by Faulks, Kim
Harvey glanced behind me and then shook his head. The gleam of the overhead lights bounced against his greasy hair. He took a step and then another, rounding the tables choked with cables and cords. “Where the Hell you been? I asked…I went there to that place and asked, and they told me you’d left the city. They told me you were gone.”
“I lifted my hands, palms up and muttered. “Surprise.”
But he didn’t look surprised. He looked worried as he stepped closer. I shook my head, stilling him cold. “Need you to turn off the lights, Harvey…and I’m sorry, but I have to ask you a favor…a big one.”
He sucked in a breath, and then scanned my face, my body, then met my gaze once more. “They hurt you, didn’t they?”
One nod was all he needed. A steely hardness settled into his eyes. He was my friend. He was my fucking friend, and I was using him. I was using him and there was nothing I could do about it.
He stepped around the other side of the counter and hit a switch. The overhead lights went out, leaving the dull glow of the monitors to light the room.
“Talk to me,” he muttered and made for his computer once more. “What can I do to help.”
I left the door open behind me as desperation clawed its way into my throat. “First you need to understand that you can get into trouble.”
The floorboards groaned as he stilled and glanced over his shoulder. “You think I’m scared of them? You think I give a fuck what Maddox can do to me?”
An image bloomed. Maddox dead in a hallway, eyes open and devoid of life with a hole right through the center of his head. “Not Maddox…not anymore.”
Harvey lifted his head, stared into my eyes before he muttered, “Good.” He sat and then turned toward the screen. “I’m not afraid of them…any of them. Now, you gonna tell me what you need, or am I gonna have to guess?”
“First there’s something you need to know,” I murmured and lifted my hand. “I’m not like you…not normal…not human.”
The white glow off the screen make his eyes sparkle…or was it fear? “Okay…what does that mean?”
I lifted my hand, and exposed the numbers on the inside of my wrist. I’d never shown anyone before. Not like this. But I needed to…I needed him to understand what he was getting into. “I was kept in a place as a kid…they did things to me…to us.”
“Us?” He flinched. “What do you mean us?”
I lifted my hand, fingers outstretched as Shadow slipped from the darkness and moved into the light. The black markings on the inside of his wrist peeked from under his jacket.
Harvey flinched and then jerked his gaze toward the darkness. “Easy now,” Shadow murmured and slowly lifted his other hand. “I’m not here to hurt you.”
He tugged the sleeve of his jacket up, exposing the numbers. “Us.”
“What the fuck are you man?” Harvey murmured.
“We don’t know,” I answered. “All we do know is that we’re being hunted. They want us…want to hurt us. They’re powerful men, Harvey…powerful enough to do this.”
I yanked the sleeve of the jacket, dragging it all the way up until the gash marks from the needle was exposed. “They tried to make me disappear, tried better than anyone else ever has.”
The corner of Shadow’s lip curled, white teeth exposed. He took a step closer. The devil glinted in his eye as he growled. “They come for her again and we’ll be waiting.”
“We…” Harvey muttered and glanced around the room. “There’s that word again.”
“I remembered a name…Doctor Chris Bishop.” I took a step closer. “I think he can help us. I think he can give us the information we need.”
“And this is what you’ve been coming here for, right?” Harvey stretched out his fingers and wrenched his head from side to side, cracking his neck. “This is the information you need for them to stop.”
“Yes,” I answered. “I won’t have to run, not anymore. I won’t have to hide. We’ll bring the fight to them.”
His fingers flew across the keyboard pulling up string after string until his fingers stopped. He jerked his gaze to me, and then to the empty darkness beside me. Shadow was gone, as though he’d never been here at all. “Ah, you might want to disappear for a bit. The things I’m about to do could get me thrown in jail, and you don’t need another nail in your coffin. But promise me you won’t leave, Ol. I just need an hour. Can you give me that? Give me an hour and then let me say goodbye to you properly this time. Don’t just bounce and leave me fucking hurting.”
I winced at the pain in his words and turned to Shadow. An hour…an hour was a long time, we could be on the other side of the city in an hour. We could be long gone. But the ache in my chest pleaded. “Shadow?”
He looked from me to Harvey and then back to me again and nodded. “An hour and then we’re a ghost.”
I swallowed hard, made for the counter and grabbed a piece of paper. “What number do I give?”
Shadow reached through the darkness to hand me a cell. “It’s a burner, we can get rid of it when he’s done.”
I grabbed it, pressed the button and scrolled to the number before scribbling on a piece of paper. Harvey was focused on the screen, fingers stabbing the keys at a frenzied pace.
He never looked up as I stepped through the open door and waited for the touch against my hand before closing it once more.
Headlights splashed against the side of the building. I stilled, heart hammering and watched the sedan slowly drive by.
“It’s okay…you’re okay,” Shadow murmured behind me.
I stepped toward the pavement and then made for the street. Lights turned from amber to red, but there were only a few cars on the road tonight—unusual for this time.
By this time, the roads were usually packed…yet here it was, barely night and the place was…deserted. Any icy touch slid down my spine. I glanced over my shoulder to the soft glow inside Harvey’s place and then kept on walking, across the street and into the darkness of the alley.
The echo of footsteps beside me became louder as my guardian materialized beside me. “Sixth isn’t gonna like this.”
“What isn’t he going to like?” Sixth stepped out of the dark, holding the rifle close against his body, his gaze turning to me.
A silver light flared in his eye, and then dulled. I wanted to know what he saw in that flare of other—I wanted to know what he saw when he looked at me.
“He needs time,” Shadow answered. “An hour. We left the number from this for him to call.”
Shadow tossed the phone through the air. The dark blur turned end over end until it was caught by Sixth. He never looked at the thing, only scowled for a second before he spoke. “Sticking around like that is a bad move.”
“An hour, you can’t give him an hour?” I murmured my heart torn in two. “The man is prepared to go to jail for me and you can’t give him that?”
“He wants to say goodbye,” Shadow murmured. “To Oleander.”
The driver’s door of the dark blue sedan cracked open and Tex stepped out. “We good?”
“Not yet, apparently,” Sixth answered and turned toward the car. “He needs time.”
“Not a good idea,” Tex muttered. “We could just leave? I mean all he needs to do is give us an address?”
There was a shake of Shadow’s head. “Not much we can do, but wait.”
The cold wind picked up, tearing along the alley to slam into me.
“You’re cold,” Shadow murmured stepping close. “Come sit in the car.”
We made for the comfort of the sedan. I climbed into the backseat while Shadow yanked open the door on the other side and slid in.
Sixth followed, tucking the rifle in beside him as he climbed into the front passenger’s seat. Silence settled in, cold, uncomfortable silence.
We waited.
Like the ticking in my head.
We waited.
Green lights on the digital clock ticked slowly as the wind howled outside, t
earing at the cracked window like a savage beast that wanted in. I shuddered against the seat and Shadow shuffled closer, wrapping his arm around me, drawing me against the warmth of his chest.
Tick…
Tick…
Tick…
Tex shifted in his seat while Sixth stared straight ahead. Minutes slipped into hours, still the phone sat silent.
“It’s taking too long,” Sixth muttered and turned his head to glance at Shadow.
The rear door cracked open. My guardian was a blur in the night, striding out to the front of the car before he disappeared in a heartbeat. I couldn’t sit…couldn’t wait—not without knowing…not with Shadow being out there.
I yanked the handle and shoved open the door.
“Oleander…wait,” Sixth growled, shuddering open his door after me.
Something was wrong.
I could feel it.
I took a step, and then another. I’d lived my entire life on my own, surviving on my instincts alone.
Instincts that were now roaring like this bitter wind in my ears.
“Oleander!” Sixth barked behind me.
But I was already running, slamming my heels into the hard pavement. My jacket whipped out behind me. A gust of wind caught me as I turned out of the alley and lunged toward Harvey’s place.
Sixth was beside me in an instant, racing ahead with the rifle at his side. “Stay next to me!”
Shadow was a blur, cutting across the street in a midnight mist, and then materialized out of nowhere as he ran toward us.
My steps faltered, knees shuddered and shook.
“Stop.” Shadow lifted his hand. He grabbed me, lifting me from the ground with barely more than a grunt as I tried to rush past. “Listen to me, just stop!”
I kicked and thrashed, tearing at his hands as I stared at that darkened building.
“He’s gone, Oleander…are you listening to me? You do not want to go in there. Trust me.” He buried his face into my hair as the darkened building blurred with my tears. “Can you do that? Can you trust me?
Feeble fists beat against his hands. His arms were strong, corded muscles tensed as he lifted me, curling me around to his chest. “They didn’t just kill him, Ol…they didn’t just kill him.”
Tears slipped, carving warmth down my icy cheeks as somewhere in the city the faint sound of sirens slipped through the night.
“Did you call them?” Sixth growled.
Shadow shook his head. “They must have.”
“Then that means they’re close by.” Sixth lifted the rifle and scanned the streets. “We need to get back to the car. We need to go, Oleander.”
My heart crawled into my throat. I wanted to shake my head. I wanted to fight, and keep on fighting. Tears slipped from the edge of my jaw.
I wanted to be the beast they wanted so desperately to see.
“We can’t go, not without the information.” I shook my head.
“There was nothing there,” Shadow pleaded.
“No.” I turned to them. “You don’t know him like I did. You don’t know how his mind works.” I lifted my hand and pointed at the building. “If he found it, then it’s in there.”
Shadow glanced to Sixth, some kind of conversation passed without my input. “I’m going, whether you like it or not.”
The rifle snapped up, Sixth’s finger slipped around the guard like he’d been born to fight. And in a way he had…
We all had.
“We stay together,” he growled and stepped in front.
Shadow grabbed my hand, matching my stride as we made our way along the broken pavement once more. Sirens were growing louder. But I knew this city. Sound tore along Demand’s streets carried with the wind. We had time…we had to hurry, but we had time.
Cars braked hard as Sixth cut across the street in front of them. The growl of an engine closed in behind us. I glanced over my shoulder as Shadow tugged my hand and we followed.
Tex cut the car across traffic behind us to park against the curb as Sixth climbed the stairs of Harvey’s shop and slipped inside.
“You ready for this?” Shadow growled beside me.
I wasn’t…I never would be. Still I stepped up and then through the open glass door. I waited for that punch to the chest, for the splatter of blood against the walls. But there was nothing…nothing…no—
He lay on the floor, hands bound above his head. Four fingers sat next to his hands, raw and bloody, hacked off with something brutal. His eyes were sunken black holes…
It took me a second to understand why.
Acid shot into my mouth as I stumbled. “Easy now. I’ve got you.” Shadow caught me. I shook my head and forced myself to look.
“We have to hurry,” Sixth snarled. “Oleander…Oleander.”
Desperation snapped me out of it. I turned, around, searching…searching.
Where would he hide it? Where…
I stumbled toward his computer and jerked the mouse. There was nothing but a black screen.
“They took the tower.” Shadow bent and lifted the unattached cords. “Took it all. Bastards.”
There had to be something. Something he knew I’d find. Something especially for me…I yanked open the drawer to find a jumbled mess. Three chocolate bars sat on top, two were his favorite…I stared at the third, and the picture of peanuts on top.
He didn’t like peanuts.
Didn’t like any nuts at all.
But he knew I did. My pulse sped, making my fingers tremble as I gripped the bar. There was something hard inside, something not chocolate. The end flipped open, the package unsealed. I tore open the package and the USB slipped free.
Sirens were louder now, tearing through the night. The sound a revving engine outside lifted my gaze.
“We have to go,” Sixth growled and moved toward the doorway. “Oleander…we have to go now.”
I lunged around the counter. Sixth, held my arm, keeping me steady as Shadow swept in behind. Tex was already getting out of the car as Sixth issued the command. “Light it up.”
“No!” I screamed as flames smothered Tex’s hands.
I wrenched my gaze over my shoulder, unable to look away. But Sixth was there, holding me hard against him, dragging me toward the car. “It has to be done. Oleander. Are you hearing me? It has to be done…”
Flames leapt from Tex’s hands to the building. The inferno came to life, swallowing the corner of the small building before it raced along the roof and down the walls.
The place was engulfed in seconds as Sixth bundled me into the backseat and he slipped into the driver’s seat. Tex strode toward us, sliding through the open door and settling next to me.
Silence filled the car as we pulled out into the street and then raced into the night. I turned, finding the orange glow reaching into the darkness as we turned…and then turned again.
Chapter Seventeen
Sixth
She was quiet…too quiet. I handled the car, glancing into the rear-view mirror as we made our way out of the city.
Red and blue lights flashed as cop cars streaked past. Fire trucks would follow. It was only a matter of time before they found the body. “We’re gonna need a fresh ride.”
Shadow nodded and shot a glance toward the back seat. She stared out of the window, not looking at us…any of us.
“Oleander, I’m sorry,” Tex murmured. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
He’d said the words before. But she wasn’t listening—lost in her thoughts—lost in her hate.
Her hate for me?
My brother’s words floated to the surface…Looks like your fucked up eye didn’t show you that, did it? I gripped the wheel and turned the car one last time.
City lights slipped behind us. Out here there was only the night. Her pain was a fist down my throat. I swallowed and tried to focus on the road ahead.
“Over there.” Shadow pointed to a fenced off section of land. In the middle were rows and rows of cars.
I do
wnshifted and turned the wheel, pulling the car onto the shoulder of the road. “You got it?”
He was already shoving open the door before he answered, “Yeah, just be ready.”
I killed the engine as he disappeared into a cloud of black mist and was gone. The mist materialized on the other side of the fence and then it was gone again.
“We have to go, Oleander.” I glanced at her. Still, she stared into nothing.
And her silence breathed new life into the ache inside. Tex climbed out of the car and made for the trunk, leaving us alone. “It’s okay if you want to hate me. Right now it might not feel like it, but I’m trying to protect you. I’m trying to protect all of us.”
“I know.” She turned toward me then, eyes shimmering with tears. “Still doesn’t make the pain go away though, does it?”
I shook my head. “No, it doesn’t.”
She yanked the handle and climbed out of the car. I thought of my friends, men I’d risked my life to save. It’d been easy to cast them aside. I’d not thought about them once…not thought about the dirt and the dust—not thought if any of them were still alive or dead.
All I thought about was her.
Oleander consumed everything.
She was my inferno.
My flame, and there was no amount of flailing that could stop her from smothering every inch of my life. But she wasn’t me…she didn’t have this drive that us guys seemed to have.
Something else was driving her. Some innate power called her closer…I closed my eyes and delved through this connection we shared.
If I could just reach her, just get a taste of what made her tick…
Tick…tick…tick…
There was that sound again. One I’d heard before. I tried to get a handle on it, but the closer I came the more it slipped away. She was a countdown…or a bomb?
I wrenched open my eyes with the word. Outside, she moved, heaving the bags out of the boot to sit on the side of the road. Headlights shone as a car turned onto the highway and headed toward us.
The cold wind found me as I popped the hood of the car and grabbed the rifle from beside the passenger’s seat. The release came with a thunk. I climbed out and moved around to the front, lifting the hood and propping it open. Anyone driving past would think we had car trouble, some might even decide to try their skills, and with any luck the car would be gone from here in a matter of hours, driving who knows where.