"Don't remind me," I said, embarra.s.sed. "Getting back to the Ascension..."

"At the time, the Ascension was led by a charismatic man named Elias Rose, short for Rosencrantz, who, I swear, could charm the wool off a sheep's back if he wanted. He was also a man of vision and wanted to expand his enterprise of guns, drugs, and s.e.x slaves into our territory. The Midnight Society's Council met with Rose and discussed the potential business venture. Guns and drugs we could sanction, with the hopes of controlling and regulating the market just so it didn't turn into chaos, but the human trafficking we just couldn't live with. What Rose was doing to these girls was inhumane. Many of them never got the chance to experience their childhood-kidnapped and thrust into the horrors of the illegal s.e.x trade business.

"At the time, it was James and Brevin who did all the discussions, but things went south fast. Rose wasn't pleased that we didn't want anything to do with the Ascension.

"However, Rose wasn't one to take no for an answer easily and retaliated by attacking Brevin's family. From what I understand, it was only supposed to be a warning shot, but his four year old daughter was scared s.h.i.tless. In a moment of panic, she ran onto the road and got hit by oncoming traffic. She suffered permanent brain damage and was reduced to a vegetative state."

"My G.o.d," I said in utter disbelief. How many innocent people had suffered as collateral damage because of the Midnight Society? Justin, Julia Constantine, Brevin's daughter...and that was counting only the people I knew about.

"The Midnight Society does not forgive nor forget their enemies. A war broke out between our two organizations. It was a b.l.o.o.d.y affair and many lives were lost, including James' wife. Shadow witnessed the tragedy first hand, watching James cling onto the lifeless body of his wife while her blood drained onto a blanket of fresh snow.

"And I guess this is the part of the story you're most interested in. At the time Shadow was in love, but there were three strikes going against that relationship. The first was that Shadow was still consumed by the need to find his parents' killer. It was hard for him to experience love to the fullest while the desire for revenge still loomed over his head. His lover at the time struggled to stand by him, and it took a toll both on her and their relationship. The second strike against them was the timing. The Midnight Society was at war, and no one was safe. Shadow watched James and Brevin lose their loved ones. He was afraid the same thing would happen to his love at the time, so he began pushing her away." Lincoln turned to me. "Does that sound familiar?"

I nodded. "It does. Shadow's a repeat offender in the category of a.s.shole."

Lincoln sighed. "He's doing what he thinks is best."

"He can protect me without giving me the cold shoulder," I said.

"I think it's the only way he knows how."

I took a deep breath and shook my head. There was no point arguing with Lincoln on the emotional needs of a woman. "So what's the third strike?" I asked.

"She was Lucien's sister," Lincoln replied.

"You got to be kidding me." I was stunned. "Lucien and Shadow hated each other."

"Remember how I told you Shadow slept with Lucien's sister? Well that was the partial truth. They were in love."

"Why didn't you tell me right from the start?"

"Too many complications, the predominant one being that after they broke each other's hearts, he didn't want to talk about her anymore, refusing to even mention her name in a pa.s.sing conversation."

"That still doesn't explain why you didn't tell me."

"The curiosity of women when it comes to their men's past loves holds no bounds. You would have asked Shadow about it."

"No I wouldn't have," I protested.

Lincoln raised his eyebrow.

"You're right," I sighed. "I have the persistence of a bloodhound when I want to know something." I paused. "What was her name?"

"Leah," Lincoln replied. "She was one of the good ones; very different in personality from Lucien. Leah was well loved amongst everyone."

"Is she still alive?" I asked, holding my breath for the answer.

Lincoln nodded. "Yes, she is."

"Do you think she knows about Lucien's death?"

"I'm sure she does," Lincoln replied. "After all she works for the CIA now."

I was taken aback. "Another mole planted by the Midnight Society?"

Lincoln shook his head. "No, she's all out there on her own. She turned her back on the Midnight Society long ago, right after the war ended and Shadow and her called it quits."

"The Midnight Society just let her walk away? I thought there was some strict code that once you were in, there was no getting out."

"The Gamble's had a long history in our organization. They paid their dues and were free to do as they pleased. Lucien chose to continue on with the Gamble's legacy in the Midnight Society while Leah decided to fight organizations like the Ascension through the right side of the law."

"So how did the war end? I a.s.sume the Midnight Society came out on top."

Lincoln nodded. "Shadow did his best to lead the organization, but he was still young and inexperienced. Luckily he had Abraham's knowledge and wisdom to guide him through the ordeal. Abraham's brilliance was second to none and he was able to attack our enemies with surgical precision, cutting off the limbs of the organization one-by-one. Funny enough, it was the Crow Brothers, hired by Calisto, who eventually found and a.s.sa.s.sinated Rose."

"So after the war was done, Shadow couldn't rekindle his romance with Leah?"

Lincoln shook his head. "Their relationship was too far gone at that point. Leah wanted to carve her own path, one far away from Shadow and the Midnight Society. When she left, she took a piece of Shadow's heart with her. You can't fault her for her exit though. Everyone deserves to find their own happiness, and sometimes, you need to leave the one you love in order to do it."

I swallowed hard as I reflected on Lincoln's words.

"Anyway, the point of the story is that Shadow still loves you. Right now, however, he is doing what he thinks is best for you. It's all a matter of conflicting opinions."

"What's your opinion then?" I asked. "Is pushing me away the best way to protect me? I'm already swimming with the same sharks as Shadow. What difference does it make if we swim together or separately?"

Lincoln shrugged. "That question is best left for Shadow to answer."

I slumped in my seat and closed my eyes. I tried to think of what Dad would say if he were here to witness this catastrophe that was my life.

There was only one time in my life where my dad was ever truly disappointed in me. It was the night after my prom, when I got drunk out of my mind and forgot to call home.

My dad went out searching for me, and from what he told me, I was found unconscious, lying on the hood of my s.h.i.thead ex-boyfriend's car while he was trying to pull down my panties. If my dad hadn't found me in time, I would have been raped.

When I awoke the next morning with a hangover that could usher in the apocalypse, my dad was sitting on the edge of my bed, his eyes wet from crying.

"You have to be better than this," he had said to me. "I won't be here forever to look out for you."

The look on my father's face at the time broke my heart. Now, as I sat in front of the broken mirror, my life in shambles-no family, no loved ones, no dreams-I imagined that same, gut-wrenching look on my dad's spirit while he looked down on me.

Every day, it was getting harder and harder to breathe.

"We're burning daylight," Lincoln said as he opened up one of the drawers of the makeup desk and pulled out a bag. "It's a long drive to New Orleans, and with the cops, Sinister's goons, and every d.a.m.ned bounty hunter this side of the galaxy searching for us, we'll need to undergo a metamorphosis first. We'll need to make sure that Aria and Lincoln no longer exist."

"Like singularity suicide."

"Something along those lines," he said as he pulled out a makeup brush. "Transformation is all about changing your physical symmetry. Alter the symmetry of your face and you wind up as someone new and unidentifiable."

"You seem to know a lot about being someone else."

"My entire Empire was built on the concept of trickery," Lincoln said as he brought the brush to my face and gently began applying foundation on it. "Now, if you're ready, let's rid this world of Aria Valencia."

Chapter Five.

Shadow "Did my brother suffer?"

Those were the words she greeted me with, despite not seeing me in over four years. It was understandable. She no longer cared about me as she did her brother, despite Lucien being a complete degenerate and a jacka.s.s. Being of the same blood allowed two people to look past each other's flaws...most of the time.

The wounds were far too deep for me to ever reconcile with Calisto.

"I want to know, Shadow. Did Lucien suffer?" Leah asked me again as she sat down in an empty seat inside the small coffee shop, which was attached to a children's book store.

It was a question I wasn't prepared to answer. I closed my eyes and remembered Lucien's lifeless body, pale and blue with a black goat-head tattooed on his chest. He seemed at peace and for that, I was somewhat grateful. Despite Lucien getting beneath my skin every time we breathed the same air, he didn't deserve this gruesome fate.

There was a time when I thought I knew what my sister was thinking or feeling at any given moment, that we had that invisible bond that supposedly existed between twins.

And then just two weeks ago I realized I didn't know s.h.i.t.

"I don't think Lucien suffered," I replied.

Leah bit her lip and leaned back in her chair, nodding. I could tell she wanted to cry, but she wouldn't. She never did, even when we were together. She wasn't going to start sobbing now.

She brushed her long, flowing blonde hair out of her face. She was still a radiant beauty to look at, her soft lips, aqua eyes, and delicate skin that was blessed by the sun. She took my breath away then and she did the same now. I watched as she reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope, handing it over to me.

"Here's a new pa.s.sport and some money," she said, "Enough to get you to Hong Kong and back. Cross the borders sparingly. If enough eyes are on you, someone's bound to recognize you at some point."

I opened up the pa.s.sport and read the name she had given me.

"Richard Stroker?" I asked incredulously.

She smirked. "I thought it was fitting."

"Still haven't lost your twisted sense of humor I see."

"Count your blessings," she said. "If you weren't blazing the charts of the CIA watch list, I wouldn't have given you something so subtle. It took all my will power not to give you Mike Litoris."

I sighed and shoved the pa.s.sport in the pocket of my hoodie.

"It's been a long time Shadow," she said. "I was shocked to hear from you. How have you been?"

I shrugged. "My sister's a crazy b.i.t.c.h who murdered all my friends. How are you doing?"

Leah took a deep breath. "I'm doing okay," she said. "I'm dealing with all of this. Lucien and I lost touch, after I chose to leave the Midnight Society. I guess he felt I was turning my back on him. I always thought that one day, we would reconcile. I thought once I had children, he would open up to me again; an older and wiser Lucien who would forget all his troubles while he played with his nieces and nephews."

That was a different tune from four years ago. Leah always thought children held people back from their true potential. She never entertained the thought of starting a family with me.

"Are you seeing anyone?" The words seemed to slip out of my mouth effortlessly, as if I were asking her if she wanted cream and sugar.

"You know you can't ask me that question," Leah said as she took her eyes off of me and stared at a pair of kids, a brother and a sister that walked into the bookstore with their mom.

"Just curious, that's all," I said. "Despite our less than amicable breakup, I do still want you to be happy."

She sighed. "I'm getting by. But we all know picture perfect happiness is impossible for people like us; for people who were touched by the Midnight Society."

Her gaze never left the children, who were focused on a display of fantasy books. The boy grabbed a copy of "Where the Wild Things Are." I couldn't help but smile as I recalled Abraham reading it to Julia and I. Innocence was such a precious thing.

"What about you Shadow?" she asked, turning her attention back to me. "Have you found yourself some happiness yet, during these past four years?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I did meet a girl," I began, "But I'm not so sure it will work out."

"Tell me about her," Leah said.

I laughed. "So let me get this straight, you won't tell me if you're seeing someone, yet I'm supposed to divulge to you if I'm hooking up with someone?"

"Yes," Leah said, deadpanned.

"Isn't that a double standard?"

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Leah said with a smile. "But don't forget, I have the vast network of the CIA at my disposal. I can find out every little detail about this girl: her name, her eye color, her bra size, what she had for breakfast-everything down to the last detail."

"Why do you want to know?" I asked. "So you can get jealous?"

Leah shook her head. "I want to know the girl whose heart you're going to break."

I was taken aback by her response. "Excuse me?"

"Shadow, you were always one of the good guys, but as long as you have this chip on your shoulder, at some point, anyone who cares about you will be burned by that raging fire of yours."

I held my breath and stared at Leah, who had pity in her eyes. However it wasn't her pity I needed, it was her help.

"You've got no right to judge me."

"I'm not judging you Shadow," Leah said. "I'm just telling you, be decent and don't hurt anyone else like you hurt me."

"What makes you think I haven't changed?" Shadow asked.

Leah laughed. "I a.n.a.lyze people for a living, that's my job," she said. "I can look at someone for all of five minutes and summarize them in less than three words. I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I'm very good at what I do."

"Summarize me then," I said.