Rise Of The Shadow ||A Contemporary Fantasy Romance||

eight years ago

ARIC

Sirens echoed through the hallways.

Red lights flashed in sync with the blaring sound.

Bodies scattered the floor and their blood coated the polished concrete.

I ran a hand over my face at the sight of the damage. Screams continued to ricochet through my ears, as if the corpses still had their voices and needed to make their fear known. This had ended in a worse bloodbath than I could have imagined...

"She's gone?" I flinched at the voice next to me, and I briefly looked into green eyes before I turned towards the open door. My stomach continued to turn and threaten to bring up everything I'd eaten over the last twenty-four hours. Not that there was much to heave up, eating had not been on my list of priorities of late.

"Yes," I answered. Short and simple. As I had learned over the past twenty-three years, that was the best way to communicate with Victoria Ashford. Any more words than necessary and she'd get bored. A bored Victoria Ashford meant an angry Victoria Ashford. That anger had a history of escalating to violence.

"Good, I know this was difficult for you." It hadn't been. It was actually relatively easy to let the kid loose from the compound, to let her go free. "But this was necessary."

"How so?" Questions best came after a plan was completed, because anything beforehand could be seen as doubting leadership or questioning Victoria's intelligence.

"Because we need her strong enough for an incitement, and we need the best circumstances possible for her to survive it. The plan's already been made." Victoria crossed her arms over her chest as she spoke. The words made my uneasy stomach churn once more. "Templum Gratiae, they have a few conduit children... one of them is a guardian."

Shit. A guardian was all they needed to ensure the kid's survival. Balance was exactly what the Entity always asked for, if that was provided then it was happy. If it was happy, it wouldn't turn you to ash when you walked into your incitement, or rather swam.

"I've made a deal with Ryne. When their guardian is fifteen years old, they'll track down One and get her in for her incitement. They'll give her back afterwards." It sounded so simple, as if One wouldn't be so overpowered that there'd be no chance of controlling her.

I looked over my shoulder at the bodies she'd left in her wake. She was only fifteen, but she'd dealt this much destruction within twenty minutes of me leaving her 'bedroom' door unlocked. Of all the shit I'd had to do in this fucking organisation, this was the most painful. Not because of what I'd done, but because of how it would come back to bite me in the ass later.

The kid trusted me. If she ever found out that what I'd done had been an order then I'd be worse off than the guards she'd killed.

"Do you trust them?" I asked. She shook her head, which made her strawberry-blonde ponytail swing behind her.

"No, but it's the best option we have. Finding our own guardian is going to be too hard, and Ryne won't let his go since she's the daughter of the love of his life or some shit. I don't know, and quite frankly I don't care." That made sense. It was information that wasn't truly important to the plan. "Even if they don't cooperate we'll still get her back."

"They have more men than we do," I said. Those green eyes were sharp enough to cut through my skin, but I didn't so much as flinch. I couldn't. It would be a sign of weakness, and that wasn't allowed in the Order of Shadows.

"But we have more conduits, ones that actually know how to use their power. Ryne's faction is still new, they won't stand a chance against us, against you." Her voice was as sharp as her eyes, and so I nodded my apology. "Besides, I doubt she'd let them control her. This is a test more than anything else. We've taught One everything we can, now she has to figure out her own way in the world."

Right, her own way. I already knew that part of the plan. The hope that she'd form attachments out there, ones that could be used against her when the time came to get her back. If I could I'd have gone with her, to make sure she didn't fall into that trap...

"You made a mistake with her." Victoria's eyes focused on me as I looked down at her.

"And what would that be?" I asked, completely unsure of how much she knew.

"You began to think of her like a daughter, Aric." Shit, that meant she knew nearly everything. "She's not. She's a piece of property that cost us millions of dollars to create. I understand she has your DNA, but she is not your child. She's a weapon." I nodded once again even though I disagreed. How could the kid be reduced to nothing more than a fucking weapon?

I should have done something more, I should have guaranteed that One would be safe out there. But I had more important things to focus on here, more plans that needed to be enacted within the Order. More people that needed my protection.

"Tell me you'll rectify that mistake."

"She's not my daughter, she's a weapon." I stopped myself from tensing my jaw, from giving away the fact that I didn't believe a word I'd said.

"Good, then let's move forward. We have research to get back to." Victoria walked away as I took one last look through the open door.

The plan was going to take at least five years to come full circle, which meant it would be at least another five years before I'd see her again. At least five years that she'd have to survive alone for.

With a final breath I took a step back and closed the door, the alarms and flashing lights ceased the second it clicked shut. And then I followed Victoria back into the compound as I prayed to the Entity that One would be spared...

Even though I knew she wouldn't.