03 Saints

by Lynnie Purcell

  “I won,” Daniel said as I stepped out of my car.

  “No, you didn’t,” I argued.

  “I was clearly here first,” Daniel disagreed.

  “That’s because you cheated,” I said.

  “So, you admit defeat?” he asked.

  “This is it?” Alex interrupted, pointing at the house.

  “Yep,” Reaper agreed. “How about we go drop in on my good friend Sevier?”

  “Sounds good to me,” Jackson said cracking his knuckles.

  “Try not to hit him, unless it’s necessary,” Reaper said. “He’s a useful contact.”

  “Yeah, yeah…” Jackson said, obviously not listening.

  Margaret pointed to the horizon, which was slowly darkening with rain clouds. “I’ve got rain coming in. Use it to your advantage, should things go wrong.”

  “Right,” Reaper agreed. He squared his shoulders, and arranged his expression, so that it was confident and dangerous, and went to the gate.

  Daniel told me in a look to ‘be careful’ and that he would be there in an instant should things go wrong. I smiled at him, and followed Reaper to the gate. Reaper spoke to the box near the gate for the briefest of moments and the gates swung open. As we walked up the steep drive, a pair of dogs ran up, barking and snarling.

  Alex reflexively grabbed Reaper by the arm, when she saw the dogs, and moved him in front of her. He was obviously startled by her touch, but found the movement funny. He had trouble hiding his smile around his forced demeanor of ‘dangerous.’ She peeked out from around his back, and he started laughing as she clutched his shirt.

  I had a different reaction. I recognized the dogs. I had encountered them in New Orleans, when I had robbed a man’s house for a decidedly dangerous Watcher named Serenity. The dogs and I had become instant friends. I bent down to pet them. The dogs recognized my scent and stopped growling. Their tails waging happily, they jumped up to lick my neck and face.

  “Hey,” I said rubbing both of the dogs on the chest.

  “Old friends?” Jackson asked with one eyebrow cocked.

  “Yeah…” I said.

  A flutter of worry went through my stomach as I realized what seeing them here meant. If this Sevier was the man I had robbed, was it possible I would be recognized? If he did recognize me, would that complicate things? I was certain he would hold a grudge about my theft. Anyone would.

  A man appeared on the porch as I stood again. He was large, with sunglasses covering his impassive face. He yelled unnecessarily for the dogs to heel then gestured us to enter the red front door. He shut out the dogs out with a sharp ‘click’ of the door. As soon as we were inside, five people with guns stepped forward.

  “We will shoot you if you try anything,” the man with sunglasses said. “There will be no second warning.”

  “Friendly,” Jackson said, his hand twitching slightly at the man’s words. I knew he wouldn’t need a gun to win the fight.

  “You ever get tired of threatening people?” Reaper asked, walking past the man without bothering to slow down.

  It was obvious he wasn’t intimidated; he had seen this show before. He headed straight for another room directly across from the front door, forcing the men with guns out of his way with a stride not even they dared stop.

  As I followed, I looked around the interior of the house in cautious curiosity. The inside of the house was as grandiose as the outside. I wrinkled my nose at the gold decorations and tacky wallpaper, wondering if the decorator had lost all sense of sight when planning the inside of the house.

  The man waiting for us, who had a girl on either side of him on the sofa, was as garish as his house. The crocodile boots and gold chains around his neck were just the beginning of his problems. His whole countenance screamed of oily decadence and over-the-top vanity. His black eyes screamed with his ability to kill without mercy. The girls at his side looked excited to be surrounded by such wealth and depravity. Their thoughts were loud and clear, a sign they were human. Reaper’s face remained carefully neutral as he looked at the man known as Sevier, though I sensed his distaste.

  “Reaper, old friend, it’s been a while,” Sevier said, sipping on a glass of wine.

  “It has,” Reaper said.

  “You’re looking well,” Sevier said.

  “And you haven’t changed,” Reaper said eyeing the girls and the room.

  The man laughed, revealing gold teeth where his canine teeth should have been. “No, no I haven’t.”

  He turned his black eyes to Alex. He sized her up, licking the red wine away from his thin lips. Then, he turned his lustful eyes to me. His smile had me clenching my fists.

  “Did you bring me gifts?” he asked.

  Reaper’s neutral expression flickered for a brief second at Sevier’s words. “We’ve actually come for information,” he said.

  “Information…information is expensive. It is the most expensive thing I sell. With a gun you can take down one man, but with information… you can take down an army,” Sevier said.

  “Money is not an issue,” Reaper said.

  Sevier stood and circled the group, looking Alex and me over carefully. “I would be willing to trade,” he said leering at us.

  Reaper pulled a stack of bills out of his pocket and held it up, not willing to deal. “Your usual cost. Two scientists taken by Marcus. Watchers.”

  “Hmmm,” Sevier looked at the money Reaper was offering. “I know of whom you speak. I have another trade in mind, however. A few months ago, one of my houses was broken into. Something was taken from me. Equations I had worked very hard to acquire for a client. I want them back.”

  “What makes you think I know where to find these equations?” Reaper asked. His eyes were full of confusion. This was obviously not the way he had thought the meeting would go.

  “Because the person who stole them from me is standing right next to you,” Sevier said, gesturing at me. “She was careful to avoid my video cameras on the grounds, but she forgot the video camera I keep in my safe.”

  “Is this true?” Reaper asked me quietly.

  “Is the house in New Orleans?” I asked Sevier to be sure.

  “Indeed,” he replied.

  “It’s true,” I told Reaper. “I would suggest you take the money, because there’s not a chance in hell you’re getting those papers back,” I added to Sevier.

  “Clare…” Reaper warned softly.

  “What? It’s true. And it’s not just because he’s creepy. Serenity has those papers. She’ll never give them up.”

  “Serenity?” Sevier asked thoughtfully.

  “Indeed,” I mocked him.

  He was not happy. He knew I was right; taking anything from Serenity was the same as suicide.

  “Hmm. Maybe we can come to another arrangement,” he said, his black eyes bright. “Ten minutes alone with her, and I’ll give you whatever information you want.”

  His leer was enough to make a seasoned killer feel twitchy. I had to settle for glaring.

  “No-” Reaper started to say, but I cut him off.

  “Okay,” I agreed.

  It occurred how he might underestimate me. He would think himself smarter and stronger. I would use that to get what I wanted from him. Sevier waved a hand of dismissal at the group, expecting them to obey. Nobody moved.

  “Its fine,” I told my friends.

  Jackson shook his head. “I’ve got my own skin to think about. Your boyfriend will kill me if I leave you alone.”

  “You want the truth or not?” I asked him. “Think about that.”

  He frowned. “Ten minutes,” Jackson said. “A second over and I’m coming in here.”

  “Please, shut the door when you go,” Sevier said dismissing his girls and the guys with guns.

  His people left as reluctantly as mine did. Sevier poured wine into two glasses then circled around me. He offered me one of the glasses. I took it from him and set it on the table, not interested in anything he had. He set his gl
ass down as well and stepped closer, invading my personal space.

  “Straight past the formalities,” he said in my ear. “I like it.”

  “Is this room a silver room?” I asked.

  “Yes…don’t worry, no one will hear us…” he said.

  He made the mistake of putting his greasy paws on my arm. I reacted, having hoped he would make such a mistake. I threw him to the ground, even as I pulled my knife out from my boot. I put a knee on his chest and the knife to his throat.

  “Two scientists,” I said in a deadly hiss. “Where are they?”

  Sevier stopped struggling at the feel of silver on his neck. He obviously knew what the knife could do. His eyes were startled I had gotten the better of him, but self-preservation had him speaking without hesitation.

  “All I’ve heard is rumors…rumors, mind you, that Marcus has been developing some weapon. He’s been getting scientists from all around the world to work on it. The pair of scientists you are after were a big find for him. He’s had them on tight security.”

  “At his place in New York?” I asked.

  Sevier laughed. “His place in New York is an illusion. Smoke and mirrors. It’s a pass-through place from one destination to the next. He doesn’t keep anything there beyond an occasional home.”

  “So, where are they?” I demanded.

  “I’ve heard a rumor, a rumor mind you, of a place in Alaska. It’s hidden in the mountains: The Alaskan Range to be exact. It’s where he takes the things he wants to keep hidden the most.” Sevier smirked. “It’s so heavily fortressed that I’m not worried about Marcus finding out how you discovered it. Hell, if you try to go there, I know you’ll get payback for this little stunt…It’ll mean your death.”

  “We’ll see. Is that all?” I asked pressing the knife a little harder into his throat.

  “That’s all, I swear!” he squeaked.

  “Thanks for taking the time to talk with me,” I said sweetly. “It means a lot.”

  I started to stand, but something on the floor caught my eye. My throw to the ground had caused the things in his pockets to fall out. I had ignored the objects in my search for answers, but I couldn’t ignore them anymore. Glittering from the lights of the room – looking sad and lonely on the ugly rug – was my necklace; it was the necklace Ellen had given me a long time ago. It was my father’s tear-shaped diamond. I had thought I had lost it forever. I grabbed it up, shocked to see it so unexpectedly, and held it out to him.

  “Where did you get this?” I demanded.

  He didn’t reply. His eyes were wild as he searched for an escape. I forced the knife to his throat again, demanding he answer. His lips stumbled over his words.

  “I bought it off a man in New Orleans. A strange guy…kept his cloak over his face the whole time.”

  That sounded like the man who had stolen from me. He had been shrouded in a cloak when he had torn it away from my neck. My hand tightened on the necklace at the memory. It brightened with the touch, the light escaping from around my fist. It was good to feel the light again. It had been far too long. Sevier’s eyes widened.

  “This is mine,” I told him.

  I stood and backed away from him carefully. I kept the knife raised to keep him away from me. His face was indignant and angry around the fear. I knew I had just made an enemy. I wasn’t sorry.

  The others were just outside the door, their faces worried and full of alert anticipation. When Reaper saw Sevier on the ground, a trickle of blood running down his neck, he shook his head. He smiled briefly at the sight, before hurrying us to the front door. The men with guns eyed us with cold, murderous intent. Jackson and Margaret followed us, their eyes fixed on Sevier’s bodyguards. As soon as we stepped outside the rain started, drenching us in seconds. Reaper’s hand was the only thing that kept me on course through the dark veil of rain.

  We slipped back through the gates, and met Daniel at the car. I looked back when we were off the property, and saw that Margaret’s rain only surrounded the mansion. Reaper hurried to the driver’s seat of his car without pause; Alex followed, close on his heels. Daniel eyed us, trying to understand the curious mixture of laughter and worry, and followed Alex into Reaper’s car, so he could talk to me. Margaret took the keys to the sleek car and was gone by the time I had managed to settle into my seat.

  “How’d it go?” Daniel asked.

  “Your girlfriend is an idiot,” Alex said. “A straight-up, flat-out, idiot.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Daniel asked.

  “She went into the room with Sevier…alone. His room is soundproofed, but I’m pretty sure they got into a fight. At least, he was on the floor, and she had her knife out when she opened the door,” Reaper added.

  “Oh,” Daniel said, eyeing me with a mixture of admiration and annoyance.

  I sensed words of chastisement looming.

  “He said the building in New York is an illusion. All of Marcus’ most important…‘finds’ are kept in a building in the Alaskan Mountain Range. He said it would be suicide to go there, and that sending me there was a death sentence. It was why he was so forthcoming, I think,” I told them, hoping to divert from an argument about my level of intelligence, or my penchant for trouble.

  “The risker the odds, the greater the reward,” Reaper said with a grin.

  “I’ll talk to Margaret and Jackson and see what they think,” Daniel said. He took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Thanks for getting him to talk.”

  “It was my pleasure,” I said.

  “There’s something else,” Alex said. “He’s the one we stole some plans for. It was in exchange for information about you and the nest, Daniel…We gave those plans to Serenity.”

  “Nothing we can do to get them back now,” Daniel said. “Serenity will have either destroyed them or given them to her boss, which is as good as impossible to get.”

  “One impossible thing at a time,” Reaper agreed.

  The ride home was quiet. I spent the time looking at my necklace, wondering at the odds of running into the one man who had bought it. Daniel watched me watching the necklace, but he didn’t say anything. The necklace had stopped glowing, but it remained warm in my hand, as if it were glad to see me again.

  By the time we got back to the school, Margaret had parked the car and was waiting in the front drive with Jackson. The school was a scene of peaceful perfection as we parked. The sun shone brilliantly on the brick of the school, reflecting back to us in hot rays of red and brown, while people lounged around the grounds. Everything was quiet and serene, a light breeze and the ocean were the loudest sounds against the more subtle sounds of people moving around. It was hard, as I looked around, to imagine the drama of last night. The only clue was the thin smoke trail reaching for the heavens; the last smoke of a dying fire.

  Daniel pulled Margaret and Jackson away from the group, to tell them what I had discovered. Reaper joined them and listened in silence as the others talked. I went inside to dry off, figuring they would let me know what they decided. Alex followed me inside. She went down to the kitchens to make lunch for the kids.

  After I toweled off, I went to find her. I knew that there were unsaid things between us, things I wanted to get to the bottom of. My reclamation of my necklace reminded me that New Orleans was still haunting us. There were still issues from what had happened that needed to be expressed. Besides, Alex wasn’t just a friend, she was my sister, and it was obvious something profound had happened when I wasn’t around. I needed to know what.

  She was surrounded by bowels and cooking utensils when I entered. I wasn’t sure what she was making, but it looked epic. I leaned against the center counter and dipped a finger into one of the bowels. She smiled when she saw me, but slapped the hand away from her food.

  “That’s gross,” she said. “You touched Sevier with those hands.”

  “I washed them,” I protested, sneaking another taste from the bowel.

  She rolled her eyes and went back to cooking.
She was silent for a moment, and I was able to see a tension I hadn’t noticed in her before. I realized she had been carrying the tension around with her since I had found her again.

  “You gonna tell me about it?” I asked finally.

  Her ice-blue eyes met mine. She glanced away and stared at an invisible bug on the floor. “Tell you what?”

  “What happened with Eli, and anything else that might be weighing you down,” I said.

  She sighed. “People change, Clare,” she said. “It happens.”

  “Not really,” I disagreed.

  “Yes they do…you’re proof. You’ve changed,” she pointed out.

  “We’re not talking about me,” I said.

  “You’re impossible,” she said.

  “It’s part of my charm,” I replied.

  “No,” she disagreed.

  “Seriously,” I said. “I know that people are entitled to their secrets, but if you don’t tell me what’s going on with you, I’ll think you don’t love me or trust me.”

  Alex made a face. “You’re bullying me.”

  “Did it work?”

  She sighed and rubbed at the space between her eyes. She looked tired suddenly, exhausted. It was the first time I saw how trying the months we had been away from each other were for her. It wasn’t just worry over my fate, it was worry over hers. She had a world of worry I couldn’t even begin to understand. Changing into the Nightstalker again…whatever happened with Eli…

  “Eli and I ‘joined,’” Alex blurted out.

  I felt my mouth drop. “What?”

  The secret I had thought she had been keeping from me had certainly not involved ‘joining.’ I thought she had fought him, or tried to kill him – something more reasonable.

  “Like Eli? Eli, Eli…the Eli that doesn’t talk and acts like emotions are criminals that should be hunted down and shot?”

  She blushed at my reaction. “You can see why I didn’t tell you,” she said pointedly.