Killing For Family

Chapter 7

Celia was back at fighting lessons with Jason, though he claimed that she doesn't need any, as she had an assassin for a brother.

"So, I'm guessing I'm not as cool now, as I have to live up to an assassin to be a man in your life?" Jason questioned smirking as Celia worked on her punches, using his body as her target.

"Yeah, impossible standards and all that," She grinned back at him. They had grown pretty close over the past 3 weeks since they had arrived here, and especially from the last few days when they had told him about them.

"Oh well. I'll just settle for second best then. Anyway, you and your brother seem really close. You spent your whole lives with each other?" He questioned, still grinning as he dodged her punches. She hesitated a bit as they got into dangerous territory of her and her brother but replied to his question, albeit warily. 

"Yeah. Practically inseparable. And he's completely overprotective of course," She smiled up at him as she threw a particularly hard punch which left him staggering back and then smirking at her.

"Of course" 

She stopped punching as she felt something was off. She took a second to examine what it was.

"Are you alright?" Jason asked her, eyebrows furrowed, though he looked like he knew this would happen.

"Yeah...Yeah, I think so, just give me a second" She replied half-heartedly, deep in thought and investigation, still she frowned at Jason for a split second.

And then she realized what felt wrong, her twin. She focused and felt distinct waves of panic and anger emanating from him.

"Sorry, I've got to go" She replied hastily, then started to run back to the camp. As she got closer she could feel him trying to send feelings of warning and paranoia, telling her to stay back. 

Ignoring them, she arrived at the camp, sensing more people than usual, some new, and rushed towards the centre platform.

She stayed at the back of the gathered crowd but started to slowly move forwards, to get a better idea of what was happening. 

She had nearly reached the very front as she stopped, glimpsing what was going on down below. She edged her way to the side of the platform, and inconspicuously scaled a tree that was out of the eye line of the people on the ground.

Drew was on the ground, with Atlus at his side, facing off angrily at the men in front of him. His shoulders were tense and hands clenched, teeth gritted and seemed to be fighting off a growl. He was in front of the rest of the group and backed up by Atlus and Kira, alongside some other pack warriors. Atlus looked similar to Drew, arms crossed and teeth bared. 

But what drew Celia's gaze immediately was her twin, standing next to Drew, contempt lacing his face and, though she was sure the men in front of him couldn't tell, underlying panic. 

He was barely holding himself back. His hand twitched to reach the knife at his side but managed to restrain himself. His eyes looked stormy and wild, and she knew, that he was dangerous right now. He was strung and ready to spring. 

In front of them were five men. The two at the back looked like bodyguards, though well-trained ones. They just stood emotionlessly, watching the scene in front of them blankly, ready to intervene at the drop of a pin.

The three men in front looked intimidating and powerful. If her twin wasn't in front of them ready to attack, she would assume they were here for Jason, due to their auras of power and influence. 

That warning feeling, that had been turned to fireworks by Drew, now exploded in a cacophony of blindingly bright bursts.

The man on the left had dark brown hair pulled back into a bun, that seemed to frame his face well. His face was sharp and angular, with piercing grey eyes that suited his bored and languid expression well. 

Though as she watched, she knew that he was watching everything that was going on in front of him, absorbing it all as he stood observing sharply. 

The man on the right had blazing green eyes that stood out so vivaciously against his emotionless and stone-cold face. Black hair framed his face and fell loosely and untamed. He was holding a knife and seemed to be twisting it in one hand every so often, similarly to the other man, watching the scene play out in front of him, though seemed to be focusing his anger at the men in front of him.

The man in front was just as emotionless as his companions, though held a glint of malice and cunning that made him an even more terrifying opponent. His hair was dark as were his eyes, which both seemed to match the aura of power he was omitting. 

All of their bodies seemed scar ridden and marked, full of muscles and taught with apprehension. 

Celia just watched and committed their faces to memory, and though she remained still in her place, she was raging inside, her mind working overtime in trying to formulate a plan in which her brother and her could escape unscathed from this situation. 

Though at the same time, she was trying to work out how they were here, and why. Of course, she assumed they were here for the famed assassin, but she just hoped their information was as vague as the last opponents who had arrived at the treetop village, demanding to take her twin. 

Thinking back to that time, she turned around to see Jason arriving and pushing his way to the front. He had a hard and vicious look on his normally so guarded face, which alarmed Celia and started the deep pangs of betrayal as she started to wonder whether he had been the one to turn them in.

She still held out hope for their first near friend not to betray them, but she thought with a dry smile, that it was only fitting. 

As he sensed her feelings of betrayal and frustration, Lukas spun his eyes around behind him, sweeping the platform surreptitiously, fixing his gaze briefly on Jason as he spotted him, then once more briefly on hers as he finished his look and returned back to the men in front of him.

"I will tell you once more before I decide to decimate this entire village. I am here for the assassin, who I know is at this place, and I will not hesitate to torture you one by one until you hand him over." The man in the middle announced succinctly, to the gasps of the people. His men, however, looked completely unbothered, so she guessed he has either done this before, or he wasn't going to go through with his threat. She had a sinking feeling that it was the first.

 Drew stepped up, speaking angrily though quietly.

"You will not be taking one of my people." 

The middle man just observed him coldly, though grey eyes and man bun smirked. 

"Would you look at that, kitty's got claws. How cute." Grey eyes announced, watching contentedly as Drew bristled, though the main man sent Grey Eyes a look.

"I don't care what you think you're going to do, but you should leave before this turns into a fight." Drew continued, only just keeping a lid on his anger. 

"Then we'll just start killing your people one by one until the assassin announces himself." The middle man stated simply and airily. 

Green eyes seemed to light up, and seconds later his knife was flying through the air towards Atlus. 

Celia had half a second as she felt the rush of hardened emotions from her twin warning her before he stepped forwards and seemed to grab the knife out of thin air as it flew past. 

Blood dripped down his sliced palm, coating the blade and slithering down the glittering metal until it dropped silently on the forest floor.

His eyes met hers briefly before he spun to face the men in front of him, a wicked smirk playing on his lips and murder glowing in his eyes. 

He clenched the knife harder in anger as blood dripped ostentatiously from his palm.

And yet, all she felt from him was protectiveness.