Chapter 111: Information

"Beloved?" Liam asked. "Did you just kill him?"
I bit my bottom lip. I did. I did just kill him.
I growled. Damn it. I pushed the vibrating energy back into his body. Mr. Kline gasped in a breath.
"Bowling alley," he wheezed. "Under the bowling alley."
I tilted my head at him. "Now, was that so hard?"
"Kira, you have to protect me from her. She's going to kill me."
"You should have thought of that before you worked for her." I turned away from him. "He's all yours, Liam."
The lights flickered and faded just a little. A dark cloud billowed down the stairs and across the room. I jumped to the side as Mila solidified in the middle of it. She strode right towards me. The darkness formed around her like a cape.
The pink god power flared to my fingertips, but my lack of energy made it short out. She threw me to the side. I hit the bar counter and slid down it. She reached out and twisted Mr. Kline's neck. He died instantly. His soul left his body, twisting in agony as it drifted upward.
The Ardor Brothers swarmed her, but her dark clouds pushed them like ragdolls. They flew across the room.
"Don't hurt them," I choked out as I dragged myself to my feet using a bar stool.
Mila turned towards me. "Come with me."
"Why would I do that?"
The dark cloud flooded the room. The glow of the lights gleamed hazy paths through them, making it just light enough to see.
I pushed as much energy as I could to my fingers. I tried to pull energy from the cloud, but it felt just as empty as Mr. Kline's dead body.
I guessed I would have to rely on the swords. I commanded the light and dark swords to my hands. They flared to their full size cutting through the darkness. I gave into them. I willed them to fight for me, and they became extensions of my arms and my soul.
I slashed through the darkness with the Aurora sword. Beams of light broke through it. I aimed for Mila. I slashed through her but her image dissipated in the clouds. I spun through the clouds with the two swords. The Aurora Sword broke the clouds apart. The Night Sword sucked the darkness in.
Mila appeared by the stairs. Darkness snaked out of her and around the throats of each of the brothers.
"Come with me or they all die."
I froze in the middle of the bar. "Stop it."
The dark tendrils of cloud picked them up off the ground. My stomach churned. I gripped the hilt of the swords in each hand.
"Choose. Either you come with me and they live, or you come with me and they die."
Anger roiled inside of me. That wasn't a choice. The swords fed on my anger. The Aurora Sword flared outward, casting beams of light to each tendril of dark cloud. The Night Sword pulled in the tendrils towards it.
A hint of worry crossed Mila's face as she stared me down. I glared right back at her as her dark cloud slowly broke apart.
I dove for her. Both swords swung through the air, slashing right for her. I moved so quickly I didn't even remember taking a step. I was just on top of her. Her image broke apart and seeped up through the floor. My swords struck the banister behind where she had stood. They sliced clean cuts through them before lodging into the floor.
I looked up through the boards in the ceiling where she had disappeared to. I doubted I could catch her. I spun around.
"Is everyone okay?" I asked.
Some groans issued from several of the men.
Liam climbed to his feet, then crossed to Mr. Kline's body. "I think he knew more than what he said."
"Well, we got something, at least. Is the bowling alley close to Grocer Outlet?"
"Which one? There are three," Hector said.
I hung my head for a moment. Why couldn't anything be easy?
"Is anyone hurt?" I asked.
I looked around. There were still men on the ground. I walked over to one and sent energy in to mend him. I could feel the damage in his head and back. After a minute, he came to.
"Thank you, Beloved."
I nodded and move to the next one. When everyone was healed, I sat at the barstool next to Liam, who was talking with the bartender and a few other men at the counter.
"Send scouts. Lock everything down. Pull the patrols in close. We need to have everyone rested. We'll attack at dawn," Liam said.
The bartender nodded. He brought out his phone. The others did the same as they spoke with the people in command.
"Do you think they'll be ready? We might need more time to recover," I asked.
Liam's mouth drew down in a frown. "If we don't attack now, they will have time to fortify."
I nodded. "I see your point. What if they are already fortified?"
"If we wait, we will lose our chance."
"Okay."
"Granite? Granite! What's going on?"
Everyone turned to look at Hector, who was on the phone. He dropped his phone. "They are attacking Ardor again. We're going to lose everyone."
Liam and I shared a look. Magic sparked to my fingertips. I was low on energy, but I didn't care. I would use my own life source if I had to. Pink wings sprang out of my back. I floated above the floor. I zipped up the stairs with Liam right behind me. I flew out the door leaving the men to ride their motorcycles.
The night air was cold as my pink wings fluttered through it, but I didn't notice. The only thing on my mind was to get back to the bar. I had to protect these people. They were my new home.
I landed on the blood-soaked ground from the earlier battle. The doors hung open off their hinges. I stepped down the stairs through them. Everyone was on the floor. I focused. Not one of them had an aura. My blood ran cold.