Corwin Benedict
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The Game Of The Gods Chapter 12
🕑 Added 2025-02-23 05:44:04 +0000 UTCI follow doss at a relaxed pace. Blake walks next to me, his gaze on the other men like a hawk. Damien is a step behind us, his gaze only on Doss.
Doss walks into his office, law books lining the walls. Five cushioned chairs sit in front of a large desk. Doss sits behind the desk, his men moving to flank him.
My gaze is drawn to a portrait behind Doss’s head, stating that an Olson Doss had graduated from Harvard law.
And here I thought all lawyers were angels that fought for good.
Ha.
I move to sit down, but Damien holds his hand in front of me, stopping me. He gives me a look, telling me to trust him, so I step back as he walks up to the chairs.
He presses his hands lightly against the cushions of the chairs, looking for something. A memory comes to mind of a movie where a needle had been placed into a chair.
I hate needles.
I look into Doss’s eyes and smile.
Damien finishes up and shrugs at me. I look at him with a newfound respect as I sit down in the chair at the center.
Doss’s chair has him slightly taller than me, making it look like he’s looking down at me. I lift my feet and put them on his desk as I tip the chair onto its back legs. Blake and Damien stay standing behind me, watching the other men with narrowed eyes.
Doss narrows his eyes ever so slightly, then smiles. “I am surprised you got here so soon. How did you find out? I don’t believe my message has even reached Mr. Demor yet.” He motions towards one of his men who walks over to a coffee machine in the corner. “Coffee? Tea?”
Damien catches my gaze and gives the smallest shake of his head.
I raise my eyebrows, who knew he had such a mind for intrigue?
“Nothing for me, thanks.” I say, shifting my gaze to the big boss man. “I was hired to take care of Rose Demor specifically.” The lie comes easily to me. I cross my arms, “Speaking of, I would like to get to the matter at hand.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
I give him my sweetest smile. “I didn’t answer your question because I didn’t want to answer your question. Please stop avoiding the question, Doss.”
Doss hums, as one of his men places a cup of coffee in front of him. “You certainly aren’t the person-” He pauses, looking at the two boys with me. “People. You aren’t the people I expected Mr. Demor to send.”
I let out an annoyed breath. “He wanted to surprise you.” I drop my feet from his desk and let the front legs of my chair hit the ground with a THUMP. I lean forward, holding his gaze. “Some people might enjoy this little game of wits, Mr. Doss. But I am very much not in the mood for it. Get to the point, before I decide it’ll be quicker and safer for Rose to just kill you.” I show him all my teeth.
Doss narrows his eyes, and opens his mouth, only for the sound of the door opening to calm him down. “James, how good of you to show up. I was just speaking to Mr. Demor’s representative.”
I turn to look at the new arrival. He’s a toned muscular man, and he moves with a grace that tells me he is more than just a block of meat. His eyes study me with an interested gaze I do not appreciate. Although, I’m sure he’s used to women appreciating it.
“James here, is the reason why any threat you give me is meaningless.” Doss puts his hand in front of him, and gives me an arrogant smile. “You can tell Mr. Doss that I expect twelve million in my account by six AM tomorrow. If he does that, he might see his daughter the next day. If he doesn’t, well… I can’t take responsibility for what happens to her.”
I close my eyes.
Is it time?
It is.
Time to get more blood on my hands.
“[Stop Right There]” I cast the field around Blake and Damien, then I’m leaping out of my chair. I grab the chair as I move, and throw it at one of the men already reaching for their gun. I’m right behind the chair, my hand punching his stomach with enough force to knock the wind out of him. I grab his arm as he falls and throw him into another guard.
Arms wrap around me, so I jump up, letting the back of my head break the third man’s nose. His arms let go and I spin around to grab his head and snap his neck.
Time slows as I watch the man fall to the floor. My heart aches as I look at another man I killed. Another death.
I close my eyes, a mental breath calming myself.
I open my eyes, and cast “[Unmatchable Speed]”, I appear in front of Doss, the slimy man’s eyes widening.
Suddenly, James is between us. His foot strikes out, sending me sprawling backwards. I manage to keep my feet, but James follows it up with a second flawless kick, faster than I can follow. I block the strike, and cast “[Take Your Time]”. Time slows to a halt, but James’s foot is still moving. I feel at my psi to find it dangerously low.
I can’t sustain a long fight. I look at the boys from the corner of my eye. My protective field is still in effect, and they are shooting at the guards from behind it. Guard. The others are down with bullets in their bodies. Only Doss, James, and that last bodyguard are still alive.
My focus returns to the foot about to hit me. Looking at it closer, there’s an odd glow surrounding his body. He must be using some kind of energy to augment his speed, just like I am. Why is he faster than me then? It doesn’t look like he’s using psi. So maybe mana? Or something else? Hopefully he runs out of whatever it is before I run out of psi.
I lift my hands, barely blocking the foot with my gloves. Then I deactivate my perception ability and time resumes.
His leg hits my arm, but I don’t move, a faint shield appearing between my gloves and his foot. We both stare in shock for a moment, before he throws several more kicks in quick succession. I use as little movement as I can to keep my arms between me and his attacks.
A furious exchange of blows comes from the man, leaving me completely on the defensive as he moves with a speed I can’t match. My psi drains from the movement and holding up the barrier around the boys.
Finally, I fuck up, committing to hard to a fake only for him to step forward and punch me in the gut.
I fall forward, spittle flying from my mouth as I collapse to the ground. Many somethings inside me are broken.
“I hate to kill such a beautiful girl. But Doss pays me well.” He says, standing over me as my gloves work overtime to heal the damage done.
I spit at him, and force a single word to come out of my mouth. “Creep.”
A kick sends me rolling into the wall and breaking several more of my ribs. “Still, it’s hard to give the finishing blow. Maybe I can restrain you? No, you’re a Beta Tester, aren’t you? If I let you live, it’ll come back to haunt me.” He lifts his foot over my throat.
This is it, isn’t it? Maybe you should stop questioning everything you say, right? And just kill me, maybe?
He starts to press down with his foot, only for more gunshots to ring out.
The man stumbles forward, then turns in anger towards the sound. I grab the opportunity, pulling his leg out from under him. He falls, and I roll on top of him, my hand stabbing into his throat without hesitation. My glove enhances the strike, and I use the last of my psi to cast “[Force Of Many Blades]”. I refuse to hesitate like he did.
Tears fall down my face as I stare into his dead eyes, but I push my moral conundrums aside and stand up to look at the room. The last guard is dead, Doss lies on the floor moaning in pain. The two boys stand bloodied, but alive.
“Thank you,” I gasp out to the two of them, my throat still healing from the little bit of pressure James had put on it.
I walk over to Doss, the glowing of my gloves lessening as my body heals. “Where. Is. Rose?”
He must’ve seen something in my expression, because he doesn’t argue or go quiet. He simply says, “Second floor, room 203. My men are guarding her, but I can get them to-”
I don’t wait for him to finish as I grab a gun from a surprised Damien, “I’m sorry” I say as I pull the trigger.
I hand the gun back to Damien, who takes it with a shaking hand.
“Monsters are so much easier to kill.” I say, my voice nearly breaking. I step over the dead bodies and ignore the blue window that pops up. “Come on, we have a girl to rescue.” I finish as I walk out the door.
On the other side, I pause to lean against the wall. Tears flow down my face. I had hoped it would be easier this time. At the same time, I’m glad it wasn’t. I don’t want there to be a time where tears don’t flow for the dead.
I fall to my knees, close my eyes and say a prayer for every dead man in that room.
***
I push myself off the ground, as the two boys leave the room. Damien is quiet, his gaze in the distance as he deals with the deaths of those men in his own way. Blake looks like he wants to say something, but decides to stay quiet.
“Give me a minute, and then we’ll go down.” I say. Then I turn my attention to my psi. I watch it regain its energy.
“I was not expecting the day to turn out like this.” Blake says.
“I don’t think any of us were.” I respond.
When my psi is about halfway recovered, I open my eyes and motion for the two of them to follow me.
I walk towards the stairwell at an even pace. Damien follows silently, while Blake hesitates for a split second before hurrying to catch up.
“Elena, I’m worried.” Blake says, and something in his voice brings my attention to him. “You and Damien are taking this so hard, but I… I just feel numb, like my feelings were flipped off. This might sound ridiculous, but am… am I a monster?”
I stop, causing the two boys to hault as well. “I don’t think you are. The fact that you are so worried about the answer to that question proves you aren’t.” I pull him into a hug. “Everybody deals with death in their own way. And that’s okay.” I let him go. “Are you ready for what comes next?”
He nods, some of the tenseness leaving him.
I give him a small smile, then open the door to the stairs. We make our way to the second level. I prepare my spells, then look at both boys, before throwing open the doors.
The fight is a quick one, as we catch the men by surprise and they don’t have a Beta Tester with them.
I look at the dead men, then after a moment, cast [Defence Of The Earth] to cover the men from sight with a dome of earth.
I walk over to room 203. It’s locked, so I pull my hand back, and punch through the lock.
The girl in the corner huddles away from the sound but doesn’t look up. Pink hair is all I see, as she rests her head on a pair of scraped knees, her arms and legs tied to a pole in front of her.
I softly walk over to her, then in a quiet voice say “One of these days, we are going to have a proper date.”
She looks up at me, her makeup in streaks from crying. Blake hands me a knife, and she looks between the two of us in shock.
“Elena? Blake? What are you doing here?” She asks, her voice raw.
“Coming to rescue you of course.” I cut through the ropes holding her wrists and her legs. It’s a sharp knife, and does the job easily.
She lunges forward, her arms wrapping around me and she sobs into my shoulder. I wrap my arms around her, and hold her for a while. The soft glow of my gloves tells me that they’re healing the scratches and bruises on her body.
Eventually she calms down enough to pull away. I sit her down, pull out a napkin from my pocket, and gently wipe at the streaked makeup.
“Thank you.” She says quietly.
“I don’t like it when my makeup smears either.” I answer.
“No.” She rests her head in the hand wiping her face, “Thank you for coming for me.”
“Always.” I say. I reach up with my other hand to wipe some hair away from her face. “I happen to really like you, you know?”
She looks into my eyes, then nods. “Yeah, I think I do.”
The clearing of a throat behind me pulls our attention up to Damien. “We should leave, we don’t know who else might show up.”
I nod. I help Rose up and she leans heavily on me. We make our way out of the room, and her gaze stays on the dome of earth in the middle of the hallway.
“What happened?” She asks.
“Death.” I answer.
She looks at me puzzledly as I guide her past the rock and to the elevator.
I don’t want to make her walk down the stairs.
Her gaze finally lands on Damien, who gives a small wave. “We haven’t met, what’s your name?”
“I’m Damien. A friend of Blake’s, and maybe Elena’s?”
“Of course you are.” I say.
The elevator dings down to the first level, and I prepare my defensive spells.
The two receptionists stare at us as we walk out. All of us are covered in blood, and Rose is still leaning on me heavily.
I wave to them. “We worked things out with Doss. He should be contacting you soon.”
They don’t respond, but continue to stare as we make our way out the automatic doors of the exit.
“What happened to Doss?” Rose asks as we make our way to the car. I guid her into the back seat, then sit next to her.
“He’s dead.” I say, my gaze turning back to the feeling. “Where should we take you Rose?”
“Can I come to your house? I need you.” Rose seems to realize what she said a second later and looks away from my gaze.
I reach up and start running my hand through her hair. “Of course you can. What about your dad?”
“I’ll call him when we get there.” She mumbles, her eyes closing as she leans into me. Her breathing evens out after a few moments and I suspect that she fell asleep.
“Do you still need to visit your cousin?” I ask Damien.
“I don’t think I will. It’s late. Can you take me home after you drop them off?” He asks Blake.
Blake nods, his gaze staying on the road.
Damien pauses, his eyes looking at the dashboard in front of him. “Elena?”
“Yeah?”
“I know this sounds a little weird, but can I have your phone number? After all we’ve been through… it just feels weird not having it.” He rubs the back of his neck, his eyes downward.
“Sure.” I say. I hold my hand out, and he gives me his phone.
I type in my number, and he texts me.
Then we are left in silence again.
I look down, noticing that Rose is still wearing the bracelet I’d given her.
I nuzzle her hair with my nose, and she snuggles in closer.
“Sweet dreams.” I whisper.
I close my eyes.
