Protector (25 page)

17

As Alessandro peers into the main sitting room, he is hit with an enormous sense of pride to be amongst this group of prestigious creatures.  The view from the staircase is a very impressive sight to see, one that doesn’t happen often.  Eleven out of fourteen of the area’s most powerful creatures are preparing for war.  Even Rosa is huddled close to her husband, James, as is Claire and her husband, Dane.

“Hmm
. . . only eleven, where are Michael and my father, I wonder?” Alessandro says to himself as he watches the men.

He knows they are all antsy with anticipation of the events to come and are probably preparing for it in their own way.  It has been a long time since they have had a war like this one.  The last one was many years ago after his mother’s death.  It’s a strange coincidence that the circumstances are the same.

Alessandro was still fairly new as a Protector at the time of his mother’s death, only having a little over a year under his belt, but that didn’t make him any less ruthless at seeking his revenge.  There were no nests in Washington back then, so finding the exact Rogue that took Gemma was impossible, so they killed every one of them and their bastard offspring that were found.  This time will be easier and the vengeance even sweeter.  They have a target and it will be destroyed before the night is over.

Alessandro steps off the landing of the staircase and onto the elevator.  He knows exactly where to find his father these days.

Alessandro takes a seat in the last pew as his father finishes his visit with his wife.  Alessandro stares at his father’s bent head and wonders what exactly it is that he says to her and if it really makes a difference?  His father has been so devoted to his beloved wife, in life as well as death.  Such devotion is an amazing thing to witness.  It goes to show that love is real and never really dies, even if the human shell does.

***

Marquis has grown accustom to coming to this chapel almost every evening.  Speaking to his beloved late wife, Gemma, has become more frequent in the past few months, mostly because of Alessandro.  Learning that he could still speak to her has been his saving grace since her brutal death.  For a while, he let his grief devour him and consume his every thought, but reality returned and settled in.  He had his son to raise and an order to lead; they were all counting on him. 

Marquis is not a religious man.  He knows God exists but he c
annot find the will to worship a being who, in his opinion, cared so little about his once devoted servants.  He could have easily lived up to his reputation and forgave them for their betrayal, especially the seven that thought they were truly doing good.  Oh, how different the world would be, had he found it in his heart and put his ego aside to forgive them.  There would be no Rogues to cause anyone any more pain, but then again there wouldn’t be a Brotherhood or Protector order either.

His undying allegiance stands with his goddess
, Ameretat, the goddess of immortality.  It’s far more fitting with his life and she has never let him down. 

Marquis’s wife has been dead for thirty years now, but her soul still lives within him.  He speaks to her as much as possible and fills her in on their son’s life.

He has told her all about Anna-Marie these past few weeks.  He knows she would be happy to hear her son has finally found love in a human. 

What has happened to
Anna-Marie is so sad.  Alessandro is such a very strong-willed, stubborn man.  Very much like his feisty Italian bred mother.  No one ever thought for once he would fall in love, but he did.  He knows his son will never recover from this.  He, too, fought these same human emotions for so long, for this exact reason.  He fears for his son’s stability after this. 

Marquis tried to stay strong and set the example that love is a great thing, even if it does turn bad, but Alessandro never bought it.  He can’t really blame him for that.

***

A few minutes later
, Alessandro sees his father’s head come up.

“Come, sit with me
, son.”

Alessandro smiles at this.  He has always been impressed at his father’s sense of him.  He always seems to know when he is around. 

Alessandro sits beside his father in his usual spot. 

Marquis doesn’t speak for a while and neither does Alessandro.  They both know what is going to happen tonight and why.  As much as both are looking forward to the destruction of this Rogue nest, the reasons for it are still crippling.

Marquis looks at his son and asks, “Alessandro, what are you going to do after tonight?” 

This question confuses Alessandro.  He hasn’t thought much about anything past tonight.  Nothing else seems that important
, nor does anything else matter at this point.  Secretly, he hopes to not see tomorrow.  He would never tell his father this.  The pain is too much.  He doesn’t know how to live anymore.  He has only known Anna-Marie for a few months, but his whole life changed when they finally met.  He knows he will never be the same person he was before.  How can he be?  Every second that passes, he feels detached from his own skin.

“I don’t understand what you mean
, father,” he says expressionless.

“Alessandro, I know you hurt now and you want nothing more than to seek your revenge.  I completely understand that, but once your revenge is met
, you have to go on.  Do you know what I mean?”

“Yeah
, I know, but to be honest, I don’t know how.”

“I know you don’t, but I promise you, it will get easier.  You’ll wake up one day and your heart won’t hurt as bad, then maybe the next day it will be even a little better.  It’s a part of life.”

Alessandro stares at the statue of the goddess, the same beautiful figure that he saw in his dream just the day before.  She told him his answers are near.  He still doesn’t know what that means.  He didn’t ask her a question, so what answer was she talking about? 

“I am well aware of the
grief’s in life.”

“Yes, but there
is so much good in life as well,” Marquis says.

“I’m sure there is
, father, but it’s out of my reach right now.  Maybe one day I’ll see it, just not today.”

“I hope so
, son.”

Alessandro stands to leave
.  “I have to go prepare.”

“Alright, I’ll be up there in a little while.”

Alessandro walks out of the chapel without another word.  He was going to go back to his quarters so he could sit and think alone, but the prospect of revenge has got his senses perked, and after talking to his father, his emotional level is running off the charts.

On the second
lowest level of the underground mansion, there is a training facility with every necessity a person would need to prepare for a fight.  

Surprisingly it is empty.  Alessandro is baffled by the quietness. 

He growls. “We are going into war tonight, why isn’t anyone training!”

With anger radiating through him, he walks over to one of the practice dummies and starts to punch.  It starts off as light solid strikes, but the more he hits, the madder he gets.  He is so full of emotions, he feels like he could explode at any moment. 

Mindlessly, he continues to strike until he hears a loud splinter, then a crack as the dummy crashes to the ground.

Alessandro stops and stares at the defeated dummy lying on the floor in a heap.  He bends over and begins to laugh aloud hysterically. 

“Holy shit, Ales! You just killed that dummy!”

Alessandro stops laughing and stands up straight.  He takes a deep breath and turns around to face Michael
, who is leaning against the door frame looking amused at the destruction.

This makes Alessandro lighten up some
. “Yeah well, he talked back.”

Michael laughs more and walks further into the room.

“Do you mind company?” Michael asks.

Alessandro looks around, not really feeling like doing this dance with him again, but he knows Michael should warm up a
lso.  “Only, if we can do it in silence.”

“Alright
, man, I can do that.”

Michael walks over to one of the other dummies and starts his assault.  Alessandro looks around to figure out what to do next.  He looks back at the dummies, but he knows he shouldn’t go that route again, after what he did to the first one.

Michael notices this and decides to help.

“Hey
, man, you want to spar?  I think the rest of the equipment will be thankful.” 

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea right now.”

“Come on, man, I won’t break.”

Alessandro thinks for a minute.  He knows he needs the warm up, but he feels like he is too unpredictable right now for any kind of sparring.

“Nah dude, I’ll just practice with a sword.”  He turns to walk away before Michael can say anything else, but he didn’t move fast enough.

“What is your problem
, man?”

This makes Alessandro stop in his tracks.

“All I’m trying to do is help you because from what I can see, you can’t exactly help yourself right now.”

Alessandro turns around
, and in the blink of an eye, is standing in front of his best friend.

“Screw you
, Michael.  I don’t need help.  Not from you or anyone else.”

“Yeah, okay.  You’re so in control you meant to destroy that dummy over there
,” Michael says, pointing to the pile of broken wood on the floor.

Anger stirs up in Alessandro onc
e again and he starts to snarl.

“Ahh
. . . there’s the beast.  Come on, friend, fight me,” Michael says as he takes a couple of steps back, not once taking his eyes off of Alessandro as he prepares for the sparring session.

Alessandro doesn’t speak.  Anger is churning inside him.  He can no longer see straight.  He kneels down in his stance to strike and lets out a low animalistic growl and his eyes grow even darker
, causing almost all of the white to disappear completely.

Michael thinks to himself,
Shit, man, you are one stupid son of a bitch
, but he won’t let Alessandro see his fear.  He knows Alessandro is older and much stronger than he is.  The pain he feels has blinded him, making him that much more of a deadly opponent, but he is his friend and he has to find a way to get through to him.  As dumb as it may be to egg him on, fighting is the only way Michael knows.

Alessandro snarls again.  His instincts set in as he notices Michael’s very subtle flinch.  Michael can play it cool all he wants to, but Alessandro is a deadly trained warrior.  He has learned long ago how to read people.  No one has ever been able to hide fear or nervousness from him.

Michael takes a deep breath, “Come on, Ales, what are you waiting for?” he says, sounding much braver then he feels at this moment.

Alessandro smiles a cruel menacing smile at this.  For the first time, Michael notices his eyes.  They are no longer the brown almond shaped eyes that he got from his beautiful mother.  Now they are more like his animal side, dark and soulless. 

Michael stands up straight.  “Shit, Ales, you really are losing it!”

This sets things into motion.  In a flash, Alessandro moves and strikes Michael with a thunderous crack from a swirling back kick hard to the side of his head, which takes Michael by complete surprise and sends him flying off of his feet and across the floor. 

After a few seconds, Michael gets his bearing enough to get back on his feet.  Michael stands back up and bends over and holds his head as he waits for the spinning to stop.  When he looks back at Alessandro, he sees him back in his stance.

“Fine, you want to fight for real?  Let’s go.”  Michael bends down in his stance as well, waiting for the next move.  This time he won’t be caught off guard.

Alessandro rushes forward again and catches Michael in the side of the face with his fist then swirls around behind him to take him down from behind, but before he can get into place, Michael instinctively sticks out his leg and trips him. 

Alessandro isn’t the easiest person to take down by
any means, but this has caught him by surprise.  Letting your emotions control you is a costly distraction for anyone, even a warrior as skilled as Alessandro.  Michael knows he has to be quick on his next move. 

As Alessandro stumbles for balance, Michael wraps his forearm around his neck and maneuvers himself behind him.  Alessandro struggles for air and control, but Michael isn’t budging.  Once again, Michael kicks out his leg and swipes Alessandro’s legs
out from underneath him, causing them both to crash to the floor with Michael crushed underneath Alessandro’s massive weight.