03 Saints

by Lynnie Purcell

  “Well, he has been busy setting up his evil, thieving empire. I’m sure he’s stepped on a few toes,” I said.

  I was certain Reaper knew, without me saying, about Spider’s looking into Quinn. His warning was full of double meanings.

  “He needs to be more careful. I can extend my protection over him – let it be known that anyone who messes with him messes with me, but that doesn’t guarantee he’ll stay safe. ‘Accidents’ happen all the time,” Reaper said.

  “You actually choose to write ‘You’re next’ on a coin, warning people you’re about to kill them?” Alex asked.

  “It sounded better than ‘Die!’” Reaper said.

  “Not really,” I said.

  “We only give them out when we want the person to know why they’re going to be killed. Instill terror in their hearts,” Reaper said. “We don’t give them to just anybody.”

  “Did you tell Spider what it means?” Alex asked.

  “No,” Reaper said.

  “He knew, though,” Daniel added. “He didn’t say, but it was pretty obvious.”

  I nodded. “I would expect as much.”

  I looked out over the sea of milling people. Which person had given Spider up? Was it really Quinn who had left the coin?

  “Any idea who?” Alex asked.

  Reaper shrugged and didn’t reply. His eyes told a different story. They spoke of his certainty that only a traitor would dare leave such a brazen mark in a room of someone Reaper had brought to the school. Spider was as good as under Reaper’s protection. To threaten him was to challenge Reaper. I wondered if that was the point – to force Reaper in to a fight.

  “It looks as if Spider just got pulled off thieving detail,” I said. “From now on, he’s with us,” I said.

  “You’re not worried about the other kids?” Daniel asked.

  “Of course. I worry about them all the time. But we all know Spider can be seen as a threat. He’s smart and he knows how to get people to do what he wants. The fact that he’s already engineered a supply network is proof of that.”

  Reaper’s eyes were thoughtful. “I might actually need to talk to him about that. I’m going to need a steady supply line of weapons very soon.”

  “Asking. For. Trouble,” I said.

  “I’m used to it,” Reaper said.

  “Yeah. Doesn’t mean it can’t bite you in the butt,” I said.

  “Your opinion is noted,” Reaper said.

  “But will inevitably be ignored,” Daniel added.

  Reaper shrugged. “I’ve got some business to attend to. Let me know how she feels about that thing…” he said to Daniel.

  “We’ll be there,” Daniel promised.

  Reaper nodded and walked away with a half wave. He disappeared in to the crowd.

  “What thing?” Alex asked.

  “Rescue mission,” Daniel said.

  “She?” I asked.

  “You. He found some information on the shipping logs I took. You helped me, so I figured you had the right to help me rescue the people.”

  I smiled at him, pleased he had made that assumption.

  That night, after a long day of anticipation and worry about what the coin meant, we followed through on the mission. We were taken to the south side of the city by Sara. The second we were dropped off, Spider left us and took to the shadows. He was our lookout. No Watcher would think about him twice; if they saw him at all. Reaper was with us. I had thought there would be more; an army of Saints to complete the rescue mission, but there was only the four of us. Reaper and Daniel moved to an alley to wait for Spider’s return. I followed them, doing my best to blend in to the dark.

  No one spoke. Things were different this time, not only because of Reaper’s presence; people’s lives depended on us succeeding. I knew the costs if we failed. I had felt them first-hand.

  Spider slipped back around the corner and joined us silently. “You were right. They’re here. I count five armed Watchers on the outside. Two looked well-trained...the others, not so much.”

  Reaper nodded and his silver eyes flashed in the dark as he looked at Spider. “Stay here. Keep a lookout.”

  Spider made a face of irritation, but he nodded in agreement. Reaper moved to the end of the building we were hiding behind and peaked out at the building opposite us. He looked back at us, and his eyes asked if we were ready. Daniel had a wicked smirk on his face. It was a smile very different than his normal kindness. I took a deep breath and nodded once uncertainly. It wasn’t that I was unsure of my skill that had me uncertain. I felt the familiar feeling of being watched. It slithered down my spine and brought questions to my mind. It wasn’t the sort of questions I wanted to be asking only seconds away from a rescue mission. I ignored the feeling, attributing it to fear, nerves, and paranoia, after everything that had happened at the school. It was the wrong thing to do.

  Reaper was about to step around the corner when all hell broke loose.

  Daniel’s reaction was the only thing that saved us. Just as a sharp ‘crack!’ sounded from the building above us, Daniel grabbed my arm and the back of Reaper’s jacket and tugged hard. The bullet landed in the pavement directly where I had been standing. The next sharp ‘crack!’ sent a bullet flying in to the ground where Daniel had been standing, had his gift not warned him of the danger.

  We stumbled back to the relative safety of the shadows of the building. Spider was already pressed against the brick, doing his best to be invisible. At the sound of the second gunshot, the Watchers at the building we were interested in sprung in to action. A hail of bullets rang out across the streets. Some were aimed upward, toward the person shooting down at us, but others were directed at our alley. The bullets and the alley trapped us; they flew by within inches of our bodies. The only escape was through a hailstorm of lead.

  Reaper moved to the edge of the alley with his body pressed against the wall. He took out his gun but didn’t fire. I sensed he didn’t want to waste his bullets. The shooter from above stopped firing as Reaper moved, and I sensed the feeling of being watched disappear. The Watchers on the opposite side of the street weren’t as aware of the difference. They kept firing. In the distance, I heard sirens start, a sign that if we didn’t move fast innocent people would get mixed up in the violence.

  “Getting in a shooting match with them is useless,” Daniel whispered to Reaper. “We need to go. This mission is done.”

  “Suggestions?”

  “Use your talent…go through that building. Draw their fire. I’ll get Spider and Clare out of here. We’ll meet you on the back side of the building.”

  Reaper nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke. The smoke moved through the building we had pressed our backs against, and a moment later I heard gunshots from the opposite side of the building. The Watchers across the street focused their gunfire there. Daniel didn’t waste any time. He grabbed hold of Spider’s collar and pushed him to get him running. Spider took off like an arrow. Daniel grabbed my hand and pulled me after him. We moved out of the alley, made a sharp left turn, and ran for our lives. The bullets trailed after us.

  Spider was well ahead of us, his feet flying out behind him as he ran. Daniel trailed after me. I sensed him using his body as a buffer against the bullets.

  It felt like an eternity to make it to the intersection. We didn’t slow once we made the turn. We kept running, circling back to the back of the building. Reaper was waiting for us. As we passed him, he joined us silently. The shooting from the other building faded in to the background as we ran. The sirens grew closer.

  On another street, three blocks over, Daniel slowed down. Reaper had put his gun away, but his hand lingered near it. They were both tightly wound – nervous. Spider was just as nervous; his eyes raked the buildings and streets for sign of the person who had fired at us. I was less nervous…more angry. Around my anger I recognized a pattern I couldn’t forget.

  “It’s just like the night Elizabeth was attacked,” I said to no one in parti
cular. “Attacked during a mission and caught in the crossfire. It looks like the spy struck again…Only now I’m pissed.”

  “You can say that again,” Daniel said.

  “Now I’m pissed?” I asked.

  “No…the spy struck again,” he said.

  He winced in pain and touched his left shoulder. I saw a large hole in his back where silver blood dripped silently down from a small wound. We hadn’t gotten away as cleanly as I had thought. I stopped walking and tried to force his hand away from the wound, but he wasn’t having it. He moved away from my touch.

  “It’s fine. The bullet went straight through. Nothing to worry about. It’ll heal in a minute,” he said.

  “You make it sound like you just got a flat tire instead of, you know, being shot,” I said, slapping him on the hand to make him move it.

  “I’m fine,” he repeated, still refusing to move his hand.

  Reaper stepped to my side and forced Daniel’s hand away. Daniel’s hand dropped from the force of Reaper’s hand, and Reaper and I leaned in to look at the gunshot. Reaper saw more than I did.

  “You’re right. It went straight through. It’s going to take longer to heal than you think – you got silver in there. You need to stop the bleeding,” Reaper said.

  “I’m trying,” Daniel said.

  “Here.” Spider held out his ratty jacket to Daniel.

  Daniel took it without a word and held it to his wound. He nodded gratefully at Spider, who looked embarrassed to have helped.

  “We should keep moving,” Reaper said. “Unless you need to rest?” he asked Daniel.

  “No,” Daniel said, tying the jacket around his shoulder.

  “This is ridiculous,” I said, pacing around a fire hydrant to keep from looking at Daniel. “Your spy problem is out of control.”

  “There’s nothing we can do about it right now,” Reaper said. “We should get back and worry about it there.”

  “Yeah, if the spy hasn’t burned down the school and killed all the Saints,” I said.

  “That’s number three on my list of nightmares,” Reaper admitted.

  “Are we walking or not?” Spider asked.

  He was also pacing restlessly. I sensed him thinking about the coin he had been given only hours earlier. It was a coin that had marked him for death. He obviously did not believe the shooting was an accident.

  “Yes,” I agreed.

  Reaper and Daniel started down the street. Daniel kept his hand on the shirt, though he didn’t look otherwise bothered. I paced after them, still lost in thought, while Spider brought up the rear. He obviously didn’t like how exposed we were, and his eyes darted around the streets in constant nervous alertness.

  “You should call your people and have them pick us up,” Spider said after a moment. “Or were you planning on walking us back to the school?”

  “I don’t call Sara or Shawn, unless I’m certain the area is safe,” Reaper said. “Let’s put a little more distance between the building and us.”

  I didn’t care how we got back. I was still focused on the spy. My anger at Daniel’s injury and fear made it an easy focal point. “How did the spy know we were there?” I asked. “Did you tell anyone?” I asked Reaper.

  “No. I usually tell my people when I go out, so they feel like there is a level of transparency, but I haven’t been lately, what with the risk of the spy. You two were the only ones who knew what we were doing,” Reaper said.

  Reaper glanced at Spider. It was an involuntary action but one that let me – and Spider – know what he was thinking.

  “Hey, man, don’t blame me for this! No way. You think I want a bullet in the brain?!” Spider asked.

  “I didn’t accuse you of anything,” Reaper said.

  “Don’t insult my intelligence,” Spider said. “I’m young, not stupid…I don’t let things slip. I don’t lose all sense of reason just to brag, like a lot of your fighters. Besides, you didn’t tell me I was coming on this mission until right before we left. You think I broadcasted it all over the school in that short amount of time?”

  “You hang out with some people I wouldn’t trust to water my plants, let alone hang out with on a regular basis,” Reaper said.

  “Aw, they’re a good sort if you give them a chance,” Spider said dryly. “They know me better than you do, it seems. My sort has a code of honor. They know I wouldn’t risk my neck in a moment of carelessness. It’s a good lesson you learn on the streets.”

  “Spider…” Daniel started to say.

  “Spare me the referee act,” Spider interrupted him. “The dude is accusing me of leaking information to a spy, simply ‘cause I’m the only human here. His prejudice is overwhelming.”

  “I’m not prejudiced against humans!” Reaper exclaimed. “I help them.”

  “You only help humans because it makes you feel magnanimous…or makes you feel better about the fact that you look down on us,” Spider replied. “You do it for you, not us.”

  For some reason I felt as if he weren’t talking about Reaper. It felt directed at another Watcher, who had abandoned him for seemingly no reason. Eli had left deeper scars than I had thought. Spider seemed to realize he had given his thoughts on Eli away. He went back to watching the street and didn’t say anything else.

  “What if no one is leaking the information?” I asked around the awkward silence.

  Daniel and Reaper exchanged a strange look but didn’t elaborate.

  “How do you mean?” Daniel asked.

  “With all the Watchers out there and all their skill-sets, isn’t there a single one who can track people really well? It could be they’re just finding us after we leave the school…”

  Daniel and Reaper exchanged another look. It was as if I had confirmed something they had already discussed.

  “What?” I asked, not in the mood for cryptic looks.

  “There are Watchers who can track people, yes,” Reaper said.

  “And?” I demanded.

  “I was trying not to make any judgments,” he said.

  “There’s a time and a place for not making judgments. One of those times is not when you’ve just been shot at,” I pointed out.

  “Quinn has the ability to track people,” Daniel told me, craning his neck to check his wound again. “It’s why he’s so valuable. He can find people for Reaper…Watchers are easier for him to find, but people in general are easy, too.”

  I frowned. “Well, that fits. I don’t think he would cry much over any of us dying…especially Reaper. It seems like he’s after the Saints…and Spider.”

  “The only way the Saints would let him take control is if he fought me man to man. If I just died, it would be more likely River would take over,” Reaper said.

  “Well, maybe she’s in on it, too,” I said. “Or he’s planning on killing you all from the top down, until there’s no one left but him.”

  Reaper sighed. “This is exactly why I can’t let my suspicions run away from me. If I suspect everyone, it will cause more problems than it can solve.”

  “What are you waiting for?” I asked. “Just challenge Quinn. Seems like you can take him.”

  “If I challenge him for no reason, it will look like I fear him. He is gaining support in the group – his brutal methods make sense to most of our kind. I can’t show weakness, or the others will start to doubt my abilities to lead and will abandon the group…or worse, side with him. I need people, if I am to succeed with the plans I have in mind.”

  “How do you plan to deal with it?” I asked.

  “I have to get proof, without looking as if I actively am searching out proof. He has to show his mistakes, show his hand, then feel forced to confront me. There’s no other way,” Reaper said.

  “How about I challenge him?” I asked.

  A cold surge of happy adrenaline surged through my body. Fighting Quinn would be satisfying. It was something I had wanted for a while now. It wasn’t just that he was a bully and an ass; I was suddenly cert
ain he was the one who had shot Daniel. He wasn’t going to get away with that – not while I still had breath.

  “Absolutely not!” Daniel said.

  “It has to be my fight,” Reaper agreed. “People will know why you are fighting him…”

  “And will think you’re trying to get out of a fight, by sending me to fight him…” I said unhappily.

  “Exactly,” Reaper agreed.

  “Passive aggressiveness seems like a dangerous way to go,” I said. “Especially if more bullets are pointed in your direction…or Daniel’s.”

  I didn’t mean for it to sound like a threat, but, somehow, it did. Reaper shrugged, while Daniel smiled his boyish smile at me. Apparently he liked me threatening others on his behalf.

  “I’m stuck,” Reaper said. “I need him in the group for his powers, but I also need to get rid of him, if I am to continue with the plan I have in mind.”

  “What plan?” I asked.

  “The one that involves ending the war,” Reaper said.

  He didn’t have to say the plan that involved Anna; I could sense the truth from the expression on his face.

  “So what do we do?” I asked.

  Reaper made a face. “I don’t know.”

  “I know that we don’t need to discuss it here in the middle of South Central,” Daniel said. “I think it’s safe to call Sara now.”

  Reaper pulled his phone out and hit speed-dial. As he talked, I thought over what had just happened. From what I knew of Daniel, and from the expression on Reaper’s face, I knew that the attack would not be something I would be forced to dwell on long. They would find a way to get payback. And if they didn’t take care of business soon, I would.

  I had never felt more committed to violence in my whole life.

  Chapter 15

  The school was quietly buzzing with electric energy when Sara dropped us off. Whispers and worried conversations floated down the hall. I sensed everyone wondering who would be bold enough to attack Reaper. I sensed their uncertainty and their fear. It made them doubt things they shouldn’t doubt – like if it was safe to stay. Reaper was just as aware.