Anna Kin!

As in Mr. Kin’s kid. The one who Kan and I saw run this morning!! What the hell was she doing here?! Her father - if Mr. Kin was really her father - hated the Underworld and everything it stood for. Why would he allow her here?!

Get a hold of yourself, Runa. The girl’s watching you. 

I nodded my head in acknowledgement. “Have you decided what Ministry you want to work for?”

It was best to act like I didn’t know anything. I needed to find out more about this before I revealed anything to this girl.

The arena around us started to clear up so I moved, walking toward the gate. Anna followed closely behind me. A few drones flew past us, holding ribbons and a few planks of wood. The Awards Ceremony would start soon.

“I haven’t decided yet.”

“That so-”

“Grim Reaper!” A voice filled with hate interrupted. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

I looked to see a short man around twenty standing at the entrance of the arena gate. He had gray eyes with long black hair. His mouth had a sneer on it, making the scar running across his mouth and nose look more jagged and cruel. His blue and white uniform showed he belonged to the Ministry of Justice and the gold sash across the uniform his rank - Head of the Police Department.

Samia Maa.

Part of the Maa family who ran the Ministry of Justice and a complete nightmare to deal with. He was in charge of the police force in Eden, running the department with an iron fist and complete ruthlessness. At least 4 000 people died each month due to his running of the police. 

It didn’t matter who they were, if they so much as looked at him wrong, they would pay with their life. Saying I hated him was an understatement. We had a past that involved the scar on his face as well as a few others hidden under his uniform.

“Samia or should I say General Maa.” I sneered back, disgust clear on my face. Placing a hand on my forehead, I gasped in fake shock and exclaimed, “Oh wait, that's your younger brother. How is he doing by the way?”

Samia clenched his white gloved hands and smiled. He knew I was playing with him but he couldn’t do anything about it. In terms of the Underworld ranking, I was superior.

“Captain Maa is fine. As for my brother, he is the same as ever.”

Complete hatred radiated off him as he said the words. But I wasn’t surprised. His younger brother outranking him came as a shock to him, but to everyone else it was clear as daylight. Not only was Keeli, his younger brother, much more powerful than him, but the smarter one too.

He also lacked the control needed to deal with threats of the Underworld.

“That’s good to hear.” I took a step past him, instantly dismissing him. “Make sure to send my regards to him. Also it looks like the Ministry of Health still hasn’t been able to fix your scar. It’s quite sad. You did once have a handsome face.”

I turned my head to the side, putting a hand on his shoulder as if to console him. “But I guess even for the Ministry’s best your case was a little special.”

A little special was complete bull. And we both knew it. That scar was the result of a fight that left someone’s face ripped apart and a deeper hatred within them. It honestly wasn’t a fight, more like a one-sided beating if I thought about it.

And seeing the rage on his face was priceless made the comment so worth it. That day must still be eating at him seeing the way his face was red and a few veins looked ready to pop. I smiled. This must be my reward for having to deal with that crap earlier. But as much as I enjoyed pushing Samia’s buttons, I had other business to attend to.

“Let’s get going, Anna.” I continued walking a few steps.

“Wait…” I stopped and turned around. Samia was holding Anna’s arm. “You need to come with me.” 

So, she really was the reason why all the families came and Lord Malum had me do this damn fight. It was to figure her out, obviously because she was hiding something big. Or they had some interesting intel about her. Today, was turning out to be better than I thought…

“No, she’ll be coming with me. I have not finished speaking to her.”

“But Lord Malum…”

Lord Malum wanted something from this girl. But sadly for him, I was going to steal her from right under his nose. I could already see his raging face, the image so clear in my mind. So, I played the one rule I knew not even Lord Malum dared to break.

“You dare take my servant from me!" 

The servant’s rule. One that allowed a person to be under the direct protection of all the Underworld’s families. Once they were bound to one of the fifteen families, no one, not even Lord Malum, was allowed to touch them.

It was a rule to stop families from stealing or otherwise harming personal servants. Rivalry within and among families was rough with many clawing for the top spot. The only condition to this rule, however, was that you could only take one servant. 

And I hadn’t used my one yet.

It was a little reckless using this card, but I had a feeling that Anna was important to whatever plans Lord Malum was plotting. And today felt like a great day to completely mess up his plans.

“Your servant!?” Samia gasped. “But you’ve never taken one before. And a child?! I don’t believe this!”

“Girl, are you not my servant?”

I turned to Anna who looked a little dumbfounded. She knew exactly what I had done. Hopefully she would play along or I was going to have some serious issues.  

“Yes…”

“See, what did I tell you.” I waved my hand at Samia. “Now, let her go. I’m tired and Anna here knows how to do great massages.”

Samia grumbled but let Anna go. Bowing he hurried away, anxious to tell Lord Malum the news. He’d be lucky if he came out alive because from the looks of things when the last match ended, Lord Malum was already seeing red.

Once he left, Anna turned to me and asked, “Why did you lie?”