Catalyst Read online

  “Are you ready?” I asked her.

  Her eyebrows furrowed. “Ready for what?” she asked in a small voice.

  “I want you to be my wife,” I said with confidence.

  Her eyes widened, and she looked from the priest to me.

  “What?” she screeched. She tried to back away from me, but I snaked an arm around her waist to keep her in place.

  “You are everything to me, Alana. This,” I pointed to her and me. “I want you to know it’s real. I want to reassure you I will always come back to you. Do me the honor?” I sounded like I was begging, but I didn’t care.

  Alana shut her eyes and, for a moment, for only one moment, I thought she would withdraw from me. But as I began to contemplate how to convince her, she spoke.

  “I will do anything for you, my liege. I will marry you, because you’ll always be the one I love until eternity.”

  Those words…those words were our vows to each other. Vows that escaped our lips traveling all the way to the gods’ ears. We were one, even in the eyes of the gods.

  ***

  I jolted out of the memory and tried to calm myself down. I don’t know how long I was gone, but when I opened my eyes, we had finally reached our destination. We were on the outskirts of town where the operations of the now nameless agent ran. We’d landed miles away from there so they wouldn’t hear the helicopter. I looked around and saw my men waiting in vehicles for me with all our equipment. This wasn’t the same extraction mission we went on to retrieve our turned agent; this was a kill mission. One I reveled in because the warrior in me wanted this just as much.

  I knew this wasn’t going to go down as simply as we wanted it. I smiled, knowing we were catching these terrorists by surprise. These weren’t your typical, so-called terrorists the news paraded on the internet, using people who resembled middle easterners, or anything. These were people just like everyone else in the United States. They fit into society; some of them were teachers, parents, gardeners, or like the nameless agent. They infiltrate and become part of every organization, not letting folks, even trained individuals like us, sniff them out until it’s too late.

  As we slowly walked in the building that posed as a laundromat, one of them knew something was going on. Before he could tell his buddies, I gave the signal to one of my men to open fire. Seconds passed by before his buddies, who were all making bombs and other equipment, began shouting as they opened fire back. I whispered to the device in my ear to one of the guys outside.

  “Cut the lights.”

  A moment later, it was pitch black and my team had their night vision goggles on. This threw the terrorists into a frenzy. My team of six knew exactly what they needed to do. They were highly trained. If they were on my team, I could trust them to do what needed to be done without question. Just as I gripped a man by his neck bringing him down to the floor, putting my heavy foot on his neck, my cell phone rang.

  I rolled my eyes, wondering who the hell could be calling me right now.

  “Marx, who the hell is calling me?” I shouted through the earpiece.

  “It’s the wife, sir,” he answered.

  I smirked at how he referred to Elani. They all knew she was my woman, and it made me smile, him calling her my wife.

  “Okay,” I said, and he put her through. “Baby?” I answered.

  “Ales? Where are you?” She groaned as she spoke. I smiled proudly knowing she was trying to get out of bed but probably flopped back down.

  “I’m working, honey,” I said as I aimed my gun and shot another man who was trying to escape through the back.

  “What’s that noise?” she asked me.

  “You sore, love?” I asked, my voice dropping an octave. “You seem to sound fine, right now; should I change that?”

  “I’d love to get a few more days of sleep. I remember how much you loved to sex me up into a coma back then.”

  I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth to keep from losing my sight on this mission. I heard all my men screaming, “Clear!” I was relieved.

  “Your wish is my command, my love. I’ll be home in a little while,” I said, before hanging up.

  I looked down at the guy, not yet dead and still under my boot.

  “Guess Christmas came early for me,” I said with a sardonic smile. I looked up to see my men coming back in. I nodded at them. “Let’s get this man back to headquarters. I’d love to break him in.”

  I walked out of the laundromat and dialed the director.

  “Barrows,” he answered.

  “It’s done. We have a gift we must break in. Send your people in to clean up the mess,” I ordered.

  He chuckled. “I don’t take orders from you. I’ll call my people when I can,” he replied smugly.

  “You forget I don’t care about anything. I can kill you in your home, beside your wife, and no one would ever know it’s me. Before you threaten me about being recorded or using this threat against me, you forget my rank is higher than yours. I don’t answer to you.”

  I heard him breathing heavily as if he was about to speak again, daring me to kill him tonight, before the sun rose.

  “Get it done,” I replied and hung up. I turned around to see Patro standing by the doorway shaking his head at me. I shrugged my shoulders.

  “Go home. We’ll give him the basics before you break him in.”

  I rolled my eyes, tossing my gun his way. I made it to the helicopter and told the pilot to get a move on. I rested my head, waiting to make it back to my bed and knock out for a couple of days as well.

  Chapter 8

  Elani

  When Ales hung up, I shook my head. He was hard-headed, and what were all the sounds in the background? I knew a gun sound when I heard it, but he ignored my question, reminding me I should still be knocked out. What he didn’t know was I was on my way back to dreamland, but Lady woke me up and wanted to cuddle with me. I looked down at her as she laid with her big furry body wrapped around my side. I smiled as I ran my fingers through the soft fur and drifted back to sleep. My body was not ready to be up, and Ales’ words echoed in my ears. A smile spread on my face as I remembered how much trouble I had gotten into when I woke up three days later still spread out on Achilles’ bed. As I slept, the memory came to me with such bliss that all I could do was accept it.

  When I awoke, a smile spread all over my face from the pure blissful torture it had went through. I was smiling as though the gods themselves gave me the chance to get into heaven. I turned my face toward the shining sun, and I knew nothing could get this smile off my face, not even if I was late to helping around. I heard the men shouting outside as they practiced. I sank farther into the bed, not wanting to be disturbed, but then I felt a kick at the foot of the bed. I stood quickly and turned to see who was doing that and my heart almost gave out. I placed a hand over my chest and relief washed over me as I saw the familiar face of Helena.

  “You frightened me!” I screeched.

  She chuckled and shook her head. She threw some clothes at me.

  “Head maiden is going to be furious if you don’t come down today.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’ve only been gone the night.”

  Helena shook her head and stared at me for a moment in silence. “You’ve been in here for three days! Achilles said we shouldn’t disturb you while he was training. He threatened to have us beheaded if we dared disturbed you while in your slumber.”

  I was in total shock as she explained to me I had been in there for three whole days. I swear it had only seemed like hour, or maybe I was asleep much longer than I thought. I hastily grabbed the garment she brought me and slipped it over my upper half. I moved to stand on my trembling limbs, then cleared my throat as the rest of the gown fell to my feet, covering my bottom half.

  I looked up as she snickered while I tried to stretch my limbs. I felt him all over me, and how much he adored my body. I cleared my throat louder as I rolled my eyes and braided by hair, making sure not a hair was out of pla
ce.

  “Shall we go, Helena?” I asked.

  She smiled and nodded.

  “Let us. Your warrior’s food is getting cold.”

  I shook my head at her quip remark of Achilles. She was right though. I had to make sure my warrior was fed and fed hot food at that.

  After I took a quick face washing, we went together to the kitchen area. When we arrived, no one said anything about my being gone, so I didn’t speak of it neither. I quickly followed and helped Helena without complaining, even though my legs were going to give out soon. I didn’t get why I wasn’t stable enough to properly walk. When we got outside, I avoided eye contact with Achilles. I didn’t want him to notice how much effect he had on my body, especially now. I felt his eyes as they bore into me while I gently placed their food down at the table outside. I walked back into the kitchen to get more of their food. I straightened my back once more, even though all I wanted to do was go back to bed. I smiled at the warriors and dropped the remainder of their food as they gathered at the tables to eat.

  I felt Achilles’ eyes on me from the moment Helena and I stood in the corner as they ate. Helena nudged me, and I looked up at her.

  “Your warrior isn’t hungry for food,” she whispered.

  I smiled and rolled my eyes, trying to maintain my composure as the men feasted on the food. My eyes betrayed me a moment later as they located Achilles. He wasn’t looking at me as he threw his head back and laughed at something one of the men said. His boisterous laugh sent chills up my spine and I knew I would never stop loving this man.

  Before I could turn away, his laughter died down, and he looked my way. The intense look in his green eyes captured me once more, and I was frozen in place. Nothing could have moved me, even if I wanted to, and Achilles knew it. He winked at me, smirking the moment my body reacted to him as if he knew my body better than I did. I watched as his hand shot up, and he beckoned me over with his index finger. My body moved without resistance. I wasn’t upset that it did. If he called me out to the ends of the earth, I would gladly go with him. I didn’t say anything as my body basically glided toward Achilles.

  When I got there, I stood in front of him and tried to maintain a neutral expression. He continued to smirk as his arm came around my waist and he sat me down on his lap. I didn’t complain as he went back to eating while he caressed my thigh with his free hand. I looked back at Helena who stood there and winked at me. I tried to hide my smile while shaking my head at her. Achilles noticed and buried his nose in my neck

  “Everyone seems to know about us,” he whispered.

  I tried to maintain my composure as his hand rubbed my thigh, moving higher and higher. His earthy, sweaty scent took over everything, making me forget about everyone else around us. I wondered if I would ever shy away from his touch, or what I would do if he couldn’t touch me anymore? He nibbled my neck, and I tried to focus on a spot on the table to stop myself from moaning.

  He chuckled as his tongue snaked out of his mouth and flicked the tip of my earlobe. My skin broke out into gooseflesh and I clenched my fists. The deep rumble in his voice vibrated through his chest, and coursed through my veins, causing me to feel a plethora of emotions mixed with lust. It was driving me insane to sit there trying to contain myself and not make a complete fool of myself. I wanted to be touched rougher and harder. I wanted Achilles to take me and thrust into me, connecting us, making us one again. My body ached for him as he continued to rain kisses on the spot underneath my ear. I shut my eyes again, losing all sense of caring about anyone around us. I threw my head back and let the sensations of his hands take over my muddling brain.

  It was as if the world disappeared the moment I shut my eyes. All I could feel was his hands on my body and his lips on my skin. His kisses burned me to the core, allowing me to escape the reality around us and be transported into bliss. Before Achilles, I didn’t understand what bliss was, but now…now I knew. He was bliss, and I was an addict for it. I craved him in every which way. He was the drug I would never want to let go of, even if they threatened me and wanted to take my life. I could admit that for Achilles I’d gladly give my life up for him, and he knew it.

  The sensation was building up in my core as he continued to kiss and nibble on my neck, but what threw me off was when I felt his soft lips on my womanhood. I gasped as his tongue snaked its way lightly flicking the bud. I wasn’t sure what was going on as I was lost. I wanted to open my eyes to make sure I was conducting myself well at the table in front of all his men, yet my lust held me down.

  “Let me show you how much I love you, my love.” His voice penetrated my thoughts and it made love to my subconscious.

  “Please…” I begged as I began to ride his face as much as I could. I needed him closer.

  He continued to make love to me with his tongue, rocking my core, making me yearn for him in such a way that my soul sang out his song. My soul called him out, letting him know it would never depart from him. We both felt the moment my buildup led to my climax. I was in a daze as I tried to open my eyes knowing I would have to face his men, but when I opened my eyes, my world changed.

  Ales

  When I got back home, Elani was asleep in my bed with Lady. I watched them for a moment before Lady brought her head up sensing someone was inside the room. She looked at me and I silently commanded her to get off my bed, giving her that ‘you know better’ look. She whined and walked out the room going toward her bedding area as if I scolded her. I lightly chuckled. I looked back at Elani, who must’ve been dreaming of a happier time in her life, as a beautiful smile appeared on her face.

  I looked at her for a moment longer. Her beauty was remarkable. Even back then when I first saw her, she captivated me. After being with her the first night, she had my heart. I gave it all freely to her without realizing it. And now, in this time, I couldn’t tear myself from her even as she slept. I watched her like this before when I was Achilles. I would rise before her and just stare at her for hours before she turned toward me sporting a smile that would light up her face. She would smile at me and open her eyes, knowing I would be there to love her once more with my mind, body and soul. The moment I connected my body to hers was the day I lost myself in her. I was so immersed in her and I loved it.

  I knew for a fact she thought she loved me more than I loved her, but that was a lie. I loved her so hard and so much I would’ve laid my life down multiple times just to see that smile on her face. I would never regret my death because, in those last moments I fought in battle with Paris, I only thought of her. I did all of this for her. Even if she didn’t know it, I knew it. I knew the moment her eyes landed on mine I was always going to be hers.

  I sighed, and discarded my clothing, as I made my way to the shower. I shook my head of those memories of the last moments as Achilles, the great warrior who couldn’t be killed or harmed. I walked into the shower stall and turned the water on. I let the water purify not only me but my thoughts as well. I shut my eyes, throwing my head back, letting the hot water hit my face as my death came back to haunt me. This time I couldn’t shake it as it took over my mind.

  My footing worked nicely as I ran in a battle cry toward the enemy. I led the army knowing I would never cower and hide behind my men. I had one goal in all the bloodshed and it was to get to Paris. Paris was my one and only goal. I knew what I planned to do with his body. I had plans to parade his body around, attaching it to my chariot, and dragging it around for others to see what became of my enemies. I would hang his head on a pike for all my men to look at as the perfect example on how to truly honor the dead. I planned on spitting on the same ground each day to show my disgust.

  I spotted Paris and made my way towards him. I cleared the line, not caring about any of his soldiers coming my way. I swung my sword, cutting heads off clean, stabbing some in the gut and pulling out their insides for it to be feasted on by the crows or any wild animal looking for food. I moved swiftly with my leg work and my sword in my right hand. I re
fused to lose my focus of Paris. When I finally reached him, I didn’t think twice as I struck him. We continued as if it were an old dance between friends, yet we hated each other’s guts and wanted to spill them all over the country.

  “Alana…”

  Paris’ lips spat out her name as if she was his goal. I lost my focus, and he took advantage and stabbed me on my side. It hurt, but I wouldn’t die because of such an injury.

  “I will kill her after I spill your blood today,” he growled through gritted teeth. He tried to take another swing at me with his sword.

  I blocked it and stabbed him on the side, causing a massive slash. I watched as Paris gritted his teeth some more. The look in his eyes turned cold with intent to kill. I refused to speak to him, not wanting my breath to be wasted on mere conversations.

  “I won’t just kill her. I’m going to spread her legs forcefully, and take her against her will, until she is bleeding horrifically. Then, I will leave her in the woods for an animal to come feast on her body.”

  An unknown rage entered my body at that moment and coursed through my veins. I prematurely struck him, not paying attention to anything but him. I aimed, yet he ducked, aiming for my heel. He struck my left heel, and, before I knew it, I felt my life source being sucked out of me. I tried to steady my breathing, never having experienced such a rush in my entire being. I tried to grip for something, but there was nothing, as I dropped to my knees. I had never shed tears before, but the tears came slipping past my eyelids. Although the pain that coursed through my veins was excruciating, none of it pained me as much as realizing I was leaving Alana.

  I, the great warrior Achilles, was on his knees shedding tears for a woman. Never having cried, even when my mother hid me and left me behind. None of that ever caused me to feel like this. As I felt my body losing its essence, Alana’s sweet smile appeared in my mind. I shut my eyes as my hand gripped the soil underneath me; my hands and body shook. I let out a strangled cry from the depth of my soul, then my world gave out.