CHAPTER TEN

EVELYN DIDN'T THINK MICAH had been this serious about her not getting close to the front gate. Somehow, he already has patrols aimlessly wandering about whilst waiting for the guest of honor to arrive. The moment she steps outside, all eyes nearest turn her way. One even shakes his head and juts his thumb as a gesture to tell her to go back inside. She doesn't realize she balled her fists until she feels her nails digging into her palms.

She knows it won't work, but she saunters casually down the steps and walks onward as if she can't see the many beasts circulating.

Expectedly, one instantly cuts in front of her. "You know you can't be here. Everyone is being pushed to the mess hall at the back of the property."

She knows both of those things. In fact, she had argued with Locke and Erik when everyone had been awakened and forced outside. She tried to slip away unnoticed, but of course that had been impossible. Erik pinned her on the spot, which caused Sasha's anxiety to peek, which led to an eight year old girl clinging to Evelyn's hip.

"Haven't you made enough rash and stupid decisions to last you a lifetime?" Erik grumbled, trying to keep his voice low so as not to draw attention from the mass of people shuffling towards the exit. "Just yesterday, you willingly threw yourself into a death trap."

"But did I die?" Evelyn raises her eyebrows. "No, I didn't. And I won't die today. Watch Sasha for me. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Erik gripped her upper arm. "Eve, seriously. You're not even supposed to know about this 'contact' and you want to be involved in the news exchange? That's downright idiotic."

She shook off his hand. "Hey, you didn't hear any of that from me. I'm simply going to find a bathroom and accidentally stumble upon a secret meeting."

He gaped at her. "How are you so unaffected by all of this?"

Locke intervened. "You get used to it. She's pretty dull when she's not pissed beyond all reason at someone. Usually that someone is me, but you get used to that side of her too."

"See, Locke understands," Evelyn said a bit sarcastically. "Now can you please watch Sasha so I can go risk my life for answers about why the world is such a shithole now?"

Erik's jaw tightened, and it looked like he wants to argue more, but he finally took Sasha's hand, prying her from Evelyn.

Evelyn gave him a cynical smile. "Much obliged. If I had a hat, I'd tip it to you."

Erik might deny it, but she swears he smiled at that.

Now Evelyn faces the beast in front of her, contemplating if playing dumb will actually work or if she should get straight to the point. Eh, there's no harm in trying both.

"Sorry. I'm looking for my friend Cara. She wasn't in the room when I woke up, and I didn't see her out back. Have you seen her? Long blonde hair, blue eyes and--"

The beast smirks. "Nice try, but there isn't a soul out here that doesn't know who you are. We've all seen you with Micah. We know you're his pet."

Evelyn quirks a brow. "Excuse me?"

"It's quite strange, actually. One moment he's all fierce and then you come along and now he doesn't know what he is. I'll bet you even--"

It's an instinct for Evelyn's fist to start rising, but then there's a hand on her wrist holding it down. She looks to Micah, allowing herself to be impressed for a moment at his inhuman speed. She'd never really taken much time to notice their advantages and how astonishing it is. He literally just appeared out of absolutely nowhere.

"I'll take it from here, Levi."

The beast nods loyally, respect in his red eyes despite the comment he made hardly thirty seconds ago. He returns back to his patrol.

Evelyn yanks from Micah's grasp. "I had it under control."

"You're not staying here, Eve."

"Come on," she groans exaggeratedly. "What if I stay on this side of the gate?"

He runs his hands through his short hair, seeming aggravated. "What is the big deal about you being present, anyways? Can't you ever have a peaceful moment in your life where there's no blood spilling?"

"Those peaceful moments ended a long time ago, along with my life," she snaps. "I have every right to hear about everything going on."

"There are some things you don't need to know," he says, his eyes darkening. She notices it happens when he's getting angry, and she probably shouldn't provoke him, but she probably shouldn't do a lot of the things she does.

"What's so horrible that I can't hear, huh?" She stands taller, letting him know she isn't afraid or intimidated in the slightest. "If you really want to be 'allies,' you'd tell me what's going on. And I know it's more than just you being stabbed in the back by a sadistic, psychotic doctor!" She forces herself to stop when she catches her voice rising. There's really no need to whisper, though, since the beasts around them can easily tune in their advanced hearing.

Micah takes a step closer. "Stay out of this, Eve," he tells her sternly. "I really don't want to order my men to babysit you, but that can be arranged if you don't cooperate."

She doesn't back away with his threat. If anything, she matches his glare and leans in. "I'd rather you kill me than succumb to fearing you. I'm not a helpless little girl you can threaten."

His eyes are dark yet piercing into her, but she doesn't back down. "Why are you so infuriating? Can't you see that I'm trying to do the right thing? I'm trying to protect you."

That's it. She's had it.

"Can't anyone see that I don't need nor want to be protected?" she yells, pushing him in the chest though he doesn't budge. "I'm sick and tired of being treated like I can't handle myself. You men think you're being all heroic and noble, when in reality, you're nothing but egotistical rats searching for another excuse to inflate your already giant head. Stop trying to make me the victim and start treating me like I have a brain to think for myself because dammit, I do!"

Her outburst startles him so much, his eyes return to their normal bright red and his eyebrows furrow in thought. He takes a step back which makes Evelyn realize how close they had actually been. She hurries to scramble back with the knowledge, huffing in annoyance at Micah and at herself for getting flustered.

"You're unbelievably stubborn," he murmurs, almost like it's to himself.

"It's a hobby," she snarls, crossing her arms.

Micah goes to reply when suddenly he stops, his head jerking towards the front gate. He obviously hears something Evelyn can't, but just when she goes to ask what it is, she gets her answer.

The thrumming of a hover car's engine make her turn her head as well to see a newer model cruising around the corner. The decently large ship halts a few feet from the front gate, but no one gets out yet. Evelyn is too amazed to see a working hover car for the first time in months to really notice when the side door finally opens, and the stairs are released, scraping the pavement. The noise brings her back to her wits just as an incredibly large man ducks out of the hover, tattoos covering his arms and shoulder-length hair tousling in the breeze.

When he lifts his face to speak to one of his men, the air gets punched out of Evelyn's lungs so hard, she stumbles backwards.

Micah quickly looks to her. "Eve, what's wrong?"

"I-I know him," she whispers, a fire igniting in the pit of her stomach.

The same fire that ignited the night her family was slaughtered before her own eyes.

The same face causing that fire as he hunched over her mother and tore into her neck with his unnatural teeth.

Oh, how the universe is against her.

"How the hell do you know Talon?" Micah asks, sounding a bit disbelieving of her statement.

Evelyn doesn't have the strength to answer him. Instead, her irrational side takes over. The side that can only hear her mother screaming as teeth ripped her flesh apart. The side that can only see the light fading from her mother's once bright eyes as more and more blood gets sucked out of her. The side that can only see rage and vengeance and pure hatred.

She stomps down the stairs purposefully, snatching a knife off a beast's belt as she passes him. She hardly gets ten feet down the sidewalk before Micah is grabbing her shoulder, urging her to stop and asking what's wrong.

Everything is wrong.

This man's existence is wrong.

He tore her mother's life away, so she'll tear away his.

His face will always be engraved in her memory, but at least she can tag a bit of pride on it after she kills him.

A few more feet and Micah wraps his arms around her waist. She doesn't listen to what he's saying. She doesn't care. She keeps her irate eyes on the creature that caused her day after day of pain.

She never saw the other two beasts that stole her father and brother, and for that she's grateful. Their absence is still agonizing, but she doesn't have a way to avenge their deaths like she does her mother's.

He will die by her hand.

"Evelyn," Micah growls her full name, his arms tight around her waist.

She struggles to free herself. "Let go of me or I'll slice your arms off."

Micah lifts her and spins around so their backs are to the hideous beast. This angers Evelyn to a whole new level. She brings the knife down, but Micah is fast and catches her wrist. He twists it painfully to the side, causing a strike of pain to shoot up Evelyn's arm and her hand to drop the knife. He instantly brings her hand down atop her other one at her waist where he still holds her in place.

"Let me go!" she shouts, hating how choked up she abruptly feels. "Let me go, Micah, now!"

"You want me to confide in you? How about you confide in me first?" he whispers, not sounding angry but not sounding forgiving, either. "Tell me what's wrong, Eve."

Tears blur her vision but she rapidly blinks the water away and swallows the lump in her throat. She stops fighting, letting her back rest against his chest so he knows she's had enough. He loosens his grip, but doesn't let go completely as if he still doesn't trust her.

"My mother," she whispers, hanging her head. "He killed my mother."

Micah curses under his breath, then sighs. "Eve, I'm sorry. Truly I am, but that just shows that you really shouldn't be here. You've already made a scene and they're watching us, most definitely listening too."

"I'm not leaving," she says, which he groans at but she ignores. "I won't do anything stupid, but you have to let me stay, Micah. Please. I want to know if he remembers ruining my life, or if he's ruined so many that he can't keep track of faces anymore."

"Eve--"

"I won't get in the way, but you have to let me stay." She turns in his arms, his hands loosely clasped behind her back now. She stares up at him, putting as much plea into her gaze as possible.

He sighs again, looking away from her. "Eve, I can't... You can't just..." He exhales deeply, closing his eyes. Finally, he faces her again. "You stay behind me on this side of the gate and keep your mouth shut, got it?"

She nods.

"I mean it, Eve. The moment you slip out of line, I'll sling you over my shoulder and carry you out back myself. This isn't the time to get the answers you want."

"I got it. Thank you."

He seems to notice their position and he backs away, clenching his jaw. Evelyn, somehow, isn't too bothered by how they were standing and merely follows him down the rest of the sidewalk. She supposes it's the internal battle against her anger that makes her dismiss it.

The atrocious, vile, creature--also known as Talon--awkwardly avoids Evelyn's eyes as she stares him down, a dead giveaway that he had, in fact, been eavesdropping. Evelyn doesn't care about that, but she does care about how cowardly he is. He can't look anywhere near her without flinching.

She knows he isn't afraid of her, but she can't imagine it's guilt, either.

Micah acts like the scene hadn't occurred. "Nice to see you again, Talon. You're looking quite..." He presses his lips together, gazes at the hover, then back to Talon who adorns (ridiculously enough) a fitted black suit. "Wealthy," Micah concludes, almost appearing agitated about it.

One beast opens the gate to allow Micah out, and closes it right in Evelyn's face. She grumbles under her breath, but she doesn't dare ruin her opportunity by pitching a fit. She remains silent.

"Perhaps we could take this indoors," Talon suggests. "It's not winter anymore, you know, and this sun is killing me."

"I'm afraid you'll have to endure the heat a bit longer," Micah says calmly, clasping his hands behind his back. Even though he has to look up at Talon, it seems Talon is the one intimidated when he takes a step back.

"What's going on?" Talon asks, hardly able to hold Micah's gaze for more than a few seconds before he looks away again.

Micah licks his lips. "A bump in the road, if you will." He glances back at his men and nods to them. A group of five steps out of the gate and circles Talon. "Forgive the precautions. We all know how hostile you can get."

Talon doesn't even argue as he's pinned back against his hover. "Can't you ever have good news for me?"

"If only it were that easy."

"Well, go on. Push me into an abyss of rage and misery." Talon sounds exasperated already.

Micah even looks at him pityingly. He hesitates, like he's making sure Talon is completely restrained before he says clearly, "The cure was a lie. Doctor Stevens never had any intentions to help us."

Talon is a pale man, but the little color left in his cheeks drains entirely and leaves him white as a ghost. He stares at Micah with dazed eyes, yet they steadily grow darker. Micah's men brace themselves, planting their feet firmly and tightening their grips. Micah looks to his feet. Evelyn feels her stomach knot in empathy, and she hates herself for it.

Then everything blurs when Talon screams, eyes dark as murder and expression cold as stone.

And his name begins to make sense when his hands raise, nails literally as long as talons swiping for the nearest victim. One talon catches a beast by the eye and drags down his cheek, ripping his flesh. Another slits a beast's throat so deeply, he drowns in his own blood. The remaining three are wide-eyed and scared, but do all that they can to immobilize the creature.

Micah uses the scrap as a way to sneak behind Talon and dig his own nails into Talon's neck. If anything, it only pisses Talon off more. The three beasts are pushed away as Talon spins around to swing at Micah, who easily dodges the blow and squeezes Talon's neck harder. Talon swings again, but Micah grabs his fist and twists his arm completely around, causing enough pain to make Talon fall to his knees. Micah releases Talon's neck only to quickly throw his own punch, knocking Talon out cold.

Evelyn gawks through the bars of the gate as Micah shakes out his hand.

He doesn't look at her. "Take him to my room."

One of the frightened beasts manages a nod and the other two scurry to help pick up the large man. They walk past Evelyn, also not paying any attention to her.

Talon's men do nothing but follow Micah onto the property, as if they're used to their boss being taken down after a temper tantrum. For a moment, Evelyn thinks Micah will keep walking past her, but then he stops right in front of her.

He still doesn't look her way, but he says, "You saw what you wanted to see. Hope you're satisfied with the show. Do me a favor and please stay with your people now."

Evelyn can't muster a reply as he shamefully follows his men indoors.