by Raven Steele
The four men with Victor circled around us. I paid careful attention to each of their locations. The Physician walked around on the other side of the room, staring over the shoulders of the other six employees. They cowered at his presence.
I unhooked the flash drive and causally stepped off to the side away from Emma. Victor turned toward me, no longer looking at her.
"There you go." I handed him everything I had. "If you have any questions about the data, contact me. I can answer your questions."
"I have some questions for you," Victor said. "I want to know where you went after the fight."
I kept my heartbeat steady, afraid he might sense any deviation in its beat, and said, "I don't know what you mean. I went to the dressing room to get changed. You saw me."
"No. I saw you about fifteen minutes after. I don't know what you were doing during that time."
One of Victor's men, a tall beast of a man with a round, hard belly and thick neck, drew close to Emma.
I returned my focus to Victor. "Whatever you think I might have done, I didn't. I was in the dressing room the whole time with a killer headache. What's this about?"
Victor's eyes flashed to the Physician across the room, then returned to me. "I want you working for me."
The beast man near Emma reached his hand up and ran his fingers through the back of her ponytail. She shivered and stepped away, but the desk prevented her from moving any further. She was trapped.
"I already have a job," I said.
Victor chuckled and waved his arms around the room. "Stuck in some stuffy old lab? Who wants to do this kind of work? Sure, it's necessary, and I pay good money for it, but let's face it. This job is for nerds and geeks. You're not one of them. You're a fighter. You've got an animal caged inside you." He rapped his knuckles against my sternum. "I want to free this monster."
"Like I said last night, I don't want to work for you."
When beast man dropped his hand to Emma's shoulder, I couldn't control myself any longer.
"Don't touch her," I growled.
Victor gazed at Emma, eyeing her longingly, as if she were a fancy car on a showroom floor. "I can see why you like her. She is a beautiful woman."
He reached out as if to touch the smooth skin on her face.
"What do you want?" Emma asked, her voice sounding stronger than she looked.
"What do I want?" he repeated. "I want your boyfriend to work for me, but he keeps telling me no. Nobody tells me no."
"First of all," she said, "he's not my boyfriend. And second of all, he should be able to decide where he wants to work."
"Aren't you feisty? I like that." He glanced back at me. "But you're right. He should be able to choose, and I'm going to make that choice very easy for him."
"Squeeze that pretty neck," Victor ordered beast man.
"No," I cried and lunged for him but was suddenly restrained by the other two men. I was about to throw them off, when the Physician appeared behind me and pressed his sharpened ring to my neck. I froze. If I got paralyzed again, there would be nothing I could do to help Emma.
Beast man squeezed Emma's throat until her face turned red and her eyes widened. She clawed at his hands, but to no avail. Fire and ice raced through my veins until every part of me bled rage. I barely held it back and only to ensure Emma’s safety.
"I'll do it!" I said. "Just let her go."
"Let me make sure I heard you correctly," Victor said. "You agree to work as one of my bodyguards. I'll need you mostly at night. And to show you I'm not all that bad of a guy, I'll even let you continue to work in this nerdy lab if you want." He paused. "Is that what you are agreeing to?"
Through gritted teeth, I answered, "Yes."
"Let her go," Victor said.
Beast man let go of her neck, and she gasped for air.
I wanted to rush to her, but I still had a poisoned ring pressed to my neck. Victor stepped close to me. "I expect to see you tonight at seven o'clock at my house. You know where it is. Don't be late. I have an important first job for you."
He walked past me followed by the rest of the men, including the Physician. As soon as I was free, I hurried to Emma's side.
She held up her hand, stopping me. "I'm okay, but you… why did you get involved with that crowd? I thought I knew you."
I searched her eyes, hating to see revulsion swimming inside their watery depths. But she was right. I should never have fought for Victor. I could've snuck into the Devil's Playground and saved Oz somehow. Had part of me wanted to fight? To show Victor what I was capable of?
"It’s…complicated. I'm sorry," I said.
Before she could say anything else, I left the room and headed for the stairwell. She called my name once, but I didn't stop.
I shoved open the door into the stairwell and dropped onto the nearest step, but not before punching the wall. I really screwed up this time. How could I work for Victor, the man who had murdered my parents? It was one thing to agree to a single fight, but now I would be out on the streets with him, by his side. I would be known as one of Victor's men. The thought made me sick, and I had an urge to rush to the nearest bathroom to vomit.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't hear footsteps approaching. The door opened and Emma came in. "We were interrupted earlier. I still need to fix that cut."
She walked down the steps and turned around to face me. She stared at me for a few beats of my heart, then said, "This might hurt a little."
She undid the adhesive on the Steri-Strips and attached the first one above my eye. I flinched a little when she squeezed the wound together.
As she continued with the other ones, she said, "I'm sorry if I seemed judgmental back there. I don't know your reasons for going to the Devil's Playground to fight. I barely know you at all. But I'm sure there was a good reason."
She added another steri-strip, her fingertips lingering on my skin. "I guess I'm a little sensitive to anything related to Victor, because," she swallowed, "two of his men attacked me a while ago."
I looked up at her. Her chin quivered a little but she clamped her lips together.
"I was rescued, so nothing too terrible happened, but every day I think about what could've happened had I not been saved." She attached the last strip to my forehead.
"Do you want to know who saved me?" she asked, her eyes lowering to mine.
"Who?" The word barely crossed my lips. There's no way she could know it was me.
"Remember the boy I told you about a while ago? The one who was my best friend as a child?"
I nodded, at least I think I did. I was only aware of my racing pulse.
"The night I was rescued, I was knocked unconscious so I couldn't see exactly who had saved me, but my hero had carried me home to my doorstep. Before he left, he brought me a blue geranium flower. So not only did he know where I lived, but he also gave me the same kind of flower the boy used to leave me."
I opened my mouth to speak, but stuttered instead. I cleared my throat and tried again. "It might not have been the same person. You said so yourself that the boy had left. Why would he all of a sudden come back?"
"I've been thinking about that. The truth is, I don't think he left at all. I think he's been here the whole time. That wasn't the only time I've gotten a flower randomly. I think he had to disappear from my life to keep me safe."
"But why would he need to do that?" I whispered, my gaze dropping to her lips.
Her voice grew just as quiet as mine. "Because of who he is."
"Who is he?"
"If I tell you, you probably won't believe me. I don't know if anyone would. And if they do believe me, it would be dangerous for them to know. But I have to tell someone."
I held very still. The air in the stairwell had grown thick and was drying out my mouth.
Her hand reached out and touched my knee. Her fingertips ignited every cell in my body. "His name was Aris."
"Aris," I repeated. "Do you know his last name?"
"No, just his first."
"Then how do you know he is important? He was probably just a regular kid."
"He wasn't a regular kid. He was special. He had these abilities … " Her voice trailed off.
She tapped my knee in frustration. "Don't you get it? The kid. He's Aris Crow. Jonas Crow's son. I didn't connect the dots when I was younger, but when I was older and heard the stories of the hero legend and what he could do, I put the pieces together."
I feigned surprise. "I thought Jonas's son died in a fire with his mother."
"That's what everyone thinks, but I think he's still alive."
"If that's true, that puts you in a very dangerous position." Instinctively, I reached out and touched her arm. It felt so natural. "If Victor found out you believed this, I can only imagine what he might do to you. You must not tell anyone."
Her hand relaxed around my knee. "I'm only telling you because I trust you."
The intensity of her gaze brought heat to my face and other places.
"I don't know why you fought last night," she continued. "But I hope one day you will trust me enough to tell me your secrets, too."
"Maybe I'm a little like this Aris kid, keeping things to myself to protect the ones I care about."
She swirled her fingers around my lower thigh. "I understand. For now. I like you, Adam. But I also like honesty. If anything is ever to happen between us, I need truth. My life had too many lies growing up. I can't have anymore."
Her eyes flickered to my lips. I couldn't stand it anymore. I needed to be close to her.
I was about to pull her to me, when she smiled, breaking the spell. "Be safe tonight."
She left me alone in the narrow stairwell, the feel of her touch lingering on my skin. She didn’t know that I was Aris, but the very fact that she believed Aris was still alive was a danger to her. It also didn't help that Victor had zeroed in on her as being important to me. Victor would use her to get to me again if I wasn’t careful.
First Oz, then Emma. Soon, there won't be anyone left.
24
Emma had cooled my anger, but the further I walked from Bodian Dynamics, the madder I became at what had been done to her. Victor had already used her once to get at her mother, the judge, and now he was using her against me.
I couldn't work for the man! It would be like working for the devil. But what could I do? I had some evidence of his crimes, papers I had gathered at various places I had raided. Plus, there were all the criminals I had captured so far. Maybe the police could get one of them to testify against Victor, and that, coupled with what I have, would be enough to put him behind bars for good.
A plan began to take shape in my mind. I would work for him, just for tonight, to gather more dirt. I could take pictures, maybe even gain access to private records.
If I could get enough dirt on him, I could take it to the police and they could arrest him. The only problem was, I didn't know if I had converted enough of the police force back to the side of justice. But there was only one way to find out.
To stay out of the sun and to avoid the tunnels, I took the city bus over to the courthouse, texting Kristen before I got there.
Can we meet?
A message returned: Of course.
I texted back: Outside courthouse. I want to know the truth.
Only one word came back: OK
I picked up sandwiches from a deli near the courthouse and waited for her on a bench shaded by a large oak tree. My knee bounced up and down obsessively. Kristen had never wanted to meet like this before. Whatever she was about to tell me couldn’t be good.
I kept my head on a swivel to make sure I wasn't being followed by Victor's men. Part of me wondered if the reason why he wanted me to work for him was more about keeping an eye on me than anything else. Something told me he didn't like not knowing anything about me. He probably considered secretive people to be dangerous. He would be right.
Kristen exited the courthouse looking older than usual. Her hair was haphazardly pulled into a bun, her face pale. She walked toward me slightly hunched over as if the weight of the world were on her shoulders. I wasn't used to seeing her like this. Normally, she was a fighter, seemingly immune to the harsh realities of the world.
She sat next to me and patted my knee. "How are you?"
"I've been busy."
"So I've noticed." Her hands dropped to her lap. She flicked her thumbnail with her finger over and over. She was nervous about something.
"What's going on?" I asked.
She clasped her hands together as if forcing herself to hold still. "It's nothing. Why are you here?"
"I've been gathering evidence against Victor. After tonight, I may have enough to get him locked away for good. I was going to wait to bring him down until I had demolished his network, but I've had to speed up the timetable. I guess I just wanted to check with you and see what the mood is like at the station. If I brought him in, do you think the cops and judges will go after him?"
She lowered her head and made a funny wheezing sound.
"Kristen?"
The wheezing turned into hysterical laughter. She couldn't stop and even wiped tears from her eyes. Eventually those tears turned real and her shoulders shook.
"What is going on?"
She took a moment to collect herself retrieving a tissue from her purse. "This is all just funny. Things were going pretty well. Morale was good. Cops were actively looking for bad guys on the streets, and they weren't afraid to capture them. Judges were doing their job, too."
"Then what's the problem?"
She looked at me. "Everything changed last night. I don't know what happened, but Victor unleashed a whole new war. Six cops were killed in the middle of the night and one judge was executed in his home. Several bomb threats were called in on at least a dozen schools across the city. In one of them, they actually found a live bomb."
I gripped the armrest of the bench and squeezed. Roman had said some cops were killed, but I didn't know it was this bad.
She kept talking. "Then early this morning, around four, the mayor's daughter was kidnapped. The mayor met with the chief of police about two hours ago with demands from the girl's captors." She turned and looked at me, her eyes sad. "All the criminals you had put behind bars have been released."
I jumped to my feet, snapping off the armrest. I slammed it to the ground. This can't be happening. All the work I've done and I failed!
"I'm so sorry," she said. "Nobody knows how to fight him. He runs this town."
"So what am I supposed to do?"
She patted the seat next to her. "Sit down, Aris. I need to tell you something."
I flexed my muscles until they ached. I needed to smash something. Needed to destroy. I looked all around to see what I could take out my frustration on.
"Sit down," she ordered. "Please."
Reluctantly, I did as she asked.
"You can't win the war the way you think your father did," she said, her voice gentle.
I shook my head. "With everything going on, maybe this should wait."
"It can't. Your father's actions is what created this whole mess to begin with. You need to know the truth so you can make the best possible decision for this city, whether that means you stay as you are or turn."
I shifted my weight on the hard bench, wishing I could stand and pace. The energy burning inside me begged to be released.
She pursed her lips and began flicking at her thumbnail again. "Your father was a great man. He fought hard to take out the criminals of the city."
"I already know this."
"But you don't know the whole truth. Both Roman and I feared if you did, it would shatter you. We wanted you to believe that your father was as the media portrayed, a wonderful hero who always did the right thing. But we were wrong. Having this grand illusion of him has stopped you from reaching your full potential, a potential that's needed to save this city. I was hoping it wouldn't come to that, but after last night, I have no doubt
s."
I shook my head. "I don't think I can do it."
She reached into her purse and removed a small red book. "This was your mother's diary. It explains everything that happened in the last several years of her life, mostly. If you choose to read it and want to know the ending, come find me."
She placed it on my lap.
I stared down at it, shocked. The words of my mother sat right in front of me. It felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. How many days had I longed to know more about her?
"Why didn't you show this to me sooner?" I breathed.
"I didn't think I ever would, but Roman and I decided it was best. We care about you, Aris. We know you have greatness in you, but Victor is too strong and his reach too wide for you to fight him as you are." She inhaled a hitched breath. "I can't believe I'm telling you this. I never wanted that life for you, but I think it's the only way, especially after what happened today. The city doesn't need a hero. It needs a monster. One far greater then Victor."
I stared at her incredulously, my heart racing. "But that isn't what I want!"
She placed her hand upon my heart. "You won't really be a monster, especially in here."
"You can't know that." I gripped the book tightly. "How's this going to help me anyway?"
She swiped at a tear that had escaped down her cheek. "It will give you a new perspective."
I didn't want to think about a new perspective right now. It was all too much. Instead, I wanted to know why all those criminals were released. "Is Judge Lamrey working today?"
She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"
"Is she?"
"She is, but she can't help you. What's done is done."
I stood. "We'll see about that."
I tucked the small book behind my back and walked the rest of the way to the courthouse. Normally I would be concerned about all the cameras or my name being connected to Judge Lamrey's in any way, but I had to speak with her. It was worth the risk.
Passing through security, I quickly read the information board searching for her name. Her office was on the fourth floor. A minute later, I exited the elevator, four stories up.
