The Mariposa

Chapter 28

Harrow

If you had asked me a year ago what it would take to make the Mariposa fall apart at the seams, I would never have answered with two women leaving.

However, that is precisely what was happening back at headquarters. There were constant emergency lights, constant emergency meetings. We just got word back that several hundred of our men had been murdered at Veralis.

That hellhole of a project.

I was summoned to a meeting shortly after hearing that news, along with the rest of the Palos Verdes. We filed into the huge meeting room, now accommodating a hundred Palos Verdes, sitting down and waiting for our leader, Azriel to appear. To add to the absolute chaos, our normally helicopter mom leader hadn't been around nearly as much. Most recently, we hadn't seen him for a week. Rumors were starting to go around. Some were even suspicious he was abandoning ship.

Thus, all of us were squirming in our chairs waiting for him. The Palos Verdes were trained to be the most stoic. We showed no emotion, we were rocks. However, I watched those rocks crumbling before me. They were shaking, their eyes wide, darting around the room. The men who were normally kept to themselves, were whispering back and forth in panicked, hushed voices. Arguments were rising and it was all I could do to shrink in my chair and continue to keep to myself.

I really wished I had gone with them.

The only reason I hadn't jumped at the opportunity is they would likely be dead a lot sooner than now. It was one thing for the two of them to desert. A Palos Verdes deserting is a whole 'nother. It would've been an immediate uproar.

Finally, Azriel slowly opened the door. And our worst fears were stoked in their fires.

Why was our leader missing an arm?

My mind instantly went to Kalon and Maeve. Had they?

Azriel did his best to ignore the gaping stares as he slowly sat down. "As you heard, a hundred of our Mariposa have just been killed in a battle in Veralis. There was an attack on the factory, led by Kalon and Maeve, ex Mariposa. The Veralians took off after the battle and there's really only one place they could have gone."

I arched one brow. "You don't mean the old HQ?"

"I assumed that was a fable," someone else piped up.

"No, it is not. It is real... And it is dangerous. In order to get to it, you have to fly through a never-ending thunderstorm. It is unlikely they survived the flight," Azriel said.

"But they might've," I spoke aloud the words Azriel hadn't yet.

Azriel nodded. "A maybe isn't good enough, unfortunately. We must go check. And if we they are there, we must wipe them out. Completely. No prisoners, no one escapes, no mercy. This must be a swift mission as well. There is not a moment to rest. Flying through the storm is difficult, but it is not impossible. Us old Mariposa used to do it all the time. I will instruct on you how to do it before we go, but you are fully capable with your wings, I assure you. Any questions?"

I let out a short laugh. "Yeah. Who got your arm?"

Azriel's eyes narrowed. "Ask again and we'll match."

***

Azriel could not have stressed enough how difficult it was flying through the storm. While fighting with mother nature herself, I started to think to myself that they better be on the other side because if I was doing this for nothing, I was going to be pissed.