Page 95 of Dead Wrong

Azrael’s ear twitched, and he didn’t look at me when he answered, “Since I almost killed her a few years back now.”

I stopped in my tracks, and he slowed his pace, finally turning to look at me. “I wanted to wait till we had some food before I dove into everything, but I guess we can talk on the way? I’ll have to start at the beginning, or it won’t make any sense.”

“Keep talking,” I said, restarting my stride.

“When your mother banished me from the chateau, she had one of the mortal butlers drive me into the city. He was a nice man. Bertrand, I think, was his name. He gave me what little money he had on him and dropped me off in the safest place he could find. Before he left, he offered a warning, saying that the madame had ordered her guard to seize me should I try and return home and that my Papa would suffer the consequences if I tried.

“I had never been to the city before, but Papa always told me that we’d go one day. For the briefest moment, I was sort of excited, surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the Magi City. But reality quickly began to set in as I realized I had nothing but the shirt on my back, which inadvertently also had a target. Adored gave me baleful stares as I walked down the sidewalk, just trying to get my bearings. And the mortals just ignored me. Funny, I didn’t even have to use magic to be invisible to them. I nearly got run over a few times before I realized how traffic worked, but all in all, by the time night was approaching, I had found myself alone in a dark alleyway, bawling my eyes out and wishing I was home.

“It took a few days for me to work through what little I had. By the end of my first week on the street, my hunger had reached a ravenous state, and I felt more beast than man with each passing hour. It was there that Kaine and the others took me in. A group of fellow urchins, they had found themselves in similar situations and had banded together to survive in the Magi City. They taught me what I needed to know to survive, the best places to steal food, where to bed down come winter so you won’t freeze to death, and on and on.

“By the time we’d grown into adolescents, we’d mastered the art of urban survival. It was then that Rudderkin showed up. This grizzled old man with grey fur and fangs that never quite receded. He caught one of us trying to pickpocket on the corner and convinced them to bring him back to our hideout. He sold us on a tale of comforts that none of us had known in years if we channeled our talents. He told us he was looking for soldiers. Those who could turn the tide of the Unseen struggle. Rudderkin spoke with such passion nearly half of our group agreed on the spot. The rest of us were reluctant, but rather than split up the family that we’d worked so hard to hold together, we ended up accepting his offer.

“The training was intense. In those days of the Rebellion, Rudderkin had earned a reputation for his swift and brutal tactics. He educated us in those ways. I excelled in the training, quickly outpacing the others. Kaine and I rose to the top of the recruits in a manner of a few months, besting others twice our age. Rudderkin pushed us to be ruthless, but we never quite agreed to the level of violence that he demanded from us. He said that the path to peace for our kind would be paved in blood, but Kaine and I had other ideas, and our fellow recruits began to look to the two of us for guidance.

“When the time came for us to graduate to soldiers, Rudderkin came to me privately, asking if he could discuss a topic of discretion. He told me that there was no place for someone with my beliefs on the front lines but that me and the other Urchins, as we’d grown to be known, would be better suited for another task. So, he formed us into his own personal strike force. For ten years, me and the Urchins carried out his orders. Kidnappings, assassinations, covert reconnaissance, you name it. He gave his expectations in the form of orders, but I quickly began to push back in my decisions as leader. Rudderkin was growing more bloodthirsty the longer the conflict went on. Strategic maneuvers became acts of revenge, and both sides saw their casualties skyrocket.

“That’s where Lynette entered the picture. The Urchins were given the order to eliminate a target. We were told it was a member of Adoranda Greene’s staff and that it would sow disruption into the Adored’s military actions, allowing a long enough break in the fighting for the Rebellion to catch their breath. But once we arrived on site, the orders were clarified. We were there to kill Lynette, the heir-apparent to Adoranda’s seat on the Council. I refused the orders, telling Rudderkin that this would only fan the flames of Adoranda’s ire, that it would lead us head-first into more bloodshed. He argued that the Greene family was the catalyst for the entire affront against the Unseen population, and as long as they drew breath, the Unseen would never know peace. We had to end their line of succession to ensure the freedom of our people.

“It was a hard argument to ignore. How much blood did I have on my hands, all because of your mother’s crusade? I’d been fighting for over ten years, Tobias. And this was a way out. A way to end the suffering. The price would be a single life, and for once, I decided that the price was worth the outcome.

“I told the Urchins that I would go in alone. They each had their tasks on ensuring my extraction once the job was done, but I was the fastest, and I’d grown up alongside you and your sister. I had been touched by your magic before and would know if she were about to dominate my will.

“We waited for them to leave the chateau—some diplomatic trip to an outlying Magi City where they had to squeeze the local Adored to align with your mother’s latest political leanings. When the time finally arrived, I snuck into Lynette’s quarters late in the evening, ready to accomplish the mission. I wasn’t expecting her to be awake at that hour, and in my haste, I was spotted. It took her only a moment of touch with her magic to recognize me. I braced myself to resist her control, but instead, she merely greeted me by name, pulling me into an embrace as she told me how happy she was that I was still alive. I was speechless, waiting for the ruse to end and for her to defend herself. But that moment never came. Seeing the way I appeared to her, Lynette merely nodded, telling me that she understood what I was there to do. She told me that she knew that someone would come for her eventually and that she wished for a peaceful way to end the conflict, and if her death was the best option to avoid further violence, she’d give herself up willingly.

“I was floored by her reaction. Lynette and I never had the kinship that you and I shared, but she was always kind to me back at the chateau. It was bizarre seeing how much of that kindness survived a life alongside Adoranda. I would have thought it all wrung out by then. She turned her back to me, saying that she didn’t blame me for my task and that she hoped she would be the last life I would have to take in the name of peace. Once again, I defied my orders and told her that I wasn’t going to kill her, but maybe her being alive was the best path forward. After all, she was the next in line to power. If she was an ally to the cause, then there was no reason for her to die. We merely had to speed up her ascension to end the conflict.

“We talked into the night, discussing ways that she could begin to work from within on pushing the conflict toward a peaceful resolution. She explained that her mother would never heed her counsel, but perhaps there were others she could recruit to help apply pressure at the right moments. Negotiations would be our path forward, and all we needed was a plan to get them to the table.

“When I returned to Rudderkin empty-handed, he was less than pleased. In front of the other Urchins, he condemned me as a traitor. I explained to him, as I had to my brothers, that Lynette would be the lynchpin to a peaceful resolution, but that only angered him further, as he had devolved past the mindset of any outcome that wasn’t total annihilation.”

He paused there, and I realized we had stopped in front of a vendor’s stall, the smell of smoke and charred food hitting my nose, making my stomach growl.

Azrael held his story long enough to order us some food, handing me two skewers with chunks of potato and vegetables roasted with a dark glaze. The smell was heavenly, and we found a spot to settle in around the corner so he could continue.

“Rudderkin was beyond reason at that point. He ordered that I go back and bring him Lynette’s head, but I refused. It was then that he attacked me. Rudderkin was rusty in his advanced years, so it wasn’t difficult to overpower him. The Urchins restrained him after that as we began to argue over what happened next. Kaine was especially upset with me for how things had turned out, and the conversation quickly became heated. Before it came to blows, Rudderkin snapped and broke free of his restraints, lunging at me with the intent to kill. Kaine pushed me out of the way, taking the blow and crumpling to the floor.

“So, I did what Rudderkin trained me to do. I neutralized the threat. It was only once my claws tore a hole through his chest that I realized what I had done. Rudderkin was dying, right there in my arms. The man I had looked up to as a father, and I’d ended his life. He seemed calm in those last few moments. No longer clouded by hate like the months leading up to that point. He told me that he’d always known I was the only one who could pick up his mantle for our people and that if I thought peace could be reached, I’d better be damn sure.”

Azrael paused, taking another slow bite.

“Kaine barely survived the wound, and the other Urchins were the only ones who knew what happened to our leader. After we talked things through, they agreed that I should continue on and become the new ‘Rudderkin’ to lead the Rebellion. So, I took up the mantle as agreed. Once our contact with Lynette was established, it didn’t take long for the others to get on board with the new mission—peaceful resolution.”

“But Mother would never allow it,” I surmised, polishing off my second skewer.

He shook his head, exhaling. “It became apparent quickly after I took over. Adoranda wanted nothing more than the erasure of my people. We wouldn’t stand a chance as long as she held the reins. Maybe Rudderkin was right. Some problems can only be solved with blood.”

We sat in silence for a moment, mulling over his conclusion. A crackling noise broke my concentration, and Azrael pulled out a small device, turning a knob on top till a voice spoke.

“Azrael, acknowledge.”

“Acknowledged,” Azrael responded, holding a button on the side of the device. “Speak freely.”

“Our scouts have reported seeing Lynette Green enter the Magi City unaccompanied. She was due to arrive in Paradise nearly half an hour ago, and all attempts to reach her have failed. Her party just showed up without the fuzziest idea how they got here.”

Azrael swore under his breath. “Acknowledged. Contact the Urchins and tell them to meet outside of the community hall in ten.”

“Acknowledged.”

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