I spun around and grabbed him by the waist. He had started to fall but my motion allowed him to land over my shoulder. The only problem was he was now trapping one of my wings against my back. I growled as I felt the air near my head move with the pressure of another bullet running through it. I started to run away from the building. I could hear the guard’s coming behind me.
‘Hope!’
I heard the shout above me and then felt big arms wrap around Jason. I let him go, trusting Purple to take care of him. I felt a wet patch on my top and had to stop myself from panicking. I jumped and managed to get a good lift off, but then I felt a hand fold around my foot and pull me down.
‘Yes!’ I heard the guard shout. I kicked backwards as I flapped my wings. I caught him in the face and he let me go. I could hear the gunshots and footsteps but I didn’t dare look behind me. I managed to get high enough to be out of reach of the guards but the bullets still whistled past.
I headed back to the theatre, leaving the noise behind me. My heart was in my throat as I tried to stay focused on where I was going. I was just about to fly straight past the theatre when I caught a glimpse of Purple below me. He was in the side alley.
‘What’re you doing?’ I panted, landing next to him.
‘Trying to save your boyfriend,’ he said, leaning over Jason who was on the floor.
‘Why are you out here?’ I rushed over to them and looked down at my soul mate. His face was drained of colour and his eyes were closed. His hoody was covered in blood. He even had some in his hair.
‘Because I’m not sure Artie would be pleased to have a Perfect in his theatre,’ Purple growled, taking his shirt off. His muscles were highlighted by the sun as he ripped his t-shirt. I crouched next to Jason and moved his hair back from his face. I couldn’t see where the wound was. My hands were shaking so much that I didn’t even attempt to stop Purple when he pushed me away.
‘Bring him inside,’ came a voice from behind us.
We spun to see Artie standing at the end of the alley.
‘Quick before someone sees you,’ he called, gesturing.
Purple picked up Jason and we followed our new saviour into the theatre. Jason was laid down onto the stage and Artie took over his care.
‘I can’t let this one die,’ Artie muttered as he bound the wound on Jason’s thigh.
‘Why not…?’ Purple said.
I punched him on the arm before turning back to Artie.
‘Because he’s my nephew,’ Artie said.
Episode Three
Chapter One
His lips were pale and his skin was white. He’d already been unconscious for a few hours and I wanted him to wake up.
‘Come on, Jason,’ Artie murmured.
I watched the movement of his eyeballs under their lids. He was trying. Really trying. Slowly they parted and his blue gaze landed on mine. A small smile tugged the corners of his lips before they scrunched up in a grimace.
‘Don’t move,’ Artie said, holding his arm down.
The bullet had gone into his leg and just missed the artery vein. Artie had done some quick work, digging out the bullet and sewing him up. There’d been blood everywhere. Purple had been sent out for supplies and a doctor. The most intelligent Avoidables went to a private school. We still needed professionals.
‘I’m worried about the Doctor,’ I whispered to Artie as Jason took my hand.
‘It’s okay, Hope,’ Jason muttered.
I leant down and kissed his forehead.
‘We don’t have a choice. I need him to make sure the stitches are okay.’ Artie said.
The secret knock sounded on the theatre door and Artie went to let them in.
‘Hope, I’m sorry…’ Jason started.
I put a finger over his lips and looked into his eyes. I smiled slowly and he did the same. We didn’t need any words. The life that reflected back at me was all that I needed.
‘I’m not sure I can be an angel,’ I said.
‘He’s through here,’ I heard Artie say as he came into the small room. We’d moved the patient as soon as the surgery was done. Jason squeezed my hand and didn’t take his gaze away from me. I knew that we had to talk about this. The truth was, I didn’t feel capable of embracing my dark side and trying to protect Jason too.
‘Hello,’ the doctor greeted us politely.
I tried not to look shocked as a tall elderly man with ridges over his hands came forward and stood in front of us. He was wearing a smart suit and had short grey hair and glasses on the end of his nose. He also had bright purple eyes…
I looked up as Purple walked through the door. His jaw was tight and I could feel the tension vibrate from him. Purple rarely spoke about his father. He’s always said that he’d rejected him at a young age and as such, Purple had found his own way.
‘Okay, let’s get going, I need to…’ he paused when he looked at Jason’s face. His gaze travelled down his perfect bare chest. A sheet covered the lower half of him, but his flawless legs were showing too.
‘He’s a Perfect?’ he whispered, turning to Artie.
‘No questions, remember Pa?’ Purple growled.
The doctor looked at his son and growled back. His teeth actually bared and I could see the flame in his eyes.
‘Doctor, please can you check the stitches? I’ve done them a few times when I went travelling but I want to make sure they’re good enough.’ Artie lifted the sheet and I looked away. Even though Jason and I were lovers, it felt wrong looking at him in this way. My gaze clashed with Purples and he gestured with his head to follow him.
‘I’ll let you get on,’ I said, squeezing Jason’s hand and then leaving to join Purple on the stage outside.
‘You never said your father was a doctor,’ I accused, folding my arms over my chest and leaning back against the wall.
‘No, I didn’t.’ He didn’t explain anymore. Purple had always kept quiet about his life before knowing me. We’d become close friends as we worked together for Artie. It had been a while since Artie had given us any work and so we’d had to rely on each other for food and protection.
‘Want to talk about it?’
‘No, I don’t.’
Now he was just being a man. They always went into their caves and didn’t speak. I was dreading the time when Jason and I would have our first man cave experience. I handled confrontation better than silence.
‘He wanted me to become a doctor, but I wanted to be a warrior.’
I burst out laughing. I couldn’t help it. He jumped off the stage and started to walk away.
‘No, wait! I’m sorry, Purple, but warrior sounds so…’ Nope, I couldn’t stop. I was giggling into my hand when he stormed out of the theatre and onto the street outside.
I sat on the edge of the stage as my laughter died down. I knew he would be mad at me for a bit but hopefully he would calm down soon. I suppose we were warriors really. We were constantly fighting. But in essence, all we’d been trying to do was to break down the barriers between our two races. Everyone deserved to be acknowledged as equal. We were all the same. Just because some of us had defects, didn’t mean we didn’t feel the same. I looked at the space my arm should have been. I was getting fed up with the unpredictable limb.
‘He’s fine. The doctor is just cleaning him up and giving him a complete check over,’ Artie said, coming out of the shadows.
‘That’s great,’ I replied, standing up.
‘You can control it you know,’ he said, gesturing to the empty space to the left of me.
‘Artie, you said Jason was your nephew?’
I’d been wondering about what he’d said when we’d brought Jason back after being shot. He smiled softly before a hint of pain flashed across his eyes.
‘You don’t want to know how to control your arm and wings?’
I shook my head and then realised what he’d said. I hadn’t been listening to him.
‘You know how?’
He nodded and ran his
hand through his hair.
‘Your dad was the same.’
I felt my mouth drop open. My father had only had one arm too?
‘They lived with both the Perfects and the Avoidables. When they were on either side, they had to take on the characteristics of that race. Your dad befriended me just after the accident. Your mum was a Perfect, like me. Do you remember her?’
I was watching him closely. My father, an angel, had been an Avoidable? I tried to picture my mother, but her face was blurry. I’d not even thought about what it had been like for her when she was a Perfect.
‘I remember bits of her but…’ I didn’t want to let him know that I’d blocked out the last few months of being with her. It was too painful and I couldn’t bear the memory.
A bang knocked the front of the theatre and we both jumped up. Purple came running in and stopped when he saw us.
‘Hope, Artie, a source just told me that the Perfects have requested a meeting with the enforcer of the Lower Side. They’ve also called a halt to the search for us. They want to talk to all of us about getting someone on the jury for Sandor’s trial.’
‘Do you think we can trust them?’ I asked.
He shrugged and we looked over at Artie.
‘What choice do we have? This is a chance that we’d never thought we’d get. What’s going on over there?’ Artie said.
Purple looked at me with raised eyebrows but I shook my head quickly. I still didn’t know Artie well enough to trust him. He seemed to want to help make the world a better place, but his experience with angels didn’t sound like it went all that well. I wasn’t sure how he would handle the knowledge that they were working with the Perfects to try and change them.
‘You kids are still so young. I can’t believe they’re going to drag you into this.’
He wasn’t being condescending. He didn’t know that we knew about the angels. I frowned as I thought this. Thinking about it, I didn’t know that much. Jason was the one who had talked to them and was planning the action steps on integrating the two races. Maybe I needed to have a meeting with the angels and get more involved. After all, I was meant to be the one doing some work this side of the river.
‘I think we need to go see them,’ Purple said, turning to leave.
‘Wait, I want to say goodbye,’ I called, turning the other way.
‘Hope, why do you have to be so…’ Purple stopped when Artie chuckled. I had become a bit soppy since Jason had come into my life but that was only because I finally had someone to love.
‘Fine, hurry up,’ he growled, slumping in an old theatre seat. Artie walked over to join him and I ran backstage to Jason.
Chapter Two
Approaching the guards was daunting. The bridge was full of them. We’d managed to get a message to them that we wanted to meet with the Perfect government.
‘Do you have any weapons?’ one guard called as we walked up to them. Did they think we were stupid?
‘No, we don’t,’ Artie replied, taking the lead role. And we didn’t, not on show anyway.
‘Come forward then,’ another said, gesturing with his gun. We had about thirty guns aimed at us. I had the urge to laugh. It all seemed a little unreal. Yesterday they were hunting us down but today we were willingly meeting with them. We stepped forward and main guard opened the door to a car. We all squeezed onto the back seat.
‘Are we seriously trusting them?’ I asked, elbowing Purple when he put his arm around me.
‘I’m just trying to get comfortable,’ he hissed, rubbing his side.
‘Stop it,’ Artie said tightly.
We froze and looked at him. He was sweating and was staring at one of the guards. The man was older and had similar eyes to both Artie and Jason.
‘Is that your brother?’ I asked, my gaze switching between the two of them. A guard shouted from outside and they all got into their vehicles. The man that looked like Artie climbed into the driver’s seat of our car.
‘Okay, let’s get you over to the compound.’
I kept my head forward but sneaked a glance at Artie. His face was clear and he’d managed to regain some composure.
‘So, how does it feel to have three dangerous Avoidables in your car?’ Purple asked. I glared at him, tempted to elbow him again. Artie chuckled and I became even more confused.
‘Nothing new to me, I deal with Avoidables every day. You’re not as dangerous as you make yourselves out to be. Although, you’re a big one.’ The man looked at Purple in his rear view mirror. We looked at each other and started to laugh. We hadn’t been expecting that. Artie kept his head turned towards the window. He was watching the buildings as we drove past. I wondered if he ever missed being on this side of the river.
‘How is he?’ The question caught us off guard and we fell silent. He was looking into the mirror directly at Artie.
‘He’s fine,’ Artie replied, not looking away from the window.
I was just about to open my mouth to introduce myself when Purple squeezed my shoulder stump. I looked over to him and he shook his head.
‘Thank you for looking after him. I have no idea why he was over there but when he gets back, I’ll…’
‘He won’t be back for a little while. I don’t know why either, but I’m sure he’ll explain when he’s well enough.’ Artie ignored me as I poked him on the thigh that rested against mine.
What was going on here?
I suddenly realised I knew nothing about Jason. I’d been so wrapped up in our new relationship and the sneaky visits that were never enough, that I didn’t even think about his life on the Upper Side, outside of the compound.
‘Catherine was going mad. So was Gina. I’ve told them both that he’s on government duty and that he’d be gone for a few days.’
Artie looked into the rear view mirror and nodded once when their eyes made contact. He then turned back to the window. His hand came across to my thigh and squeezed tight. I had to bite my tongue from asking the many questions that were running through my mind. Who were Catherine and Gina? Were they Jason’s mother and sister? Or was one of them something more? I looked at Purple. His lips were thin and he was watching me closely. Was I that predictable? I closed my eyes to stop the urge to do exactly what both Artie and Purple assumed I would do. My veins grew hot as I thought of Jason having someone over this side. I’d never even thought to ask him.
‘We’re here. Artie, I…’
‘Don’t,’ Artie said, cutting the man off. The look in his brother’s eyes sent a dart into my heart. He loved his brother and it was obviously killing him not being able to express that. Artie had managed to get a message to him about Jason being injured somehow. When we came to a stop, the door opened and we got out. Another guard escorted us into the side door of the main compound building.
‘This way,’ he gestured with his gun. We were in a hallway. The walls were bright white with pictures of famous Perfects on them. This surprised me in a government building.
‘These people are so shallow,’ Purple whispered. We walked side by side as Artie led us. I turned to see a guard following close behind. They were all very handsome. Before Jason, I would’ve flirted with them. An ache settled in my chest at the thought of Jason and his other life. I was only a tiny part of it and I was a secret. The driver hadn’t looked at me once. He probably reacted the same way his son had when he’d first seen me in the club. That seemed so far away now, but in reality it had only been a few months.
‘You will now meet with William Davies,’ the guard announced as he stopped in front of a door and opened it. He nodded for us to go through. We did as he said and entered a large dining room. A wooden table with about thirty chairs around it was in the middle. A chandelier hung from the ceiling and paintings of government officials hung on the walls. I’d never seen anything like it. I knew my mouth was hanging open. I’d read books and seen pictures of a few of the luxuries that the Perfects had. We’d all had them at one point. Before someone had decided that
people with defects, or what they classed as ugly, were below those who were physically gorgeous.
‘Welcome,’ said one of these gorgeous people. He was extremely tall, the same height as Purple but a lot slimmer and less broad. His suit fitted extremely well and he had dark hair with tiny bits of silver running through the side. His skin was light and he had blue eyes. All in all, he radiated power and I had to lick my lips when he came up to me and smiled. His smile was the best thing about him. The corners of his lips formed dimples as they rose into his cheeks. His white teeth were in perfect alignment. My cheeks heated as he took my good hand and kissed it. He didn’t even glance at my stump like most Perfects did. I could feel Purple stiffen next to me. Artie was chuckling again.
‘Artie,’ the man greeted, nodding with a smaller smile.
‘Will.’
I looked at Artie and saw that he knew this man.
Just how involved was Artie with the government?
Chapter Three
‘So you’re saying that the Perfect government are willing to offer Sandor two witnesses to testify for her?’ Purple growled.
We were sitting at the table opposite William. He kept smiling at me with a knowing look. Did he really think that I’d be attracted to him? Okay, for a moment I was looking but as soon as he’d started talking I’d gone off him pretty quickly. It wasn’t just about how you looked.
‘Yes,’ William said.
‘You want us to do it don’t you?’ I asked. I wasn’t sure what they were up to but my gut was telling me to refuse.
William nodded and winked at me. I raised my eyebrows as Purple stifled a laugh by coughing.
‘I’m not sure, William, why are you giving Sandor a trial? Usually you would just kill her and be done with it.’ Artie stood up and started to pace the room. Being in such a grand place was uncomfortable for us all.
‘Yes, we would but things are starting to change. You know that Artie. All your work hasn’t been for nothing.’
I looked between the pair of them. I was feeling more and more like I was in the dark about everything. Purple had a knowing look when our gaze met. He’d always been in charge of our missions. I’d even been clueless then.
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