Squad 6: Royal Blood

Chapter 10- Cassandra

Cassandra

Cassandra whipped her head around at Majesty's words. Her tone was as polite as she spoke, the very thing to subtly tip off Majesty that she was pissed off. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Her sister shrugged. Cassandra's hands itched for a metal pole to smack her with. Leaving the team and Naomi behind, she extended a hand towards the bedroom. Majesty shot a sweet smile at the gesture, strolling past, sitting gingerly on top of the dark blue duvet on the queen sized bed. The moment the door clicked shut, Cassandra barked."You can't order my team around."

"What good are they if we don't use them? Isn't this why you wanted them here?"

"They could die."

They weren't cannon fodder, they were her friends, her family. She wasn't about to stand on the sidelines and watch them march into danger. Snakehead was her father, the responsibility to stop him fell on her shoulders. She had called them in for... well she didn't know exactly.

"Are you the one dying? No. Then I don't see a problem."

"You're the problem. Do you even know what my team can do?" It had taken Cassandra a good part of the four months they had worked together to acknowledge everyone's skill-set in the right manner. That had been a bumpy ride filled with hurt-feelings and bad decisions.

"I don't need to. We're not going out into the open. As long as they have a brain and a working pair of legs, we're fine."

Cassandra stared Majesty down, her jaw setting. It was like a repeat of when Cassandra had first met Diana. She had assumed the girl was useless, but Diana had proven her wrong more than once. In Rome, she had placed a tracker on Cassandra which is how Phi caught in the first place. In New York, she had orchestrated a plan of attack, bringing down a subway system when Cassandra was too busy protecting Gomez. She had allowed Bill escape from Majesty's agents. And then she had returned to Phi to help save children during the siege of Phi.

"Not a word about Diana."

Majesty raised her hands in surrender. "I haven't said anything."

"You thought it." Just as she had thought it. Now she saw just how ugly her reaction to Diana's disability had been.

"You can't stop me from doing that."

Cassandra stepped forward. "I can try." And in that manner, all she could think about was Bill. 

She sounded exactly like him.

"Take it down a notch. Your friends want to save someone? I'll tell you how. I'm trying to help you."

She wanted to protest. Majesty didn't get to hijack this. This wasn't about Snakehead, or his plans. This was Andrew's sister. She could not let her own demented sibling gamble with their lives— with anyone's lives. Ever again.

But Cassandra was no match for her father, she had become smart enough to realize that. This was not something she could face alone, no matter how much she wished that were the case. 

Maybe that was why she had called them back. To not be alone. "Alright, but I am going with them."

"No—"

"Did I ask permission?" She held her sister's gaze, as if the stare-down would determine the winner of the argument. But if Majesty could be determined, so could Cassandra. They were blood after all.

Majesty shifted her jaw. "Fine."

They rejoined the group, aware nobody was meeting either of their gazes. The walls were pretty thin here.

"Right children," Majesty said, laying her palms on the table. "How much do you know of diversion tactics?"

#

Nightlife in Paris was in full swing when Cassandra and Diana arrived at the club entrance, drunks stumbling across the streets into taxis. A group of young people hollered a birthday song at the top of their lungs to their friend, paper hats on their heads. Bouncers deterred unruly crowds, and the mix of different beats pulsed down the streets. The club itself was a building in the sea of other clubs in the district, unassuming. Had she not known where to look, Cassandra would have right past it without a thought. She read the sign as they approached. Diamond. It meant nothing to her or her relation to Snakehead but that was, rafter all, the point.She handed an ID to the bouncer, entering without an issue. The wig on her head itched, but it was the only way to get inside without the guards sounding an alarm. Even though the club didn't have a snake-like name, she knew better than to underestimate Snakehead. There was no telling if this club was his lair or a mere alliance he had forged.

Tonight wasn't only about saving Andrew's sister. These diversions were meant to help them uncover if there were still people fighting Snakehead from the inside that could allow them to utilize their resources, and while Majesty was still dead set on completing that part of the mission, Cassandra counted on Naomi and Chloe saving a life tonight without losing any. As much as she'd wanted revenge for Bill, somehow the thought was edging itself to the side, once she was responsible for her team again.

The club looked fairly innocent inside, bodies dancing under dim lights. She couldn't imagine anyone being held hostage at the back. Maybe there was no one, they didn't yet know. But according to Naomi this was a place where something happened and they could only hope it would lead them to Nicole.

"You know what to do," Cassandra told Diana, slipping into the crowd.

Setting up smoke bomb distractions wouldn't be a huge problem if not for the fact they had nowhere to hide them in the first place. But as it turned out, Diana was very good at using her wheelchair.

Cassandra roamed the dance floor, trying not to stick out, which was not hard, given that there was a drag queen dancing on the table in stripper heels. Anyone here, or everyone for that matter, could be involved in Snakehead's plans. And even if they weren't, it didn't hurt to be cautious. They had about half an hour before the diversion was due to go off, and she had just enough time to hunt for evidence of where he could be. The sooner she found him, the sooner all of this ended.

And then what?

She hadn't thought about what was next for her after she stopped her father, but now... she looked across the floor, spotting Diana in the distance. She didn't believe there would be a future after it was over, because when she ended Snakehead, she had not expected to make it out alive. The prospect hadn't seemed so grim, but now that her team was back at her side, something stirred within her, a fighting flame she thought had gone out when Bill died. She wanted there to be an after. For the first time in months, she fostered the hope that there just might be a future where she didn't live for revenge.

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Hello!

I am alive an well, contrary to the belief. given I haven't updated in... a while. I just wanted to pop on here to let you know I will try my best to get some updates to you this summer.

I have been writing very little because being a university student truly is more than a full time job.

But I do hope some of you have stuck around for the journey.

I appreciate all the lovely messages I've received recently asking for updates and want you to know I appreciate you deeply. But I would also like to ask for kindness on your part when you request updates. We all have lives, and as much as I would love to live in the world of s6 and write thousands of words every day, life doesn't always allow for that. Thus please, be kind, I will update as soon as possible.

As usual, please remember to vote and comment if you like my work.

Happy writing,

~Sara V.