Pure Requiem - Aja James Page 0,3

hands off each other, and they’re not even paired together as training partners. But then, even I can feel the blast of heat from their mutual attraction and arousal, so perhaps their disgusting PDA is not just because of the honeymoon stage.

Aella used to be an Amazon warrior. Tough as nails and sharper to boot. She has the added Gift of superhuman speed. She’s the one who identified me amongst hundreds of Medusa’s mind-controlled minions despite my disguise, chased me down on the back of a flying white dragon, and took me prisoner. There was nothing I could do. She hit me, the big bully! Bloodied my nose, loosened a tooth, and almost broke my cheekbone.

I may have a slight crush on her for it. But I have enough sense of self-preservation to keep this on the down-low.

Aella is often paired with Tristan, the Champion. If my sources are correct, he used to be a medieval knight. As such, he is the youngest (and therefore weakest) of the Elite warriors, though still formidable. He prefers weapons from that time period—axes, swords, hammers, spiked-ball flails—caveman instruments, in other words, while Aella typically wields weapons in both hands, like her chakrams and short and long daggers.

Cloud is almost always paired with Valerius, the Protector. The warrior with the highest body count amongst the Elite. The one I tried to take down many years ago. Unsuccessfully, I might add. I accomplished my mission in other ways, however, not the least of which was putting a large dent into the Pure Queen, Sophia’s, trusted inner circle, both Elite warriors and Circlet members alike.

This is why I told you up front: I’m no good.

Because of me, the Pure Ones lost three of the Dozen from their original ranks. It’s amazing they haven’t executed or at least tortured me for my crimes by now. Idiot do-gooders.

They’re missing one more, but I wasn’t directly involved in his capture. Credit for that belongs to Medusa’s other henchman and mad scientist—Wan’er. Except I suppose she’s been promoted to my second Mistress now. Which is yet another reason I’m not as eager as I should be to leave the Pure Ones’ hospitality.

Back to Valerius. The silent, broody warrior was a Roman gladiator in his human life. He fights with precision and power, every move designed to kill, or maim, so that his opponent will stay down for the eventual kill. His favorite weapon is the chained scythe. It’s a thing of beauty. I’ve often fantasized about his using it to grant me a quick, painless death. But when have my dreams ever come true?

Both Cloud and Valerius are distance fighters, which is why they are always paired up. Moreover, their abilities are several notches above even the two ancient Akkadians newly added to the Elite ranks (not including Tal-Telal)—Inanna and Gabriel.

Though they’re both Dark Ones, the former Angel of Death and her human-turned-vampire Mate have decided to join the Pure Ones in recent years. Probably because Jade Cicada, the most powerful vampire queen in modern history, abdicated her throne to Mate the Pure Ones’ Consul, Seth Tremaine. And because Tal-Telal happens to be Inanna’s father, and he’s as Pure as they come.

In fact, the General’s blood is what’s keeping me alive.

I watch Tal-Telal more than anyone else. He’s blind and scarred (a condition that is almost impossible for an immortal, given our healing abilities; it’s physical proof of the unfathomable tortures the male endured at the hands of my Mistress for thousands of years), his body resembling that of an imperfect human, a casualty of war.

But his will is perhaps the strongest of them all. He has a palpable aura of strength and conviction. Righteousness. Goodness. Selflessness.

I’d use these adjectives as insults with any other being, and once upon a time, I used them derisively with him. But over the last few weeks, I’ve developed a strange kind of hero-worship of Tal-Telal. Maybe it’s the purity of his blood in my veins, encapsulating my Mistress’s venom and poison, neutralizing her effect on me.

I feel…healed.

Or healing. I can breathe easier. My mind doesn’t feel as fractured as before.

I’m humbled by this male as I watch him hone his fighting skills with the human Chevalier. Sometimes, Inanna and Gabriel join the pair. He doesn’t hold back, and neither do his opponents, despite his disability. He fights like a seeing man, but he is still not as strong in body as the other immortals. They knock him down, bloody him up, but he