Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



Violence left me after saying her little words of wisdom, and I quickly got dressed.

For the life of me, I could not understand how she equated my allergy to eating a poisoned apple and falling asleep, but if she said to stay away from them, then I would listen to her. Running quickly to the ensuite bathroom, I washed my face and brushed my teeth.

Pulling my hair up into a ponytail, I looked at myself in the mirror, making sure that everything was in order before I went out. And just because I was taking a lot more time with my appearance had nothing to do with the fact that I didn't want to be around Bin An Sha or his whole mushroom thing.

Absolutely nothing at all. I was just starting to care about my looks for the first time in my past three lives.

I left the bathroom just in time to hear yelling and crashing. That should be the rest of the guys coming back from dealing with syndicate matters and learning that the good doctor tried to give me the mushroom drink again.

There was another crash and the sound of something heavy hitting the wall. I probably should go out before they destroy the house. I didn't know who it belonged to, but they might want it back.

"Welcome home," I said, leaving the bedroom and walking into a line of my four men staring down at Bin An Sha. You know, for an assassin, he certainly gets his ass kicked a lot. Maybe that was why he switched to medicine.

I came to a sudden stop as I looked at my men. All four of them looked like they could have come straight out of a GQ magazine, and my lady bits were reacting to them like I was not just wrung out dry a couple of hours ago.

"You fucking tried to give her the drink?" demanded Chen Zi Han, and I could guess who was the one doing the throwing.

"Now, now," I said, going to stand in front of the giant. He was so frigging hot, dressed all in black, that it took me a few minutes to remember what I was going to say. "We don't know who this place belongs to, so try not to damage it too much," I continued, stroking Chen Zi Han's chest and marveling at the muscles underneath his shit.

"We do, Sweetness," said Liu Yu Zeng as he placed his elbow on Chen Zi Han's shoulder and leaned in to talk to me. "It's mine."

"This place is yours?" I asked, looking at the beautiful furniture and the stunning views of the mountains and the ocean.

"Yup," he said with a nod. "I needed a place away from the compound where I could just relax," he continued.

"So, if this place is yours, then that means that it is mine too, right?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. I was a firm believer in the idea that what was theirs was mine, and what was mine was mine, too.

"Correct," said Wang Chao with a smile. "This place is yours."

"Then, if that is the case, I really don't want it to get damaged. You guys can go play elsewhere," I said, shooing them out of the living room and toward the front door. I passed a chef's kitchen and paused for a second to take in the black cabinets with white marble countertops and all stainless steel appliances.

"Chen Zi Han insisted that the kitchen be done just so," said Liu Yu Zeng, coming to stand beside me. "Do you like it?"

"Love it," I said, nodding my head. Yeah, I could definitely picture this place being a vacation house for us. There was no way I was going to let anything happen to it.

Doubling down on my conviction, I went back to pushing Bin An Sha out of the house. Which, in hindsight, it was probably not a good idea to put my hands on someone that was trying to poison me.

Pulling out a handful of powder from somewhere, he smeared it all over my hand and arm that was touching him.

Chen Zi Han let out a roar of anger as his brain processed what happened much faster than mine did. Picking me up, he rushed into the kitchen and sat me down on the counter beside the sink. Gently grabbing my right arm, he turned on the water and started washing the powdery substance away.

Once he was satisfied that the brown power was gone, he then lathered up my hand and arm with soap and water before rinsing it off a second time. Patting my arm dry, he picked it up and studied it in the light.

There wasn't so much as a red mark from the powder, which I could only assume was mud water.

"Told you she wasn't allergic," came Bin An Sha, strolling into the kitchen, the rest of the guys following behind him. "If she were, then her skin would have had a reaction of some kind or another."

"You know," I said as Chen Zi Han picked me up off the counter and put me down on the floor. "There are a lot easier ways to die."

Bin An Sha looked at me for a moment before turning away and addressing the guys. "All I am saying is that I don't think she had a reaction to the mud water, which is why it is not my fault she got sick."

"That was your whole reason for chasing her around? To make sure she realized that it wasn't you who poisoned her?" demanded Liu Yu Zeng as he undid the cuff buttons of his shirt and started to roll up his sleeves. "You're insane."

"Hardly," scoffed Bin An Sha. "All I am trying to say is that I care about her just as much as the rest of you and would not do anything to hurt her."

"Thanks for letting us know that," I said, leaning against Chen Zi Han. "I really appreciate it."  I wasn't going to get into a long, drawn-out fight. It just wasn't worth my time or energy. Instead, I pulled the very Canadian move of dismissing him with politeness. "However, I think the guys and I were about to leave. Will you be okay here on your own? I know you are still not feeling up to a lot of strenuous activity."