+1+
I ended up staying the night.
What can I say I was intrigued. I’m not sure if it was the promises these people where making to take down Helios, or the few minutes I’d spent last night with the most broken and seductive woman in the world.
The more I ran it over my head, two things became obvious. One Seraphina didn’t even like her husband and two. . . that he’d guilted her into marrying him. Judging by her past he probably took advantage of her mental state. Other than that, I learned resistance had a strong 80 people. Only 25 lived in the Bayonne Needle Factory. 5 of them were Helion, 17 were Demons and two were daemon.
All men. Seraphina and Izzy were the only women. Plus the little boy I’d seen.
The next morning I’d been invited to have breakfast with The Prince. It was served on the small terrace connected to the upstairs of The Prince’s loft or The Princes’ loft I guess. When Leon escorted me to The Prince’s room I walked in on his four guards, including Seraphina helping him off the floor. He was dressed in a very tight Henley t-shirt and black pants. His body was curled inward and he was seizing. He was trying to brush it off, but it looked like a fucking possession.
I stood at the door like an idiot until he was able to stand up. Sera and the three others got him situated at the table outside on the terrace. After a moment he seemed normal, but his left hand still shook. He kicked out a chair and smiled that horrible smile at me.
“.. . uh. . . you okay ?”
“Wonderful”, he said, “Side effect of having my spinal cord and brain played with. Isaiah wanted to make something new out of the humans and us Demons. He wanted to see how we worked.”
He said the last part simply as if it were normal conversation. The meal was extravagant; eggs, sausage and fruit. I half expected one of his guards to feed him, but he seemed to manage. He had little control over his fork and it scrapped and scratched the plate. Occasionally food would go flying but he fought for composure.
We ate in awkward silence and my eye kept catching Seraphina. She was in one corner of the terrace looking down and around the perimeter occasionally. Mostly she couldn’t stop looking in my direction and I couldn’t stop looking at hers.
At first it had been embarrassingly easy to mistaken her for a man, she had hard thick muscles up the length of her arms and legs. Her tapered hair cut was the popular tapered cut for the Helion Forces. Her face and expression were hard and lined with that war-torn look a lot of us in New Aeterna had.
Her eyes were soft and her lips were an unnaturally bright pink and really big. When she saw me looking at her lips she slightly bit one. Because I was a guy, I wondered what her lips felt like. From what I saw last night, she didn’t bother with condoms.
“. . .I still see…”
I look back at The Prince’s hideous smile and realize he’d been talking and I’d been staring at his bodyguard. . . his wife.
Furthermore, what kind of guy doesn’t let his wife sit and eat breakfast with him?
“The thing is”, I heard him now, “Before we tell you the mission we need to you to officially join the resistance. Remember, once you decide to do the mission . . .you can’t look back.”
I looked up over his shoulder to where I could make out New Aeterna in the distance. I could see Arial Helion forces patrolling from the sky and the miles of barbed wire around the city. That place used to mean something.
“I’m in.”, after all what did I have to lose ?
“Good.”, he laughed and winked at something behind me, “If you backed out we were going to kill you.”
“What ?”
“My wife likes to shoot people so. . . you know”
“The fuck”
He laughed a little and so did Callum, Ares and Paul. I watched to see if Sera laughed but she was just looking at New Aeterna in the distance.
“I’m the most wanted man in the most powerful dictatorship in the world.”, he said simply, “The U.S doesn’t extradite to New Aeterna . . .unless they want something and I’m sure they would barter me to get the statue of liberty back..”
“I’m in. What’s the mission ?”
“Not yet. You’ve got to prove yourself. . .do you even know how to shoot a gun ?”
“. . . guns are illegal in New Aeterna.”, I hadn’t even seen
one of TV. They were always edited out.
“Paul will teach you—“
“I’ll do it”, Seraphina cut in. The knife she had was suddenly gone, “I want it done right.”
Paul cursed under his breath.
“If you wish, love”, The Prince said holding his arm as his entire body seized up again.
Seraphina pushed off the terrace and walked back to the tiny
kitchen then down the steps to The Prince’s bedroom. I followed at a close range and she didn’t
even give a second glance to where the Prince was sliding out of chair and into
full on seizure.
She opens a built-in closet filled with dark men’s clothes, I catch a glimpse of something lacy hidden in between some shirts. She goes in the back and pulls out a case of guns. I didn’t know so many existed. While she’s busy choosing I stare at the canvas art next to The Prince’s big ass TV.
The woman in the photograph.
“That’s you ?”, I said
“Was”, she said
“What happened ?”
She shrugged and tossed me a gun. It looked like the ones in the games I used to play as a kid before The Siege.
“We use silver bullets for target practice. Only white gold can kill us and—“
“I want you to know I’m doing this for you”
She runs a cloth over the barrel of a gun, her mouth is open but she doesn’t respond.
“You convinced me, Seraphina. Your story. . . you. I can tell you want to prove you can get back at General Thantos. You’re not just some Prince’s trophy wife.”
She looks at me hard but I can’t read her expression, then she gives a quick glance to the canvas art. He’d probably been pretending that version of her in the photo was blowing him last night.
I hear the terrace doors slide open and the three remaining guards haul the Prince down the stairs, his legs had given out on him and jerked wildly. They laid him out on the neatly made bed, where he cursed loudly. It just occurred to me every time he spasamed he was in pain.“Sera”, he called to her, but she was too busy on one knee fastening a holster on my leg, “D-d-don’t let. No”
“The safety is on’”, She said to me, ignoring him. I could feel the vibrations on my leg. Her lips were so close to my crotch. She puts a hand on my hip, her fingers catch a bit of skin and her hands are shockingly cold.
She finally turns to the bed and the man having a seizure. He’d bitten his lip and there was a gurgling coming from his mouth
“I’m sorry, love”, she said to him in a tone that seems completely false to her,
A man I hadn’t seen enter jabs a giant needle into The Prince’s arm. The Prince’s body spasms a few more times before it stills.
His arms fall to his side along with his legs and he is perfectly still. Callum reaches to adjust the bed so he is propped up on pillow with his name on it. Then his eye lids fall closed. He’s out cold. I
“How the fuck can you stand him, Sera. He doesn’t—“
“Shut up”, Seraphina cuts me off, “He can still hear you."
I see the Prince’s dark eyes flick open and his iris slowly rolling from side to side.
“He’s paralyzed”, she says and his eyes focus on her, “It’s a temporary solution to stop the violent spasms “
She glares at him and heads out the door, gesturing for me to follow.
+2+
I always try to sound more like a tough smartass than I am. With that fucking gun in my hand I felt like no one could fuck with me.
The gun feels smooth and heavy in my hands. It also feels kind of powerful. I didn’t know what tough was until now. Sera places both my hands on the gun, one cupping the barrel the other gripping the handle, my finger alongside the trigger.
She’s leaning into me and I can feel her body beneath her shirt, the curve of her muscles and she never seemed to wear a bra.
The basement of the apartment building was a slapped
together shooting range, constructed from wood, scrap metal and wrought iron. It
seemed impractical, but judging by the amount of target sheets they used it a
lot. In another corner there was a set of weights and small fridge.
“In order to. . . “, she presses a hand to my lower back to make me stand up straight. “Fix what Helios broke we need to go inside New Aeterna. Helios has something that will help us win, but we need a no one--- a human--to get it. I can help get you to where you need to be to carry out the mission, but you need to be able to help yourself.”
“What’s the mission ?”
"You haven't earned that. Now you shoot.”
I did
I sucked
The backfire was so intense I almost fell down, but Seraphina braced me. She held on for a little too long. Then she just stood in the back watching me with her arms folded. I’d emptied out the whole round not hitting a single target.
“I suck. . . why don’t you show me”
I hold the gun out and her careful expression almost becomes a sneer. I catch a reflection and see two gold knives in her hands. She looks at the target and holding them by the ends aims for the target, they cut through the air.
She misses the bullseye in the chest and just stares at the knives deep in the target.
“Bring me my knives”, she orders me. Her tone is so direct and I snap to attention.
“I didn’t take you for one to miss.”, the knives had clearly missed the bullseye in the chest.
“I don’t.” she said.
I take another look and realize she hadn’t missed. She’d landed both knives deep into the targets eyes.
“Ouch.” I said.
“I don’t like to kill anymore. My Prince is highly against death”, she jerked the knives out of the targets eyes, “But for this mission loss of life is expected, if we succeed it will be worth it.—“
“What the fuck Sera.”
We both turn to see Izzy by the door, they called her kind daemons instead of MS soliders and she’s the first I’ve ever seen out of a uniform.
“We’re busy.” Seraphina said her tone back to stilted.
“You cannot keep drugging Paris’ tea and letting Damien paralyze him. It’s brutal.”
Seraphina turns to Izzy and towers over the petite girl, but Izzy doesn’t back down. “Isobel, none of this concerns you.”
Seraphina snatches the mug out of Izzy’s hands and heads upstairs, I catch a glance of the powdery substance in the mug.
“Bitch.” Isobel says under her breath and follows her upstairs. I follow because . . . girl fight.
The rest of the resistance members are sitting around the first floor, only a few even look up as Izzy starts in on Seraphina again. The little boy runs to Izzy and hides behind her legs.
“It’s not what Paris needs, how can you be okay with Damien paralyzing him? That is supposed to be a last last resort.”
“Isobel”, she says her anger right on the surface, “Are you a nurse? Are you a doctor?”
A man slung over an armchair raises a finger, “Uh, I am a doc—“
“Quiet”, Seraphina says to him, not taking her eyes from Isobel.
Isobel is almost in tears, “It’s not right. --”
“His heart could give out during a seizure, he could choke on his own tongue . Now, I am not going to tell you this again, Isobel. For right now you have one job and one job only and I want you to truly concentrate on it because I know it will be very difficult for you. I want you to stay out of my affairs.”
Seraphina takes a step forward, backing Izzy into a corner. Izzy turns to the side, not looking at her head on.
“You are so selfish, Sera”, Izzy says quietly, “You can’t just make every decision---“
“Isobel”, Sera continues caging Izzy in , “Paris is in pain every moment out of the day except when he sleeps. He’s suffering. Izzy I need you to stay out of my affairs. This is between me and my husband. Understood ?”
“I—“
“Do you understand “, she cuts her off.
“I. . . yes”, Izzy says quietly
I can see the fire in Izzy’s eyes. Izzy’s not giving up, she just doesn’t think it’s worth the fight.
“Now, get the hell out of my face.” Seraphina snaps at her.
Isobel steps to the side, having to inch past the taller
woman to get out the corner. Izzy grabs a cardigan and a nameplate from a diner
chain and heads out the door. When Isobel slams the door, Seraphina throws the mug at it and it shatters into two pieces.
“Anyone else ?”, Sera asks to the room full of members, “Have anything to say about how I treat my husband ?”
Her voice carries but she’s not yelling.
The guy who claimed to be a doctor opened his mouth but someone elbowed him and he shut right up. After a few moments Sera looks at the clock and heads out the door.
“Good. I’m going for a run. Call me if something happens”, she says to know one in particular, Callum wordlessly gets up from the couch and follows her out the door. They head out to the outskirt of the industrial park in a slow steady run.
Leon picks up the broken mug, shrugs his shoulders. He gestures for me to follow him into the kitchen. Leon settles on a stool next to the little boy whose eyes are red and is drinking a small carton of milk.
“Look”, Leon says to me , “I probably should have explained. The Prince’s title is in name only. We aren’t organized, we don’t have an offical leader. Royal status mean nothing here. We don’t have a Prince, but between you, me and everyone else . . . we all hail the Queen.
+++
Leon let me crash in the top bunk in his room. The rooms are small with all brick walls and windows. Some are single, others are double with just enough room for a sink and bed. It’s cozy and free.
The second floor rooms belong to The Prince’s guards, Paul, Ares and Callum. Paul was closest to my age and he was pretty cool. He had some killer Anti-Helion art in his room. His roommate was Callum, who is about as shifty and stoic as. . . well Seraphina.
Paul shows me around the compound. He tells me where I can do my laundry, communal pantry and shows me the astro-turf backyard. He says I’ll need to train for at least two months before I’m ready for the mission. Afterwards we hang out in his room and he lets me go through his pile of video games and movies.
He explained to me that The Prince ran a small but efficient network to help smuggle people in and out of New Aetenra. When he was held prisoner in New Aeterna he talked and charmed his way into creating this very network. Paul said The Prince could be persuasive and sleek.
Because Paul was a daemon he used to be able pose as a MS Solider and sneak in and out with people , but his face was all over the fugitive list. He said the hard thing about getting people out is they can’t ever understand that they can’t bring anything with them, it slows you down.
The members had day jobs, sticking to low-paying low profile jobs to keep things afloat. Paul said an enterprising investor had supplied the initial funds for the safe house.
“So”, I said checking out his Grand Theft Auto collection, he had the real shit not the Chinese knock off, “Do you know what this secret mission is.”
“Yeah” Paul said, “I can’t say shit thought. Paris says we just need to make sure you’re the right fit before we tell you.”
“And you just what ? Protect The Prince 24 hours ?”
“He is guarded 24 hours a day by atleast one of us. Except nights, he’s got a wife for that.”
“Why ?”
He shrugs
“I know it seems excessive but Paris Prince has a high bounty in New Aeterna. 64 million dollars. Angel and human bounty hunters are ruthless to bring him back. They used to attack us weekly. Before the safehouse we moved all over the state. ”
“Angels”, the word still felt foreign
“Once we almost got Mrs. Thantos out, but it ended badly.”
“You tried to sneak out a General Thanto’s wife?”
“Favor for Leon.”
“Leon ?”
“Uh. . . yeah. Leon is her baby daddy.”
“Whoa. . what ? Is that the kid I keep seeing ?”
“Nah. We rescued him for Helios’ baby prisons.”
He grips the controller and stares at the screen.
“Leon and Aria had a baby before New Aeterna. Leon wasn’t able to get them out. Helios married Aria and took credit for the kid. It worked out though, Aria and Paris worked together a lot when Paris was locked up in Helion Castle. It was how he built half his contacts.”
I realize why Leon had been offended when I bad talked The Generals Daughter.
“So. . . what’s the deal with The Prince and his wife”, I ask. I like that Paul doesn’t even try to censor himself around me.
He shrugged his eyes never leaving the screen, “They had a thing before New Aeterna. She got captured and . . . five years later this hacker tracked her down. When we found out she was being extradited to New Aeterna we intercepted her. She was fucked up, I mean really fucked up. She kind of got her shit together and wanted to kill everyone and fuck over the U.S military for how they treated her.
She thought it was a good idea to put Paris under 24 hour protection after his condition got worse. She wouldn’t hesitate to kill the Helion bounty hunters who came after him. Well. . .Kill is to nice a word. She crucified them.”He punctuated this by killing a hooker on screen.
“Then like a two months after she was rescued they got married. “
I knew it. I knew it. She’d been fucked up and vulnerable and he’d taken advantage of her.
Paul turned his attention back to the screen and so did I, but I was only half hardly stealing cars.
Paul’s door opened and Seraphina was in the doorway, she had on a black shirt and rugged loose black jeans with black combat boots. Paul stood up immediately when he saw her.
“I’m going to work”, she said, “You coming?”
I looked at the clock it was 10 pm.
“Ah, no. I’m staying out of trouble.”, Paul said while shooting a cop
“Callum needs a break soon, switch with him. Paris’ paralysis should wear off in a few hours”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Come on”
Paul is back to his game and I realize Seraphina is talking to me
“What ?”
“You’re new. I don’t trust you with The Prince when I’m not here.”
“But I won’t be near him—“
“Get up”
She turns and I see her t-shirt had the word SECURITY written in pink letters.
“That’s not subtle”, I murmur to myself.
+3+
I sigh and get up, she leads me down to a beat up red SUV, it turns over several times before we make it out of the industrial park. We don’t go far though, just up the parkway past a ew deserted business fronts, liquor stores, dollar marts and sex shops.
We turn down a street to a crowded parking lot in front of a huge red brick building. The restaurant has an awning, proclaiming it Sweet Sights. Seraphina parks on the sidewalk and walks in without even locking her car doors.
“Sera”, the hostess greets her when she walks in
“Where is she ?”, Seraphina says ignoring the greeting
“Restocking the bar.”, the girl looks at me, “Is this guy
with you ?"
“Yes” she says uninterested.
Of course Sweet Sights is not a restaurant, it’s a gentlemen’s club. The women are all wearing bikini’s with fabric tied around their waist and tropical flowers in their hair
It’s Hawaii night, the red vinyl sign proclaims.
The clientele is scruffy blue collar guys and the girls look really young. The circular booths are a dark velvet and the disco balls looks like they need to be cleaned. I follow Seraphina over to the bar. She leans over the counter to a woman who is stacking up glasses.
“Hey”, Sera says. I don’t recognize her casual tone.
“Oh my God”, the woman says frazzled, “I hired a new girl and she broke eight sets of shot glasses. Eight. God, I think I have to fire her—The clients like her—I like her---eight glasses. ... her name is—how’s Paris”
“The same.”
The woman looks to be in her early forties, with light blonde hair. She's wearing jeans and a Hawaiian shirt.
Seraphina leans further over the bar and touches her fingers to her own lips. The blonde woman kisses her quickly before getting back to the glasses.
“Did you eat.”, the woman asks grabbing a stool to reach some Stoli. She has to jump and still couldn't reach them.
“No”, Sera answers.
Seraphina walks behind the bar and reaches up to grab the Stoli for her with one hand, her other hand on the woman’s lower back.
“How about a drink for my new friend”, Seraphina says and in this setting It’s like everything she says is a double entendere.
“Oh”, The woman regards me, “Is he new.”
“Very. I’m keeping him on a short leash.”
“Oh, he probably wants dinner. You want dinner ? It’s sweet and sour chicken. God, you really should eat too---Oh my God”, she says brightly, “Did I introduce myself. I’m Diana. Hi.”
“Uh, hi”, I have a hard time following her.
“Sit”, Diana says to us, “You both need to eat.”
“I’m supposed to be working”, Seraphina said placing her arms around the woman's shoulders.
“This crowd won’t get rowdy until after 11, you know that. Just turn your shirt inside out---not one will think twice if you take it off now.”
She does take it off and my mouth almost goes dry. . . then
I realize she has a ribbed black undershirt on underneath it. She doesn’t turn it
inside out but discards it somewhere behind the bar. Her clothes are a few sizes top big for her put the undershirt clings to her toned skin.
Diana brings out the sweet and sour chicken, I guess the
pineapples in it was supposed to go along with the Hawaii theme. I Cringe realizing there is a buffet in here.
Seraphina ignored her portion and joins Diana behind the bar. She helps Diana with every little manual task she is doing, The way the two women are talking and the body language suggest they are anything but friends. Constantly finding excuses to touch and kiss each other. I can’t stop looking . . . shit like this is illegal in New Aeterna, but some women can get away with it.
One of the bikini girls walks past me and I take out a few dollar bills I have. I’m not sure how much a lap dance is.
“Hey”, I say shoving money at her, I’m not sure how to do this.
The girl smiles then looks down at my Helion money .
“The fuck”, she says then turns to the women, “Sera he’s from New Aeterna, he’s—“
“He’s with me”, she says. Then to me, “Leave the girls alone and get that filthy currency out of here before I burn it and you.”
“But”
“Do you really think talking back to me is a good idea ? Lose that shit and don’t ever let me see it again.”
Suddenly I feel like I’m back in school, I want to rebel. Hard. It’s not my fault I don’t know the rules.
“You know . You might have everyone else afraid of you but I—“
“What”, she says coming around the bar. Diana puts a calming hand on her , “You what ? You are nothing but a coward who tried to blow himself up because shit got to hard. That’s the easy way out. You want what we can give you. I want you to have it, so learn some respect so we can all be free. ”
“Sera”, Diana’s voice is low, “It’s Hawaii night, relax. Have fun. Come on, He’s eating. Oh my God, Lettie is late again. God, I hope she’s okay. If she is dead—where did we put the Stoli ?”
“She quit last week, honey”, Seraphina says, “Lettie”
Sera backs away from me and moves back behind the bar.
“Oh my God, I forgot. She was a bitch”, Diana chimes
Diana pours two Vodka shots and a Cranberry shot for me.
“Truce ?”, Diana says, “Okay ? Let’s all get along”
I pick up my glasses and join the women in clinking them together and tossing it back. The women take another shot together, not inviting me to join in.
“I want to dance.” Sera says kissing Diana. Her mood was
vastly improving and her voice was flirty, thee was something about the way she very subtly moved to the music blaring in the backrgound.
“You can’t”, Diana adjust one of the bikini girls wraps to cover her up more, “You’re too old, Sera”
This amuses Seraphina . I’d never gotten a read on her age, but she as pretty or lithe enough to compete with the working girls.
“Fine. I want to dance for you, sweet“ ,Sera takes Diana’s hand and the bottle of Vanilla Stoli with her.
“Sera, we’re working.”, Diana says half serious, “ Plus you said you would clean the apartment--.”
“I just want to talk and I think a private room would be more fun.
Besides I want to keep close to this one”, she tilts the bottle at me, but is still looking down at
Diana. Fun. Seraphina didn’t seem to be the kind of woman who had fun.
“Sera.”, Diana says
“Come on, sweet—“
Sera’s voice trails off and she takes one of Diana’s hands and leads her across the floor and to one of the of the curtained off rooms. I sit and some of the girls are nice to me. They give me free drinks but are mostly preoccupied with flirting with the bearded old men who wander in.
Some of the younger guys look odd to me. In Helion everyone has to be clean cut and neat. These guys have messy beards, ripped clothes, pierced ears and tattoos. They also twitch like hell.
I’d taken a walk around the place, curiosity had me wondering what Seraphiana was up to and just how into that spastic chick she was. The curtain to their private room was parted a fraction and I couldn’t see much but they were talking seriously and taking turns pouring shots for each other.The woman was sitting in her lap, Sera occasionally kissed her neck.
I went back around to the bar and to my surprise found Izzy. Her floral cardigan seemed really out of place. She had a large fruity drink with an umbrella.
“Whoa”, I started.
“Hi”, she said, “Callum dropped me off. I figured you’d be here. Seraphina doesn’t like to leave newbies alone with Paris. I love Hawaii night, pina colada discount.”
“You. . . know about this ?”;
“Duh”, she takes a sip of her drink, “I mean these girls are just working their way through school, or tough times and the guys sometimes treat them like body parts, you know ? Some of them are underage. She likes protecting the girls, it reminds her of the sisters she lost. Or she likes to hit men, I don’t know. Also free drinks for me. ”
“What about the fact that she’s a lesbian ?”, I whispered that last part.
“Oh”, Isobel digs out a pineapple, “You’re talking about that.”
“That? She’s married.”
“Diana is one of Paris’ contacts. Diana has dual citizenship”
I stared at her like she just had a stroke. She was so matter-of-fact.
“Duel Citizenship?”
“Right. . . you were a kid when it happened.”, Isobel said, “So when all the bridges blew people who had house boats, tour boats, or banana boats helped get people out of the city. When Helios declared New Aeterna and Manhattan fell there was jurisdiction issues concerning people in the Hudson River at the time. Were they U.S or Aeterna residents?”
I just shook my head. I‘d never heard of this
“Well”, Izzy continued, “After 16 months of diplomatic talks, the people who were in indeterminate water during the separation of New Aeterna from the U.S were given dual citizenship. Diana lived on a houseboat. She has dual citizenship, most who do don’t go to New Aeterna but Diana has a club there too.”
“Cool”
“It’s usually hard to get anyone to turn on New Aetnerna but Diana loved Manhattan and wants it back. Diana hides runaways here and helps them transition to a new life. Sera stayed here after she was rescued. Diana took really good care of her when no one else had the time and they’ve been together ever since.”
“If Diana is a New Aeterna citizen she could go to prison for being. . . you know. . .”
“Well, no one is going to tell now are they ?”
She says that last part pointedly and a waitress drops of another Pina colada.
Later in the night it the crowed gets rowdy, some of the guys wait outside for the girls but backway when they see Diana and Seraphina taking out the trash.
I see one of the bearded guys going out the front with a girl who is half walking, half stumbling. He’s tugging her and even though he sees me watching he keeps pulling her. When he climbs into the backseat of his car two other guys jump in.
“I guess someone’s having party”, I say in passing
“What ?”, Izzys asks
I hear a scream from inside the car , It could have been anything but Isobel starts banging on the door in her drunken slur.
“Leave her the fuck alone. Open the fucking—door.” Izzy shouts.
One of the three guys gets out the car and pushes Izzy onto the ground. I finally kick into gear and help Izzy up.
“Izzy”, I shake her and she mumbles something.
“Shit”, The guy who pushed Izzy says.
I hear a girl scream and at first I think it’s because
Seraphina now has a gun raised at the SUV, but I realize it’s coming from inside
the car.
One of the guys inside the backseat tries to get out and into
the front seat but he doesn’t make it before Sera breaks the window with the
side of her gun and opens the locks.
“Hold up”, The third guy says, “Hold up, lady. She’s my girl. It’s cool”
“Who are you.” , she asks
“Marie and I used to date. No big deal. No trouble”, he fixes his pants.
“Who are you”, she asks again
“Dylan North”, he says.
“Prove it and I’ll let you live.”
He hands her what I know from TV is a driver’s license. It has a giant VOID on it. She takes the documents and gives them to me. I can hear the Marie crying in the backseat. She crawls her way out of the car, she look embarrassed and scared at the same time. Her blonde hair is a mess and she has bruises on her in a way I hadn’t seen on a woman in a long time.
Diana does a power walk over to Marie .
“Marie, you know better than to leave with clients even if they are your Ex.”
“I wanted some extra money”, she sobbed, “He said it’s just be. . .like. . oral. . .stuff”
Dylan’s jerkass friends take the opportunity to drive away
before Seraphina notices them too.
I’m studying Dylan’s home address the first time Sera shoots him in the face. I look away the second time and close my eyes the third time. The ninth time I get on my knees and puke in the bushes.
+4+
She snatches Dylan’s license from me and throws it into the Hudson River. Then she drags his body to the back of the club. I carry Izzy to Sera’s red SUV and sit with her while sleeps off her hangover. I can only assume Dylan North joined his ID in the river.
I jump when Sera gets back in the car, she smells like old pennies. Diana comes out to say good-bye. She hadn’t seen Seraphina kill Dylan North but she seemed to know exactly what Sera had done.
“Is Marie okay ?”, Seraphina says to Diana
“I guess. You know how it is”, Diana says quietly, “Are you okay ? You can stay in the apartment tonight.”
“I can’t. Things are busy”, Seraphina kiss the top of her head, “I’m fine. I am. I love you”
“Okay, love you. Stay safe.”
Sera drives me and Isobel back in silence and places an ice cold beer in her cup holder.
“That’s your job”, I ask, “Killing pervs.”
“No, I come here on my own time.”
“Oh”
“I work weekends at an industrial butcher shop . . . good practice. Just ask Dylan.”
I swallow and remember the knives I had seen her with earlier. Fuck.
She reaches into her
glove compartment and pulls out her shiny gold wedding bands. One is a thin ring with a tiny
diamond ring. The other is criss crossing white gold. She notices me staring at it.
“This ring is like a medal on a military uniform. Very pristine, official and symbolic”, she says.
“Fuck that.”, I say not knowing what else to say.
“It is though. Like a fucking uniform. When I put this ring on . . . I’m not Seraphina anymore. I’m The Prince’s wife. It’s a duty I signed up for. One I do out of loyalty for my Prince. . . for the man who saved me. I believe in him, What he stands for, I would die for that man. I mean what better way to pledge your undying loyalty to a man than to become his wife. Let him takeaway your name and have your body when he pleases.”
At a red light she takes the beer bottle and quickly removes the cap with her wedding band. The cap nearly hits me in the face.
“That must suck.”
“It’s not Paris’ fault”, she says, “Under any other circumstances I would have never become his wife. Our marriage is all based on fucking, loyalty and respect, duty and honor.”
“Uhh, yeah”
“But Diana ?”, she sighs and takes a long sip, “If I married her it’d be for love. It wouldn’t make any fucking sense for someone as caring and sweet as her to be with me, but God it would feel so good to know that she was mine. That she’d choose me. When people say they are lucky to have someone. I get it. I do.”
When we get back to the safehouse The Prince is sitting out in the garage with Paul and Ares sitting on either side of him. They get up and go inside the minute the car pulls up.
“You should be asleep”, Seraphina says, her serious stoic voice snaps into place. I get it now. What she said in the car.
“I was waiting up for you, I worry now that we are getting close to the mission”
“I’m fine. I need a shower. Let’s go upstairs.”
“I want a moment outside”, he says, “I miss the night air.
I’ve been paralyzed half the fucking day."
“Paris—“
“I--I'm sorry. Um. . .Theo will stay with me. You taught him to shoot right?”,
“You want me to shower all by myself.” She leans down to kiss
him. Her flirtation was dutiful.
“I think you’ll be fine.” he says laughing uncomfortably, his body jerking in his chair.
Callum and Sera help carry Izzy upstairs and I just stand there. I didn’t know a lot about lesbians but this guy had seriously fucked Sera up and everyone treated him like a god. Not me.
“You. . .know she’s cheating on you, right ?”
“What ?” he looks at his shaking hand.
“God, everyone is trying so hard to protect a grown man, it’s a little pathetic. Your wife doesn’t love you.”
“Are you married Theo ?” He asks calmly. I wasn’t expecting that reaction.
“I’m only nineteen.”
“Well, when you are married--and I hope you will be, you will one day buy your wife jewelry. You’ll want to see the sparkle in her eye when she opens that box, that spark of happiness. Even if buying it puts you in the poorhouse."
“What ?” I said now confused
“My wife likes pretty things”, he said, “If she sees something she likes, I consider it my duty to let her have it No matter what. I’d do anything if it made my wife happy. I love her more than anything and in return for her respect and loyalty I want her to have everything that makes her happy. I only want happiness for her. She’s suffered enough.”
He shrugs his shoulders.
Then he stops and drops the glass, he falls hard to the floor and blood spurts from his nose, he is tense and with his body curled in and hen small seizures stop and start. He head slams again and against the payment.
I haul him up buy his shoulders and start to shout.
“N—n-no”, he manages.
I ignore him and yell louder. The door burst open and Leon pulls the Prince out of my grasp and lays him on his back pushing down on his shoulder.
“Get his legs.” he says to me and I do.
When the door opens again and the Dr. Demon enters, The Prince starts sruggling against our grasp. The Doctor has a syringe in hand.“N-nno—f-f-uck-king . . .”
Isobel comes to the door, her eyes are still glassy but she looks sympathetically at The Prince. She comes over and places a hand on his forhead, distracting him while the doctor pushes the syringe into his arm.
The Prince stops fighting. He stops moving. He blinks twice and stares straight ahead. I finally notice the little boy in the corner of the garage.
“Oh, God”, Isobel goes over to the little boy, “I was looking all over for you.”
At the door Seraphina is standing there in a towel with glaring at me like The Prince’s seizure this is my fault.
“Shit”, she says to no one in particular, “twice in one day.”
“He’s getting worse”, Isobel say picking up the boy.
Seraphina stopped almost as if to pick the Prince up, then she waived over the others to do it for her.
++++
DRINKING AND DRIVING IS BAD DO NOT DO
There were comments about wanting more about Sera’s relationship with women and I really wanted to do that, but I also wanted her to be married to Paris. So her relationship with Diana isn’t the best example.
I added the bit in about Marie because I was re-reading UL a while back (going waaay back) and there is a scene whee Julianna gets in the car with some guys who start pawning at her and it made me angry so part of the scene with Dylan was inspired partially by that.