Everything around them was bathed in a blood-red light. Like the reappearance of flames, the paint licked flickering across the faces of their opponents. A searing heat flared up next to her and almost seared her hair on her skin. She turns her head and saw Pareios.
But she couldn't see anything of his skin, his hair, his clothes. He was like a living torch, the flames licked all over his body, only the contours could be grasped in the shimmering heat and the play of the fire. The eyes shone orange, almost whitish, like steel embers and the wooden floor under his feet soon ignited, paired with a considerable amount of smoke.
Before her opponents or Aurelia could overcome their surprise, the living conflagration rushed to the three Elevenders that were closest to her. No sooner had he even touched her than they screamed in agony. Shortly thereafter, a tremendous heat surge went through the room, the flames from Pareios' body spread to his victims and left them burning.
Aurelia found herself half unconscious, half in the twilight state, unable to perceive much around her. All that accompanied her was the pain and the angel that she could feel from time to time, as well as his warmth, which often enveloped her.She had no sense of time or place, but she was also badly battered.The now dull consciousness told her that she was lying softly on her back and ... that she felt as though she had been turned once by the propeller. Everything just hurt and her muscles clung to her bones like useless ropes. Weakness as she hated it.She blinked. Her vision was blurred, but it was bright. The light stung her eyes and she quickly pinched them shut again."She is awake!" Someone whispered next to her. It was a familiar voice, feminine and gentle.She heard chairs being moved and felt that several people had stepped next to her and were leaning over her. But something was missing, the bright light of the angel.
I beg your pardon?" Aurelia was thunderous and her brain refused to understand the meaning of these words."I think you understood me." Pareios was still lying next to her in bed, but inside he was miles away. They stared at each other, Aurelia confused, Pareios waiting. He tried to keep his expression neutral, which in view of the situation looked bizarre, as if he had put on a stone mask. Maybe he was in shock too?Her mind preoccupied itself with a meticulous inventory of Pareios' facial expressions, simply not wanting to deal with what she had just heard. For if this was really true, didn't it change the meaning of the last few days fundamentally? What exactly had her intuition scented in that old farm? Why was this Dante there? What did he have to do with the test series?"And is it him?"Pareios laughed bitterly and in his eyes she read a well-hidden sadness. "Find it out. Only you know for sure! "Aurelia wanted to take his hand, comfort him
So you're a clairvoyant?"Aurelia shook her head slowly, but it was already much better than before and she also recovered faster and faster. Maybe because he was with her?“Well, something like that. Usually it's more of an intuition for the next few seconds or minutes. If I go further into the future, it will be confused and indistinct and also dangerous for me. It's hard to find your way back and not everything I see occurs, it depends on various decisions. ""Sounds ... complex.""Yes!" She laughed. "And you? What is your gift? ”“ Good question, I'd like to know too. I feel strong I think. But Pareios explained to me that this is normal for Elevender. ""Don't you remember anything?"Dante's bright eyes turned into the distance, as if he were trying to see something special, but soon he closed them tiredly.“I know roughly how the world works, Elevender, people, Hegedunen. But the rest ... I w
"I ... I ..." Aurelia stammered, unable to think of any consequences if she had to turn away from either. She dropped her left hand and pressed it into the covers. Maybe screaming or yelling helped, or fainting a faint ... She felt a violent anxiety and the desire to escape this moment as quickly as possible. The whole running, real and in front of herself, had probably made her an animal of flight.“I can't decide. Not now and not like this. It's all so much and suddenly and… ”she broke off desperately and watched how he soaked up the turmoil in her body.They both turned their heads to the door when there was a loud knock and Syrus appeared shortly afterwards.He was pushing a small cart on which bandages and other medical equipment were piled.“Hello Aurelia. How do you feel? ”He asked into the tense silence and slowly walked towards the bed, pulling the mobile wound care mobile behind him. He didn't seem to be awar
Aurelia wanted to reply, but he raised his hand in defense, having already arrived at the little bandage van that he hadn't even used. "I understand the need to withhold information, but you will agree with me when I say that I cannot act blindly.""I see." She replied after a short pause and he politely said goodbye.Aurelia mused on, but was soon distracted by much more primitive needs. Her stomach growled as if it hadn't had anything in a while, which it probably was, and she could hardly remember her last meal. The empty organ soon cramped into a painful lump in her upper abdomen, but first she wanted to turn to personal hygiene, which had also been neglected lately.She looked longingly at the passage across from the door to the hallway. Frosted glass blocked the view into a small bathroom that was attached to the sickroom. The washrooms in the infirmary were specially developed so that they could also be used by the wounded and their carers.
After they dried themselves off and wrapped themselves in the fluffy terry towels, Pareios sat on the chair in the shower and pulled her onto his lap. He clasped her for a long time and buried his face in her damp hair. Aurelia snuggled up against his strong shoulders and didn't want to let the moment end when she felt something like peace in his arms. It amazed her that feelings for Pareios were strong enough to rival those for her counterpart, at least for now. Her mind vaguely understood that her only option to influence her emotions was through her actions.If she kept her distance from Dante and refused to get to know him better, she might be able to prevent the connection with him from becoming so strong that it overshadowed that with Pareios, even if she could not forget Dante. If she broke off contact with Pareios, the reverse would occur.So it was up to her to make a decision. A decision that she neither wanted to nor could make, neither today nor in the futu
Aurelia stood in her room. She let her gaze slide over her belongings, which actually weren't. Everything was part of the furnishings of the room, except for the clothes in the small closet, nothing belonged to her and was of no importance to her. Nevertheless, she had always considered it her room, at least seen it as a kind of retreat, a place where you could relax and not be disturbed without being asked.But the return was nowhere near as satisfactory as it would have been appropriate. Too much had changed since the last time she was here, besides the direction her mission was taking, so was herself. Her apartment was a tiny chamber, a single room with a bunk barely ninety centimeters long, intended for a solitary man Hunter who was not at home very much and actually only used the room to sleep.She wasn't alone now. She was now not only tied to one, but somehow even to two men and in view of that fact it felt like she had made a mistake in the door when she had en
Pareios accompanied them to the wing of the bunker where prisoners were locked in cell-like rooms. A small chamber was always attached to these rooms, from which the suspect could be observed and wiretapped. The whole way there was a deafening silence between them and although they walked next to each other, it felt like something separated them that was threatening to get bigger and bigger. She didn't know what to do about it, wishing she could just rewrite her story.But that wouldn't happen. The devastating storm of their fate had them all firmly under control, carried them on a journey into unknown realms. Without return. Similar to a moment that had passed and could not be experienced twice. How quickly the past accumulated, piled up behind her as every second of her life passed inexorably. Suddenly she felt anxiety. The spark of a doubt that this could all be too big, too complex for her. But since she could not escape her future, this worry did not lead to a rethink. O
Dareon sprinted out of his room. As he walked, he tied the bow tie that went with the black tuxedo. He often wore suits when he went on his nightly jaunts and in his long life he had worn every kind of fine thread. Until yesterday he would have said nothing could surprise him anymore. But then Cat showed up and taught him otherwise.It had struck like a comet, into his halfway orderly world and now he had to grapple with unsettling thoughts. About the way she looked at him. How did her skin feel and how comfortable her lips?He hated the way he reacted to her and he wanted to just get in his car and sneak away. But what he said this afternoon was true. He wanted to fix what he had screwed up. And his sudden obsession with this woman had absolutely nothing to do with it!Determined to get tonight off the stage professionally, he turned the corner and reached the stairs to the foyer. His gaze fell on the assembled crew at his feet. Most were wrapped in the dark le
The swinging double door slammed shut and they were alone.Her heart pounded from the unexpected contact with him when he had freed her from Christian's grip. She could still feel the warmth of his body on her back, the firm arm around her stomach, the breath that had brushed her hair. She hadn't been able to classify his reaction and was paralyzed.She stood still now, too, but for a different reason than before. Though she was really determined to act confident, she just wasn't. She wasn't really afraid of Dareon, but the angry look that surrounded him earned her a good deal of respect. Like trying to get close to a cobra. Better not to make sudden movements.Dareon had his broad back to her and was staring at the door as well. Her eyes stayed on her strong shoulders, her fingers tingled. She wanted so much to touch him. But when he turned to her, he looked so upset that she decided to postpone the fulfillment of this wish. She nervously pushed back her hair,
A little later, Cat was on the way to Ceiling. Xandra and Blaise were also in the car, the former driving.“What's going on between you two? Did something happen today at noon? ”Xandra asked after a while of quiet harmony. Much to Cat's chagrin, there was no need to discuss who 'you two' were. Dareon's behavior in Ferroc's office had been conspicuous enough, and apparently Cat's quick approval of the deal confirmed Xandra's suspicions. Since she already knew that Cat was into the guy, she hardly had to add one and one together."I'd like to know that too ...", Cat only mumbled and that was the truth. She had no clue what was going on in the object of her desire. Why he'd acted like that and then treated her so dismissively. "Dareon behaved quite ... inconsistently ... I can't figure him out.""So there was more to it than his rejection?" "Slightly."Blaise appeared between the two front se
"And what did he say?"Cat had barely stepped off the elevator on the third floor when Xandra was already attacking her. Less enthusiastic, she reported without going into details, only that Dareon had refused. Especially the fuck off she left out.An arm came comfortingly around her shoulders. “Oh, that'll be fine. Give me a little time and I'll find someone else who can help you. I promise you, I won't leave you alone with this. "Cat looked into the sincere eyes and she almost came to tears. She couldn't believe that an almost stranger wanted to stand up for her like that. Besides, the idea of honing her gift with someone else didn't make her particularly happy. It should be Dareon. She couldn't get him out of her head and the need for his presence hadn't subsided despite his rejection."No. I'm ... just doing it with him ... "she mumbled to herself, lost in thought, while she thought of the pressure of his hands on her waist. The Elevender at he
Dareon stood in front of a group of Elevender and tried to bring them closer to the benefits of close combat. He had put the people in pairs and was now watching them repeat the exercise he had shown them. It was about contact, because one of the basic rules of this technique was: Once you are close enough to the opponent that he can hit you, you have to forestall him. Therefore, he trained his students to seize control of the fight at this moment, to internalize the techniques in such a way that they forced their will on the opponent from this point on. He was not allowed to play again. At least that was the ideal. Of course it would be a while before his students were ready and he would teach them many other things that could save them from sticky situations.But for today he ended the lesson. He wasn't happy with the results they'd gotten, but wasn't sure if it was due to the ineptitude of his students, or maybe more to his miserable mood.More and more Elevenders h
The next morning came too fast for Cat's liking. The rays of the summer sun cheated through the gaps between the curtains that she had drawn up the night before. One of the bright spots of light finally blinded her when the golden ball in the sky had moved a little further, which put an end to her cozy doze. Sighing, she heaved herself out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom to freshen up. In the morning she slept for a long time and could also get a bit bitchy. She took her time and put on makeup again, as she used to wear with her goth look. She found the mascara and cajal she needed behind the mirror over the designer washbasin.In this way she regained a bit of her identity, which had been taken from her again yesterday. She wistfully wished for dark clothes, but then, resignedly, pulled on the forest green sweatshirt dress. It was long, but the length seemed fine. The hem came up just below her knees. She didn't even want to try the jeans, she would have needed a belt
After an hour in this tiny office, he couldn't take it anymore.Hard to believe, but the room was really losing size. The walls seemed to get closer and closer, it got darker and darker. But maybe the latter was just his eyesight. When a panic attack loomed, he got tunnel vision that was announced by a dark and blurred field of vision. The other signs of it were also raised. His neck felt like an elephant was sitting on it, and his hands and feet went numb. He figured he had about fifteen minutes before snogging the carpet. All the emotions in the room made him dizzy, he had to swallow hard as his stomach rebelled.Roman's inner fear billowed through Slater, his subliminal agony crashing against him like waves in the ocean. They tugged on him and he had to put both legs firmly into the ground to brave the onslaught. If Roman was around, it was worse. Then every smallest nuance of the Puerto Rican's emotional world spilled over to him and the more intensely the other fe
Cat looked around the large room. If that was a hotel, it was probably five stars or something. She was standing right next to the entrance and to the right of her was the bathroom. Then the small hallway opened and widened into a huge room, the sand-colored walls of which were lit by soft skylights. The opposite front of the room was almost completely taken up by a frameless window, only the balcony door at the left end had room.The bed stood with the headboard on the right side, the wall behind it was covered with upholstered fabric in a pale gold tone. Two magnificent reading lamps hung down from above and enabled the separate lighting of both beds in the seductively comfortable double bed.Cat walked over and dropped into the chocolate-brown blankets. She landed face first on heavenly scented, soft pillows. A real boon after she hadn't slept or allowed herself to relax for a while. The exhaustion was not only physical but also mental and left her no peace even now
Xandra granted the young woman's wish. She had thought Catlynn Campbell was a fragile, withered branch, but today the young woman had shown amazing strength. After that day that would have blown even the toughest cop, she was still standing upright in Ferroc's office. Although she looked tired and had dark circles down to the back of her knees, her long, thick hair was tousled, the expression on her face was determined. The hand that held out the glass to Xandra did not tremble.After handing out vodka again to everyone involved and each taking a sip, Xandra decided to speak."Listen, Cat. You don't have to decide now whether you want to believe us. You can rest and maybe stay for a while while we try to get to the bottom of your gift. You can move around freely and watch Blackridge and how we live in peace. ""We have more than enough space!" Agreed Ferroc.Cat looked around, then gave them both a quick look. Finally she took a deep breath and nodded. "O