Semblance (21 page)

“We find him and we put his head on a spike,” Brevin said, his voice filled with contempt.

“That’s probably what Jesus would do,” Lincoln leaned back in his chair and smirked, no doubt taking a jab at the fact that Brevin owned a Christian media empire.

“Now’s not the time for jokes,” Calisto said. “This is some serious shit that’s happening here.”

“I can’t help myself,” Lincoln said. “Consider it a defense mechanism for nervousness and anxiety. Some people have irritable bowels, I make wisecracks. Which do you prefer?”

Calisto ignored him and turned her attention to Shadow. “What should we do? It’s been a long time since the Midnight Society faced an enemy that’s one of our own.”

I could see the gears were spinning inside Shadow’s head as his eyes glanced over each member of the council. Finally he spoke.

“First thing we need to do is reinforce our defenses,” he replied. “Security to our homes and family is the first priority. We gut every single piece of Skycom equipment, down to the wire, and install a third party system. Calisto, I’ll leave it to you to find us a reliable company to provide us with the physical security we need.”

“I’ve already got one in mind,” she replied.

Shadow nodded before turning his attention to Donald. “I need you to dig up any dirt you have on Lucien. Because he’s a resident of the U.K., it’ll be difficult to hit him on American soil, but find everything you can on all the key players in Lucien’s organization. If they’re American, do whatever you need to do to temporarily hold them in a cell. Any high ranking official in any big corporate business must have done something shady in the past. Discover what it is and use it to lock them away,” Shadow instructed. “Meanwhile, pull all our resources over in the U.K. and see what they can do for us. By the end of the day tomorrow, I want Lucien’s business empire razed to the ground.”

“You got it chief,” Donald said.

“Good.” Shadow turned to Takeshi next. “Meanwhile, all of our own business assets may come under attack, if it hasn’t already. I need you to secure our corporations and increase the cyber security around them. I’ll leave the protection of our investments in your hands.”

If Shadow was under any duress, it didn’t show. He was doing exactly everything a leader needed to do. For him to doubt any of his own abilities to lead the Midnight Society was ludicrous.

Shadow was born to rule.

“That leaves the four remaining council members to hunt down Lucien,” Shadow said, turning to Brevin and Lincoln.

“Four?” Brevin asked.

Shadow nodded.

“Sorry chief, but I think your arithmetic is a little off,” Lincoln said. “Captain Christianity, you, and I add up to three.”

“As of this moment, I’m nominating the house of Valencia to take the house of Constantine’s place on the Midnight Society’s inner council.”

His announcement surprised me and drew immediate backlash.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Brevin asked. “Look, you have a thing for cute musicians, I get it. You chose her as your partner, fine—whatever. But now you’re telling me that she gets a spot on the council just for sleeping in your bed?”

“Sorry bro, but I have to agree with Brevin here,” Calisto said. “As much as I adore Aria, she doesn’t have the qualifications to have a seat on this council. In fact, she shouldn’t even be at this discussion in the first place,” she turned to me and frowned. “No offence sweetie.”

“None taken,” I said truthfully. I had no idea what the hell Shadow was doing. The last thing I wanted was to become a high ranking member of this dangerous social club. I just wanted to go to classes, play my piano, and then come home with Shadow and fall asleep in his arms.

“This isn’t a democracy,” Shadow said.

“You’re seriously spitting on the family name of the Constantines,” Brevin said. “He would be disappointed knowing that you replaced his seat with
her
.”
He emphasized the last word with disdain.

“I’m going to play devil’s advocate here for a second, but didn’t Abraham risk his life to save Aria?” Lincoln asked.

No one bothered to answer the rhetorical question.

“Clearly Abraham valued Aria’s life over his own, so really, I don’t think he’d be all too offended in having Aria sit in his seat,” he continued. “In fact, I think the old man was extremely fond of Aria and would be glad to know that his seat went to someone he cherished in the twilight of his life.”

“No one is questioning how loveable Aria is,” Calisto said. “But come on, we’re talking about a seat on the Midnight Society’s council here. There’s no power in her family name.”

“Did you guys forget that I started off pedaling crystal to trailer trash and street walkers?” Lincoln noted. “But here I am now.”

“You’re an exception,” Brevin said, “though more often than not, I think your inclusion into the council was a mistake.”

“I appreciate you honesty,” Lincoln sighed. “As always, it’s refreshingly blunt.”

“So girl,” Brevin said, turning to me. “What makes you qualified to sit in that seat.”

I was quick to respond. “I have no qualifications. Honestly, I don’t want to be a member of the council. I’m just a lowly arts student who’s struggling to maintain a 3.0 average that’s required to stay in my program.”

“What about your family name? What did your father do that was special?” Brevin continued his questioning.

I paused for a moment and thought about dad, and all the sacrifices he made for me. I knew what everyone here was thinking at the moment—they didn’t deem his accomplishments worthy to grant me a seat as a member of the Midnight Society’s pretentious inner circle, just because he didn’t make the big bucks.

“My father made me,” I stated. “He sacrificed money, power, and the chances of a prestigious life just so I could be sitting here today. You can look down on me all you want, but don’t look down on the man who gave up his dream just so I could fulfill my own.”

Brevin looked at me for a moment, and then nodded.

“She killed a Crow,” Lincoln added. “If that doesn’t deserve a seat on this council, I don’t know what does. How many of us would have the smarts to survive an encounter with not one but both the Crow brothers?”

Silence.

Finally Shadow spoke. “I made my decision. The House of Valencia will take over Constantine’s place. I have no doubt she’ll be able to grow the legacy of her family name in time. She already has by ending the life of the Black Crow.”

“Fucking crazy,” Brevin shook his head. “All of you are fucking crazy.”

“Now if we’re done squabbling, we have a lot of work to do. None of us are resting until we’ve hunted down Lucien and nailed his nuts to the wall,” Shadow said. “The Midnight Society does not forget nor forgive their enemies.”

#

Chapter Twenty-Four

I sat on the edge of the piano bench and allowed my fingers to dance across the keys while music flowed around me. At that moment in time, music was the only thing that made sense to me.

I closed my eyes and allowed my soul to shape the sounds, creating a haunting melody that melted away all the stress that had consumed me over the past few days. While I played I thought of Shadow—the sad and tortured man that he was—and crafted a song that was the epitome of him.

When I was finished and opened my eyes again, I saw Shadow standing at the foot of the piano, looking at me with affection.

“That was beautiful,” he said. “Is that one of your own compositions?”

I nodded.

“What’s it called?” he asked.

“Shadow’s out of his fucking mind,” I replied.

“Love the song, but the name can use some work.”

I stood up from the piano be
nch and wrapped my arms around his chiseled body.

“What the hell were you thinking putting me on the Midnight Society’s council seat? I thought you wanted to escape away from the entire thing, taking me with you.”

“I do,” Shadow said.

“Pulling me closer to the action isn’t really distancing us from the Midnight Society.”

“Do you trust me?” Shadow asked.

“I don’t know.”

“You should,” Shadow said. “You let me go down on you after all.”

“Hey, let’s not mix business with pleasure here,” I said. “Just because your mouth knows how to get a rise out of me doesn’t mean I have to agree to everything coming out of it.”

“I need you at the seat for two reasons,” Shadow said. “The first is having you closer to me means I can protect you from another assassination attempt. Second, I’m not entirely convinced that Lucien was the only member that betrayed us.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Despite Lucien hating my guts, he’s never had the balls to organize a direct physical attack on me—or those I care about,” Shadow said. “I’ve always thought of him as nothing more than a whiny bitch.”

“Well it looks like he’s becoming a dangerous bitch.”

“Maybe,” Shadow said. “But I also don’t think he has the cunning to orchestrate such an attack. I’ve known him all my life. He’s always been a spineless whelp. The only reason he’s even on our council was because of his father’s influence.”

“So you think there’s a second traitor?”

Shadow nodded. “With Abraham gone, I needed to fill his seat with someone I can trust.”

“So you’re using me once again,” I sighed. “First you were using me as a trophy girlfriend, now you’re using me as a trophy council member.”

“I’m falling in love with you,” he said.

I was taken aback by his words. Was he saying this just to shut me up so I didn’t protest anymore?

“Say it again,” I said, skeptical about the truth behind his words.

“I’m falling in love with you.”

Damn it. If he was lying to my face, I couldn’t tell.

He had me good.

“I’m falling in love with you too,” I replied.

“Aside from you, Calisto, and Lincoln, there’s no one else on the council I can trust.”

“Well that’s not bad, right?” I asked. “You have fifty percent of the council right there, not including Lucien who I’m assuming you’ve already kicked out of your little social club.”

“Can you pass your university courses on a fifty percent average?” Shadow asked.

“Well…no.”

“I can’t run an organization on that either. Failure for me means death.”

“I get your point,” I said. “So what do I have to do as a member of the Scooby Gang? Investigate crazy killers and assassination plots?”

“You don’t have to do anything,” Shadow said. “Between Lincoln, my sister, and I, we can uncover the entire truth behind this ordeal. In the meantime, just stay safe.”

“I want to help,” I stated.

“Are you sure you want to get involved?”

“Hell yes,” I replied. “You don’t need to put kid gloves on me. After all, I am the Crow killer, aren’t I?”

Shadow couldn’t help but smile. “That you are Aria; that you are.”

“First thing after classes tomorrow, I’ll do whatever you need me to do,” I said.

“You still plan on going to classes?”

“Damn straight.”

I could see the look of concern on his face. “It might be dangerous.”

“I still have my own dreams to fulfill Shadow, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let one assassination attempt stop me from graduating this semester. I refuse to be a coward.”

Shadow looked at me and sighed. “I’m not going to stop you,” he said. “But can I at least send someone to protect you?”

“If I say no, you’ll still probably have someone follow me anyways, right?”

“Yes,” Shadow said, just before adding, “Have fun at school tomorrow.”

“Can you at least keep the guy following me out of sight?”

Shadow nodded. “You won’t even know he’s there.”

“Good. Then I’ll allow it,” I replied. “I won’t lie, I’m a bit nervous.”

“I promise you, I’ll do everything in my power to protect you,” Shadow said. “It comes with the territory of being with me.”

He pulled me into his arms and held me while our lips converged. Our kiss was filled with an insatiable urge to satisfy one another. However this time it was my turn to please him.

“In that case, I’ll do everything I can to satisfy you. It’s one of the benefits of being my man.” I whispered seductively. I licked my lips as I slowly undid the buckle of his belt.

If sexual gratification could ease Shadow’s stress and take his mind away from his troubles for even just a little while, then I’d do whatever it took to please him.

“I’m going to suck you dry,” I whispered.

He closed his eyes as I dropped to my knees and ran my hands over his incredibly hard chest and abs, his muscles tightening and flexing under my touch and I felt powerful yet completely vulnerable to him at the same time.

Shadow pulle
d his shirt over his head while I undid his belt and tore off his pants and boxers. I caught my breath as he took a step towards me.

“Aria, I need you. I need you now.”

The conviction behind his words weakened me.

God, I will never get enough of this man.

I held his gaze as I took him in my hands. His full lips parted as I heard his breath hiss through his teeth.

The sound nearly undid me.

I ran my tongue along his hard length from the base to tip, swirling around the engorged head before I took him in my mouth. He let out a soft moan as his hands found the back of my head.

“Fuck, Aria,” he growled. His hips jerked forward as I fucked him with my mouth and his movements became more uncontrolled with every stroke, his hands fisted in my hair. And then suddenly I was lifted off my knees as he carried me effortlessly to the couch, throwing me down. There was no time to adjust myself and before I knew it
, he tore my clothes off and was on me, in me, filling me. My knees hit his shoulders as he slammed into me.

I came instantly, the sounds of our union drowned in a sea of our pleasured moans.

Eventually we laid on his couch, my head resting on his shoulder, our hands intertwined.

The warmth of his touch made me happy, but also scared me. This secret society he belonged to, the world he lived in, there was danger waiting around every corner—assassins, serial killers, kidnapping, and torture. On the peripherals of this blossoming love was the hand of Death, who was biding his time before snatching us into his cold embrace.

“Hey Shadow,” I began. “Now that I’m a member of the council, can you finally tell me what the Midnight Society is really about?”

Shadow seemed to be drifting in between a state of awake and sleep. However, he still managed to reply to me.

“Not yet,” he whispered. “Not yet.”

#