They Called Her the Devil

Chapter 37, Kate

"I fucking kissed him again. He's the fucking enemy and I kissed him again. I'm going to have to kill him." I declared to the prisoner I was fighting.

He's as good as dead anyway. Might as well vent.

My leg spun through the air and collided with the man's face. He staggered and dropped to the floor. I laughed and let him get to his feet.

"And the worst part is that I had a gun on me. I could have kidnapped him right then and there but I didn't."

I dodged a messy attack and laughed. I was seriously losing it. I kicked the man in the stomach but didn't finish him yet. I wasn't done talking.

"And now I just can't get him out of my head. I just want to kill him."

I kicked his legs out from under him. I would have gone for a different move but my hands were zip-tied as part of the drill. I had to be prepared for any scenario.

"Or you know, kiss him again and then kill him."

I spun and kicked the man in the stomach again. He bent over and coughed up blood. I'd broken him. Too bad.

"Good talk," I said as I kicked his head back, effectively knocking him out.

I walked over and somersaulted through the air, I landed on his neck and it snapped. It was a quicker death than he deserved.

One of the Ghosts had gotten pregnant and given birth to a baby girl. The guy I'd just killed had snuck into her room and tried to kidnap the baby.

Dawn had "talked" to him and found out he was trying to ransom the baby to me because he knew I cared about my girls. For the record, I would have paid in counterfeit.

I broke out of the zip ties, called the cleanup crew to get rid of the body, and went up to my room to shower and change.

After I'd showered I walked into my closet to pick out an outfit. I wanted to look intimidating when I announced the ceasefire to the Ghosts. They wouldn't like it, but they all trusted me.

I eventually settled on a white blazer over a black dress. I did my hair in a neat up-do and stuck my face into a makeup machine. Lastly, I slipped a gun into my jacket and strapped a knife to my thigh.

I made my way down to the Ghost compound, messaging the Ghosts to meet me in the center of the compound.

When I got there a group of thirty-seven women were waiting for me. I knew all of them from years of training with them. They trusted me absolutely; I trusted them more than I trusted anyone else.

"Girls I have an announcement."

The room quieted.

"As some of you know Richard Gold hired someone to make a deadly virus that would kill me along with anyone with a specific genetic marker."

Put the blame on Gold, not us or the Silver Order. Create a common enemy.

"That's three percent of the world population, at least one of you."

Make them care. Now they have something to lose.

"Now Sam managed to destroy a sample of the virus but we've discovered more of it. Unfortunately, there are more samples that we don't have locations for."

Show them we've done it once and can do it again. But we still have work to do.

"Now I have discovered that the Silver Order has people within the Gold Order that can get us the location of the virus samples so we can destroy them."

Give the Silver Order credit but still take credit for finding out. Emphasize the end goal.

"Therefore I have decided to enter a temporary ceasefire to use the Silver Order's resources for our advantage."

Take credit like I'm doing them a service. We're using them, not the other way around.

"And obviously when they trust us it's that much easier to stab them in the back and crush them once and for all."

Lie through my teeth. Like I'd betray Xander and risk both of our lives. I'd get their base location and destroy them after.

At my last statement, the group started applauding. All of them had been friends of people the Silver Order had killed. Most of us had good reason to hate them.

I'd never lost family but several girls I considered friends had died fighting the Silver Order.

Then I noticed Izzie. She had a look of horror on her face and Lia had a protective arm around her shoulder. I couldn't tell if it was to restrain Izzie or to comfort her.

I walked over to them.

Lia gave me a sad look; I knew the struggle of loving someone on the other side of this war. Not that I loved him.

"Izzie, can we talk for a minute?" I asked.

"I'll meet you in my room when you guys are done talking," Lia said.

Izzie wordlessly got up, the look of horror still clinging to her face. She followed as I led her into the empty dining hall where the Ghosts ate their meals.

"It would be easy for you to warn them," I said, "You have an x-com, you could get a message to Xander and he'd believe you over me."

"Why are you telling me this?" The look of horror had been replaced with one of confusion.

"Because I know you won't do that. Because this ceasefire is the only way to save 25 million innocent people."

I could have mentioned Lia but I wanted Izzie to trust me at some point. And she'd hate me if I used Lia as blackmail.

She paused, clearly thinking. "We don't have spies in the Gold Order."

So she hadn't been in on the betrayal.

"Some people in the Silver Order betrayed Xander, I don't know who but Gold still thinks they're on his side."

"I'm honestly not surprised. A few people in the Order don't agree with Xander." She said, and then as an afterthought added, "He has it under control though."

"I know. You can go meet Lia now." I stood ready to leave.

"One more thing," Izzie asked, "why did you kiss my ex-boyfriend?"

"I wanted to turn you against each other to make it easier for me to escape." I lied.

"No, you didn't. I didn't think about it too much then but I remember the look on your face when I caught you. You like him."

"I guarantee I don't. I was faking it for his benefit."

"Sure."

And then Izzie left me there with my thoughts. Did I like him?

***

Hey guys! What do you think of Kate's venting strategy? What about her plan to betray Xander? Will Izzie warn him? Please vote and comment I want to know what you think.

-Jade