abcnovels
Chapter 47 47 Monica. . .
Chapter 47 47 Monica. . .
Chapter 47 Chapter 47 Monica. . .
Shit! That girl is a putter nutter case! What the hell kind of family is this?
Nexus wondered.
The spell had been executed deftly, without even as much as a moment's hesitation. All around him, the clearing smoke, as well as badly bruised bodies of served as a reminder to the power of the redhead's spell.
His eyes grew wider and wider with each passing second. There had been no words. No incantations. Just a few hand signals, and then-
BOOM AND DOOM- everywhere!!
Nexus slowly got up on his feet.
He willed his legs to move forward to inspect the damage. But decided against it. She could mistake him for one of them and bomb him to smithereens.
So, from a safe distance, he looked through the haze of smoke, and counted the unconscious bodies- yep, not a single one of them had escaped. Nexus was impressed. The punks should have been nothing more than charred meat by now. But it seemed like the younger cousin had deliberately reined in her power during the explosions- despite the carnage.
The punks all looked pretty done for. But at least, they were not dead.
He stumbled backwards, and stretched out his right hand to balance himself on the wall, while protecting his nostrils with his other hand.
"Monica!" Nora called into the drifting smoke; "Monica are you there?"
Still no answer.
"MON!!!"
There was a swoosh of air, and a light thudding of landinf feet. She had jumped from the roof? Nexus fought the urge to whistle softly. Talk about a cool entrance.
"Oh good there you are," Nora heaved a sigh of relief; "I was worried for a second there. I thought some piece of shrapnel had gotten you- or worse."
Monica emerged from the smoke. Her red mane screamed against the dull beige of her surroundings. Despite her apparent heroine status, she still wore that haughty, indifferent look on her face.
Ignoring her, she went straight to examine the bodies that were laying unconscious.
"Thanks for saving my ass there Mon," Nora was still speaking now; "Those punks thought they could mess with the wrong one. They'll certainly think long and hard the next time they're about to cause any kind of trouble- all thanks to you."
Still squatting over the knocked out thugs, Monica retorted;
"When are you gonna grow a pair Nora? These sons of bitches are bottom barrel scum, and yet you allowed them to get a jump on you?!"
"I was taken by surprise Mon. It's no big deal."
"NO BIG DEAL?" from her squatting position, she rose to her full height; "No big deal? For heaven's sakes, you're part of the Russell clan Nora, don't you realize the dignity of our family will suffer if you take a beating?"
She pointed back at the thugs haughtily; "Just take a look at this gremlins, look how bold they've gotten to dare assault a member of the Russell family. . ."
Still with that deprecating scowl, Monica's haughty tone took an even steeper curve;
". . .all because of YOU."
Nora face stiffened; "I already thanked you for helping me out Nora. Don't push it."
"I didn't do it for you," Monica stated matter-of-factly; "I did it for the Russell name. And if you still haven't gotten that by now, then I've clearly been wasting my time."
Without waiting for a reply, the intense redhead rose up from the ground in one fluid motion.
Nexus, still observing it all from the shadows, saw that Monica's feet was easily jumping off vertically.
Right up till the very moment she disappeared over the roof of the stall, a scowl remained on her face- literally (and figuratively) looking down on her half-sister.
Eyes to the sky, Nexus' gaze remained fixed upwards. He had watched the whole scene in awe- thinking back to the first time he had met her;
"Shit, I guess little miss sunshine isn't so sun-shiney after all. . ." he pondered;
". . .deciding not to provoke her was the smartest decision I'd made since coming here. I gotta warn Crystal to stay clear of her."
Nexus eyes still remained fixed on the roof. By the time he peeled his gaze to level with his surroundings, Nora had disappeared without a trace. Where she stood only a moment ago, were the still bodies of the punks, lying in state like useless slabs of meat.
He had no sympathy for them.
So, he turned away from the smokey alleyway, and headed back to his original spot. Still reeling in shock from what he had just witnessed, Nexus sat down on his crate and lit another cigarette.
This time, he sucked greedily on it, drawing out a long stretch of smoke, before exhaling into the air.
Monica. . .
Monica . . .
The name echoed in his ears.
Fuck. How had he missed that?
Heavy clouds of white smoke engulfed his head in a thick fog as he puffed and puffed. Nexus eyebrows furrowed deeper and deeper, as he reflected further on the conversation he had just overheard.
Puff.
Monica might be a bad girl– but she was not a bad person.
It was evident, especially now more than ever, that she had deep respect for the Russell family name. It was the highest honor an offspring could give to their family. And this came as an incredible surprise to Nexus.
Monica had been nothing short of a brat.
Her personality was a cross breed between some hollywood princess- and some toxic European aristocrat. Nexus knew firsthand that it was the worst kind of combo.
Puff. . .
The smoke curled out wistfully, rising up, and disappearing into the atomosphere. The noise of hundreds transactions droned on in the background. Overhead, a couple of birds circled lazily, cooing occasionally.
Monica was dangerous.
Puff.
Sure, she was honor driven, and she clearly cared about the dignity of the family name.
Puff.
But she had no love for anyone, or anything for that matter. Zero fucking empathy. She did not even own a pet! Her character simply did not allow her the indulgence of emotions. And to crown it all, she had some pretty scary abilities. That was a textbook psychopath.
Nexus knew he had to watch out for that one.
When he recalled how she had single handedly fried six grown men, his eyes went red, and face strained. Nexus jumped to his feet and tossed the cigarette stub aside. He had to get a move on.
"Where in heaven's name is that succubus?"
Two curves later, he found her at a trinkets' shop.
Somehow, within the short period he had left, her shopping bags had doubled in quantity. With hot vigor, she was shouting, going toe to toe with another woman- probably the store owner;
"This doesn't even look real! Look at it, just look at it. You want me to pay full price for a knock off? Do I look like I was born yesterday?"
"This stone was shipped through the Meldorian canals, after spending weeks aboard a–"
Darkening the stone slab with his shadow, Nexus came up behind her and coughed twice- cutting the woman off. Crystal spun around so fast, her swinging arms nearly toppled the poor woman to her side;
"Lord Nexus, you found me?"
Glee was set in the corner of her eyes. She was like a child whose parent had come to retrieve her after school.
"Well," he answered herl softly; "I knew you'd be around here somewhere."
The other woman smiled broadly; "You two make a cute couple. . ."
This time, Crystal did not rebuke her.
Nexus hurried her into completing the transaction, and stole her away from the hustle and bustle of the bazaar;
"I've got a task for you, and I really need you to be as discrete about it as possible . ."
The succubus went into instant alert mode.
"Of course my lord, I'll do anything for you. Even if you want me to kill anybo–"
"No, no killing okay? I want you to watch someone for me."
Saying it aloud made Nexus realize just how unbelievably creepy it sounded. He swiftly moved to clarify;
"Like not in a creepy spying way or something. I want you to simply shadow her, guard her, and protect her- but from the background. You know, really covertly and stuff. . .do you get?"
Crystal narrowed her eye slits, till her eyeballs were almost invisible.
"Yes m'lord."
"Good. The mark is Nora. . ." her face remained the same, focused, determined and attentive; "I can't get into the details right now. But just know that she's not as tough as she's cracked up to be. So, I need to know that you'll always be there to have her back?"