Qualities that Kill

Chapter 9- Lyra

I swing my knife down, my aim true. His neck is bared before me, the pale skin begging to be cut open.

But just as I am about to make contact, someone grabs my wrist, preventing me from making the kill. Whoever this is will pay dearly for it.

I slowly look up and see the guy- Jax- standing there, a firm grip on my wrist and a look of determination on his face. Anger roars to life inside me, and I almost slit his throat then and there, but then he starts to talk, his voice calm and collected.

"You can't kill this man."

"Excuse me? I do what I want," I shoot back. He actually thinks he can tell me what to do.

He keeps talking though, and every word he says makes me despise him even more. "You don't know what his Quality is. You can't kill him yet."

He's telling me what to do. What he's saying is logical, but he's telling me what to do. And that just makes me want to do it even more.

"You can't tell me what to do. I'm supposed to be the one telling you what to do."

His grip on my wrist tightens, and he says, "Okay, I understand that, but if you kill him you might get a Quality that you don't like. It could make life miserable for you. You need to think this through."

I hate the way his voice sounds, like he is talking to someone crazy. I hate the way he is trying to tell me what to do. I hate the way his hand feels around my wrist, warm and rough. And I hate that what he's saying is logical, that it makes sense, most of all.

Why did I ever save him?

"Don't touch me," I tell him, shaking off his hand.

I can't kill this man, but I have gotten rid of many men without killing them myself before. I'll just have Altius dispose of him. Problem solved.

I step away from the man, who is cowering in the corner and let out a whistle, my signal for Altius to attack all possible threats in the area.

I give Jax a glare, then turn my back on him to watch Altius rip out the other man's throat.

I should have known better than to think that Jax would just let this happen. He's too compassionate.

Jax lets out a cry, calling out to my dog, probably knowing that he won't be able to convince me to have mercy and hoping he'll be able to get through to my dog.

He's stupid. It's my dog. It only answers to me.

"Altius!" he cries again, desperation evident in his voice.

And to my surprise, Altius pauses, and looks back at him. A glimmer of a smile appears on the Jax's face, and rage boils inside me.

What is Altius doing? He answers only to me. "Altius," I say sharply, the word a command.

But he ignores me, keeping his head turned toward Jax.

"Come here," Jax says to my dog. My dog. And my dog obeys, trotting over to him and sitting down right in front of him, gazing up at him.

"Altius," I repeat forcefully. But my dog stays where he is, and I feel disbelief and betrayal evident on my face.

Jax smirks at me, then says,"I win. You aren't going to kill..."

His voice trails off mid-sentence, and something about him changes again. He seems to shrink, and he takes several steps backwards, his eyes now darting around as if taking in his surroundings with a whole new perspective. I noticed it earlier, and confronted him... but he dodged the question. This only increases my anger at him. He's hiding something from me and he turned my own dog against me. I should kill him for this.