While Oli was still struggling to react to the very real and passionate kiss, the woman he was holding pulled back, and hugged him instead, head on his shoulder. With her face concealed by this, she whispered in his ear.

"I'm guessing you wanted to start a fight with him. He's hit on me three times in the last day and a half, enjoy!"

With another girly giggle, she let go, and almost skipped over to where Isaac and Bjorn were standing. Not wanting to waste the chance Oli looked over and met Hughes' eyes as the man looked back, and grinned maliciously. And then the mysterious redhead added the final straw!

"Hughes, Oli has a point. If he says you're too weak then I believe him!"

With an audible growl, the big man stopped. He glared at Oli's smug grin, and ground his teeth. This time, he didn't stop the brother who stepped forward and pulled out a gun, pointing it at Oli's head.

'Isaac.'

That was all Oli had to say. Isaac immediately flickered and vanished from where he was stood. Before anyone could even react, he was stood behind the man with the gun, with his falchion drawn and held across his throat tightly enough to draw blood.

"I'd advise you to lower the weapon." Isaac spoke in a completely calm voice, seeming unflustered by the stand-off. While he was a little hesitant to attack another man, this guy had drawn a gun first. Plus, Isaac had absolute faith in his brother, and so had no problems playing the role he was given.

Oli laughed out loud. "You rely on guns, great! That'll get you far!" He wasn't even trying to hide the contempt now, laying it on as thick as possible. He had already begun an enmity with this Hughes, picking his side, so he knew he couldn't leave things half finished. If he let Hughes leave unhindered he would be a threat in the future. He had to force him out, removing his support before he left, and then he could follow and finish him outside. If Hughes left with half the survivors it would weaken Oli's position massively.

If Isaac had known the full extent of Oli's plans, he probably wouldn't even recognise the thought process as his brother's. It was much more cold and cynical than he would have ever suspected Oli could be. However, he wouldn't deny that it made sense.

Hughes was literally turning red with anger. He waved at the man Isaac had stopped, who lowered the gun, shame and anger in equal parts on his face. 

Hughes stepped forward threateningly.

"Okay. Guns are flawed. But I don't have one out. You wanna check see how tough I am?"

Oli laughed out loud.

'Bjorn'

With a feral grin, Bjorn stepped forward, cracking his neck in a way that looked very unsettling on what appeared to be a young boy.

"Why would I need to do that?! Bjorn is enough for you!"

By now Hughes had fully lost his temper. He roared and charged forward, a lot faster than he should have been. He'd clearly levelled at least twice, possibly more. Thinking of this, Oli immediately tried something new. If [Identify] worked on the dogs which had levelled up, maybe it would work on people too? He tried, and immediately grinned at the new weapon in his arsenal.

Hughes was a level 4 Berserker. Whilst it wasn't much compared to Oli and his companions, a quick glance around the room showed that of the many people here, most were level 1, and the highest level was level 3. Out of interest, Oli turned to face Allard. He was a level 3 as well, fist fighter, whilst Jenny was a level 2 ranger.

As he turned however, he froze in shock. The redhead he had been kissing very recently, the clever one who had helped him start this confrontation, was hiding a much more shocking secret. Apparently, she was a level 9 Shadow Mage. That made her an Alpha too, and possibly a Chosen. He didn't know why she had helped him, and now he wasn't even sure that he was safe with her. If she was Chosen, and was playing some kind of angle to take him out, he needed to be prepared. Judging purely from level, she was stronger than him, let alone Isaac and Bjorn. For now however, he would play along, see what she was after.

He looked back to the main attraction. Hughes was getting more and more angry as Bjorn ducked and dodged around his blows. As he got angrier, he got faster and faster.

"Stop running!" He roared. "Stand and fight you midget!"

Putting the matter of the redhead aside for now, Oli decided to finish this farce.

 "Bjorn, you can stop playing with him now."

With another grin, filled with bloodlust and killing intent, Bjorn stopped running. He stepped forward, and met Hughes' oncoming fist with one of his own. With an audible crunch bones broke, and blood flew through the air, splashing the closest onlookers. The crowd gasped as Hughes fell to the ground, hanging onto his mangled fist with his other hand.

His other brothers rushed forward and stood protectively around him, guns openly drawn. Oli laughed again and stepped forward.

 "Isaac, enough, let him go." Isaac put down his blade and stepped back from the man he had been restraining. "There you have it. You aren't strong enough to live out there. You aren't strong enough to protect anyone. Anyone that goes with you will end up dead, or worse. But hey, feel free to try convincing them."

With that said, Oli turned back to the redhead. He ignored the small group leaving the cafeteria, dragging their crippled leader behind them. The small fry had been dealt with for now, but he had found a potentially much more dangerous person.

He walked up to her and reached out, pulling her back into an embrace.

"This is very forward you know Oli. You don't even know my name." She whispered as she leant against his chest.

"Which brings about an important point. You seem to know mine."

"I know more than that. No flashy purple orbs today, you keeping that side of your little team hidden for any specific reason?"

Oli laughed, and acting affectionate to the onlookers, gently pushed her chin until she was looking into his eyes. To anyone watching they were sharing an emotional reunion.

"You definitely know more than you should. It all seems a little... shady." He grinned with his last words. She knew he was a Psion, meaning she also knew he was an Alpha. He could only think of one encounter anytime recently that she could have figured that out. "I think I have a knife that I should return to you, don't I?"

"Hey, looks like I'm not the only one who knows things I shouldn't. And nope, I took it back when I kissed you. Thanks though!"  Oli was visibly shocked, he hadn't felt a thing when she took back the knife! With that she smiled again, and then began to push away. Before she left his arms, she turned back once more and said "My name is Elayne. Call me Elle. We have a few things to talk about!" With that, she pulled away from his hands and turned to face the crowd.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"I'm going to steal Oli for a while. He looks tired out, he needs to- to rest!"

Isaac and Bjorn watched, Bjorn suspicious, and Isaac clearly curious.

'Play along. I'll find out what is going on. Call her Elle.'

"No worries Elle, keep an eye on my brother though, you know what he's like!"

Isaac immediately said in a cheerful tone, walking over and hugging her briefly, as though an old friend. Bjorn just sniffed and turned away. Now that the violence was done, he returned to his usual subdued character. Elle smiled as though she knew Isaac, hugged him back and then pulled Oli away by the hand. Meanwhile those in the crowd who had seemed dubious stared in shock. His brother knew her name, surely they must actually be an item. Then they realised where Elle must be dragging Oli, and began to cough and splutter, some of the men almost green with envy!

"Very sneaky Oli. Letting me know that you can contact your brother whenever. Telepathy of some kind I'm guessing? How distrustful!" Elle said all of this in a low tone, but one which was still playful and flirty.

"Ha, what can I say, guilty as charged!" Although Oli matched her bantering tone, his eyes were cold and watchful. "So, where are we actually going?"

"I'm guessing you aren't stupid enough to leave things as they are with those morons? It'd be hard for you to sneak away now, so I thought I would give you an excuse. Of course, if I'm wrong, we could always just..." She trailed off, stroking a finger down his cheek and licking her lips seductively. Oli shook his head to dislodge her finger, frowning slightly.

"Sorry Elle, you aren't my type."

"Oh? Beautiful yet tragic Goddesses more to your liking?" With a playful pout, Elle clearly showed that she knew a lot more about Oli than he did about her. Before he could even respond, she turned and pulled him behind her down the corridor. "I have an exit here, made it when I helped build the barricades."

She pulled aside a makeshift door made of palettes, camouflaged by the surrounding pile of obstacles designed to block the end of the corridor. Slipping through, Oli followed her, pulling the door closed behind him. They emerged next to a set of glass double doors leading out onto another car park.

"No one watches this one as it is completely blocked off now, that's why I chose it. Let's go"

She didn't leave Oli a chance to ask why she was helping, or how she knew them, or anything for that matter. She skipped off, gesturing childishly for him to follow. She seemed absolutely carefree, unconcerned at any potential danger. Oli sighed audibly. He had a feeling that this woman was going to give him a lot more than his fair share of headaches.

-    -    -    -    -

Between an overturned delivery lorry and a brick wall, out of sight of the main road, four men were huddled. One had an arm crudely strapped to his chest in a sling, and all four held pistols. They looked around cautiously.

"I'll get that fucker, and that bitch Elle. I'll fucking kill them. I swear." The sling wearer was none other than Hughes, muttering furiously under his breath, seeming almost deranged with rage.

"Brother, we'll get them back. I still have friends inside, we'll grab the bitch and play with her while he is sleeping. Finding her body should teach him a lesson, and then when you've recovered we can gut him too. Don't worry."

At this, a high pitched feminine laugh sounded, making no attempt to hide or conceal the noise. As the brothers threw up their gun hands in shock, they all turned to face the figure who walked around the truck. They lowered the guns in confusion when they saw it was Elle, apparently alone.

"You're going to play with me? That sounds like fun! Let's play, lover boy!"

The brother who had spoken stood up cockily and began to walk over to her. He reached out and grabbed her violently by the shoulder, speaking as he did.

"Fun. Yea, for us maybe. You? Not so much."

He stopped pulling her however when she reached over and touched his chin lightly, turning his head to face her. He stared into her eyes as though hypnotised, drawn in by the dark pools. Wait, dark? Her eyes weren't... 

Before he could begin to struggle, he felt the strength begin to fade from his limbs.

If the other men present could have seen this, they would already be running. Elle's eyes turned black, pure black, sclera and all. As she smiled maliciously, the man holding her shoulder began to tremble. And then, as though dripping down, the black began to leave her eyes. Before he could react, his own eyes began to change. It looked as though the darkness leaving her eyes was dripping into his, as he gradually lost vision, and then consciousness. The last thing he saw was her eyes, now green again, shining into his as though illuminating his soul.

The brothers, who had been immensely cheered up by the apparent submission of Elle, watched in confusion as her man-handler released her and turned. His eyes were jet black, and tears of blood were flowing down his cheeks. He jerkily raised his gun. Before any of them could gather enough sense to say anything, he had shot one of his companions, knocking him down.

Before he could turn his gun again, the other two fired. A hail of bullets hit the puppet stood in front of Elle, lacerating his chest and head, and knocking the pistol from his hand. He still didn't fall however. The two continued firing, panicking completely now. This continued for several shots, until both pistols clicked empty.

And then another voice sounded, icy and merciless.

"You shouldn't have made things difficult for me. That was your mistake."

Before the men could even turn, they both felt a jerking pain in their chests. They looked down, only to see a gaping hole in their torsos. A flash of purple formed in front of them, resolving into a slowly spinning orb. They died without even understanding what, or who, had killed them.

Blood pooled around four bodies, tucked away out of sight in a corner of a deserted car park.

Two figures walked away, heading back towards the mall. One walked calmly, hands in pockets, showing no guilt or compunction about the bodies in his wake. The other skipped next to him, circling him like a playful child, occasionally tugging at his arm as though to get a response. Neither one of them looked back.