Chapter 18

Lethal Shoes and Hard Negotiations

There is an incredible heady rush that goes with knowing you just survived a life or death situation. Klaus felt it in his bones, he felt it in the way his heart pounded in his ears. Like a slow drum extolling the virtue of being alive, each beat was a celebration of life.

After making sure his cousin was breathing. Klaus turned his senses outward and that's when the rush turned into something else- something carnal in its nature.

During the year of his training, Klaus knew he had changed. Not the slow ponderous way in which people improve and work on themselves to change. It was the instant disorienting and sudden change like someone had flipped a switch and in doing so made Klaus into something else. It was in the actions that followed his near-death experience that it became more apparent. Because what followed his heady rush at realizing he was alive was not relief or fear.

It was anger.

'Look what they have done to my treasure, my car. Barely in my possession for one day.'

The thought filled Klaus with more than a little rage. Luckily, Klaus had been fighting Pain. In doing so he had learned to channel it and not to lash out at everything and everyone like he was prone to do right after his awakening.

These teachings also came into play. Klaus grit his teeth just remembering Pain's voice.

'Assess yourself, your surroundings and react. You are a born predator, a lord of the skies. So hunt.'

As if on cue a popping noise sounded in his ears and all at once Klaus could hear properly again. The change in his mentality was not only mental but physical as well.

His cousin bore witness to this.

After nearly shouting her ears off Klaus had grown unnaturally quiet. She watched as his labored and excited breathing became still. His eyes seemed to flit around and take in the state of the car. His hair shimmered the strange highlights in his hair becoming more pronounced.

When Klaus looked at her again his eyes were even stranger than before the colors almost glowing in their depths. Slitted pupils burned into hers and when he spoke to her it was almost a growl.

He had opened the maw more than he had ever before.

The most shocking thing to her was watching the cut above his ear heal in a matter of a few seconds. Having a bloodline connected to the tree of life afforded all Roths an increase in healing speed, but she thought his healing was ridiculous.

"Stay."

The spoken word afforded her a glance of his teeth which revealed his incisors had become more pointed.

She wanted to ask where he thought she could go, where he thought he was going since they were stuck like sardines in a crumpled tin can.

Klaus turned away from her until his feet were facing the door. As if to answer her unasked question his legs shot out connecting solidly with his door. Metal screeched in protest the already deformed steering wheel was nearly ripped off with the counterforce while he gripped it.

"Are you crazy that won't-" She started to scream but held her tongue when she saw the door starting to give.

He kicked again and again. Each kick shaking the wreck they were in. With a final kick, the door tore from the wreck and went flying into another car parked not far from them.

Klaus peeked out of the hole he had created and then back at her. His eyes once more boring into hers. "Stay."

Panic filled her. 'Is he going to leave me here, abandon me.'

"Wait, where are you going!"

He did not answer, but once more gave a cautious glance outside. She could hear sirens now.

"Don't go, don't leave me here. I am stuck and they are after me as much as you, please cousin-"

Klaus clamped a hand over her mouth and held a single finger in front of his lips.

She nodded acceptance and watched as he moved closer to the opening remaining still and quiet. She heard it then, the sounds of boots on broken glass.

Klaus was facing away from her so she could not see the predatory smile appear on his face at hearing the familiar sound.

The silence felt like it was stretching on forever. She could hear her heartbeat along with her breathing which was speeding up with every stretched second that went by.

The silence was broken all at once. A man screamed, she heard gunshots. She saw Klaus had a man by his neck.

He pulled, the mans face smashed into the top of the car with a sickening crunch, Klaus then grabbed a handgun in the man's hip holster before kicking him like he did the car's door.

The assailant went flying backward bowling over two more.

She watched in horror and morbid fascination as Klaus stalked to each of the fallen assailants before shooting them in the head all the while keeping his head on a swivel.

He turned to her. 'Why is he smiling?'

Klaus then picked up a larger gun, a rifle. Before walking back and leaning inside and giving her a knife he had taken out of a leather strap hidden near his ankle.

She did not miss that his gun was leisurely pointed at her and had no misgivings that he would shoot her if she acted suspiciously.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

He tilted his head as if listening to something and then turned back to her.

"Survive Princess. You know. When I asked if you have ever had to kill someone I never thought you would get a chance so soon."

Klaus watched as her jaw set into determination and her grip on the knife tightened, making sure not to point it anywhere near him. 'Good she knows I don't trust her. At the moment it may seem farfetched but she could be in on all this.'

"My name is not Princess, Its Chanelle."

"Sure Princess, can you get the safety belt off?"

After glaring at him she shook her head. "I tried releasing the clasp on the safety belt but it's stuck. I will try and cut it."

Klaus gave her a sardonic smile before leaning over and yanking on the belt. "This is not the movies and it would take forever with that. Emergency services use special knives to cut people out of their safety belts."

After a few yanks, the clasp finally broke and Chanelle let out a breath of relief at being free.

'Breaking a clasp is just as ridiculous, how strong is he?' She wondered.

"We need to move, emergency services are nearly here and I don't know if your brother has sent more people."

He got out and gestured for her to follow. Chanelle crawled to the exit her dress catching on everything and anything.

After finally getting out she took the knife and started hacking away at the dress swearing her brother all the while.

She looked up to find her cousin looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What, the dress was expensive." He did not retort and scanned the surroundings once more.

She did the same discovering the area filled with cars standing at odd angles. A lot of them were crashed into each other resembling pile ups she had sometimes seen on the news. Most of the people in the vesinity were gone. 'They must have ran off after hearing the gun shots.'

Looking at their wreck she was surprised that they came out relatively unscathed.

"What's the plan?" She finally asked while internally swearing vengeance on her brother.

"We need to get to the car my guards were driving, One of my teammates was in there."

Judging by the displeasure that showed on Chanelle's face at hearing the words she did not like the idea. It caused the very angry Klaus to lash out. "You can always go your own way, right now she means more to me than you ever could."

Gunshots interrupted her rebuttal and Klaus did not think twice before starting to move in the direction that the sound had come from. The direction he knew the Sedan should be in.

"Can you at least give me the handgun?" She hurriedly tried to whisper while running after him in her heels.

"No. Stay quiet and take off those shoes." Klaus had to do a double-take. The shoes were hidden by her dress before but judging by how long the heels were Chanelle was a lot shorter than what she appeared.

Klaus imagined that if she were to trip she would break her neck. 'They look lethal.' He couldn't help but think.

"These are custom made-"

"Take them off or I will do it for you."

He did not wait to see if she complied but took off running to the next car and ducking behind it for cover.

More gunshots followed and Klaus saw a girl running towards them. 'Is that Liz?'

He watched as she jumped before sliding over the bonnet of a car, a gun in each hand which spat fire and bullets while she slid. Two men chasing her went down in the barrage but there were two more.

As soon as she crouched down after her slide Klaus jumped up, aimed and pulled the trigger only to hear a resounding click.

"Shit."

"The safety is on!" Liz shouted.

The two men had jumped into cover when seeing him but after Elizabeth's shout, they came running.

Klaus had no time to berate himself for being an idiot and thumbed the safety. 'If I survive this I am going to shooting lessons.'

He jumped up once more and pulled the trigger. The gun bucked against his shoulder but he barely moved- his weight easily taking the recoil, his aim, however, was terrible. The shots still served to scare the men back into cover.

Liz had taken the opportunity to run to him and grab the gun. The girl two heads shorter than him then expertly placed it against her shoulder and shot the first man to peek out of cover in the head.

They both ducked down just in time before a barrage of bullets started to rake their cover. Holes appearing in the side of the car. Its tailights close to where they were sitting was shot to smithereens. Surprisingly not one window was hit.

"How can you not use a gun?" Liz asked him with a scowl.

He wanted to reply but before he could she was up and shooting again.

"They are surrounding us, two just made it right to the other side of this car." Said Liz while gesturing at the vehicle they were hiding behind.

Klaus crawled a bit away from the car before setting himself up like an athlete about to do a hundred-meter sprint.

"What are you-"

Liz could not finish her sentence before Klaus jumped forward right into the side of the car. The door frame crumpled, the windows burst and the car which had been relatively unscathed deployed its airbags as if giving protest. Tires squealed while the vehicle got shunted into another crushing the two assailants between their car and the next.

Rubbing his shoulder Klaus once again took cover next to her. "Normally I don't have to shoot."

Liz rolled her eyes at him.

Chanelle finally joined them a second later, running on tiptoes a knife in one hand and shoes in the other. Klaus just managed to pull her down before more bullets got sprayed in their direction.

Liz took in the sight of Chanelle and then turned to Klaus. "How is she still alive?"

Klaus saw movement behind Chanelle. He grabbed one of her shoes which then turned into nothing more than a blur in the eyes of the two young women.

A gunshot went off the flash of it outlining Klaus' silhouette in the darkness.

The gunman went flying a riduclously long shoe's heel stuck in his left eye socket.

Klaus turned back to his companions still in a heightened state. There was another gunman behind them. Asphalt crunched beneath his feet. The dress shoes he had on broke apart. Everything seemed to blur around him before his senses could catch up and he crashed into the man.

The gunman's ribs cracked and caved in under Klaus' shoulder before he went flying, his legs clipped the roof of a van, turning his flight into a tumble and he rag-dolled out of sight.

The world started to slow for Klaus once more and his legs gave in.

The first thing he heard was.

"My shoe!"

Liz was next to him a second later. "You have been shot!"

She tore off a piece of her sleeve and pressed it against his chest.

'What just happened?' Was all Klaus could think. He had never moved that fast. Not even when Pain drove him to madness.

Liz was soon replaced by Chanelle. He faintly heard Liz saying something about keeping pressure.

'Oh yes, she said I was shot.'

Flashes of gunfire followed and then screams. Klaus saw Sloth for a brief moment except. "Why is nearly half his face missing?"

He felt someone pick him up. Chanelle shouted at him.

"Don't you dare die before replacing my shoes."

Things had then turned into a blur. He knew they were moving judging by the lights overhead.

He heard some shouting, saw flashing lights of blue and red. 'Maybe its the police? Someone is holding my hand?'

He turned his head laboriously to look, it was very hard to do. "Liz?"

She gave him a faint smile. "You are going to be okay it's over now."

He saw a big red tree and then they were inside a fancy building. More people shouted. He was then placed on a bed. Someone cut his clothes away.

"How is he still alive?" He heard someone ask.

They injected him with something and then placed a mask over his face. It smelled strange.

"Doctor it's not working!"

"We will have to operate while he is awake."

Someone cut him. "What is this, he is healing at a visible rate."

Klaus felt very hungry all of a sudden. "Food."

He saw people dressed like doctors look at each other. His draconic side felt anger at them ignoring him and he did not feel inclined to keep it back.

"I said, bring me food!" His voice boomed.

One ran out.

Lilith was sitting at a very ornate table while talking to two people. Unlike the younger generation, the older ones handled their negotiations much like business contracts.

The board room she had found herself in was none other than that of Roth Consolidated- a company owned by the Roth that mainly focused on military research as far as the public was concerned. Her phone was vibrating for the umpteenth time and she would have ignored it if not for the man that burst in through the door.

"Sir, Ladies I am sorry to interrupt but something has happened and I need to speak to you quickly, Mr. Roth."

One of the other people at the table got up. A tall man with handsome features and slicked back blonde hair. If Klaus was there he would have seen the family resemblance between the man and the Roth twins.

Lilith took the opportunity to answer her phone.

"Pain, I am rather busy at the moment."

The line was quiet for a moment, but the demon soon spoke. "I am aware but I do hope you have not made a deal with the walking dead yet."

Lilith's veins turned cold and her eyes narrowed while she looked at the woman across from her. "What did the Roths do?"

The woman now meeting her gaze raised an eyebrow in question.

"The offspring of the male you were talking to arranged for a hit squad to target my Young Master. You have half an hour to leave the building"

Lilith stood up fury and worry burning in her. "Where is he and why do I only have half an hour?"

Pain was quiet for another few seconds. "It is twentynine minutes now and I urge you to move with haste because I have ordered an airstrike on all of their facilities."

"How do you expect me to get out of here in half an hour!"

"I suggest you run."

The line went dead.

"Fucking demons." Lilith couldn't help but swear.

She then spotted the woman sitting there with an inquisitive gaze.

"Fucking Roths too."

She was about to follow Pain's suggestion of running but the man that had gone out had come back.

It only took a moment for him to take in the scene. The Dalmora was standing and looking like she was ready to bolt.

His aunt was seated with a clear look of confusion on her face. She had given him the reins for this meeting. A test of sorts and it was going well until the phone call. Whatever plans he may have had was flushed down the toilet by his idiot son.

"You have to believe me. I had no hand in this." He said almost pleading. They would have gotten twelve potion fruit out of the deal. Something which would have helped their branch save a lot of the very old generation. It may have even given some of them enough time to advance again and in doing so extend their lives.

Lilith ignored him and aimed to go past and make a quick exit but he blocked her.

Lilith's hand snaked up, gripping one of her hairpins and pulled releasing her silver hair to cascade down past her shoulders.

Before the man could react its sharpened point was under his chin.

"I said move."

The woman was still seated at the table looking at all of it with detachment. She finally spoke. "James, what has happened."

He hesitated for a moment but only a moment. "My son, he. He tried to have Klaus killed along with his twin sister."

Lilith quirked an eyebrow at this. Pain had said nothing about the other Roth.

The woman was next to Lilith in an instant. "Did she survive?"

Lilith had a glance at her watch. "I don't have time for this."

The woman turned to her. "I am sure your charge is perfectly fine."

Lilith almost laughed. "You people have no clue who you are dealing with. Were the Argents not enough of an example."

"I thought you did not know about them?"

Lilith shook her head. She was running out of time. "I did not but I have a pretty good idea of who was responsible and yes it was because they targeted Klaus. Like you did."

The woman snorted with derision. "We are hardly in the same league as the Argents."

Lilith laughed in her face and lowered the hairpin before sitting down defeated. 'I will never make it out alive. I hope Klaus is okay.'

Her phone started to ring.

"Why are you not running Miss Delmora."

She sighed at hearing Pain's voice. "They won't let me leave. Before I die can you at least tell me if Klaus is okay?"

"Your worry for the young master is admirable. He was shot in the heart but somehow is managing to heal it naturally."

Lilith's heart stopped at hearing the news. "How did he survive."

She could almost hear Pain's unnatural creepy smile when he spoke again. "The Young Master has two hearts."

Lilith slumped down in her chair feeling relief and regret at the same time.

"Please put the phone on loudspeaker, Miss Delmora."

Lilith did as she was told not understanding the point if they were all going to be blown into kingdom come anyway.

"Greetings vermin. I am contacting you on behalf of my Young Master. You are to release the Lady Delmora immediately or die. Those are the terms."

The Roth woman stepped forward with a scowl, her chin and nose in the air in a way that reminded Lilith of Boethia. "This is Meribeth Roth also know as the Green Death in the Secret Worlds to whom am I speaking?"

"I know who you are fallen rat. I am Pain also known as Pain." Lilith imagined the unnatural smile as Pain spoke, she got gooseflesh just thinking about it.

"How dare you!" Maribeth's fists balled until her knuckles turned white. The fallen Roth was a derogatory term used on those who did not take on what the other faction called their sacred mission. Finding the seeds Sephiroth.

"Silence worm. You have twenty-five minutes to comply. We have already destroyed your facilities in Garone and Percia every minute that you do not comply we will destroy another. You only live because of the mercy of my Young Master and because Miss Delmora is present."

The tone of the phone disconnecting followed. Each beep feeling to the Roth like it was a nail being hammered into their coffin.

Garone was a small country known for its oil fields. The Roth had a large stake in it. Percia was right next to it but was far larger in comparison. Someone who had the power to take out all of their facilities in that area in mere minutes would have no issue with killing them where they stood.

Meribeth looked to James who was already on the phone trying to contact their people in those countries. He shook his head, a negative.

She looked at Lilith. "You are free to go, or you can leave with us. I plan to go fetch his idiot son and then to go see this Young Master of yours."