Oki ran as fast as her legs would allow, as she tried to return to the others. Completely out of breath, she collapsed on her knees as she regained composure. One of Oki’s old coworkers saw her and ran to her aid. “Are you alright?"

  Still breathing hard, Oki replied. “Get Sky... I need to speak with Sky.”

  The old coworker nodded her head then quickly dashed in the direction where everyone else was located. Within a few minutes, Sky and Kahree along with a few others surrounded their worn-out friend. “Oki, what’s wrong? What happened?”

  Finishing her cups of water, Oki said. “It’s Ro... Rogelio. I think he’s planning on killing the queens. They’re coming to Freeland to meet with the KFM.”

  Kahree and Sky looked at one another. Kahree chuckled before saying, “Good! Let those assholes take each other out. Less work we have to do...”

  “No! You don’t understand. Jordy’s in danger.” Oki turned and looked directly at Sky. “If you care about saving your baby-daddy, now would be the time. According to an old friend of mine, Ro wanted all the staff out half an hour ago. Which is unheard of especially when it's one of their special meetings.”

  Sky looked at Kahree once more before looking at Oki again. “I’m sorry. I’m not following you. How is Jordy in danger?”

  Oki shook her head. "Rogelio believes Jordy turned against them after learning about your relationship with him. My old friend said she saw Ro’s men dragging Jordy down to the cellar in the basement. Sky, she mentioned Jordy was pretty beat up. Whatever it is, I wouldn’t wait for too long to find out.”

  “Down in the cellar, in the basement. Got it. I’ve been down there a few times; I know exactly where that is.”

  “Wait before you go, there’s a small hatch somewhere in there that leads to the underground reservoirs. That might be your only way to get out unseen. Oki stated as a matter of fact. “Go!”

  Racing against time, Sky blasted more fire from her hands as she flew through the day sky. Going through the portal back to Freeland wasn’t going to take long. It was getting back to Freeland that was going... Come on, come on. She said as she shot through the clouds. Curving upward towards the sun, Sky turned off the fire that rocketed from her hands. It allowed her to stay idled in the air for a few seconds before gravity started to take effect. Spotting LaGon’s Tavern from above, Sky dived headfirst towards the city. Without missing a beat, the Child of Fire blasted her way through the front entrance of the tavern, straight downstairs to the basement where the LaGons stored their ale. There she found Jordy chained to a wooden beam that was a part of the bar’s foundation. He was grunting loudly as he pulled as hard as he could to break the chain. He had visible scrapes and bruises all over his face and body. Jordy’s cheeks were super swollen, and one eye was beaten shut. That didn’t stop him from trying to escape...

  The building began to rumble and shake. Jordy looked up towards the wooden ceiling and began to panic. Trickles of dust fell to the sand floor near his feet. Jordy knew in his gut the rumble was not from something good. In a blink of an eye, Sky came running down the hallway through the only entrance to the cellar. “Sky! What are you doing here? You have to run; I think the building is coming down!”

  The Child of Fire didn’t respond. She simply spun around and faced the hallway from where she came. A huge wave of fire engulfed the entrance way, coming at a speed too fast for the naked eye. Not for Sky, however... Swinging her arms in large circles, she ended her move with a large clap stopping the wave before it came through the door. The flames swirled within itself as it waited patiently to complete its task. Slowly, the building began to vibrate, making more chunks of the ceiling fall. Jordy’s jaw dropped while his one good eye widened. He was in complete and utter shock. Standing as still as the flames as Jordy watched Sky quickly turn around and began searching the floor. Her eyes were bright orange... The same color as the fire near them. The same color as he remembered in his dreams. Everything in that moment moved in slow motion for Jordy as he tried to process what he was seeing. Sky, however, did not have time for that. “Oki told me there’s a hatch door somewhere on the ground that leads to the underground water line. You have to help me find it. I won’t be able to stop the building from coming down!” Jordy took a big gulp as he watched the woman, he loved melt the chains that held him captive. He didn’t know what to do... A piece of concrete ceiling nearly fell right beside him making Sky scream his name one more time. “Jordy!”

  “Over here...” Snapping back to reality, Jordy ran to the adjacent corner then moved some boxes. There was a small wooden hatch door that was free of sand that covered the rest of the floor. Sky ran over and shot a fire ball from her hands. Blowing the hatch door into pieces, Sky quickly grabbed Jordy’s hand towards their only way out.

  “If we don’t leave now, we’re both going to die...” Sky said as they saw larger pieces of the ceiling fall to the ground. The pressure of the fire began to build more intensely for such power was not meant to be confined. The Child of Fire didn’t just stop the blast from hitting them but stopped every explosion and kept the fire in place from whence it started. The tavern shook violently as its bones began to collapse upon itself. The two made it down to the main water line sewer tunnel just in time.

  Once they reached the bottom, Sky and Jordy quickly ran for they knew the rest of the building was not too far behind. Collapsing the water line tunnel completely on one side, they only had one choice to go South. There was a long silence between the two only allowing the echoes of their wet footsteps to be heard as they walked. Long gray pipes and sewer lines framed the inside of the circular tunnel. These lines went all throughout the town supplying businesses with clean water that was pumped from underground water reservoirs.

  Sky knew now for sure there was no going back. This wasn’t the way she wanted to tell him; however, she couldn’t let him die either. The silence between them was deafening. She knew he probably had a thousand-in-one thoughts going through his mind at the moment. Until Jordy said, “This whole fucking time, the bastard was right. You know he had me beaten and chained in the basement all because I didn’t believe him. He’s planning an escape and one of his main methods is tying up what he considers loose ends." Sky again didn’t respond but instead kept her pace walking ahead of him. She could feel the man she loved frustrations. “He wasn’t right about you using me though, right?” He lunged towards Sky and grabbed her arm. “Answer me!”

  Since the whole cat is out of the bag, so to speak, she might as well let it all come out. Sky huffed before stopping and turning around. Looking Jordy in the eyes, she said, “Yes! At first, I was using you. That’s the truth... I was sent here by the Star Counsel to free the captured Star Children and our Ancient Arkaminus that your family kidnapped. Yes, I am an Angel of Death. My real name is Sakiya, the Child of Fire. Those queens you all so graciously work for, sent me here to kill you. Not to fall in love with you... That I was never going to tell you, but it hurts me so much not being with you and…” Stopping abruptly, Sky realized she may have said too much. So many thoughts had been circulating in her head that she wasn’t sure what to say.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Jordy remained silent for a moment then exhaled deeply. “I knew you were someone special... I can feel it every time I am with you.” He took his hands and wiped his face. “That means you killed my brother. After he killed your sister. Sky...”

  Sky took her hand and softly touched Jordy’s bruised face. “Hey, it’s going to be ok. We’ll get through this together.” Moving her hand down to his, Sky slid her fingers between his. Jordy leaned down and put his forehead against hers. Together they closed their eyes in acceptance of their circumstances. “There’s something else I need to tell you, and this might be the only time to do so. I’m with child…”

  One day ago...

  “Sir, we intercepted an incoming correspondence from the Star Counsel. It states they will be arriving at Freeland tomorrow afternoon.” Rogelio’s messenger stood nearby as his leader read the message.

  “When did this come through?” He asked while searching for those details.

  “Sir, the message was for Fuego. Since his home was destroyed, some of his correspondents have come here. There were a few messages sent back and forth between Fuego and the queens. Did you want me to send a respond back, sir?”

  “No! No, there will be no need for that. I was expecting Fuego to attend tomorrow’s meeting, but I didn’t know the queens were blessing us with their presence as well. Send word to the staff to prepare everything as usual for tomorrow’s KFM gathering. Make sure everyone is nice and comfortable, too. Almost like a last supper...” Rogelio gave his messenger a big smile before turning around and dashing to his office. He then quickly started emptying out his safes and every drawer that held important documents. The rebel leader knew what was coming.

  A few moments later, Rogelio’s only son slowly limped through the door and closed it behind him. “Pa, what’s going on?” Ishmael immediately noticed the mountain of mess that his father made in a short period of time.

  “Fuego... He’s bringing the queen bitches here tomorrow afternoon.” Rogelio stood up to his feet then slammed his fist on top of his desk. “That fucker thinks he can make us the loose ends? Well, they’ll have another thing coming.”

  Ishmael stared at his father hard and long before replying. He was genuinely worried he bit off more than he could chew. Ishmael knew his father was a strong, proud man but in these moments, Rogelio couldn’t be trusted. “Pa, what you are saying?”

  Rogelio stopped what he was doing and gave his son a blank stare. “What else do you think they’re coming here to do, boy? To fucking kill us! Fuego turned his back on us a long time ago. He and the queens fed us bullshit until Phobos told Alex the truth. This was all by design somehow and I’m tired of being in the fucking middle. None of this would have happened if the KFM hadn’t agreed to work with those bitches in the first place. So, we’re jumping ship.” The rebel leader dashed around his desk and grabbed his son's arms. “Take Molly and go straight to Sphinx... We’ll start over after this shit blows over. We have a new weapon design, and our smuggling lines are still open. We’ll simply rebuild a new Freeland somewhere else.”

  Again, Ishmael was a little taken back. There was something else going on that he couldn’t quite put his finger on yet. “What about the rest of the business owners here that haven’t left. I know after that incident a few days ago in Townsquare scared a lot of them off, but we’re still strong in numbers. We cannot just leave them like that.”

  “And we’ll come back from them, I promise. For now, we need to only focus on us and make sure the LaGons survive. The ones who are loyal to us will follow. Unlike Windermere and Trayvis’s people who left as soon as they were gone. Pierre’s businesses dried up too after his people found out he was dead. Starting over is the best thing for us right now.” Rogelio gave his son a sinister grin. He didn’t look so well at the moment. His peppered hair was frazzled and messy. There was a small black ring around his eyes like he hadn’t slept in a few days. Ishmael was right to question his sanity...

  Rogelio ran back behind his desk and finished placing his important documents in a thick black briefcase. He put different currencies, passports, ID cards, certificates, and pictures in the case. Ishmael couldn’t help but just stand there and watch. Then the idea came to his mind, and it sent a shiver down his spine. “You’re not going to meet Fuego and the queens tomorrow, are you? Pa, tell me! What are you planning to do?"

  Instead of answering right away, Ishmael’s father just gently guided him to the door and escorted him out. “Just do as I say and get out of here by tonight. Do not return to this tavern by any means necessary. Do I make myself clear?”

  Ishmael tried to stop his father from shutting the door completely behind him. “Pa! You cannot do this alone. We can leave together tonight. I’ll grab Molly and Jordy and...”

  Rogelio put his hand up, interrupting his son’s protest. “Go, now. Get Molly and get to Sphinx by tonight. I’ll get Jordy, don’t worry.”

  The next day came and went. Rogelio’s men prepared for the feast as they waited for their guests to arrive. Fuego was the first to arrive, of course. He wanted to make sure everything was perfect for his special guests. Not knowing how the KFM leader would react, Fuego felt in his gut it was best to not tell Rogelio the queens were coming. Little did he know that was no longer news to the rebel leader. The tavern was closed for the night to outside customers as tables were rearranged and pushed together to form a circle. Extra cooks and servants were employed to get everything set up early.

  For the first time, Fuego was actually impressed by the efforts Rogelio made to make his tavern look nice. The decorations were new and elegant. The servants had everything prepared early in advance, and the lighting was slightly dimmed to fit the evening light. One of Fuego’s servants approached him from behind to let him know the queens have arrived at the front gate.

  Only five queens showed up for the long-expected gathering, and it wasn’t the five Fuego was hoping for. “Mother-queen was not coming to our meeting tonight?” He asked while escorting the others inside.

  “No, she will not. Our Mother-queen has other business to attend at the moment.” The short woman extended her hand gracefully as she waited for Fuego to take it. She was older than the other queens in attendance, and obviously not the nice one. “We will be delivering tonight’s message to the KFM, what future we believe you all have.”

  Fuego slowly down his pace when he heard the last comment. “Future? My queen, I thought we had already come to an agreement. Our future depends on the deal we negotiated months ago.”

  The short, prestigiously dressed queen scuffed at Fuego’s comment. “Yes, and that was before you all fucked everything up. The Highest-One Arkaminus is still alive as well as the Angels. They succeeded where obviously you could not. After tonight my young man, there will be no more KFM. Us queens will have to find another way to complete our need for a ‘clean slate’. Where is Rogelio LaGon anyway?”

  Fuego was flabbergasted. Rage began to build inside him so quickly that he wanted to explode. He did his part in ensuring the KFM was going to come out of this wealthy. It was the rest of the members who failed. Fuego politely stood up and excused himself from the table so he could search for his partner-in-crime. “Where are you, son of a bitch!” Fuego stormed through the bar then through the back office, and Rogelio was nowhere to be found. This threw Fuego off a bit because he knew Rogelio never missed a gathering with the KFM, let alone a chance to make a speech. But nothing... Not Rogelio or any of his men were present in the tavern.

  As Fuego returned to his special guests, he heard a strange sound coming from the walls. Normally, he would have shrugged it off because it’s an old bar, however this noise sounded a bit different. The uneasy feeling stirred hard inside his stomach as he sat down at the head of the table. It didn’t truly hit him what was about to happen until Fuego and others saw Sky blast through the front entrance, through the building and straight down to the basement. It all happened so fast; he didn’t have time to register what had just occurred. The queens were shocked and confused then started to complain about the sudden disturbance. Food, plates, and napkins flew everywhere around the tables when Sky burst through the doors. She didn’t care... Sky knew she didn’t have that much time left. Seeing the Child of Fire burst show up unexpectedly like that made Fuego think for sure that would bring Rogelio out. No, again. Then it hit him... The feeling that had been stirring in his gut finally showed its ugly face. Fuego wasn’t as smart as he thought he was. Slowly standing up to his feet, Fuego realized what was about to happen. “Oh shit! He wouldn’t...”

  BOOM!