The Reluctant Assassin Boxset

by Thomas K. Carpenter

  Amber studied his face, and he studied hers. There were a lot of things she hid behind—the tattoos, the piercings, the general air of ambivalence—but Zayn sensed those were in place to give people a sense of calm. As she drank him in, he felt the danger she posed as if he were perched precariously on the edge of the Grand Canyon with a strong wind at his back, or dining on steak in a cage full of hungry great white sharks.

  He wasn't sure what prodded him to say it, maybe it was the years working for the Goon, which taught him the value of trade, or maybe it was an innate sense of self-preservation.

  "I will pay whatever price it requires," he said.

  The smile that grew on her lips, showing hungry white teeth, made him shudder in response.

  "Bring me your burden and then we'll talk about the price," she said.

  Zayn hauled the rucksack into the back and unzipped it. He hated the feeling that he was desecrating Katie's dead body, but he hated the idea that her killer had gotten away worse. Amber did not seem surprised by the body.

  "I couldn't stop her killer," he said. "He jumped off a forty-foot building without getting hurt. I need to know why she died."

  "For revenge?" asked Amber.

  Zayn pulled a baggie of Alpha from his pocket. Her eyes betrayed recognition.

  "You've seen this before, haven't you?" he asked.

  "You're not my only customer," said Amber.

  "Katie got mixed up in this stuff somehow. Maybe she robbed her dealer or something, I don't know. But it's not good. It gives people magic, for a short time, and then it eventually kills them. I want to stop whoever is making this, and she's my only link to whoever that is," he said.

  Amber moved to the front door and locked it, flipped the sign to closed, and pulled down the blinds.

  She stood across the body from him and said, "I will give you an opportunity to speak to your girlfriend. For now, the window will be small and she will be in great distress, but you can ask your questions."

  "Is this truly her? Her soul or spirit?" he asked.

  "Maybe," said Amber, "but truly no one knows. Do you want to do this or not?"

  "What's the price? I said I'd pay it, but I want to know what I'm getting into," said Zayn.

  Her eyes were dark and hungry. "Today, nothing. But at a later date, I will come to you for a favor, and you will grant it, no questions asked."

  "Anything?"

  "Do you want to find your girlfriend's killer or not?" she asked.

  "Why at a later date?" he asked.

  A curl of a smile caught the edge of her lips. "I think you know the answer, based on what I tasted from your blood."

  She waited for him to figure it out, which he did. The implications for the dangerousness of his situation grew deeper. "I've got nothing to offer right now, or maybe I do, but it's not worth much. You're placing a bet on me. If I don't die over the next few days, the bet pays off. But you tasted my blood, glimpsed my future, so you think you have inside information."

  "But a bet nonetheless. Prophecies and readings are not guaranteed. They are but statistics ran through a sieve of magic. Truthfully, in the majority of them, you are dead, but the others," she cooed with excitement as she ran her fingertips down his arm, "those are delicious."

  "And in the end, if I don't do the favor for you?" He held his hand up. "I'm only asking to understand, not because I plan on betraying you."

  She ran her thumb across her lower lip and for the first time, Zayn noticed how bloodred it was.

  "You die," she said.

  "Count me in."

  Her pierced eyebrow rose with amusement. "That easily?"

  "In the majority of my futures, I will die. So why not do the best that I can while I'm alive and make it worth something," he said.

  "But what if I told you that to manipulate you, to get you to agree? That if you don't make a deal with me today, your chances of living go way up. What would you do then?" she asked.

  He tried to hide his own amusement. She clearly wanted him to twist on the conundrum of free will versus prophecy, but what she didn't know was that was one of his father's favorite dinnertime questions. Zayn had thought through this dozens of times, so he didn't have to dwell on it too long. For him, the conclusion he'd come to was that trying to pick the most profitable outcome always ended in disappointment. The best course was to be true to yourself and let the wheel spin where it may.

  "I still make the deal," he said.

  "Fair enough," she said. "Come here and give me your hand again."

  She didn't prick his palm this time, but plucked a strand of her glossy black hair and wrapped it around their clasped hands. Then she spoke in a deep voice, something he could barely hear, let alone understand. It was as if the earth itself were speaking through the grinding of stone.

  The longer she spoke, the hotter his face grew. By the end of her binding, he wanted to rush outside into the cool evening air, but then it was over, and relief flooded back in after she released his hand.

  She had a softer expression when she looked upon him again. Gone was the hard edge and the feral threat.

  "Come now," she said, motioning for him to be seated across from Katie's body. "Let us speak to the dead."

  Zayn matched her reverence. Amber took a few moments to straighten Katie's limbs and fix her hair. She treated her like a mother to her child, before sending her into the world.

  "When I bring her spirit back, she'll be in distress. First you'll need to calm her, soothe her, and tell her everything's going to be okay. Only then can you ask her questions, but tread carefully, or you'll get no answers."

  Zayn expected Amber to start chanting, or draw runes on Katie's skin. Instead, she went inward. Amber's throat moved up and down as if she were swallowing, until her shoulders bent forward at an angle that would have broken another person's shoulders. Then she spit something into the palm of her hand. It looked like a round, black pebble.

  Amber squeezed Katie's mouth open and dropped the pebble inside. Then she massaged her throat for a few seconds before placing her palm on Katie's chest.

  "Katie, can you hear me?" asked Amber.

  When Katie's lips moved, Zayn jumped, but he quickly settled himself.

  "Yes," said Katie's dead body, but the word came out strangled and weak. "Why does it hurt? Everything hurts."

  Amber nodded towards Zayn.

  "It's me, Katie. Zayn. I'm here with you. It's going to be alright," he said.

  "Then why can't I see you? It's so cold. Where am I? I didn't think it was winter anymore," said Katie.

  "It's because you—" He almost said that she'd died, but Amber shook him off. "You got hurt. But you're going to be okay. You're in the hospital. The cold is part of the healing."

  As he spoke, Amber's face went through contortions. She didn't look happy about what he'd said. Zayn shrugged at her. If she hadn't wanted him to say certain things, she should have told him.

  "I...I am?" asked Katie.

  "I need to ask you some questions, Katie," said Zayn. "It's important if we want to stop the people that hurt you."

  "It's so cold..."

  The pain in her voice almost made him give up right then, but he knew Amber would still require him to honor his side of the bargain if he did.

  "Katie. How did you get the Alpha? The magic drug. How did you come by so much?" he asked.

  "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have taken it. But it was so expensive," she said.

  "I know it was expensive. But how did you get it? Did you rob him?" he asked.

  "No. I took it from his apartment and then he came back, and he choked me. He choked me!" Her voice cracked. "He's still choking me. Zayn. It hurts so much. It's all pain. All pain. Please, let me go. I know what happened. He choked me. Please let me go."

  He went numb with indecision. He hadn't known it was going to be so hard.

  "Katie," he whispered, and Amber made a face at him that he translated meant he was running out of time.

>   "Katie," he said, stronger. "Focus on the robber. Where did you go? Where is his apartment?"

  "Zayn, please," said Katie, who sounded like she was in unimaginable pain. "It hurts. Let me go."

  "The robber," said Zayn, "where is his apartment?"

  "I can't. I can't," she whispered.

  Zayn sensed he was losing her. He had to find out where he lived or it was all for naught.

  "Katie. This robber, he killed you, and he's going to get away with it unless you tell me where he lived. Please," he said, imploring her with all his being.

  He was met with silence. Amber's expression left him less than hopeful. She was about to remove her hand from Katie's chest, when those cold lips moved one last time.

  "Where the ice worms play..."

  At first he thought she'd gone mad, but then the answer popped into his head.

  "Near the skating rink!"

  He didn't get an acknowledgement, but he didn't need one. He knew that was what she meant because she'd wanted to go ice skating on their last date. The blades of the skates made lines across the ice that looked like worms were crawling beneath it.

  But his victory felt short lived as he realized what he'd done. Across from him, Amber looked exhausted.

  She squeezed Katie's throat until the black pebble popped out of her mouth and then swallowed the stone. Amber set her hand against Katie's forehead.

  "She rests...for now," said Amber. "I should have warned you not to tell her that she was dead."

  "Why?"

  "It's dangerous to let them know," she said. "But it appears that your gambit was successful."

  Zayn put his hand on Katie's shoulder. The skin was cold.

  "I'm sorry I had to do that."

  Amber eyed him warily. "What will you do with the body?"

  Zayn opened his mouth but no answer came out because he had none. "I don't know. I hadn't thought about it. If her body shows up now, they'll wonder how she died."

  "I can take care of the body for you," said Amber, strangely calm.

  "You're not going to..."

  Amber frowned. "I do not eat bodies. I will treat her remains respectfully. But no one will ever know that she died."

  It was too much for him to think about. He was barely coming to grips with the fact that she'd died, let alone what he was supposed to do with her body. It was hard enough focusing on what he was going to do about the robber, and more importantly, the Alpha supply.

  "Yes, please take care of the body," said Zayn. "But I'd like a moment to say goodbye first."

  Amber stood, touched him on the shoulder, and disappeared into the back.

  Zayn put his hand on her stomach at first, but the stiffness and cold reminded him that she was dead, so he pulled it back against himself.

  "Katie," he said. "I really liked you. You were new and different, and since everything so far hadn't been going to plan, you were the first thing that happened to me that made me feel like things might be okay. And while I'm sorry that I didn't get to spend more time with you, I'm more sorry that you didn't get to do what you loved with your band. You were that rock goddess on the drum kit. I wish you were alive so you could keep playing. So you could go on tour with your friends in an old cramped van and make music in strange cities."

  He reached out and fussed with the front of her hair, making it arch over her forehead. He liked when it did that.

  "I'm sorry that you died. But I'm not sorry that I met you. I plan on finding out who's making this stupid drug, and...and, well I don't know yet, but I'm going to stop them. Somehow."

  He found the courage to hold her cold hand, and sat with her for a while. Tears came, slow at first, then streaming down his cheeks. He wiped them away with the back of his hand.

  "Goodbye, Katie."

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Ninth Ward, March 2014

  One short of being a team

  Everything that had happened to Zayn since he'd come to the Hundred Halls had felt removed, like he was playing a game or watching a movie about someone else. They'd never felt real because the consequences had been temporary. He'd bounced back from whatever failure he'd endured.

  But Katie wouldn't return from her mistakes, and even though he'd had no part in her decision to get involved with the Alpha, he was impacted by her death in more ways than he'd considered.

  So when he was surveilling the park in which he'd spent his first day as a member of the Academy, and found the guy who had strangled Katie with his bare hands, he didn't immediately march over and unload every ounce of faez he had at the guy. And not because he didn't want to. Seeing Patchy blithely wandering the park, occasionally chatting with fellow walkers, acting like he hadn't just ended the life of a promising young woman, made Zayn shake with rage.

  But rushing into things had spelled trouble for him, like when he'd leapt off the building trying to impress Instructor Allgood, or when he'd broken into the D'Agastine Cosmetics building without much more than an inkling of a plan, or the time he'd tried to fool the Goon. Maybe he felt guilty for leaving the date with Katie. Had he stayed with her, he was sure she would have invited him back to her flat. Things might have been different after that. He might have seen evidence of the Alpha, might have kept her from making a terrible mistake. Might have.

  But he didn't just want to kill him, he wanted to stop Patchy and the Alpha. So he watched him for a few days, identifying his fellow dealers—the other guys that had harassed Zayn—and more importantly, where he was getting it.

  Then he left messages with his former teammates to meet him at Lilac's Coffee and Casters.

  To his relief—and surprise—they came in at the same time, warily glancing out the windows as if they expected Instructor Allgood to come crashing down on them.

  "I wasn't sure if you would come," said Zayn.

  Portia slid into the opposite side of the booth first, followed by Skylar and Vin.

  "We weren't sure we would either," said Portia. "You haven't made it easy on us this year."

  "If you don't like what I have to say, I'll understand," said Zayn, pulling out a privacy match and striking it.

  Vin would barely look him in the eyes. He looked ready to dart out the door at any moment.

  "If an instructor comes here, I'll tell them you were just saying your goodbyes," said Zayn.

  "We're not supposed to talk to you," Vin said under his breath. He bared his teeth in rage. "We finally get out of the bottom, and you have to go and break into the D'Agastine Cosmetics building? What were you thinking?"

  Three sets of eyes regarded him with suspicion. "I thought I'd found who was making the Alpha drug, the one killing people on the streets."

  "You mean the one you were told not to investigate?" asked Skylar, incredulously.

  "The one that killed Katie," said Zayn, remembering too late that no one probably knew that she was dead.

  "The girl from the band?"

  He nodded. The news changed Vin's expression from anger to embarrassment.

  "I'm so sorry," said Skylar.

  "She was mixed up with whoever's selling the drug," he said.

  Vin scrunched his forehead. "So the D'Agastine people killed her?"

  "No," he said. "I was wrong about that. Stupid, too."

  Skylar's face brightened. "Did you really break into that place with like, no planning?"

  "Yeah, but I got caught," he said.

  She blinked a few times. "You realize that's where they make their super-secret stuff. Major multinationals would love to know what they're doing and you just waltzed in and were wandering the upper floors where they do that research? That's like breaking into Willy Wonka's factory for a makeup hound like me."

  "So you don't think it was stupid?" he asked.

  "Of course it was stupid, but I'm still impressed," she said flippantly.

  "What do you want from us?" asked Portia.

  "I want to stop the Alpha," he said.

  "Why?" asked Portia. "Why do you ca
re? Is this revenge for Katie?"

  "I'm not going to lie, that's part of it. He strangled her with his bare hands. She had bruises all over her neck. He doesn't deserve to live." Zayn gathered himself. "But it's more than that. The drug. This Alpha. It's dangerous. Dangerous to the people that use it, and even more dangerous if they figure out how to make it without it killing anyone. Imagine if magic were for sale, for anyone. The price would be astronomical. Whoever could make it would suddenly be a major player on the world stage."

  His teammates leaned back into the bench. Portia whistled softly between her teeth.

  "Is that why the instructors didn't want us to investigate it?" asked Skylar.

  "Yeah. They gave some bullshit answer about it being Protector work, but let's be real, if they could control it, they would. Anyone would," he said, lighting another privacy match.

  Portia leaned close and whispered under her breath. "If you think we're going to support you against—"

  He held his hands up. "No, no. You misunderstand. I'm still a member of the Academy, for now. And I want to stay a member." I have to. "But they're not going to take me back unless I prove that I'm worth it."

  "They'd more likely kill you. Us too," said Vin, shaking his head. "This is crazy. We should go back, tell Instructor Allgood, before we get kicked out too."

  "Why didn't you ask your cousin for help? Isn't he family?" asked Skylar.

  The real answer was that he didn't want to get Keelan involved with something that might tempt his worst impulses, but he couldn't tell them that, so he said, "I asked, but..."

  "He was smart enough to decline," said Skylar.

  The other two nodded their heads in agreement and slid from the booth.

  "Wait," said Zayn, reaching out to keep them from leaving. "I know you want to do this. You didn't come to the Academy of the Subtle Arts to be an average mage, let alone on a last-place team."

  "What are you talking about?" asked Vin, though Zayn noted he stopped leaving.

  He took a deep breath. "On the first day, you took a risk and sandbagged, so you could get on a top team. You don't do that unless you're willing to fail."

  Their faces kept a mask of indifference.

  "I don't know what you're talking about," said Portia. "I didn't even plan on being in the Academy. I wanted to join Alchemists."