Disobey

Chapter 3- Leonardo Wyrick

The Miami base was humid, to say the least, though quaintly nice. The halls were still long, but they weren't decorated with pictures dead Black Hands, not like I expected. Instead, they were lined with landscape art. I might've even peeked a real mural around a corner.

I could see Tori marveling from the corner of my eye.

Unlike in New York, High Commanders and the like were beyond rare. Our kind almost never made our way to this base, few other bases for that matter. The reason being that two bases were placed in Georgia, Albany and Augusta, and one was placed in Tallahassee. So, as you can imagine, the people around here stopped to marvel when I passed by. They all had their own salute waiting for me when I passed them.

"Your people here aren't used to people like Paige, are they?" Tori asked, voicing my thoughts.

Dante Coen, the corners of his lips pulled up in a small smile, replied. "Not at all. Around here, we're not used to visitors. Nothing really happens around here that warrants a High Commander, and the most well known one at that." Though he was facing forward, his voice was now directed at me. "You'll have to forgive my subordinates, Ms. Paige. They're rather anxious to get a glance of you."

I hummed my acknowledgement.

"Coen," I said, catching his attention, "fill me in on the details of this magician you have waiting for me."

"Oh. Of course. Like I said, it was caught just up on the border."

"Fighting?"

"Running. They say the magician wasn't even trying to attack. That was why they brought him in."

"You said him now."

"Forgive me. It's not often that I deal directly with magicians. I'm still not sure how we're supposed to treat the thing."

"We use gender pronouns, at least," Tori cut in. "And names, makes them easier to identify."

"I see. Well then, he insists that his name is Leonardo Wyrick."

"How did you manage to get him to tell you that?"

"A few rounds off a gun." There was a faint chuckle in his voice, like he'd enjoyed the process. "Just to the feet, Miss. Nothing real-"

My hand was resting on his shoulder, causing him to turn back to face me. If you'd only had a peek, the proximity into which I'd forced him, along with my hand resting where it was, you might thinking we were engaged in something like a waltz.

He'd stopped talking when he caught my glare. He'd stopped breathing when my hand gripped his shoulder, pressing impossibly deep into his collar bone, so much so that I may have been seconds away from snapping it.

"Dante Coen, let me get something straight before our week together officially begins. You and your soldiers will not lay a hand on anything that belongs to me without my direct permission. That includes Tori and, as of now the magician named Leonardo Wyrick. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Pai- Yes, ma'am."

I released my grip, letting him walk on, which he briskly did.

"Now. Continue on with your explanation."

"Yes, of course. Leonardo Wyrick was caught fleeing from Black Hands on the border. It is strongly believed that he does not have the power to use his magic to influence anything or anyone."

"Then why is he so important?"

"His ability, though we haven't gotten the time into fully interrogating him, seems to be something along the lines of sensing someone's thoughts."