The Noblesse and his Love

Chapter 16

Thoughts

*Rai-Lin*

The kids were still unconscious. I watched over them along with Frankie to determine if they needed a hospital. Eventually seeing them in an almost comatose state became too much. "Frankie," I said from where I was sitting. "Would you go get me something to drink? I'm too tired to walk that far."

Normally, Frankie would have come up with some smartass response, but he knew how much pain I was in. He got up, gave me a kiss on the forehead, and walked out the door. As soon as I couldn't hear his footsteps any longer, I got up and made my way to Shinwu.

Despite my fatigue, despite my pain, I laid my hand on his forehead and willed him to heal. He was badly injured from Jake's attack. I would have growled at the thought of that scumbag, but I didn't have the energy.

Normally, I could heal someone no problem. It was my strongest power; however, when I was injured, it took more effort and more energy because my body was trying to heal itself. It was a stupid cycle but one I couldn't do anything about.

When Shinwu was fully healed, I could barely stand up again. My body had recovered well in the last little bit, but now it was screaming in protest. Still, I moved over and healed Yuna and Ikhan as well. By the time they were all healed, I had to sit down in the floor because I couldn't make it over to the chair.

Frankie came in then and looked around for me. "Down here," I called weakly.

Frankie quickly set down what he had in his hands and hurried over to me. He picked me up as though I weighed nothing and sat me in my chair. He put the cup of water to my lips, seeing that my hands were shaking too badly to hold it. I drank greedily. When it was all gone, he pulled it away. "Did you ask for the water just so you could heal them?" Frankie's voice was quivering. When I didn't answer, he slammed the cup down with such force that it shattered. "You could have died, Rai-Lin. You could have become so weak that your heart stopped beating. Don't you care?"

"Of course, I care," I whispered. It was all I could muster. "But those kids were hurt because I was incompetent. I had to heal them."

Frankie sighed. "Come. Let's get you upstairs." He picked me up and carried me up to the main house.

Once we arrived at the main floor, we found M-21 leaning against the wall. His eyes widened when he saw me. "What happened to you? You were able to walk on your own when we arrived."

"She healed the children," Raziel approached as I motioned for Frankie to put me down. He did so grudgingly, and I slowly slid down the wall into a sitting position. Raziel turned to Frankie. "I wiped the children's minds. They will have no recollection of this. I suggest we bring them home."

"Yes, Master." Frankie bowed before telling M-21, "I want to thank you."

"We lured them in in the first place," M-21 watched as Raziel sat next to me. I intertwined our hands. M-21 looked away before continuing. "If we didn't, this wouldn't have happened to the kids."

I wanted to tell M-21 that it wasn't his fault, but my eyelids were heavy. I couldn't keep them open. My head fell onto Raziel's shoulder before I was asleep.

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I woke up late the next morning to Raziel reading beside me. I stretched a bit, feeling much better. My arm was already healed. I stared up at Raziel, who stared back. How are you feeling? I asked him.

He shook his head. I should be asking you that.

You know as well as I that I am perfectly fine.

Still, He reached out to brush some of my hair back. I worry.

I grabbed his hand. Let's go get some breakfast. I got out of bed, pulling Raziel along behind me.

"Brother," I called, seeing Frankie standing in the living room with a bowl of cereal in his hands. "Is that for me?"

"Rai-Lin, I was just going to bring this to you." Frankie's voice was delighted.

"Thank you, Frankie." I took the bowl from him and started eating.

M-21 chuckled from his spot in a chair. "Good to see you are feeling better. I thought you died when you passed out last night."

"Nope, you'll get to deal with me for a long time," I said, and saw M-21's eyes widen. "So, what happened last night after I went to sleep?"

"We decided to go after a branch of the organization here in Korea," Frankie supplied.

"I see. Can I just get the details from your brain? It takes too long to listen to you go on and on," I said, and Frankie nodded. With his permission, I allowed myself to enter his mind and look through his memories for the information I needed. I pulled away. "Okay, I have what I need. M-21?"

M-21 nodded his head. "The branch is on the basement of the building owned by the organization. Down till the third basement level, it seems normal, but below that is far from it. It appears F3 is the lowest, but F4-F8 are the organization's research labs. There are surveillance cameras all over the stairs, hallways, and elevators in the whole building, and they control every situation."

"How do we get in the secret branch?" Frankie asked.

"Button says F3 is the lowest floor, but you can go down one more floor. After that, get off on F4. Then, transfer to another elevator. That's the only way in."

Frankie thought for a moment. "There should be a lot of security on F4."

"It shouldn't be a problem." I cracked my knuckles.

Frankie sent me a look. "Didn't your overconfidence almost get you killed last time?"

"You're one to talk." I resisted the urge to punch him in the face.

"Stop," Raziel said quietly.

I immediately shut up as Frankie bowed. "Sorry, Master."

M-21 continued telling us about the research lab. The only part I really paid attention to was that Dr. Crombell was on the lowest floor. I couldn't wait to tear him apart. No, his death would not be quick.

Raziel stood up and began to walk towards the door. Frankie and I followed, while M-21 watched in shock. "You're not going there right now, are you?"

"It'd be nice to solve a problem like this when we are out for a walk." Frankie smirked.

"And I'm the overconfident one. I'm more powerful than you," I mumbled.

"Sure. That's why you got your ass handed to you by Jake."

I lashed out with my powers and bound Frankenstein in place. His eyes grew wide as I approached. Right as I was about to say something that would hurt him, my mind flashed back to the battle with Jake, how easily he had swept me aside. All because I let my shock get the best of me. I clenched my fist. I was weak. "I got my ass handed to me because I was weak, but I promise you this: I will not remain weak long." I released my brother.

A hand came down on my shoulder, and I looked up to Raziel. "You are not weak."

"I let my emotions get the better of me. That is not how a warrior fights." I looked down.

"Since when did you become a warrior?" There was an honest question in Raziel's voice.

"Since I had to survive," I tore myself away from Raziel. "Let's go. I don't want to give them a chance to escape." I walked out the door without looking back.