Twisted Empire - Episode 43&44

 

TWISTED EMPIRE

Twisted Empire - Episode 43&44

(Her Blade, His Neck )

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, or reposted in any form, or by any means without a written permission from the author.

Copyright © 2025 

by Naomi Cindy B.

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An irritating gaze crossed Four's eyes.

He could tear her apart—limb by limb without blinking, but no time since Teal is inside, writhing in pains.

Sierra is still there, standing like a threat, but Four has always had a thing for threats.

She's nothing at all, even with her oh-so-mighty psychotic mother whom he can't wait to meet.

"If that's a threat, try again" he spoke finally, his voice laden with raw mockery.

Sierra opened her mouth to talk again, but he hacked her arm tightly before leaning in.

"Go back to your office with the dogs behind you, or I'll have to give you something to remember—just like last time when I gave the order for your beatings" he whispered, and he could feel her bones tense in his hand.

Her eyes widened at the realization.

He ordered the beating which landed her in the clinic?

"You're a Major Sergeant, act like one and stop being a c0ck-starved whore" he whispered again, then he stepped back, enough to view her face which is now totally drained with irreparable shock.

A heavy smirk kissed his lips, then he returned inside, slamming the door.

Teal is still on the couch, arms clutched at her prickling abdomen.

She's n+ked underneath.

Thankfully, the ice blocks are still in place—thanks to the wraps.

He unwrapped it and parted her legs.

Teal opened her eyes droopily.

"What are you doing? It's not massage?" She asked, and despite her weakness, her voice is solid.

"Would have worked it it were just menstrual cramps, but you taking stupid menses-blocking drugs isn't a massaging issue" he replied calmly like a doctor.

This calmness must be a newly ordered one cos he has never been this level before.

Is it because she's in pains? 

Does he care?

She hurriedly pushed the questions to the back of her f+çked up skull where it came from.

"So what are you gonna do?" She asked, feeling the coldness oozing from the ice hit her thigh since the bowl is right below her raised laps.

"Keep quiet, Teal. You look better when you're mute" he replied with a cold tongue, focusing on the ice as he shoved his hand inside the bowl, taking just one small block.

He parted her legs further, and she closed her eyes the moment the ice touched her thigh skin.

It was burning and soothing at the same time. A mixture of fire and ice as if there are fireballs embedded inside the blocks.

The crawling sensations penetrated underneath her skin, far below the seen surface as Four traced the ice on her shaky thigh, chasing the melting water with his tongue.

Basically, he's tracing her skin with the ice and at the same time licking the water with his tongue. As he licked, he kissed her thighs too, using his lips and tongue at the same time.

Teal's grip on her stomach is starting to lessen. She's more focused on him between her legs.

Her body trembled, and his filthy smirks owned every shudder she gave.

Her brows went knotted in the middle, and her mouth opened wordlessly as he moved the second ice higher. So slow. So cold. 

Her skin warmed up the water, and as it slid down her skin in zigzags, her bones let go with a crush, and they almost became dust as her hands left her stomach to grab the couch edges.

". . .ahh. . ." Her voice broke.

That was a moan.

F+ck.

Yeah. She's an untouched virgin.

She knows nothing about touches like this as she has never witnessed one before.

The only one she watched were romance movies with Rook at the town cinema and sometimes during all nighters.

But this man...the man between her legs right now is...

". . .Eros. . ." her neck went back on the armrest as the knot between her brows tightened, and her legs trembled harder in the whirlpool of his touches.

Every stroke of the ice ignites her core. He's on the third ice now.

The pain in her abdomen seems to have evaporated. She couldn't feel anything but him.

She forgot everything else and got madly attuned, falling into the depth of whatever he's doing, getting lost in the dark prison of his ministrations.

Four let the ice stay on her inner thigh, and he hooked his lower lip in his mouth as he watched her lose it completely.

Her knotted brows.

Her red cheeks.

Her flat lips.

Her trembling legs.

Her tiny m0ans.

He marked everything, registering every sound and move till her hold on the couch edges got more intense, and her fingernails reddened.

He moved the ice to her p+xxy, shoving it inside with a finger. Her eyes opened fast.

"Eros. ." she called with wild p@nts, and he kissed her inner thigh, his groan demanding that she took it all.

She was rolled over the edge again.

He's the edge—the cliff.

And she's trapped in his jaggedness, ready to fall to ruins.

The ice began melting inside her, and she orgasmed so hard the sparks went straight to her medulla.

Her walls tightened, and her toes stiffened as her nails dug deeply into the leather,

"Mmmn. . .no. . .yes. . .f-ck" Tears of pleasure sneaked out of the corner of her eyes as the ice water crawled out of her p+xxy in rivulets.

She was melting with the ice, becoming one with the liquid and shaking with the inhumane way it's holding her down.

Four remained there—between her legs. Watching silently with his mind's eye as the ice melted.

He stayed still till the end of the melting process, then he brought his hands to either sides of her p+xxy, spreading it.

Her squ+rt slid out of her in gentle waves, sliding down her arse.

She shuddered a few whimpers at the sensations, her c+nt pulsing through the coating as if trying to pull him inside.

"There," He whispered keenly, and her eyes opened, still streaky.

He made sure their eyes clashed before saying the three words.

"Mine. Mine. Mine"

And then he crashed his mouth down there, eating her hungrily like a deranged sicko.

"F. . .uck. . ." Teal fisted his hair, falling back into darkness.

--

[Training Ground]

Shadows of two people loomed over each other, their faces anxious.

"What do you mean Paine knows about it?" April said in a fearful voice.

"I was suspicious of him and trailed him to the bathroom, found him and he threatened me with the abortion stuff" Skye glided his fingers through his locks.

"No.. that's impossible. If it gets out we're dead. Lady Yulia is strict about abortions it cos of what happened to her early babies. She's gonna kill me" April began panicking, fisting her hair in her head.

"April" Skye held her.

"Lady Yulia will kill me I'm sure of it. Gawd, I can't..."

"April!" Skye shook her again, and she faced him with heavy eyes.

"I definitely hid the evidence well, so even if they visit the clinic, there'll be nothing. I'm very sure." He said.

April sniffled.

"Trust me, and if the unimaginable happens, then I'll gladly take the fall" Skye continued.

April sniffled again, and he hugged her, kissing her hair deeply.

--

[Cantonment Clinic]

"There's no record of April's abortion for Skye in this place? For real?" Axel said impatiently, ready to attack the nurse sitting in front of him.

"First rule says abortion prohibited." The nurse replied plainly.

Axel assembled every nurse and medics in the clinic, asking them the same question, but they all have the same answer to give.

"April never aborted"

"Do I look like a f+ckin retard?" Axel angrily kicked the nurse closest to him.

"For real?" Allegra entered the room, and silence descended.

"Skye's girlfriend never aborted here?" she said.

"No one has ever aborted in this hospital. She might have used home-remedy if at all she did" one of the nurses chirped, and Allegra just grabbed that one, threw her across the room over a table.

The rest kept their distance.

"If I do my findings and find out she did, then I'll make y'all bedridden" Allegra threatened, then she left the office.

Axel followed her.

"You were so sure she aborted, and now I look like a damn fool for believing you. What the heck is going on?" He questioned.

"She probably hid it well, April and her boyfriend are smart" Allegra replied.

"So now what? Sit and watch?" Axel cornered her, and she stopped with a frustrated sigh.

"April aborted for Skye by drinking a concoction" a grumbly voice broke into the hall, and they both frowned when Paine joined them.

"Why are you here?" Allegra asked.

"Been following you both from the base, overheard the discussion at the nurse's office. Figured out I could help. I have a concrete evidence" Paine replied, and Axel went closer.

"I literally pushed your friend Abbey to his death, and you're suddenly here to profer a solution to my problem? How sure am I that this isn't a ploy to get back at me?" he sneered.

"I have Abbey's phone, and there are tapes! There's even a video of April entering the male barracks too, so don't waste my time and give me some cash if you want the proof!" Paine glared.

"Cash?" Allegra stepped in.

"A billion in cheque or I'm giving you nothing" Paine replied, smirked before walking out of the hall.

"The f+ck?" Allegra smirked.

Axel rushed after Paine, and Allegra was about to follow when she bumped into someone at the curve.

She nearly punched, but she resisted when she saw the face.

"I'm sorry, wasn't careful" he smiled.

"You're not an army. Haven't seen you at the base before" Allegra gave him a tight assessment.

"Yeah. But my girlfriend is in the base, and I often come to visit her with the government permission though" he replied.

Allegra grimaced.

She has seen his face somewhere before.

"I have to go now" he suddenly said, rushing down the curve, and that was when Allegra gasped in remembrance.

She saw him in Morgan's leaked sextape. 

He's Quentin, Morgan's boyfriend.

"He's not that bad in real life" Allegra scoffed, leaving the clinic.

She drove her bike back to the base, and she expected to meet Axel in his unit already, so she went there.

Surprisingly, she met Cassie.

Cassie was about to ring the doorbell when Allegra's bike stopped.

Allegra hopped down with a deep frown.

"What are you doing here in front of Axel's unit, Cassie?" 

"I'm Kash's wife doesn't mean I can't come for certain discussions with Axel especially if he's a Senior Sergeant like my husband" Cassie replied, and Allegra chuckled.

"Wow, you're now talking back? That's rich"

"I'm Kash's wife, so I have every right to speak. The one who shouldn't be speaking here is you. You say you're Axel's girlfriend but you're just his foot-rag, and he doesn't like you" Cassie replied.

Allegra suddenly pulled a spanner from her bike toolbox,, but Cassie picked an unhealthy race immediately, rushing down the lane as fast as possible.

"Should have waited, bî+ch!!" Allegra yelled, flinging the spanner away.

"Could have wounded her" she muttered.

--

[Base Prison]

All the ladies in one room—same one Teal was locked in.

They can't sleep cos of the cold, and also, the place scents like raw intimacy from Teal and Four's sins.

Stormy is pacing around the room, but Morgan is seated with the rest of the ladies, and she's still crying.

"Your tears needs to stop if I'm gonna think straight" Stormy said angrily.

"Stop telling me to stop crying! You're the one who suggested this shit! You suggested framing Teal and now look where we are!" Morgan snapped, and Stormy snickered.

"Seriously? That's how it's gonna be now? You met me for help! You told me to help you! I paved a way by framing Teal, and now I'm suddenly at fault?" She said.

"Just leave me the f+ck alone! I miss Quentin so much and I have no idea when I'm gonna be seeing him again!" Morgan continued crying.

Stormy picked the dagger on the floor and swung it at her, but Morgan was luckily fast to dodge.

The dagger met one of the other ladies at the back, and that one cried out instantly.

"You nearly got me!" Morgan shouted.

"Would have been better if I got you, ingrate! If we luckily get outta here, then we're over!" Stormy yelled back.

And then the door opened, letting in their greatest nemesis—Teal.

She's accompanied by Kash, and her face is zeroed out.

After the insane munching at Four's unit earlier, he had left her asleep on the couch, and she woke up to meet a note on the center table which said...

"KASH IS BY THE DOOR, HE'LL TAKE YOU TO THE PRISON. DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, THEY'RE ALL YOURS"

She had gone to the door after reading, she met Kash waiting for real, and here they are.

"The fault was never mine! It was Stormy who suggested to frame you!" Morgan said quickly, and Stormy's eyes widened at the betrayal.

"Yes, it was Stormy who gathered us to support too" the other ladies at the back backed Morgan up, and Stormy gritted her jaws.

"Yes. I conjured the idea of framing you" she admitted, coming forward.

Teal stayed silent as Stormy's shameless mouth continued moving.

"You started by taking Rook away from me in our hometown! You think I didn't hear the story? Rook was so in love with you when you both were growing up. He asked you out every birthday you guys celebrated together cos your birthdays fall on the same day. He asked you out every single year but you kept hurting gin by turning him down, so he became gay, saying if he can't be with you romantically, then he won't be with another woman. He became gay cos of you and that's why females like me lost any chance to be with him!" She shouted heatedly at Teal's face.

Teal's silence persisted, so Stormy continued the crash out.

"And then you got betrothed to Snowman? You don't even deserve the power that comes with being his wife! Why always you? You're not the only one who deserves good things you waste of space!!" Stormy screamed again.

That was the last f+ckin straw.

Teal reached for her thigh straps, pulling out her poisoned knife and sinking the blade angrily into Stormy's left chest.

"Auuughhh!!!" Stormy groaned out shockingly, and her blood soaked her uniform as it dripped down her tummy to the loamy ground.

Teal roughly removed the knife and went for Morgan.

"Please... please please!!!" Morgan shifted back, but the moment her butt hit the bed, Teal sank the knife into her own chest too.

"Geez!!!! Quentin!!!" Morgan yelled as her blood coloured the sheets in rushes.

Sergeant Kash didn't move by the door. He stood like a supervisor. He didn't stop nor draw her back.

Four has ordered him to not intervene, so he's just following orders.

Like a branding iron, Teal's eyes are merciless as she rounded the room full of lying bi+çhes, stabbing the supporters one by one till she left cruel marks on everyone of them.

Her gloved hands are bloody with the knife as she finished up, then she faced Kash, her face full of blood dots.

"Anything" Kash smiled.

"Their wounds will start rotting in an hour. Leave it to rot for days. Let them suffer the hellish pains and enjoy the wickedest agony. I'll give them the antidote whenever I'm in a good mood" she said.

"As you wish" Kash replied, and she left the prison, leaving chills in it's wake.

--

[Sergeant Kash's Suite]

Immediately Kash returned from the prison, he had a quick shower to rinse away the stench, then he joined Cassie who's in bed with his phone.

"What are you doing with my phone?" He asked, laying beside her and curling his arm on her body.

"Checking if any of the female Sergeants are texting you. They're promiscuous " she replied, and he smiled brightly.

"You don't trust me?"

"I trust you baby, it's them I don't trust" she said, and he took the phone away from her, putting it down.

He began kissing her, caressing her skin and dipping his hand between her legs, but she didn't respond the slightest.

She pulled away and she quickly got down from the bed, arranging her messy hair.

"What's going on? It's been almost a week since we did it" Kash frowned.

"Went to my dad's hospital ward today yunno? I'm subtly tired. Maybe tomorrow" She smiled awkwardly and rushed into the bathroom.

Kash sighed, dragging his palm over his face, looking sexually frustrated.

--

After Teal left the prison, she went back to Four's Unit to clean up, but she wasn't back yet,, so she left the unit and went in search of her gees.

Shannon and April aren't in the female barracks.

At the makes, she sent a kind Private to check for Rook and Brent. 

"They're not in their rooms, they must be in the kitchen" the Private said when he came back to her.

"Kitchen?" Teal frowned.

"It's the opening of the base new kitchen today, they must be there stuffing their faces" the guy replied and left.

Teal left for the kitchen, and at each step she took, the thorn of Stormy's words stabbed her.

Stormy was right to some extent.

She always celebrated her birthdays with Rook, and when they both turned 15, Rook began asking her out at every birthday, and she kept turning him down.

Would she have said yes when she has only seen him as her closest friend? 

Would she?

When she feels nothing like romance between herself and Rook?

Rook asked her out for 7 consecutive birthdays till they both turned 22, and that's when he stopped and began recognizing as gay.

She stepped into the large kitchen building, and the smell of boiling ribs and braised beef hit her nose, making her miss Uncle Dave's veggies.

Truly, the new kitchen building is full of armies who're eating leftovers from the initial dinner.

There are prostitutes scattered everywhere. Some sucking c+cks and some kissing each other. Some are even giving mouth jobs under dim lights for the entertainment of the men.

The kitchen is like a orgie party.

This a new side of this base she's witnessing tonight.

The hell?? 

She ignored the gallivants and focused on her search under the stench of brownies and grapes.

She didn't search long before she hit one of the kitchen rooms.

A pot of stew is cooking on fire for tomorrow's breakfast, and a load of armies are in the middle of the room, entertaining the maids.

This room is free of prostitutes, and she spotted two people in the middle—Rook and Theo.

They're dancing to a slow music from a low MP, and their arms are curled around each other.

Teal stopped by the door, watching silently as the dim light did nothing to brighten her face.

Theo took off his shirt at a point. He threw it at Rook's face, and Rook inhaled it before taking it away.

Theo began twisting, whining his waist like a female since he's got a really tiny waist, so it was easy.

"Insane!!!!" The armies screamed, and Rook just stood in the middle of the room, watching Theo's dance with with a bite to his lips and a sense of possessiveness sheening in his eyes.

Then he yanked off his shirt and joined him, holding Theo's waist as they went down together, then whined back up.

"F+ck!!!!!" The armies gushed like fans again, and Teal was unaware of when she started smiling genuinely.

"Enjoying the show?" A familiar voice rang behind, and she turned around to see Shannon and Brent, both holding bottles of rum.

"Are you both like the managers here?" Teal laughed.

"It's the opening of a new kitchen, meaning our meal roster will upgrade, and the new maids are so s+xy. It's worth some celebration" Brent shrugged.

"Wanna go in?" Shannon pulled her arm.

"No. I need to visit the cantonment call booth and make a call" Teal replied.

"Then I'll go with you" Shannon blinked.

"I'll have fun watching the gay play!" Brent winked again as the ladies left the building.

--

[Ivory Hospital]

Xanthe woke up with a slight jerk to his fingers, and his oxygen mask looks clouded as he pushed a big breath out of his nose.

The beep of his monitor is calculatedly sharp, and his blood bag is already empty on the hanging pole.

His eyes opened, and President Spyros came in with his secretary that same period.

"Xanthe!" The old man raced to him as Xanthe removed his oxygen mask with his fine hand.

The shot arm is laying beside him, unmoved.

"Dad" he blinked his tired eyes, and the secretary quickly placed a pillow behind him to support his back.

"It's the swear in of a new commissioner of health, so I've been there. Reason for my lateness" President Spyros explained.

"It's fine, I'm good" Xanthe pushed out another breath.

"Did you see the face of the woman who kidnapped you?" President Spyros asked quickly.

Xanthe's eyes stopped blinking, and when he remembered what Four said about how he's gonna die of an incurable sickness if he talks, he swallowed.

"I didn't see the face. I passed out totally cos of the shot" he said.

"Don't worry, the forces are still working on it. You know I don't play with you so the culprit will be brought to book very soon" President Spyros assured.

Xanthe hummed in reply.

"And very soon , you'll have a wife beside you" President Spyros insisted.

"No ... Tell me you're not talking about Teal!" Xanthe said.

"Who else?" President Spyros cleared his throat.

"I don't want her! She's betrothed, just give up dad!" Xanthe insisted.

"Why would I give up on her when Four is dying soon anyways?" President Spyros glared, his tone hardening.

"Why?" Xanthe's throat bobbed. "Why are you so stubborn about that lady?" He asked.

President Spyros looked away from him, leaving the question unanswered.

--

[Therapeia Mental Institute]

Empress's house is just beside the institute. A rich flat with just two rooms and whatnot.

She has a power room installed in the house, and right now she's in the gym with Sierra, both throwing punches at each other.

Sierra came here after leaving Four's Unit earlier, telling her mother she'd love to hone her skills, so Empress got to it immediately.

The woman is wearing a short black bodysuit, and Sierra is wearing the same.

As their punches met and slashed in the middle, the thought of Teal in Four's shirt filled her head, and she launched a punch to Empress's chin.

Empress didn't even flinch.

"Is that all you've got? Huh? I can't even feel your punch and you want to defeat her?" She laughed mockingly, the sound haunting.

Angrily, Sierra launched another blow, smashing Empress's jaw harder than the chin.

Empress stood strong.

"Is this all you've got!!!" She yelled, saliva trickling out of her mouth corner. She had to wipe with her palm.

"You useless, tasteless human! Is this all your strength? Punch me and make me pass out!" She shouted.

Sierra reset her legs, refolding her palms before going on her toes again, swinging another blow—to Empress's throat.

Empress threw her head back, but she didn't shake.

She grabbed Sierra by the forearm and twisted it, breaking a bone.

"F+ck!!!!!!" Sierra howled in pains, and the woman pushed her to the ground before removing her glasses.

"If you're gonna keep being this weak, then return to the base and let that bîtch kill you." She said and began going in.

"Mum!!!" Sierra stood, holding her broken arm.

"You promised to help, you can't leave like this" she said.

"Reset the bone I broke, then I can reconsider" Empress replied and left.

"Geez" Sierra muttered, looking at her arm.

--

[Cantonment, Call Booth]

Shannon was fiddling with the broken phone as Teal made her call in the good one after tossing a few coins into the machine.

She had dialled Uncle Paul's line cos he's the one with the phone.

Uncle Dave is always drinking, so dialling him would probably be unlucky.

As expected, Uncle Paul picked.

"Uncle P" Teal rested on the booth glass.

"Teal? We were thinking of coming to see you already" his thick voice filtered in.

"About what?" Teal asked.

"Can you come to Symi Island with Four tomorrow? At the seaside taverna" Uncle Paul asked.

"Why should I suddenly come to an island?" Teal frowned deeper.

"It's a date, dummy. We booked two passes for you both. You can't get couped up in the base all the time. Act like couples" Uncle Paul replied, and she made faces, remembering Four ate her today again.

It's like he's addicted to it at this point. Do all men eat like that?

"Why would you waste your money to book a pass? He's  rich enough to buy the island. Saw his networth" she muttered.

"Just go on the date, it's 6pm tomorrow" Uncle Paul said, and Teal blinked when she remembered Yulia had brought a dress for her earlier.

Maybe she'd coerce Four into going to Symi Island instead.

"Fine" she breathed.

"Good, now why did you call?" Uncle Paul asked.

"Tell Uncle Dave to cook the chicken-soaked veggie the next time you'll be coming. He's probably sleeping already" Teal replied.

"Is that all?" Uncle Paul asked.

"Sure, I missed it, and tell him he's owing me a letter" she replied.

"I'll deliver" Uncle Paul chuckled.

The call ended, and as Teal left the booth with Shannon, Shannon smiled.

"What?" Teal asked.

"You're lucky, your uncles love you"

"I'm the air they breathe!" Teal fanned herself with her fingers, and Shannon laughed.

"I and Cassie only have a sick father, life support shit. Thanks to Sergeant Kash, we're hoping he'd wake up one day" she said.

"Sorry about that" Teal replied, and Shannon sighed.

They got on Teal's bike and rode back to the base.

--

[Master Sergeant's Office]

Four sat poignantly on his desk, his eyes moving from his phone to his wall screen in great anticipation of Usman's next call.

It's taking too long, and it's suspicious.

He knows that ultra psycho is gonna make the next mission cumbersome, and that's why he has arranged extra trainings for his squad members, starting tomorrow. 

"Sir!" A junior Sergeant entered the office, and Four went from the desk to his chair.

"Yes?"

"Private Teal...I mean...your wife. She left the prison, went to the unit to cleanup, went to the new kitchen building, then she went to the call booth with Private Shannon to make a call" he reported.

"A call to?" Four raised his brows.

"Her uncles. Now she's back in the base, and she's on her way here" the Sergeant continued.

And as of she's hearing then, a knock hit the door.

The junior sergeant opened the door, and Teal stepped in, looking as lethal as she always is. Hooded eyes, loud personality.

Four's eyes ravished her, and she felt naked. She could taste his mood, and her core tightened as if he's still there.

Shit... He's effortlessly trapping her sexually, and she's effortlessly allowing him too.

Well he has a good tongue, so she might as well be guiltless.

Anyone would enjoy his licks.

He didn't speak. He waited for her, and she sat on his desk, slanted.

"Tomorrow, Symi Island. My uncles booked us a date night. They said they wanted us to get closer and whatnot. I don't want their money to go to waste cos I know how expensive the pass is" she said freely.

Suddenly, Four pulled her from the desk, and her ass landed on his laps.

She adjusted quickly since it's not her first time, then he placed his lips on her throat, kissing deep into the soft skin. Teeth grazing as her pulse raced, asking for more.

She held the table edge.

"You're only going cos you don't want your criminal uncles money to waste? Not because you actually want to go with me? That's 1" he said.

"What! I didn't even say anything triggering!" She gasped.

"Define triggering" he removed his lips from her skin.

"You'll always win, isn't it?. It's always your way or the highway. There's no leeway, and you're so corny that it's sick" she said with an eye roll.

"A compliment? Cute" he pinched her nose, and she scrunched it before rolling eyes again.

He held her hip, and his heat seared her skin.

He picked his phone with his second hand, dialling a line.

"Flight to Rhodes tomorrow. And a ferry ride to Symi Island. Couple set" he told whoever he's calling.

--

[Next Day, 7PM]

Symi island boasts breathtaking sceneries with it's picturesque harbour, lined with colourful buildings, crystal-clear turquoise water lapping the shore, and majestic mountains rising up from the sea.

Teal and Four set out at late noon, and the two hours journey through plane and ferry brought them here.

If the dinner place with Xanthe was beautiful, then this place is beyond it.

After their assigned steward got their bags to their rooms, Teal insisted on seeing what the seaside taverna looks like, and surprisingly, Four didn't object.

He has been suspiciously cooperative today, and they haven't had their usual exchange of words which is awakening a strange feel in her stomach pit, but she brushed it off.

He doesn't matter.

She only came here cos her uncles bought the pass. She doesn't wanna be here with him, but her uncles money can't go to waste.

She's wearing the dress Yulia got her—a short red body-hugging dress with a cutesy slit by the side and a sharp V-neck, so her cleavage is out, but she doesn't care as usual. Even when his devilish eyes are ogling her.

The gown has a built-in bra, so she's not wearing a bra, and her nîpples are obviously poking through the soft material.

Four glanced at his phone for the second time like he's expecting something, and he's really expecting something—Usman's next notification.

"Are you expecting a text?" She asked curiously, sparking the conversation.

"Do I look like it?" He pocketed his phone in his slacks pocket, the first button of his brown cotton shirt peering open to show his tautness.

"You look.... unusually restless" she said.

"What gave that away?" He squinted, adjusting her lipstick with his thumb, and it lingered on the flesh for longer than required. She licked her lips afterwards.

"You're not a phone person, but you've checked your phone twice" she shrugged, and he gave her a long, thorny gaze.

He might have underestimated her noting abilities. His wife isn't a pushover after all.

The tavern is bustling with happy couples or families who came to spice up their night, and the sweet smell of sweet foods and expensive wine latched to the air, making Teal's stomach grumble.

"We're returning to the room" Four deadpanned, and she didn't argue.

He took her hand, and she followed his head to the quadrangle which leads to the housings.

The moment they stepped into the quadrangle, Teal could feel her danger line shine red in her skull.

This only happens when something really bad is gonna happen, so she halted, looking around.

"What's going on, Teal?" Four asked, and she looked at him with a blink.

"Nothing, just a sense of paranoia" she replied carefully, and Four's phone dinged immediately.

He pulled it out of his slacks, and his eyes darkened when he saw the new text.

Usman!

He finally messaged, but before he could even read the first line of the text, a echoing gunshot ripped the air, and everyone quickly went down low, some running to safe angles with their partners as the place lost it's peace within that one second.

Teal's eyes and ears are wide, cos right now she can finally see the cause of her paranoia.

Behind of one of the fancy decorative trees in the quadrangle, she clearly saw her Uncle Paul with a sniper.

He's the one who shot, and she had no damn idea who got hit till blood hit the ground beside her, and a raspy groan followed as Four fell on a knee, holding his shot chest.

"Eros!!!!"

TBC.

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