The blade hit the large gnarled hand just before it could grab Astra and a loud screech filled the air, alerting Tyrese and Astra to the presence of a monster near them.
Astra wondered how one had managed to breach Mikel’s spell before noticing that Tyrese had pushed her out of the protective circle during their brief fight.
She jumped out of harm’s way and back into the circle, watching as the monster came for her again but was repelled by an invisible shield.
“Thank you,” she said, directing her gratitude to Mikel who nodded at her.
In a singular move, she decapitated the monster, its black blood staining her blade.
Almost immediately, Tyrese tensed as he saw Astra face him, her lips set in a thin line of disapproval and disgust.
“Would you prefer a quick death or do you wish to draw this out?” the question was delivered through gritted teeth and Tyrese could tell that she was asking more out of courtesy than actual interest.
“Do not forget, insolent one, that I outrank you,” he said, watching Astra carefully.
“You lost your rank when you betrayed your church. You are now nothing more than No Blessed and it is my job to exterminate you.”
“That is, if you can.”
They would have rushed at each other, ready to fight to the death, if a sudden jolt of lightning had not come in between them, successfully bringing them to a halt.
“Stop,” Mikel said, exasperation evident in his voice, his hand still outstretched to show he had cast a spell. “We are supposed to be working together, not fighting.”
“I cannot work with a traitor,” Astra snarled, glaring at Tyrese. “All my life, I have been taught to despise No Blessed. Why should I tolerate one now?”
“When was the last time you heard from The Royal Church of Zohar?” Tyrese suddenly asked, sounding just as angry as Astra did. “What news has been brought to you from there in the past several months?”
At Astra’s silence he continued. “You cannot answer me because you have nothing to say. All this time without news from the church and you have not once asked yourself why. Why your church had not been contacted by the Cardinal, one known for his close contact with The Church of Erynla because of you, for several months. You must be ignorant if you thought all was well.”
Astra flinched, something hardly noticeable but Tyrese saw it, the proof that doubt was beginning to claw into her mind. “The Cardinal is dead Bay-son, killed by the King himself, and for someone who is often hailed as his successor, you really don’t seem to care much.”
Astra attacked, her fist slamming into Tyrese’s jaw with so much force Mikel actually felt a slight breeze sting his cheeks. Tyrese fell to the ground with a small groan as his hand came up to carefully cradle where he had been hit.
“What did you say?”
Tyrese looked up at her brazenly, repeating himself even though his jaw smarted horribly. “The Cardinal is dead, and it may as well been your own hands that killed him.”
“Do you expect me to believe that?” Astra asked, stepping on Tyrese’s chest, an ugly look of derision on her face even though her hands trembled. “The King is the Pure One, someone chosen by the gods themselves. It means he can do no wrong.”
She pulled her sword from its sheath, raising it. “Say your prayers, No Blessed. The law has granted you a quick death.”
“Astra!”
She paused, turning to look at Mikel who had a look of both indecisiveness and concern in his face, the full force of her glare now turned on him.
“You cannot kill him, he is telling the truth.”
The world blanked for a second, then Astra regained her bearing. “Are you in this conspiracy with him Mikel?”
“Think about it,” Mikel pushed insistently. “It is true he has betrayed his church but don’t you think the Prelate already knew that? Would she really have sent us with him if she believed he wasn’t telling the truth? If you kill him now, then just like him, you would have betrayed your church. This is a stark contrast to what we’re supposed to be doing; helping him.”
“He is No Blessed,” Astra insisted, and a light of hatred entered her eyes as she said the words yet Mikel could sense that she did not feel that hatred for Tyrese but for someone else, perhaps a No Blessed she had encountered in the past.
“And Imogen is my Prelate,” she continued, lowering her sword, even though that malicious glint did not leave her eyes. “I have promised to serve her till death. Consider yourself lucky, old man.”
She tucked the sword back into its sheath and held out her hand to Tyrese. “I will go with you, because my Prelate has commanded it but be rest assured, once this journey is done, I will end you.”
Tyrese looked at her face, then her outstretched hand before he slapped it away, kicking Astra’s legs from under her.
The Spartan fell to the ground and in a second, Tyrese had snatched her sword from her, cutting a thin line across her forehead with it.
The Royal Knight locked eyes with her, and the years of his experience was suddenly evident in the cruel way he looked at her. “We shall see about that, Bay-son.”
*
The car felt empty even with the soothing soul music Tyler had put on to replace the silence between them as he drove Praise home. She had been silent ever since leaving Tony’s apartment and Tyler felt uneasy at her silence.
No, uneasy wasn’t the word. He supposed he felt guilty, in the blatant way he’d shown he didn’t trust her.
This afternoon had been an eye opener for him, showing him just what sort of danger Mikel had been thrown into, and the sort of hurdles he would have to overcome to help his brother.
Nuroh was a technological giant, and its founders Sean and Mark of the most influential duos in the country.
Tyler was powerful as well, being the owner of several companies that specialized in commerce and trade, so he wasn’t afraid of the costs that came with finding his brother.
What he was afraid of, was the fact that it would be of no consequence to them to decide they no longer needed his brother and do away with his existence, just like they had disposed of the countless men and women before Mikel.
They had done a good job of making it seem like he had simply disappeared one day, and Tyler shuddered to think of how ignorant he would have been if he hadn’t bumped into Praise. It was imperative he tread carefully, if he wanted any chance of seeing Mikel again.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, his voice clear over the music, “for how I treated at you at Creole’s place. I admit what happened this afternoon made me wary of you, and your intentions.”
She did not reply him, still looking out the window, and smoothed over her skirt even though it was not rumpled.
“I saw what happened to Lana, and to Mikel. It made me realize how you’ve placed yourself in danger to help my brother.”
Praise turned to him slowly, her eyes searching his face. “Your friend was able to hack Nuroh’s database?”
Keeping his eyes on the road, Tyler bit down the urge to correct her assumption. “Yes. Thank you for meeting with me Praise, even if you didn’t have to.”
Praise simply nodded at him, a comfortable silence present in the car.
Tyler’s brows furrowed as he drove down the street that led to Praise’s house, confused at the blinking red and blue lights that told him policemen were in the area. Had something happened?
Praise noticed too and she sat up straight, opening the door immediately Tyler parked and sprinting out.
It was as if there was water in her ears as she moved towards the house, the cacophony of voices around her reduced to a low hum. Her chest hurt and she put her hand to it, feeling her heart thunder beneath her palm.
Aaron? Zoe?
A picture of her parents’ charred body flashed in her minds and she began to walk a little faster, her breath coming out in uneven pants. Her knees threatened to buckle under her but she kept walking, like a mindless zombie.
If anything had happened to them…
It was easy to see she was panicking as she walked over to her house, only to be stopped by a uniformed man.
“What happened here?” Tyler asked, coming to stand beside Praise. It was then he noticed that there were curious little holes all over the front of the house, including the door. The windows were smashed to nothingness and even the lawn looked a hurricane had swept by it.
“Who are you?” the policeman asked in return, sizing Tyler up.
“I’m the owner of this house,” Praise said, interrupting their conversation. Her voice was steady despite the fear she was feeling. “What happened here, where are my kids?”
“There was a drive by shooting ma’am,” the policeman said briskly. “Luckily, your children were out of the house then or they would have been killed.”
Praise swallowed hard, already feeling her eyes sting as he said the dreaded words. Her left hand was beginning to tremble and she held it tightly. She would not break down, not here.
However, when the policeman led here to where Zoe was sobbing into Aaron’s quavering form inside the police car, her resolution went to shot. She burst into tears, sinking into Zoe’s arms as the girl ran into her arms, crying even louder that before.
Aaron was more composed but when Praise hugged him tightly too, she could his relief as palpable as daylight once he sagged in her arms.
“Where were you?” Zoe asked through her sobs, gripping Praise tightly. “We tried to call you so many times, but you didn’t answer and I was so scared they had gotten you too…”
She was a sobbing mess in Praise’s arms, although Praise could not claim to be any better.
She wiped her tears away sheepishly, noticing Tyler had been watching her all this time.
“Wait for me here, let me talk to the police,” she said, as she released Zoe.
The teen nodded, rubbing at her face with her shirt sleeve to clean her tears. “Okay.”
“You must love them very much.” Tyler said, hands in his pocket, following her.
“It’s weird right?” she asked awkwardly, talking rapidly to keep her voice from cracking as they walked over to the policeman she had spoken to earlier. “We’ve only been living together for a few months.”
“Not at all. I think it’s endearing. You’re a good person, Praise.”
Praise gave him a small smile, running a hand through her hair.
The police man noticed them coming over and made a ‘wait’ sign as he spoke into his walkie talkie rapidly. Once he was once done speaking, he turned to Praise, looking grim.
“From what we’ve seen so far Miss, this was not just some accident. It was a premeditated attack. It was a miracle you all were out when this happened or I’d be making arrangements for your bodies to be taken to the morgue.”
Praise repressed a shudder at his words.
“I’ll need you to come over to the station with me and lodge a formal report.” He added. “Crimes like this need to be reported as soon as possible so we can get to work on them right away.”
Praise looked over at her house, the familiar building now a crime scene with yellow tape surrounding it. She knew who had done this, it was blatantly obvious and a wave of rampant hatred ran throughout her body, fiery and unforgiving.
She looked back at the policeman, and pulled on her mask, the one she used to dull her emotions and keep herself in check. She smiled.
“Of course, Officer.”
*