Divine Deception

Hawk

"Keep your arms up Theo!" Stridor's light accent, a mixture of Greek and American, is sharp but kind. "You cannot defend yourself if you drop them."

I'm sparring with another boy in the basement of the compound house. He is in his early twenties and has more height and muscle than I do at eighteen. It was only recently my birthday and Stridor wants to see me work hard so I can go on my first mission next week.

"I will not send you to the wolves if you are unprepared." He yells from the sidelines.

I nod and advance on the man in front of me. He makes a jab with his left hand; I block and uppercut with my right hand into his ribs. With a wheeze, he steps back a moment before he rebounds and gives me a cross punch to my right cheek. I bring my arm up just in time and protect my face. Weaving under his punches I land another upper cut, this time on his jaw and he stumbles back, tripping on his own feet he goes down.

"Well done!" He says as he makes his way into the ring.

"You still need work, but you will be ready in time." Ruffling my hair, he brings me into his chest in a tight embrace. "Your parents would be so proud of you."

I feel the moisture in my eyes begin to collect and I swallow a deep breath. I still can't think about them without a deep sense of loss. I know he means well but mentioning them only reminds me how weak and defenseless I was in a world of unknown monsters. I vowed to myself I would never allow that kind of weakness going forward. I refused to be broken so completely again.

The memory ends and I'm in front of the door of Stridor's office and knock.

"Come in Theo," I hear from the other side of the closed door.

He's seated at his desk with his head bent. The years haven't change him very much. This man is the only one who calls me Theo. I don't know if the other brothers even know my real name. I go by Hawk everywhere else inside The Consortium. There is more silver in his blond hair than when he brought me into the fold. Despite his position he still spars with us on occasion.

"To keep myself fit in case you decide I've become an old man," he always says.

Blue eyes twinkle as he looks up from the report he's reading and gives me a smile while I step further into his office. His face has always been friendly but tough to decipher. A strong jaw and cleft in his chin look out of place with his ash blond hair with typical 90's businessman haircut.

The space of his office is dark and elegant. Mahogany colored bookcases on the walls and a large matching desk in the middle of the room take up most of the free area. He gets up and steps around the elegant furniture to give me a handshake and pat my back. Gesturing to one of the chairs sitting in front of the desk, he leans on the corner near me.

"Theo! I must say I was surprised to get your text so early this morning. You don't usually check in that fast after a successful hunt." His accent is still there, no amount of time living in New York has changed it.

"I wasn't checking in with a success unfortunately." I say quietly as I look down at my hands. I hate this feeling that I've let him down.

"Oh?" He stands and walks back to his chair, tucking in and folds his hands on the surface in front of him. Blue eyes bore into me while speaks. "That is not like you, your success rate is unmatched. What happened?"

"I found the creature we've been looking for. It was an accident honestly. I was following Brett Matthews, one of the possible targets. After a woman picked him up in a bar, my gut told me to follow. I didn't think anything of it but wanted to keep him in my sight once intelligence matched his background to what the creature tends to go for." Rubbing my hands on my slacks, I shift in my seat. Thinking about her even now starts to heat my blood. I kick myself mentally for it.

"When I got to the location where he had stopped, the woman he called Kiah, had a blade and was about to punch it through his chin into his skull. I separated them and she fought with me. During the fighting, she changed somehow from the woman I had seen to the horned creature we had descriptions of." I bring my fingers to the scar on my jaw and rub it thoughtfully.

Stridor's face is composed as he takes in everything I've said. I can see the muscle in his jaw working like he's grinding his teeth. The angle of his chin seems to sharpen in the ambient light of his office and his eyes take on a glittering quality, I've must be seeing things again. I put my hand up to my face to rub my eyes like they're irritated. If I'm cracking up, they'll get rid of me.

"I need you to visit with Antonio in intelligence and give him the full description of this creature immediately." He bites out. "Not one single detail can be missed. We have to resolve this as soon as possible."

Observing him I carefully ask my next question. "Do you know this creature sir?"

He narrows his eyes on me before relaxing his face a little. "I have had my share of encounters with her over the years. She always manages to escape before anyone in the brotherhood can neutralize her. The last time I saw her, we didn't have the technology like we do now. No Artificial Intelligence to create accurate images and such."

"Did something happen during that encounter? Are we making this personal... sir?" That's never been something we do. I've had to set aside my own feelings to handle these missions objectively. We try to bring them in alive so we can gather information before we either in-prison them or put them down permanently.

"That is not your concern Hawk. You are the sword; I am the hand. Or have you forgotten your training?" He's switched to using my code name and the tone has gone hard. He's reminding me I don't have business asking these questions.

"Yes sir. I will go see Antonio and check in for an updated mark list to prepare for my next mission." I get up from the chair and head towards the door.

"Hawk?" Stridor's voice stops me. "This creature Kiah is your top priority. You are to do nothing else until you bring in her corpse do you understand?"

"Kill her sir?" I can't hide the confusion in my voice.

"I want her dead." Leaning forward he pegs me with a hard stare.

"Understood." I grip the door handle tightly as I open it and exit his office.

He didn't ask how I had gotten away from Kiah I realized. This conversation has given me even more questions. I feel the need to know why he's handling this one with so much prejudice. She could have killed me any time when we fought but didn't. I've never encountered that kind of restraint from a mark before. If he wants her dead instead of questioned, there is a reason.