Quinn reaches for me, but I pull back from both him and Blake. "I don't need help walking." I make sure Jacelynd sees the severity of my expression.
"I can't watch out for all of you and do what I need to do," Jace says apologetically. He might feel bad for having knocked me on my ass, but I don't really care.
"Then leave the boys here and you and I will go." I can't believe we're actually discussing this. Jacelynd already admitted to knowing next to nothing about the place.
Quinn paces nervously around us, while Blake holds his tongue. Jace doesn't seem in any hurry to respond. Finally, he pulls another set of keys from his pocket and hands them to Quinn. "There are two bikes parked in the driveway of an empty house a mile from here."
Quinn steps up. "We'll bring them back here, but I won't leave without Liv."
"Stay out of sight," Jace growls. "Both of you."
Quinn starts to apologize, but Jace silences him with a terse turn of hand. "You have nothing to apologize for."
I catch a slight glimpse of regret as Jace motions me on before it fades.
We're a good ways from where we left the boys when Jacelynd finally speaks to me. "It's your choice where you take from."
I assume he's talking about taking his blood. "What the hell was that back there?" I'm having issues getting my words out clearly and I can't be sure if it's the alcohol taking on a new effect or the Blood Tithe again. Either way, Jace doesn't overlook it.
"I'll make the decision for you." He lightly touches my cheek.
"You aren't going to answer me, are you?" I ask.
"You don't remember her, but if you did, you wouldn't be wasting your time on this while Liv is in trouble. I'm doing what you would have wanted."
I sigh. I mean, really, what kind of trump card is that anyway? Better than saying God told him so, he's saying that I told him so. "Fair enough," I say.
He closes the distance between us, wrapping his arm around my waist for support and starts to lift his wrist to his mouth.
I stop him by reaching for his neck.
A sympathetic smile flickers across his lips. "This isn't going to feel good. The alcohol in your system is going to react against the blood. You're going to have to fight through the pain."
I ignore what he says and even wonder for a moment what he's talking about, when it suddenly slams into me. I cry out and grab my stomach.
Jace holds me tighter. "Fight through it. You quit Icarus cold turkey and the wounds you bore after you rescued Blake weren't exactly scratches. You can do this." He guides my mouth back to the wound, which due to my hasty withdrawal has bled all over his jacket.
I try my best to not vocalize it, but it is the only way I can force myself to drink. Jace tries to comfort me, but he doesn't understand that I'm not upset, I'm furious. At everything. At Trinity for what he's done, at Jacelynd for how he's treating me and for tricking me into being more open with him than I was ready to be. A thought about my father, the ex-cop, runs through my mind and a story he'd told me once about deceiving a suspect into confessing. Then, the reality of this man's lack of relation to me reminds me how heartbroken I am over all of this. And instead of leaving me depressed, I pull away from Jacelynd when I'm done with a renewed sense of determination.
"Do you feel any better?" Jace asks. He unzips the jacket and tosses it in the woods.
"It's still a little hard to see straight, but nothing I can't compensate for."
"Still feel like you're on something?"
I hadn't told him the drunkenness felt that way. "Have I done this before?"
"More than once. Though, not when I was around. I heard about it from Liv after the fact."
We start to walk again. "Was I trying to hide it from you? That doesn't seem like me."
"No. You just didn't volunteer some things," he says simply.
We make our way in silence. Several times I think to ask him if we can pause to rest, but his comment about Liv has me feeling like a lousy friend. Finally, I see the driveway.
"Are there cameras out here?" Jace asks.
"Most people aren't stupid enough to come here unless they're invited. Besides, this place is supposed to look like your average 10,000 square foot home in wealthy suburbia. There is a manned gate just ahead of us. Needless to say, both of us can't get in through the front door."
Jace frowns. "Why would either of us try?"
"I'm going to the main gate with the solemn prayer that they won't contact Trinity for at least half an hour. That will give me enough time to get inside, let you in from the back entrance and find Liv and Damian."
"How are you planning on doing that when you don't have your ID on you?" He asks.
I pause before elaborating. "I won't need an ID here."
"I thought you said you didn't become a mentor?"
"I wasn't a mentor. But there are few Covenants chosen to assassinate their own."
Jace mulls this over before saying, "They know you because they fear you."
"As they should," I remark dryly. "The back entrance is the pool house. Watch out, there are guards everywhere."
Jace inhales. "I'll be fine. You worry about yourself. Focus on finding Liv and Damian. I'll get myself in."
I want to question him, but time is running low. "All right. Suit yourself." We look at each other uncomfortably before I finally kiss him on the cheek. I turn and take a couple steps, expecting him to grab my arm, but he doesn't. When I look back, he's gone.
They should question why I have walked to the gate, why I'm not in uniform and why I'm there. But I'm me and that means none of those questions apply.
"Covenant Slate," the guard says nervously, "Welcome. My apologies, I just started my shift. They didn't tell me you were coming. May I get … ?"
"This isn't a formal visit. In fact, you won't be getting an audit by me any time soon. Troy still head Covenant here?"
The guard nods and I notice that his name tag says Cov. Brundage. "Andreas Brundage?"
He nods respectfully. "Yes, ma'am."
"It's been a while since I've seen you." This kid was always nice to me. "Have you seen Trinity lately?"
Cov. Brundage notices my hands and I see the concern growing in his expression. "He was here yesterday. But, he went in through the back with … I'm sorry. I wasn't supposed to say anything to anyone about his having come here."
I nod—wise to choose his fear of me over his fear of Trinity. Trinity is too far away to kill him. I, on the other hand, am here in the flesh. Fair-weather loyalty, but it will suit my purposes for now.
"What was he doing here?"
"I'm not sure, ma'am."
His eyes moved when he spoke, which isn't always a clear indication that someone is lying, but it's close enough to make me uncomfortable. "Covenant Brundage, perhaps you've forgotten who you are speaking with. I'll give you a moment to recover your tongue. Assuming, of course, that you bear some interest in keeping it in its current placement. Now, would you like to try that answer again?"
"He brought a prisoner here and dropped off Iris' son."
Damian. And my son. "What is his name?"
"His name, ma'am?"
"The boy."
"Lucan. He's ni—"
"Nine. I know. Thank you. Now, since I can't trust you not to tell him I was here and it's inevitable that he'll find out eventually, we have a decision to make."
"A decision, ma'am?"
I nod, unsure of how to digest that my child—you know, the one I knew nothing about—is just beyond the doors ahead of me. "A decision whether you'll make it home to Thanksgiving dinner next year. I could kill you now to prevent you from calling Trinity as soon as I walk away from here, or I could leave you alive to give him a message when he gets here. If you'll give me half an hour's head start you can call Trinity and tell him the reason you didn't call him immediately is because I knocked you unconscious."
He grimaces. "I don't really have a choice in this, do I, ma'am?"
I laugh. "No.
You don't."
He heaves a great sigh and solemnly nods. "What do you wish for me to tell him?"
"That it isn't too late to do the right thing. And, Andreas, I'm sorry."
He seems taken aback. "For what, ma'am?"
"For knocking you out."
His lips pull into a question that won't make it off of his tongue before I give a good swift sidekick, kind of like the one I'd intended for Jace earlier, and leave him unconscious on the ground. I could go to the trouble of pulling him into the woods to conceal him, but why? The absence of someone manning the front gate is going to clue them in as it is. Besides, my instinct tells me I'm going to need my energy.
So I take his weapons, buzz myself through the gates and walk into Callmadus like I would have any other day, nonchalance on my face and arrogance in my steps. And I remain that way—urbane and collected, until a child meets me at the front door.
His hair is unruly, with the same auburn color as Jacelynd's. He even has his father's blue-green eyes. He's playing with an iPod and looks up at me like I'm detestable. This is most likely attributed to my being an adult, considering that this kid looks far more like a teenager than a nine-year-old boy.
"You look bored," I say stupidly, and shove my tattered hands into my pockets.
He grins, his mouth bearing crookedly to the left. "Your powers of perception are unbelievable. I guess you're here to share that secret with the rest of your fellow Covenant Assassins?"
I laugh because his snark tells me that this must be my child. And because his intelligence is a little startling. "You … um … you are nine, right?"
"All the way until I turn ten. That's generally how age works, one year at a time."
"Higher IQ than a human child," I muse. Could have something to do with how our bodies process time.
"It's that obvious, huh?" He returns his gaze to the screen in his hands. "If you're here for the seminar, you're early. It doesn't start until tomorrow."
I sit down on the front step and tilt my head toward him. "Do you see a badge on my uniform? In fact, do you see a uniform?"
"No, I thought you were totally naked until you pointed out the glaringly obvious. What does that have to do with my statement?"
"Is Trinity still here?"
Without looking up he shakes his head.
"And your mother?"
He smirks. "If that's what you want to call her. I have a few choice names, but few of them are really appropriate for use in front of a stranger. She isn't here, either. I don't know where she is and, miraculously, I don't care."
"Why do you hate your mother so much?"
"How much time do you have?"
A piece of the ice I've spent years cultivating breaks off and floats around in my chest until it finds a nice place near my lungs and freezes all the air out of them. I want so badly to tell him that both his mother and father—his real parents—are right here, now, for the first time in his life and plan on taking him away from what appears to be a rather shitty existence.
"Why aren't you wearing a uniform?" he asks.
"Because I'm Covenant Slate. I don't need to. Besides, I'm here to break someone out. A uniform would just get in my way."
He thinks I'm being snarky and grants me the pleasure of hearing him truly laugh. "You're Covenant Slate? I've heard of you. You're not exactly what I expected."
"Oh? And what are the rumors?"
He sets his iPod down and looks at me, his bright eyes teeming with excitement. "That you're so lethal you can kill just by thinking it. You're a legend. Trinity talks about you all the time."
Well, what he's saying is kind of true when you account for the weapons I used in Hades. "He does, does he? What were you expecting?" I can't help myself. "Don't say Angelina Jolie."
"No, I just thought you'd be … different. So, who are you here to break out?"
"The President. Have you seen anyone come through here the last few hours?" I ask.
"No, and I think I would have noticed the President."
"Pity. I could have used your help."
He picks up his iPod and starts to play with it again. "I did see a woman come through here."
Liv. "Oh?"
"Yeah. She didn't look so good."
"Was she hurt?"
"No, but she was really pissed."
I rise to my feet. "Wouldn't you be?"
He shrugs. "I guess. I don't know what I would do if I were off the dose. Those vamps aren't all there mentally. That's what everyone tells me, anyway."
"You don't believe everything you're told?" I ask mockingly.
He huffs, and places the ear buds back in his ears. "If I did, I would believe Trinity when he says I remind him of my mother."
I smile sadly and somehow gather the courage to tousle his hair. "Trinity is full of shit. Except when he says I'm awesome. You can bank on that." I wink at him.
I've never thought of myself as the motherly type—not at all. Yet here I am feeling all weepy. I have to leave him. I can't take him with me without it being against his will—we've already seen how well that worked out when I was kidnapped—and if I stay here much longer I risk getting myself brainwashed again and leaving Jacelynd to fend for himself. Though it seems like he can handle himself better than I would have guessed. I swallow my emotions and grip the handle of the door.
"He's like a father to me. More than my real dad. My real dad left my mom and me before I was born. Hey, you never asked my name."
I have to literally fight to keep the unshed tears in my eyes from rolling like a bad cliché down my cheeks. "I know your name, Lucan. You're kind of a legend, too. Maybe sometime I'll tell you all the rumors I've heard."
"They're all lies," he laughs. "Minors can't be charged as felons in Virginia. Not for grand larceny anyway. Maybe I'll see you around again?"
"You can count on it." I smile despite the sorrow, and with a freshly broken heart I walk into the entry room.
Broken
I spent more than two years here. I know every square inch of every room. I've had my ass kicked in more than one of them and then managed to exceed my professors and deal out equal payback when later tested. So it's no surprise that I know most of the faces that immediately greet me.
"Covenant Slate? Are you here for an audit or should I relate this visit with our newest residents?" A tall woman with long black hair steps up from the old oak desk that sits at the threshold of the main hall. Dalia.
"The girl who was just caught. Where is she?"
Dalia seems just as reluctant to tell me as Brundage was to reveal Trinity's most recent visit. And this song and dance is getting really, really old. I normally wouldn't be so incredibly violent—unless forced, of course—but with the weight of what I've just encountered tacked onto it, all I can do is laugh and pull out of one of the two pistols I have tucked into my belt and point it at her.
Dalia nearly trips as she backs up. So much for being discreet. "She's been taken to interrogation. For training purposes," she stutters.
This is just fantastic. "Pick that phone up and it'd better be to call Hell because that's where I'll send you. You read me?"
She nods nervously.
"Toss me your purse." She hesitates, eliciting a frightening scowl from me. "Now!" She finally does and I snatch her keys out and press them into her hands. "Listen to me carefully. Take Lucan away from here. You won't be allowed back into the city without your ID and major string pulling, so don't even try. Take him somewhere safe, and because I know you're going to want to stop and find a phone to call Trinity, let me save you the time. I will kill everyone in here if he hears so much as a whiff of my presence while I'm still here. And Dalia, I will know. Wait until at least," I look at the clock behind the desk, "nine."
She nods before bowing her way out of the front door. This will buy me a little time, but not nearly enough. The scrapes where I blew the cuffs off are as raw and bloody as they were hours ago. Though I was already well aware of this, it will draw
attention and that knowledge doesn't sit too well with me. It gnaws at my confidence as I grab Dalia's black leather gloves off of her desk and cover my wounds.
I tuck the gun back into my belt and vow to make it to interrogation without any further fanfare. The brief trip through what appears to be a normal home and into the basement opening of the real Callmadus, to my pleasure, goes without incident.
Liv still looks pissed and now, with blood from a cut to her lip spilling down her chin, she seems helpless in addition. From the little window in the door, I can see one of the students circling her chair. I can tell it's a student because the only person not writing down notes is Dr. Swanee. Don't let his lighthearted name fool you, this dude is serious business when it comes to methods of extracting information.
I crack open the door and motion for Swanee to come outside. He does it blindly.
"Covenant Slate. To what do I owe the honor?" He comes into the hall, shutting the door behind him.
I smile. He was my least favorite professor. "Dalia had to step out for a little while and we've had an incident at the front gate. I need you to take the front hall. I'll handle treatment of our esteemed guest." I motion to the classroom.
"Well, there are more capable individuals who—"
"None are as qualified, Dr. Swanee. I am personally choosing you."
He stands there dumbly for a moment before awkwardly nodding. He places his hand on the doorknob, I assume to tell the class where he is going.
"No, I'll do the honors. Go," I whisper.
After Swanee is around the corner and well out of my sight, I kick open the door with dramatic flair. Everyone immediately stops what they're doing, including the trainee who is tormenting Liv.
"All right, kiddos, here's the deal."
The shining star nearest Liv doesn't seem to recognize me and seriously thinks to draw his weapon before one of his fellow classmates throws a pen at him. She draws her finger across her throat in a salient gesture for him to keep his cool.
Icarus; The Kindred (A Paranormal Romance) Page 13