Chapter 32: 32. How Yessica ALMOST Died

Yessica could hear her heart beating loud in her ears.

A terrible realization that she might be about to die hovered over her like a swarm of locusts over a wheat filed.

The morning Sun was shining in through the window of the dank and dusty room in which she now found herself and the early birds could be heard chirping just outside, unaware of Yessica's sad fate.

She had failed another mission... And she would likely pay for it with her life.

Somehow, as she had been preparing to end the old man's life in the ambulance she had fallen asleep, or been knocked unconscious somehow and, when she finally awoke, she had been laying in a hospital bed, surrounded by nurses and doctors… All of which were frozen in place.

'Feels a bit like deja vu, doesn't it?' someone had said just as she had come to and before she could get her bearings.

She had been shocked to see Leo sitting in the doctors chair reading through a pamphlet, Rendall standing just beside him with a stern expression plastered on his face, his eyes focused on Yessica.

'Master Leo? What—' Yessica had begun.

'Sleep, fool.' Was all Leo had said, as the world had instantly gone black.

The next thing Yessica knew, she was waking up alone in the basement of someone's house, tied to the wall with thick chains around her feet and handcuffs about her wrists.

Presently, based on the angle of the sun light through her window, she guessed it was between 8 and 9 AM.

Most alarming, however, were the two men laying in each of the opposite corners of the room. One, with a familiar face she had seen back in the briefing room, was in chains and still unconscious.

The other, unchained and free to roam, was the burnt and sad frame of Zayn Leanders himself. He was only half awake and just as alive. The right side of his face, the only side that was visible, was nearly unrecognizable as human. It was burnt as black as charcoal in places and the flesh on his jaw especially was puckered, and wrinkled from the likely intense heat he had endured. He had received only minimal care as a single bandage was wrapped around his neck, so that it was almost comical how poorly cared for he was.

He wore a face that took no efforts to hide the shameful defeat he had likely suffered at the hands of Zeff and Sylvan.

Yessica, seeing the once proud warrior slouched over in a corner and covered in burns, almost felt sor—

"Don't you dare pity me. You filthy Cast-Away…" Zayn growled looking blankly into his corner of the room. "Don't you dare…" He stressed as he turned to face Yessica.

Yessica had to stifle a scream.

The left half of Zayn's face seemed to be melting away. He had horrible fourth degree burns covering his left side from the top of his head to his chest. It was so bad, in fact, that she hardly cared that he had called her a Cast-Away again.

She said nothing, and simply tried he best to think of something else but at that exact moment the door was swung open to reveal Leo, Rendall, and Matea.

"Zayn, Zayn, Zayn. You should be a bit nicer to the poor lady. You're both failures after all."

"M-master Leo. There must be some sort of misunderstanding… I—"

"Bite your tongue off." Commanded Leo curtly.

Instantly, and without hesitation, Yessica extended her tongue and *Squelch* bit down. *Splat* said the tip of her tongue as it hit the cold hard floor next to her.

"AHHGH! Ach—"

"Silence!"

"—"

"We don't want to disturb our guest in the next room."

Yessica could only wriggle about noiselessly there on the ground as Leo strolled over to his brother.

"And look at you… Finally awake, huh?" He said to Zayn with a chortle. "The degree of your failure is only matched by the degree of your burns."

Zayn didn't make eye contact or even blink. He only stared into the corner with pitiless indifference.

"Come, now. Do you not wish to talk. Or is your shame to great for words?"

"Shutup." Retorted Zayn tersely.

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"Zayn." called Rendall, "May I remind you that you're not simply talking to your brother. You're talking to a member of the Inner Ring, himself. You will show the proper respect to my master, or I'll kill you myself."

"With what? Your tablet?"

Rendall flinched as Zayn suddenly stood to his feet. "How about this, you techno-b*stard." Zayn began, is voice almost a whisper. "If you speak to me again before I give you permission, I'll kill you. And I'll do it with my bare hands…"

Yessica caught her breath despite the dizzying pain in her mouth. She had never seen a man so calm and so angry at the same time. His eye (the only good one) was laser focused on Rendall and his expression and stance seemed to say, "Test me. I dare you."

Rendall looked nervously from Zayn to Leo and then back to Zayn and then back to Leo as a cold sweat began to form on his brow. But, when Leo said nothing, he lowered his head and stepped back, ashamed and embarrassed.

Leo whistled. "If only you had shown this kind of fire on the highway yesterday… Maybe you wouldn't be standing there looking like a burnt marshmallow."

"Sir." Matea interjected politely lifting a finger. "I should heal him soon. If we wait too long he—"

"I don't need your healing you short haired b*tch. Don't even—"

"She wasn't asking, brother."

"If she tries, I'll kill h—"

*Slap!* rang the sound of Leo's fleshy palm on the right side of Zayn's face. "Do you think I want to look at the horror show that is your face for another second? She *will* heal that hideous mug of yours. Then, if you want, you can crawl into a whole and die."

Yessica's head was swimming from the pain and blood loss and her heart was beating faster than a hummingbird's as blood filled her mouth and spilled down onto the floor beside her severed tongue. But she still managed to think as Matea approached Zayn, 'That's a relief. At least his brother loves him.'

If it had not been for the blood loss, she would have done a better job of controlling her thoughts. But she let that one slip and, all at once, both Zayn and Leo turned towards her, a furious rage in their eyes.

The worst of the two was Leo, by far.

Yessica nearly died of a heart-attack at seeing the two men glare at her.

"And you…" Leo fumed through clenched teeth. "You *are* going to die this day. And I have already found your replacem—"

There was silence as Leo's eyes, still focused on Yessica, suddenly grew to twice their normal size. "You can't be serious…" he said to no one in particular, completely stunned. "Her?! Of all people, why her?"

Yessica was utterly confused. Leo was likely reading someone's mind, but Yessica had no idea whose. In fact, she didn't know much about his gift at all. It was entirely possible he was talking to someone miles away.

Leo, after clicking his tongue in frustration, finally said, "It appears that you won't be dying today… But." He drew closer to Yessica so that he could just reach out and touch her hair. "This will be her last chance… One more mistake, and she's dead."

Yessica couldn't be sure if Leo was talking to her or not, but either way, she was beyond relieved.

"Matea. Heal them both. And Rendall, be a dear and show our guest in."

Rendall immediately bowed and left the room as *Shoohw* green mist flowed from Matea's hand and enveloped Yessica and Zayn.

Zayn, despite his flesh healing and his eye and mouth being restored, seemed somehow to be angrier for it.

Yessica's tongue began to tingle and the blood stopped flowing almost as soon as the green mist hit her, until before long she could feel her new tongue putting pressure on the back of her teeth.

She sighed with relief as Leo bent over and began removing her chains and handcuffs. As he did, however, Yessica noticed that Leo was staring at her with such a look of bitterness and contempt that she almost asked him to leave the chains on. Was what she had thought before (and she dared not allow herself to think it again) really so bad?

She caught her breath as she realized that Leo's expression was not quite contempt… She had seen this look before on her Abuelita's face many times as she told her stories of the Underworld.

It was… Jealousy.

At that moment Rendall returned followed by another man dressed in a dark blue hoody with the hood over his head so that a shadow concealed his face.

Leo stood and, with booming voice, announced, "I would like to introduce you all to my new friend.—" The man strode into the center of the room where he removed his hood, revealing two bright yellow eyes. Yessica caught her breath.

"—Special Agent Florian Petticoat."

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