An Imperceptible Ruse Indeed (The Gods' Executioner Series) Read online

  “No homo, bro.” I whisper in his ear.

  “CT… even if you say that… this seems a little gay.” Jason responds.

  “Shhh… just learn to like it. Are you ready?” I ask.

  “But Cole… we’re in public!” Jason exclaims with a feminine voice while covering his mouth and coyly looking down, just to fuck with me. I take to the sky in response.

  “Whoa! I was not expecting this! Since when can you fly!?” Jason asks.

  “I guess for like the past four years, but I didn’t realize I could until recently when I caught Tia as she was falling seventeen stories…” I reply, trailing off with the thought of how I didn’t save her even though I caught her.

  “Cole, I am not comfortable with you getting depressed while you are holding me several hundred feet above the ground.” Jason nervously says.

  “Haha, right. So… I have no idea where I’m going.” I tell him.

  “Uh… I think the palace is that way.” Jason says while pointing to the right so I start flying us in that direction.

  “I never realized how massive Niflheim is.” I say five minutes later.

  “Yeah, it is pr—HKKK *cough*.” Jason says followed by spitting.

  “Woops, I guess I forgot about bugs when flying… Uh, maybe we should just port back.” I suggest and set us down on the roof of a building.

  A swirl of black mist envelopes us as we port back to the kitchen.

  “I’m going to go wash my mouth out.” Jason announces as he sets the bag on the table and heads upstairs.

  I feel the need to take a piss so I walk down the hall to the bathroom. As I’m standing there, handling my business, I notice a pink box and a white stick with a blue plus sign on it sitting in the trash.

  “Reyna, when did you find out that you were pregnant again?” I ask as I walk back into the kitchen. Reyna’s and Cheza’s eyes go wide.

  “I… umm… haven’t told Jason yet… I was planning on having it be a surprise…” Reyna replies.

  “Well, if you wanted to do that, then you really shouldn’t leave the pregnancy test at the top of the trash in the bathroom. Don’t worry, I won’t tell him. Congratulations though! Aren’t azeman pregnancies really rare? What are the chances of you getting pregnant again so soon!?” I respond.

  “Well he never uses that bathroom anyway. I know, it’s crazy right?” Reyna nervously says.

  “Don’t worry, Reyna; I’m sure Jason will be ecstatic! Anyway, Cheza, you should eat your soup.” I tell her.

  “What? Oh, sure.” Cheza replies; she seems to be slightly distracted by something. I remove the plastic container from the bag and pour some into a bowl.

  “Thanks… Cole, can we talk?” Cheza asks.

  “Sure, what about?” I ask and sit across from her at the table as Natasha and Reyna leave the kitchen.

  “You know how unexpected things sometimes happen? They’re not necessarily bad, just a bit surprising to one party.” Cheza says.

  “Well sure; something wouldn’t be a surprise if it was expected. That’s pretty much the definition of a surprise.” I reply.

  “Yeah, right… you know how two stars meeting can lead to formation of a new star after an… explosion?” Cheza asks.

  “Yeah, but the meeting of two stars can also cause a black hole that sucks all life out of the galaxy.” I reply and Cheza’s eyes go wide.

  “Shit… that’s like the absolute worst analogy for this.” Cheza mumbles.

  “Cheza, are you feeling alright?” I ask with concern.

  “Umm, yeah… I think I’m going to go lay down for a while though.” Cheza replies and stands up.

  “Finish your soup first; it should help.” I say.

  Cheza grabs the soup and drinks it from the bowl before setting it down and heading upstairs. I grab her bowl, rinse it out, and place it in the dishwasher as I feel Alice wake up from her nap.

  “So, how do you feel?” Reyna asks as she walks back into the kitchen.

  “About what?” I inquire.

  “Uh… never mind.” Reyna says and turns around.

  I hear a sound that resembles a high-pitched ‘eep’ as a small bat, no bigger than my hand, flies into Reyna’s chest.

  “AHHHHH!” Reyna screams like an average human woman who just walked in on a bloody murder; I feel the need to specify because I think that Reyna would probably ask ‘Who didn’t clean up after cooking?’ if she walked in on a murder scene.

  “What’s going on!?” Cheza thinks with an alarmed tone.

  “Don’t worry; a bat is just attacking Reyna.” I calmly reply.

  “Giant or normal sized!?” Cheza asks without calming down.

  “Below average, I’m guessing. It’s pretty small.” I respond.

  “Oh, okay.” Cheza calmly replies and closes the connection.

  “GET IT AWAY! GET IT AWAY!” Reyna screams while flailing around.

  The bat flies off from Reyna’s chest when she starts flailing around and looks at me before turning back to Reyna. Jason runs into the kitchen and immediately comprehends the situation, knowing Reyna’s fear of bats. He grabs the bat, runs to the front door, and tosses it outside as Reyna starts hyperventilating in the kitchen.

  “Where in the hell did that bat come from?” Jason asks as he walks back into the kitchen.

  “No clue.” I reply and then realize that I can no longer feel Alice in her room.

  “HOLY SHIT! THAT BAT WAS ALICE!” I shout.

  “That’s impossible. Alice won’t be able to change into a bat until she turns ten at the earliest.” Jason replies.

  “Well I can’t feel her presence in the house now and I felt her wake up right before the bat appeared!” I exclaim.

  “You mean I just screamed at my own daughter to get away from me…?” Reyna asks in shock before snapping out of it.

  “We have to find her! My first change was one of the most frightening experiences of my life and now she’s all alone for it!” Reyna exclaims as she starts crying.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll catch her!” I reassure her.

  “How are you going to catch her!? She’s flying!” Reyna asks in hysterics.

  I smirk at her as my arm flushes black and I hover a foot off of the ground. I zip out the front door, passing by Natasha who just looks on in shock.

  “Airi, which way?”

  (Roughly one mile to your right)

  I take off in that direction as quickly as I can. Alice comes into my sight about thirty seconds later, flapping frantically to keep herself aloft and looking slightly drunk in the process. I fly up behind her and pull her to my chest, causing her to ‘eep’ loudly and thrash around.

  “It’s okay, sweetie; I’ve got you… Uncle Cole’s got you.” I say with as soothing a tone as I can have.

  Alice stops thrashing at the sound of my voice and looks up at me. She makes an ‘eep’ that sounds like a question mark is on the end. Black mist swirls around her, obstructing my view as I feel her get bigger in my arms. The black mist dissipates, revealing a naked Alice in my arms.

  “Uncle Cole!” Alice cries and throws her arms around my neck.

  “Come on, let’s go home.” I softly say.

  “But Mommy hates me now!” Alice sobs.

  “Mommy doesn’t hate you, sweetie; she just didn’t like that form you were in. She’s really afraid of bats. Your mommy loves you, just like she always has and always will.” I tell her.

  “Okay…” Alice quietly says and sniffles as I start flying us back towards the house.

  “Alice, why didn’t you come to me when Mommy started freaking out?” I ask when we are about halfway home.

  “Because I thought you would be angry with me… like last night.” Alice quietly informs me. I’d punch myself in the face if I had a free hand.

  “I wasn’t angry with you last night, sweetie; I was angry at my circumstances. You can always come to me with anything, no matter what… okay?” I reply.

  “Okay, Uncle Cole…
Uncle Cole?” Alice asks.

  “What is it, sweetie?” I inquire.

  “I love you.” Alice says.

  “I love you too, Alice.” I reply.

  “And I’m hungry…” Alice sheepishly responds.

  “Haha, go ahead!” I lightheartedly chuckle.

  Alice’s tiny fangs pierce my neck as we land. I walk into the house with Alice latched onto my neck as Reyna rushes over and then stops when she sees the situation. Reyna heads upstairs without saying anything, presumably to go fetch Alice some clothing. Natasha gives me a questioning look because of the small naked girl attached to my neck. I mouth ‘not a word’ and she responds by quietly snickering as I walk into the living room and sit on the couch. Reyna comes back with clothes for Alice as she finishes drinking and pulls away from my neck. Reyna sits down on the couch and helps Alice with her clothes.

  “Mommy… I’m sorry I scared you…” Alice timidly says.

  “No Mija, I’m sorry that I didn’t recognize you… I’m so sorry.” Reyna cries.

  “Don’t cry, Mommy.” Alice says as she hugs her mother.

  While watching this, I’m reminded of something from my past with Sara, and I realize that I haven’t seen her all day. I stand up and head upstairs while they’re working that out. I walk down the hall to the door at the end and knock twice. There’s no response so I open the door.

  “Hey Sara… are you alright?” I ask as I enter her room. I see that she’s still in bed, lying on her left side and facing away from the door. I move closer to her.

  “Sara?” I ask with concern while walking around the bed to where she lays huddled under the covers.

  I start thinking of various horror movie scenarios as I grab the comforter and pull it off. Sara is in bad shape with puffy red eyes and tear stained cheeks. I sit on the bed beside her and lightly place my hand on her shoulder.

  “I miss her, Cole… I miss her so much.” Sara whispers as more tears free themselves from her eyes.

  “I know…” I softly say.

  “I don’t want to keep living without her…” Sara whispers and the revelation hits me.

  After the news of their fling four years ago, I’ve received no indication from either Tia or Sara that they were together. I had always assumed that they continued living together out of a familiarity or habit after Cheza and I had left.

  “You know that she wouldn’t want that.” I softly reply, unsure of what else to say.

  “I know that… I know…” Sara cries. I lean over and awkwardly hold her as she lies there.

  About fifteen minutes later, Sara calms down and sits up in bed. Sara starts telling me stories about Tia and we start generally reminiscing. Several hours go by before I stand up.

  “I’m going to grab our salmon that Jason and I brought home. I’m hungry, and you need to eat something.” I tell her and exit her room.

  I head downstairs, reheat two of the salmon dishes, grab a bottle of cabernet, pop open the bottle, and pour out a quarter of it. Despite knowing that white wine goes with fish, a white wine won’t mix with my blood without changing the color, which is why I chose the cabernet. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to keep Sara from trying to kill herself, but I’m not going to lose another sister because I didn’t take the precaution. After replacing the missing quarter of the bottle with my blood, I grab two wine glasses and head back to Sara’s room with our meal.

  “Here we are.” I say as I set her plate down in her lap. I set both wine glasses on the bedside table and pour the wine into both of them. I sit down on the bed next to Sara’s legs and grab my wine glass.

  “To Tia.” I say and raise my glass.

  “To Tia.” Sara repeats and chugs her glass.

  I give her a refill and we eat our meal. When we finish, I take our dishes downstairs and grab another bottle of wine, same procedure. I bring the bottle of wine back up to Sara’s room and find Cheza in Sara’s bed as they watch a movie on the TV that sits on top of the dresser. I climb into the bed on Sara’s other side and hand her a wine glass.

  “Do you want some wine, Cheza?” I offer.

  “Umm, no thanks…” Cheza replies and we go back to watching the movie.

  When the movie ends, I notice that Sara has fallen asleep. I put my left hand over her mouth and siphon more of my blood down her throat.

  “Cole, what are you doing?” Cheza thinks.

  “I’m getting an insurance policy… I’m not losing this sister too.” I solemnly reply.

  …

  Chapter 14: Dragon Kidnapping

  [December 26th]

  After Cheza throws up again in the morning, she and I spend the whole day with Sara, helping her through her grief.

  “This is hitting Sara pretty hard, huh?” Cheza comments around lunch time while we’re downstairs.

  “Yeah… I’m pretty sure they were together…” I reply.

  “Yeah, they did live together for like twenty years.” Cheza says.

  “Not like that…” I mumble.

  “What do you mean?” Cheza asks.

  “I’m pretty sure they were a couple.” I tell her.

  “What? No way.” Cheza incredulously replies.

  “They hooked up four years ago and last night Sara mentioned how she didn’t want to live without Tia…” I recant.

  “What!?” Cheza exclaims.

  “Yeah… that’s why I took the extra precaution of spiking Sara with my blood.” I explain.

  “Wow… I had no idea…” Cheza says.

  “I didn’t either until Sara said that.” I reply.

  “Cole, can we talk again?” Cheza asks.

  “What’s up?” I respond.

  “You know how sometimes a woman will think about her husband and say to herself ‘I know what’s good for him and I know what’s going to make him happy so I’m going to make a major decision without him and he’s going to deal with it’?” Cheza asks.

  “I didn’t, but I do now… what major decision did you make without me?” I warily inquire.

  “Oh, good; you’re actually picking up on it this time. I stopped taking something which resulted in something else happening, which I know will make you happy in the long run, but right now it won’t seem like such a great thing.” Cheza replies.

  “Cheza, what are you talk—” I start to say as my phone rings. I pull it out of my pocket and see that it’s Naia.

  “Hey Naia, what’s up?” I answer.

  “Cole! Ryuji has been taken!” Naia frantically exclaims.

  “Calm down, and explain what happened.” I reply and Naia takes several deep breaths.

  “We were eating lunch together, finally able to relax now that the vampire crisis is over, when there was a loud banging at the door. Ryuji grabbed my arm and pulled the bracelet off of my wrist as four armed men in ski masks broke the door down. The men grabbed Ryuji and left! I tried to stop them using magic, but it did not work on any of them!” Naia exclaims, freaking out again by the end of her story.

  “Can you remember anything else about them?” I ask.

  “Nothing stands out…” Naia softly says.

  “Alright, I’ll be at the apartment in a few minutes.” I tell her.

  “Okay, thank you, Cole.” Naia replies and hangs up.

  “What’s going on?” Cheza asks.

  “Ryuji’s been kidnapped. I’m going to help Naia.” I reply as I head upstairs.

  I walk into our bedroom, wrap my arm in a bandage, grab my pouch from the table, and stick it to my lumbar. I open up my bag and find a new pair of armored jeans, along with a new sleeve on my jacket; Sara must’ve done this a couple days ago. I quickly dress in those as Cheza walks in and grabs her suit from her bag. Having already expected this outcome, I don’t say anything as I exit the room and head down the hall to Sara’s room.

  “Hey Sara, Ryuji is in trouble. Naia told me that he was kidnapped by four men and her magic didn’t work on them; any ideas on what they were?” I ask.

  �
��Naia’s magic didn’t work? That seems like it would be nigh on impossible given her background. There are spells that will block other spells of a specific type, but the caster would have to be more powerful than the offensive spell, which would be really unlikely with anything cast by Naia. Hmm… if I remember right, dragons tend to have an extreme resistance to magic. Did Naia say what kind of spells she tried?” Sara asks.

  “No, she didn’t. What does it matter?” I inquire.

  “Well dragons are pretty much immune to illusion magic and any magic that directly affects the body, like sleep magic. However, elemental types of magic would still be effective since the magic is affecting the element and not the dragons directly. It seems likely that Naia would have only tried illusion or corpus magic though.” Sara informs me.

  “Alright, thanks Sara; I’ll look into it. Cheza and I will be back as soon as we can… are you going to be okay?” I ask.

  “Yeah, Cole… I’ll be okay.” Sara replies with an attempted smile.

  I lean over and give her a hug before exiting the room. I head downstairs and find Natasha.

  “Hey, Cheza and I need to go help Naia; Ryuji has been kidnapped. I need you to do me a favor and help Sara. Try and get her out of the room, if you can.” I request.

  “Sure, focus on finding Ryuji.” Natasha says.

  “Of course. I’ll find him and be back as soon as I can.” I tell her.

  I walk into the kitchen, grab a bottle, and use my left hand to pour some blood into it for Alice in case I’m not back tomorrow. I head upstairs and enter Alice’s room. She’s sleeping peacefully in her bed so I lift her over the guard rail, knocking Dynamite to the floor in the process. I place her head on my shoulder and she sniffs before biting into my neck. I cut Alice off at half a liter and tuck her back into her bed. After picking Dynamite up off of the floor, I brush him off and place him in Alice’s arms, causing her to snuggle up to him.

  “Ready to go?” Cheza thinks and I turn around to see her smiling in the doorway wearing her leather suit.

  “Yeah, let’s go find our friend.” I reply.

  I walk across the room, grab Cheza’s hand, and port us to Ryuji and Naia’s apartment in Seattle.