"Well," Cade said as she shoved her hands into her pockets, "what now?"

Aurelius kicked the gravel at each step as he mumbled, "I don't know. Let's just go back to Aleyah's place. Then, I think we should just spread the rest of the money. Nothing else to do, really."

"Shouldn't we go back to loot the underground bunker? Balgair said there was a safe there."

"Balgair said a lot of things. I'm not interested," Aurelius answered with a dead tone.

Cade breathed deeply without objecting.

It was true. They really had no direction now. Their plans were a mess. Balgair had left them on a deserted island of sorts. Now they had to make do with what they had. They had no measures against the bounty anymore, but maybe they would be fine.

They hadn't gotten any bounty hunters after them thus far.

***

At a beach south of Wescaster, Gadreel sat loosely on a metal bench as he lost himself in his thoughts. It was early in the morning, and not many people were roaming the streets. However, one person was as lively as anyone Gadreel had ever seen. That person was a child building a sandcastle.

Gadreel smiled and sipped a drink Sherridan had brought him at his request before leaving somewhere to do something. He wasn't particularly interested in what that something was. She had her own interests, as did he. And his interest was the child building the sandcastle.

He looked to be thirteen or so. He was rather large, with a tall and slightly burly frame. He was a charming kid, though. He could probably beat up the ones his age and steal their girlfriends. Gadreel chuckled at the thought.

But still, the kid was making a sandcastle with what seemed like self-made tools. It was almost inexplicable as to why someone like that would have invested so much time into something as pointless as building sandcastles. He had the potential to do so much more. From an animalistic point of view, the kid had it all. He could assert his dominance over other males, attract females and flex his muscles before roaring at people for absolutely no reason, like a true alpha.

Gadreel tilted his glass from one side to the other and watched as the liquid flowed, thinking, 'Ain't that the life.'

He knew why the kid was building sandcastles. It was simply because he could, and it was what he liked most in the universe. Sure, the world gave people certain gifts, and everyone had some chance of doing something grand, but it was when rejecting such a fate that a human truly reached something special.

Once a person denied what he was given and sought something senseless in many eyes, he reached a realm that couldn't be touched by simple human minds. It was a sort of ascendance above the search for meaning or any other kind of cheap thing to latch onto while waiting for death. It was a kind of eulogy of oneself to something so high that death didn't matter. Once you, yourself, were more important than the world or any kind of higher power that had a fate in store for you, you could find life.

Gadreel sensed his time was coming to an end and drank up the liquid in his glass before looking to his side, where Sherridan stood. He gave the kid one last look. It seemed he'd finished the castle. It was a glorious little thing. Gadreel wished the child all the happiness in the world.

Sherridan followed Gadreel's gaze. "What is it?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it," Gadreel said, then turned to the table on his side that had his finished sketch of Aurelius on it.

"You want to release that now?" Sherridan asked, moving her gaze to it as well.

"No." Gadreel shook his head with a hint of a smile on his lips. It was funny watching Sherridan try to predict his next move. She never seemed to get it right, despite them having been so closely together for a few years now.

Sherridan's shoulders dropped as she let herself fall onto a chair made purely of materialized essence. "Then what?" she asked with her cheek resting on her fist. "You will do something? I've never known you to just settle down."

"Oh, I won't settle down." Gadreel closed his eyes and imagined the months to come. He sensed it would all soon start to unravel. "The hunt is just beginning."

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"So, what will you do with this?" Sherridan reached over to grab the sketch and began waving around hours of Gadreel's hard work.

Gadreel gritted his teeth. The woman sure could rip the paper apart and have no consequences. Gadreel wasn't sure if she would do that. It appeared she had spent so much time with him that she had begun adopting his trait of unpredictability.

Sherridan noticed Gadreel's look and laughed. "Seriously? Of all things, this is what gets you."

Gadreel loosened up and leaned back. "Huh? What a weird feeling that was! For a second, I thought I didn't know your next action." He put a hand out. "Well, give it back."

Sherridan snickered at his confidence and put his hands on the paper, threatening to rip it apart. "What makes you so sure I won't rip this up?"

Gadreel tilted his head wordlessly with a knowing smile on his lips and gestured for her to hand it over.

Sherridan faked a ripping motion, but as there was no reaction, her face fell. "This is part of your next plan. Your plan is excitement. Knowing you, this is probably your threat that you will not proceed if I rip this." She let out an exasperated sigh and handed the thing over. "You're a real pain, you know?"

Gadreel smirked as he took the paper into his hands. "I love you, Sherry."

Sherridan grimaced and pointed a finger at him.

Gadreel raised his hands with terrible panic. "Hey, I told you that I loved you, and now you're threatening to murder me in broad daylight!" He wagged a finger with a parodic expression. "You're a really toxic partner."

"Tch. Well, stop with the theatrics and tell me the plan. What's next."

"You're no fun," Gadreel moped with a deep frown as he lowered his arms and flopped down. He then straightened his posture and put the paper back on the table before tapping on it. "As you predicted, this is next. We'll deliver this to Numen's Wings."

"And the spies will do what with that? Find out where he is right now. I could've tracked them from that abandoned building if that's what you wanted."

"Not just right now. They'll keep tabs on him. I want to know where he is at all times."

"For what?"

"So that I can get give him presents," Gadreel exploded into an explanation. "I have these brand-new socks I knitted myself! He'll love them. They're golden, just like him."

Sherridan rolled her eyes before reaching over to the drink on the table, gulping it down and casting a murderous look at the innocent Gadreel.

"Fine, fine," Gadreel yelped before his eyes went serious. "I'm sending the twins first."

Sherridan scoffed. "First and last. You wanna kill the kid so soon?"

Gadreel tilted his chin to the side. "He won't die."

"I'm sure you think you know a lot, but this is different," Sherridan said, pressing a finger against her temple. "The twins are dangerous. They could pose even me some issues. Their coordination is impeccable."

Gadreel waved a hand. "Well, maybe he will die. But I did promise Izir that Aurelius would grasp his potential before too long. I'll have to risk him dying in order to fulfill that promise. And I always fulfill my promises."

Sherridan let out a sharp exhale. "Fine. Do what you want. But let's get going now. This place is boring."

Gadreel agreed and took the paper before standing up. When he was about to turn away, however, the child kicked his sandcastle as hard as he could right into the middle, sending sand flying high into the air and making the wall collapse outwards. Gadreel smiled with a tiny laugh. "Attaboy."

"Huh?" Sherridan's face twisted as the kid kicked the castle again and again before stomping it flat. "Is the kid an idiot? What was the point in that?"

"It had no point. That's the point," Gadreel said and began walking away.

"He did all that for something without any meaning? The kid's just got some screws loose."

"No, the kid's exemplary," Gadreel said, looking at the light-blue, cloudless sky with closed eyes. "Even at such a young age, he's grasped the idea of life."