"Luck was on your side Dan, that you encountered a mixed-blood almost immediately." An elder spoke up in praise of Dan.
"But she had Liam with her, that renegade Angel has been on the radar of many creatures. He has himself a lot of enemies." Another completed.
Dan smirked and side-eyed Scott who had remained quiet all through. He had found a mixed-blood first while Scott had been rubbing elbows with the corrupted Arch Angel who had shown less favor towards him, but now he was sure that the tables would turn. He would be the one on-demand now. He focused back on the elders.
"You said, he did not know what she was at first? He did not know that she was a mixed-blood?" The elders asked Dan.
He puffed up a little before replying. "That is correct, he did not know what she was."
"And how were you able to find her so quickly?"
"She was bleeding, resulting from the fight she was in with the demons who had attached them. I could smell her blood and I tracked it to her." He replied.
"You have done an excellent job Dan by finding her, at least now we know now that there is still mixed blood. Renard would be relieved." Dan smirked on hearing the elders praise him and he looked to Scott with a smug look but Scott paid him no attention, he just stood there before the elders and listened.
"And what did you get?" Dan asked Scott in a bid to mock him but he still did not reply or acknowledge him. Dan chuckled. "Right... you got nothing."
"Scott, what is your report?" The elders asked him. "You will assist Dan in getting this mixed blood from Liam."
"I found a mixed blood." Scott announced.
Dan's head snapped towards Scott. What?!
"He was with the female Angel who steals humans." He continued with calmness in his voice.
"Is she not the Angel known as Sheila?" An elder inquired.
"Yes, she is the one. She steals humans captured from the demons and takes them to the mountains, and from there back to the humans' hideout." Scott confirmed.
Dan fumed. This was supposed to be his moment but Scott was ruining it, the fact that he too had found a mixed-blood was a dent in Dan's pride.
"He?" Dan inquired. "You found mixed blood? Male mixed blood?"
Scott turned to him now, with a smirk on his face which he knew would annoy Dan, and it did. "Yes, Dan, a mixed-blood."
"How did you know he was mixed." Dan asked, still not wanting to believe that Scott had also found one.
"I cut him, that was how."
"Did you capture him?" The elders asked. Dan tensed, if Scott had captured this mixed-blood then all his pride would have been for naught. Once again, Scott would be praised higher than him.
"I was not able to." Scott turned to face the elders. "The Angel Sheila managed to help him flee but I was able to catch up to her and I got her blood on my blade." He brought out his two small knives and placed them on the table. They were still red with the Angel's blood.
Dan, looking for an opportunity to bring Scott down quickly chipped in. "The blood required is the blood of the mixed and not an Angel. Angel's blood is not as rare now as it used to be back then. This is useless."
Scott smiled. "Yes Dan, it is useless but at least it was my knife who did the stabbing, and not hers. I did not come in here covered head to toe in bruises and injuries caused by the sword of an Angel like you did."
"Don't you..." Dan started but was cut off by an elder.
"If this mixed blood is with the Angel Sheila, then it means that she is trying to take him back to be human fortress?"
"It would seem so." Scott confirmed.
"If she takes this mixed-blood back there, then we can not get him back as we do not engage the humans without a cause. If he gets to the fortress he will be safe."
"I can get to them before she takes him to the fortress." Scott offered, he knew that he could. "I know the route.
"If you know of the route then how is it that we do not know of the human hideout?" Dan inquired. "... since we know of the female Angel."
"Because humans are of no concerns of ours." An elder replied Dan.
"Besides," Scott spoke, turning to face Dan with a smirk. "We do know of the humans' hideout."
"We... do?" Dan was flabbergasted. He looked from Scott's smirking face, which he really wanted to punch so badly, to the elders seated. "And why have we not done anything concerning this?"
"Because again, as the elders said, the humans are of no concern to us," Scott replied him. "We do not engage them directly."
"And only Scott knows of their hideout." An elder revealed. "And we trust that it would remain that way in order to avoid any...."
"....chaos on our part." Another elder completed. "The Nadris are hidden creatures and we are to remain that way, without external interactions with the other creatures unless our expertise is required or requested for."
Dan glared at Scott whose attention was away from him, why was it that he was just only knowing of this?! So Scott alone knows of the humans' hideout. Dan began to wonder how he had found it out and how long he had known and kept this to himself. He fumed.
"Scott, try to get the boy's blood before the Angel Sheila takes him to the fortress. Dan, if you can, still keep an eye on the other mixed but do not engage Liam. He is deadly as it is. This meeting is adjourned."
Scott and Dan bowed in respect to the elders and exited the large meeting room, both of them heading for the study room which was not quite far and directly above them.
The Nadri's headquarter, as they called it, although located in the heart of the dense forest, was a magnificent piece of work. The whole area of the forest that they had claimed was a network of building connected one to another through underground tunnels or long hallways and the buildings were the homes of all the Nadris. The building they were in contained the meeting room which occupied most of the ground floor and above that was the study room and the three semi apartments, each for the three elders. This building was for them alone but Scott and Dan and a few top-ranking Nadris had access to the study room.
"Did she escape you or did you let her escape?" Dan growled and attacked Scott with the question as soon as they both stepped into the study room.
Scott, ignoring Dan's question, reached above the fireplace and took down a bottle of scotch, and poured himself a half glass. He strolled to the window and shoved a hand into his pocket, looking out and taking a sip. He let the liquid swim in his mouth for a while before swallowing it. He smiled.
Dan shot daggers at Scott with his gaze, he loathed Scott. Hated him. But of course, there was no place for love amongst the Nadirs. You could not even feel pity if your own mother had to die by your hands for a crime she committed. Yes, Dan was that ruthless. It was the Nadir's code. But still, Scott surpassed him in everything, it only added to the bitterness he felt towards his half-brother.
Scott was weak and he was fragile, too delicate and he was not even a full Nadir. Their mother's unforgivable affair with a human had begotten Scott and her only punishment had been death and Dan had not even batted an eyelid when he was offered "the honor of erasing sin from amongst them."
He had seen the downfall of Angels, the rise of demons, and the near extinction of the humans, killing his own mother was nothing to be compared.
Or maybe it was because of jealousy. Jealous of his mother's constant support for his half-brother. To him, Scott was an outsider, killing her was to establish that fact. When the affair had been revealed, Dan was little or less surprised. It had come on the day of their transformation and Scott had been unable to do so.
All Nadris at that age could transform, the inability of Scott to do so had forced the truth to come out and had led to their mother's death. Scott was not killed because even though he was only half Nadri, he had accomplished so much. The elders had left him.
"I knew I was right when I told them you were not capable." Dan scoffed.
"And you, the capable one, found another mix blood and could not capture her?" Scott mused.
"She had Liam with her, everyone knows what Liam is capable of if he wants to protect. But you! All you had to do was to deal with was a child and a female Angel and you failed."
Scott remained silent, a smirk plastered on his face. According to the elders, he was "Leadership material". Half Nadir or not, he had earned his respect. It was he who opted that Angels be transformed and not killed as they made a wonderful and submissive pet. It was he who discovered the transformation process. He who was made fourth in command. Dan was nowhere near his accomplishments, so they placed him under Scott to learn. He had not taken it like sweet honey but he dared not protest.
"She is a fine specimen, you know? She would make my collections more valuable." Scott spoke, taking a swing from the liquor in his glass.
"I knew that you had let her go on purpose. She would eventually be your own downfall."
"And you would like that? No?" Scott glanced at the man who was his half-brother. The hatred in his eyes gave the answer to his question.
"Killing you would be my greatest achievement. Mother was nothing...." He did not complete his words, Scott had him pinned to the wall by this throat. In human form they were of the same build, making it easy for Scott to bully him, so he transformed, something Scott could not do since he was not a full Nadir, so Scott let go of his grip.
Dan snapped at Scott, revealing his sharp long fangs. How he would love to bite his head off but he just could not. It was the code that protected all Nadirs from each other unless authority was given by the elders.
"One scratch on my skin and you would go all the way down to the bottom of the food chain, half brother or not!" Scott yelled, his eyes burning with anger. After a rather long pause with both brothers staring daggers at each other, Dan calmed down to his human self.
"Whatever sinful feeling you have started to develop towards the female Angel should be dealt with. Mother was weak. No surprise if you turned out the same. You are already half-human. I am sure the elders would throw a feast in your honor if they heard that you have fallen for an Angel. Let me know when the wedding bells ring." He had a hearty laugh as he adjusted his suit, leaving Scott standing by the window staring outside.
Scott drained his glass, Dan was gone. He sat down on the only armchair in the study room and closed his eyes. One thought kept re-vibrating in his head as the image of her pinned beneath him came to play in his mind and the feel of her lips crushed by his. He touched his lips with a thumb.
"Sheila..."
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