to be on the move.
“If you’re really on our side, do you have a way to get us out of here?” Iris asked looking a little panicky and had her gun out and at the ready again.
“Follow me.”
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Date: March 8th
Location: Guardian base
Time: 11:33 p.m.
After practically driving nonstop, with the few exceptions being to fill up on gas and to go to the bathroom, we were back in Texas and I felt a mild sense of relief that was soon overshadowed with panic. The reason for my panic being I know had a clear plan of who I wanted Michael to help us for the next few weeks, if he knew how to track down Reaper’s, that could help us immensely. But that wasn’t really what I was panicked about, I was panicked about everyone’s reactions.
For the most part the Guardians didn’t really hate Michael, seeing how his blunder with exposing Lockstar helped us immensely. With the exposure we were able to capture more agents and start shutting down Lockstar quickly, with Levi being the only real threat left. This also meant the exposure of the real M.L.A, who everyone hated at the time and still hates. Plus with Michael willingly going to jail, it was like he was working with us without even knowing it. Also it was well known Michael didn’t really like M.L.A/Valentin, which made him more favorable as well.
However, there were still going to be the few nervous people who wouldn’t welcome his help and then there was Valentin. I was pretty sure when I asked Michael to stop Valentin from following me after I confronted him Valentin would kill him. Valentin was M.L.A after all and he was royally pissed at having Lockstar being exposed and taken down like that. Plus the fact that Michael pretended to be him when all of this happened didn’t really help the situation either.
When Valentin and I had gotten back together he never mentioned the subject and I never asked about it. As far as I knew Michael was out of my life, he could’ve been dead, or he could’ve used the new life I had handed him. I didn’t care enough at the time to bother checking in.
“How the hell is this entire thing underground?” Were Michael’s first words once we entered the base and Iris and I just laughed.
There was already a separate room that we could house him in that was bugged and monitored as well, which meant if he was planning something, we’d know about it. But for the longest time I had known Michael he never tried to kill me, only mock and play the part of M.L.A. He did hurt me when I was trying to escape the Lockstar base, but knew if he really wanted to kill me, I would be dead.
During that time he asked for a bat, to harm me physically. He had far more training then I did and could have even killed me with the blunt object. Instead he let me gain the upper hand. Now that I had training from Valentin I may actually be able to kick his ass, but back then, I wouldn’t have been able to win unless he wanted to lose.
“What the hell?” L.J asked once we entered her office.
Michael’s eyes widen as he looks between the two of us and I notice his brain making the connection. We had similar features and bone structures and as far as he knew I was still an only child. The fact that we were going to a Guardian base had shut him up for a good hour or two before he started asking questions.
“Works for me, knows how to track down the Reaper’s, will be of help,” I shortened down and L.J looked at him for a moment longer before seeming to accept he was there. Besides, she had no room to judge, she brought Valentin to the base.
“What happened in California?”
After we took our seats I explained to her what had happened and even Michael looked a little nervous when I was done. I don’t know how much the others knew about Sebastian, but even from the little time I had met him I knew we were in big trouble. The Reaper’s had already taken out on of our bases and we didn’t even know about it.
“We’ll need to hold a meeting or something,” I continued after I was done. “The others need to know what’s going on.”
“Shouldn’t we warn the other Guardians first?” Iris interjected. “We need to be on high alert.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but even if you guys are prepared for them to strike, there isn’t much of a chance that you’ll win,” Michael commented leaning back in his seat, almost looking comfortable in his new setting.
“So what do we do?” Iris is looking a little desperate at this point and I was in the same boat with her.
At least with Lockstar I knew what to do, chop off the head and they’d be virtually useless as no one else was in a high enough position for any other member to respect and follow them. With the Reaper’s it just seemed like whoever had the most glee and pleasure in killing people would be followed without hesitation. They were all a little mad and off their rocker. It seemed like most of their men were the rejects from the other organizations, the ones who were loony and had no empathy or remorse anymore.
People who didn’t care were the most dangerous people of all.
“We’ll think of something,” L.J tried to sound confident but her voice faltered a little bit.
“Great,” Iris muttered with a thin smile on her lips. “Please tell me how this day can get any worse?”
Before I could respond with a sarcastic reply of my own Valentin burst into the room causing all the blood to drain from my face. Yes I was happy to see him after everything that had happened, but considering that he had that worried look in his eye and I was sitting next to Michael, that made me worry.
“Aura are you al,” His words stick in his throat as his gaze turns from worry into hate as he sees the man sitting next to me. “Michael.”
“Valentin,” Michael stands up and straightens his shirt and takes a few steps towards the assassin, trying to look calm but failing. “I want you to know that I’m sorry about everything I did to you. I hope we can start over.”
Iris, L.J and I all share a similar look of disbelief as Michael extends his hand towards Valentin as a sign of good gesture. He wanted to start over. All I could think of was that woman Michael met must have really changed him for the better.
Valentin takes a step forward with an unreadable expression. Michael is tense but keeps his hands extended. One of Valentin’s arms extends and I nearly breathe a sigh of relief thinking that this was now all water under the bridge. I should know by now to never ever trust my first instinct.
The arm that Valentin extends bolt upwards and the hand grasps Michael’s throat. My mouth drops open as Valentin whirls Michael around and presses him against the wall with his hand squeezing tighter. Michael gasps and claws at Valentin’s throat, having no weapons to help him seeing as Iris and I had made him leave them in the car.
Michael’s feet aren’t even touching the ground and I just look in dread for a few moments at what Valentin was doing. I knew he was an assassin, but that didn’t give him a reason to kill Michael when he was offering peace.
“Valentin stop!” I yelled finally managing to leap out of my chair and towards the two. “Valentin!”
“Back away hacker,” Valentin’s voice is cold and he doesn’t even spare me a glance as his hand tightens.
Michael’s eyes become unfocused and I think L.J and Iris were yelling as well, but I was just staring in disbelief. Valentin wasn’t like this, he wasn’t a brutal murderer, he killed only when necessary, why was he doing it now?
“Valentin enough!” I grab his shoulder to try and pull him back but he doesn’t budge. Instead the hand that he wasn’t using to kill Michael shoved me back.
Not expecting it I was flung back and hit L.J’s desk hard and let out a shout of pain before crumpling to the ground. Not a moment later I hear something else hit the ground and see Michael lying motionless. My view is blocked when Valentin’s face comes into my view and he looks worried again.
“Oh my god Aura I’m so sorry,” He goes to touch my side, to assess the damage and I push him away.
“Don’t touch me,” I hiss and only feel a mild guilt when I notice the pain in his eyes.
“Aura,” He starts but I don’t pay attention.
Ignoring my pained side I go up and run over to Michael, knowing that right now he was our only asset in tracking down the Reaper’s and taking them out. In my peripheral vision I saw Iris and L.J standing between me and Valentin, ready to jump in in case he decided to finish the job.
Leaning down I could hear Michael barely breathing and I let out a sigh of relief knowing that he wasn’t dead.
“Someone get a doctor,” L.J immediately had someone on the phone.
In a few minutes about five people swarmed L.J’s office and had Michael up on a gurney and rushed him to the infirmary ward while we were left in the room. My arm still clutched my side, but the main pain had gone away for now and I looked around the room. Nothing was disturbed or touched really, but I couldn’t seem to take it all in.
“Aura,” Valentin said my name again and I looked over and saw Iris with a hand hovering over her gun and wondered if she would really shoot him.
“Stay away from me,” I barely managed to get the words out before I left the office.
I knew it was cruel to say that, that he and Michael had bad blood between them that I couldn’t begin to understand, but that didn’t give him the free pass to strangle him. Valentin wasn’t like that anymore, that wasn’t who he was.
I would need to talk with him, to understand what he was thinking, but for now I just wanted to sleep.