“I don’t know,” said Livi, nodding at where the gun was pointed. “I think it’d be fun if someone lost his manhood and had to start making inappropriate jokes about himself.”
The Ranger’s head turned toward Livi, and Nash saw her whole face, including the metal eye.
María Robles? A Ranger from his class in the Academy and the most sadistic person Nash had ever met.
As much as Nash enjoyed seeing Livi go vigilante on someone who deserved it, Robles’ presence made it hard to give Livi’s burn the attention he wanted to. Maybe he was still in dreamland because never in a million years would he expect Robles to try to stop a fight.
The blades were all slowly lowered and Nash followed suit with his gun. Robles was up to something, and Nash would keep one eye on her. In the meantime, he wanted to test the waters of working with the Legionnaires. Stopping the Reaper was more important than egos. “We’re after the Reaper too.” Nash pointed at the Legionnaire from his boat, but kept one eye on Robles. “Flower and I already know each other from the ferry. This rivalry is stupid. We should all chill and talk about working together.”
“Flower,” said one of the other Legionnaires and most of them chuckled. Apparently Gurpreet didn’t use his last name here.
It hadn’t been Nash’s intention to insult his boat-mate, and he couldn’t tell if it would ease the situation or just make it tenser.
“Just can’t keep your mouth shut,” said George. He glared at Nash for few more seconds, then made a calming gesture to the other Legionnaires. They relaxed visibly and most of them slid their swords into scabbards. Nash and Robles holstered their guns, and lastly Livi tucked away her blades.
“Leave the real work to the real men,” said George.
Gurpreet Flower spoke up. “I’ve seen Glass Jaw Nash naked, and he practically is a woman.” He signaled to Nash’s crotch.
The Legionnaires and Robles cracked up. Robles’ little prank from the Academy was still paying dividends.
George said, “Reaper hunting is not women’s work, and by women I mean all three of you.” He sneered at Nash then looked around at his squad and got a few chuckles. “Legionnaires out. Tomorrow when you see us, we’ll be famous. You know, for killing the Reaper.”
“Stop at the Wish Tree on your way,” said Livi as they started walking away. “You can’t handle me, you won’t be able to handle the Reaper without help from the Angels.”
That was the first time the Angels had come up and Nash wanted to know more about the secret society. His sister Karolina had always dreamed of joining them someday. From the little Nash knew, anyone could be an Angel—any Caste, even unmodifieds, or plebes, as Livi called them. The Angels might be a place to start looking for her once the Reaper thing was settled.
Most of the Legionnaires went out of their way to pass close by Nash so they could bump him with their shoulders as they passed him. Nash was too distracted by Robles and the Angel comment to care too much. He stood firm, not giving ground, while also not giving in to their pettiness. If these Ranger wannabees were butt-hurt about something, it was no skin off of his back.
The last Legionnaire to pass was Gurpreet Flower.
“See you around, Flower,” said Nash, raising his voice.
Flower gave him a passable sneer, but one that still needed a little work if he wanted to reach the arrogant prig level of the rest of the group. “You don’t know me, Tic Tac.” He gave Nash the fig as he walked away.
Nash watched them go as he assessed the damage he’d taken. The vision through his right eye, the mechanical one, was partially blocked from his eyelid, which felt puffy. So did the cheekbone was where he’d taken the hit. He was lucky the eye worked at all. Hopefully the blurriness was due to the swelling and not to permanent damage to the mechanism. Nash could heal, but he doubted the metal eye could. Bullets and even his gun could be replaced, but if he lost the eye, it was gone forever.
“They were nice,” said Nash to Livi, once the Legionnaires were gone. “We should hang out with them again.” There was nothing like the scare of a fight to clear his head but his brain was still too foggy to figure out why Robles was here and why she seemed to be helping. “What do you want, Robles?”
“It’s Sparky,” she said clearly in her Spanish accent, which anyone who didn’t know her would be enchanted by. Nash thought he saw a spark of fire in her human eye. “Let’s get off the stage. You can make your sarcastic comments somewhere else so that more idiots can come up here and prove how brainless they are.”
“I think I just got insulted,” said Nash, letting Robles lead the way so he could watch her. “But I’m not sure because I may have a concussion.”
“You definitely did,” said Livi. “Want me to defend your honor? Again? I know how you feel about hitting girls.”
Nash would pay money to see Livi put Robles in her place, but Robles didn’t fight fair, ever. Anyone who went up against her had little chance of getting out of the fight without some serious injury.
The trio didn’t have a destination, they just walked outward from the center stage. As soon as they were clear, the announcer invited more fools to come forward. A few people in the crowd applauded Nash as he walked past, and just as many laughed or called out names like Glass Jaw Nash.
“Oh good,” muttered Nash. “Another nickname.” Maybe if he kept things light he could resist starting something serious with Robles and avoid inciting anything above what they already had between them.
“Introductions?” asked Livi as they came to a stop in an open spot of grass.
“Don’t bother,” said Nash. “I’m sure she’s not staying.”
Robles rose to her full height, tall for a woman, did an elegant bow, and said, “My name is Sparky. Baby Nash and I go way back.”
She had the dark fire motif to go with the name—long black hair, sleeve tattoos like fire down her light brown arms, ash-black pants and top, and a thin red cape to finish off the costume. Above her eyes, faint flames of makeup were painted, and her lips were fire engine red. Bright white teeth showed when she smiled and she had a bearing that said she was obviously comfortable on the island even though they’d only been here two weeks.
“I’m Livi. And it’s always a pleasure to meet a friend of Nash.”
“Is that what we are, Robles?” Nash demanded. “Friends?”
“Not if you don’t stop calling me that name.” She made eye contact with Nash and it was obvious the animosity from training hadn’t faded. Turning her gaze to Livi, she said, “You know how bitter men can be when they get jilted.”
“What?” Nash couldn’t believe he’d just heard that. “There never was and never will be anything between us.”
“Women still terrify him,” said Robles with a conspiratorial nod. “Baby Nash is still a virgin. Obviously.”
“Okay, it was great seeing you, Robles.” Nash stepped between the women. “Unfortunately we can’t stick around because we have more pleasant things to do, like go hit my broken hand with a hammer a few dozen times.”
Livi side-stepped Nash to make a triangle of the conversation again. Her face showed much too much enjoyment for Nash’s comfort. “While you’re here, Sparky, we could use some help hunting the reaper.”
“No,” said Nash, but Robles just laughed. “What does it say about Robles if I trust a Vamp, who I barely know, with my life, but I wouldn’t trust Robles to help an old man across the street without shoving him under a bus just for the show?”
Livi looked at Robles. “I think I just got insulted.”
“I can assure you we both did,” said Robles. She followed it with a string of smooth, rapid Spanish that Nash couldn’t follow.
Apparently Livi did because she gave her a nod of the head and said, “Obrigada.”
The longer this went on, the worse it would get. Nash took a step forward and said, “Are you here to apologize or something? Because as far as I’m concerned, you and I have nothing to say to each other.”
> Robles smiled a crooked, smug smile. She was as beautiful as she was evil, and Nash couldn’t wait to be done with her forever. “Maybe I’m interested in the huge bounty on your little bodyguard’s head.”
Now they were talking. Nash put his hand on the butt of his gun and did a quick check over his shoulders. It was important to remember that Robles never fought fair. “Go ahead. Try it.” His hand was still pounding, but if it came down to it, he was pretty sure he could draw and fire.
“Relax, Baby Nash,” said Robles with a chuckle. “I don’t want the bounty. Money is the easiest thing in this world to come by.” She pulled a handful of coins from a pouch, mostly kilos and cents. Tossing them over her shoulder like trash, her face showed exactly how little she cared.
People in the area instantly swarmed for the coins. Their shadows under the torchlight made the area dark and they sprawled in the grass, digging with their hands.
Nash said, “I can see how someone who sells herself on a regular basis could say that.”
Robles giggled. “Baby Nash found a tongue on the island. How cute.”
“I apologize for my partner’s behavior,” said Livi. “I mean he’s uncultured, but normally not outright rude. Are you sure you won’t join us?”
“She isn’t invited,” said Nash. “Deal breaker.”
“As badly as Baby Nash wants another shot at me, I’ll take a polite pass. I’m brave enough to stand up to a whole, what is it, a continuum of sexist Legionnaires, but I’m not stupid enough to hunt death itself.”
“Contubernium,” said Livi. “Eight Legionnaires is a contubernium.”
“Your nerdiness is showing,” said Nash. He was about to bring up her mortgage-broker past if this conversation went on much longer because he knew it embarrassed her. At least his brain wasn’t scrambled; it was a real word, not something his scrambled mind had fabricated.
“It’s been fun,” sneered Nash, realizing too late it was a lie. Apparently, the modification that made him sick when he lied was able to interpret sarcasm because the nausea didn’t hit him. “Thanks for stopping by.”
“No problem,” said Robles. “Be careful out there, and make sure you watch your back.” She stepped up to Nash and whispered in his ear, “Because you know I’ll be watching it.” He felt her lips touch his neck right below his ear, followed by a burning sensation, a brief sizzle, and the smell of burnt flesh.
Nash bit down on the scream of pain he wanted to let out and jerked away from her. Robles gave him a wink and blew a kiss as she walked away. He had a pretty good idea the skin was blistering, but didn’t say anything, just slapped a hand over it. His healing was still a secret from Livi. Whether it was Robles’ lipstick or her endowment that had burned him, he had no idea.
“Rangers,” said Livi. “Can’t stand those guys.”
Nash wasn’t in much of a mood for joking. It wasn’t over between them as Nash had hoped when training ended. “They’re the worst,” Nash agreed halfheartedly. He watched Robles walk to the top of the amphitheater and disappear over the top edge and into the darkness.
“So?” asked Livi.
Nash took a deep breath. Where did he even start to describe her? He started walking slowly to the other side of the amphitheater. It was getting close to the time for them to start hunting. “Have you had enough toxic masculinity for one night?”
Livi chuckled. “As much fun as it is seeing you all try to prove who’s the bigger man, I suppose we have more important things to do.”
“Speaking of bigger men and smaller men, Robles is the spawn of Satan. She thrives on other people’s pain and will go out of her way to make someone else suffer. I don’t know what she was up to tonight, but she wasn’t trying to help. She is one evil, self-serving scheme after another.”
“Like what?” asked Livi.
“For starters, she tried sleep with a classmate of ours in exchange for helping her cheat on a test. When Bonomo refused, she planted notes on him during a test that made him look like he was cheating. Luckily, I saw her do it so I stood up for Bonomo, and that earned me a spot at the top of her list. The first thing she did to me was somehow get a naked picture of me from the showers and got it to pop up at random times on random screens. Not just our class either, I think all of the Academy got naked-Nash when they least expected it. Not only did she not get caught, she started the rumor that I had done it to … show off, even though—” No, he didn’t need to share that part.
“There’s more,” said Livi. “You’re a terrible liar.”
They walked past a magician doing ball and cup tricks for a small crowd. “I’m not lying about anything. The picture was altered, though. Well, one part of the picture.”
Livi let out an amused laugh. “One specific part of your anatomy. I bet I can guess which.”
“I bet you can.”
“And I bet I can guess why she calls you Baby Nash.” She laughed again, holding her stomach as they walked. “Tic tac!” By now Livi was doubled over.
Nash could feel his face burning. When Livi quieted down enough to be able to hear him, he said, “It was embarrassing, but it barely touched on Robles’ level of evil. We had a Ranger candidate from Africa who Robles insisted on calling ‘Pigmy’ when no instructors were around. She dug into Okeke’s past and found a news story about how Okeke’s parents had tried to murder her as a child because of tribal superstitions. Instead of being sympathetic, like an actual human being would have been, Robles consistently made comments and hid little notes saying things like, ‘Your parents had the right idea,’ and ‘The world needs one less Pigmy.’ The only thing she calls her besides Pigmy is Spirit Child, which is what her village accused her of being.”
Livi wasn’t laughing any longer. “All that was unprovoked? Except for you snitching?”
“Completely unprovoked, including me bailing out innocent Bonomo. It was the only thing that stuck to her in training, even though I’m also convinced she poisoned her roommate, Hollywood. I could go on, but I’m tired of talking about her. What’d she say to you in Spanish?”
“What did she whisper to you on her way out?” countered Livi.
“Told me she was watching my back.”
“Hm,” said Livi. “Can’t say I’m happy to have her as an enemy, but at least she told me that if I ever dump you, she’d partner up with me.”
Nash blew out an exasperated breath. “Perfect. Having her lurking around isn’t going to make finding and killing the Reaper any easier. Maybe we’ll get lucky and the Legionnaires will have success tonight. And tomorrow we can …” They’d never talked about what would happen once the manhunt ended. Nash couldn’t remove the bounty from off her head, and he couldn’t protect her forever. Their agreement had been until they stopped the Reaper. If that common goal ended, was he obligated to turn her in to the magistrate in San Juan? Or could they just go separate ways?
He still didn’t know what exactly was expected of him as a Ranger. The lack of training time with John Wayne was still biting him in the butt.
“Yes,” agreed Livi, that steely glint back in her eye. “I’d love to define exactly what this is between us.”
Nash had been in a define-the-relationship conversation before, but never like this. “If we’re the ones who stop him, it’ll work out,” said Nash. “You say you’ll get your pardon—”
“And you’ll get your parade, and your face on a coin and everything else you’ve ever wanted.”
Nash looked at her blankly, trying to figure out if she was serious or just digging at him. A small smirk showed on her face in the torchlight. They both knew he couldn’t care less about fame and that was why she kept bringing it up.
Livi added, “I’ve been here long enough to know that if we succeed in killing the monster, officials at every level will line up to give us huge flower bouquets and keys to their city.”
The lure of a pardon had been enough to prevent her from running, though she’d had plenty of chances including tonight when
he was unconscious. Livi claimed it was because in his “custody” she stood a better chance of avoiding becoming bounty bait than she did on her own.
“If our partnership ends without success,” said Nash. “We’ll be back to square one.” Ranger against wanted Vamp.
“If that’s how you want it,” she said flatly.
Now that it was out in the air, Nash was not looking forward to it. He trusted her a million times more than Robles, but couldn’t dismiss the idea that she might betray or abandon him some day. He’d never had a relationship with anyone like her before. They’d become friends quickly, yet things could change in a moment and they could be looking at each other over his gun barrel from different directions.
He didn’t want to think about that. “Let’s find the bastard and it won’t be an issue.” All he really wanted to do was close his eyes and sleep, but it was night time and a night off could mean a preventable death. “Right after we find a physic to set the broken bones in my hand.” And get something to eat. Nash felt like he hadn’t eaten in days.
“Maybe he can fix your face too,” suggested Livi. “You look like you got punched in the face by a trained killer or something.”
“Imagine that. If only I had someone looking out for me so I didn’t do stupid stuff like that.”
“If only,” agreed Livi. “You need better friends.”
“Point for you,” said Nash. He gave her a wink, then made a beeline for the pincho stand at the edge of the crowd, determined to do some damage to Livi’s coin purse.
3
Tru Thief
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A Mutiny of Marauders Page 3