Perched atop a tower with a mask half covering his face, Arthur half hid. Lost in his mind, he stared down the streets of Paris, a silent watcher. He had been up there for some hours now on the cold winter night, but that didn't faze him.
The intelligence given to him was that Omar would be passing this place tonight with his guards, on his way to auction a bioweapon stolen from the Scorpio company, which belonged to Arthur and his father. It is safe to say that it was the largest company in the country, with tons of powerful subsidiaries operating under it.
Besides the weapon being a half-finished product, it wasn't meant to leave their lab, except it was on its way to the government, something that would only happen for a very good cause. Another reason Arthur lay in wait was that no one stole from him. He considered that a taboo. He flicked his wrist and glanced at the dark screen of his watch, which he could somehow see through with his Lycoan eyesight, and saw that it was past 1 a.m.
He nodded in satisfaction at the time and turned his attention back to the busy streets, which never seemed to sleep, despite how late it was in the night. It reminded him of his home town, Sorona, known as the city of commerce and tourism. With Grainger and the boys who always tried to pick on him; he chuckled at the thought of that.
If only they really knew him. He was sure they'd be traumatized for the rest of their lives. But no, he wouldn't do that to them. His parents raised him better, although they knew nothing about their son shifting into a wolf either. He felt quite regretful that he never got to tell his mother about it until her death, a burden he always carried in his fragile heart. But now wasn't the time to be home sick; he ordered himself and focused on the task at hand.
A group of well-lined, tinted cars suddenly showed up at an intersection and sped by, getting his attention. Arthur's eyes, which could be seen clearly through the top of the mask, narrowed into slits as he peered into each car at an unnatural speed, searching for his target.
That was when he saw him—Omar, fingering a large diamond ring on his middle finger. The guy was terribly frightened, as Arthur thought he should be. It'd have been an insult for the thieving rat to steal from the Scorpio company and still be breathing fine.
He gave Omar one point for being scared after his well-planned heist and got ready to leap down and get this over with, but something struck his mind. He hadn't seen the weapon anywhere on Omar or any of the cars. Something wasn't quite right with this setup, he thought.
Arthur's eyes scanned everyone again and rested on Omar, scrutinizing everything about him, down to the droplets of sweat rolling down his sideburns, despite his seemingly calm facade. That was when he realized it—it was the ring! How many men of Omar's kind, with his personality and an ego the size of a stadium, would be caught wearing a ridiculously large stoned diamond ring?
Although he wasn't sure, Arthur further studied the ring and found what he was looking for. For in the hollow of that diamond was his precious; his weapon. Cleopatra, as he called it. As small as it was, it could wipe out half a country and make the other half wish they had never existed.
Satisfied with his findings, he leaped with laser-like precision and landed on the roof of the last car. They wanted what was his. Well, they'd have to prove they were capable of keeping it by going through him first.
Arthur landed stealthily on the roof of the car without alerting the occupants and found his way to Omar's. Show time, he thought, as he disappeared right through the althruium steel of the car and ended up beside Omar, who almost had a heart attack from seeing him there.
"Really, Omar?" Arthur smiled as he slightly leaned forward, whispering into his ear.
Omar froze in shock, expecting the worst. But Arthur had slipped right back out of the car like a breeze.
Omar sat there in shock, wondering if he was only hallucinating. He knew how terrifying Arthur could be, but had put it all down to the hype and rumors. He couldn't relate the twenty-one-year-old to the rumors swirling around about him.
But he did know that Arthur wasn't one to let go of his property so easily, which was why he had put his contingencies in place. No, something was very wrong, he thought, as he scrambled to alert the driver, who had been oblivious to everything. But he found he couldn't move.
Terrified out of his wits, he moved his eyes down and saw that the ring was gone and his white shirt was dyed red with blood—his blood.
Then he felt it, a deep gash across his throat. He closed his eyes in despair and regret. His last thoughts as his life faded away were regrets over underestimating that boy.
Arthur stood on the roof of an office complex, watching the cars blithely cruise on as he rolled the ring around the spaces between his fingers.
He found it funny that Omar added a car made of althruium to his security details. It would have been a good plan if the security was for anyone other than him because he was althruium and althruium came from him. Which is why althruium products can only be purchased from companies under the Scorpio group.
Yet here was good old Omar trying to keep him away from his own property with something made from a part of himself—his powers. He chuckled at the irony of it all and checked his watch again. There was time enough for him to get to Sorona on time and humor Grainger and his pack of wannabe bullies.
"Time to go back home," he muttered to himself.
Then he jumped backward from the roof and disappeared into the night.
