Kaeron exhaled a breath in the cold night air. He had made it. He had gone the entire day without taring out his sisters eyes anytime she had rolled them at him, nor had he gagged her for all of the sly remarks she had been making to his face. He didn't even strangle her to death for walking away from him when he was still talking to her.
Time to celebrate.
It was getting to be that time of the year again. Where the weather gets colder, and for some reason, hell's freaks get it into their "Chunk of change, brains" that it's their fucking playtime here on this side of the rift.
He strode down the same back alley he had the other night. The entrance was again busy with people coming and going from the food shop ran by an ex assassin for the secret group of highly trained, highly effective, fae hit squad that operate under the command of the fae king (Nygel Lifeblood), the ruler of, Veleez, one of the only Fae kingdoms left after "The War Of The Phoenix" had dropped their numbers dangerously low a decade ago.
The smell of ramen and different spices assaulted Kaerons sensitive nose, but years of training made it easy for him to ignore the overload, but still he focused on getting away from this side of the alley as soon as possible.
The woman who owned the shop was someone Kaeron tended to stay away from. He had never met her or her team of overpowered murderous fae before, but he had heard all the stories. A group of some of Solaris's most prolific, most psychotic killers. Bodies left, up and down Solaris, half of their faces cut off, body parts ate. From what he heard, each member was more insane than the last, and their ex boss, he heard, was the most crazy of them all. Their ex boss, the shop owner.
So whenever he was down here in this.. unfortunate city, he was sure to avoid "running into her." But Kaeron wasn't the type that people just "ran into," anyways.
Surprisingly enough, however, overlooking some shady backroom dealings, this was one of the only legit businesses in the entire rat alley.
The further down Kaeron went, he blew by powerful businessmen or women, high-ranking law enforcement agents, or bounty hunters, or prostitutes, or even just down bad bastards trying to escape their miserable lives if only for an hour, all entering businesses that didn't advertise what type of services they provide. Some people entered apartments, but nobody lived on this strip. Not unless you ran drugs for the dirt bags who run this place or added a body or more to your name for them and need to lay low. It was like this in most of the places Kaeron frequented as a bounty hunter. He called them "Rat Alley's," where nobody was who they said they were, and everyone was out for themselves.
He spotted the run-down bar "S oky" in between, the cross into another alley, which, if followed, would lead Kaeron to a fighting pit down the way. It would've been his first choice of entertainment tonight. Instead of hunting the demon, he'd just get to beat the shit out of them, but it apparently had been raided two days before by law enforcement. Which was just before the three of them had arrived, and now the pit was in the process of reopening. So he heard.
And one of those businesses where, what they do, wasn't advertised.
His long steps ate up the distance between him and the bar. He walked with trained arrogance and swagger, the type that if he weren't in such a shit mood, would normally lead to him taking some girl, with major daddy issues, home and rocking her fucking world until she couldn't see straight in the morning.
But not tonight. Tonight, he needed a different kind of release. He grabbed the rusty handle and flung the wooden door open. It collided with the wall with a loud "Crack!" and a few heads looked his way, including the young owner, Draxo, but all of them quickly looked away, out of fear or disinterest, who could say, but Draxo was staring at the door.
Kaeron started heading for the bounties when the owner cut him off.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Draxo growled.
Kaeron was flabbergasted. Why was everyone all of a sudden getting big with him. Draxo was big for a Fae, sure, but Kaeron had killed bigger in less time than it would take for this bastard to snap his fingers.
"You talking to me?" Kaeron asked, leveling the brave fool with a look through the cigar and cigarette smoke, that was so cold, the boy actually fell on his ass from tripping over himself, trying to get away from it, and Kaeron.
Kaeron huffed. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
He needed a demon in front of him now. Before he started using these ungrateful, stuck-up, little...
"Get me the highest bounty you got and a bottle of Rum. On the house... Now boy! Don't make me ask twice."
The boy seemed to have snapped out of the pants wetting panic Kaeron had sent him into and nodded his head once before leaving to go do what he was told.
"Good boy." Kaeron smiled as he rolled the bounty up and hid it inside of his black trench coat. He took a swig from the rum and grimaced. Cheap, but when he got back to the car, Kaeron would sniff some more "Phoenix ash." Enough of that stuff and even the cheapest bottle of rum could lead Kaeron to his way to having a good time tonight.
The owner boys face contorted, and Kaeron could basically hear the retorts that he was biting down on, and it made Kaerons smile a little bigger. He had already wasted enough time, though. He was now off, headed for another rich part of the city, to tare the throat out from another B tier demon, with a bottle of rum, and enough drugs in his system to put down a large herd of buffalo.
But not before catching sight of someone familiar, and his heart hit the fucking floor. He hadn't heard from her in a year. Something pricked at his eyes as he forced himself to move and was in front of the girl in an instant.
"Kaeron!?" She exclaimed, shaking her head, a look of horror on her face.
Kaeron grabbed her arm, and she protested, but he ignored it as he inspected her up and down. It couldn't be... it was!
"Hey... Kaeron.. stop. Let Go!"
"Where have you been!" He growled, releasing her.
She looked away from his gaze, and something inside him ticked.
"Bonnie, I'm not about to ask you again. Where have you been?" When she still didn't answer, he took a step forward, and she braced herself.
"Idiot." He sighed. "Tell me or don't tell me. It's whatever. I'm just surprised you weren't kidnapped and sold off. A Dragon Shifter, even one as... fragile as you would make somebody a very rich man."
She looked up at him, and her eyes softened before she stopped looking at him and started nervously looking around.
"Let's take this somewhere else." She said, and he saw a hardness to her now that he had never seen before and... even a few scars. The girl he remembered was naive and weak, but the girl in front of him...
Hmm.
"Lead the way."
******
"So? Are you going to tell me why you're acting like we're being followed?" Kaeron finally asked after following her to the door in the back that opened to a small alley, and from there, she took them down a path Kaeron had never been down before.
The first thing that came to mind when they got further into the network of alley's was the rats. Rat this, rat there, rat that, rat shit, rat piss, they were everywhere.
There was also the lack of people, but that feeling of being watched. All of the windows were boarded up as to be expected from such a shady place. Old blood stained one of the streets, and Kaeron wondered where law enforcement was when that happened? He would bet that it was somebody who got in the way of one of these bastards, and the oh so lawful fae task force just happened not to see a thing.
"Or maybe you're going to finally answer my question about where you've been the last year?" He growled. He was just about done with her not answering him.
She stopped for a moment, and her scent told him that she got the point.
"Fine, but we have to keep moving."
He nodded his agreement, and they continued on.
"I."
"She stole from me." A familiar voice spoke from the shadows in front of them.
Kaeron froze. "You didn't."
A high beam light flashed the entire alley, and Kaeron had to close his eyes.
Draefin loved to make an entrance.
He wasn't alone, neither. He had his "left hand of the goddess" and his "right hand of god." His two most loyal members and two of the most powerful.
Kaeron spat. "I see how far friendship gets you, Logan."
The right hand didn't stir.
Draefin smiled. "A twisted way for three old friends to reunite. One friend is here to kill the other, and the third friend can do nothing but sit and watch, unless. Tell me who the girl is."
"I don't belong to you!" Bonnie cried.
Kaeron looked from her to Draefin. "What does that mean?" Kaeron asked, purposely avoiding the question.
Draefin smiled, revealing parts of his fangs. "She wanted to fuck one of Vigors three scepters. I told her no, and so she. Went behind my back, and tried to run away with the cretin." Draefins' calm demeanor was how Kaeron knew things were bad and quickly headed for worse. "She is my property, I took her in from that gambling addicted father of hers, and that slut of a mother. I brought her into "Hells Advocate," my home, my family. Which makes you mine, Bonnie, and you tried to give what is mine to somebody else. You stole from me, Bonnie, and I can't let that go. I hope you understand... Right hand. Kill her."
"That's not true. We love each other." She bit out, shocking Kaeron by stepping from behind him, already shifted and ready to fight.
Draefin's right hand, aka Logan Ronin, stepped up, a bamboo hat with a white veil hiding his face, but Kaeron didn't need to see it to know the smirk that was plastered all over his nerdy face from getting to service his master. Despicable.
"I take no pleasure in this." Logan spoke low, yet it still carried across to them with no problems. "I will make it quick and painless if you let me."
"Fuck you Logan!" She spat.
"Hey Bonnie. Catch."
She turned just in time to catch the Attrium daggers Kaeron had tossed at her.
"It's not much." He shrugged.
She looked at the offering for a moment and then lifted her head to match his look and laughed.
"It's not much, you say! You damn right, it's not! Against the sharpest blade in hell, Logan The Executor! It might as well be toilet paper. But thanks anyways, and Kaeron, out of the three of us, it was always you. You have the potential to change the world someday, maybe in a way that I can't even begin to explain right here, but it's up to you, Kaeron. When I heard you were actually able to loosen the leash a bit, I felt inspired to try it myself, and I wouldn't take it back for the world."
"What an idiot." Kaeron spat, but she didn't react. "Is that why you did this? Freedom, especially the freedom you think I have. Is nothing more than an illusion."
She smiled and turned her attention to Logan, who was now holding his gold and black single edged katana he called, "Soul Collector."
"I knew you would say that. You don't know it now, but you are free. You just have to believe it more."
And with that, she charged at Logan, who met her attacked head on, avoiding her strike, and in one counter move, he cut off her head.
Kaeron stood there, emotionless as her head glided a few feet in the air, landing and rolling until it finally stopped in front of Kaerons feet.
"Don't make me have to teach you a similar lesson, Kaeron." Draefin said, turning his back to Kaeron. "I will get my answers, and they had better come from you."
The high beam disappeared, and Kaeron lost sight of the left hand, and Draefin. Leaving Kaeron and Logan standing in silence.
"Coward." Logan said before disappearing to catch up with his master.
Kaeron was now alone..!
"Who's there!" Kaeron jumped, searching the blackness behind him. His high had been completely killed, but the Phoenix ash was still in his blood, making it difficult to see.
A figure appeared and came close enough for Kaeron to see. It was a man, and his hands were up.
"I would like to avoid a fight if I can, "Fire Breather."
Kaeron growled. "So you know me, and yet you're dumb enough to sneak up on me. You got a death wish or something?"
"Something like that. I just want to know where Lillian is."
Something in Kaeron ticked and then snapped.
******
Lex couldn't help that feeling that Kaeron was in trouble. It was gnawing at her insides like a cannibal, and there was a voice that was screaming in her head that he needed her.
"You know that this... sixth sibling sense thing, better be freaking right, because I was just about to get into the bat.!!"
Somewhere, something exploded, followed up by an earth shake that rocked the room.
They looked at each other with quickly rising realization filling their horrified gazes.
Kaeron was in trouble or causing it.