A quick hand gesture from Snyder sent McLaren and the last member of their party, a wiry Somali, Sade (which wasn’t his real name, but he got screwed by the songstress’ song “Pearls,” hence the moniker) entered, stealth like shadows.
“It must be a hobo.”
Angel couldn’t reconcile the image of an American homeless person with the haughty Italians. He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
Narrowed eyes studied Angel. A yelp made them both put their weapons close to their faces, at the ready. Next, they heard the gurgled noise of someone trying to yell with blood spurting from their mouth. Two thuds followed fast.
Why did he think they would be able to destroy the gates without casualties? Just because the Brotherhood did everything in their power not to kill their adversaries didn’t mean the Juggernaut motherfuckers would do the same. Picos de Europa had been a fortunate episode, this surely wasn’t.
“I know you are there. Drop your guns and move where I can see you.” The thick accent was unidentifiable. There was no time to think where the woman had come from.
Still squatting by the door, Snyder pointed to himself and showed one finger, then to Angel with two fingers. Snyder would enter first, and Angel should follow. Angel growled and negated with his head, making a hold on motion; he threw his flashlight inside in a wide arch.
In a show of skeet shooting prowess, the woman hit it instantly, amid the darkness surrounding her. There was no point in going in. Angel had accomplished what he wanted, to see how many people would shoot the flying flashlight, and the angle of the projectile.
They needed a different plan now.
If Angel remembered the blueprint of the warehouse correctly, the woman must be hunkered down close to a window opposite to them. He rolled to reach Snyder. “You noticed her location?”
“Yeah,” Snyder patted his head, “you're fucking smart. I’m so used to going head on, that kind of maneuver always comes to me when I’m reviewing the action later.”
“I like the head on approach.” Angel nodded. “I just like to know where the fuckers are first.”
“I’m waiting,” the woman singsonged in her odd accent. “I have one of your boys here, if you don’t show yourself, I’m going to finish him.”
“How do you wanna do this?”
Pride colored Angel’s cheeks, he never expected Snyder to ask for his input. He said quickly, “One should go to that window, and the other distracts her from this side.”
“I’ll go. You use that smart head of yours to keep her busy.”
Before Snyder could move, Angel grabbed his arm. “I don’t think any of the guys made it.”
“I know. She wouldn’t risk it.” Snyder disappeared, becoming one with the night.
Angel rummaged in his backpack for the crystal balls similar to Molotov cocktails, the only difference was they ignited as soon as the glass was broken and the liquid inside entered in contact with the air’s oxygen (much fancier than the kerosene or fuel concoction).
Snyder must be already perched and eager to strike. Angel peeled two balls from their protective covers and slithered through the door. His eyes were long accustomed to the darkness, and he gained the perfect position in thirty seconds. He entrusted himself to the Goddess (something he’d been doing a lot lately, without thinking too much about it) and sent the first ball rolling toward a wall with enough force to break the glass upon contact.
The explosion was far bigger than he’d thought it’d be. The woman sprang up with a volley of bullets like a Jack in the box, and Angel pitched the other ball directly at her head.
She became a living torch instantly, still shooting and yelling.
Snyder broke the window and put her out of her misery. Angel would have let her broil a little more; she had both McLaren and Sade at her feet, their throats severed.
“I’ll take care of the bodies.” Snyder closed McLaren’s eyes.
“And I’ll get rid of the fucking gate.” Angel gathered all the backpacks and headed for the trap door.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
IL CORPO DI UNA SENZATETTO TROVATO DOPO UN INCENDIO IN UNA PROPRIETA' ABBANDONATA A PERUGIA.
“Kovak, look at this.”
“Seriously?” Kovak huffed behind Malachi. “How many times do I have to remind you that the only thing I know in Italian is capish and that might be a newyorkism?”
Ah, the Dutch always miffed about his inability to grasp the intricacies of the language of Dante. Malachi activated the browser’s translation mode. “Better?”
“Uh-huh. Do you think it’s Lila’s body?” He might not be proficient in many languages, but he was a fast reader.
“It’s the location of the gate, and Lila was guarding it after the destruction of the Cantabrian one. Doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me.”
“Not our problem anymore, boss.” Kovak sat on Malachi’s desk, crossing his arms over his huge chest. A long strand of hair covered his left eye.
“Unless Tau sends us to guard Malta.” It was a stretch of the imagination, but everything was possible with Juggernaut.
“She’s really pissed off, after all the persuasion we used for her to leave Angel alone. The only way she’ll send us is if she knew we were gonna get killed there. Which completely sounds like something she’d do.”
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
“It was the only way. Besides, I don’t care if she was sixteen when she wrote that letter. First rule of forbidden love: Never leave a paper trail. Faith lodged her in that boarding school as my cousin’s roommate—my only female cousin so I doted on her. Tough luck Tau always followed her like a needy puppy. What the countess did to the innocent girl she was, escapes me. She deserves everything Life has to throw at her.”
“You can be downright evil sometimes.”
“I’m a master scourger. That comes with the position.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Malachi rubbed a hand over his face, “I’m worried about him.”
In an odd display of emotion, Kovak scrunched his own face. “Why?”
“I feel like he’s involved in the destruction of the gates.” Any excuse to find a way to convince Kovak to let Malachi go to Angel.
From partner, Kovak had turned into watchdog thanks to fucking Tau. The son of a bitch had disabled all the monitoring devices aimed at his Angel. Malachi didn’t even have the comfort of knowing what was happening with the love of his life.
What a fucked up thing to discover when it was too late to do something about it.
“I don’t see how. He’d have to convince a bunch of tight-asses for approval and funding.”
“You forget the bombing of their headquarters. Sounds like a powerful incentive to me.”
“True. I don’t know what the fuck the big shots were thinking.”
“It’s a vicious cycle. I just wish they’d nuke each other and finish this gate-opening, embodiment-lust bullshit.”
“Those idiots have been at it since the Dark Ages. Not an easily resolved feud.”
“Well, apparently someone is doing something. No gates, no dispute.”
“We’re humans. There will always be some dispute.”
“Okay, you win. We are fucked.”
“There’s still one gate left.”
“Not for long, I hope.”
Kovak patted Malachi’s shoulder. “Come with me to the lab.”
“Whatever for?” The growl let out his need for an Ambien and dreamless sleep.
“You wanna know if Angel is involved or not.”
“Dear Goddess, yes.”
“Then move your smart kont before I change my mind.”
“I could kiss you right now.” Malachi jumped to his feet and circled Kovak’s waist.
A fast elbow connected Malachi in the middle of his stomach. “Get away from me, you crazy fucker. I’m doing this for the kid. I’d rather be sure he’s not in the middle.”
“Aww, you care.” Malachi disheveled Kovak’s hair.
“Would you stop?”
They entered their secret lab; Kovak swiftly punched commands on a keyboard and a world map appeared in the huge screen.
“What is this map for?” Malachi had never seen this kind of map on Kovak’s computer.
“It’s a satellite DNA tracker, showing the location of every single LE.”
“We’re not supposed to have access to such information.”
“You aren’t. I have my ways.”
“Which one is Angel?”
“The prettiest one,” Kovak chuckled.
“So funny,” came out like a growl from Malachi. “These are mere green dots with alphanumeric combinations I don’t understand floating over them. How am I to find the prettiest? Sometimes you can be really obnoxious, you are aware of that, right?”
“Ha! Just because I like the boy doesn’t mean I’ve stopped enjoying riling you up.”
Well, if the price to see Angel again was letting Kovak have his fun, he was willing to pay that and more. His irritation subsided with that realization, but he kept a narrow gaze, to not deflate Kovak’s silly enjoyment. Malachi even rumbled under his breath the word, “Fucker.”
This seemed to elevate the blond Dutch’s spirits even more. He tapped a dot on the northern extreme of the island of Great Britain. “Right there.”
“What the fuck is Angel doing in Scotland?”
“I don’t know, but I have a hunch.” Kovak punched more commands and the dots started moving in what seemed a backward fashion. “I’m retracing the movements of all LE’s, lamentably I can't do this individually and it shows only every 12 hours, but If you notice here and…” He tapped on one key. “…the date, Angel was in the vicinity of the Perugia gate when it was destroyed.”
“Shit. You think he’s involved?”
“He’s certainly not doing it alone. The Brotherhood has to be behind it.”
“Check the Cantabrian gate.” That had happened two months ago so the process was a little longer. “This is not an actual Juggernaut program, you hacked into the system.”
“Uh-huh.” Kovak sounded proud. “It has to be slow so they think it’s a glitch, if they even notice it at all.”
“Sweet Mother,” Malachi sighed and ran a hand over his face when he saw Angel’s dot right in the middle of Picos de Europa National Park, hours before the collision of an airplane turned into rubble the cave where the gate had been located.
“The Brotherhood even staged a 5.0 earthquake to cover their tracks.”
“How do you know it was a fake?”
“No volcanoes in that area, active or otherwise. I really don’t know what they were thinking.”
“Maybe the crash was the distraction and not how they ended the gate.”
“Huh, that thought never crossed my mind.”
Malachi straightened up and moved away from the desk. “Thank you, Kovak.” He patted the man’s shoulder. “I’m going to the observatory.”
Kovak arched an eyebrow. “Not planning a surprise visit to Scotland?”
“What’d be the purpose of that? I don’t know who he is with. I can’t just puff out of thin air and ask for forgiveness.”
“You sure about that?” Kovak narrowed his eyes this time and crossed his arms over his impressive chest.
“I’m desperate, not stupid.” Malachi walked toward the door. He stopped and turned to face Kovak, “Let’s keep an eye on Malta. If they are finishing all the gates, that would be the next target.”
“And you’re going to be there to stop him.”
“I don’t care about the gates. I just want Angel to be safe.”
And now more than ever, Angel’s safety was the only thing that mattered in the world to Malachi.
“Are you serious?”
“Absolutely positive.”
“But now you’re an intrinsic part of the operation, you can’t just pass. It’s not a fucking game, Angel.”
“With all due respect, Snyder, I don’t give a flying fuck. I know this jeopardizes my inclusion into the mercenaries for good, but I can’t go near Malta. I’m not ready yet.”
“What were you thinking? That we weren’t going to destroy that one?” Snyder emitted a low growl, and his face was a mask of bitterness. “Don’t you want some closure?”
“I don’t have answers for any of those questions right now. I just know that I’m gonna be dead weight if I go there.”
“So what are you going to do? Go back to Septima Luna and go-go your way out of your misery?”
“It’s a start.” Angel’s voice came out so small, he didn’t recognize it as his own.
“Don’t be stupid, kid. You have a future with us. You’re a natural.”
“I know, and lately, such knowledge is weighing heavily on me. I have a reason for this, but what about later? I have only killed one person so far. Then what, just for the money?”
“I can’t promise you there won’t be dead bodies in our wake. But it is not always about killing.”
“And yet it’s always a looming possibility. I don’t think Antinous would do something like this.”
“Listen. There is a reason why none of us remember our past lives.” Snyder put his hands on Angel’s shoulders and squeezed lightly. “It’s a brand new canvas, unstained by your previous actions or knowledge. You’re not Antinous. And you know what? Antinous wasn’t either the person he was before he was born, so what’s your point?”
“I need some kind of north to figure out my life.”
“Then focus on the goodness and strength of your heart. You can succeed in whatever you choose to be successful, as a mercenary, an archeologist, as a damn hooker, if that’s what you want. No life is free of obstacles. The point is to learn to accept and surpass them and keep going, hoping for the best. How’d you know the good times, if you didn’t have the bad ones?”
“That’s all nice and positive, but what if your life is one pile of shit after another?”
“Whatever happened before, you’re here, moderately sane, healthy, and raring to go and be someone. Doesn’t that mean it wasn’t all bad, all the time? You’ve survived so much shit, and this is what’s going to break you?”
“How do you do it?”
Snyder gave him a puzzled look. “What?”
“I know you’re in love with Hugo. I see how your eyes shine, and your face brightens when anyone mentions him.”
His mercenary commander sighed and patted his cheek. “You soldier on, Angel. No pain last forever. But contrary to what Hugo told you, you don’t surround your pain with hatred and turn it into something ugly. You own it and you master it until it stops being a dull ache and becomes a bright reminder that you’re alive, and that’s why you feel it. You sport it like an award. A ‘hell yeah, I fucking loved’ badge of honor, you hear me?”
“I’ll try.”
With a curt nod that made sunny strands fall over his tanned brow, Snyder murmured before turning around and leaving the room. “You do that, kid. You do that.”
An hour later, Angel felt like a king of old, holding court as more than twenty mercenaries (including some of the Amazons) came to try to dissuade him from leaving the corps. The group in charge of the Malta operation also came and, as much as they were unhappy with him for not going with them, they didn’t want him to stop being a part of their forces.
But Angel was resolute. Malta (especially Mnajdra) would bring too many things he didn’t know how to face, and becoming a full-time mercenary was not his destiny. He wasn’t sure what his actual destiny was anymore, but this was not his way. He could go back to school and finish what he started before the darn astronomer wrecked his life. He would never be the same, but this didn’t mean he couldn’t be something. As Snyder had said, it was his choice, Cue-Ball around or not.
“It’s done.” Hugo found Angel watching a program about the discovery of a mermaid corpse with the ugliest CG animation he had never seen. And it was supposed to be a scientific channel.
“
Any casualties?”
“A man from a group who sneaked up that night to make some kind of ritual in the complex. The other three are in the hospital, but stable.”
“I guess we don’t have to worry about Juggernaut anymore.”
“Actually.” Hugo rubbed the back of his neck. “There was a shoot-out with the Juggernaut people. Those men were harmed in the cross fire.”
“So you think they gonna pull another Prince Albert in retaliation?”
“The feud should be over, since there are no more gates, but who knows.”
Angel sighed, turning the TV off and standing up. “Let’s hope for the best, then.” Then his face turned into that silly question mark he usually wore when he wanted to ask something but didn’t know how.
“What?” Hugo used a smile to soften the roughness of his voice.
“What happened with Snyder?”
“I started questioning my strength and my resolution.”
“I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”
“It is when you’ve sworn against Love.”
“I see.”
This had been the worst end of the year holidays since they lived together. Hugo fervently hoped that spring classes could take Angel’s mind to a better place and keep him away from Hugo’s amorous business. “Are you coming with me, or you’re going to wait for Jack?”
“I’m going with Jack for a coffee first.”
An unexpected alliance had bloomed between Angel and his Septima Luna archenemy, Jack Fermigo, leaving almost everybody gaping and rubbing their eyes in disbelief. Everyone except Chico, the cunning SOB had seen it coming and had kept it from Hugo. Both kids went to the movies together, worked out in the same gym and spent so much time in each other’s business that if Hugo didn’t know better, he would suspect a romantic relationship. However, their hearts belonged to other people, and they were simply finding comfort in their youth.
Before Hugo could say good-bye, Angel’s cellphone rang. His friend looked at the screen with a strange face. “Hello?”
Hugo couldn’t hear what the other person was saying.
“Of course. Whatever you need, Talh,” Angel said the last word with an arched eyebrow aimed at Hugo. “I’ll be ready in thirty minutes. Okay. Bye.”
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