Chapter Three

"Stalker," I greeted.

I felt pressure on the blade and pushed back against it, skidding back across the floor by the bed. I willed the lights on and a clear bright light filled the room. Even then, for a full moment, I saw absolutely nothing standing where I'd been standing.

Then, after a second longer, something seemed to materialize out of thin air. Bits and pieces of the image that was my bedroom wall fell apart and fell to the floor in sizzling pieces of ashes and a figure revealed himself from the pieces.

He was tall, nearly as tall as myself. He was muscular, though. Thick tawny muscles bulged through a mesh long sleeve top that led down to a pair of thick thighs into a pair of monstrous boots. His jet black hair was wavy and short, curling around little ears and just above a pair of sharp hazel eyes.

For a full second, he stole my breath away.

He was absolutely beautiful.

There was a fierceness to him that reminded me of uncle Hannibal, something raw and animalistic, something tight and ready to burst, coiled and ready.

Of course, I didn't have time to stand there and admire him because he flicked his wrist, testing out the thin silver dagger in his palm. I narrowed my eyes on it. A mere dagger wouldn't have been able to stop my swords. There was something different about that, something dangerous. Only magic could stop more magic. My eyes darted back up and met those hazel eyes that watched me with the predatory glare of an assassin.

"So you're the one who's been following me," I murmured. The male cocked his head slightly, giving his wrist another anxious twist as if to call attention to the dagger. There was something off about him, almost like he didn't want to do what he was hired to do. He was anxious. I could tell from the way he kept moving his wrist, noticed the way his feet shifted about, those hazel eyes refused to break away from me, like he was afraid one wrong move would leave me an opening.

I couldn't resist smiling now.

"What has you so amused?" He demanded, his tone offended. I smiled harder now.

"Nothing... I just think it's cute the Mother would send someone like you after me," I said, throwing out a guess. The male's eyes flickered.

So he was sent by the Mother, I realized. My gamble paid off. So I knew more about him. And now he had no idea how I knew about him. Because he hadn't been able to follow me into Keros's apartment.

Most apartments had special barriers set up by the owners. Barriers that kept out riff raff and thieves. He was able to blend in with his surroundings exceptionally well, but his power was limited. He couldn't bypass certain barriers. He could bypass the one on the house that we had, but not the apartment one. So he could only bypass private and not public.

"Are you here to kill me?" I asked. The male didn't answer me. He twitched the knife again. I didn't bother eyeing it. I wanted to keep staring into those hazel eyes that made me swear not to attack.

"If you are, please, carry on. I relish a good challenge," I invited. I held my arms out and let my swords fizzle out and disappear. The male's eyes glinted at that.

"Don't patronize me," he said.

"I'm inviting you," I answered. That seemed to anger him. He darted forward and slashed at me. I ducked and dodged and spun out of the way, catching his wrist and twisting the dagger out of his palm so it went flying across the room. His eyes followed it with alarm before he gritted his teeth and snapped himself out of my grasp. He went after the dagger, but I caught him by the back of his shirt and swung him around, throwing him up against the wall. He bounced off the wall and spun around to go after me, but I slammed him up against the wall and took his hand, twisting it up into my grip and threatening to break it. He hissed in pain, then jerked his head up to glare at me.

"For an assassin, you're not very good," I murmured, getting in close to his face. There was something absolutely precious about the way those hazel eyes gleamed with fury, and a glint of something else that confirmed my suspicions.

"Ah," I said, "So you're not here to kill me." His eyes darted quickly over to where the knife was, then back to me, his teeth gritted. I smiled.

"The dagger is enchanted," I decided to bet, "That's why it was able to deflect my swords. That's why you're so desperate to get it back. It'll be the best way to subdue me."

"Clever, aren't you?" He returned through clenched teeth. I cocked my head, hair falling over my shoulder and I watched the way his eyes darted to follow the movement before darting back to meet my eyes. I smiled some more, amused that he was so interested in staring at me, not just right in the eyes, but all over. There was an interest there. One that went beyond a job.

Interesting.

He jerked suddenly, twisting out of my grip and slamming his head forward to collide our foreheads, but I jerked back just in time and dodged his attack. He ran for the dagger again, but I teleported over there, swiping the dagger up off the floor and throwing it in the opposite direction. He snarled and lunged for me now, clearly furious. He aimed a punch for my head, but I ducked and slammed my fist up into his gut. He choked and stumbled. I stepped back to let him recover and that seemed to infuriate him further, so he went for me again, this time whipping another knife out of his holster, except this one was just a regular dagger, nothing special.

I let him take a few swipes at me, watching him wear himself out. He was angry. The more I teased him, the angrier he got, the more mistakes he made. At this point, I was just playing with him and nothing more. I ducked and dodged all his attacks until he roared and threw the knife away, lunging for me. I spun out of the way and whipped around, shoving him hard so he fell over and I got down on top of him, pinning him to the floor. He gasped at the awkward position and tried to roll over to get me off, but I moved with him so I was sitting on his abs, wrestling with his hands as he tried to punch me or shove me off.

"You're not very good at fighting," I commented, catching his wrists and pinning them across his chest. He narrowed his eyes, curling his lip for a moment before he wrapped one of his legs around mine. I cursed under my breath as he managed to switch our positions, throwing all of his weight to the side and twisting my leg painfully in the process. In the next second, I was beneath him and he was above me, drawing his fist back for a huge punch to the face that would certainly knock me unconscious.

If he ever followed through with the blow anyway.

One second he was aiming a punch for my head and in the next, I was teleporting out from under him and across the room by the bed. He looked up, bewildered and those hazel eyes widened in shock.

It took a lot of practice to be able to teleport out of a move like that. Most people were too frazzled to be able to focus long enough to respond to the attack, let alone teleport. The only people in my life I'd seen do it were Hades and Joxeia, another... distant family member.

And of course, me.

The male swung around onto his feet and took a step toward them, then abruptly seemed to stop, as if he were realizing something. I frowned, then felt the ripple of power that indicated someone was coming to my room, and fast. I barely glanced at the door, barely looked away, and he was gone.

One second he was standing before me and in the next, it was like he was never there. It was so much more than teleporting. It was as if he wasn't standing there to begin with.

The door to my room opened fast and I snapped my head to see my dad, Ambrosius, coming into the room. Much like me, my dad had long black hair and piercing blue eyes that glowed, his skin a dark olive. He wasn't as tall as me, but he still made an impressive sight with his muscles and usually black attire.

"What's going on?" Dad demanded immediately.

"What do you mean?" I found myself saying. What was I doing? Surely I should tell my dad what happened. It was dire he needed to know about someone the Mother sent to kidnap me.

"I felt a strange presence here," dad said sternly, making me frown a little, "It was... familiar."

"Keros," I answered, making dad blink in surprise, "Sorry. I asked him to stop by to interpret some dreams I was having... Stress dreams, likely." Dad looked at me, perplexed for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"Okay, that's... That's fine. Just give me a little heads up, okay? You scared me," he added, making me relax to a degree as he came in to scan the room before he looked at me, "I heard about what happened today. With the stalker." My mind immediately went to the hazel eyed beauty who'd attacked me just now until I remembered the other guy from this morning and I nodded slowly.

"Are you alright?" He asked me sincerely, coming forward to put his hand on my face.

I closed my eyes as a strange sensation swelled in my gut and into my chest. It was a tightening. Perhaps... guilt? I'd never lied to my parents before. No, rather, I'd never lied in general.

Keeping things from people isn't lying, my dad had once told me, sometimes it's to protect people.

Was I protecting my parents? Or was I protecting the attempted kidnapper?

"I'm alright," I answered slowly. My dad nodded and put his hand on my shoulder before he pulled me in close for a hug. I wrapped my arms around him and for a moment, I was stunned by how small he felt in my arms. I'd always felt like the baby when my parents hugged me, but suddenly, I felt like I was the older one. It was such an odd sensation that I barely noticed him pulling back to kiss me before he patted me on the arm and made his way out of the room, pausing in the doorway.

"Seriously, next time tell me you have someone over," he said, "Especially the Cousins." He shook his head at the thought before he stepped out of the room and shut the door. I stared at the door, then frowned and headed to the other side of the room, stooping down and reaching under my nightstand, withdrawing a perfect little blade that seemed to ripple with power.

I straightened and turned the knife in the light, watching the magic coating its blade gleam and glitter.

Interesting. An enchanted blade... What was it enchanted with? What were they trying to do by kidnapping me? Because surely that was the goal here tonight. It was why the male hadn't fought me harder, no doubt. Something told me tonight wasn't his best. He was off kilter, and he was trying his best not to kill me.

If that were the case, and he really was sent by the Mother, what would the Mother possibly want with me?

The thought was sobering.

I tucked the dagger under my mattress and got ready for bed, but by the time I was dressed and under the covers, my alarm clock was going off. Sighing, I threw the covers back and settled for a quick shower and face routine before I headed downstairs for breakfast.

"That's a lie," I heard Kodi declare as I approached the kitchen. I was surprised to find just about everyone there, from Remi and Castiel to both of my parents for once, and Lumen, who was shaking her head at Kodi, who was squinting at Remi, who put his hand on his chest.

"It's legit, mon cher," he said, "Why would I lie to you?"

"Because you've lied to me before," Kodi exclaimed, then looked up to see me walk in and immediately left his place at the table to come to me, "Remi's lying, isn't he? About the spider in the bathroom upstairs, right? It's not really his uncle Benny, right? That's just horseshit. You can't turn people into bugs."

"Spiders aren't bugs," I deadpanned. Kodi glared at me, putting his hands on his hips and giving his head a cock as if to ask fucking really.

"He's right, though," Father said as he took out the milk carton to take a drink. Dad reached out and snatched it from him before hitting him in the butt with a pizza pan that made him jump. I looked at them, then at Remi, who grinned at Kodi.

"I don't care who he is," Kodi said at last, shaking his head and waving his hands, "I want him gone! How am I supposed to shower when there's an eight legged freak watching me?"

"Now you know how Hadrian feels," Castiel muttered over his cereal. Kodi paused at that. Remi shrugged.

"I can move him to the other bathroom downstairs," he offered, earning a glare from Kodi.

"That doesn't solve the problem! I do business downstairs too!"

"You mean you only use that toilet for shits and stink it up--"

"Oh my god."

"So now you want my uncle Benny to deal with it?"

"He's not your uncle Benny!"

"Why would I lie?"

"Because you always lie! I'm so gone! I'm gonna eat my breakfast pizza outside with the horses!" Kodi declared, grabbing his plate and heading out of the kitchen. Remi barked a laugh, then doubled over as he laughed some more. Castiel snickered and Lumen just shook her head again, then looked at me.

"Good morning," she greeted with a smile. I smiled back, then paused to study her for a moment. She looked the way she always did. Bright, sunny, warm, friendly. She didn't look suspicious like she did last night. Perhaps it was a female thing? Still, I would think I already knew what she was doing, but I had no idea. It made me uneasy. Lumen didn't generally keep things from me. Perhaps our parents, but not me.

"So, did Keros give you any feedback on your dreams?" Dad asked me as he loaded up the dishwasher. I frowned and Lumen looked at me curiously.

"Ah, nothing useful," I said after a moment, "It sounds like it may just be stress dreams." Dad frowned at that as he straightened.

"Maybe you should take a break from dancing," he said, making me look at him in surprise. It wasn't that dad didn't care about me; he certainly did. He just never suggested taking breaks from dancing. Dancing was our life. We only took short breaks to go on family vacations, and it didn't look like anyone in the room was ready to go to the beach anytime soon.

"Perhaps," I said after a moment. Dad nodded.

"I think it would be best. Especially after the fiasco with the creep yesterday," he muttered. Father wrinkled his nose in distaste at the mention of my stalker-- ah, the not interesting one.

"Yeah, it's my professional opinion that you step back and kinda regroup, then do a big comeback show," he responded, earning a nod of approval from Dad, "Not only will it help you in the long run to take a break, but it'll help your ratings go up if you do a big show right afterwards."

"I'll talk to Claire about it," I said.

"Do so," Dad said, "In the meantime, I've still got work to do."

"Same," Father agreed grimly, "There's an influx of souls coming in and I don't know what to do with most of them. Why are the humans dropping like flies all of a sudden?"

"Something about a virus," Remi said, making everyone look at him and he looked up, "What? I keep up on mortal happenings. I lived with them for like three hundred years. What do you expect?"

"I didn't think you cared," Castiel said, earning a droll stare from Remi.

"I don't particularly, but I have a few friends there. A couple of them already passed," he replied, "Just saw Stevie in Purgatory the other day. Said he was being punished for how he lived his life."

"What'd he do?" Castiel asked.

"Nothing," Remi deadpanned, "Literally nothing. The guy was as useless as male nipples. He looked like one too."

"You're such a good friend," Dad said, earning identical smirks from Father and Lumen.

"Is that why you treat me so bad?" Castiel asked. Remi looked at him.

"We're not friends," he stated. Castiel placed his hand over his heart and dramatically flopped over on the island counter. I shook my head at their typical play before I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I took it out and saw Keros had shot me a text if we were still on for visiting Hades. I texted him back that I'd changed my mind. I wanted to see Seven. He immediately replied with a GIF of some guy looking around bewildered with the caption whAT. You'll see, I texted back before I tucked my phone away.

"I have some errands to run," I said, making Dad look up, "I'll be back later tonight in time for our training session." Dad nodded.

"Sounds good. Get in contact with Claire right away. I know you don't have any big shows coming up, but you got a couple small gigs you might wanna cancel if you're gonna take a break," he explained. I nodded before teleporting from my home in Purgatory. I reappeared outside in the sweltering heat of a blazing hot sun with tropical foliage surrounding me, and a large modern style mansion that sat on a hill overlooking a grand city.

A second later, the air rippled and Keros appeared right beside me, dressed in cargo shorts and a tank top, a pair of sunglasses sitting on his head.

"Why are we seeing Seven?" He asked with a scowl.

"Because I have some questions for him," I replied. Keros cocked his head at me, but I didn't answer him as I went to the front door and knocked. There was a short pause before the sound of little feet came pounding to the door. A second later, the door flew open and Thirteen was standing there in just an oversized t-shirt that came down to his knees, a little raggedy stuffed leopard in his arms, his big blue eyes wide the moment he saw us.

"Oh! Oh! Seven, your boyfriends are here!" He called. I sighed and Keros smirked.

"Should've never danced with him," Keros said in a sing-song voice. I looked at him pointedly. Thirteen ran off to fetch Seven, and just a couple minutes later, Seven came around the corner with Thirteen pulling on his hand to lead him to the front door.

Seven was a beautiful creature, I noted as he approached with a warm friendly smile. There was something about him that was delicate and graceful, yet his personality was at complete odds. He tended to be more rough and playful. He was pretty tall, about my height, with long white-blonde hair that fell in natural straight locks to his waist, with icy blue eyes and deep rich caramel skin. He looked like he'd just gotten out of bed, though, so his hair was a little rumpled and his t-shirt and shorts were askew.

"Hi," Seven greeted as Thirteen let go of him to run off and do his own thing, "Sorry. I didn't know you guys were stopping by."

"Neither did I," Keros admitted, his eyes hooded as he scanned Seven from head to toe. Seven blushed. I looked between them. There was an electric heat there that promised the two of them were going to spend more time together after I left. I shook my head and looked at Seven.

"Is there somewhere we can talk that's private?" I asked. Seven nodded. He gestured for us to follow and shut the door behind us before he led us down the hallway to his bedroom where he closed the door and did a quick check in the bathroom before coming out.

"What's going on? Is it about the reporters," he asked, then scowled, "Because I already told them to fuck off already. It's like they don't even see me kissing Keros." Keros smiled, amused.

"Paparazzi see what they want to see," he answered. Seven shrugged. I looked at him.

"Tell us what you know about the Mother," I said, making Seven blink and Keros look at me in surprise, "Everything that you can remember. It'll be vital to what may be happening."

"The Mother? What, did you confirm something after you left my place last night?" Keros asked. I nodded, making Keros's eyes widen. Seven looked at me, alarmed.

"Did someone hurt you?" He asked. I shook my head.

"No, but someone made an attempt to kidnap me last night," I said, watching Keros's mouth fall open and Seven's face drain of color, "And they used this to try and do it." I conjured the dagger from last night and handed it over to Seven, who stiffened as he took it into his hands.

"This is a weapon created by the Mother," he said, looking up at me, "It's called a Thwarter. It was created by her group of scientists. It's supposed to put down whoever it cuts, as in, knocks them unconscious. I only know of one person who's allowed to use it outside the compound."

"Tall, black hair, hazel eyes?" I asked. Seven stared at me.

"Y-Yeah. His name is Six. You were confronted by Six?" He asked to be certain. I nodded.

"I believe so."

"How the fuck are you even still standing? The guy is one of our best soldiers."

"He didn't display that very well last night," I said dryly, "He was quite poor at fighting. He seemed distracted." Seven frowned.

"That doesn't sound like Six at all. He's very dedicated to the Mother. He's the one who came to me and threatened me not too long ago. Of course, I haven't seen him since. He's usually the messenger for the Mother, though. Not so much a kidnapper or assassin or anything," he murmured thoughtfully. He studied the dagger some more before handing it back to me. I poofed it in my hand back to my room at home.

"Are you alright? He didn't hurt you at all?" Keros asked me. I shook my head.

"Like I said, he wasn't very good at fighting, at least not last night."

"Alright, but why would he, or rather, the Mother try to kidnap you?" Keros asked. I looked at Seven.

"That's what I was hoping you could tell me," I said. Seven blinked, then shook his head slowly, his eyes wide in surprise.

"I honestly have no idea," he admitted, astonished, "I can't imagine what the Mother would want to do with you specifically. I know she has a major hard-on for Hades, though."

"Hades?" I asked. Seven nodded.

"We're taught growing up that he's this evil mad scientist hell bent on destroying artificials," he said with a shrug. Keros looked at him, surprised, then at me and I shrugged.

"That's half right," I conceded. Keros opened his mouth as if to argue, then stopped and shrugged and nodded, clearly agreeing after some thought. Seven looked between us curiously.

"I thought he was... okay," he said slowly, "Scary for sure. I thought he was gonna melt on the spot when we met, but he wasn't actually too bad."

"You've never seen him angry," Keros muttered.

"You have?" Seven asked. Keros paused and looked at me. I grimaced, remembering several occasions in which Hades let loose on a horrendous temper.

"Not at us," I said, "We've never been on the receiving end of his temper, but we've seen it in action and let's just say you don't wanna get on his bad side."

"Plus, the guy's saved the universe like what? Four times? I lost count," Keros muttered, rubbing at his chin. I shook my head at him, then looked at Seven.

"So you have no idea why the Mother would send someone after me?" I asked. Seven pursed his lips and shook his head.

"No, I'm afraid not... But it's certainly disconcerting," he murmured, "Have you guys thought of telling Hades?"

"Yes."

"No."

Keros glared at me.

"I thought we were gonna tell Hades," he said. I frowned. I was hesitant to tell Hades. Not because I didn't trust my grandfather; I trusted him with my life, of course. However, I didn't trust him with Six's life, if that was truly who'd attacked me last night. For some insane reason, I didn't want Hades to find him and stop him, or worse, interrogate him. I wanted to catch Six on my own and interrogate him. On my own. Why? I wasn't entirely sure just yet. I needed to know what made this supposedly powerful assassin so bad at his job last night. What was making him hesitate?

"We'll tell Hades," I said, making Keros raise an eyebrow, "But--" Keros threw his hands up and Seven sighed.

"But," I repeated, annoyed, "Not right now. We don't have enough information to go to him with."

"You were literally attacked in your bedroom last night," Keros deadpanned.

"Not enough information," I reiterated, "All we have is a single attack and a dagger. There's no motive right now."

"Okay, but maybe Hades would know," Keros tried, but I shook my head.

"I want to do this on my own," I said, earning a glare from Keros, "Without Hades. At least for right now. Once we have a motive, I'll go to Hades."

"It's better now or never," Keros said, "What if that guy comes back?"

"He will," Seven said grimly, "He didn't accomplish his mission. And for the record, Six always completes his missions. So one way or another, he's going to try and capture you, Hadrian. I think it might be a good idea to at least tell Hades that you feel like you're in danger." I averted my eyes at that.

I knew exactly what was going to happen if I told Hades such a thing. Because he'd done it before; locked me up in his palace in the middle of nowhere, isolated from the world, unable to think or do anything on my own. It conjured up old, unfriendly memories of my grandfather, Hades. He wasn't cruel, he wasn't necessarily mean, and he didn't do it to hurt me, but there was a paranoia that lived in Hades that I did not like dealing with. If that meant risking my own safety, fine. I rather die knowing I did something on my own than die with Hades blaming himself. Because gods above knew, he would blame himself if something ever happened to me on his watch.

"He'll be back," I said at last, making Keros groan and Seven nod, "I just have to wait for him to come back."

"And do what?" Keros demanded. I looked at him.

"Time for my kidnapper to get kidnapped," I stated.