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    #18 Shades of Gray: Moments Of Revenge: Consume Their Joy
    #18 Shades of Gray: Moments Of Revenge: Consume Their Joy
    #18 Shades of Gray: Moments Of Revenge: Consume Their Joy
    Ebook315 pages4 hours

    #18 Shades of Gray: Moments Of Revenge: Consume Their Joy

    By Kristie Lynn Higgins

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    About this ebook

    The Shades Of Gray Series follows the adventures of Kat, a woman with no memory of her past who is called the Pandora Project by those who hunt her, and Kim, a woman leading the life of a legal assassin called a Life Closer. The world they live in is plagued by clouds that prevent the sun from shining down on the land called Dry Clouds, making all who live in Noir forced to live in endless night. Start this series by trying the first two books.

    Kat searches for clues to her past while androids called Un-Men and human bounty hunters try to kill her, and Kim searches for who murdered her mother. The two women's paths collide, and they form a shaky partnership to unravel the mysteries that haunt their lives and they try to protect one another from those who do not wish for them to discover the truth.

    Everyone's soul is marked by a color. Which shade of gray will they hold to?

    #18 Shades of Gray: Moments of Revenge: Consume Their Joy

    Kimberly continues her craft of revenge in its grizzy retribution.

    **Shades of Gray Series**

    (STARTING POINT QUADRILOGY)
    #1 Shades of Gray: Noir, City Shrouded By Darkness
    #2 Shades of Gray: From Moscow, With Love
    #3 Shades of Gray: Cerberus Versus Pandora
    #4 Shades of Gray: Sisters

    (ZOMBIE TWILIGHT QUADRILOGY)
    #5 Shades of Gray: Night Of The Twilight- The Chimera Strain
    #6 Shades of Gray: Dawn Of The Twilight- Outbreak
    #7 Shades of Gray: Day Of The Twilight- Patient Zero
    #8 Shades of Gray: Land Of The Twilight- Closing of Days

    (MYTHS AND DESPAIR QUADRILOGY)
    #9 Shades of Gray: Rise of the Gorgons
    #10 Shades of Gray: Woe To The Watcher
    #11 Shades of Gray: Woe To The One Who Has Held His Heart's Tongue
    #12 Shades of Gray: Woe To The One Who Thought They Could Only Hurt

    (ASSASSINS GUILD ORIGINS QUADRILOGY)
    #13 Shades of Gray: Creed of the Assassins Guild- Blade of the Dagger
    #14 Shades of Gray: Axiom of the Assassins Guild- Steel of the Dagger
    #15 Shades of Gray: Motto of the Assassins Guild- Hilt of the Dagger
    #16 Shades of Gray: Precept of the Assassins Guild- Edge of the Dagger

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKristie Lynn Higgins
    Release dateNov 26, 2015
    ISBN9781310995705
    #18 Shades of Gray: Moments Of Revenge: Consume Their Joy
    Author

    Kristie Lynn Higgins

    You can also check out my author page on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/author/kristielynnhiggins

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      Book preview

      #18 Shades of Gray - Kristie Lynn Higgins

      Chapter One

      Moments Of Revenge

      It all begins and ends in your mind. What you give power to, has power over you, if you allow it.

      Correspondent Earth (Kat's Earth)...

      –Leon Brown

      The mind is where it all begins, and the mind is where it all ends. In business, give power to what you want to have power over you and take power from what is unnecessary.

      Provenance Earth (Kim's Earth)...

      –Leon Brown

      32 A.D.C...

      November 11...

      1:57 A.M...

      Hellenistic Sector, Residential Vicinage...

      Nexus Apartments...

      Apartment H...

      Kimberly's view...

      You know what? I never did check to see if they were both really dead, I tell Pandora, referring to the boy and the mother. I know the bodyguard's dead, I made sure of that, but the boy... He was still whimpering even as I placed the sheet over his dying body, I say and then I add, though I'm not sure that she hears me, If you're lucky, he could still be clinging to life.

      I feel myself smile as I give Pandora a reason to go down into the basement. My craft of revenge staled, but I brought freshness back into it by giving my once friend a whiff of hope, and I see the glint of belief within her hazel eyes. She has faith that they are still alive just as I planned and for some reason, it turns my stomach. I should be as happy as my smile displays with all its glorious wickedness, but I'm miserable. I feel as though my soul is a magazine, and it's packed with sorrowful bullets like agony, heartbreak, and shame, but none of them will help me take down Pandora. Hades! I must give power to what I want to have power over me, and I must take power from what's unnecessary. Feelings of despair and sympathy are unnecessary, and I must take away all the power I've given them. My magazine should be full of hate-filled bullets like rancor, malice, and bitterness, so I move forward to load my soul with them.

      I gleefully watch Pandora stumble out of my apartment, then I wait a few minutes to give her time alone with her other friends, and then I rise from my chair at the large table to follow her out. My body's so heavy, and it's hard to will it forward, but I must. I have to continue with my guile-saturated subterfuge, so I order my mind and it obeys, seeing the logic behind my plan. I have to continue with my slighted justice, so I order my soul, and it pauses unsure of itself. I have to continue with my cruelty, so I order my heart, and it falters and weeps within me. I ignore it. I have to continue to punish and abuse my once friend until I have butchered all of her humanity. I have to continue to punish and abuse my friend until my craft completely destroys either her or me.

      I wearily make my way to Pandora's seat and grab her backpack from the floor, and then I sluggishly walk to the front door as I feel I'm still smiling. Each step's grueling and agonizing. Fredrick said nothing about my craft of revenge inflicting so much injury upon myself. It's a double-edge sword that can dispense great pain on one's enemies, but it can also afflict its owner with the same deep wounding pain. I think about stopping, but my mind knows I've already gone too far to do that. If I had stopped when I placed Pandora in the Drifting Time on the roof, I could have walked away from this. Regret creeps up on me, and I stomp it down with my foot. Hades! There's no going back. There's no changing things. I've gone too far...

      I step out into the hallway and walk to the elevator. The cab's already at the basement, and I press the button, calling one to my floor. I want to start crying, but I hit my fist into the wall three times to prevent myself from losing control over my emotions. I feel the pain in my knuckles and know I've bruised them as much as I've bruised my heart. The elevator arrives, and I walk into the cab and press the bottom button. It's not long before I find myself walking out to the basement. I find Katharine on the floor staring at the bodies, and I expect her to be angry with me and attack me on sight, but she appears to be too distraught and grieved to have the ability to take any sort of action against me. I can only fathom what she's going through. What she has seen of my handiwork must have paralyzed her with a sorrow so terrifying, it freezes the mind.

      The paralysis must wear off for Pandora slowly looks to me as if she wants me to help her, and at that moment, I pity her. She doesn't understand. There's nothing left to do... I've destroyed her world, and I must continue forward and bring about all my moments of revenge.

      Minutes earlier...

      Katharine's view...

      Chad? Chad! I scream.

      He doesn't respond, so I rush over to the padlock and try to get it to open, but it won't budge. The lighting down in the basement's somewhat darker than the rest of the building, and I can't really see inside the cage all that well. I stick my hand through the fencing and stretch my hand for him, but I can't reach him. I pull my hand back out and franticly search for something that will help me get in. I don't see anything. I grab the diamond mesh as if to pull it down as I stare inside the cage at the three bodies laid out on gurneys and covered with white sheets. Blood blots the sheets, and I can only imagine what horrors they hide. I desperately shake the fence as if that action will grant me entrance. I have to get to him. He could still be alive!

      Chad! Chad! I scream again.

      I shake the diamond mesh for a second time and knock over a box that had been leaning against the fence. The box tumbles down the mountain of boxes and bumps into Chad's gurney. His arm falls from it's resting place and dangles beside the gurney, and I lose it. I scream and cry as I see the burnt hand and scorched orange sweatshirt. She lied to me! He isn't alive! He's... He's... I wail all the more and crumble to the floor and sit there in sheer abandonment. Kimberly lied to me... She lied to me so I would come down here.

      I sink into despair. The world I knew... the world that had become a home to me, it's... it's all gone. I wail for what I've lost. I went through a lot to gain what little I had... no, it wasn't little, it was grand. The friendships I had I never consider little in the least. They were all grand.

      I cry some more as I realize there's no going back from this point. I can't ever get back what I once had. I have to accept that... I also have to accept that Kimberly... No! She didn't do this! Kimberly didn't murder them!

      I hear the elevator open, and Kimberly walks out. I look in her direction and see she's carrying my backpack.

      Good, you found them, she tells me. Kimberly tosses my backpack to my feet as she states, You ran off so fast you forgot this.

      Let me in, I tell her through sobs. Unlock the fence so I can go to Chad!

      She ignores me as if she's waiting for me to do something. Kimberly walks to me till she's about five feet away from me, then she stops, and leans her back on the same fence I'm gripping. She still seems to be waiting on something like I forgot my part in some demented play.

      Let me in, I repeat. Chad needs me.

      Kimberly seems amused by my statement for some reason and then she tells me as if she's trying to move things along, The boy and the mother were very easy to torture, and they both begged for death, but the body guard, she's a different story. Kimberly turns and stares at the bodies as she explains, I ended up killing her before she begged because I knew I didn't have a lot of time before you woke up.

      I peer at her in disbelief. I know Kimberly's standing before me, not some mirror-mirror version of her, but I can't believe this is her because of what's coming out of her mouth. I can't believe she murdered them. I won't. She couldn't have. It's a lie!

      She turns and faces me, takes a few steps back, motions to my backpack, and tells me, Pick it up and take out your gun. We're going to finish this now.

      No! I scream back at her. You're going to let me in!

      I said we're going to finish this. Take out your gun! she yells back at me, and when I angrily shake my head at her, she yells all the more, I destroyed those you love. I'll destroy everyone you love if you don't stop me!

      I don't understand you! You claim you killed those people and for what? Some stupid revenge? I shout and before she can yell back at me, I insist, I didn't kill your mom! I start to sob again, thinking about how Kimberly must hate me. I manage to accuse her as I stand with the help of the fence, You believe some stupid video over me. I can't believe you... You believe without a doubt and look what you're telling me you did... You claim you killed Chad and Melissa. He was a boy.

      I break down again and cry as I collapse this time to my knees. I start to believe what I see. Kimberly did this because she hates me and in the end, they're dead because they knew me. In the end, they're dead because I couldn't blot my life from theirs and now they've paid. I wrap my arms around myself, trying to find comfort, but there will be no comfort from this. Kimberly really killed Chad. She... destroyed the ones I love.

      A few seconds go by, and I can feel Kimberly glaring at me before she says, You say he was a boy. She mockingly laughs as she tells me, He cried like a girl. You should have...

      I glare up at her, and Kimberly pauses. I can't read her expression at this point, but it doesn't matter. None of it matters anymore. She killed Chad and that's all that matters, so I grab my backpack that's beside me, unzip it, and rummage through it till I find what I'm looking for. I stand to my feet as Kimberly takes a few more steps back from me and draws her gun from her shoulder holster. She aims it at me with a look of pure guilt and a little grimace of fright. I glare at her as I hold the small gun in my hand. I tightly grip its handle and then I turn and face the fence as I grab the padlock. I insert the lock pick gun into the keyhole and soon I've unlocked it. I toss the lock pick gun to my backpack and start to open the gate when Kimberly tackles me. I fall to the floor with her on top of me as Kimberly's gun slides across the floor.

      What do you think you're doing? she demands.

      I'm going to Chad. He needs me, I reply as I try to wrestle myself free of her.

      Needs you? Kimberly repeats and then she mocks me, He doesn't need you; he's dead. What do you think you're going to do for him?

      I'm going to be there for him, I tell her as I can't seem to free myself from her angry grasp. I'm going to be there for him now because I wasn't there for him when he needed me the most. I stop my struggling and peer into the cage as I say, I couldn't save him. I couldn't save any of them.

      I forgot that about you, Kimberly starts. You're always going on about saving people. So where were you when my mom needed you? She grabs both of my wrists and pins them down as she asks, Why didn't you save her? That's right... I remember. Kimberly lifts my wrists and slams them back down against the hard concrete floor as she screams, It was because you were shooting her in the heart!

      The evil smile she had when she came down here is gone. An expression of sadness and heartache wiped it from existence. She hates me so much, I don't know what to do to help her, and it makes my soul sick to know I may never be able to console her or help her through this time of grief. How did we end up here? I never imagined I would be on the gun barrel's end of her hatred.

      Kimberly yells at me, I've mentally shot you in the same place when I took their lives. That's right, I shot you in the heart, and I hope it bleeds all over the place. I hope it never stops bleeding. Kimberly stands, motions to my backpack, and tells me, Now get your gun and let's end this.

      No, I won't shoot you. I can't hurt you, I tell her and then I mumble, knowing she'll be mad, You're my friend.

      I'm not your friend anymore! I killed the people you care most for and now we're going to end this!

      I won't hurt you, I tell her as I glance at Chad again. I need to figure out a way around her, so I can get in there.

      You've already hurt me! she shrieks. You've destroyed me. You've taken everything away from me, including the friendship I thought I had with you. Now take out your gun!

      No! I won't! I won't hurt you. I glance in at the gurneys and say, Just let me go to Chad. Let me be there for him.

      Kimberly peers at the bodies for a few seconds, and I see the pure guilt on her face again. My heart nearly stops. For a split second, I see the Kimberly I adore and cherish above all, but then I see her as someone who has done something horrible and is now regretting it. I want to rush over to her and wrap her up in my arms and tell her I forgive her, but as I turn again and peer at Chad's limp arm, I know that I can't. I can't forgive her for something like this.

      You want to be there for him– Kimberly starts as she moves over to her gun, picks it up, and then holsters it, –then go... See what I did.

      I start to rush in, but then her words cause me pause, and I walk in. Could there be more to his death than what she let on? I glance at the hand that's burnt. Do I want to know what she really did to him? I can't turn around from this. I have to know. This happened because of a lie. This happened because of me. I move slowly in and stand before the body of Chad.

      Kimberly's view...

      I watch as Pandora tenderly takes the boy's hand in hers, and I watch with a big grin on my face. I've taken the first two steps. I didn't take her life right away, and I've hurt those dearest to her. A tear trickles down my cheek, and I quickly wipe it away before Pandora sees. I can't have her turning around and seeing me weep for the family I tore apart and made suffer. Pandora doesn't turn, but keeps her focus on the boy. I make my way to the end of his gurney for a better view of the things to come. The timer to the bomb has been set, and I wait with gleeful anticipation for it to explode. Pandora will see my handiwork, and we can finish things down here. I don't need to go any further with my craft. What I've done is enough. It's enough to satisfy my blood lust. All that is left to do is to kill my best friend.

      I'm sorry, Pandora tells the boy under the bloodstained sheet. I'm sorry you, Melissa, and Preacher ever met me. Death seems to claim the ones I love.

      She strokes his burnt hand for a few moments as if he has a bad fever and she's giving him a bit of big sisterly love. She grabs the sheet on the side of the gurney and lifts it enough to place his hand back underneath. Pandora turns her attention to his head. She starts to remove the sheet when she pauses as if afraid and for some reason, I'm relieved she decided not to look.

      Is this enough? Pandora questions me. Is this enough to satisfy your need for revenge. Three are dead, and we're both dead inside.

      I answer her, This is far from being enough. You took away so much... so I owe you so much more. Now go and get your gun.

      I won't, she tells me. I won't hurt you. I would die if anything happened to you.

      I've just murder the boy and his adopted mother and all you can say to me is that you won't hurt me. Are you out of your pucking mind? I shout and then I grievously question her, Who else do I have to kill to force you to turn your gun on me?

      Who else? she asks and almost laughs. We're talking about me, aren't we? I don't have anyone else. Pandora stares at me with those dry red eyes of hers and inquires, Who can you hurt now? She places her hand on the boy's chest and stares at his shrouded face as she whispers, There's no one else to kill.

      I can't believe the look she gave me. It's as if she pities me, and I can't have that. I want her to hate me... I want her to hate me as much as I hate her.

      What are you saying? I yell. We're even now, so I can forgive you and you can forgive me, and then we can go back to the way things were?

      No! Pandora snaps at me as she turns to me and tells me, I can never forgive you and things will never go back to the way they were!

      Her answer is like a knife I've pointed at myself. I drive the blade deep into my own heart. I never imagined how much it would hurt to see her suffer and how much it would hurt to hear her tell me she'll never forgive me. My own sorrow lashes out, and I scream at her.

      I don't need your forgiveness, and you'll never have mine! I point a shaky finger at her and declare, You got what you deserve.

      Pandora looks to the other bodies and then she peers at the boy again. She questions me with sorrow dripping from her lips, Did Chad and Melissa get what they deserve?

      For associating with you, they did, I answer and then I look at my handiwork.

      She doesn't say anything to my statement, and I find that I've placed my hand to my arm as if I'm trying to console myself over my own atrocities. Did I just lie to myself when I told Pandora they deserved it? I quickly drop my hand. My heart has betrayed me. It wants to side with Pandora on this matter. I think back to something Brian told me in his hospital room.

      'I don't know what to say. I've never had a friend that I've been so close to...'

      He later said.

      'Have you contacted the N.C.P.F. or your father? We need to get them on this.'

      The next words ring over and over in my mind like a warning I should have heeded.

      'You shouldn't be the one to go after her.'

      I hate him for that statement, and I hate myself more for remembering it now. If I had listened to him and let someone else deal with Pandora, then I...

      I can't think about the could-have-beens. I need to focus on the now and what I want out of my retribution. I believe I know exactly what I want when Pandora moves over to the boy, reaches her hands up to pull back the sheet, and then she pauses.

      She turns to me and questions me, What will happen to their bodies?

      I don't understand your question, I tell her.

      When your revenge is over and I'm..?

      Pandora holds in her last word to herself as if the word dead is taboo. Has she accepted that I'm going to kill her? What about proving to me that she's innocent?

      You're giving up too easily. I thought you were...

      I am innocent– she declares, –but does that matter now? If I proved to you one hundred percent that I'm innocent, wouldn't that make what you've done something more monstrous than it already is?

      I say nothing to her comment for she's right. My actions are already unforgivable, but to have Pandora innocent of taking my mom's life... It would make all of this...

      She interrupts my thoughts as she tells me as if it's an order, You will give the bodies a proper burial. Her tone changes to more of a plea, You have to give the bodies a proper burial. Don't dig a hole somewhere and dump them in. Pandora turns, moves to me, and grabs my shoulders as she says, Promise me that you'll bury them right. Promise me you'll...

      I nod, shocked by her request. I should be yelling at her for asking such a stupid thing of me when we're no longer friends. Pandora has no right to ask something like that of me. Stupid idiot! Take my revenge like you should! Hate me! Despise me! Don't make me promise things I'll regret later!

      Satisfied with my nod, she turns around, walks back to the boy, and starts to raise her hands to pull back the sheet. For some reason as I watch her take the next step in my carefully planned reprisal, my heart's thundering in my chest, and I feel a sense of frenzied dread overcome me. It's like I'm afraid she'll discover what I did. I'm afraid she'll discover what I did and that she'll hate me forever. For Ares' sake! I did all of this so that she would hate me, and I can't believe my own heart. My mind takes over and I'm relieved. It'll take the next logical step. I think about all the possible scenarios that could happen once she pulls back the sheet, and I find I've unconsciously walked up behind her and grabbed one of her wrists. Pandora turns and faces me, and her eyes are redder than before. She peers up at me with a look of hurt and confusion as she waits for me to say something to her. I stand there for a long time, staring at her like I don't know what I'm doing. She's too calm about all of this. What's wrong with her? I look at my hand that has her wrist. What's wrong with me? Her removing the sheet is the next logical step. She has to see the body for us to progress in our warped trek together, but then why do I shudder from the notion of what's coming?

      I tell her out of desperation, knowing the truth of what's under the sheet and wanting the friendship that we have to endured just a little even if it's just within my mind, You don't need to see him. Go over to your backpack, get your gun, and let's finish this.

      She shakes her head, and it infuriates me that she won't listen. I don't want her to look under the sheet, so I yell at her, We're going to finish this, and we're going to finish this with guns. Now walk over there, grab your backpack, take out your gun, you fitch, and let's finish this. Don't shake your head at me again. I'm not going to let you do anything else but face me in one last battle.

      She continues to peer at me a little confused, then she glances at the boy, and turns back around with this angry look. Pandora marches over to her backpack, opens it, and takes out her Beretta. I'm so relieved she didn't look under the sheet, but now I have to face her in a gun battle. I don't know if I'm ready for this. I don't know if my hatred has gotten to the point where I can kill my best friend. I watch as Pandora also grabs the lock pick gun, then turns, and faces me. She glares at me again, and when I believe she's about to raise her gun and start shooting, Pandora moves to an adjacent storage cage and throws the lock pick gun and her Beretta within it. I rush over to the cage and find a padlock will keep her things inside. I let out an angry shout, then moved to her, but before I can say anything to her, Pandora screams at me.

      Now you can stop yelling at me about this showdown you want. It's not going to happen. If you want to shoot me then shoot me, otherwise– she motions inside my storage cage and tells me, –I'm going over to Chad, and I'm going to... Pandora gets all choked up before she finishes with, I'm going to say goodbye.

      I'm so angry that she refuses to listen to me that I smack her

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