by C. L. Stone
It was oddly quiet now. The only sound was the gentle whirr of an air conditioner. The apartment was a bit on the cold side. It was cool outside, so it baffled me as to why they had the air conditioner running.
Brandon called out after we entered. “Anyone home?”
There was rustling behind a door and a moment later, Raven emerged from his bedroom, wearing only pants.
My heart skipped. For some reason, I knew he’d be getting out of jail today but I hadn’t expected him.
Raven was broad from the shoulders all the way down to his waist. The tattoos over his body depicted a lot about a past life that he told me about. He had his lip ring in. I wasn’t sure, but it looked like he’d added a new smaller tattoo to his chest. It stood out because it was a little crude, not as elegantly done as the others. I couldn’t see it until he got closer and into the light.
A scarab beetle. Over where his heart was.
Mark of a thief, he had told me once.
The button of his jeans was undone. I got the feeling he’d been in his room naked and he just slipped them on for presentation.
“I didn’t know you were out yet,” I said.
“This morning,” he said, his Russian accent thick.
There was a pause as we inspected each other. I was itching to say something, like I was glad he was out. Only I couldn’t think.
He came toward me. He put his arms around me, and I put mine around his shoulders.
I punched him in the back while I was holding on to him. It was an awkward punch as I was at a bad angle. “That’s for you pushing me off the boat.”
He swatted me on my lower back, close to my butt, just has hard. “You already hit me for that.”
“I meant the second time.”
“Oh.”
“Stop hitting her,” Brandon said. “She just got out of the hospital.”
“Oh,” Raven said again, and then backed off and released me. “Right. Forgot.”
“How can you forget? She was there for weeks,” Brandon said.
“I was out of commissioner.”
“You mean commission?” I asked.
“Same.” He paused and thought about it. “Wait. No, not really. I used the wrong word.” He reached back to me, tugging me toward his bedroom. “Do you need to lay down?”
“I’m fine,” I said, resisting. At that, Raven stopped tugging.
“Where’s Axel?” Brandon asked.
“Meeting,” Raven said. “In your apartment.”
“You’re not with them?”
“I think it’s about me. And her.” He nodded toward me.
He frowned. “They aren’t waiting around now, I guess. I’m going to go check. Stay with Raven,” Brandon told me.
We watched him go. His head was down, and he avoided looking at me as he left.
It made me uncomfortable. They were having a meeting about us. We weren’t invited…
“What’s wrong?” Raven asked me. “What did he do?” He motioned to the door where Brandon had disappeared. “Why does he look like that?”
The numerous questions picked at me like beestings. I didn’t want to be the one to say it, but maybe it was better from me than Brandon right now, who didn’t want to talk about it. “He sold the garage. So we could leave.”
Raven frowned. “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
Raven turned to me, tugging me to the bedroom. “Come talk to me.”
“Shouldn’t we go listen in on what they’re talking about?” I asked. “It’s about us, right?”
“No. They’ll tell us afterward.”
“Is it about...what we did?”
“No, it’s about what to do with us.”
I frowned, disliking that. “Shouldn’t we be involved? Shouldn’t we be talking?”
“It’s not...” He grunted and shook his head. “Come on. Let Corey explain it.”
“Corey?”
I followed him to his bedroom door.
Corey was inside, just lowering a T-shirt onto his body, the lower hem falling low over his boxers. It wasn’t fast enough to hide bite marks along his torso.
I blinked in at him, at the room. Most of it was familiar, but the bed in the far corner looked ransacked and there were pillows all over the floor. The blanket was half hanging off.
I got that feeling like I was walking in on something I probably didn’t want to ask about. But also, I got a feeling like I wanted all the dirty details.
Corey realized it was me in the doorway with Raven and flashed an awkward smile. “Not what it looks like...”
“We had sex when I got in,” Raven said. “Hope that’s okay. Since we’re married.”
Corey rolled his eyes. “Okay, so it’s exactly what it looks like...”
I held a hand up. “Hey, um...I don’t need details.” Yes, yes I did. I wanted anything to cheer me up after today. I wasn’t even sure it would work, but I wanted to distract myself and talking about their relationship had me feeling better.
“Axel said we can’t hide relationship information anymore,” Raven said.
“I don’t think he meant she needs a report about what we do,” Corey said, and then spoke to me. “I mean...um...look, it’s weird. I know.”
I kept my hand up and started waving it. “I’m not jealous or anything. Don’t apologize.” How could I make up some weird rules about who they could or couldn’t hook up with? I was the one who was married to Raven, interested in all of them, and Blake. And I’d just told Brandon I didn’t think I could handle open dating just now but I was okay with this in a weird way. Maybe because I knew about it before…
And in a way, I was happy to see this. I’d known Corey had a crush on Raven. And I’d learned recently Raven had a crush on him, too. They’d been holding back for this long. It was about time they hooked up.
Corey seemed to brighten at this. “Really?” Then he frowned. “I mean, I’d like to... you know... date you, too.”
It was odd to hear him say it. After earlier, I wondered if he’d told Raven what we did at the hospital. “I know it’s complicated,” I said. “And the others…”
“And we’re married,” Raven said, putting his arm around my shoulders, but looking at Corey. “So you can date her because I said it’s okay. If she wants to. And the others can. Only when I say so.”
Corey groaned at this. “I’ve been trying to explain just because you’re married, it doesn’t mean...you know... you’re married. Russia’s a bit different when it comes to relationships.”
Raven shook his head, released me and went over to Corey. He put his hands on his shoulders and looked him in the face with the sincerest of gazes. “If they’d let me, I’d marry you, too. But they won’t let us.”
Corey’s face flushed instantly. “Raven...”
“I’m not supposed to lie about relationships,” he said. “I’m trying to tell the truth.”
Corey made another grunting noise and looked at me for help. “He’s been saying this all day. I can’t get him to stop.”
I waved at them shortly, trying to redirect the conversation. “What are they talking about in the other apartment? Can’t you listen in?”
“I’m not supposed to,” Corey said.
“Why not?”
“It’s not like we’re in trouble. It’s more…strategy for what to do next.” He motioned to the bed. “Want to sit down?”
He spread out the blanket on top of the bed properly. I crawled onto the foot of the bed, collecting a pillow to hold against my body. Corey sat up against the wall the bed was pushed close toward, his knees up and his elbows resting on them.
Raven started by sitting on the edge near the head of the bed, but then moved over, throwing a leg through Corey’s bent one and rested his heel on my leg. “Remind me to get a bigger bed. For three.”
Corey blushed at his comment but ignored it and focused on me. “Anyway, don’t worry about them in the other apartment. You aren’t in trouble.”
�
��Why would I be in trouble?”
“Because...” He paused and then shrugged. “No reason, really. It isn’t you, it’s us.”
“Dr. Roberts hinted that there were some issues with the Academy. And Axel said something earlier...”
“We broke our own rules,” Raven said. “So we get into trouble.”
“It’s not about being in trouble anymore,” Corey said. “We kind of knew we’d get in trouble over it. And Alice making that call didn’t help because it just proves to them us disappearing is the right call. But it’s a question of do they basically tell us to go and stop associating with us or how much help they can give. Giving any at this point really puts them at risk. The longer we keep in contact with them, the more likely she’ll figure out what the Academy is.”
“They probably would have kicked us out anyway since you’re my wife,” Raven said. “And also the others with you.” He tilted his head and seemed to consider this. “Like other husbands, but not officially. Boyfriends? What’s the word for more than boyfriend but not officially husband? Is there an English word for that?”
“Why do they care who you date?” I asked.
“It matters when the group of us are willing to jump onto a ship to keep you and Blake out of trouble.”
“Oh.”
Corey shifted his hands up, in an I don’t know expression. “It might not be so much us, but Blake? Blake’s the problem…not that he’s a problem. But he’s loyal to you, not to the Academy, and they’ve a lot to risk if he’s willing to give them up for you.”
“We can’t let them find out,” Raven said. “Alice. She can’t know.”
Corey nodded. “They don’t want to leave us in danger, but we put many more people in danger if any one of us get caught by her. Leaving is the only option, really. Cutting ties.”
“So this is the end? You’re out of the club?”
“Yeah.”
I pondered this. “So we arrest Alice, and then we can come back?”
Corey laughed shortly. “We need to find her first. She’s probably not working alone—”
Suddenly, a phone on the floor came to life, a dull thudding vibration with a few beeps. A text message coming through.
Raven leaned over, fished it up and looked at the screen. “They’re done. They want us to go camping.”
Corey made a strange face and reached for the phone, checking the message. “That was fast. It looks like they want us to maybe hang out at a campground somewhere.”
“Wait,” I said. “Camping? Like…literal…tent and stuff?”
“Less chance to get caught,” Raven said. “Out of trouble.” He nudged me with his foot. “My thief doesn’t cause trouble, though. They’ll see.”
“Probably part of the bigger plan,” Corey said. “But they first have to figure out a secure place and probably set up a few false trails.” He frowned. “I don’t like this. This isn’t her chasing us. This is them dealing with it.”
The three of us were silent for a moment while it sunk in. I didn’t like the plan either. I thought of the kid at the garage, the one that waved to me as we were leaving. I thought of the people at the hospital, Dr. Green.
It really was like leaving them behind to deal with this.
It was our mess.
“Can I ask you all something?” I said.
“Shoot me,” Raven said.
Corey chuckled. “I think you meant just shoot.”
“Same.” Raven sniffed and then made a gun with his fingers, pointing it over his heart and pulling the trigger. “Shoot me.”
“How obligated are you to the Academy? I mean they provide you with stuff and then you do work for them?”
“It isn’t like that,” Corey said. “Not...normally.”
“It’s exactly it,” Raven said.
Corey made a face. “We needed them when they found us, but they saw us as like a bunch of kids who tried to do good but did it in the wrong way. It was a risk because of our criminal history. They normally try to be discreet with who they help. I think the original goal was just to quietly help us and nudge us in the right direction, but they decided to make us a team. I wanted to be here to do some good.”
“I’m with them because of him,” Raven pointed at Corey. “And now for you, too.”
“Would you be with them if you didn’t owe them anything?” I asked them both.
Corey nodded.
But Raven…he hesitated, looking to Corey, then to me, which surprised me. He wasn’t often unsure.
Corey seemed interested in his reaction, too. “You don’t think so?”
“I like doing good,” he said, but he waved to the phone. “I don’t like going in not knowing what we’re doing all the time. And…I don’t like limits.”
“Like not blowing places up?” I asked.
“Sometimes it’s needed.” He paused. “But I know why they don’t want us to.”
“Because we make a mess?” I asked.
“It’s not about us,” he said. He shook his head and put a finger to his lips. “I can’t tell you. But there’s others…in the Academy. It’s bigger than you think. And involves a lot of people. What we do affects them as long as we’re with them.”
Exactly what I was thinking.
It put a weight on my heart, a realization about my actions. I’d thought I was the only one at risk at certain points, and I was willing to take that risk.
But with them, because of the Academy, there were benefits, but also limitations I couldn’t even imagine. It made sense. They worked in secret for a reason.
And we had been messing with bad people. People who could find out the Academy existed, what it was about, and possibly exploit it.
Or bring it down.
There was a lot I needed to learn. About the Academy. About their relationship with it. About what they wanted for themselves.
Deep inside of me, I knew this couldn’t be how it ended. Disappearing into a tent in the woods and waiting for them to sort it.
They wanted to protect us.
Somehow, I knew, it had to be the opposite. We had to protect them. From people like Alice.
Which meant we couldn’t bail.
WE DON’T RUN
Raven, Corey and I went back into the living room after they’d gotten properly dressed again. We were waiting for someone to get back, to fill us in on the details. The secret meeting we weren’t allowed in on continued for a while.
We were back in the living room watching some mindless TV when the door to the apartment burst open.
Axel walked in first. He was wearing dark pants and a drab olive shirt and combat boots, like he was ready to go kick ass. He wore a hard expression that was completely unreadable, set into his dark eyes and high cheekbones.
Without a word, he walked right past us on the couch, going into his bedroom, and shut the door, only slightly less than a slam.
Marc appeared in the still open doorway and strolled in, his hands in his pockets, his shoulders lowered. When he realized we were on the couch, he murmured. “Meeting didn’t go so good.”
As he was saying it, the tornado in Axel’s room started. I thought maybe a shelf had fallen off the wall after the slam, but the drop of books and notebooks and other objects from wall to floor continued.
I shot up, heading to Axel’s door.
Marc inserted himself between me and my target. “Wait,” he said. “Just wait.”
“Is he throwing a tantrum?” I asked.
Marc shook his head and said nothing. The noise continued behind the door at his back, but he stayed still, listening. Without anything to do but listen and wait, I watched Marc for signs of what to do. His hair was growing out, almost framing his cheeks, and he’d shaved underneath around the base of his skull. He had some rock star style that was very appealing. He’d a few extra black plastic and leather bracelets along his wrists, and the silver sand dollar hanging from a cord around his neck sparked off the light in the living room.
&nbs
p; There came a moment in the crashing of stuff in Axel’s room where it didn’t lessened as much as it slowed down. Like when popcorn was almost ready in the microwave.
Marc nodded and kept his voice down. “Normally, this is when I go in, let him yell it out with me. But I mean…if you want to…”
Someone needed to vent. I got it. They let me do it to them, it was about time I got a chance to return the favor. “Anything I should know?”
“Don’t help him,” he said. “Let him do it. Just stand there and listen.” He turned the handle and slid over, giving me enough room to pass by. “Come back out if it’s too much. I’ll take over.”
I wasn’t sure I was ready for this, but I owed it to him. There was no one I owed it more to.
Prior to this, Axel’s bedroom was more like an office, with a foldable table in the middle set up like a desk and hundreds of notebooks, books and binders along with paperwork on shelves, on the desk and everywhere. There were tanks of animal specimens on a dresser, and the bed was shoved against the wall to make more room for the office part.
When I entered, the tanks were completely fine, their various species of animals safe.
For the rest of the room, he’d gone all around the shelves and taken down every book and notebook and thrown them all to the floor.
Axel stood on the bed, reaching for the last of some on a shelf, and was throwing them, one by one, onto the floor near the bed.
I stood by, watching him as he stretched out trying to reach some that were pretty dusty. He was more careful to create less dust falling onto his sheets.
“You’ve been here in this room a while,” I said.
“I just got in,” he said, without much feeling one way or the other. Not really sounding angry, just talking.
“I mean you’ve been living in this space a while. The dust on the books…”
“It’s a dusty place,” he said, finally reaching the last one and dropping it on the pile on the floor. It didn’t look like he was sorting them, just getting them all in the same general area.
When he turned and looked at me, he paused. He’d taken off the shirt and was just wearing a black tank shirt. His shoulders and arms were flexed and engaged while he was balancing on the bed. His dark hair was tied back in a very short ponytail at the crown of his head. With the way his face looked, and maybe because of odd lighting, it just accentuated the Native features of his face. Just darker skin, high cheekbones and an expression of …not peace. Not like he normally was, a breath of calm against chaos.
