The Beginning of Connie and Isaac (The Blue Butterfly #3) Page 5

  “Come,” Bullet said as she took my hand and led me to the far left table. Numerous people looked up and gave me smiles and welcoming words. “This is Panther,” Bullet announced as she directed me into a spare seat opposite a tall man with long, thick brown hair as she and Mouse sandwiched me protectively between them.

  Panther grinned and leaned across the table, shoving his hand out eagerly. “Welcome to West.”

  “Thank you,” I replied quietly.

  “And this is Rogue.” Panther presented the guy to his left as he poured me a cup of water and placed it before me after filling his own. I smiled at Rogue. His eyes twinkled at me, his ebony hair tied behind his head. He was good-looking and I chastised myself for thinking so at the most inappropriate time.

  “Hi,” Rogue said; his smile was soft and real. “You look like a tough one. Just what we need.” His gaze roamed over me as he spoke, his stunning blue eyes fixing on my torso held in the tightness of the black leather. “Hopefully we have someone who can finally get through the initiation.”

  I swallowed my nerves as a string of people dressed in black filled our table with plates of food. “I’ll do my best.”

  Every person at the table dived into the mass of food. The three meats and copious amount of vegetables made my stomach growl appreciatively, and I leaned forward to scoop a small portion onto my plate.

  “You’ll need to do more than your best,” Rogue continued. “You’ll need to give your life to the exercise.” He regarded me, the question in his eyes of whether or not I understood.

  I nodded, dropping my eyes from his intense stare. “Bullet’s filled me in.”

  “You need more food than that,” Panther said. “It could be a while before we get fed again.”

  I frowned at him as I shovelled some mash potato into my mouth. The first properly cooked meal I’d had in three months was nectar to my hunger. “What?”

  He piled his own plate high. “Master decides if we are to be fed or not.”

  I stilled with my fork halfway to my mouth. “What?”

  Rogue rolled his eyes as Panther sighed. “Shadow, right?” I nodded. “Shadow,” he paused and blew out a breath. “What Master says, goes. What Isaac, our commandant, says goes. What the sentinels say, goes. Us, soldiers, have no say in what happens. Until you make it to sentinel, then I’m afraid you have to suck it up and take what is given when you can.”

  “Before we make it to sentinel?”

  Rogue nodded, piling more food onto his now empty plate. “Assassins for the family are called sentinels.”

  “Then I’ll never become a sentinel!”

  He chuckled and shook his head. “Gorgeous, you’ll become whatever they want you to become.”

  “But,” I grumbled, ignoring his term of endearment. “I won’t ever kill anyone.”

  All four of my new friends chuckled but when a whistle resounded from the top table, they immediately downed their cutlery and stood up. Bullet dragged me up by my arm. “Stand firm and still,” she whispered. I noticed her instant stiffness, her chest sticking out as she looked over to the head table.

  “Good evening, Phantoms.” Frederik addressed the room as he also stood. “We have business to attend to.” He gave two men who stood by the table a nod. They took the arms of a man and dragged him to Frederik. Frederik narrowed his eyes on the man and curled his lip in disgust as he tipped his head menacingly. “It seems you failed to carry through with your designated contract.”

  The man whimpered, struggling in the hold of the two men, but they were strong bastards, their muscles huge and their faces marred and ugly, giving them a threatening appearance. “I’m sorry, Master!” the man quickly spoke.

  Frederik pursed his lips and nodded with the same expression he had given me when I had declared my gratitude to him. A chill raced over me and I shivered against it. My eyes sought Isaac’s once more and found that his own pure green irises were fixed on me. He blinked and quickly turned his focus back to the man in front of Frederik. “You know the rules, Vex.”

  The man, Vex, shook his head manically. “Please, Master, I beg of you. Give me another chance to prove my loyalty to you.”

  Without another word, Frederik turned and picked up a knife, then swiftly slid it across Vex’s throat.

  A scream burst into the silence of the room and it was only when every head turned my way that I realised it had come from me. Frederik’s eyes narrowed on me. “Ah, yes. The second matter of the night.” I stared ahead, not really hearing or seeing anything as my focus remained on the man who was bleeding out and twitching on the floor.

  “Drag it in, Shadow!” Bullet hissed quietly.

  “Both probationers approach the table.”

  Bullet nudged me and I blinked at her, the haze in my head breaking. She nudged her chin towards Frederik. “Go on.”

  I looked around the room and found I was the attention of every single eye. Gulping, I slowly made my way to the front. I refused to look at the dying man and my gaze found Isaac again, but this time he was looking anywhere but at me. Frederik’s eyes were narrow on Isaac as though waiting for him to look at me.

  When I approached the top of the room, a huge, dark-skinned boy came to stand beside me. He looked as terrified as me, the whites of his eyes yellow as he physically shook before me. I attempted a smile but he quickly looked away. I frowned, wondering what had crawled up his arse.

  Frederik smiled. “Look at you both!” he said with a delightful glint in his eye. “This one will be fun. I think you deserve something… special.”

  I stiffened when I caught Isaac wince, his teeth gnawing on his bottom lip, but he kept his gaze trained on his father.

  The boy beside me made a funny noise and glared at me through the corner of his eye. What the fuck had I done?

  “Shadow seems like she’ll be a fun one to go against, Ice.” Frederik laughed when Ice, the boy beside me, tensed. “So let’s make this interesting. Three weeks from now, the twelve of June, both of you will go against each other in Bleak Woods.”

  A range of gasps rang out and I frowned at Isaac when his horrified eyes flew to me. I tensed when the shock the room displayed told me my initiation wasn’t going to be as straightforward as usual.

  Frederik smiled at me, the hidden message in his eyes not lost. “May the strongest be brought back before me.”

  Isaac was still staring at me with wide eyes but when Frederik turned back to him and coughed, Isaac blinked and turned his pale face to his father. “Seems you have your work cut out for you, Isaac.” He laughed then turned to Joel, who I only just noticed was standing beside Ice. “As do you, Joel.” Joel grinned but Isaac remained quiet and sombre. However, they both nodded their understanding.

  “Continue!” he barked, and the room burst back into activity.

  Bullet stared at me when I retook my seat between her and Mouse. Panther and Rogue looked at me sadly. I picked up a bread roll and pulled off a piece, forcing myself to eat although my stomach twisted anxiously. “I take it Bleak Woods isn’t much fun.”

  They all remained mute but Rogue shook his head. “No one ever goes out into those woods. Ever. What the hell have you done to piss him off?”

  “Rogue!” Isaac barked behind me, making me jump. I looked up at him as he snapped his eyes to me. “Come with me!”

  My friends lowered their eyes and continued with their meal as I shifted out from the bench and followed Isaac through the castle and into the west wing.

  Isaac’s hand felt warm against the coolness of my clammy skin. My brow dripped with sweat and my rosy cheeks showed my fever, but the ice that ran through my veins with what had just transpired caused me to cling to Isaac harder. My eyes saw Vex dying, and his body jerking as his heart came to a stop, but my mind played over the scenarios concerning my initiation and what hell I was to face. He tolerated my firm hold for the route through the castle but when he pulled me through a door at the north side of the west wing, a room of massive proport
ions opening up to us, he swiftly dropped it and raked his fingers through his thick hair.

  “Fuck!” he hissed as he paced across the room, leaving me staring at him nervously. He muttered quietly under his breath as he poured two tumblers of whiskey and passed one to me.

  His eyes finally landed on me and the depths of his green eyes bored through me. His stare was so penetrating that I didn’t dare move or break away from it. His lips parted the way they had in the dining room as his eyes slid down the length of me.

  An angry sneer travelled across his face as his chest heaved. “Why are you fourteen?” His bizarre question was quiet and I wondered if he’d meant to speak it out loud.

  I frowned. “I’m sorry, I don’t…”

  “Fuck!” He shook his head firmly. “You look like edible sin dressed in that. I need my cock sucking!”

  My eyes widened and I gasped, bringing his eyes back to my face. He shook his head and his own eyes widened. “Fuck, Shadow, I didn’t mean you. I’m not a baby bouncer…” My eyes widened farther with each of his words. “Fuck!” he murmured before he downed his alcohol and went to refill his glass. “Sit down!” he barked. I wasn’t sure if he was angry with me or himself.

  Eventually, after he drew in a long breath, he came to sit in the chair opposite me in front of the large roaring fire. The room was, as were most in the castle, like something from the period dramas my mother loved to watch on TV. The walls were all stone, as was the floor. The furniture was almost regal, and definitely luxurious, unlike my own barren room that held a bed and set of drawers. Yet every mod con and gadget available to man was scattered around the room, taking away from the majestic feel. A huge stereo and TV sat to one end of the room and an up-to-the-minute PC sat on a chic glass desk to another side. Huge heavy curtains covered the windows but the walls displayed a vast array of modern art. The whole feel of it made my head spin with the many clashes to the eyes and mind.

  Isaac rested his head back on the chair and sighed, his tiredness clear in every action of his body. When he remained silent for a long time, making me wonder why he’d brought me there, I bit the bullet and surged ahead.

  “I take it Bleak Woods lives up its name.”

  He blew out the breath he’d just inhaled and opened his eyes. He let his gaze settle on the ceiling. “No. To live up to its name it should be called ‘Death Woods’.” My heart shuddered. He really wasn’t helping to put me at ease.

  My mouth dried and I nodded slowly. “Right.”

  He growled then sat up and looked at me. “The woods are untouched by anyone. The bogs there take hostage of even the hardened hunter. The trees are so thick and dense that they give no respite, instead tangling you in their branches until you slowly die.” My heart struggled with the manic beat, my pulse racing, but my fear slowed its frantic pace until I felt dizzy with the conflicting emotions. “The environment itself eats the fucking wildlife like the place is frozen in prehistoric times.” He shook his head again but dragged a breath through his clenched teeth. “However, we’re lucky it’s late spring. That gives you a longer period of light,” he rambled more to himself as his eyes became distant and he stared at the fire. “But your hunting skills are already good so that gives us time to concentrate on your fighting skills.”

  I took a large mouthful of the whiskey and gulped against its roar in my throat. It settled into my belly where it bubbled with my nerves. “Isaac,” I whispered, but he didn’t appear to hear me.

  “Rogue is an ace at stealth. He would be good to train you up for all covert moves.” He nodded more firmly.

  “Isaac,” I repeated, my voice choked as I struggled not to let the despair swallow me.

  “Although I’ve taught you well with a blade, your sniper capability could be enhanced, that way you can take him out from a distance should the chance arise.”

  He finally looked at me when a choked sob tore from me. I’d tried to hold it in but the more he rambled on, the more the despair had clawed its way out. I shook my head, the tears tearing down my face as furious as the rush of blood through my system. “I can’t kill him. I can’t kill Ice. I can’t kill anyone!”

  For the briefest moment, his eyes softened and the sorrow reflected back at me made my weeping harden. But then an austerity took over him. I gasped when his hand struck my face. “You can. You have to. Don’t you dare give in now. I, for one, will not allow it. You’re mine, Shadow, and both I and West need another soldier.” His face was red with rage as I held my throbbing cheek and sobbed. He gripped my upper arms and shook me. “You are a Phantom! Control your damn babying.”

  I hiccupped, trying desperately to drag my emotions back, but that just made a weird sound break from my chest. Isaac shook his head. “I’m not listening to your whinging. Fuck off. FUCK OFF OUT OF MY SIGHT!”

  I stared wide-eyed at his cruel disregard. Where had the Isaac I knew gone? Although he’d been strict with me before, he’d still been compassionate and patient. His relentless teaching had been accompanied with a sympathetic encouragement. But now that was gone, and all that remained was a harsh hunger for me to give his ‘regiment’ another warrior. It had all been a ploy, his compassion a way to make me fight for his team, a way to butter me up so I would give his unit a better chance against the other side. Well fuck him. Fuck him to hell.

  Pulling my shoulders back, I swallowed hard and stood up. “I will do my best, for you, because I know how much this obviously means to you,” I grated out with a coldness that made him still. “But to be quite frank, I don’t care, and I know you definitely don’t, if I don’t come out of those damn woods.”

  With that, I turned on my heel and fled his room.

  June, 2005. Aged 14.

  IT WAS THE night before the initiation. Frederik, or Master nas I’d come to call him, had thrown a huge party. I’d thought it rather sick, but as the alcohol started to flow, easing my nerves and worries, I’d started to see it as a good idea. Definitely a good idea when Ice collapsed towards the end, his alcohol consumption so high he’d drunk himself, and his worries, into obliteration.

  Fall Out Boy’s The Phoenix blasted through the speakers just as Bullet forced another beer into my hand. “Come on, Shadow.” She pulled me across to the space cleared for a dance floor, both of us thrusting our bottles into Panther’s hands as we weaved through the mass of other dancers into the centre.

  “I’m gonna change you like a remix,” Bullet belted out of her drunken mouth as she pointed to me. “Then I’m gonna raise you like a penis!”

  I laughed loudly, shaking my head at her adaptation of the lyrics. She grinned back at me as she placed her hands on my hips and turned me around so she could grind against me. “That’s better. Smile. Forget tomorrow for an hour and live. It could be your last party, sister.”

  I closed my eyes to take in her words, but when I opened them, my body went stiff. Isaac was drinking in the middle of a few sentinels. My stomach clenched at how handsome he looked in tight black jeans and his customary boots. A simple grey t-shirt hugged his muscles. I frowned and peered closer, wondering what it was about him that looked different, until I realised his blond hair had been dyed black. However, it wasn’t him that grabbed my attention, it was the tall blonde, lithe girl, hanging on his every word that made something strange happen to my insides. She giggled at something he said, and he turned to look at her and smiled back. Just as I was about to close my eyes and cut them out, he leaned into her and kissed her.

  Bullet, sensing my sudden change, rested her chin on my shoulder and looked to see what had captured me. She sighed before she spun me around to face her. Her eyes were narrow and probing. “Please don’t tell me you feel something for Isaac.”

  I shook my head, but the blush that heated my cheeks outed my lie.

  She closed her eyes for a second and dragged in a breath. “Bloody hell, Shadow. You can’t go there. For one, he’s our commandant, and for two, Isaac doesn’t do relationships. He fucks. That’s it.”
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  I lowered my eyes. I had been telling myself the very same thing for the last three weeks. Yet, I had caught him looking at me slyly, a distant look in his eye and a longing on his face. Once or twice, during the times we had trained alone, I knew he had come close to kissing me but he’d backed off, mumbling something about my age.

  Bullet grabbed my arms, her grip fierce as she shook me. “Shadow. Isaac is a mean bastard. He is known for fucking you once then turning his back on you. You think that screwing him will give you a better chance in here?”

  My mouth fell open at her accusation. “What? No!”

  Mouse had come to join us and her eyes were wide when she figured out what we were talking about. Bullet glanced at her then a cruel smirk contorted her pretty face. “Mouse will tell you!”

  I stared from Mouse to Bullet, trying to tell myself that she didn’t mean what she had insinuated. But when Mouse blushed and looked away, my jealousy over the blonde bitch with Isaac was nothing compared to how I felt towards Mouse.

  Bullet made me look at her again, but this time the sadness that covered her face brought tears to my eyes. “Isaac will never love you, Shadow. I’m sorry I sound so cruel but you need to learn what he’s like. He’ll fuck you, most definitely, but he will never hold any feelings towards you. Ever.”

  Her blunt words hit me hard. Taking another look towards Isaac I found him in the blonde’s embrace, his mouth moving hungrily on hers. He opened his eyes and caught me looking. His brow furrowed before he pulled away from her. She stared at him quizzically before she followed his line of sight. Her eyes narrowed on me before a cruel smile filtered across her face.

  “Who’s that?” I asked Rogue when he meandered over to us.

  He looked across and I didn’t miss the way his body stiffened when his eyes found the object of my question. “Fuck!” he hissed. “What the hell is she doing back?”

  Panther huffed. “Finished her latest assignment in record time apparently.”