Chapter 4

I trailed behind my queen nervously. I knew she was going to interrogate me the moment we got into her chambers. I also knew that Jason, the director, hadn't found Shelia. It wasn't unheard of for him not to have caught her but her minions or her numbers instead. She wasn't going to get caught that easily. Although these were only passing thoughts in my mind when she closed the door and faced me, looking as if she was going into battle. The mantra that I kept thinking was "how the hell am I going to tell her about me?" As I was opening my mouth to try to explain, she held up her hand.

"All I want to know is your real name," she sighed losing all the fighting spirit that I had seen from her while marching up here. Shocked I stared at her for a brief moment before nodding slowly.

"Castor. My name's Castor," I answered hesitantly waiting for the barrage of questions to begin but when she just sat down and leaned her head against the couch cushions, confusion overtook me. "Why aren't you asking anything else?" My question didn't appear to affect her much because she glanced up, her eyes looking through me.

"If you want to explain it in time then you can. I don't have anything against that and I still trust you. I just wished you would've told me your name before I got this shock," she explained. Sinking down next to her, I considered what she had told me. There had only been two other people who had found out about me fully before they had killed themselves. The notes each of them left had said that they weren't able to deal with what I had gone through or the fact that I may end up betraying them. Both deaths had hurt worse than they should have because the two people had been my lovers.

"Then tell me things slowly. I don't need you to tell me all about yourself in one go. Just a little bit and then we can get the newbies settled in," she offered as I realized that I had said my thoughts aloud. Looking down at my hands, I thought it over before sitting up and taking a deep breath. She shifted to where she leaned against me wordlessly, giving silent strength to tell her what I wanted to.

"I was born to a hedge witch who didn't use her remedies for birth protection. She was a beautiful woman and loved me more than life itself. She brought me up with a mixture of smiles and small punishments that hurt deeper than any actual physical pain which allowed me to learn from it. I never met my father. When mom spoke about him, all the light went out in her eyes and she would look into a place that I couldn't see. I didn't like that so we never talked about him. I knew that I looked like him but as to who he was...it's a mystery that I don't want to solve. I was eight when my mother got killed. They came in the middle of the afternoon with only me as a witness. We lived too far out of the way for anyone else to see. I didn't know who they were and at first thought that they were customers so I hid myself because most of Mom's customers didn't like knowing that she had a child. It was...horrible and disgusting and humiliating to watch and not be able to do anything about. My mother was raped multiple times and was beaten so hard when she tried to get away that she had broken bones and bruises were forming as they did it. She never saw me watching, paralyzed, unable to move. I wanted to save her, to do something to protect her but even as they slowly chopped up her body and then cooked it to eat it, I couldn't do anything. I tried to move...I honestly did but...something stopped me. The murderers never found me that day and the only thing that was left of my mother was the blood on the floor and her bones. Once they had gone away, I climbed down and stared at the mess unmoving for days. I vaguely remember one of her customers coming to get something but once she saw the horrific scene, she grabbed me and ran out of there.

"I'm still not sure of those days and as I try to remember all I get is a dark room with rats that scurried around. I ended up making friends with them and they brought me small morsels of food that sustained me over the weeks that I was in there. I talked with them so much through mental speech that I didn't even use my mouth anymore except for eating. When I finally was released, I found out that I had been imprisoned for my mother's murder but the real murderers had come to light so they let me out. I stayed in the slums with my rat friends that talked and provided for me. The other slum kids didn't seem to know how to take to me until I rescued one of them from a passing carriage. The shock of nearly being run over was a lot to deal with and he ran away from me in terror. For a time, I was left alone as they considered me again with fresh eyes. Oddly enough, they took to me and the boy I saved came into my small corner.

'Come stay with us,' were the only words out of his mouth that I heard but by that time I wasn't fit to be near humans. I had only protected him out of pure human instinct rather than compassion or courage. He seemed to know that I had become something of an animal myself and he treated me like one. He gave me treats when I was good and fed me regularly. The street kids understood that I was his to take care of and never bothered me about it.

"It had only been a few months when I was talked to by a man in his late years (which was around his thirties then) when my caretaker wasn't around.

"Come play with me," he offered, holding out a sweet pie and I took it unaware of what was happening to me. It took me years to come to terms with what he did but my revenge was swifter then my own comprehension. He had sealed me in a room from day in to day out and only came in at night with food for me, never with any silverware or any kind of sharp objects. At first, he would act kind and gentle. Giving me the food that I had waited for all day but he would grow worse as the night went on. I have always thought that rape wasn't the right word for the things he made me do. I couldn't understand then what I do now and even then I can hardly believe it happened to me. He never sought to give me pleasure, he was a sadist to the core and acted on every urge that he had. His favorite thing to do was to cut me with a very thin knife that only let me bleed out a little at a time and never in places that would do me any huge physical harm. He just liked to see me squirm but...I don't think that telling you all of this is very good for you," I interrupted myself glancing down at her pale face which had grown paler since my history had started.

"I lived before this as a woman named Victoria and her family had an uncle that used to do that to her. He was a very nasty man that killed her entire family except for her," She informed me in a strangled voice and I frowned at her. We were getting in dangerous waters here. Then again, my entire past was dangerous so it appeared that the ship had already sailed.

"Did Jack know?" it was a simple question but one that bothered me to no extent. If he did know then I would feel left out somehow but if he didn't then the privilege would be mine. The realization that I wanted exclusive possession of this woman was starting to get to me.

"He knew me as Victoria," she replied simply and my jealousy of a dead man grew. A trait that I hadn't been able to fix as the days went by.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" I asked gently but she shook her head. Her eyes were unfocused on the past and I wanted to draw her back in somehow.

"Do you want me to go on?" A nervous tinge entered my voice as I phrased the question pulling her mind to the present. Those light golden-brown eyes looked up at me and seared their way into my memory destroying the drapes of uncertainty and hopelessness.

"That's something you can only decide yourself. I'll listen to whatever you want me to listen to," she answered bluntly and took my hand in both of hers. They were so small compared to mine, so thin and fragile but their owner was anything but that. My silence wasn't interpreted as anything but a pause in what I was going to say next and I was about to start when Kyle knocked lightly on the door.

The boy held Mr. Valentine tightly in his arms as he approached us and examined us both before speaking. His tattoo shimmered lightly on his neck and it grew dark again as his eyes met mine.

"The spirits told me about you," He informed me and I nodded knowing that they would. I also knew that there were very few spirits who knew my entire history so it wasn't a problem.

"And what's your conclusion?" I questioned as Mina sat up to look from one of us to the other.

"You aren't very nice to people you don't like," he replied easing his grip on Mr. Valentine.

"Neither are you," I pointed out. A smile lit up his face as he agreed silently with me. Mina thought the kid was all rainbows and unicorns but he was nearly on a level to compete with me. The things I read in people's minds about him would scare the pants off her. Which is one of the reasons why I let other people tell their own stories and not get into their business.

"Are you really going to be an agent?" Kyle protested finally, getting past the second reason why he was here. He didn't like her being a government worker any more than I did.

"It appears so," she shrugged taking everything at face value. Kyle had interrupted at a good point even though I knew he had planned it so that I could get away with not fully explaining what that man had done to me. I also knew that if I told Mina the whole story then Kyle would know. The only question is if I wanted him to know or not. As I thought about my sudden situation, the two bantered back and forth lightly not noticing the man walking through the door to see them.

"Jason," I greeted coldly, standing up to block Mina from the director's sight. The movement wasn't wasted on him as I knew it wouldn't be and he gave a short laugh.

"What's all this Kaden? You aren't going to be a problem are you? This is a deal with your 'queen' and me after all," he mocked me lightly but I didn't rise to the bait.

"Let me be her partner," I demanded putting just the right amount of threat into my voice for him to know if I didn't get what I wanted then things would go downhill, for him at least.

"People think you're dead. If you turn up now how am I supposed to explain it to my boss?" he asked but a grin was forming on his face and a matching one was already on mine. The older days were coming back to us both and we knew how much fun it would be. Reaching out, I took his offered hand and shook it. I was back in business.

Author's note: That's right. This is a chapter that you've been looking forward to for months and I haven't posted. Well, I hope you enjoy it because I'm back in business myself with this little number! COMMENT (please) and vote! :D Thanks for reading!