by JL Terra
She was way more than a cursed woman whose powers included a mystical sword. Just because her destiny lived within the sword, didn’t mean she couldn’t live her life on her own terms and in her own way. She was a trained operative who knew how to save people who were in danger.
The added bonus was her partner across the room, the one currently fighting with a guy for control of his gun. Also saving innocents.
She spun. Saw another guy about to shoot.
Fired a shot of her own.
Blood sprayed, and he dropped.
Malachi was just the kind of person she wanted by her side. And it felt right to be here with him. To have those moments like the ones they’d had outside, even if taking his blood had felt like an act far more intimate than normal mission procedures.
She could just chalk it up as feeling the camaraderie of working as teammates. It sure was a whole lot easier than having to navigate a romance. This was better, right? Love was complicated. Not that anything would happen between them, but it could.
Ugh. She disliked the back and forth; feeling like a middle schooler.
Not that a middle schooler would be currently waving a gun around and firing intermittently.
She collided with Bella mid-thought and they both crumpled to the floor, breathing hard. “Hey.”
Bella frowned. “What are you doing here?” Her round, freckled face and tanned skin fit well with her red hair and dark, Hispanic coloring. It made for a beautiful and unique combination. The kind of girl who, abandoned by the ones she should have been able to trust, was being used as bait for the sharks in the world.
“Are you okay? That was very brave.” She could have hidden like some of the others, but she hadn’t. She’d chosen to fight back.
Bella’s eyes flashed with fire. “Screw brave.” She picked up the closest object, someone’s discarded shoe, and threw it at the nearest man.
Mei just stared at her.
“I might not have a sword, but that doesn’t mean I can’t fight.”
“I’m not giving you a gun.” Still, Mei figured that if Bella asked, she would teach her how to use one.
Another spray of automatic gunfire hit the table above them. Another cloud of white powder rained down on top of them.
“Don’t let it get in your eyes or mouth,” Bella told her through the mask. “This drug is no joke. It does nasty things to people who breathe it in.”
If that was the case, Bella should have been wearing goggles as well.
Mei looked around to see how they were going to get out of here. Then she remembered Remy outside. She said, “Ground control to Major Tom.”
“I copy,” Remy replied. “But I’m blind inside the house. I’ve got nothing.”
“Doesn’t matter. We’re going to be coming out hot in a minute or so, and we’ll need a ride.” Mei wasn’t sure how they would get all the men and women out. It was possible that calling the police might actually be a good idea, although, their team tended to not worry about informing the authorities. After all, the police wouldn’t exactly believe that the man in charge of this drug operation—wherever he was—also happened to possibly be a vampire.
She looked around at the men and women. The ones hiding under tables needed to simply stay there and wait for the police. The gunmen’s bodies would be processed and the police would start a case. Everything would be investigated; not only the source of the drugs, but also the identity of this high lord they all spoke of with so much fear and trembling.
She’d done all she could.
“Who are you talking to?” Bella asked her, visibly trying to keep Mei from seeing that she was shivering in the cold air of the basement.
Mei squeezed the teen’s hand. “I have other team members here. We all work together when I’m not volunteering at the community center.”
As far as Mei was concerned, that hiatus was now over. The team was here and it was obvious this entire situation was bigger than she’d originally thought.
It was ludicrous to think she’d believed Ricardo was the mastermind behind everything. This was the goings on of a much bigger operation.
“Who’s the cute guy?”
She looked at Malachi. Mei hadn’t ever considered him to be “cute,” although she could admit he was seriously handsome in a kind of dangerous way. “Friend of mine.”
“Oh yeah?” The curiosity in Bella’s expression made Mei bristle, wanting to defend how she felt about him. To justify it, or somehow explain that he wasn’t such a big deal. But that would only arouse the girl’s suspicion even more. Teens were ruthless like that. One inch, and they would hound you for the other mile. Mei didn’t feel like lying to her when the truth was that she didn’t exactly know what was happening between them.
“Let’s just get out of here, and then you can ask me all the questions you want.”
Mei chanced a look over one of the tables and saw a flash and then another—two girls running for the sword that lay on the ground. The one in back was grabbed by the hair and pulled back. The gunman flung her to the floor. The first girl had already reached the sword.
Mei frowned. The sword hadn’t disappeared.
The girl turned, lifting it up as she rotated around, pointing the tip at the man. It was a desperate attempt to wield a weapon she had absolutely no skill with and little control over. A last-ditch attempt to get the advantage. To survive.
But she was going up against an armed gunman who’d likely been in this business for years. Guys like that didn’t go down easily. They wanted the money owed to them from the boss, and they didn’t care who got in the way.
The girl cried out and let go of her double-handed grip on the hilt. Her palms were red and blistered.
The sword clattered to the floor and skittered out of anyone’s reach. Before it could hit the wall, though, it disappeared. Mei was thoroughly confused.
The man hit her on the head with the gun. The girl cried out and fell to the ground, knocked unconscious. Blood trickled from her forehead.
Behind him, another girl grabbed up a gun. Before Mei could stop her, the girl fired off a shot at the man, and he fell to the ground, dead. The girl actually cheered at what she had done, getting revenge for her friend. Actually, Mei didn’t know if these girls were friends or not, but it didn’t really matter. At the very least, they were friends of circumstance, having bonded over their horrific circumstances.
Mei winced. “Okay! Everyone stand down.” This was nothing but pandemonium, and she needed to get control of the situation.
She looked around for the other gunmen and saw several that were already dead, but Malachi had one in his grasp and was whaling on him. Every few punches he paused and asked a question. The man he was hitting shook his head.
Questioning him. Trying to find out what?
Through the earbud she had in one ear, Remy’s voice called out. “Which entrance are you coming out of?”
“I don’t know yet,” Mei replied. “What are you going to do about Shadrach?” Surely she wasn’t going to just drive him through that magic barrier and risk him passing out all over again. That wouldn’t be good. But they still needed Remy to drive close and pick them up.
It was the quickest way to get out of here in a hurry.
Shadrach replied. “I’m keeping watch from the perimeter.”
Mei figured that meant Remy had kicked him out of the car. Or he had told her to go without him. Either way, it worked because it meant he was safe and he could wait for them. Probably providing overwatch, considering how he felt about letting Remy get into trouble.
“Okay. I’ll get Malachi to disengage and come with me.”
“That’s a good idea,” Remy said. “The cops have been dispatched to the address. You only have a few minutes to get out of there.”
She grabbed Bella’s hand. “Time to move.”
They made their way quickly down the aisle between tables. “Everybody clear out. If you want to stay and tell the cops what happened to yo
u, they’ll be here in a few minutes. The rest of you get out of here.”
The girls scrambled. Two stayed under the tables, waiting for the cops. A few others raced for the door in their underwear.
More than anyone, Malachi needed to be gone. The cops were looking for him in connection with the murder of the mayor. He was their prime suspect, considering the surveillance video clearly showed him committing the crime.
She called over to him. “Let’s go!”
He didn’t turn back from his interrogation. She had Bella stand by the wall and made her way over to him. She didn’t get close enough to touch his shoulder. That usually wasn’t a good idea with any of her teammates in a situation like this.
“Time to go. The cops are on their way.” Adrenaline pumped through her veins, blurring her vision slightly as her body adjusted to try and compensate. They needed to leave. Now. “Malachi. Let’s go.”
He dropped the man but brought his knee up and slammed it into the guy’s jaw. Then he turned to her. “The high lord isn’t here. He’s somewhere else.”
That meant the police wouldn’t get to arrest him. He would skate out from under judgment yet again, the way he had so far. Since this thing first began. Even before Malachi or Mei knew anything about the operation, he had been hurting people.
There was a chance the high lord had paid someone in the police department to bury everything, but she would have to trust there were still honorable cops in the world. Part of her needed to always believe that, for the most part, they were good and wanted to do the right thing.
To have hope in people.
“Let’s just go.” She waited for a response, got nothing, and continued, “Remy is going to be outside in a second and the cops are coming.” Surely he’d figure out that he needed to not be here when the cops showed up.
Bella was okay, so they had what they came for. The whole reason for being here in the first place.
“Okay.”
They pounded up the stairs as a group.
At the top, Malachi said, “Here, Bella.” He handed her the buttoned shirt he’d taken off, revealing his tank undershirt. Both Bella and Mei stared for a second at the elaborate tattoos on his arms. They seemed to be ancient symbols, or some kind of language Mei had never seen, which was, of course, what Mei most concentrated on in seeing the obvious impressive strength he had. The history of it. The personal meaning he had etched into his skin.
Bella took the shirt and pulled it on over her underwear before fastening a couple of buttons.
“Let’s go.” Malachi took the lead again, causing her to raise her eyebrows at him.
Instead, she let Bella go between them and Mei brought up the rear. That was a good plan. They could both work to protect her, and he could face down the threats that came at them if he really needed to.
She didn’t always want to be the tip of the spear. Or the sword, as it were.
The hallway was empty. Both of them were armed, so they made their way toward the door they’d entered. They should be out of there in no time, assuming none of the high lord’s men were around to stop them.
“Remy, how is it looking outside?” she asked their tech guru.
A second later she responded, “Cops are in the neighborhood. It will only be a minute or so before they see you come out.”
“Pull up to side entrance but turn around so you’re facing the street.”
“Copy that.”
It would mean Remy had to turn the car around in the driveway, but once they were all in, it would be a quick step on the gas pedal, and they would be out of there.
Bella stumbled. Mei helped her get her balance again, and they stopped in the alcove by the side door.
“We’re going to wait until we see the car,” Malachi said. “And then we’re going to run.”
Mei figured he said it more for Bella’s benefit than to communicate procedure. They only had minutes to get out of here. She would have rather made a run for it, come what may, but they had a teen with them, and Bella didn’t need to be in any more danger than she already was.
Two men turned a corner down the hall. Malachi lifted his gun and fired two shots while Mei moved in front of Bella to protect her. She shifted so the teen was tucked in the corner of the wall.
One of the men squeezed off a stray shot as he fell.
The bullet sliced through the side of Mei’s arm. She hissed a breath through clenched teeth and collapsed against the wall on the other side.
Bella screamed. “Mei!” She grasped Mei around the waist, as though she was going to fall.
“That doesn’t sound good. Someone needs to tell me what’s happening.” That was Shadrach, listening to everything. She couldn’t imagine what it felt like to be unseeing and powerless, not knowing what happened to her teammates even while she could hear everything.
“I’m okay.” Mei locked her knees and kept herself upright. “Just a graze.”
She looked at Malachi as he finished off the second man. He looked further up the hall where she couldn’t see. Were there more gunmen? She shivered, only a result of the shock of being grazed with the bullet. Not because she was scared.
If she was, it would only be that she was scared for Bella.
“What is it?”
“Fifteen seconds,” Remy said through her earpiece.
Malachi took two steps and looked at something in an alcove.
“Malachi, what is it?”
She saw him swipe whatever it was from a shelf and pocket it in the back of his jeans as he turned and made his way back to her, determination on his face. The look in his eyes was distant now. So different from the man she had stood with on the street outside just a short while ago. A man who had let her taste a drop of his blood to safeguard her enough so she could save her friend.
“Let’s go.” He pushed outside, through the door and into the night.
They ran for the car just as sirens became audible in the neighborhood.
“The police can’t find me here,” Bella said. “I’ll get in so much trouble.”
“These men abducted you and forced you to do this. It wasn’t your fault.”
Ahead of them, Malachi said nothing. He ran to the car and yanked opened the back door. “Get in.”
Chapter 14
Remy hit the gas. The car swerved, nearly going up on two wheels as she took the corner onto the street and raced away from the house.
Bella squealed, wedged between Malachi and Mei in the backseat. Mei dug her phone out from under her behind where she’d sat on it in the hurry to get in. She squeezed the girl’s knee. “We’re good. We’ll get out of here.”
She’d lost count of the number of times they had raced away from somewhere in a car with Remy driving. Maybe there was a tally somewhere, a record kept by one of the team members. Or maybe the numbers were locked away in Remy’s head like so many other things.
Remy grinned. “You want to be really nervous? Try being a passenger in a car while Mei is driving.”
Bella smiled, but none of them laughed. Tension was too high from what they had just experienced.
Mei needed a debrief. She turned to face the teen as much as she could squished in the back seat. “How did you get caught by those men?”
Bella frowned. The fear in her eyes made her appear several years younger. “They found me at a soup kitchen in the Bronx. I was hiding out from my brother, and I think they were there picking people up to help with the drugs.”
The phone buzzed in Mei’s hand. She looked at the screen and saw she had thirty-five messages and four missed calls.
“What is it?”
She shook her head in response to Bella’s question. “It’s just my mom.”
Remy said over her shoulder. “She texted me, too. Something about a book?”
“Are we regrouping now?” Mei figured if her mom was desperate to tell her about the book, they needed to meet up in person to do that. She texted back and asked where her mom was.
&nb
sp; In the front seat, Remy nodded and then spoke into her headset. “Almost there.” She turned another corner and Shadrach stepped out from between two cars.
Remy braked with the squeal of tires, and he climbed in the front seat. Even before the door shut, she hit the gas and pulled out.
Taya’s text came through and Mei read the address she gave aloud.
Remy said, “That’s where we’re going, then.”
Bella turned and looked out the back window. “I don’t think the cops are behind us anymore.”
“That’s good.” Mei looked beyond the teen at Malachi, who sat on the other side of the backseat saying nothing.
He shifted as well as he probably could in the tight space and pulled out something from behind his back. It looked like an incredibly old, rusty knife, which he stared at while turning the thing over in his hands.
“Is that what you took from the house?” She wanted to ask why it was significant. Or find out if he was even okay. He’d seemed kind of withdrawn, almost as though he’d been shaken by something. “What is it?”
A better question might have been to ask what it meant.
He didn’t answer the question, just shook his head and tucked the knife in the backpack at his feet.
Bella glanced at her, full of the nervousness of a teen who didn’t quite understand what was happening. Mei bumped her shoulder to reassure her that everything was all right now. “I’m hungry. How about you?”
Shadrach turned from his seat in the front. He said to Bella, “She’s always hungry.”
Mei nodded. “That is true, actually.”
“Well, that’s good.” Bella lifted her chin. “Because I’m hungry, too.”
They shared a smile. “We’ll get you some clothes as well.”
“Thanks.”
Shadrach watched them, looking at Mei with a bizarre expression on his face. Who cared if he didn’t understand what was going on right now? They were out of harm’s way, and they were headed to a safe house where Remy could use her doctor skills to check out the teen and make sure she was fine. They could get something to eat and rest. The team would do a debrief under her dad’s leadership and figure out what to do next about this whole thing.
