My Predator System Vol.2

Chapter 9

She blinked, her heart started to race. It sounded romantic but she was afraid of heights.

"No, no no."

He grinned. "Yes, you've been on a rollercoaster before."

She sauntered to a shelf to put her sewing kit up. She was flustered at him.

"I promise I won't drop you, for most of the part."

She clung on.

"Hang tight."

"Oh, I'd never guess." She said.

He grinned and his wings refracted flying and then finding a wind thermal.

He would be soaring through the air with mighty agility. And aerial awesomeness but tonight he seemed to be flying with grace.

Harley was already panicking. This would usually be every girl's dream but this was a bleeding nightmare.

She closed her eyes tightly having flashes of exploring the tunnels as a child.

"Hello?" She said.

A guard caught her. "Hey! Get back here!"

She screaming running away from him.

Ares looked up at her pulling the door open. "Where are you going!?"

She ran through the field with Ares on her tail.

She had seen the skulls, the spears, he had said his name was Alexander Myers but was that truly his identity?

"Harley! Don't go any further!"

He was not just some ordinary human who rescued her. He was something much more dangerous.

She tripped and fell off a cliff. She screamed at the drop and held on as tightly as she could.

Ares knelt. "Grab my hand."

"No!" She said. Trust the dangerous man or plummet to her doom.

"Please." He said and she reached up with teary eyes.

Her other arm slipped, he caught her before she dropped.

He held her shaking and went away from the cliff.

Present day,

She opened her eyes and Maks was flying low.

"Easy, easy." He said when she scrambled clutching on for safety.

She glanced at the surface of the ocean. She lowered her hand and her fingers skidded through leaving a trail.

She panicked holding on and gazed at the city lights. They were going further away from Phoenix

She glanced at the clouds and turned sad. All those years she had missed taking flights.

Maks watched her reaction. It was definitely not what he was hoping for.

He let her down by the beach.

She looked up at the sky.

"How was it?" He asked breathing harshly.

"Not fine. I don't mean to be rude but can we go home now?"

"I mean it's not an easy fix but I'm sure with time, you'll be soaring like no man's business." He said.

"Are you flirting with me?" She asked.

"Well if you put it that way."

"I remember that almost kiss. That time we had our masks on."

He swallowed. 'Not this shit again'

"We cheated on each other with ourselves." She said.

"That's funny if you ever think about it." He said squirming.

"When I said you were the best warrior? I meant it." He said.

"A warrior who doesn't have the liver the kill anyone. That's no warrior, that's just a martial artist." She said.

"Artemis killed Miguel point blank."

"Harley, she's an assassin." He pointed out

"Well I was trained by Ares."

"You think if Ares wanted you to be a killer, he'd leave you indoors with Keisha as target practice?"

She heaved a sigh and embraced him.

Maks was just a street level fighter who learned to survive on his own and she was a warrior trained in combat.

Harley opened a portal and they walked through. She touched her head and fainted.

"Harley!" He said scooping her up to the bed.

He recalled her using her powers for combat. She was paler now.

He checked her pulse. He made a phone call. "Keish? Yeah, it's Harley."

Keisha arrived soon after and she sat by her friend. Blackjack whined reaching his snout under her palm.

"I'm getting worried."

"She's exhausted, it takes up all her energy.You know she has to imagine where she needs to be and it's like riding a bicycle, non-stop. You just have to take a break."

Maks placed his thumb under his lip.

"You know she overexerted herself the night she banished the monsters. I thought this will be over_"

"You ever think of the consequences of using your powers Maks?" She asked.

He wiped his cheek. "Yeah."

"Even machines break down."

"I tell her to stop." He told her. "She just doesn't listen."

Keisha looked annoyed. "We're taking her to Ares." She said.

"I'm not letting him near her."

"Someone's gotta talk some sense into her. It ain't gonna be you."

"Can't you use your tears on her or something?"

"This is a mental wear and tear. Not physical. Now are you coming or not?"

They got to Ares's house and the assassins whistled.

"Let me guess, he's still under house arrest." He said.

"Fei made sure of that, remember?" Keisha asked.

Fei Long was a dragon deity who gave powers to the weak to avoid extinction. Especially when the world was eroded by monsters.

Maks worked his jaw, he wanted to say Fei never stopped Ares's attempts to destroy him. But he recalled that she had once sent a Foo Dog.

And gave him powers even though he did not belong to the Lee clan. He also remembered that Artemis got powers too. "Fei didn't have a choice."

"Yeah, time was running out. She had to gather as many as she could especially in a modern world where monster hunting isn't Vogue."

"And Harley...she didn't have much of a choice did she?"

"Fei felt sorry about that one. She just had to teach Ares a lesson." Keisha said by the door.

They walked into the mansion and the ghost workers lingered. The house was clean and displaced objects moved about.

"And you? How'd you get your powers?" He asked.

"None of that matters now." She said and he laid her back. "Imma go find Ares."

Ares arrived, he had grey hair combed back, his fiery eyes behind shades, a solid build with an aviator jacket, jeans and boots.

His breath caught at harley. She hadn't spoken to him in weeks.

"Well who do we have here?" He said to Maks who stood.

He didn't say a word.

"What a pleasant surprise, you're not gonna say hello to your new guardian?" He grinned.

Maks looked exhausted, he didn't have a choice. "Harley's in trouble."

"I see that." Ares said rounding the bed to place a hand on her forehead.

He remembered the day she died and Fei had brought her back.

"It's been a while my darling." He said to her.

"Right, after you lied to her and kept her dad in prison."

"It was for her own protection. You know nothing mortal."

"I know enough to understand that you're not her father. Just another troublemaker." Maks said.

"You know I could have been a god myself but...I actually have a heart."

"Wrong. You have a brain, at least you're smart enough not to make the same mistake twice."

Maks grinned.

Ares checked on Harley. "She's very sick. Her body can't take the teleportations anymore."

Maks's eyes turned glassy. "Is there anything more you can do?"

Ares's eyebrows lowered. "I don't know."

"You said she wasn't sick." Maks told Keisha.

"I just needed a second opinion." She said.

"She's technically not wrong." Ares added.

"First Sam and now my girlfriend? What am I gonna do?" He said.

"Maybe a little self-care is in order." Keisha said and Maks turned around slowly to glare at her.

Harley woke up and she glanced at the figure before her.

"Maks?"

"It's me, slick." Ares pointed out.

She frowned at the familiar voice. "You."