About a day and a half later, I finally got up to the first floor again at 6:30 a.m. I shook my shoulders to relieve some dearness when a totally unexpected voice came from the front desk.

"You're barely going to sleep, Brandon?"

I had been so out of it that I overlooked the security staff surrounding the out-of-place winged Therianth in the lobby. Arnelle stood leaning lazily against the front desk, casting a look my way with a jolted brow. She was beautiful and ethereal. My heart almost stalled dead.

"I'm dreaming, right?"

I looked to Allen (I think), whose gun was drawn at her, seriously asking him the question.

He responded, "If you are, could you please stop?" He gulped nervously and explained, "She says things she shouldn't know."

"Deep down, everyone knows everything. Everyone wants the same things, but everyone just pretends they don't." Her voice traveled through the air and hit everyone at the same time. It was as if she had pulled off a veil that we all desperately wanted her not to.

She scoffed at our discomfort and took the microphone away from the shocked little receptionist. Arnelle expertly clicked it on and said, "Lord Jameston, please come down to the front lobby and collect your six thirty, preferably before security dispatches her. Thank you."

"That's not funny. They'll seriously kill you." I felt a great urgency to do something to make the situation safer for her. But my hands were tied.

"Maybe, but this is an official place of business under the current jurisdiction of the local police administration of Elated County 12. The law states that any murder done within their jurisdiction, Therianth or human, is a punishable offense and will be executed to the full extent of the law. Twelve years to life, quite progressive for a city hosting a place like this."

Her gold eyes shone brightly for a long moment as James' echoed steps silenced everyone. Since the raid, he had used an accelerant of his own creation to fix his broken arm and was walking down the stairs step by step with his arms behind him. She smiled in a tone of madness as he got closer. Unlike me, Arnelle could never hide her murderous intent from anyone. She never cared to hide who she was. 

James joked, "Ms. Arnelle, I didn't know you had booked an appointment."

"I came to make a deal with you," she paused slightly to allow James to catch up to her words, then continued, "Worth a try. What do you say? Shall we hatch it up in your office or down here with all these guns still aimed at my head?"

James clicked his tongue, pointing out, "The law threatens no one here. We say a Therianth came to kill us all, and we will be justified in killing you."

"Do it then? But good luck on keeping Brazilila a secret." She teased sensually.

As soon as she said that, the blood from my face drained away. Brazilian was a top-secret project that, if it came to light, no one would come out of it without legal and dire repercussions. Not even James.

All he did was give a "Hmph."

"Come on, then. You're lucky I had a cancellation." He chuckled as he showed her the way to his office.

I literally was about to faint when James called me from the top of the stairs.

"Draven, hurry up!"

My life is horse-shit. I thought.

In his lavish office, the winged Therianth sat down without being told. Her grand wings touched the floor as they draped over the chair. The rest of her looked like a young lady coming for a job interview. She'd knock the boots out of anyone if it weren't for the wings. Secretly, though, I loved them the most.

"Well, don't get tight-lipped now. Go on with this proposal of yours."

She gave him one of her signature heart-piercing stares, and said, "We will volunteer to help you with your research here."

James and I both heard the words but didn't understand them at first. I should say we didn't understand how they had just come out of pretty clover lips like hers.

"That's insane of you." The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"Instead of killing us and us killing you, why not find a solution that helps one another instead? We will agree to donate blood and whatever other samples you need. In exchange, you promise to stop capturing live specimens for the twisted games you play below."

Down below? How does she know of down below? Or Brazilila, for that matter.

But she's smart. Raiding consumed a lot of capital, and James was having trouble keeping investors happy because of it. 

"We need live specimens to conduct our research, and we need them for various reasons, not just for blood. Will you really be volunteers?"

"You don't need us alive for all of them. I read the material. We can supply our dead, too, if needed. You only conduct experiments on living because you personally enjoy the misery you cause."

"Heh, I didn't know you could read. Therianths aren't usually educated. But then you recited the law rather clearly, too."

"Most of us are uneducated because we are restricted from going to school. I tell you, though, I don't see the big deal. Even while humans go, some don't seem to learn anything. Such an intelligent sort, yet you can't teach each other equally, either. Some can't even manage to see past misinformation and propaganda set by people like you. To conquer you would be so simple if only our masses would adhere to the truth. But..."  

She paused for a while until she got James and me to gulp. "But it turns out that most of us are quite human too." 

James replied dryly, "We are all kinds of stupid. I agree with you. Furthermore, I have been waiting for Deror to light such a fire, but he-" 

"He is rather human to a fault. My father is benevolent as he is stubborn," Arnelle said, getting comfortable in her chair. She grinned like a villain and continued, "I take after my grandfather." 

A shiver went down my spine, and James actually grew quiet for once. Her grandfather was over three centuries old and had brought forth the bloodiest period between Therianth and humans—the last great rebellion of the Angels. 

"I wonder how much of that is true. If you truly took after him, would you be here bargaining like a trapped rat to a lion?" James asked. 

"More like a cornered dragon getting ready to burn everything to the ground, but sure pretend you're bigger. It'll make your fall so much more beautifully dramatic." Arnelle got up to leave and came up to me. Her eyes softened for a moment, and it was then that I realized something in me wanting them to myself very much. 

She turned around and coldly smirked at James. I should have noticed then; underneath James' facade of calmness, he had a smothering rage of jealousy. 

"You can even have me once every three months to collect samples from." 

Arnelle knew she had him in the palm of her hand just with that. "You have a week to mull it over. If you choose violence, just know that I will follow my father's will no longer." 

She looked back at me with a sad look in her eyes. A look I knew too well because I saw it in my reflection every time I remembered the blood on my hands. 

"Brandon, go and rest, please. Stop letting that Demon take everything. Surely sleep can be where you draw the line." 

Before I could respond, she swiftly left, leaving me alone with said Demon. We stayed in silence for a good minute, staring at the door. 

With a voice that sounded too nice to be from James, he asked, "Why does she seem to care for you dearly, Draven?"

"You're wrong," I said softly as I took my turn to leave, "it's not care. It's fleeting empathy." 

And it couldn't save me even if I wanted it to.