Excalibur ~ World from Ashes
Chapter 12

As per the plan, I was supposed to go with each group of gang members that were sent out on patrol around Tristan’s territory. It took me about two weeks to go through all of the groups with several outings a day. As I hadn’t been sure who exactly it was, I actually went through the listings twice before I finally thought I had it figured out. One of the guys was a little off. He kept giving me a strange look whenever we went out on patrol. I wasn’t sure why he watched me as if he knew me, but that was just it. The feeling that he had recognized me from somewhere else other than in Fukkatsu was what tipped me off.

Granted, I had never seen the entire gang from Titan, but I did see a few faces. His wasn’t all that memorable so to speak, but it was just enough to be slightly familiar. As we went out on patrols together, I started dropping a couple of hints that I was with Alik even though I wasn’t. He picked up on those hints. The man’s name was Dane and he was actually one of the six that were Tristan’s top right hand men. As predicted, the one that was leaking information had gotten pretty far up on the totem pole so to speak.

As we returned from another patrol after getting into a gunfight with Titan, I opened the door to the black SUV and sighed heavily as I stretched out my limbs. I wasn’t sure how we had gotten out of that one unscathed but we had. At the same time, though, I figured that the reason none of the group had died was because Dane was there. The fight had been a front, a show to keep Fukkatsu guessing at who the mole was.

Dane came around the car though as the others went back into the house and took my shoulder in his hands. I fought to keep from shuddering at his touch. When I figured it out, realized that he was with Titan, the thought sickened me so much that I had almost blown my own cover and shot the bastard. I took a breath. I was really on a tight string lately. It had to have been all of the fights going on during the past few weeks or so.

“Valkyrie. I thought I recognized you. Alik’s lover.”

I cringed inwardly but forced a small smile. We were alone in the driveway of the manor with no one around to hear us, “Yes.”

“I wasn’t sure if you were still with Titan or not. The act you put up a while ago… Pretty damned good, you just about had me fooled.”

I shrugged a bit, “Have to do what you have to do, I suppose. Begging and pleading never was my thing really, but whatever.”

Dane smiled at me as he patted my shoulder. He laughed a bit and turned away slightly before he suddenly turned on me. The sharp crackle of a tazer filled the air and I felt my body convulse from the sudden attack. It spread from my stomach, a sharp cry escaping my lips. Slowly, I sank to my knees trembling from the attack as I stared up at Dane in shock. Sputtering slightly I finally crumpled to the gravel in a heap, twitching slightly from the electrical current running through my body.

Dane knelt down next to me, “You’re one horrible actor, Valkyrie. I thought you were with Titan, but I wasn’t entirely sure. So I had to check. But now that you know, I’m going to have to get rid of you. Can’t have your blabber mouth going off to Tristan, now can I?”

“Fuck… you,” I muttered, flinching from the attack.

“Sure, why not,” he answered and threw me over onto my back. The tazer crackled again and it burned as it connected with my stomach. I cried out in pain, my body shaking violently from it before he pulled it away from me again. I think he was trying to knock me out, but I was fighting to keep conscious. Panting heavily, I shuddered in the dirt, every muscle convulsing uncontrollably. I fought to reach for my gun, to get my motor skills back under control.

Although I was sure that someone had heard me scream, I wasn’t positive on it. My fingers curled around the handle of the weapon and I drew it in one motion. I pointed it up at Dane and pulled the trigger. The loud shot rang out across the yard and Dane fell back, howling in pain as he clutched his arm. My chest heaved as my arm fell against my body, unable to move anymore. Now that is sure to get someone’s attention…

It wasn’t long after that a group of people came rushing from the manor. Jace led them and when he saw me; his green eyes grew wide in shock. I pointed heavily at Dane as I tried to regain my lost breath and get feeling back in my numb limbs. Drawing his silver gun, he hovered over Dane who was moaning and clutching his arm that I had just shot.

“Get him up,” Jace ordered, his voice sharp as he snapped at the men.

I closed my eyes as I turned my head and focused on breathing. Taking in the cool air into my lungs, I could feel the pain slowly starting to fade away. My limbs were like pins and needles as I lay there, the feeling slowly returning. A hand on my shoulder called my attention and I peeled open my eyes to look up Zak who was kneeling next to me, worry in his dark eyes.

“Are you all right?”

I nodded, releasing a heavy breath, “Yeah… Bastard tazed me. That fuckin’ hurts.”

Zak gave a slight grin as he laughed lightly, relief in his voice, “Yeah, that does tend to hurt a little. Here, let me help you up,” he dragged his hands under my shoulders and pulled.

Getting to my feet, I groaned slightly and stretched my body. Putting my gun away, I felt a slight tremble course through my body. I just shot someone… I realized and gaze down at the gravel with wide eyes. Zak gripped my shoulder tightly and gave me a slight shake. I turned to look at his reassuring smile.

“Come on, Tristan is going to be pissed.”

“Yeah,” I agreed and started walking up toward the manor. We followed after Jace who kept his gun at the middle of Dane’s back, shoving him forward every now and then. Three other guys from the gang followed us, keeping a close eye on Dane.

“Didn’t expect it to be him,” Zak commented lightly as he strode next to me down the hallway to the right of the stairwell.

I shook my head slowly, my hands rubbing along my arms to try to rid myself of the feeling of pins and needles. Every step sent a painful spike through my legs, almost like a cramp when your foot has fallen asleep. Reaching up, I brushed my fingers through my hair and puffed out a sigh.

“I don’t know who I was expecting it to be, but yeah I guess I have to agree. Being one of the six right hands… We were right that he’d gotten pretty far up.”

“Which means we were careless somewhere along the way.”

I frowned a bit as I glanced up at Zak, he was so much taller than me, almost like Tristan, “No. It would have been hard to figure out. You guys are pretty strict anyway, I mean, hell you didn’t trust me for an entire month in a half. It would be hard to work your way in. He was just really good at it, that’s all.”

Zak heaved a sigh and reached out to pat the top of my head. One eye closed as he did that and I gave a soft laugh. We moved down the hallway at a quick pace until one of the guys up front opened a door and Jace threw Dane inside the room. We filed in, the other members slowly leaving when Jace ordered them to. I folded my arms over my chest and leaned against the far wall next to the door as Jace pushed Dane into a chair and stood in front of him, finger on the trigger of his gun.

“Tristan will be here soon, and you are going to spill. Son of bitch…” Jace spat the last few words.

I glanced at Zak who rolled his eyes a bit. Jace was always a live wire. He was short tempered, quick to anger and violence against anyone who threatened Tristan and the gang as a whole. It made me wonder sometimes. I wasn’t entirely sure, but I was starting to think that Jace was actually in love with Tristan. I had been thinking about that lately too. I felt guilty that I was sleeping with Tristan when Jace felt that way. It was almost as if it really wasn’t my place to be there. At the same time, Jace hadn’t said anything, nor had he shown me any animosity like he had before. Especially after the incident with Alik a while ago.

As I was pondering this, the door opened again and Tristan’s presence filled the room. The door clicked as it closed and Tristan crossed his arms, leaning off on one leg as he watched Jace and Dane in the center of the room. I had never been in this room before, so it was a bit odd for me. Honestly, I didn’t think that there was a room quite like this. It wasn’t furnished except for the single chair in the center, a light directly above that chair. There were no pictures, no wall paper coverings, and no statues of the dragons that lined the other areas of the house. It was bare, cold and dreary, much like an interrogation room. Well of course… this is an interrogation room… I shuddered a bit.

“Start talking,” Jace ordered, his voice barely above a sharp whisper.

Dane grinned up at him, his fingers curled on his arm as blood still leaked from the wound. His glasses flashed in the light as he tilted his head back, dark eyes watching Jace without flinching. Jace moved, his gun shifted from Dane’s chest to his arm. The trigger pulled and the shot filled the room, much louder than I’ve heard before. Of course, he’d just fired the weapon in an enclosed room; the sound was going to be three times as loud.

Dane screamed, rocking back in the chair. I flinched, grimacing as I tore my gaze away and stared off into the dark recesses of the room. Zak’s arm wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me away from the wall. He directed me to Tristan who accepted me without hesitation. His arm wrapped up around my waist and held me against him, turned away from Dane who was groaning in pain.

“Fuck…” Dane hissed, “All Alik wanted… was his little bitch back,” his voice hissed and I cringed as I stared at the door.

It was unsettling but the more I thought about it, the more I realized. The incidents of the gang always running into Titan had started when I had run away from Alik. The only other thing that didn’t make sense was how Dane had gotten so far so easily and why Alik had started using him when I showed up and not before.

“That’s not all he wanted, dip shit, keep talking or I’ll shoot you again.”

“How long have you been reporting to Alik,” Tristan’s voice rumbled against me. I wiggled in his hold, trying to turn around, but he kept me from doing so. With a bit of a sigh, I relented and moved my arm to wrap around his waist as well.

“A year.”

Shocked silence filled the room. Zak shifted from somewhere behind me and he cursed in a different language, the tone of his voice told me he wasn’t saying anything pleasant.

“A whole year… you’ve been fucking with us for a whole year. What have you told Alik?” Jace growled finally.

“Everything. Who Tristan works with, who his right hand men are, even down to who he’s sleeping with.”

I could hear the grin in Dane’s voice and felt his gaze on my back. My fingers tightened around Tristan’s waist who in turn pulled me closer to him. I was starting to shake, my fingers clenching and unclenching around Tristan’s hip as I fought to keep myself from whipping around and unloading my gun into Dane’s chest. Jace gave a growl and there was a sharp sound. The chair toppled over and I couldn’t help but turn now to see. Dane was on the ground, with Jace straddling over him, the edge of his gun and knuckles had red streaks along them.

Dane coughed and spat out blood onto the floor, “Turning a handful of men to Alik’s side was pretty easy too. So don’t think I’m the only one in your little entourage that is with Titan.”

“Bastard!”

“Jace!” Tristan yelled the name and Jace stopped, his finger tight on the trigger as he’d been holding it against Dane’s head. Slowly he pulled away, fuming with rage.

Dane started laughing, the sound sent chills down my spine. It was maniacal, definitely not sane. My eyebrows came together as I ground my teeth slightly. Dane spat again and looked up at Jace who had taken a step away from him. That grin made my blood run cold.

“There’s something new on the market these days, gentlemen. Alik’s gotten his hands on it too. And he’s dying to try it out on someone,” his eyes shifted from Jace’s face to mine, “We’ve been calling it Excalibur. Nasty little drug, but the results… if you survive them… are very satisfying.”

His fingers dug into his clothes and I wrenched away from Tristan, “Jace stop him!” I screamed as I rushed forward. I was a little too late though as Dane pulled from the jacket a small vial of green liquid and downed it in one gulp. I dropped down, took the vial from Dane’s hand and tossed it aside, the little glass vial bounced along the concrete floor.

“What was that!?”

Dane grinned at me and then lunged forward. I yelped as he toppled me, his fingers going around my throat tightly. Grinding my teeth, I struggled underneath him as I heard shouts from the other three in the room. Writhing, I got my legs free and slammed my knee into Dane’s side, forcing him off of me and we rolled. I topped him, and struck out with my fist, straight into his face as hard as I could. His hands released my throat and I took in a deep breath, coughing slightly.

As I made to stand up, thinking that I’d knocked the asshole out cold, I felt a strange feeling course through the air. My heart jumped and my body was thrown up and away from Dane who turned and smirked at me. Hitting the ceiling, I let out a shout of shock and pain before I fell to the floor in a heap. What the hell was that? I struggled to get up, the air effectively knocked from my lungs.

The air grew heavy again, and the same strange heat rippled through the room. It was like gravity had turned on us completely. My body was crushed against the floor and I struggled to push myself up, panting and groaning. I looked up just enough to see Dane getting to his feet, his eyes on me. They were strange, those dark eyes of his. It was like they were glowing black, shining like polished onyx. My voice choked as the pressure increased. Shifting my gaze from Dane, I looked for the others and found them to be in the same predicament I was in. It was getting hard to breath and my vision was growing dark. Something warm was falling from my nose and the corner of my mouth.

Dane knelt down next to me, his hands lifting up my head via my hair as he took a rough handful. I cried out as the force of his pulling my head up went against the pressure that held me down. Across the room I heard Tristan’s voice shouting my name, though he sounded strained.

“Alik’s got a present for you, little Valkyrie. Expect it soon.”

I ground my teeth, wincing as I glared at him. He released my head and my face hit the floor rather hard. Everything swirled in a circle and I closed my eyes quickly to keep from getting sick. The pressure didn’t fade for a while and I was so dizzy and weak that even when it did disappear from my body, I couldn’t get up. Groans filled the room as I lay there, too tired to do much else.

“Valkyrie…” Tristan’s voice was next to me. I peeled open an eye and shifted just enough to look up at him. My head pounded hard with the worst migraine of all time.

“H-hey… fuckin’ bastard…” I muttered.

“Come here, I’ll take you to rest,” Tristan muttered, though he sounded utterly tired as well. His hands moved me and I tried my best to help. Reaching up, I locked my arms around his shoulders as he stood up, pulling me with. I moaned softly and let my head fall against his shoulder.

Turning, I looked over to Zak and Jace. Zak was pulling Jace up in his arms. My heart skipped a beat as I watched them. Jace was limp, hanging from Zak’s arms like a rag doll. I swallowed dryly.

“J-Jace…”

“Fine. Just unconscious,” Zak answered though he sounded worried and just as tired as Tristan sounded.

“Go rest, we’ll talk later,” Tristan ordered and Zak gave a short nod as he carried Jace out of the room. Adjusting his grip on me, we started for the door as well, my legs stumbling along as I tried to walk properly. What ever Dane did it was ridiculously potent.

“That…Drug… What the hell?”

“I know. We’ll talk later,” Tristan answered me softly, “Sleep first.”

I nodded and allowed him to take me to his room where we both crumpled to the bed. It wasn’t long before I was asleep against him. My thoughts were wild though as I replayed the sudden, strange attack in the interrogation room moments ago. Not to mention that Dane had said he wasn’t the only one with Titan that were hiding in Fukkatsu. What the hell do we do now? Things just got extremely weird…

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