“What is that?” she whispered. Jade shook her head.
“Can’t say for sure, but it looks and smells like blood,” Jade answered, pulling her hand back and studying the room, her eyes slowly traveling over the space. “Well, this is really not reassuring.”
Isis was about to respond when suddenly, the back door banged shut. She glanced back and just caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure.
“Jade!” Isis yelled as she took off down the hall in pursuit. She didn’t bother to look to see if Jade was following. Isis reached the door, flung it open, and ran out across the short backyard, vaulting her slender body over the chain link fence and into the dark alleyway behind the small house. She glanced right and left at the surrounding garages. Turning right and speeding down the curved alley, Isis darted out across the street and into another alley.
The street lamps hummed above her and the soft night breeze brushed past her face. As she rounded another bend, Isis could see Shae and Alex up ahead at the other end of the alley. Shae had her hands on her knees and was panting while Alex held her Taser aimed at the stranger they had cornered. A tall man stood in front of them with his hands up. Isis glanced behind her when she heard the sound of a car screeching to a halt at the end of the alley. Jade shifted into park as Isis continued toward her two other teammates.
“I didn’t do anything. How did you even know to be here?” the man asked in a tone that was oddly detached but at the same time irritated. He was obviously less than thrilled to be there.
“If you didn’t do anything, why were you running away from the house?” Alex demanded. The man didn’t reply, just crossed his arms over his chest. Shae glanced to Isis as she finally reached them. Isis stared at Shae and Alex, who both appeared out of breath.
“Who’s this?” Jade asked as she ran up to them.
“We don’t know,” Alex replied, her eyes never leaving the man. “He’s not exactly cooperative.”
Isis turned her attention to the mysterious man and felt her eyes widen. The man looked at her and ran a hand over his face.
“Great,” he muttered.
“Coop!?”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Shae and Alex did a double take, looking between Coop and Isis, confused. They had been intent on catching the man, who was unbelievably fast and agile. They weren’t sure if they were supposed to recognize him. Coop put his hands down, crossed them over his chest, and leaned back against the garage behind him.
“Isis, how do you know this man?” Jade asked, her tone indicating that it wasn’t a request. Isis licked her lips and turned her eyes to her teammate, already knowing she was in a world of trouble. Really should have told someone about him, she thought as she tried to figure out how to respond to Jade’s question.
“His name is Coop. We’ve run into each other a couple times,” Isis replied, glancing back to Coop. “Always at awfully convenient times.”
Coop shrugged. “Is it a crime to be in the right place at the right time?”
“Yeah, it usually is,” Isis replied as she glared at him. He was looking around the alley, not concerned about what was going on.
“Oh, oh, Isis. Honey, no,” Shae said, trying to hide the amusement in her voice. “You are going to be in so much trouble.”
“Did you call Jet?” Jade finally spoke, looking at Coop. Isis also watched the strange man, who stood very rigidly. His eyes were traveling all around the alley, not looking at the women surrounding him. It was odd, he seemed to be on edge even though he still appeared confident. There was something bizarre about the man.
“Yes. Is the scientist all right?” Alex asked, looking over to Isis and Jade.
“Didn’t find any trace of him, did you?” Coop interrupted, his tone becoming softer. “House was empty, looked abandoned, am I right?”
“And how exactly would you know that?” Shae asked curiously. Coop pinched the bridge of his nose, as if he were getting a massive headache.
“Mainly because every shape shifter has heard the stories of bodies vanishing without a trace,” he responded, looking to Shae.
“One problem, though,” Alex remarked. “The scientist was human. The few incidents that you’re talking about have always involved a shape shifter disappearing.”
“The incidents that you know of,” Coop corrected.
“What the hell are you doing here anyway?” Isis suddenly asked. “I got the distinct impression you were leaving town.”
“I was going to after I finished a job for a friend,” Coop answered, shifting his weight. “I got a little sidetracked when . . . Dr. Hoffman promised to give me some valuable information that I desperately needed, so I stopped here first and I wound up getting pulled into this mess. May I go now? I’m certain that your time would be better spent elsewhere.”
Isis looked Coop up and down. Even though it was dark, she could see that he had been in some sort of scuffle. There was dirt on his face and clothes, which were ripped in a few places. It looked as though he’d been crawling through shrubbery or something.
“Okay, I understand how this looks,” Coop’s voice drew Isis out of her thoughts. “But you’re just going to have to take my word for it. I didn’t come here for malicious purposes and I didn’t harm Dr. Hoffman.”
“Interesting how you assume the man was harmed in some way,” Jade remarked. Coop turned his eyes in her direction.
“Do you really think he just abandoned a lucrative career and position?” he asked, sounding as close to sarcastic as Isis had ever heard him sound.
“You know, you once offered to explain that strange symbol I found. Ever plan on following up on that?” Isis asked, her tone getting sharper. She was frustrated with the mysterious man and his way of talking without ever actually saying anything.
“If I did, you would assume I was lying,” Coop replied in his normal evasive manner.
“If you want to leave, then tell us what exactly you know,” Isis demanded.
Coop stared at her, refusing to answer the question. Shae shifted her weight, blowing some hair out of her face, while Alex and Jade exchanged a brief look.
“Fine, be difficult. The protectors can deal with you. I’m done,” Isis said, turning to ask Jade a question.
“If you want to condemn an innocent man, that’s your prerogative,” Coop replied. Isis’ mouth dropped open and she turned her attention back to Coop, who just watched her. Shae snorted and turned around, covering her mouth as her shoulders shook.
“You are unbelievable,” Isis hissed, seething. “You haven’t given me one reason to trust you and yet you still expect me to just take your word and let you go.”
“I did save your life twice,” Coop pointed out with a shrug. Jade stepped forward and raised a hand, turning her eyes to Isis.
“You have a lot of explaining to do when we get back to the mansion,” Jade warned her younger teammate before turning to Coop. “You’re coming with us.”
Coop’s shoulders slumped a little and he nodded, offering no resistance when Shae and Alex took their respective places in front and behind him. Isis fell into step behind Jade.
“I really didn’t think it was that big a deal,” Isis offered, cringing at the glare Jade leveled at her.
“A lot of explaining to do,” Jade reiterated as she stepped around the car and sank behind the door that she hadn’t even bothered to close when she’d leapt out. Great, Isis thought as she opened the passenger’s door and took her seat.
*~*~*~*~*
The ride back to the mansion was filled with an uncomfortable silence. The only time it was broken was when Alex called the mansion to tell the Monroes what had happened. After the call, none of the five occupants spoke another word and barely even moved. The walk to the main hall was equally grim.
Jet was waiting in the main room, along with Passion and Electra. Jet grabbed Coop’s shoulder and disappeared. The other women also left the room to do various things, leaving Passion and Electra alone with Isis.
Isis stared at the space where Coop had stood. She didn’t know what to think at the moment — everything had happened too fast for her to fully comprehend. She still wasn’t sure what to feel regarding Coop: anger, gratitude, or both. There was a sadness about him, and it made her feel some sympathy for him, which pissed her off. Isis also worried about just how much trouble she was going to be in for not being upfront about a possible threat.
“Where will Jet take him?” she finally asked, not looking at the guardians.
Passion answered, “To the dungeons in the Meadows. Lilly’s going to meet them in the Pearl Castle.”
Isis looked at Passion, horrified. “You’re not going to torture him, are you?”
“No, Isis. The guardians would never torture anybody. He will be questioned though,” Electra explained. “The term dungeon has a much different connotation on Earth. Trust me, in the Meadows prisoners are treated with dignity and respect. The guardians, for our many faults, have always been firmly against torture.”
“Oh,” Isis said, glancing back to where Coop had been. “Just . . . be easy on him. I know he’s infuriatingly vague, but I think he has been through some shit. Maybe he has PTSD or something, I don’t know.”
“Isis, who is he?” Electra asked.
“Remember that call I got a while back?” Isis began. “Right before you taught me how to Appear?”
“The—” Electra stopped and her eyes widened. “That’s the guy?”
“What guy?” Passion asked, concerned, as she glanced between the two of them. Electra was staring at Isis, who seemed to shrink in size.
“Yeah,” Isis said, running her hands over face, deciding to come clean. “Look, he’s probably harmless. I met him at a club and he’s . . . kind of . . . turned up a few times.”
Electra shook her head, muttering something under her breath. Isis put her hands in her pockets and shifted her weight, knowing that her twin was disappointed in her. Looking back on it, it had been one of her less than stellar ideas. She should have tried to dig up more information on Coop. At the very least, she should have told her teammates about the strange man. Despite everything that had happened, Isis didn’t believe Coop was the culprit in the sudden disappearance of the scientist or anyone else for that matter.
“Isis, why didn’t you tell Jet and Lilly?” Passion asked and Isis could hear the disappointment in her voice.
“He didn’t strike me as dangerous and I really think he has some answers about all the weird occurrences that have been happening. I thought I could get some information out of him,” Isis replied, realizing how lame the answer sounded. “It’s hard to explain, but if anything, I genuinely believe he’s a victim in all of this somehow.”
“You still should have told Jet and Lilly,” Electra commented evenly. Isis bit the inside of her cheek in frustration and pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes as she tried to not lose her temper. She could understand their anger and disappointment, but they were just brushing off her explanation without listening.
“There’s really not much I can do about it now, is there?” she replied, attempting to keep the anger out of her tone. “So I guess I’ll be sitting in the cell right next to his.”
“No, Isis,” Passion responded as she glanced between the two young women. “I’ll smooth it over with the Monroes, and Adonia as well, but I want your word that from this point on, you’ll report any kind of suspicious coincidences to Jet or Lilly.”
Isis let out a bitter laugh. “Trust me, after this, I’ll report anyone I meet.”
“I doubt you have to go that far,” Electra said with a small smile. “Is there anything else we should know about Coop?”
Isis was quiet for a moment as she looked at the two women, rubbing the back of her neck as she thought about the question. The lighting in the room was bright without being harsh, helping to relax the tension she was carrying in her shoulders.
“There was one thing he told me, when we first met,” Isis began hesitantly. “He said that there were people after us that not even Jet, Lilly, or the guardians knew about. And he mentioned that there was going to be some kind of change in leadership in the assassins soon, which I know is a concern. But something about the way he phrased it; it sounded like there was someone behind it, someone who wasn’t an assassin.”
Passion looked over to Electra, her mouth partly open as though she wanted to say something. Electra shook her head once. Isis arched an eyebrow as she watched them, waiting for an explanation.
“What was that?” she asked. The two looked back at her, neither offering an explanation. Her eyes widened.
“Oh my god. You know what he’s talking about,” Isis stated in disbelief.
“Not entirely, Isis. It’s more just stories and . . .” Electra began.
“What about how it all ties in with the vanishing body?” Isis interrupted, glancing over to Passion and back to Electra, looking for any sign they knew more than they were letting on.
“Whenever you have unsolved mysteries, it’s a breeding ground for various rumors, most of them utterly ridiculous,” Passion explained. “There’ve always been stories about places that might hire assassins and manipulate their hierarchies, but there has never been any evidence to suggest any merit of truth to them. And believe me, we’ve looked.”
She glanced over toward the window, shuddering a little. The guardian rested a hand at the base of her throat.
“Well, I’d like to read up on some of those rumors and stories,” Isis mentioned and Electra nodded.
“I’ll dig up some books in the Meadows library. Jet and Lilly probably have a few books in the library here that would also be worthwhile,” she agreed.
“There’s one other thing I’m unclear on,” Isis said, placing her hands on her hips. “Everyone says Roan disappeared. Was he wiped from existence like the body from the warehouse?”
Passion looked over at Electra and then at Isis, shaking her head. “Not exactly.”
For the first time, Electra appeared just as confused as Isis as she turned her attention to the older guardian.
“Is there something else that has been kept from me, Mother?” Electra asked. Both Passion and Isis turned their attention to her, picking up on the trace of bitterness in her voice.
Passion glanced at her reflection in the window, debating about how to answer the question. After a moment, she swallowed and rubbed the side of her neck. Her shoulders dropped a little and she gestured to the entertainment room off to the side.
“The two of you are going to want to sit down,” Passion began as she followed them into the room. “It’s a somewhat lengthy story and not a pleasant one.”
She moved over to a large chair and sat down, folding her legs up under her. Isis glanced over to Electra, who shrugged and moved over to the couch. Isis followed and sat next to her. Passion interlaced her fingers in front of her and leaned against one of the arms of the chair.
“You should know that only one other guardian knows the whole story of what happened the night Roan disappeared,” Passion started, turning her eyes to her feet for a moment. “If the High Council had known the entirety of what happened, I probably would have been banished.”
Isis frowned. “Should you be telling us? Couldn’t some guardian, I don’t know, overhear us?”
Electra stared at Isis in confusion. “Why would they be listening?”
“I got the impression they were omniscient,” Isis replied with a shrug. Electra chuckled and shook her head. Even Passion appeared amused.
“I’m sure some would like to be,” Electra replied. “But no, they can’t just hear everything going on here. Really, Isis, they’re not gods. They have no reason to eavesdrop on the mansion. God, omniscience would be an absolute nightmare.”
Isis shrugged and leaned back, watching Passion. Electra folded one leg up under her, watching her mother with a similar expression. Isis noticed a certain amount of stiffness in her twin’s posture. Over the months, I
sis had come to learn just how sheltered her twin’s life had been. Living a relatively ordinary life had given Isis a chance to build up a suit of armor. Lying was a trivial thing to her. She was used to being lied to, which had led to her developing a certain amount of cynicism, but Electra had been raised in the Meadows. Nobody had a reason to lie in her beloved home.
“The night Roan disappeared,” Passion began, running her fingers through her wavy hair, “he had gotten in a fight with another assassin over who knows what, territory most likely. He somehow managed to drag himself back to the apartment we shared. Fate often has a funny sense of humor. An incredibly twisted kind of humor, granted, but funny in its own way. After witnessing Roan for what he really was, I returned to the Meadows but I just happened to be in the apartment to get a few things I had left behind. When I heard a noise outside, I went to the front door, opened it, and there he was. He had lost so much blood that he couldn’t even stand up. He looked up at me and there was so much pain in his eyes. He didn’t have much time left and I couldn’t get a healer because guardians can’t heal people who have taken a life in cold blood and I wasn’t supposed to be there anyway.”
Passion frowned, looking off to some distant point. “Healing abilities don’t run in the royal line, so I couldn’t have done it. Still, Roan was suffering and I can’t bear to see anyone suffer, regardless of their past actions. So I did what I could — I helped him over to the couch and tried to stop the bleeding. As soon as I got him to the couch, he started insisting that I leave and go back to the Meadows. He kept saying he didn’t want me to get in trouble with the guardians. When I refused to leave him, he told me he was sorry and that he loved me. I reassured him as best I could. A few minutes later he was gone.”
Passion went quiet, rubbing her hands together and swallowing. “I didn’t know what to do, so I did the only thing I could think of. I appeared back in the Pearl Castle. What happened next was pure luck. Donovan, one of my lovers, happened to be there. He had come to meet with Adonia and Artemis about some unrelated matter. He saw me Appear, covered in blood and shaking, and approached me to make sure I was all right. I remember that I could barely form coherent sentences, but I somehow managed to tell him everything that had happened. He was shocked, but he calmed me down and we returned to the apartment so I could show him Roan’s body.”
Sere from the Green (The Shape Shifter Chronicles Book 1) Page 28
