Lykos ✓

Chapter Thirty Four| Deal

The bloodied man was a constant reminder of the nightmares that Talia was stuck in. His wounds were no longer bleeding but the mangled bite in his thighs were now fusing with the navy blue trouser as he healed. Talia had seen things before. She had wiped worse things off CCTV tapes before. Yet nothing was quite like the destructions that took place in real time outside the aeroplane. Micah's message had jolted her out of her out of her trance. Watching the train wreck like a deer caught in headlights wasn't anything she wanted to remember. Luckily, the pilot had been watching her back and door to pay any attention to her screens or maybe not.

Talia had glanced over her shoulder when the explosions took place and caught Theron's predatory gaze. She had dropped her eyes, backing down, and got sight of something else. With a gasp she turned around to face something else. Anything else, aside from the nude man covered in blood. Theron chuckled and went to the bedroom to take a shower, hopefully.

Left alone, she methodically went through the task of erasing the existence of slaughter and evidence of their arrival from the little island. The less questions asked, the better. She had seen many questionable since working with Rafael, including wolves appear out of nowhere, but this time she recognised the wolf.

The wolf triggered trauma she wished she could bury again.

Her work was to be her only distraction from the monster in the plane. He was no longer just a simple ghost. Holding back a yawn, she returned her gaze back to their hostage. He was twitching in the seat, trying to lift his hand. Recalling the warning from Theron, she picked up one of the tranquiliser guns, walking closer to him with it aimed in his direction. She pulled the trigger, and the hand stopped twitching a few seconds later. She waited, gun aimed, not turning her back on him in case he tried to attack her.

As much as she loved to ignore the clues, the red flags were far too glaring to pretend that this mangled man was not a danger.

"I'm glad to see you can listen to instructions," Theron said.

Talia jumped, pointing the gun in Theron's direction. His hair was still wet from his shower, the sight of blood removed. He had only a pair of grey sweatpants and a towel in his hand, that he rubbed his hair with. He seemed to ignore that gun that Talia lowered quickly.

It's not like it could protect her anyway.

"I have to finish some work for Micah," she replied, dropping the gun at her feet. She returned to her seat, tapping away on the keyboard. Theron could play prison warden to the hostage. In that time, she needed to concentrate on not falling off to sleep in the same confided space as two dangerous men.

~*~

The announcement of landing jolted Talia awake. Disorientated, she shrugged off the blanket and put her seatbelt. Apparently, staying awake for over two days were her limit and she could no longer fight off the fatigue. She glanced around and found the hostage in the same condition as early, while Theron was seated with his eyes closed.

When they landed, Talia got straight to work with packing away her equipment. Micah and Rafael decided to grace us with their presence as all three brothers stared down at the hostage.

"He is practically your used chew toy," Rafael said, nudging the man with his shiny black shoe. The man did not respond, probably still heavily sedated or perhaps dead from the amount of tranquiliser used on him.

"He's alive," Theron defended the condition, with a shrug. He hadn't bother putting on a shirt, in contrast to his brothers who were both dressed in suits.

"At least this time you only took a bite and didn't have the whole cake," Micah responded with a sigh. He made no move to touch the hostage. Tally did not stick around to hear the rest of their assessment as she left her packed equipment to touch solid ground for what felt like the first time in eons. Flying for over thirty hours was not a glamorous affair.

"All clear?" Micah asked, leaving Rafael and Theron on the plane.

"Yes, " Talia confirmed. She didn't say anything more as she watched him jump into the driver's seat of the car. Her deal was with Rafael, and she had no doubt that in Micah found out about it, he might make her escape even more difficult. Theron dragged his victim off down the aircraft's steps without a care for the constant thudding. Rafael followed him, with her equipment in her hand.

Theron dropped the hostage into the boot of Micah's car and sat in the passenger seat, not before giving Talia a rather long stare. Micah drove off without glancing back. Rafael put her equipment in the boot of the second car and held the door open for her to get into the back. The driver drove off to a new destination.

A deal was a deal.

"Everything ready as we discussed?" Talia asked. At some point she realised out of all the brother, she was most comfortable around Rafael since she had worked for him for the longest and knew how to not trigger his murderous temper.

"You know there is another option," Rafael hinted. When they had made a deal Talia knew that with Theron's return, she needed to disappear. His unexplained obsession with her was something she wasn't ready to explore. If she was honest, she was not sure if she would ever be ready for him.

"We both know the only way to leave this life is death." Talia was going to get a place to work somewhere only Rafael would have knowledge of. She would still work for him but in a remote manner. This was the only way out of her current predicament, and she would take it.

"If you change your mind, you know how to contact me." The car stopped and Rafael held out his hand for a handshake, Talia shook it cautiously. Rafael jumped out the car and the opened the door of another.

She may not be able to escape the Lykos web, but the distance would sure help. 

~*~

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