All Of Me (Book 3 of Lastor Series)

Chapter 5: Malachi

One hour earlier...

My fingers were trembling and I gripped my rifle tightly to make it stop. I heard the operative inside the hotel report that the target was moving to the exit and I relayed to all teams to stand by. I saw a group of suited men walk out. I looked for her, finding her walking within the wall that they served to be.

"Prepare to attack," I said into the radio.

They suddenly stopped and then I saw her point our way. I stiffened. We'd been made.

"Move!"

The operatives on foot advanced but before they could close in on them, they started dropping like flies while the rest scrambled to take cover as bullets rained down on them from different directions.

Snipers. How? Where?

I saw them enter three vehicles and caught her get into the one in the middle. I called out to the reinforcement team to come as they sped out into the road and ordered for the driver to ram into them from behind while the reinforcement team came at them from the front, locking them in place.

"Target is in the back seat," I said hurriedly. "Do not shoot at her."

I was stepping out of the van when a bullet whipped past me from overhead, hitting one of the men outside. I cursed, looking around, searching for the snipers' positions as I followed the trajectory of the bullets. I caught sight of one position.

"Jakob," I called. "Building on my nine, twelfth floor. Six window."

"Copy."

What is this? How did she manage all this in a day? Did she know? How did she make us? Was there a leak?

I couldn't think through the cloud of confusion in my mind as the sound of gunshots burst my eardrums and then I saw her appear. Standing in the midst of it all. She must be insane.

"Hold fire! Hold fire!" I yelled frantically.

The chaos seized and she disappeared again, appearing a moment later and pulling herself up on the roof. I saw another woman come up, remaining between her legs for cover. They started shooting, the other woman taking our on-ground operatives while she shot at the front.

"Fire at the back seat," I ordered. "Keep it low."

I heard Thomas cursing, telling those on foot to stop taking cover. The rest of her men were commanding the two SUVs, driving away.

They're leaving her?

"Front!" I ordered. "Fire at their engine!"

She suddenly disappeared, going back into the vehicle.

"Hold fire!" Thomas yelled. "The b***h went into the front!"

She knows our objective and was using it against us.

"Mal, you have to get rid of those damned snipers or we won't be able to grab her," Thomas bit out.

"Jakob, report," I called.

"I'm on the twelfth floor. It's clear."

Huh?

I looked up, finding the trajectory of the snipers' shots shifting indiscriminately. "Roof. Check the roof."

"Mal, we can't hold. The windshield's about to give," Thomas reported.

I cursed. "Retreat."

I heard the sound of their tires reversing, followed by Thomas cursing. "f**k, I'm shooting this b***h down."

"No! We need her unharmed!" I snapped.

They suddenly started moving and I yelled to follow. She was facing us and the driver swerved around the road to keep her off aim. She shot at the hood instead, busting the engine. She said something and the other woman came up behind her, using her as cover again as she aimed at us. The front tires blew and I clutched the dashboard as we swerved. I watched, helpless and confused, wondering what on Earth just happened as they drove away.

This is my other half? What brilliance.

I held the radio to my mouth, swallowing. "Thomas, report."

"We can't chase. Both the engine and front tires are gone," he replied.

I cursed inwardly. "Jakob, report."

"Roof is clear. No snipers."

"Ava, report."

"I got the track in," she said. "But I can't get a read. They must have scramblers."

"Initiate back up. Prepare for second attack," I ordered.

"Copy," the replied in unison.

I took out my phone, dialing Yusupov. "Operation is a failure," I informed him. "Be alert. She's coming."

*********

Present time...

My ears were ringing, my body was burning hot, and my lungs were struggling to take in air through the thick smoke clouding every inch of Yusupov's mansion. This was all her, this c*****e and unending violence. How exhilarating. She was truly a masterpiece, as what Father promised.

I tore through the force of men storming in, delivering a single killing blow to each of them and never pausing as I made my way to the back of the mansion. Another bomb was dropped from above and rubble fell on me. I pushed them off, getting back up and bearing the pain shooting through my broken ankle as I kept running, the prospect of finally meeting my other half keeping me going. I reached the forest, taking advantage of the thick snow and tall trees. I found the bag that had been left for me and looted through it for the phone. Panting, I pressed call on the sole number listed in the contact's list.

"Was that enough?" I asked. "Do you have a lock?"

"Yes. We're on our way."

I grabbed the water flask from the bag, chugging it half empty before responding. "Send me the location."

I tended to my injuries, wrapping my ankle and injecting a dose of morphine to numb the pain. I set on the trail just as the message with the coordinates of the warehouse arrived. I reached the end of the forest where it met with the hi-way and went to where I had left my motorcycle. I gripped the handles tightly, increasing my speed as I pulled into the road.

Fifty kilometers, West.

Wait for me, sister. We'll go home together.

********

Thomas and Jakob were commanding the extraction team. When I reached them, they were at a stand off with our sister's forces. We couldn't compare. We had brought a regiment with us. She had a cavalry.

What she sent to Yusupov wasn't her all? God help us.

"What's the plan, Mal?" Jakob asked.

"Let's storm the f*****g place," Thomas insisted.

"You just want an excuse to kill her," Jakob snapped back.

Thomas scoffed. "I won't kill her. Intentionally."

"Why aren't they shooting?" I mumbled, eyeing the barricade of men surrounding the front of the warehouse.

"Maybe the little princess is not as advertised," Thomas touted, receiving a slap on the head from Jakob.

"She isn't. She's more than what we hoped her to be," I whispered, still awed by her.

She had single-handedly torpedoed our initial operation upon contact and now, with her forces in line, we couldn't hope for even a glimpse of her. And she'd only had an hour to prepare all this. We spent the better half of the past year preparing ours, luring her in through Yusupov, creating enough discord to attract her attention, and meticulously formulating a strategy for her extraction that should have been flawless. But everything had fallen to ruin in the blink of an eye and she seemed farther than ever.

"If you let me disable her, we could have taken her right then and there," Thomas complained.

Yes. Exactly. She was chaos and to quell her would bring us calm. But even if I had let Thomas take a shot at her, would it have been enough? Would it have leveled the ground and allowed us to match her? No. I truly believed that because this was not the Vivien our father had spoken of, not even slightly. His and our underestimation of her had doomed us. Tonight wasn't a battle of strength or endurance. She had outwitted us the moment she laid eyes on us.

"How did she even make us?" Jakob was asking.

I shook my head. "I have no clue, brother."

"You spoke to her, didn't you?"

I nodded. "Come. Entertain me. That was what she said."

"Is she mocking us?" Thomas snarled.

"No. She's acknowledging our inferiority," I countered, ignoring the dirty look he sent my way. "While we are at our wits end, she remains unbothered. She's in control, so we must submit."

I eyed the other side but there was no movement or signs being made at all. Was she provoking us? Or encouraging? Or was this just truly mockery?

I decided to do what she had done, be insane enough to test a hypothesis using my life as foundation.

"Stay here," I said, dropping my bag to the ground.

I walked ahead, pushing through the front line. The other side shifted, aiming their guns at me. I raised my arms in surrender as I continued to advance until a single warning shot was sent through the air.

They have orders not to attack, I concluded.

A man came forward, raking his eyes over me, not an inch of him giving anything away or offering a single opening. Vivien had people like this serving her? How impressive. We should take him too. He would be useful.

"Malachi?" he queried.

"Yes."

"Miss Lastor wishes to speak with you. Alone."

I nodded. "I do as well."

He moved to the side, gesturing at the open door. I kept myself alert as I entered, staying by the wall. It was dark and the emptiness of the warehouse was caging in the cold from the outside. I could smell something sweet in the air and as my eyes adjusted to the dark, I caught a figure sitting at the other end. Slowly, I made my way to it, remaining in the shadows as I walked beside the walls.

"Hello," I heard a voice call and I stiffened. "You took so long, I thought you'd gone and died."

Her voice. It was different from what I had imagined it would be in person. Soft. Almost a solemn melody. It reminded me of Mama. How she used to read to us before bed, her narration of the story becoming a lullaby.

"Come closer," she beckoned, remaining seated.

I obeyed, going into the light and approaching her at a careful pace. When I neared her enough that I could see her properly, I froze. I was floored, my focus drifting.

The last I saw her had been two decades ago, when Father had brought her to our old home to visit Mama. I had climbed into the balcony in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the person that was supposed to be half of me. I remember thinking she looked like one of Summer's dolls, with her porcelain skin and seemingly endless long hair. I'd seen photographs of her over the years, even kept some in secret, and once, I'd sat with Mama to watch a film of one of her concerts that Father had gifted her for Christmas. But this time, she was so close that I could see every thick strand of her lashes and the tiny freckles dotting her nose. She was small, wrapped under a thick black coat that dwarfed her frame, and her eyes were a pool of liquid silver. When she smiled, one corner of her lips curled up. She wasn't the same memory I had of the pretty doll I glimpsed two decades ago. Everything about her now... was Mama... and yet, not at all. No, Mama was a bright light and this girl... she was a menacing darkness. Like Father.

I see. She was both of them. Mama and Father. Molded into her. How disarming.

My heartbeat was galloping. I was afraid. I didn't understand. She hasn't done anything. She was just sitting, leaned back and legs crossed while taking puffs from a pen-shaped device with seemingly no care in the world. But there was something in the air. An intense pressure that made it harder to breathe, as if the devil was standing over me. The longer her eyes remained on me, the weaker my legs became. It was just like with Father, only less forceful. She was subjugating me with no effort or tangible intent, as if it was in her nature to be exalted. What a terrifying person.

"Vivien-" I began but was cut off when she lunged at me.

I moved by instinct, blocking her arm when she swung a fist at me. I withdrew my pistol from my holster but before I could take aim, she threw her coat over me. There was no wasted movement in the millisecond that she was out of my sight, taking advantage of my brief lack of defense and twisting the pistol out of my grip. I jumped back before she could make another move and she chuckled in amusement, disassembling the pistol and tossing the parts over her shoulder while pushing out each bullet from the clip. The sound of the casings hitting the cement floor was deafening amidst the silence. Belatedly, I realized I hadn't heard her movements at all, despite wearing large and heavy-looking boots. As she took one lazy step after another towards me while I continued to back away, there was just... silence. I couldn't help feeling like I was a prey trapped with a ravenous predator.

What had I walked into?

"Oh? What's this?" She tilted her head, raking her gaze over me. It felt like she was slicing my flesh down to the bone with her eyes. "You were so wonderful before, Malachi. Are you hurt badly?"

I pursed my lips, shifting my weight off my broken ankle. "No."

"You're a worse liar than I am." She sighed, looking dismayed. "Never mind. It won't be fun if you're not at your best."

Before I could even think of reacting, she jumped the distance between us. I tried to move into a defensive position but then she did another confusing thing, she brought her bandaged hands to my face and held my cheeks so gently it was almost affectionate.

"Fix yourself," she murmured, her eyes holding me still. "And then find me. We'll play then."

She kissed my cheek and then slipped away, walking past me. I gathered my wits, whirling around. "Wait!" I called.

I reached for her but the moment my fingers touched her skin, I was instantly on my chest and pain was wracking through my arm. I didn't see it, it was too dark, but she'd somehow brought me down. Once again, I didn't understand.

"I don't know you," she said, twisting my arm further. I groaned, feeling the bone shifting out of place. "So don't f*****g touch me."

"Don't... go," I said, raising my voice slightly. Jakob always told me it was hard to listen to me sometimes, because I mumbled. "I want to speak with you. That is all. I won't touch you."

She snorted. "Sweetheart, I don't care what you came here to do or what you want to say to me. I only wanted to be entertained by you but you're too broken now."

She released me and started walking away again. I pushed myself up to my feet, curling my hands into fists. Think. Think. She's going to leave.

"I'll entertain you," I said desperately. She turned around, tilting her head. "Tell me how."

She smirked, twirling a lock of her hair. "Fight me."

My brows furrowed. "Fight you?"

"You're a sloppy commander," she said, approaching me. "But you're a magnificent fighter. You took down how many of my men? Forty? Fifty? More?" She stopped in front of me, tilting her head back to look up at me. "You have no hope against me in a battlefield. The threat you pose is so insignificant, there's no need for me to make an effort but with just you and no one to hold you back, you are the greatest threat to my life I've ever faced." She grinned, her eyes dancing with excitement. "You see, my love told me I should only fight if my survival relies on it. He gets angry when I hurt people for my own satisfaction so I've just been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for someone to threaten my life."

She raked her eyes over me again and sighed, her lids becoming hooded as her eyes shifted into a stormy grey. A shiver ran down my spine as I became confronted by her blatant murderous intent and instincts bid me to raise my defenses. Better yet, escape.

"I've all but exhausted my patience now," she murmured, her soft voice dripping with menace. "Can you tend to my boredom?"

I took a moment to process her words but no matter how much I tried, I was still confused. What does she mean? Is this a trick? Father had warned us she was clever and not to take her lightly, but I didn't know how to take her to begin with. What do I do?

Entertain me, was what she'd said.

She was bored and she wanted me to... be her plaything? No. That can't be. It would be ridiculous. Something Summer would say, not her possibly. She must have a scheme in place. We were here, with our respective forces, and she was just stalling to give her soldiers time to subdue us.

I assessed our vicinity for anything hidden within the shadows. There was none. I couldn't hear any movement outside either. What was happening?

"We're alone," she said, as if reading my thoughts. "I wanted you for myself. They won't do anything until one of us walks out of here."

One of us? Did she mean to take me down herself? With that tiny body? I had heard she was a skilled fighter and from the brief exchanges we've had, I wouldn't doubt it, but I was a foot taller and several pounds heavier. She was so skinny and full of openings. I didn't know if I could hold back. I might kill her. Father wouldn't be pleased with that. Thomas would probably whine for not being the one who'd done it.

"Are you... joking?" I asked.

She grinned. "No, but I'm halfway insane so I guess everything I say is half-meant."

I eyed her intently, trying to see through her pretenses but she was either better than that man outside at concealment or she really was insane. Her maniacal grin and ridiculous request served as justification.

What does Father want with her? Why was she so precious to him? Is she really our salvation? The more I spoke with her, the more my assumptions about her were proven to be untrue. She was so... inexplicable.

"I don't like it when people stare," she mumbled, her humor replaced by despodency. It was so sudden, the change, that I found myself at a loss. "I don't understand why you all do it. Do you want to see everything, is that it?" She took a step closer, looking up at me with so much despair in her eyes. "I'll show you, if you want, but I ask you to bear with me in return." I didn't know how to respond so I didn't. "Can you bear with me, Malachi? Despite the pain that I will bring to you?"

I swallowed hard, struggling to hold her gaze. She just wanted to spar. I could do that. I sparred with my brothers often. It would be easier to subdue her and hold her hostage to secure our escape than fight our way through her army. Once I've put her down, I could try speaking to her properly. I just had to bear the pain.

"I have one condition," I offered.

She tilted her head. "Oh?"

"You will listen to what I have to say."

She sighed. "Will it be bothersome?" she complained, her eyes roaming all over my face. "I don't like being bothered by unnecessary matters."

"It's a matter of life and death."

"Hmm... but whose life and death?" she retorted. "My care is costly and my advisers have been pleading with me to care less of others. Can you pay me at least?"

I was briefly stumped. I contemplated on lying. It wouldn't matter anyway as long as I took her down. But the way she was looking at me, as if she was delving into my mind and unraveling everything, it made the lie so hard to spit out.

"I... don't have any money," I admitted.

She snorted. "Does it look like I have need of riches?" she muttered wryly. "No, I want a favor."

My brows furrowed. "What is it?"

She smiled but still, she looked so hopeless in some misery that was unknown to me. "Grant me release from this wretched boredom, and everything I am and have will be at your disposal."

Again, I was left at a loss. I decided there was no point in trying to understand her words. She wasn't making any sense to me either way.

"Very well," I agreed.

She reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it off. My eyes widened at the sight of vivid colors and black ink etched on her skin, every available inch of her torso serving as a gallery of numerous artworks.

What has she done to herself? To sully herself this way... it was disgraceful. Father would be livid.

"So... shall we?" she asked, her arms remaining at her sides.

Shaking off the shock, I rolled my shoulders and shifted my footing, curling my hands into fists. "Your call," I said, raising my arms.

She smirked, tossing her shirt at the space between us. "Go."

I lurched forward, delivering a series of attacks in quick succession and she crumpled to the floor, laughing. I stared at her, bewildered beyond comprehension.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun," she said, pushing herself up to her feet. She dragged a hand over her hair, grinning as blood stained her teeth. "Come at me just like that."

Dismissing my confusion, I moved into another attack, holding back the force slightly as I hit her side. When I delivered another hit, I found myself being thrown in the air and slammed on the floor.

Huh?

She stood over me, grabbing the front of my shirt and pulling me up. "Don't do that. It's no fun." She let me go, taking a step back. "Hold back again and I'll break something of yours."

I was so confused. I couldn't focus. I couldn't read her either. It was like fighting Summer. There was no rhyme or reason, just... insanity. But even with Summer, I could sense her intent. With her... she just looked... bored.

********

Months of preparation, so many lives I'd taken, years of waiting for this one chance, and it was all for naught. Even if Jakob and Thomas somehow could best her soldiers, they would still have to face her and I don't think they could survive the savagery of her boredom.

It was daybreak and I stared at the sunlight spilling in through the glass ceiling as I laid on the ground, my body riddled with pain and exhaustion. Several of my fingers were dislocated, my cheekbones were shattered, my right eardrum had burst, three of my ribs were fractured, and I couldn't see through one eye.

When was it that I last lost a fight? I think it must have been back in the early days of my training but even then I didn't suffer such grave injuries. I was admittedly not at my peak condition when we began but I was far from sloppy or diminished, and yet I was utterly, completely, defeated and I couldn't begin to understand how this came to be.

She spared my life twice and every time she knocked me down, she would wait for me to get back up. She wasn't strong. She couldn't even block a single attack. But she was so relentless and vicious that it rivaled Thomas, who arguably lusted after blood and violence the most among us. When I realized she really was playing with me to entertain herself, I briefly forgot my objective was to bring her alive and genuinely tried to kill her out of frustration. Which only seemed to excite her more and now, I was the one who was broken and on my back.

Ah, how humiliating. A disgrace that would probably earn me a hundred lashes and a week of starvation in the cells.

I was wrong. So, so wrong. She wasn't like Mama at all. Nothing about her was like Mama. Or Father. She was a paradoxical force of her own and I was completely unprepared to face her. I was so foolish, to think we could take her easily. All this time, I held onto the belief that she was my other half and finally meeting her would make me whole. It was what Mama always said, that we were each other's halves but she was wrong too. This person... this demon was beyond me. There was no one who could possibly be her equal. A true masterpiece, she was. No wonder Father wanted her so badly.

"Hey," I heard her call, crouching beside me and poking my cheek. "Can you still keep going?"

Can I? What about her? We've been at it for two hours, at least, and she had taken nearly every hit I laid on her. How was she still standing? What was she made out of? How much did she endure to reach this perfection?

I tried to speak but my broken ribs were flailing inside of me and it was taking everything I had to just breathe. She rolled her eyes and stood, clutching her dislocated arm and setting it back in place with a jolt. A look pleasure appeared on her face as she reveled in the pain. I'd realized in the middle of our fight that she was clearly masochistic and quite possibly suicidal. She and Summer, with her violent sadistic tendencies and penchant for torture, would get along so well.

"How disappointing," she mumbled, wrinkling her nose. "You're just as boring as the rest of them, after all."

She was about to walk away and I grabbed her ankle in desperation. She was finally here. I finally met her. I couldn't let her go. I've worked too hard. I've endured too much.

"You... said... you'll... listen," I choked out.

"Yeah, but only if you got rid of my boredom," she said, looking at me with such annoyance in her eyes as if I was to blame for her unreasonable boredom. "Find me when you've fixed yourself. We'll play again and if you entertain me better, I might listen to whatever s**t sob story you have."

She swung her leg, kicking my head. I heard my jaw crack, the pain dizzying me, and I struggled to hold onto my consciousness as it wavered. She yanked her ankle free from my grip and went to pick up her coat from the floor before heading out of the warehouse. All I could do was watch her retreating back, unable to move.

Minutes after she stepped out, the sound engines roaring to life and gunshots came. The wall to my left was suddenly blown open, debris flying in and scattering across the floor. I caught sight of a steel shrapnel land within my reach and I took it.

"Mal!" I heard Jakob's voice call as I pressed the sharp edge of the shrapnel against my throat. I turned my head, focusing my eyes and seeing him standing at the clearing. "Hurry!"

Ah, my brothers. I couldn't let them receive the punishment for this failure.

I dropped the shrapnel and forced my body to move, dragging myself to him. He pulled me over his shoulder and started running as Thomas went ahead of us, clearing our path. I took the spare pistol in Jakob's holster and shot at our pursuers, gritting my teeth as pain wracked my entire body at each recoil.

A jeep suddenly drove past us, the backdoor swinging open as it stopped. Ava, our little sister, leapt out while shooting wildly. Jakob set me on the bed before climbing in, yelling for them to get inside while we provided cover. Ava and Thomas jumped in, and the jeep sped off. When we became out of their reach, I let myself drop to my back as the last of my strength waned. There was so much pain and yet, not enough for me to die from. How cruel. She really was Father's greatest creation. What a monster.