03 Saints

by Lynnie Purcell

“You never have trouble fitting in, do you?” I teased as he sat next to me.

  “You’re the only person I know who gives me a hard time,” he said.

  “That’s because your head would swell to the size of New Mexico if I didn’t,” I said.

  “True.” He grinned and looked at the Watchers he had rescued. “I’ve never saved ten at once before. I mean, I’ve save quite a few over the years, but never so many at once.”

  “I suppose Reaper’s contacts help with that,” I said.

  “He’s certainly got quite a few,” Daniel said. He leaned back in his chair, his boyish smile irrepressible. “It feels good to do good again…for the right reasons.”

  “I’m glad,” I said a bit tartly.

  He had the luxury to do good for the right reasons. I had nothing beyond a night full of worry and startling revelations. He was too wrapped up in his happiness to notice my irritation.

  He leaned forward again, closing the distance between us. The electricity he always generated buzzed around us at his closeness. I felt my heart beat faster, despite my irritation. His eyes caught the light from above and changed it into a mischievous sparkle I knew too well.

  “I keep thinking about earlier,” he said, lacing his fingers through mine.

  I put on a confused expression, though it was hard to mask my attraction. “What happened earlier?”

  He looked at my lips, his boyish grin changing into a seductive half smile I couldn’t help but be affected by. My heart was thumping so hard it was making my ears ring. He heard my heart, and his eyes started to dance with a warm fire. We shared a long moment where our thoughts were as transparent as glass – we didn’t need touch to know what the other was thinking.

  I blinked to clear my mind of the visuals, figuring a crowded common area wasn’t the best place to act them out, and focused on the people Daniel had saved. They had taken to hiding in the corner of the room, clumped together as far from the crowd as possible. I wondered if I had shown that much terror on my face when I had been rescued. I imaged it was worse.

  As I saw them and their terror, which was impossible to look at and not feel moved, I realized I couldn’t keep what I was feeling from Daniel any longer.

  “We need to talk,” I said to him.

  His half smile was cocky. He thought I was still lost in my attraction for him.

  “Oh, yeah?” he asked.

  I controlled my emotions, particularly my attraction, and focused on my irritation. I clasped my hands in front of me, so he couldn’t take my hand and persuade me to get distracted again.

  “I know you asked Reaper to lock me down tighter than Sing-Sing, but I’ve had enough of prisons. I want to be out there with you. I want to what you’re doing. My shoulder is healed enough, to where I can hold my own. There’s no reason I can’t join you.”

  “I don’t…” he started to say.

  I cut his reply short. “It’s dangerous, risky, yada-freakin’-yada! Will you get it through your thick skull that I know it’s dangerous?! I accept the risk!” Heat filled my face as my emotions overrode my words. “I have to help people, Daniel! It’s important. Your reason for helping them isn’t any less valid than my reason for helping them, only you get to be all high and mighty about it, because you’re Superman and know everything!”

  “I see things are back to being normal between you and Ms. Stubborn,” Jackson said calmly to Daniel, sitting down in a chair opposite us.

  Daniel grimaced. “Almost,” he said. “I’ve yet to give in to her demands.”

  “Will you hurry up?” Jackson asked with his normal, amused smile in place. “I need someone to go four-wheeling with me, and you’re wasting time pretending like you’re not going to give her what she wants.”

  “Patience is a virtue,” Daniel said.

  “It’s a virtue I don’t have time for,” Jackson said.

  Daniel refocused on me. “I was going to say that I don’t think I could keep you from doing what you think is best. A lot has changed. We’ve both grown. Denying that is impossible. Besides, I missed you tonight.”

  “Awwwwwww,” Jackson teased us. “Now, are you through?”

  I ignored Jackson and smiled at Daniel. The fear that we had traveled so far only to come back to square one had been worrying me all night. “Can I come tomorrow, if there’s a mission?”

  “I have a condition,” Daniel said.

  “Just one?” I asked dryly.

  “No. You start taking daily training practices with Jackson. He said he was teaching you to fence…if you’re going to go out with me, you’re going to be the best fighter in the entire school…besides me.”

  “And me,” Jackson added.

  “Besides Jackson,” I agreed.

  “Will you agree?” Daniel asked.

  “Yeah, why not?” I said. “Any other demands?”

  “No.”

  “Liar,” I said.

  Jackson rolled his eyes at us. “Now, can we go?”

  “You whine too much,” I said to Jackson.

  “It’s part of my charm.”

  “No, it’s not,” I said.

  Four-wheeling was a lot of fun. After we had finished tearing up the mountains and racing each other in circles, Daniel and I went back to my room. The dawn was breaking – though I wasn’t aware of it – when I heard Reaper and Jackson in the hall. Daniel I went to the door when we heard them talking in low tones. I was bit worried by what I saw. Alex was in Reaper’s arms. Her mouth was hanging open, and her body was limp. She looked unconscious…or worse.

  “What did you do to her?!” I demanded.

  “I didn’t do anything!” Reaper said. “She fell asleep downstairs. I thought a bed would be better to sleep on, instead of having her face melt on to my laptop.”

  Jackson held Alex’s door for Reaper, and Reaper set Alex on her bed. He carefully pulled her blankets around her and met us back in the hall.

  “She worked all night?” I asked.

  “I didn’t realize…” Reaper started to say.

  “That she sleeps, or that she’s so dedicated?” I asked.

  “Both,” Reaper said.

  “Hey, boss. Hey, other people,” King said joining our group.

  Reaper nodded. “King. Everything go okay last night?”

  King was confident. “Easy as lovin.” King playfully knocked me on the arm. “I came for my exercise buddy. You up for some working out?”

  Daniel was watching him with cool eyes; eyes that weren’t happy with what they saw. He was obviously interpreting King’s playful tap a lot differently than how it was meant. His coolness didn’t transfer into his tone. He was polite, tightly controlled.

  “I think Reaper, Jackson and I have some planning to do for this Sevier thing. Margaret is going to be back any minute from her surveillance of Sevier’s place, so…” Daniel said.

  “Oh, I can help with planning…” I started to suggest.

  “No, you promised you would train. I’m taking Jackson, so you need a, uh, substitute,” Daniel said.

  He was being weird, but I knew I wanted to work out more than I wanted to plan a meeting with a creepy information broker. As long as I was in on the actual meeting, I didn’t care about the details. Besides, my exercise time with King was a lot of fun. He was an interesting character. I shrugged at Daniel and his oddness.

  “Okay,” I said.

  “That’s the spirit!” King said.

  “Just let me change clothes,” I added.

  “Met you there,” King said.

  “What?” I asked Daniel, who was staring at me as if he had never seen me before.

  “What?” he asked back, his expression innocent. It was the expression he used when he was trying to hide something from me. It was an expression I hated.

  “I’m going to go change,” I grumbled.

  I heard Reaper start talking as the trio walked away from my room. He was talking about security and planning, but all I heard was Daniel’s silence
as he walked with them. The silence was more telling than a thousand words.

  The only problem with my normal sanctuary was that Quinn was there as well. I wasn’t sure if he had come looking for me, or if he had always used the mornings to work out, but I noticed him the moment I stepped into the room. He was in the back corner hitting a heavy bag as his two flunkies worked out around him. He glared at me when he saw me. I glared right back, daring him to say anything to me.

  King was in the center of the room, at the mats. It was obvious from his location that he was looking to spar, instead of lift weights.

  “What do you say?” he asked me, making a fake jab at my head.

  “You’re on,” I agreed.

  We sparred for twenty minutes. King managed to knock me to the floor twice. I managed to hit him a lot more than twice, and I put him on the ground quite a few times with a throw he could never quite circumvent. I had to be careful, though, careful to not hit too hard and hurt myself against the simple strength of his body. It was irritating I had to limit myself, and that I had to bow down to the fear of hitting too hard and breaking a wrist or a foot.

  My carefulness wasn’t lost on Quinn. He started making comments from his place near the bags; comments which suggested humans were weak and pathetic, that I was weak and pathetic. I finally got tired of it.

  “Do you want to fight?!” I yelled over at him. The anger made my body tremble. I was definitely getting mad enough to find the strength I always found when angry.

  “I don’t fight humans,” Quinn said lazily, a smug smile on his lips. “It’s too easy.”

  “Make an exception,” I told him. “Come on!”

  “She doesn’t mean it, Quinn. She’s just mad,” King said.

  “To hell with that!” I said.

  King started ushering me toward the exit, being careful not to touch me, aware perhaps unconsciously that something had changed with my anger. I was ready to tear Quinn limb from pretentious limb.

  “Human!” Quinn yelled, as we headed toward the exit.

  “Knock it off, man!” King yelled back, annoyed.

  Quinn smirked and went back to hitting the bag. King pushed me out in to the hall.

  “What are you thinking, buddy? Want to get dead?” King asked me.

  “He’s an ass!” I said.

  “He is, but he is also a very capable, very deadly, very smart ass, who has been in more fights and has killed more people than you’ve probably even met in your lifetime. Picking a fight with him is about the stupidest thing you could do,” King pointed out.

  “No one accused me of brilliance,” I said, cracking my knuckles.

  “I’m shocked…really,” King said. “I know he picked on your friends, but…” He sighed. “We need to stay focused on the big picture. Fighting amongst ourselves is just a bad idea.”

  “Okay, okay,” I said still fuming.

  River met us in the hall. She smiled at us, particularly King.

  “Hey, Riv. What’s happening?” King asked, casual despite my anger.

  “Reaper’s got another one for you. Top priority,” River told King.

  “That’s my cue,” King said with a smile. He pointed at me. “Don’t go picking anymore fights.”

  “No promises,” I said.

  King shook his head and walked away.

  “You’ve been picking fights?” River asked.

  “Long story,” I said.

  “I’ve got time,” she said.

  “Quinn…”

  “Ah. Ego-city. You shouldn’t worry about him,” River said.

  “I will worry about him, if he comes near my friends again,” I promised.

  She frowned. “What?”

  I told her what had happened. As I talked, I led her to the stairs. I wanted to put more distance between me and Quinn. If I didn’t, I wasn’t certain I could keep myself from picking a fight.

  “I’ll have a talk with him,” she promised when I stopped talking. “He won’t bother your friends again.”

  “Why does it matter if they’re not Watchers? I thought this is supposed to be a place where everyone is welcome?” I asked.

  “That’s Reaper’s policy. The truth is: we don’t have many humans who hang around long-term. They are usually gone within a day, never knowing our business, beyond the fact that we saved them. There is a…movement here that tends to think of humans like animals, lesser beings. They don’t think we should save humans, but should focus on saving Watchers. They think humans weigh us down.”

  “A movement led by Quinn?” I asked.

  She nodded but didn’t reply. “It’s quite a risk Reaper is taking, banking on you. Some cannot see his endgame.”

  “Maybe they should try looking,” I replied. “Instead of depending on prejudice to guide them…”

  Her half smile was full of agreement. “Just keep in mind that this situation could go beyond you. If Reaper has to step in for you, it might mean a fight between Quinn and Reaper. If Quinn wins, he gains control of the Saints. It’s Reaper’s rule: anyone who can beat him takes his place. Plus, Quinn has a following going, people who believe that his…methods are the way to get handle on this war we are fighting.”

  I sighed, having forgotten about Reaper’s rule. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Please do,” River said.

  “Clare…Oh, hey, River.” Alex had come out of her room holding a towel and a change of clothes. She looked sleepy – she had large bags under her eyes.

  “Hey,” River said.

  “I was wondering if you’d stand guard while I shower,” Alex said to me.

  “Are you afraid someone will attack you there?” River asked, still focused on the information I had shared about Quinn.

  “Um…no. I just, uh,” Alex searched for a way to put it delicately.

  “She’s not comfortable being naked in front of a bunch of people,” I said.

  “Oh…When you’ve seen it all, you’ve seen it all,” River said with a shrug. She waved and turned away. “Be careful, huh?” she threw back over her shoulder.

  “Yeah…”

  “What?” Alex said.

  I grabbed some clothes out of my room. “I’ll tell you on the way down,” I told her.

  As I repeated the story, all I could think about was the way it had felt when looking in to Quinn’s eyes. It was a bloodlust I had never felt, without being in the heat of battle or in the middle of a deadly situation. I wanted to hurt him.

  I wasn’t sure if the newly risen bloodlust was from my ever-emerging Watcher abilities, or if I simply hadn’t found someone so vile to hate before. However the bloodlust made me feel, I knew I would have to be cautious. I would have to be careful to not let my guard down…or let the bloodlust consume me. It was an easy pull, in a direction I wasn’t certain was healthy.

  Quinn was turning into more of an enemy than I had originally thought him to be.

  I figured him for the deadly kind.

  Chapter 13

  Jackson came looking for Alex and me just as we finished our showers. He met us in the locker rooms, where I had stood watch. His brown eyes were full of laughter.

  “Were you two showering together?” he asked.

  Alex sighed. “Really? And they call you a higher being?” she asked.

  “Can I help you with something?” I asked him pointedly.

  “We’re ready to go find Sevier. I was sent to see if you were still willing to go,” Jackson said.

  “We are so there,” Alex said.

  “We’re there like maple syrup on pancakes,” I agreed.

  “Mmmhhh. Pancakes…” Alex said.

  “Just keep in mind that your job is to look pretty and not say much. Reaper is going to do the negotiating,” Jackson warned.

  “Look pretty?” I demanded.

  “Yep,” Jackson said, mocking me with his smile.

  I sighed and shook my head, already knowing this meeting was going to be a pain. I was never good at ‘not saying mu
ch,’ or letting my looks speak louder than my mouth. If things went without a hitch, it would be through a miracle of the highest order.

  Jackson led us to the front of the building, where two cars were waiting on the dirt road. One of the cars was sleek and streamlined; its paint was a dark grey. The other was more bulky, athletic, but I liked it more. It was a classic, a true muscle car. Spider had noticed the cars from inside and had come down to drool over the sleek one. Daniel was next to him, smiling at the car, obviously happy. He held up a key when he saw me, proud he was the one who got to drive it.

  “Who gets to drive this one?” I asked pointing at the muscle car.

  “It’s mine,” Reaper said, opening the driver’s side door. “Sara and Shawn are busy today, but I always like to travel in style.”

  “Oh,” I said, disappointed.

  Reaper laughed. “Your girl has better taste than you do, Daniel. Appreciates history.”

  “I’ve had plenty of history,” Daniel said.

  “You want to drive it?” Reaper asked me.

  “Can I?” I asked eagerly.

  Daniel’s face turned sly. “You sure Clare can keep up?” he asked Reaper. “She is a girl…”

  “Oh, God,” Alex said in exasperation. “You’d better buckle your seatbelt,” she told Jackson, as he and Margaret crawled into the back of Daniel’s car.

  Jackson nodded, aware of the challenge Daniel had just made. I snatched the keys from Reaper’s hands. The look I gave Daniel warned him of the dangers of such a challenge. Alex and Reaper scrambled to get in my car, before I left without them.

  The sound of the car’s engine drowned out the sounds coming from the school. It roared like a hungry lion, eager for a fresh kill. Without hesitation, I punched the gas, headed for the exit. From the way it surged to life, I knew Reaper had made some modifications. Dirt flew up in Spider’s face as I took off. Daniel wasn’t far behind me. He was limited by the narrow, dirt road, but he closed in on my bumper, ready to pass me when he had the chance. Once we hit the interstate, the race was on.

  Grinning from ear to ear, my heart racing from excitement, I raced him, until we reached our destination. I finally stopped the car on the top of a mountain. Reaper’s directions had led us to a different rocky wilderness. The house on the mountain was gated – thick iron gates protected the driveway from intruders. The large house was a tribute to California grandiose and had numerous ugly statues and lights decorating the steep front lawn. Though the style was typical of the area, there was an undeniable garishness to it.