Chapter 1
Kai
It was a bright and sunny day. Nizan and I were outside, playing in my mother’s flowery garden. We were playing hide and seek. An odd place to play such a game, because it sucked terribly for me. I was just too tall to hide under the flowers and grass.
The air smelled like Ma’s freshly baked scones. Her scones were my favorite and my smelling them made it very clear to me, that I was just in a dream.
‘Foundya!’ said little Nizan, jumping out right behind me. ‘Haha!’
After that, I was smiling and laughing with him. Even though I knew this was just a dream and how it goes, I was still laughing and giggling with him. I wouldn’t say I liked this. There was this chilly feeling running down my spine, and then this ominous feeling came over me as the wind suddenly stopped moving and all the dandelions fell from the sky like snow.
‘My turn!’ said little Nizan.
This was it. This was the moment it all changed.
My eyes immediately looked back to the house. Ma was watching us through the small window in our kitchen and Baba was walking out of the woods, carrying the wood he left to go and fetch for tonight. I wanted to scream, tell them to call us back home and let us play this far. But Ma wasn’t so much bothered by that so long as she could see us. Besides, we were safe they used to say. The bad people could never find us.
‘Kai! Come on, start counting!’ my little brother pulled on my hand. ‘It’s your turn!’
‘No...!’ I said, or at least wanted to say, because the word just didn’t come out of my mouth. I held my neck because it felt as if I was choking on that very same word and so the words I didn’t want to say came out. ‘Sure! I’m counting!’ I said and covered my hands over my eyes. Not once did I peek out like most older brothers did to their little brothers. I was just too nice to cheat in any game I played with him and always making it easy for him. I didn’t even have worries of not finding him, because I knew exactly where he was going to hide. It was always that one spot...the small pond right behind our house. He would hide under small rocks and I would always pretend I couldn’t find him.
I had no will of my own and by my now it was already clear to me that this was no dream. It was more like a scene from a video or movie, playing over and over again. In here I was just the character of this dreadful memory, forced to play my role over and over again.
‘Nine, ten...’ I finished counting.
‘Hey! Kai Andrews!’
‘Ready or not here I come...’
‘KAI ANDREWS!’
I jolted awake, opening my eyes and looking around first. It took me a couple of seconds to become aware of my surroundings and remember exactly where I was. Right, I got caught helping Ryker and Rogan escape during their bank heist. I was supposed to follow right behind them and then I got shot.
Even now the wound was still sizzling in my leg, but it healed up enough for me to stand up. I was in my cell and the officer just called my name. I sure as hell hoped it wasn’t my mother coming for me because then I wouldn’t hear the end of it.
‘What is it, officer?’ I asked as I stretched out my arms and legs. My ass felt a little stiff from sitting on that cold and hard bench for so long. The was the last time I was going to fall asleep on a bench inside the police station.
‘Today’s your lucky day, Andrews. Once again, you’re a free man...for now...’ the officer said, and spoke as if he and I knew each other. I never saw his face before, but everyone here at the station knew about me. This wasn’t my first time being caught and being bailed out by my mother.
He reluctantly opened the cell and held the gate open for me to step out. ‘Just remember. This will be the last time you’re getting a free ticket!’
I snarled because that just sounded like a threat and it amused me. As I stepped out, I carefully eyed the man from head to toe. He appeared nervous when I set one foot out the sell and just as I was about to pass by him, I snapped my finger in front of his face, making jump when a small little fire appeared at my thumb.
‘Don’t test me, Andrews!’ he said, showing me how his hand moved to his gun, trying to scare me off. However, his voice sounded very shaky and it just felt so amusing to me to toy with him a little longer.
‘So you’re him,’ I heard a woman say and immediately turned my gaze to her.
She was standing tall, dressed in an all-black attire with her long red hair straightened. She had sky-blue eyes and pink supple lips I could only imagine how they would feel. There was no doubt about that; judging by her stature, this woman was a lawyer and the first thing that came to my mind when I saw her, was how her lips would taste.
What the hell was wrong with me?
‘Officer, I will take it from here,’ she said.
I glanced at the police officer and caught him glaring at her, then at me. ‘Like, I said! You’re fucking lucky!’ he snapped at me before he walked off, straightening his jacket and leaving me with the lawyer.
I was confused as I didn’t know this woman, where she came from, or why she was even here. She looked like an expensive lawyer, not the kind my mother could afford. By the way, where was Ma?
‘He’s right,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘You’re lucky and utterly stupid for getting caught.’
‘Not sure if that’s supposed to be an insult.’
‘I have heard so much about you, and I just can’t help but wonder what he sees in you.’ she stared at me from head to toe. From that moment, I took back everything I thought about her looks and her lips.
This woman was, obviously, one of THOSE lawyers and I didn’t have time for this.
‘Look, Lady. I don’t know who you are and I don’t care who the fuck you are. My mother is somewhere in this building, with a ready-baked hot slap waiting for me. So if you would excuse me...’
I walked past her, pretending I didn’t just meet that chick. Those at the Red Sun District were far prettier and tolerable than her!
‘Are you walking out on me? Do you even know who I am!’
‘I just told you. I don’t care.’
‘Hey!’
I heard her heels clicking right behind me and outside the police department. On my way out, I met the gaze of the police chief, Steven Grant, and by side his new sidekick--my replacement. I was glad to know that some things never changed. The chief and I kept giving each other looks before I looked at the rookie beside him. It’s not too bad, this one looked like he could do half the work I did.
Just as I came out the front doors, I was greeted by the press. I felt several flashing camera lights pointed at me. I had to stop because there were also so many people here, there wasn’t even a path for me to go through to get to the other side.
‘They’re here for you,’ said Mrs Uptight-Lawyer.
‘Did you just follow me?’ I asked her. ‘Fuck off!’
I didn’t mind waiting till these vultures grew bored and left, but I also wasn’t going to stand on the other side of a police barricade, listening to this annoying ass woman. I stepped forward and even as one officer touched my shoulder to try and stop me from proceeding, I jerked his hand off me not before leaving a warning. ‘Touch me again and I will burn your hand off.’
Another hand touched my shoulder and I was about to punch this person, but my body stiffened when this hand just felt way too soft and familiar to be that of a police officer. I turned around and was met with a hot slap to the face by my mother. I had to look away because it did sting, not from the smack, but the shame.
‘How could you!’ she said, her eyes filled with shame and betrayal. The next words that left her mouth made my heart drop. ‘You put shame on me and your father’s name! I cannot even look at you anymore! You are no longer my son! Ten years ago, I lost a son and today I lost another. I am nothing more but a widow.’
I felt bad not for what I did, but because of our world and what it was doing to her...and what it did to my Baba. Her cutting ties with me was but nothing, but for the best. I was doing everything I could for her.
I turned on my heels and walked away. This time the lousy journalists didn’t dare step in my way, it was tough seeing my mother’s reaction to all of this gave them hearts.
I walked through an alleyway which was much quieter and then reached for my car keys in my pocket. I left it under the Red Sun bridge before I aided the twins in their bank heist. My payment for my efforts better be in that trunk waiting for me.
As soon as I found my black Mustang waiting for me. A little bird poop landed on the windshield. Nothing I couldn’t clean up.
First, I went to check for my money in the trunk and was quite very satisfied to find it there. I didn’t need to count the cash, those idiots were smart enough not to play me. I slammed the trunk shut and groaned when I heard those annoying stilettos again.
‘Damn, woman. You are quite persistent, aren’t you?’ I turned around looking at her, folding my arms and leaning against my trunk. ‘Well, you did follow me all the way here. What the hell do you want?’
She huffed, before tucking her hair behind her ear. ‘I’ll get right to the point. I am Isabelle Petrova, daughter of Mariano Petrova. I’m the one who bailed you out.’
‘Sorry, come again?’
‘I will not repeat myself. My mission was to get you out and then bring you to him. I did not sign for this and I am not going to follow your rude ass all over the city. I’m a lawyer and I have a busy day. There are actual people out there that need me.’
‘Oh boy!’ I exclaimed and couldn’t help but express how overly joyous I felt. Everything happened exactly how I planned. I got the big boss’s attention. ‘He wants to meet with me, you say? Why the change of heart now?’
‘You have potential and frankly, we could do with an inhumane like you in our ranks. Pyrokinetics are extremely rare and my father is positive you can be a valuable asset for future missions.’
Everything I did so far was to get to this point. Seventeen years ago I saw a man with a black hat take my brother away. I was only eight and he was 4 years old. We were playing hide and seek and when it was my turn to go seek, I saw him being taken away by that man. I immediately ran back home to call Baba, but by the time we got to where I last saw them, they were long gone.
Baba had the town’s police looking for him and everyone in the town tried helping. My parents were well-respected people and cared for by everyone. Weeks later a body of a little boy was found. The shock gave my father a heart attack and in that week we had two funerals.
All my life I was filled with rage and the urge to seek revenge for my brother and father. I wanted to kill the man in the black hat for what he did. I later discovered that I was inhumane like my father and he hid it from us because he only wanted to live a normal life. A chance for a normal life was long out the window by the time I discovered my powers. I learned to control it and then I joined the police force. I was a rookie and a talented one at that.
Chief Grant was so impressed by my talent, that I got promoted as his right hand then and there. We just so happened to share the same hate for the man in the black hat. It was there that I discovered that man’s identity.
‘Rookie, he goes by the name Mariano Petrova, head of the most sinister mafia clan in history, The Petrovas,’ said Steven as he closed the blinds of his office before making sure that the door was locked. ‘Here at Adana PD, we make it our mission to bring that man to the ground and so far no one has succeeded. Even with inhumane among our ranks, we haven’t gotten any further than a few more funerals on our side. I have dedicated my whole life to this and now it leaves me left with only one more option. And I need your help.’
‘I am willing to do anything, sir!’
’If we cannot take him down on the outside, then it must be done on the inside.
I was clever enough to get what he meant, but not aware of the risks. ‘You want me to be a double agent? But that’s not possible. You said yourself, that he already has an inside man in the police force. They will know something’s up when they see me join them.’
‘I am aware of that and trust me, joining them also isn’t as simple as walking to his doorstep and going hi, I would love to join your clan. You need to prove to him that you are cut out for the job and capable.’
‘What are you suggesting?’
‘I have played multiple scenarios in my head. I considered hiring an outsider but then there is the risk of this person getting caught and me not trusting them because I don’t know them. There also wouldn’t be any guarantee of them being able to protect themselves, because then they never would’ve been trained by me.’ he mumbled and then added. ‘But then I thought why not assign a rookie for the job? One who joins our ranks and becomes my right-hand man. He betrays me and commits a crime so horrifying. He walks a dark path and becomes one of the police force’s most problematic criminals.’
‘And what crime will this be exactly?’
‘Do not fret, I won’t let you do anything you don’t want to. You are a good boy and the last thing I want is to corrupt that. The details of the crime matter not, what does matter is that we give off the image that you did something that got you fired and I refused to bring it to the surface afraid my poor judgment would ruin my reputation.’
Once he explained everything to me I was fully on board with his plan...
Months later I went up to Petrova’s door and demanded that he accept me into his clan. He laughed at my face and then didn’t even have the decency to let me walk out on my own two feet. He had one of his big shots throw me out.
The baldhead was still foolish enough to fall for my trap. He immediately identified me as his inside man already gave him a file containing the names and faces of all the police force applicants. I was in that file, so he knew then that I did something bad and took the dark path.
He had men watching me, obviously to see if I was attempting to be a double agent here. At that time I had no contact with the chief and even if I did, I was already aware of Rogan and Ryker following me and that was how they and I started doing heists and jobs together.
I needed to gain Petrova’s trust and knew that Ryker and Rogan would be there to witness my skills. I was painting myself as a criminal, doing bad things knowing that it would hurt my mother.
I never wanted to hurt her and during the bank heist, I made sure nobody got hurt by my hands. The jobs were always swift, that way it was easy to avoid casualties and injuries.
At last, my efforts weren’t in vain and the very man sent his daughter to be my lawyer and bail me out of a cell. Our first mission was a success.
‘So what do you say, Kai?’ asked Isabelle. ‘Do you accept the invitation to his majesty’s palace?’
I stood off the car trunk and stared at her toe-to-toe. ‘Took him long enough. You can count me in.’
