Silent Hatred

Onyx prowled into the boss's office with very little patience and even less sleep. Tariel Ingerina, his job and revenge, had found a way to escape through the underground tunnels and outsmart him and his companions. Rukr couldn't even figure out how he escaped when there was no possible way out except through the house's doors. When they searched all the passageways and tunnels, there wasn't a hint of where they might have gone. So, naturally, Onyx was exhausted with lack of sleep and pissed off beyond anyone's comprehension.

"If you're summoning me for small talk, then you in for a fight," Onyx hissed and tried to keep his hands from shaking, the need to hurt someone almost overwhelming. "I've got an asshole to find and don't have time for worthless shit talk."

The boss smiled and sat back in his creaky chair. "Then let me get straight to the point. Ecthrois reported that you're not doing your job properly."

"What are you talking about?"

"Phoenix," he stated coldly. Onyx narrowed his eyes at him, thoughts racing. The boss said, "It seems you're spending a lot of time with the girl and seemed to be protecting her from her own stupidity. Not only that, but letting your mouth run free."

"You told me to get close, how do you expect me to do that if I don't spend time with her?"

"You were comforting her!" the boss shouted. Onyx stiffened and knew his mistake immediately. "Get close, yes. Talk, yes. Comfort the enemy, no!"

"And how exactly is she an enemy?" Onyx asked in a deathly tone.

The boss looked at him carefully, gaging his mood and calculating his actions. After a moment, he sighed. "Your father."

At this simple statement, Onyx felt his blood boil with silent hatred for the man in front of him. "What about my father? What do they have in common?"

"The girl, who was at the age of five at the time, convinced your father somehow to let her go." The boss looked at Onyx with sad eyes. "We don't know how, and we might never know, but children are all the same. Manipulative little brutes! She used some kind of magic on him and turned him against us. Tariel hadn't known, but was still out of line when he punished your father. He never got permission, and you know how I hate those kinds of people."

Onyx thought for a moment about Phoenix and what the boss claimed. It was true that Phoenix could be convincing when she wants to be, but magic? There was no possible way she had magic. Unless, of course, she got it from someone on Ethereal. But she had enough wits and strength that magic wasn't something he could see the woman considering—even at a young age. But then, she was different from back then. He could see it in her body and mind. She had been innocent once, but now she had blood on her hands, she had done and seen too much to be considered innocent. Onyx wondered the extent of her corruption, and how she might have managed some people.

"You can't trust her, Onyx. She won't bring you any happiness. If she knew who you were, she'd kill you. If she found out your true intentions, she'd snap and backfire in your face," the boss warned.

He was probably right, but Onyx knew she'd listen to an extent, and later regret killing him, no matter how bad he'd hurt her. "If you weren't there at the scene of the crime, then how do you know she had magic?"

"Because, it is the only explanation for how she had disappeared for twenty years. She has been gone without a trace, like she had disappeared off the face of the earth. No body can do that. Every one leaves a trail. She did not."

Right again. If Onyx knew anything, people always left a trace to lead to where they hide. IF the boss and his allies couldn't find him, then something bad must have happened. His father…being used for someone's escape…it just wasn't right. Onyx's mind swirled with everything torturous he could do to her. One popped up and he silently reveled in it's sweet embrace. "Give me until tomorrow night. I have a plan."

There was a knock on the door and the boss invited them in. Onyx turned and saw Advandth looking at him with a worried expression. "What is it, woman?" the boss snapped.

She looked at him and bit her lip. "We need to borrow Onyx for a while."

"Why?"

Advandth looked up at Onyx who was silent, looking scarily calm for some reason. "We think we might have found someone."

"Who?" The boss's sharp tone made her flinch.

"Tariel."

This made Onyx snap out of his trance and look at her again. "You did?"

She nodded. "He's, um, heading toward someone's house."

Onyx turned to the boss and pointed at him. "Have someone make a cage with electrical wires running along the bars. Then, be ready." He grabbed Advandth's hand and pulled her out of the office, down to the first level, and outside.

"Onyx wait!" she gasped.

He looked at her, but didn't stop. "What is it, Advandth?"

"I have information!"

He stopped now and turned to her, letting her go so he could cross his arms. "Information? So, Tariel hasn't been sighted?"

She fidgeted nervously. "He has, but you sent Hex to find information on Phoenix. He found some, or at least, someone like her."

"What do you mean, someone like her?" Onyx was now confused with her words, with what she was trying to say.

"Well, he found information on the girl that matched your description, and information on the woman we all call Phoenix." She looked away, suddenly very interested in the person's home behind him. "Phoenix, isn't exactly a good person."

"I know. What about it?"

"All those jobs the boss sent you on that were never completed because they were already dead…"

"It was her," he finished. She nodded. "And the girl? Any details?"

Advandth winced. "Her family were your mother's friends."

Onyx went still, processing the information. "My mother's?" she nodded. "Who was my mother?"

"Her name was Nysalis and she cared for Phoenix's family, even knew Phoenix herself before she died."

"How did she die?"

"I don't know." Slowly, Advandth looked up at Onyx and shook her head. "I talked to your father and—"

"You talked to my father?" Onyx hissed and looked around for any spies. He pulled her into an abandoned building and pushed her up against the wall, his hands holding her shoulders. "Why the hell did you do that?"

"Because he was also close to them. Because he was there when Phoenix's family was murdered. I thought he'd know some answers to some unanswered questions."

"Like?" She bit her lip, not answering. "Advandth!" he hissed.

"Like what really happened that day." Before she could continue, a form appeared in the door way, eyes glinting in the dark.

Onyx straightened and looked at him, grinning smugly. "Tariel! Long time no see. Tell me, how did you manage to escape?"

He grinned back, licking his lips. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Onyx!" Advandth hissed.

But he ignored her. "And yet you came back for another fight, didn't you?"

"There was no fight. I came for a fight to finish my raging blood."

Another figure appeared behind Tariel and rose a club, hitting the man and knocking him out. Onyx crossed his arms and watched Devdan and Ecthrois tie him up. When they were finished, they came up to Onyx and Advandth. Before anyone could speak though, Onyx punched Ecthrois in the jaw. Advandth gasped as Devdan got in between. "What the hell is going on?"

Ecthrois pushed Devdan away gently, coughing blood. "No. He has every right."

"Damn you, Ecthrois!" Onyx roared. "What the fuck were you thinking?"

"About you! I was thinking of you, man!" he hissed and stumbled back to the opposite wall to lean against it. "He threatened not only you and your father, but the rest of us. He threatened everyone he thought you cared about."

"Why the hell would he do that?" Onyx growled.

"He said he doesn't need you. He said you are too weak."

Onyx couldn't contain his anger. He couldn't contain himself anymore. He needed a way out. He needed to do something…anything. He needed revenge. Walking out of the building, he shouted back to everyone, "Keep Tariel here. Get the Ironshade house ready. I'll be back in an hour or so!"