Kail pov
The command hung in the air, a death knell for my already strained patience. "Two days," Andre proclaimed, his voice a gravelly decree. "The attack commences in two days. We move then."
Two days. A lifetime, an eternity, a mere blink of an eye. Two days that would steal me from the strange, unsettling pull that had taken root in my being. Two days since I'd last seen them, Nyara and Iyla. Just a fleeting glimpse, a silent observation from the shadows, but it had become a necessity, a desperate craving.
A foreign restlessness clawed at my insides. The sight of their laughter, the gentle strength in Nyara's eyes, the warmth of Iyla's presence… it stirred something primal within me, something possessive and unsettling. Mine. They felt like mine. The thought, so alien, so unlike my carefully constructed persona, sent a chill through me.
I shoved the feeling down, a dark, unwelcome intruder. These… emotions, this obsessive pull, were a weakness. A vulnerability I couldn't afford. A dangerous indulgence I would bury deep, beneath layers of ice and steel.
Maya, my mother, approached, her eyes filled with a soft, searching concern. "Kail," she began, her voice a gentle caress. "You seem… distracted. Are you alright?"
Zoey, ever perceptive, stood beside her, her gaze questioning. "You've been distant, Kai," she added, her brow furrowed. "Is something wrong?"
"I'm fine," I lied, my voice clipped, devoid of emotion. "Just… focused."
Andre's voice boomed across the room, shattering the fragile pretense. "I've arranged marriages for all three of you," he announced, his tone brooking no argument. "Suitable wives, from respected families."
Isasc and Shaun, ever the dutiful sons, nodded their agreement. I stared at him, my jaw clenched tight. "I don't need a wife," I stated, my voice flat, devoid of inflection. "I don't need you to arrange anything."
"It's an order," he roared, his face flushed with anger. "I've signed the agreement. She comes from a good family, Central family. You will marry her."
"I won't marry some stranger," I snarled, my carefully constructed control fracturing. "Someone I don't know, someone I can't give a damn about."
The rage, a cold, black fury, surged within me. I drew my gun, the familiar weight a comfort against the storm raging within. The cold steel felt like a part of me. "You can't force me," I growled, the words a low, dangerous threat.
Maya gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. Zoey's eyes widened, a flicker of fear and shock in their depths. Isasc and Shaun, ever the enforcers, drew their own weapons, their barrels pointed at me. "Snap out of it, Kail!" Isasc yelled, his voice strained. "Lower your gun!"
Andre, however, remained unmoved. His gaze, cold and hard, met mine, unwavering. "Drop the gun, boy," he commanded, his voice steady, a challenge.
The anger, the raw, burning rage, threatened to consume me. But something, a flicker of… something, held me back. I lowered the gun, the click of the safety a sharp, echoing sound in the tense silence.
"I'll be the killer you need," I said, my voice low and dangerous, a promise and a threat. "But don't try to force me into a meaningless marriage. Cancel the agreement. Because if you force me, it won't just be her who gets a bullet in her head."
I turned and walked away, ignoring Maya's desperate calls, the frantic pleas echoing in my ears. I needed to escape, to flee the suffocating presence of my family, to outrun the darkness that threatened to consume me. I needed to see them. Nyara and Iyla. Just to see them. Just to confirm they were real, not some phantom conjured by my own fractured mind.