by A. P. Jensen
“No. They definitely wouldn’t.”
“What would they do if you said you didn’t want to be a retriever?”
He didn’t answer and she tightened her hand on her fork and felt one of her cuts open.
“They’d kill you?”
“No, but they would make it too hard for me to do whatever ‘normal’ thing I wanted.” He shook his head and eyed her. “Why are we talking about this?”
“You brought it up, asking about my parents,” she said defensively.
“I work for the Council, the good guys. Because there’s so few people with power, they need us to stick together for the good of everyone.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Well, if you go rogue, you have two options. You can join the Battalion or you can try to live like a normal person. That wouldn’t work for long because the Battalion would try to recruit and if you don’t join, they kill.”
“What does the Battalion do, besides kill people?”
“Well, they want to enslave the world of course.” He grinned when her mouth went slack. “They want to control the human race.”
“We outnumber them millions to one,” Raven scoffed.
“The Battalion like to cause havoc and they’re always trying to devise ways to get rid of the Council since they’re the only ones that can stop them.”
“Makes sense,” she mused and then, “so the fact that the Battalion is focused on me really isn’t good.”
He took a sip of water. “No. It’s not good.”
“Shit.” She raised her hand like a girl scout. “I swear I don’t have any powers, I promise.”
“What are you good at?”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“A power doesn’t necessarily have to be something like flying or walking through walls. It could be a talent that you’re better at than the average person.” He narrowed his eyes. “Have you ever taken a gun class?”
“No.”
“So you taught yourself how to shoot?”
She shifted restlessly on the stool. “Yeah.”
“How good are you?”
Her eyes glinted. “Give me your gun and I’ll show you.”
“You’ve only used pellet guns?”
She hesitated and saw his eyes sharpen like a cop who sensed that there was more to what she was saying.
“No.”
“You use regular guns? You own one?”
“Used to but I almost killed someone so…”
He was staring at her with such a cop-like stare that she felt the blood drain from her face. She started to talk.
“I got attacked in an alley. He put his hand over my mouth. I grabbed my gun and shot him in his foot. He let me go and I started to run. He tackled me from behind and knifed me. I punched him in the face and shot him in the chest.” She rubbed a hand over her face. Memories from that night still gave her nightmares. “I got rid of the gun after that.”
“Should’ve kept it,” he said in a clipped voice. “How many times have you been attacked?”
Goose bumps rose on her arms. “About ten.”
His eyes narrowed. “And where did all these attacks take place?”
“All over. Washington, Texas, New York, Montana, Arizona-”
He held up a hand. “Okay. I get it. How long ago did these attacks happen?”
“Since I graduated from high school and hit the road. I’ve never been able to find a good job, so I always end up in the ghetto. A single woman living alone is always a target and I couldn’t help that.”
“You never reported these to the police?” he spit out.
She lifted her chin. “I handled them. I shot or beat the shit out of them.”
“You didn’t think anything of getting attacked?”
“I live in the ghetto. It happens,” she said with a shrug.
“You realize it’s probably been the Battalion the whole time?”
She shivered and tried to hide her fear, remembering the vicious attacks. Knifed, being choked and now shot. These men didn’t fool around. They were brutal and it was sheer luck that got her out of those situations. If she wasn’t so paranoid, she would have been caught long ago… or dead.
Cain paced away from her and pulled out a cell phone from his pocket. She got to her feet.
“Who are you calling?” she demanded.
“I’m calling the Council. They need to know about this.”
“What if they were random attacks? You know, the ghetto is rough.”
His hard look stopped her protests. She bit her lip and watched him walk away as he made the call. It couldn’t be the Battalion, could it? She was a normal girl that worked irregular hours and lived in rough neighborhoods. Being hassled was part of living where she did, right? She admitted secretly that even she had begun to think the attacks were becoming too frequent and focused, but she could never figure out what anyone would want with her. She was a nobody.
Cain walked across the room from Raven and looked out at Las Vegas as he pressed speed dial one.
“Yeah?”
“It’s me,” Cain said grimly.
“I know it’s you. My phone has caller ID.”
“Right. We may have a bigger problem than I thought.”
“How so?”
Cain explained what Raven told him and clenched a fist at his side. How the hell could she have thought being attacked that often was normal? The only place that was expected was prison. She said it so casually too, as if women got jumped all the time. What kind of world had she been living in?
“Hmm. Has she shown any sign of power?”
“No. Not at all. She insists that she’s just a housekeeper.”
A pause. “Like a maid?”
“Yeah. She works at the casino I’m staying at.”
“Fancy that.”
“No shit. I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Leave the bad feelings to me, huh? How’s she recovering?”
“Well. She’s healing quicker than a normal human so there’s something beneath the surface. She’s handy with guns and she’s managed to fight off the Battalion’s men so I’d say she’s an above average fighter.”
“Hmm.”
“Grandpa hasn’t had any more visions?” Cain said impatiently.
“No. Stick with her. Her talent will show up sometime.”
Cain shut the phone and walked back into the kitchen where Raven slowly rotated her shoulder, wincing as she did so. She was a loner and it sounded like she’d been on the run for a while, she just hadn’t known it. She was overly cautious which probably saved her life up until this point.
“My grandpa hasn’t had more visions. I’m supposed to stick with you.”
She glanced at him. “If you weren’t babysitting me, what would you be doing?”
“I’d probably be at headquarters in Texas.”
She raised her brows. “Texas?”
“The Council owns lots of land. It’s a good place to train people and give them some peace and quiet.”
“And what do you do at headquarters?”
“Train people to shoot, fight.” He saw the flare of interest and looked pointedly at her shoulder. “Let’s get you healed first.”
“You got more pills?”
She held out a hand. “Hit me.”
CHAPTER FIVE
“What are you doing?”
Lights illuminated the dark penthouse. Raven tripped and nearly tumbled down the steps, but she made a fast grab for the slick railing and wrenched her shoulder.
“Son of a bitch!”
Hard hands steadied her. Cain let out a few curses of his own and carried her down the last of the steps and examined her. She changed from her pajamas to a jacket and jeans that fit perfectly.
He crossed his arms. “It’s four in the morning.”
“I know what the hell time it is,” she groaned and prodded her shoulder.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
His face hardened. “You’re not going to work.”
She sneered and wiped the sweat off her face. “I’m not leaving the building and I need the money.”
He stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. “You got shot two days ago.”
“I feel a lot better,” she said and swayed.
“Raven.”
“It’s my Friday and if I call in sick more than two days they ask for a doctor’s note.”
“I can take care of that for you.”
She glared at him. “I don’t need you to take care of it for me. I can work.”
“You don’t need to. I can pay-”
She stuck her finger under his nose. “Don’t.”
“It’s going to take you longer to recover if you insist on being stupid.”
She bristled. “I’ve only had this job for six months.”
“You can find another job. Screw it. Your life is in danger.”
Raven turned away from him and started towards the door. He stepped in front of her and she glared at him.
“I’m going with you.”
“You can’t come with me in the service elevator.”
“Why?”
She fumbled. “Guests aren’t allowed.”
When he stared at her, she jiggled her shoulder again and thought of the Battalion men. She remembered the times she’d been cornered and got away out of sheer guts and desperation.
“Fine,” she muttered.
Cain headed up the stairs and she pursed her lips.
“Wear something normal!”
He paused. “Normal?”
“You know, casual. Street clothes.” When he looked confused, she scowled. “You dress like a manager. People are gonna notice you.”
He came down a minute later with jeans and a blazer. She rolled her eyes and he ignored that and walked with her to the door.
“How’d you know I woke up anyway?” Raven muttered.
“I sleep light.”
No kidding. She’d gone to a lot of effort to be quiet as she got dressed. She led Cain to the service elevator and breathed out a sigh when she saw it was empty. They rode to the ground floor in silence and she typed in her employee number to retrieve her uniform while Cain stood at her back. The halls were unusually empty which was creepy and good for her. Once she grabbed her uniform she shoved him back in the elevator and rode up to his floor. As they headed back to the penthouse, her shoulder throbbed so painfully that she had to stop halfway down the hallway. She leaned against the wall with her eyes closed.
“Raven.”
“I’m fine. I just need more pills.”
“Pills aren’t going to get you through the whole day.”
“It’s only eight hours,” Raven said through clenched teeth as she pushed away from the wall and continued to the penthouse.
“It takes most people weeks, if not months, to heal from a gunshot wound.”
She settled herself in an armchair and took deep breaths. “Pills.”
She heard him muttering under his breath as he got a bottle of water out of the fridge and retrieved her pills from wherever he stashed them. He handed them over and she silently pleaded for them to do their magic. Through watery eyes she saw Cain take the armchair across from her and cross his legs. Although he didn’t say anything, his eyes berated and chided her.
“Most people can’t remember me,” she said in a husky voice.
“What?”
“That girl that cleaned the room yesterday, I’ve talked to her a lot and she comes up to me a couple hours later and can’t remember me at all. Even though I talked to you in this room on Thanksgiving, you saw me less than three hours later and couldn’t remember me either. It’s bizarre to think anyone wants me.”
He tapped his hand on the arm of the chair. “I’ve been thinking about that. You’re right. I don’t remember anything and I’m usually good with faces.”
“I wonder why you remember me now.”
He shrugged. “You threw rum cake on me and shot me with a pellet gun. That was memorable.”
She snorted and they stayed that way for a while. When the knock came at the door, she stiffened in surprise but Cain went to the door and pushed in a cart for room service.
“Come eat before those pills make you sick.”
They ate in the living room as the sun began to rise. Cain turned on the TV and they watched the news to pass the time. When she got dressed Cain got to his feet and looked her over.
“You look like shit.”
“It’s my Friday. I have Monday and Tuesday off so I’m just going to work today and do nothing on my days off.”
He held up a pen. “Clicking the top of this twice will beep me.” He pulled out a brand new, expensive cell phone. He showed her how to unlock the screen. “I’m the only contact on this phone.”
She slipped it into her pocket and hesitated. “You don’t think they’d be here, do you?”
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t take a chance if I were you.”
She waved away her fears. “No. I’ll be fine. Okay. I’ll… see you.”
She turned to walk to the door, but he called her name and she looked back at him.
“You’re not going to run, are you?”
She stayed silent for a long minute before she shook her head. “No.”
She walked out of the penthouse and took a deep breath as she went to the service elevator and rode down five floors down. She couldn’t help looking right and left down the hallway before she moved into the storage room where it was housekeeping business as normal. Rose was already doing the pre shift in Spanish and clapped several women on the back fondly as they gathered in front of the time clock. Raven felt so out of place. She’d been here two days ago, singing Do It Like A Dude without a care in the world and now she was on the lookout for men with guns. She got jostled in the crowd and she grit her teeth when people hit her shoulder. She felt shaky and nauseated but she pushed that away. She’d gone to work sick before. She moved her shoulder so it wouldn’t stiffen up and ignored the pain that shafted through her.
When Rose called her name in the same bewildered tone that she always did, Raven waved her good arm and snatched her room assignment while whispering prayers of mercy under her breath. She paused when she saw that she had Cain’s penthouse and that he requested her specifically. She was relieved and annoyed. He broke into her apartment, called into work for her and now he was requesting that she clean his room? Two days ago she’d been enchanted by the penthouse and now… Her mouth set and she stuffed her paper in her pocket as she always did.
She couldn’t walk up the emergency exit stairs to save her life so she waited with the others for the service elevator to arrive. Marie was there, chatting with several other party girls. Raven eyed her through narrow eyes until the elevator arrived and they all split ways. Raven went to check on her rooms first and saw one green, one white and the rest were blue. She pocketed a ten-dollar bill in a check out and was relieved to see that the guests hadn’t trashed the room. Even as she headed to the storage room, she felt sluggish and not up to par.
“Suck it up, suck it up,” Raven told herself.
Her cart, which she’d left perfect two days ago, hadn’t been refilled and there were dirty diapers in the trash, which made the storage room reek. By the time Raven wheeled her cart out of the storage room, she’d lost an hour. She did the occupied room first, going as quickly as possible. Every move jostled her shoulder and she had to wipe away tears as she bent over the toilet to spray and wipe it down. By the time she left the first room, she wanted to shoot herself.
She leaned against her cart when she came back into the hallway and saw that all of her rooms were now green. Normally, she would’ve been ecstatic but it meant she had to do them as quickly as possible and she was running out of energy. She went into the next occupied room and didn’t have time to fold the clothes people left on the floor- she kicked them under th
e bed. She couldn’t pull the vacuum off the cart so she made jagged lines in the carpet with her shoe so it looked like she vacuumed. She did the bare minimum to make things sparkle and only another housekeeper or supervisor would be able to tell the difference.
In her third room, she sprayed the shower stall and wiped it with her limp right hand. From her position, she could see into the bedroom and she moved from side to side to see if there were smears on the glass. A man came to stand in the bathroom doorway and fear nearly sent her to her knees until she recognized Cain.
“What the fuck are you doing?” she snapped. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” he said, casting a disgusted eye around the room where a woman had all her thongs in a pile near the sink.
“This is the only thing I know how to do,” she retorted. “You can’t be in here.”
“Don’t worry about it. I can walk through the wall if someone comes in.”
“Okay Houdini, poof out of here!” A thought occurred to her. “How’d you know where I was?”
He frowned at her. “The phone has a tracking device in it, but it’s not working well. I used my tracking talent and it led me here. Luck.”
“You’re tracking me?” she said, outraged.
He shrugged. “You said you wouldn’t run so why are you ticked?”
“Get out of here!”
“Any sign of the Battalion?”
“No, James Bond. I’ll let you know if I do see any guys with guns or knives!”
“I brought these just in case.”
He held out a hand with the pills and she wanted to slap his hand away but she was in too much pain to turn it down. She took them gratefully.
“Are you gonna make it?”
She bared her teeth at him. “I’m fine.”
“Are you gonna take a break for lunch?”
“Why?”
“What do you want for lunch? I can order whatever you want and have it in the room when you get there.”
She stared at him. “I don’t get you at all.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re like an asshole angel.”
He barked out that same rusty laugh and she felt something in her loosen. She couldn’t explain why she trusted Cain. He was the first guy that didn’t look through her, that took turns insulting and then taking care of her. For someone that was ignored by foster parents, schoolmates and coworkers, having his complete attention made her feel strange. From the ghetto to a penthouse suite with her own butler/bodyguard. What the hell was happening to her life?
