Blessed by Night-Chapter 473: I’m So Misunderstood

Opal reached for her phone immediately.

"Don't bother, love. It's not my first rodeo with a woman, so I was considerate enough to make sure it was just us."

Opal attempted to press the button underneath her desk.

"Darling, this isn't my first experience with silent alarms. Please, don't act like I'm some amateur."

"I'm not your darling, dickless." Opal stamped across her office towards her door, attempting to wrest it open.

Her efforts bore no fruit. It was like her door was magnetized in place.

"Ready to sit down with me yet, or are you still not quite tired?"

Opal ground her porcelain teeth together until they were ready to crack.

As a last resort, she stamped towards her window and raised her weapon.

"Persistent little dame, innit? I'm afraid I don't really recommend taking the shot, though. We don't want to have to send everyone home for the day." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Opal paused with her finger on the trigger of her weapon.

There had to be another bomb placed in this building. Running to alert anyone would only ensure that none of them made it out of here alive.

She needed to buy time until she could think of something. And that unfortunately meant playing nice with her captor.

"...Alright, let's hear it." Opal sat in her chair with a droll expression.

"Oh? Finally ready to hear my side of things?"

"No, fool. Just get to whatever demands you have so that I can get back to work."

"...A busy woman then. I can respect that. You're more enticing than what I'd heard."

"I know."

Kincaid smiled plainly. Opal thought she was going to be sick.

"I'm really not your enemy, Opal Symone."

"You are an enemy of the government... I am an employee of the government... I would think that would make our standings pretty clear already."

"Well, pardon my bluntness, but maybe that means you haven't been thinking hard enough about what I' trying to do. You know, they say to understand your supposed enemies, you should try to put yourself in their shoes."

"You aren't the only evolved in the room who's read a history book. I know what you're trying to do, and I think it's dangerous for humans and everyone like us."

"But that's why my little outfit is working so hard, love. So that one day there won't be any dangers for anyone 'like us'. I know you're not like the other sheeple who believe everything the local news tells them. Things are worse out there than what gets shared with the public."

"Thanks to you and your outfit."

"Are you actually trying to insinuate that we were the initial perpetrators of the violence? I should hope not, since everything I read had me believing you to be smarter than that."

"Get. To. The. Point." Opal impatiently tapped her nails against her desk.

Kincaid could see that Opal wasn't in the mood to discuss philosophy or civil unrest with him, and though he was a bit disappointed by this, he didn't bother trying to change her mind in a different direction.

"...I won't lie to you, Miss Opal. I think that we don't have to be enemies. We should be working together to create-"

"Please, don't tell me you came all the way here to give me some sort of sales pitch. I'm already gainfully employed."

"What if I told you I wasn't willing to take no for an answer?"

"I'd tell you just how much you sound like the humans you despise."

Opal only realized too late that she shouldn't have said it. Her words caused something in the air to change.

Kincaid's jaw tightened for a moment before returning to normal. But Opal knew she wasn't mistaken about what she saw.

"You know, Ms. Symone... Despite what you believe, I am not a violent man. That said, I do happen to be in the company of some very violent individuals."

-

Joanne put up with the sound of rustling fabric for as long as she possibly could before elbowing her husband in the side.

"Stop touching yourself..! You look fine, you're going to mess up your tie."

Malachi continued to shuffle in his suit uncomfortably. "It's this damn jacket and dress shirt.. they're making my wings itch."

He finally resigned himself to being uncomfortable for the duration of this meeting. "Fuck, I need a drink..."

"Same."

Malachi stared at her hard.

"...What? I want a milkshake." Joanne shrugged.

The two of them walked towards a reconstructed white building in the middle of Washington D.C. As they talked amongst themselves, they received dozens of glances from passersby who seemed to recognize them.

They ignored all glances as if they didn't even notice them.

"Feels more crowded around here today than normal." Malachi finally noted.

"That's not really surprising... Opal said she was bringing in all the big names for this meeting… speaking of." Joanne bit her lip. "Are you sure that this is the way you want to handle everything?"

Malachi narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not trying to make you second-guess yourself." Joanne said firmly. "I just want to make sure that you've considered all-"

"Something's wrong."

Joanne and Malachi came to a halt around twenty yards from the building entrance.

Joanne had assumed a guarded stance. Her eyes scanned the area as she looked for signs of disturbance. Even her hearing was dialed to its utmost sensitivity.

But she couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.

"…Everything seems fine." Joanne placed her hand on her husband's shoulder. "Are you sure you're not just having a weird demon thing…?"

Malachi knew he wasn't hallucinating. He felt it in his bones.

The more he focused, the more his vision shifted to dye the entire world in a sea of red.

He took a deep inhale, and his eyes widened considerably.

"…I smell blood."

Before Joanne could stop her husband, Malachi changed into an unnatural demonic tower over eight feet tall.

He flexed his powerful muscles and leapt seven stories in a single bound.

He burst through the reinforced windows of a seventh-floor office and lunged inside.

What he found was a woman being pierced by an elongated piece of glass. When their eyes met, his horror all but tripled.

"Opal!!"

Opal shook her head at him with one hand pressed against her wound.

"Not me… the bomb… find the bomb..!"