Mick (The A'rouk Brothers Book 1) (23 page)

“It’s been really quiet around here,” Mick said now that the pie and ice cream were gone.

“Maybe The Darkness has moved on,” Lucca said, not believing a word of it.

“I think it’s more likely that he’s planning something big and just needed to take a day or two to get ready,” Damon muttered. He gave Elandra a perfect bill of health that morning. True to his word, the male tried to kill him. Damon wasn’t upset with him; it was the best workout he’d had in a while and taking his frustrations out on Elandra made him feel good even though he knew he couldn’t kill him. And he’d heal that limp Damon left him within no time at all.

“I’m with Damon,” Mick said. “They’re never going to leave me alone. How do I defeat them? They have to have a weakness, something I can use against them.”

“Even if they had a weakness no one would tell you,” Dante said as he stood and stretched.

“Why?” The frustration in Mick’s voice carried throughout the room.

“You already know Mick. If you betray the knowledge that is hard won, then The Darkness is given a free hand. Remember that. Whatever you learn, you must keep it to yourself.”

Mick put Jaz to the side and stood up. “Why don’t you care about our fates, Dante? Why don’t you fight for us?”

Dante’s body changed, thickening. “You mean the same way I made sure you weren’t killed before you reached adulthood, Mick? Is that what you mean? Do you want to have a go at me? Come on try me, let’s see what happens.”

“I’m not scared of you!”

“I said try me, not talk me to death.”

The house was gone. They were high up in the atmosphere. There was a ring in the center and seats around it.

Jaz looked at the brothers, horror on her face. They acted like this was a natural occurrence. “Do something, stop this.”

“We can’t, it’s part of who we are. We’re thick, but at times we need to fight it out between us. This isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last. Think of it as sparring,” Damon said as he took a seat next to her.

“And if somebody dies?” Her voice trembled, scared that Mick would be hurt.

“We deal with it then,” Raphael said.

Jaz eyes grew big as she watched Mick. His body grew to around eleven feet. He bulked out. His back legs allowed him to stand, but he was obviously an animal. He had shorter arms but long lethal fingers with claws that were half as long as his body. He reminded her of a picture of a dinosaur she saw once, but this was even more. His body had a thick protective covering that looked like it couldn’t be pierced. There was intelligence in his eyes and skillful cunning in his movements.

Her breath was trapped in her throat even as her heart beat faster.

Dante was on the opposite side of the ring in the same animal form. A bell rang, and a growl went up that sent chills down her back as the brothers cheered them on. They came to the center of the ring each step causing the space around them to rumble. Mick charged his brother knocking into him. Dante fell back but managed to dig his claws into Mick, lift him up and toss him.

The sound that came from Mick sounded like pure hate. He jumped to his feet, agile despite the body he was in. The fight began. They clawed each other, each looking for an unprotected part of the body to sink their claws or teeth into. There were three spots of weakness that she could count in the armor of their skin.

Mick managed to catch Dante off guard and dug his claws into his vulnerable area right under the arm on the side. Dante’s cry of anger made every sound stop. Fear rolled through the air.

He tore his body free from Mick; blood gushed from the wounds in his side. Mick backed up; the blow he caused was one that would kill the animal they were. Dante stood before him until his body fell to the ground and he dissolved into nothing.

A roar went up from the brothers, and a cheer went up from The Darkness. Mick would finally be theirs.

Mick’s body slowly morphed back into his normal shape. His head turned to look at Jaz, the guilt in his eyes unbearable. He collapsed on the floor of the ring. She got up and made her way up to him.

“Mick.” She pulled him into her arms.

“I killed him. How could I kill him? He’s my brother. That shouldn’t have happened; it’s not like this is the first time we have fought. He taught me how to fight. No one knows my moves better than he does…did.”

His head dropped in her lap, and he shook. She could feel his fear, sadness, as well as his anger.

‘There’s nothing left even to bury,” he said before he finally stood.

His family was staring at him in silence. He was the second in command, now the leader and they would look to him for direction. Funny, it wasn’t until this very moment that he realized what his brother went through because he could feel his brothers. Their questions barraged him banging through his mind. Each brother was a guardian and looked for guidance on what he should or shouldn’t do. Dante dealt with it every day like it never occurred. Mick was sure he would never be so graceful under fire.

He felt Jaz slip her hand into his. She was still willing to stand by his side to shoulder the new burden he was carrying.

“Let’s go home.” They knew what he meant. 22 Cherry Lane was nice, but it wasn’t home.

They disappeared leaving behind the one person they would always miss.

Jaz stood in the living room looking at the beige walls finding a kind of peace in the color. She took her shoes off allowing her feet to sink into the brown flooring before she sat on the couch. The red flecks in the gold furniture reminding her of Dante’s blood. She shook her head to dispel the vision. That way lies madness.

No one said anything they just stared, the look of unbelief and horror on their faces was something she didn’t think she was ever going to forget.

“Now what?” demanded Julian.

Maybe he suddenly realized that he was now second in command, and if The Darkness took Mick’s soul, he would be in command. The look on his face made Jaz react by hunching over. The sheer power coming from him almost floored her.

“Stop,” Mick growled. “Pull it in.”

He stood up and began pacing.

“I don’t know what happened today. I just know it shouldn’t have happened. If Dante is dead and I say if and mean it. I’ve seen him walk out of hell untouched, so I can’t seem to believe that I killed him. If he is dead, we will make this work.”

“Didn’t you hear The Darkness cheer; would they cheer for a trick,” Raphael said, but it was clear he was looking for reassurance.

“All I know is that with Dante not being here The Darkness is coming for Jaz and myself. There is nothing, nothing,” he stressed the word a second time, “that you can do for her or me. So instead, I need you to do the things you can. Someone has to watch over Brook and Ash. The Darkness won’t hesitate to make them collateral damage. I also need you to stand guard and make sure The Darkness doesn’t infiltrate what you defend because it thinks you’re weak.”

He turned to look at them. Now they would either obey or fight him for command. He prepared to fight. One by one they gave him a slight nod of their heads and disappeared.

“Mick?” Jaz was watching the vid screen that showed the area surrounding his property. Property that he had moved.

He took her hand after his brothers left and explained the layout of the hallways until she was able to go anywhere she needed without his help. After that, they walked the house and then the property together.

When they came back inside, he took her to the control room and had her strap herself into a seat. That’s when he informed her he was moving his property up several levels in the atmosphere.

With amazement, she watched the vid screen as it showed them slowly rising. When she asked him why his answer was, he didn’t want the fight to happen around his brothers.

Now she watched as the minions of Darkness surrounded their property. It would be a slaughter, theirs.

“How can we fight an army that big?”

“We don’t have a choice; to give up is certain death for both us.”

She knew he was right. They lived, or they died, but they did it together.

“Mick, who are they?”

He stared at the two males. “The first male is Elandra, the second is his sidekick.”

The first male approached their house with determination on his face. The second had a twisted grin on his face.

The first raised his hands and lasers struck out beating at the shields Mick raised. Mick returned fire using the weapons that were embedded into the side of his house; they sputtered and died never touching the two males in front of them.

“We’re dead already, Mick, what does laser fire or any other fire mean to us?” Elandra raised his voice, a laugh coming from his lips as pure hatred lit his eyes. “You want to kill us, make a deal with The Darkness, because only it can kill us.”

The second male raised his hands, bringing down fire and laser and several other types of weapons against them. The shields failed, and he laughed.

Elandra appeared in front of them. “I almost made it out, but Dante wouldn’t let me go. All I needed to do was die, and I would have been free, but he saved my life and now you will pay for his crimes.”

Jaz turned her head to look at Mick. She could tell by the confusion on his face he didn’t know what the male was ranting about either.

Mick pulled his Symphor to him. He would fight every minion in the Army of Darkness if he had to. He edged his body in front of Jaz as the male continued to rant about his freedom.

“You resisted longer than I gave you credit for. I guess you wouldn’t be a guardian if that weren't the case.”

He threw his body at Mick. Mick blocked him, managing to turn him around and carry the fight away from Jaz. The other male appeared in the room and stabbed her in the stomach. Her scream took all Mick’s fight.

“Jaz.” He ran to her kneeling over her.

“In the end, it wasn’t you who killed me after all. I love you.”

“Shut them up before I get sick and bring them. Somebody pay a visit to the other brothers and let them know we will be coming for them. Plant the fear of The Darkness deep into their souls.” Elandra disappeared, and Mitra followed him bringing their captives.

He appeared in the throne room of The Darkness. “One guardian just as you ordered.”

Elandra bowed even though doing it made him sick.

“Elandra, you were always one of my favorites. Maybe tonight I will reward you.”

He shivered with fear and repulsion.

“But he is not broken yet.” The Darkness reached out and slapped Elandra making his body fly across the room. “I want his soul, not his body. Take him, break him, and take this trash with him.” The darkness pointed towards Jaz.

Elandra bowed before crossing the room and picking them both up to cart them into the room of souls.

Mick opened his eyes to find that he was being restrained in the center of a room. He looked up to find two Bollos hanging down, one on each wrist. Bollos were a parasite that lived to captured unsuspecting beings then kill them. They would live off the body until it was nothing but dried bones. They were a sickly looking gray with the ability to blend in with their surroundings making them hard to see despite their color. They also possessed the ability to change their natural form. They liked simple geometric patterns the most, although once they were shown pictures of old-fashioned chains from Earth they seemed to enjoy doing that shape the most. That’s the form they were in at the moment.

This pair must have sold their services to The Darkness for unlimited access to food. For now, they were restraining him not trying to make him dinner. The room was large; the walls were black and crawling with insects he had never seen before. He assumed they were insects because of their size, but size could be misleading.

A small whimper caught his attention drawing his eyes to the other side of the room. Jaz hung there, but the Bollo holding her up were obviously sizing her up for dinner. He struggled, but the Bollos holding him tightened their grip.

“Jaz.” Her name was torn from his throat.

“Mick.” Her voice was weak. It took several tries, but she eventually opened her eyes.

“I see you, Mick.” Her words were slurred, but he understood her.

“I see you too, Jaz mine.”

“I love when you call me that. I know I’m special to you when I hear you say that.”

“Aww, this is so sweet. Am I interrupting? Should I come back later before I beat your mate to hell?” Elandra turned to face Mick as he said the last part.

“I will kill you if you touch her,” Mick snarled, redoubling his efforts to get loose.

“I wish.” Elandra went to stand in back of her and ripped the clothing off her body until she was naked.

“Let her go, don’t touch her. I will give you anything you want,” Mick cried out, his voice hoarse he yelled repeatedly begging for her to be left alone, offering his soul for her safety.

“It doesn’t work like that. The Darkness isn’t nice. It kills everything you love to collect you. If it agrees to the trade you are trying to make, it is simply a lie,” Elandra said with bitterness. “The Darkness takes your willingness to enter its army as a sign of fealty, and that means you agree to sacrifice the one you love, either way, she dies.”

He stood behind her, but his eyes were on Mick as he raised the whip and allowed it to slash across Jaz’s body. Her body bucked, and she moaned biting her lip to keep the scream down in her soul, but Mick felt the whip too, and he took the pain hoping to spare his mate.

Elandra whipped her continually until she finally fell into unconsciousness.

“She won’t last much longer. I’m surprised she lasted this long.”

“She’s special.”

“You think she’s special because she’s a clone?” Elandra frowned; that didn’t make any sense.

“No, she’s special because she is mine. She put her fear away and placed her life in my hands. She believed in me when I’m not sure my brothers did. She has been as willing to die for me as I’ve been willing to die for her. She’s just special.”

“Special won’t save her life.”