Astraea

Briony glared at her twin sister.

Lorcan turned around and saw his nieces standing in the living room. He didn't notice when they arrived.

"You're here," Lorcan said. His expression is grim.

"Yeah, didn't Briony inform you?" Bell asked, then she walked towards the sofa and sat without waiting for an invite.

Lorcan looked at the twin. "They did." He said. He just forgot about it after waking up with a girl naked in his arms and the events after that.

"You look terrible," Brylee said after looking at him from head to toe.

Lorcan looks like he just came out of the bed. His grey shirt and pants were crumpled. His hair is in a mess and he has dark circles under his eyes.

Lorcan lowered his head and brushed his hair with his fingers.

"Hangover." He just said.

"Have a seat. I'll just take a quick shower." He said then left the five sisters.

"What do you guys think happened?" Brylee asked her sisters after taking their seats.

Bell leaned her back and head on the sofa and closed her eyes. "Don't let him catch your nose in his business again, Brylee."

Aside from being feminine and perfectionist, Brylee is a bit nosy.

"Hey, are you still sleepy?" Brina asked Bell in a concerned tone.

"Mm...because someone disturbed my sleep earlier," Bell replied indifferently.

Briony chuckled because she knows that someone is her and Brina.

"Uncle Lorcan's pad is so nice..." Briony said afterward while looking around "...but lonely and grim."

Lorcan's pad is simple, smart, and has a very nice masculine vibe throughout the design.

"You are right. Uncle Lorcan should get married soon." After saying that, Brylee and Briony looked at each other. Their eyes were conversing silently. When it comes to being nosy, Brylee found a confidante in Briony.

"Is my life better than yours, Brylee?" They suddenly heard the intimidating voice of Lorcan making Brylee and Briony flushed red from embarrassment after being caught talking behind his back.

Bell opened his eyes and looked at Brylee. Her eyes were saying 'Don't tell me I didn't warn you.'

Aside from Bell, Lorcan could shut Brylee and Briony's mouth for hours.

Lorcan sits on a grey accent chair in front of his nieces. His back facing the huge glass window. Then he looked at Bell.

"How many times should I remind you, no casualties?" He said. Meeting the girls after a bad morning doesn't help.

Bell just looked at him.

For a moment there, Lorcan and Bell had a staring competition. Brylee, Briony, Brina, and Bianca watched them.

Bell clenched her jaw then said, "I am running out of time and they refused to surrender Chaol."

Lorcan leaned back and crossed his hands on his chest. "So that's why four of them end up with a broken face, four with a bullet on their shoulders and leg, and two electrocuted."

Bell's sisters had their eyes wide at her.

"And where the hell did you get an electroshock weapon with such a high voltage enough to almost kill one of them?!" Lorcan's voice went a little notch higher.

This time, Bell's younger sister's jaw dropped. Did Bell lose it last night?

Bell avoided their eyes and looked at the vase on the coffee table instead.

"Black market," She replied.

Lorcan pinched the space between his brows. He didn't expect Bell to have connections in the black market. It seems like he underestimated his nieces.

"And what is she doing here?" His question is directed to Bianca, though he kept his head on the floor.

"You said that you wanted to meet us, so we brought everyone," Briony said innocently.

Lorcan forgot about Bianca. He did say that he wanted to meet them but Bianca is just 18 years old and not into bounty hunting. He regrets involving the four sisters in his profession, so he would not make the same mistake with Bianca.

But he called them here to talk about his proposal regarding their profession. He didn't expect Bianca to be there. She shouldn't be there.

"I'm sorry but, Bianca shouldn't be involved with this." He said not looking at Bianca because he knows that he would hurt her feelings when he doesn't mean to dishearten her.

Though they didn't tell their parents that they were bounty hunters, they didn't hide the information from their younger sister.

"If this meeting is something about bounty hunting, I guess I have the right to be involved," Bianca said timidly.

Lorcan raises his head on her with a frown. Something tells him that he wouldn't like what he is about to hear.

Bianca lowered her head and bit her lip before she said, "I got my certification to be a bail enforcement agent."

"What?!" Lorcan and Bell exclaimed at once. Bianca is just 18 years old and though they all started as bounty hunters at the same age, they thought that Bianca is too timid and fragile to be in this profession.

Brina looked at her with a sorry expression while Brylee and Briony had an unexplainable reaction. They wanted to be proud of her but they can't help but worry about her.

Bianca is their youngest and they still see her like a fragile little baby.

Bianca raised her head, her eyes starting to turn red. She could understand why her uncle and sisters react that way. And she felt sad about it.

"I am not as fragile as I look. I've been training alongside you. Whatever skills you know, I know them too. It just happened that you were years ahead of me. But you started at this age as well. And you were not as good as you are now when you started." Bianca tried to defend herself.

"But Bianca, you are different from us," Bell said, making Bianca lower her head.

Bell felt guilty.

"How can you tell that I am different from you?" Bianca asked, making Bell frown. It was obvious from the tone of her voice that she was hurt.

But Bell could see more to that.

They all went silent.

"I'll mentor her," Bell said after a while, making everyone surprised except Lorcan who was angry.

"Are you insane?! You are going to put her in danger!" Lorcan was enraged. He just cannot picture the fragile Bianca hunting for criminals.

"Did you thought of that when you allowed us in this?" Bell glared at her uncle. Though she doesn't regret it, she has to bring it out. Her uncle cannot be unfair towards Bianca.

When Bell finds out that Lorcan is a bounty hunter, she looks up to him. And she knew that she wanted to be like him. When she turned 18, Lorcan was 25 years old then, she asked him if he could mentor her to become a bounty hunter.

At first, he was reluctant. But he sees her potential. So, he accepted her as her mentor. Two years later, Brylee got her certification as well and he also mentored her. Followed by Briony and Brina three years after Brylee.

They decided to keep it a secret from their parents. In fact, their identity as bounty hunters were concealed from the public. Rowan is against him being a bounty hunter, so there is no way for him to allow his precious daughters to be one as well.

Later on, one of the veteran bounty hunters died in pursuit of a violent fugitive. That's when he realized the danger that he put his nieces into.

And he would never put his younger niece in the same situation.

"And that is the biggest mistake I ever made in my life," Lorcan said in a defeated tone.

The girls felt how sorry Lorcan is. They know that he was guilty about allowing them in this profession and hiding it from his brother. That is the reason why he rarely visits and stays at home. As much as possible, he wanted to avoid his brother.

"And we thank you for that." Brina's words made him look at them.

Brylee and Briony were smiling at him.

"If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be able to experience this kind of life. You know how we are. We hated being confined in a small box. There are different worlds outside our box that we wanted to explore. And we found our world with your help." Brina continued.

"If we think it is too dangerous for us we will stop," Brylee said.

"If we think that this is already boring for us, we will stop as well," Briony added.

"This is not something for you to enjoy." Lorcan frowned.

"But it is," Briony said with a smile. Then the sisters look at each other with a twinkle in their eyes that tells him that they really enjoyed doing it.

"We wanted this so we will deal with our parents," Bell said afterward.

Lorcan sighed. "Easy for you to say."

Bell smirked.

"And Bianca, I don't agree for you to be in this but I feel that you needed this as much as we needed this as well. So, I will be your mentor. But, we are going to hunt together. You will not hunt alone. If you feel that you are not fit into this, you can tell me immediately and we'll stop. Is that clear?" Bell said in a cold and authoritative tone.

Bianca smiled at her and nodded her head.

But Bell just stared at her studying her.

Did she discover something about her? Bell thought internally.

Bell, Brylee, Briony, and Brina have special abilities that are beyond normal. And only they and their parents know about it. Their Uncle Lorcan was oblivious of it.

They didn't tell it to Bianca as well, being the only normal one among the five sisters. They were worried that she'll fear them if they tell her.

But it seems like Bianca is struggling with something. And Bell has to find it.