Luna Felix

24| Pitch Black

ALPHA ORIEF REI VADEU'S POV

I have a love-hate relationship with car rides. And even the excitement of riding the revered jeep lasted only a couple of hours. 6 hours into the journey I wished I had bought that private helicopter my dad advised me not to buy all those years ago.

We reached the designated detour town and pulled over to a small inn on the outskirts. We were trying to keep a low profile so going to the heart of the town was a far stretch. Over dinner, we discussed our route for the last day of our journey and Mum expressed her desire to travel in the jeep with me, which I was more than happy to agree with. Mum would be a good source of entertainment for me.

Reaching my room, I picked up my new tablet to call Felix. 

As soon as the call connected I could see her face come into my view. But before I could offer her any greetings, she beat me to it. The only difference was it wasn't a greeting.

"So I will start by saying I don't regret what I did." Her face twisted in a way I hadn't seen before. But if I have to place a finger, I would describe it as distress.

"Okay... so what is that we are not regretting but still stressing over?" 

"I may have fired one of your men?" Her voice grew small at the end.

"Okay, What's the big deal with that? You can do that. I trust you, it won't have been anything unreasonable. Did you think I would be pissed over this?" A bit salty at being judged.

"Don't make that face, I know that face. No, I am not making assumptions about you. It's a normal thing to tell you this, me being anxious is just me being me." 

Her eyes told me to trust her. Since when can I read someone's eyes so well??

"Okay okay, I agree. I jumped quite a few hoops there."

With a small smile, she gives me a cute nod not commenting further on that. "Do you want to hear about the entire debacle or not?"

"Of course. Of course, I am all ears." I said as I propped up the tablet for better support.

"First of all, where do all these men find the audacity, to even say, pardon my language Rei, bullshit like this-"

"Was that a song?" 

"What?" Felix furrowed her eyebrows further. 

"The first part is it a song, 'cause you were way too smug as you used it." I clarified.

"I- you- I-, You know what you are getting way too good at this, Ya it was a song. And yes I was very 'smug' at using it. Happy?"

"Very." Honestly, I was very pleased with myself for doing better. Reading her better. 

"Now where was I? Yes, so I was working out in the field since I thought I could serve as your substitute for, you know, your stuff. And one of your soldiers has the audacity to come to me and be very concerned about me doing this heavy training because I might harm something of importance and that won't be good for my position.  When I tried to explain to him in unambiguous terms, I was asked to sit still and look pretty. Honestly, after all that, I just told him that he was demoted and told him to get lost."

"You did right. No one should be allowed to say something disrespectful to you and face no consequences. And, honestly, demotion is a light punishment. I would have dismissed him from the services altogether." I answered her, knowing she dislikes being in a position where she is unclear about her boundaries. I made a mental note to start the preparation of her crowing ceremony soon.

"Exactly. I thought you would be defensive about the men you trained yourself." Her expression was at ease now, her hand reaching up to undo her ponytail. 

"I am. But not when they are wrong, and certainly not above my mate." She looked shocked for a split second but then recovered quickly. 

"Anyway, what is your lo-"

Before I could hear her sentence, the network cut off as well all the electricity went out. The outside was pitch black, not a light source for miles. My senses went haywire, telling me something was going to happen. Just as I was about to alert my parents and the rest of the people. 

A deadly scream pierced through the night sky and that's the last thing I remember before the floor gave under me. 

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