4. Chapter 4
Josiah
The Council members all stared questioningly at me. I wasn’t even sure where to start. The entire situation was nothing less than an unplanned stroke of luck. I was still baffled that whatever had happened with my bond with Camille, hadn't actually killed me.
“So… I made it back! Surprise!” I exclaimed, trying to make light of the situation.
“It appears so,” Jeriko said flatly.
I suddenly had a thought about my extended immersion with humans. Being around them for so long really made my kind seem so cold and detached. I found myself mildly irritated with his disassociated tone.
“You’ve caused quite the conundrum for all of us, as of late, Brother,” Jairen chastised, as his black depthless eyes held mine.
“It’s not like I could have stopped this from happening,” I argued, bemused at the accusation.
“Carelessness was definitely at play here,” Jayce scolded as well.
This was going better than I had originally envisioned, but I was also a bit baffled that I was getting a lecture and blamed for being inhabited—like it was my fault. I blew out a frustrated breath as I looked at all of them.
“Listen, I don’t have a lot of time here. She doesn’t know I’m not him,” I tried to explain.
“We do not understand what you mean by this,” Jorel said, confusion clearly etched on his face.
I raked my hand through my short hair, slightly agitated with the time constraint I knew I was working with. I didn't have time for the fifty questions or the sudden interrogation.
“First, is Camille alive?" I asked in a panicked tone. "And where is the Council leader?”
“She is, and that is not to be disclosed at the moment. You may no longer be a host of a Gilarian, but I would say under the circumstances, it would be unwise to divulge that information to you,” Jayce admitted.
“Thank the Gods. And fair enough… that’s all I really needed to know. I think it is obvious that I should no longer be alive. I think the Gilarian infecting me… might have… saved my life,” I mused.
“How did you come to be here?” Jeriko inquired, undoubtedly suspicious of the entire situation.
“I can rift still,” I stated and then realized they probably didn't know what that was. "Or teleport… I guess."
“Fascinating,” Jairen said perplexed. “This is very intriguing news. Surely we could use this to our advantage, Brothers.”
They all looked back and forth between each other, nodding their heads in agreement. Jairen wasn't wrong, this could be used to our advantage.
“Get this information out to whoever you feel needs to know. I have to go before she suspects anything. Consider me a double agent for now. I may be able to come by more information,” I said quickly.
“Also, look into someone called Kyril. He’s important to the takeover of Earth somehow.
I haven't met him yet, but he's supposedly coming at some point.”
I didn’t wait for a response. I rifted back to my office and hoped I could be of some help to the cause.
My office was empty, just as I had left it.
It was time for me to start throwing a wrench in Athia’s plans.
If I could just stall what was coming, maybe Camille could help me stop Athia from accomplishing her agenda.
I might be able to be of some use, even after all of the damage I had caused.
I grinned at the news of Camille still being alive. Maybe… there was still hope after all.
I strolled down the hall, sauntering toward the training facility.
Athia wanted all of the current men that protected the building to be better trained.
After the run in with Camille and Jade, she realized that she had become far too lax with our situation at The Authority.
She said that even though the bodies weren’t ideal for the other Gilarian that were still in stasis, beefing them all up would make them more useful to Kyril.
She had yet to tell me much about him. Akuma was clearly not one of the top ranks previously, but it was who she got stuck with.
He got lucky that he took me over by surprise because there was no way he could have accomplished his hostile takeover of me had he not.
The Council was right about one thing, I had been distracted.
Camille had captivated me to the point of senselessness, and the circumstances up until this point definitely proved that.
Akuma had access to all of my techniques and abilities, but he didn’t have any experience with how to use them.
I had to be really careful in the training room because though he could use my knowledge, he had been sloppy and uncoordinated at his best. I would have to train myself on my own time, behind closed doors to keep up with my own preparations.
I threw open the door to the large room where all of the men stood stiffly.
It was a daily occurrence that I found them all standing there, looking lost without instruction.
Of all of the men left, not one had worthy militaristic skills.
I never truly understood how no one had overthrown Roman before I came into the picture.
“Last I checked, I am not a necessary proponent for you to get started with your training,” I barked loudly, trying to sound annoyed.
Athia strode in behind me, her black pumps clicked on the tile as she moved toward me. I looked backward and her face remained empty as she acknowledged me with a quick nod of her head. She looked happier than usual considering her permanent resting bitch face.
“I talked to a few of the heads about the meeting. It’s going to get pushed back a few weeks because of some disagreements amongst them. It will give you more time to get our meat sacks ready for our brethren,” she gushed.
“What kind of disagreement? I thought you said everything was situated,” I said, raising my eyebrow at her.
“These human leaders are so indecisive. They think they’re actually going to accomplish something with this meeting, but really, I’m just going to release enough of our kind to take them all over,” she laughed. “No matter. Chaos will reign sooner or later.”
I stifled a gasp and barely choked out, “That’s brilliant.”
“I am, aren’t I?” She acknowledged the comment in praise of herself, too arrogant to truly pay attention to my demeanor.
Sloppy fucking parasite.
She was such a conceited, deranged psychopath, and the encounter left me even more annoyed that I had allowed her to set up Akuma to infect me in the first place. I rolled my eyes and thanked Kitahl that she was sitting behind me so she couldn't see my face.
“I think Kyril will be happy with the vessels we have here,” I said making small talk, trying to get any piece of information out of her about this guy.
“Will I now?” said an unfamiliar, low-pitched voice.
I turned to the doorway toward the sound. Standing casually at the doorway was a tall younger man with dark burgundy skin. His long, straight raven hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, making his pointed fae-like ears more obvious.
He smiled deviously over at us. His second incisors and canine teeth were sharply pointed and his eyes were black, soulless voids. His face had an usually feminine quality to it. What the fuck was he? I’d never seen any being like him before this moment.
Athia squealed in delight as she took in the sight of him. Her feet instantly moving toward him as her heels clicked loudly in her haste. “Kyril! You’ve come to us at last!”