Katrina

Well wow. That was unexpected. I'm still in shock when Miles grabs my elbows and leads me up a winding staircase, stopping at the third-floor entrance.

"Are you okay?" He asks, pulling open the door and leading me down a hallway into a room that can only be called a tech person's wet dream. I know nothing of technology, but the room is lined wall to wall with computers, modems, twisty nobby things, lots of cords, and huge fans to keep the systems cool.

"I'm fine." I reply, still a little dazed by what happened downstairs, "But what the hell is this?" I ask, gesturing to everything around us, "I was expecting files filled with paperwork."

"Yeah." Miles chuckles, heading toward what looks to be the main computer; it's bigger than all the rest, so that's my assumption, but who the hell knows?

"Ares isn't as archaic as his brothers. He believes in keeping up with the times. Paperwork can be easily destroyed or manipulated, and before you say it, yes, he knows electronic files can be corrupted too. It's just easier to navigate the entirety of the system when it isn't all on paper, and if a file has been tampered with, it's easier to track down who did it, each file touched logs whenever there's been new access to it, and the digital footprints are easy to trace when you have one of the best hackers on your team."

"Ah," I state, having already lost interest after hearing Ares isn't as archaic. Ares isn't anything at all like his brothers. Is it because he's the youngest out of the four? Was he the rebel of the family? His Godly trait would line up with him being a rebel. Who better to lead the rebellion than the God of War? For the first time ever, I actually find myself thinking of my mates' parents and what they were like growing up, what they were like before they killed their father and became the kings of the four realms. The thoughts sadden me, reminding me how little I know about the men I've fallen for, whose love has tainted my soul. I can't wait for all of this to be over. I can't wait until it's just the five of us....except it'll never be just the six of us. My men are destined to be Kings; it's their birthright. They'll always shelter the weight of the World on their shoulders. At least there are five of them to help carry that burden. And I'll be there, too, supporting them and carrying their weight when the World's burdens become too much to bear.

"You okay there?" Miles asks again, looking at me, his eyes shimmering with concern. "It looks like you went someplace dark."

"Just thinking about our future," I reply.

"Damn, Kitten, if your thinking about our future causes you to look that miserable, then I don't know if I want to live the type of future you envision." He snorts, shaking his head while powering on the main computer, which powers on each substation.

"Miles, even if our future dealt with Lucifer reincarnated and him claiming me as his stepdaughter and telling me to call him Daddy Lucy, You'd still be stuck with me. It's a done deal now, buddy. Hashtag, SorryNotSorry." I reply teasingly, shrugging my shoulder and scrunching my face in an I don't give a fuck type attitude.

Miles shudders, a look of pure disgust on his face. "Have you always been so vile?"

"Only on every day ending in Y." I tease, scooching closer to him so I can get a good look at the program he's pulled up: FIND A CASE. When the program fully loads, I'm already at a loss. You can make a selection from three different categories; Sun, Moon, and Stars. "Angels, Demons, Gods?" I ask, trying to figure the program out, "Shouldn't there be a category for humans too?"

"This is just the initial inquiry. The program wants to know who's looking into what." Miles responds, selecting Stars.

A new screen populates asking for credentials, but there isn't a place to enter a login and password. I practically jump out of my skin when something ejects from what I assumed was the floppy disk slot. And don't ask me why I thought it was a floppy disk slot; I only know enough to get by when it comes to computers, and floppy disks were what we older generations saved our PowerPoints on, and yep, you bet, I'm still envious that kids can now dropshare their files to the teacher's devices. Although, I guess they lost the ability to say they accidentally left their report at home now that everything is stored in the cloud, and don't even get me started on the mysterious, elusive cloud...Wait...what the hell was that? Did that floppy disk majigger just convert into a blood sampling station?

Miles chuckles beside me as I watch him prick his finger, drip some blood on the provided slide, and then carefully place the coverslip over his sample before putting it back into the floppy disk thingy. The computer accepts his blood offering. There's a twirling DNA logo, and then the words CREDENTIALS APPROVED flash on the screen before transitioning to a search screen. Miles fills out the search query, and presses enter. Nothing populates. Not a single file, and he's looking through a five-year time stamp. The last major incident that took place on the Golden Gate bridge was the great shake. No cars falling off the bridge, no little girl's losing their family. Nothing.

"There's nothing? Nothing at all." I whisper, amazed. Surely there should be something unless I had it all wrong. Maybe it was a different bridge? Or maybe it was just some freak incident.

"It doesn't mean the accident didn't happen. It just means it wasn't handled by the Earth Kingdom. Aphelion might've still found something in the Sky archives." Miles states, powering down the computer and taking my hand, pulling me into him as he nuzzles my neck. "We will find the answers. I promise." He states reassuringly, letting me melt into his comfort.

There's a knock on the door, and I go to pull away, but Miles keeps me tucked in close, not caring about our affectionate display.


"Sorry to interrupt," A woman states, poking her head in. She has long raven black hair and bright emerald green eyes.

"Mom."

Wait, she's Miles' mom, Ares' Wife? The great and power DeGe. She's so petite, and she looks like she's maybe ten years older than me, max.

"Your father told me you were in here." She smiles, the movement lightening up her entire face, "Before you leave, I'd love it if we could all get together and talk. It's...Well, it's about Katrina." She states bluntly, making my stomach roll.

Ah, that. Didn't talk long. Ares has finally come to his senses about me. I thought his reaction earlier was off; it must've just taken him a moment to gather his emotions.

"I don't care what you have to say in regards to Katrina." Miles retorts, eyes leering in anger, "She'll be my Queen whether you like it or not."

"Good Gods, boy. Did you not learn anything." DeGe scolds her son. "Did you not learn anything from all that training you were given? This isn't about your future, but about her past."

The hair on my arms raises, and Miles's arms tense around me. How do DeGe and Ares know of my past?