Night Sky - Minsung

Part 6

Felix stared coolly at Ebony as she tried to mask the hate that rippled across her face. When Minho and Felix had left the guild so many years ago, they hadn't just walked out. They had to fight and escape from the base. Ebony had refused to let them go; they had been the best fighters, besides herself, and helped the guild greatly. To escape, Felix had fought Ebony with Minho and had given her a gruesome scar across her face and permanently injured her throwing arm. Ebony growled, remembering their last fight, and swiped at Felix with her trademark twin scythes. Felix deflected the blow, stepping back slightly. With his hands, he disarmed one of Ebony scythes, using the techniques she had taught him so long ago. Ebony smirked slightly and easily picked up her blade, then began to actually fight. She had been just toying with Felix earlier.

Swiftly and brutally, she jabbed and sliced at Felix, who was barely able to deflect the blows fast enough. With each blow, Felix was pressed back, his feet skidding on the dirty concrete floor. Blood poured from his left cheek from an attack he had not been able to dodge fully. He winced and grit his teeth. Pull yourself together, he said to himself. Felix gripped the handle of his blade and breathed in deeply, letting oxygen fill his lungs and give him energy. He exhaled and dodged Ebony's attack, then met her blade with his own. He pushed back against her and fell into a rhythm, his muscles finally remembering his long years of training. He matched Ebony's moves and predicted her next moves. When Ebony skidded backwards from one of Felix's hits, he jumped up and kicked her solidly in the chest, sending her flying into the wall behind her.

"Minho!" He yelled. Minho looked up from the assassins he had just finished tying up and ran to Ebony, carrying a thin but strong rope. He quickly bound her hands and feet together, then went back to Jisung and picked him up and brought him back to where Felix stood. He set him down gently on the floor, then propped him up against the wall, standing in front of him. Minho wouldn't let Jisung out of his sight again. Ebony snarled at the sight of Minho protecting his mate, pain and regret flashing before her eyes.

"How could you tie me up like this?!" She spat as she strained against the rope. "I practically raised you! I treated you both like the sons I never had!"

Felix scoffed. "Right, except for the part when you would lock us on the cellar for days on end with no food. Or when you beat us half to death when we were barely old enough to walk. What a great parent you would have been."

Ebony said nothing.

"Why did you kidnap Jisung?" Minho stepped forward, pointing his knife at Ebony's throat. He knew it was to lure Felix and Minho back to the base, but why now? Why hadn't Ebony done that earlier? She could track them and find their locations with her best trackers in at most a few days, so why did she suddenly want to fight them?

Ebony smiled bitterly. "It was when I found out your precious mate was pregnant," she said. "Seeing him...reminded me of someone else, and I couldn't help but become resentful, even more so than before." She seemed to have given up on fighting back, answering the question honestly. Ebony sighed as Minho narrowed his eyes.

"Someone...your mate," he murmured. "Your mate was pregnant?" His eyes softened as he gazed at Ebony, no longer seeing a menacing assassin, but a sad, broken alpha who had lost her mate. He thought of losing Jisung and tears almost came to his eyes. It would be unimaginably painful.

"I had found out just a few days before the accident," whispered Ebony, her voice dull and monotone. She seemed to be lost in the memory. "We were so happy, and then...I made a terrible mistake." Ebony hugged her knees to her chest, looking like a scared, lost child. Minho lowered his knife.

"What happened?" he asked softly.

"Her name was Emily," she breathed. "And she was the kindest, most beautiful, gentle, wonderful person who ever lived. We were happy together for countless years...and then one day, she told me she was pregnant. I was overjoyed, and all I could think about was the baby for the next few days. I was distracted, so I-I let my guard down. One of my enemies attacked us, and I was unable to protect her, I didn't notice him until it was too late. Until the bomb blew her out the building and all I could see was the window shattering as she fell out, onto the ground twenty stories below. All that was left were her remains, splattered on the sidewalk."

Felix flinched, horrified. "What did you do then?"

Ebony's eyes hardened and her mouth turned into a grim, twisted smile. "I hunted him down and killed him. I killed everyone: his family, his workers, his nephews. I killed them all," she murmured.

"Did it make you feel better?"

"It did, for a while. But then after a few years...it just left an ugly, sickening feeling." Ebony lowered her head as a single tear slid down her cheek, then another and another. "I killed so many people," she whispered. Minho and Felix watched, remembering their own twisted past. Minho looked into Ebony's eyes.

"If you are truly remorseful," he said. "Then you will stop this whole business. Stop killing people for the money, and find someone to care for and someone who takes care of you. You can become a new person." Ebony met Minho's eyes, pure despair shining through.

"I'll never be free of this," she sobbed. Felix fixed a stony gaze on Ebony.

"And neither will we," he said quietly, yet powerfully. "But we are both trying our best to forget this part of our past and create a life of peace. You may never be able to, but you should try your hardest because if you do, you might be able to see Emilly once more."

Ebony nodded. "I'm sorry," she said as they walked away. Minho carried Jisung as Felix called the police. They rode away on the streets before the cops arrived.