Taken in Lies

7

Chapter 7

The next morning comes by very quickly, with Harlow waking us up and escorting us to the training area. There we are to grab a weapon and duel.

"Omega." Harlow calls me over, and I stalk towards her.

"What?" I growl.

"I have something important to tell you."

"What could be so important to me right now." I ask, anger consuming my tone.

"Shut up, be quiet. What I was going to tell you is that Zyair and the others are safe and heading for Orenda Ereny territory in two days." She whispers.

"What? You made us think they died!" I scream.

"Shush you moron! I'm a spy, for god's sake." She grits her teeth and hushedly rushes out.

"What about the others fighting?"

"What about them?" Harlow's face morphs into one of confusion.

"One of our teams will die?"

"That's the point. We need to scope out who is the best and then they will come and work for us. We would have our own program but this is easier, we've been doing it for years. Take the rejects, so what if a couple of brats die?"

"Are you kidding? I thought Orenda Ereny cared about our lives?" I stare at her in rageful shock.

"We do, but risking our lives to save weaklings isn't worth it. I wouldn't put my life on the line for a couple of useless kids, that's why we need to find out who's the strongest."

"No way! You guys are just as evil!"

"Watch your mouth!" She looks around, eyes suddenly going wide. She mutters a curse under her breath. "I shouldn't have told you, spread this info and I'll make sure your team dies."

I mumble a growl and head over to Evergreen.

"Are you okay?"

"No." I put my head down in my arms.

"What's wrong?" He asks, and I ponder for a moment. After a few moments, I come to a conclusion and open my mouth to tell them when-

"Attention!" Harlow yells, voice strained. I sit up and quickly spin around, expecting for the battle to be commencing, and instead see the leader of Amata Arcasia, Adriel-Halcyon. My eyes widen in shock, and Harlow seems no better. "Sir, what are you doing here?"

Adriel cups Harlow's face with his hands and leans down. "I thought I'd visit my prized possession and see how progress is going. I had it scheduled, remember?" Harlow's eyes don't meet his.

It seemed almost unwantedly intimate, and I cringed, my surprise never leaving me.

He tilts his head, mouth brushing against her ear as he murmurs a few unintelligible words. Harlow pales, and she takes a fearful step back when Adriel reaches towards his holster.

What?

Time moves slowly.

Harlow drops dead, the bullet drived right into her heart.

"Six." He calls in a chilling voice. "Thanks for the help." I gape, hands wavering. "I had known for a while she was a spy, but thanks to you I got the confirmation I needed." He leans down, stroking a strand of hair out of Harlow's glossed over eyes, tsking and standing up.

"Now, we have to go and find your friends. Ten, Seven, Five, and Six line up and follow me! You are now all Mortala Aeonian, my assassin team."

We don't say a word, stunned into silence, and follow him obediently. Everything happened so fast, my brain is still trying to process it. All I can feel is fear. Fear for my friends, fear of what he is going to do to us. He leads us to the richer side of the estate and out to the stables. He grabs four bags and passes them to us.