He gave a brief nod of his head and lifted the corner of his lips. Damon was right; he wasn’t ready for a fight with The Darkness.
“Mick, how did you escape The Darkness?”
“I’ve asked myself that same question a thousand times. As strange as it seems, it felt like as I grew stronger The Darkness couldn’t keep me confined any longer. One moment I was longing for Jaz, the next I was standing at the entrance of Sin City. To be honest, I wasn’t going to go back and ask for a do-over.”
Damon nodded. Nothing with The Darkness was ever straightforward. Maybe they were fighting a war with different rules. They both turned to look at Jaz who was standing with Dante in front of the stove. Mick could tell by her carefree reactions that she hadn’t heard the conversation they were having.
“How am I doing?” She turned to look at Dante.
“Perfect. Keep your eyes on the food.”
She nodded, smiling as she cooked.
“Someone go let Eli in. He’s decided to grace us with his presence for breakfast today,” Dante called out while he helped Jaz place the food on platters.
“Jaz,” Dante said in a low voice. “I’ve lived a long time, and one of the things I know is that war destroys everything it touches. Even those who make it back home have been touched, changed in a way that those who never fought will never understand. An internal war is the same. It eats us up from the inside out. No matter what you think, you are more than what the people who use to surround you called you. Only you can make the decision to be more than you are.”
He gave her a smile, the kind that came from a big brother before they took the food to the table. She sat next to Mick and raised her hand like a queen as they complimented her on breakfast.
She was sitting on the couch tucked close to Mick’s side. Dante’s words were still going through her brain as the internal fight kept tearing her apart. It was like she was being swallowed in doubt only to be spit back out in a world of we can do it. He was right. Too much of this and she’d need to see a doctor about her stomach that already felt like it was full of acid.
“So I heard the Patron’s assassins paid you a visit last night,” Ash said.
Internal fight forgotten. What was Ash talking about? She straightened a little to listen.
“I heard that you were planning on taking care of the Patron,” Mick said, casually giving Ash a look that said how did you miss him. Ash came to him soon after Jaz was operated on to tell him that the Patron was his. He tried to kill his mate and child.
“I planned to take him out the very night he destroyed my house. It seems the Patron has gotten smarter; he left the planet right after he gave the order to kill us to make sure there was no backlash against him. Since he came back last night, he’s not that smart. I do believe I will…”
Mick was shaking his head. “Not this time. He sent assassins after Jaz last night. He belongs to me now.” He stopped to look at Jaz. “He belongs to us.”
Her head was still reeling from the knowledge that the Patron sent assassins after her, and she never knew. She frowned at Mick because he never told her what was going on.
“Mick?”
“They came last night, Jaz, when we were asleep. I heard them and shielded you long before they reached the room. It’s what kept me up.
“You should have told me, Mick. You have to tell me.”
“You’re right; please forgive me. All I could think about was protecting you, but you're strong enough to deal with the things happening around us.”
She nodded and snuggled against him again. “Did you say you wanted us to deal with the Patron?”
“Yes, but it’s up to you. I thought maybe you wanted to be a part of taking your life back.”
Did she want that? When Brook went out knowing that the Patron’s men were coming after her, she had marveled at her friend’s courage. Now Mick was giving her a chance to take her life back. To stop the internal war that was tearing her up inside and choose a side.
“I want that, but I don’t think I can take a life.”
“Taking a life isn’t how you get your life back. Confronting the injustice in your life is empowering. It can do the trick all by itself.”
“I’m on board. Are we going to go and file legal papers?”
“No,” Dante spoke up. “Going to a lawyer would be useless. If you are going to get your life back, then you’re going to have to work for it.”
“What are we going to do?” She looked around the room before she turned to look at Mick.
“Tonight we pay the Patron a visit.” He leaned down and kissed her in front of everyone making her cheeks flush and her nipples harden. “Tomorrow, we sleep in,” he whispered in her ear making her flush even redder.
Eli stood up and stretched, “I can see that anywhere.” He became a shadow and left.
“Dante, what do you plan to do about Eli?”
“Nothing.” He stood up and disappeared.
“You know that disappearing trick still makes my heart beat nervously.”
“We know,” Raphael stood up winking at her before he disappeared.
“I feel like he will be a handful when he meets his mate.”
The smiles and laughter on the remaining brothers’ faces disappeared.
“What did I say?”
“We will never have a mate; if we did The Darkness would try to kill her.” Julian stood and disappeared with the rest of his brothers following.
Ash and Brook stood up and said a hasty goodbye and let themselves out the front door.
“Mick, what’s happening? Why did Julian say that?”
He wrapped his arms around her and buried his nose into her neck and rocked them gently for a while before he spoke.
“The A’rouk brothers were never meant to mate. Having you is the best thing that ever happened to me, knowing that I may kill you is the worse. I’m not sure I would wish that on my brothers.”
There was sadness in her eyes and longing. She knew what it felt like to live without the possibility of there ever being a connection between herself and someone to love. The loneliness of it swamped her heart. It wasn’t like saying I’ll meet the right person tomorrow. It was the certainty that you would never meet that person. Her heart couldn’t take the thought that his brothers would live the rest of their lives with that certainty.
“The A’rouks were mythical beings that kept the universe together. They are whispered about far more often than The Darkness. The story goes as long as they live the universe will go on. The day the first Created A’rouk brother was born was the day they disappeared. No one knows what happened to them, where they went. All the universe knows is that there are six brothers who are called A’rouk. They now believe if we fall, the universe will fall with us. We have only one weakness.”
“No, no, no! That’s no pressure or anything. How dare the universe put that kind of guilt on your shoulders? It’s not fair!” She was standing stomping her feet.
“Life’s not fair, Jaz. You should know that.”
“I know,” her shoulders drooped before she fell onto the couch. “I want them to know what I know. To know what you know.”
“Part of me wants the same; the other part of me wants to spare them the grief of standing over their mate with a Symphor in their hands.”
The memory came back to her, and she could see it from his point of view. Standing, she took his hand leading him out the door.
“Let’s explore a little.” He followed her down the tree lined street.
“It seems so strange to be in a place called Sin City and see real cherry trees lining the path.”
“Nothing here is quite what it looks like and everyone here deserves a second look, or you’ll miss something vital.” They stopped by a huge tree with a great view of the sky. It was lighting up in multiple colors making her gasp.
“The sky looks like it has jewels adorning it.”
She sat against him, leaning her head back to watch the light show being put on just for them.
“I would like to show you some more of my planet if you’re willing.”
“I would love to see more.”
He took her hand telling her to close her eyes.
The beauty of his world still took her breath away. The cruelty of the Scientists there made her want to fight on his behalf.
“What part of the planet are we on.” The land was flat and barren. No trees or flowers. Nothing that would make you want to come here. It was harsh like pictures she had seen of the dessert.
“This was used as a training zone. Mostly the Dare’s used it, but the Scientists also brought different groups out to train here. They didn’t want us to get too comfortable in one situation.”
“Did you and your brothers train here?”
“Rarely. We did very little ground training.”
He tugged on her hand taking her to a memory that was very old.
There were three of them: Dante, Mick, and Julian. Dante was thin and gangly looking like a seven-year-old boy. She could see a mother loving that face. The others were younger, and Mick was standing with his arms crossed and his lips poked out.
“I won’t do it.” His voice was young and tight as he refused to do what his brother was telling him.
“You’re going to do it because I told you to do it.”
Mick turned to walk away. Dante caught him and began to leave the ground going further up in the air until they reached a platform.
“How far up are we?” she whispered, scared to interfere with the fight that was happening.”
“One thousand miles.”
Her eyes swung to him as her mouth dropped. Mick was fighting his brother, screaming at him, telling him he was such a bad brother to do this to him.
“You’re supposed to care for me.” His eyes turned red before they turned totally black.
Dante shrugged, “I’m supposed to do a lot of things. Now you know I don’t care for you. See you on the ground.”
He sat, crossed his legs and his arms and refused to move.
“What’s happening?” She was still whispering.
“I’ll explain when it is over.”
Mick finally stood up and walked over to the edge of the platform. It was solid black and thick as a sheet of metal but not cold to the touch. There was nothing holding it up. It was simply him, the platform and the lavender sky. He laid on the edge and looked down.
Jaz walked over and lay down beside him wanting to see what he saw. About one hundred and fifty miles down was another platform. She looked from the young Mick to the one standing over her.
“How are you supposed to get from here to there?” He simply shrugged his shoulders and watched his younger self.
The boy walked back to the other edge of the platform, screamed, and started running. Then he hurled himself off the platform. Jaz’s scream was with him as he tumbled through the air.
She could see the total fear on his face as he started aiming towards the next platform. He landed on it running and barely managed to stop before tumbling off the edge. Sitting down, his breaths came out in hard pants as he once again talked about his brother and how he would no longer follow him. He said several words that she couldn’t understand.
“The scientist demeaned us every day with words, but they had special words that they kept for Dante. Those words hurt him; I would see him straighten his shoulders, ignoring them. We were forbidden to say them, but the Scientist had convinced me that my brother didn’t care for me, and I said those words because I wanted to hurt him.”
“He didn’t want you to curse?” She took a stab in the dark. Most parents or parental figures had a list of bad words they didn’t want their child saying.
“It was worse than that. Dante felt like to say these words was to open ourselves up to their brainwashing technique.”
Young Mick got up and repeated his earlier descent, but she noticed this one was a little more controlled. His landing was much better. It didn’t take him as long to recover, this time; then he did it again. Finally, he was on the last platform. He never stopped to rest, he simply stepped over the side no running start needed. He floated to the earth gracefully.
When he landed, he walked up to his brother and told him that he would never follow him again. After disowning him, he stalked off.
Dante stood for a long time before he finally started walking. The distance was far, but he never left the ground until he came to a huge structure. He climbed the stairs and walked until he found the head Scientist. With all the swagger a young boy could command, he walked up to him. Mick was behind him hiding wanting to see what he was going to do.
“I followed him that day so sure I was right. I planned to spring out when I caught him in his lie. I was going to fight to be the leader when I knew for a fact that he was selling my life away. The Scientist convinced me he was out to kill me, and I was young enough to believe him.”
The Scientist looked down and sneered at Dante. Calling him one of the names that Mick used earlier. Mick cringed but stayed hidden.
“What do you want? I have an execution to plan.”
“I took Milj to the platform that is a thousand dills up and left him up there alone.”
“You killed him? I wanted that pleasure!” the Scientist roared, his yellow eyes becoming bright.
“He was able to descend safely without missing a platform. His last decent was graceful as if he were born to fly.”
Dante turned around ready to leave.
“You lie.”
“I can’t lie, and you gave your word. As long as Milj was able to make his way back to the planet surface without help, he would live.” Head held high he walked out of the structure.
“He saved my life that day. The Scientists were brainwashing me just like he said. I believed I couldn’t do it because they told me I couldn’t.”
“That’s why you told me I needed to face my fears, face the people who are coming after me.”
“Yes, but only because I know I’ll be there to protect you.”
“Mick, why did they want to kill you? You were just a child.”