One Thousand and Two Lies (Reapers of Beauty Book 2) Page 11

  “I won’t hurt her, but you’re not helping her by pointing that dangerous weapon at my throat.” The man’s voice was deeper, as if he was masking it entirely.

  “Lower her to the ground and leave.”

  A wave of a relief hit me at the sound of Ace’s voice, even though it was threatening and a little scary. I didn’t need my eyes to feel the killer intent in the air.

  The others weren’t kidding. Ace is dangerous.

  My body was lowered to the ground, and I felt the warmth of the male’s breath against my ear before he whispered.

  “I’ll be watching from afar, Reaper of Beauty. Be careful.”

  I wondered what his name was and fought through the nausea and dizziness to open my eyes. His green-gold eyes met mine as he looked down at me.

  His mask did well at shielding his expression, but those haunting jewels revealed his interest and admiration.

  Atlas. We’ll meet again, Reaper.

  The thought vibrated through my mind, but I had no time to ponder on it, noticing the large scythe blade that was centimeters from his neck.

  “You should stop wasting time. They’ll figure out she wasn’t in that Uber I sent away.”

  “Leave,” Ace replied.

  “Gladly.” With a final glance and a wink, the man named Atlas pushed off the ground and was gone. I blinked a few times, turning my attention to Ace, who lowered his scythe and had a conflicted expression on his face. His pink eyes lowered to me and he seemed to snap out of his killer mindset.

  “Fuck.” He rushed to kneel down next to me, scooping me up in his arms. “Xia, you okay? Did he hurt you? You’re bleeding.”

  “High altitude, nosebleed, he didn’t hurt me. I don’t feel good.” I explained the best I could, my consciousness beginning to waiver.

  Ace bit his lip and pulled out his phone. His thumb quickly tapped across the screen while he held me against him with his left arm. I relaxed, feeling a bit better in his secure hold, but I didn’t know if I could stand staying conscious for long.”

  “What, Ace?” Xander’s muffled voice replied through the speaker. I could tell right away that Xander must have been sleeping.

  “Call Amy. Xia’s not well,” Ace stated in a firm tone.

  “What happened? Where is she?”

  “With me. At the mall. I just took out five spies that were clearly after Xia for bait. They think one of us has the serum, or NPO is hiding it. Some guy helped her. I think he’s from the North division or maybe works abroad. He was in full ninja gear.”

  “Is she okay?” Xander sounded worried and a bit pissed.

  “I’m fine,” I grumbled. “Totally fine.”

  “Xia baby, I’m sorry. You sure you’re good?”

  “Good as ever,” I mumbled, knowing I wasn’t giving him any reassurance with my weak muffled responses. I was actually more focused on the scent of Ace’s current perfume. “Ace… you smell nice.”

  Ace sighed, but I felt his gentle fingers stroke my cheek.

  Guess it’s his way of saying thanks?

  “Her nose is bleeding. She was on the roof, so the shift in height could be the trigger. Get Amy. I already called Silas. He’ll be here any moment with the car.”

  “Fuck. Why was she still at the mall?” Xander sounded really mad now, and I could hear him grab a set of keys and a quiet meow.

  Ruby? That means he’s still home.

  “Dante clearly forgot to pick her up.”

  “Why the flying fuck… argh. Never mind. Meet at the safe house. I’ll lecture Dante later.”

  “Maybe you should hold off,” Ace warned.

  “Why? So I don’t hurt his feelings?” Xander snapped. “He needs to put his feelings on the back burner and focus. Him picking Xia up wasn’t out of convenience. It was a fucking job. If he did as Silas requested, which I approved of, she wouldn’t be hurt.”

  “I’m not the one you should be mad at,” Ace pointed out. His voice was calculating, like he was hiding his current emotions from leaking through his voice.

  The sound of the car engine turning on caught my attention from the speaker, and I heard Xander sigh. “Sorry. I’ve just had a shitty evening and shouldn’t be putting it on you.”

  “I know, and you’re worried about Xia. She’ll be fine. I sense Silas. Just get Amy and leave Dante. We’ll confront that issue after when you won’t kill anyone,” Ace concluded.

  “Fine. See you shortly, and thanks for getting there so quickly.”

  Ace was silent for a moment.

  “She’s important to me too. She’s interesting.”

  I’m interesting?! That means I do have a chance with him. I guess? Well, our date is supposed to be tomorrow. I doubt I’d be able to go now though… would he reschedule?

  I hadn’t heard them hang up, but I fought to open my eyes.

  “Ace?”

  “Hmm?” Ace replied, and he looked down and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe my nose.

  I waited till he was done before I answered. “Our date. No more?” I asked, unable to hide my disappointment in my weak state.

  His expression was guarded, but his eyes gave him away, looking conflicted with a hint of sadness.

  “When you're better we’ll do something,” he assured me. That was good enough for me.

  The sound of footsteps reached my ears.

  Ace looked over his shoulder. “What took so long?”

  “Accident on the freeway. An Uber car crashed into a pole or some shit. Is Xia hurt?” Silas’ voice was filled with worry, but my mind was piecing together the information he’d just revealed.

  Atlas sent a fake Uber to hide my tracks and it got ambushed. No wonder Silas didn’t want me to take any other transportation but with them.

  Silas came into view and I gave him my best smile. “Today was fun.”

  “You look horrible. Fuck, I’m sorry Xia. Dante should have been here.” Silas knelt down and reached out to stroke my cheek. He leaned over and gave me a quick kiss and I smiled slightly.

  “Hi.”

  Silas gave me a sad look, but he smiled. “Hey.”

  “Let’s get her to the safe house. Xander’s getting Amy.”

  “What happened with Dante? Was he on duty?”

  “Xander and him fought.”

  “So? That means he ditches his duty? We didn’t ask him to come to pick up Xia as a joke!” Silas snapped. I noticed Ace’s frown, and Silas groaned. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to shout at you.”

  Ace doesn’t like when people raise their voices at him?

  “Don’t know what happened. For now, it’s not important. Let’s go. If the Uber already crashed, those spies will be back here.”

  They nodded in agreement and Ace lifted me up with ease. The car we got into was different, it seemed bigger, like a luxurious Cadillac or something with lots of seats. Ace laid me down in the backseat with my head in his lap, and Silas drove.

  The movement of the car was only making things worse, and I moaned, feeling like I’d vomit.

  Ace frowned. “Park for a second.”

  “All right,” Silas replied. I could hear the blinker sound and the car moved to the right, coming to a stop. Silas must have put his emergency blinkers on, the dual sound going on and on. It shouldn’t have bothered me, but it sounded so loud, and I felt irritated, which was one of the multiple emotions bombarding me right now.

  “Xia, focus on me.” Ace’s soothing voice was the only thing that gave me the motivation to open my eyes.

  “Ace… don’t feel well.” I struggled to be calm and try to keep cool, but I was beginning to worry. I’d never felt like this before.

  “I know. I’m going to help make it better. Just relax for me.” Ace seemed so calm, and it was keeping me from going into a panic frenzy.

  Like a switch, his magic turned on and my magic reacted to it immediately. I bit my lip hard, fighting to not get lost in his energy that wrapped around me.

  His magic had every intention of helping
me, and I could feel it down to my core. A wave of calm ran through me, like a soft, cool breeze running from my head to toe.

  I stared at his pink eyes that softened, and he leaned down to press his lips lightly against mine.

  My eyes grew heavy, but I fought to stay conscious, my eyes never leaving those haunting pink orbs that gazed back at me. They showed compassion and relief, as if I’d suddenly become better.

  I couldn’t tell if that was the case because my mind was wandering, almost like it was floating. The last things I remembered were Silas’ sad smile, Ace’s soft warm lips, Xander’s worried voice, and the new male whose emerald green eyes with hints of gold lingered in my mind, his words of another encounter igniting a hint of hope and excitement through me.

  Atlas… who are you?

  ~ACE~

  * * *

  "Her nosebleed was triggered by the high altitude. Doesn't look like she used a lot of magic, but she hasn't been training at all for 7 weeks. Her body is still recovering and adapting to the serum. She should be just fine with some rest, but I encourage her to step back into training in small amounts. That way, if it comes to a point where she needs to defend herself, she can. I don't know which division this man is from, but if he hadn't been there, Xia could have been in serious danger."

  The three of us were silent, taking in Amy’s words as she lowered the results she’d written down from her head to toe assessment of Xia.

  My gaze drifted to Xia’s sleeping figure. She looked much better than when I’d found her in the arms of that man.

  It wasn’t the first time I’d met him. In this field where we couldn’t enjoy one day of peace in Japan, there would be encounters with other peace agents.

  I wouldn’t want to admit it to the others or even mention it, but that man had helped me out of a few jams.

  Not like I’d asked him to.

  Either way, I was a little thankful that he’d been at the right place at the right time. Normally, peace agents or teams stalked similar areas, particularly malls, marketplaces, and festival areas.

  Those were the common places for trouble, especially with the increase in drug deals, rapes, and prostitution.

  I hadn’t been keeping a close eye on Xia because she could take care of herself. She’d survived a life of being a Reaper.

  That told me she was skilled enough, but I’d underestimated the fact she’d be the perfect bait for those who were desperate to obtain the serum.

  We didn’t know whether it had been discovered that Minju’s sacrifice was a diversion, but we couldn’t take any chances, especially now that this had happened.

  I can’t leave her alone until she’s back to her usual strength and health.

  “Will she be out for long?” Silas asked.

  “No. She should be awake in half an hour or less. Her body was doing more of a factory reset if you want to refer to it like that.” Amy began to gather her results in a pile on her lap and stood up to face us; Xander and Silas were positioned near the window that was facing the left side of Xia’s bed.

  I leaned against the wall that faced Xia’s bed, while Amy was previously sitting right next to Xia’s bed on the right.

  “Now that health is out of the way, why don’t we have a ‘man to man’ moment? Why the fuck was she left alone in her condition, to begin with?” Amy asked. Her usual high-pitched tone dropped to reveal her manly voice.

  Guess she would be pissed. Give Xia the all clear and she’s already back at the same house in less than 24 hours.

  Amy looked at me first, but she wasn’t going to get any hints from me, my expression retaining its calm, guarded appearance.

  She dismissed me with her now purple eyes, glancing over to Silas and Xander who both looked just as upset.

  “Xia was with Minsu and Minso. Those three together are fine on their own. The plan was for Dante to pick her up because I figured the hacking job would take longer than I’d liked it to if I didn’t want it to be sloppy,” Silas explained.

  Amy nodded and turns her gaze specifically on Xander. “So, how did this get fucked up?”

  Xander rolled his eyes. “We got into a fight.”

  “Over Xia?” Amy hit the nail on the head, clearly giving zero shits about the rather sensitive topic.

  I’d been avoiding confronting Xander about it, and Silas had been doing the same, but this was getting ridiculous.

  Dante and Xander’s relationship had always been on and off. They had dated for a while at one point, but when Arrow came into the picture that went south.

  I couldn’t put the blame all on Dante. Xander wasn’t good with commitment, but when his magic was head over heels over someone, it usually lasted.

  It did with Arrow, till the very end...

  “He still cares about me,” Xander grumbled, looking away. Amy crossed her arms and gave him a “don’t bullshit me” look.

  “I’m going to be real manly right now, but what does him caring about you have to do with anything? You still have some feeling for his ass, don’t see you ditching your responsibilities.”

  “I don’t...” Xander trailed off when Amy raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Honey, we all see that you still like his ass. Stop trying to act like you’re doing a good job hiding it. Xia probably figured that out.” Amy brushed off his denial with ease.

  Silas grinned. “She did.”

  “She clearly knows. She’s too observant to ignore it,” I added.

  “All right, maybe it's obvious, but I’m not interested.” Xander huffed.

  “Then just tell him.” Amy lifted her hand to ruffle her pink locks that shifted to black. She was returning to her calm state compared to her serious, no bullshit mood, which ended up with her hair turning black and eyes shifting to purple.

  “I tried,” Xander grumbled. I sighed, already picturing what really happened.

  “No. You danced around the topic and got upset when Dante confronted you about it, and the both of you got impatient and stupid like you usually do when you guys try to say what’s really on your mind, and you walked out and came home,” I summarized.

  Silas and Amy both looked at Xander, who had a pout on his lips. His eyes seemed more interested in the floor than the three pairs of eyes on him.

  “I rest my case,” I replied with a shrug.

  “You two really need to figure out what you want.” Silas sighed. “I don’t care if you guys want to be on and off, and I really doubt Xia gives a shit, but these mood swing arguments have to stop.”

  Amy crossed her arms and walked around Xia’s bed to face Xander. He lifted his head to look at Amy as she spoke.

  “Figure this out. Either friends or lovers. None of us are dealing with this quarrelling shit again, or should I remind you of why Arrow died?”

  I looked away, not wanting to see Xander’s hurt expression. My guarded expression would have fallen from those words, and looking away prevented anyone from seeing how her words affected me.

  Arrow shouldn’t have died. It was a bunch of miscommunication due to slacking on Xander’s and Dante’s end. It was a mistake we’d vowed to never do again, and yet, it almost happened with Xia.

  Xander loves her. I could see it in the way he looked at her. I never really believed in love at first sight, but I could see why he fell in love so hard and fast for the Reaper of Beauty.

  I’m experiencing the same.

  Neither Silas nor I would ever think of sharing a woman, but Xia was an exception. Her beauty, confidence, and compassion she hid in those beautiful red eyes were incomparable.

  I’d seen many women in my life, but never had I felt a connection with them as I did with Xia.

  And it excited me. That thrill that ran through me when she entered the room. The way my magic wants to please her in every way, just like my body. I want to make her happy and show her a side of me I don’t show many. That’s a first.

  I understood Xander like I did the others, but if we didn’t want to repeat the past,
he’d have to sort his feelings out and choose. At least for now.

  Amy sighed, and her hair and eyes returned to normal. She lifted her hand up to ruffle Xander’s hair.

  “Love is complicated, especially when it’s among teammates. However, you can’t lead people astray. You could be leading Dante on without being direct. He cares for you, and maybe Xia entering the picture is making him realize that he’s not over you. Just like you aren’t fully over him. Why don’t you talk to Xia about it once she’s better and get her opinion on it? You never know, maybe she’s fine with you and Dante still being on and off while she’s with you and the others. You did say she didn’t have to be exclusive if it was work related. Why is it hard for you to bring up the Dante dilemma and get her thoughts?”

  Xander was quiet for a long moment before he replied.

  “I don’t know if I want it to be an on and off thing. It’s like… when Xia was recovering, I wanted Dante’s comfort, but it wasn’t because I really wanted his love.”

  “You were lonely. You needed the reassurance and comfort you could get from someone who already knows you. Whether it’s physically or emotionally, we understand where you’re coming from Xander, but you have to tell Dante that. Either he’s the person you use as a booty call when Xia’s not around, or he’s nothing but your friend and security guard. You need to communicate and help him understand that, but that lies with you first understanding what you want from him,” Amy summarized.

  Xander nodded. “I guess. I’ll deal with it.”

  Amy smiled and ruffled his hair one last time before she looked at Silas and then me.

  “Aww. I haven’t seen you three get along like this in a long time. So refreshing.”

  Silas rolled his eyes and I sighed. “I’m going home.”

  Silas quietly laughed. “See, Amy. You’re chasing Ace away.”

  “I am not. He’s always running away. Probably going solve the crime like a superhero.” Amy dramatically flipped her hair and turned around.

  A slight smirk formed on my lips; Amy knew exactly why I normally disappeared. I liked gathering information, and that required a bit of stalking. I also hadn’t trained the last couple of days and didn’t want to get rusty.