Before the Fall

Chapter Fifty - To the Death

Li

At some point, Aster fell asleep. Poor thing must have been exhausted.

I called in Sana and Xander, ready to fill them in on my plans for the day's activities. I could sense tension between them and it caused me to raise an eyebrow.

"Something I should know?" I said.

Sana looked away and Xander stood stoic.

"Nothing, sir."

"Sana?"

"Nothing, sir."

Her reply was too quiet. "I don't care what beef you have between the two of you, but keep it out of your work. You two best not ruin my plans, otherwise it's back to the stock rooms for you, Sana, and a nice taxidermist for you, Xander."

Both of them seemed to cringe a bit at my threats. Truthfully, I would just rather kill them and trash their bodies. Much less trouble.

"Anyway, Sana, take some men with you because I want you to escort the BCU to that clearing they seem to be so fond of. I've given them plenty of time to decide where their loyalties lie. Leave a dozen or so men at the other human camp. Xander, round up about ten people from the camp. It never hurts to have some extra leverage."

"Yes, sir."

I smiled at Aster as the two left. When the smoke cleared and all of this cleanup was finished, I would take her back to H-Corp headquarters. I needed a new pet anyway.

* * *

Namjoon

We only got about an hour's worth of sleep when Sana came back with a small group of men with her. She ordered us to come outside and we looked at each other before following her out.

Jimin handed Taehyung a pair of crutches and he mumbled something about his dignity being destroyed as we filed out.  I almost laughed.

"Where are we going?" I asked the hybrid woman.

"None of your business. Just follow orders. Oh, right, you quit doing that a while ago." She smirked at me and I wanted to rip her to shreds.

I felt tense and I know my men did as well. None of us spoke. Armed men flanked each of us as we walked and I wracked my brain trying to think of a way to get out of this horrible nightmare.

We headed into the forest and I was fighting the urge to be nervous.

Taehyung stumbled behind us at one point. Jungkook had helped him to get his footing again, but this terrain just wasn't meant for a man with crutches.

"Keep up, crip," snapped Sana.

Jimin snapped.

I can't say I was surprised.

"I'm sick of you," he growled as he launched himself at her, only to find his neck in contact with a muscular arm of one of the soldiers. It knocked him back onto his back and he clutched at his throat, gasping for air.

"Is this kind of force really necessary?" asked Jin.

I took a deep breath and stepped out of line, leaning over to help Jimin to his feet. My jaw flexed as I saw the bruise already forming on his throat. This was going to be one huge disaster.