by C. S. Wilde
“What?”
He licked his lips. “I can hold a grudge, BC. And we’re only getting started.”
7
A smile spread on Ava’s lips as she and Ezra headed back to the safe house.
“I knew there was still hope for Samuel,” she said. “It was all Big Dog, Ezra. He’s to blame for all this.”
He stopped and watched her with pity. “Perhaps, but we shouldn’t forget that Samuel chose to order his own father’s death. Also, our first duty is to Diego.”
Very true. But why shouldn’t she consider Samuel her charge as well?
Big Dog would certainly turn into a demon or burn in the Hells when he died, but Diego’s son had good in him. Ava felt it in her bones.
Surely, it might not be the kind of good that sent one to the Heavens or turned them into an angel, but it was good nonetheless.
“Liam!” A man shouted from the other side of the street, catching her attention.
Ava spotted a boy no older than ten running across the sidewalk and dodging passersby.
The man bolted after him, but the boy was too fast. “Liam, Godsdamned! Get back here!”
Godsdamned.
She frowned at Ezra, who took in the scene with amusement.
“Selfless?” she asked.
He nodded.
The boy kept running, no, chasing a man three times his size who reeked of coagulated blood.
A new vampire!
Heavens, a child was chasing a creature of the night? This was madness. The vampire could easily snap him in two!
“Shouldn’t we help them?” Anguish pushed her forward.
Ezra laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and shook his head. “Watch.”
The creature grunted, his skin reddish where the sun hit it. Newer vampires couldn’t withstand the sun as easily as older ones, which meant this vampire was slower and weaker than normal.
Still, he sprinted through the sidewalk, strong enough to push people out of his way.
He carried a purple bag in his hand; a woman’s purse. Which meant that the man was a vampire but also a thief.
He glanced behind and slowed down, because the boy had disappeared.
Heavens, where was he?
The vampire turned to keep running, but instead he cursed loudly and bent forward, grabbing his crotch.
“Ha!” The boy came into view as he ran back toward his father—or whoever the Selfless man was. The little one carried the purse the way one would carry a trophy.
Oh, thank Heavens! He was safe.
Ava couldn’t believe that a child had kicked a vampire in the … hmm, intimates. Whoever that boy was, he did not fear death.
He ran past the Selfless chasing them and stopped before a quivering old lady. He handed her the purse with a wide grin.
The vampire glared at the boy but when he saw the bulky Selfless standing between them, his arms crossed and a dare in his raised brow, the creature ran away.
Once he was sure the crook was gone, the man returned to where the boy stood with the old lady.
She hugged the child with strength. “Thank you, young man!” She then shook the grown up’s hand. “Oh, you must be so proud, sir!”
The man glared at the boy but a proud smirk creased his lips. “Yeah, I am. He just needs to be more careful next time.”
“I was!” The boy pushed his ebony hair off his face. It swung back over his green eyes anyway.
Their love and care for each other flowed in puffy, sweet clouds like cotton candy. Warmth filled Ava’s chest, coming from the bond between father and son.
“It’s impossible to know who a Selfless was as an angel.” Ezra pointed to the man. “But that one reminds me of Acheron somehow … I can’t tell who the boy might be, though.”
“They’re both Selfless?”
He looked down at her with a knowing grin. “Feel the light in their essence.”
Indeed, there it was: a surge of golden warmth swirling inside what made them who they were. Both of them.
As humans, the Selfless could have children, she supposed. But what a remarkable coincidence that a Selfless child had been born with an angelic essence like his father.
Only then did she notice that the boy looked nothing like the man. His hair was black whereas his father’s was of a sandy blond, and his skin was a deeper shade of olive, a stark contrast against the man’s pale complexion.
Well, it didn’t matter. Blood related or not, they were father and son. The strong bond between them showed her this simple truth.
With a shrug, Ezra turned away. “They have the situation under control, so we’d best move on.”
Ava followed after him, but not before casting one last glance at the Selfless.
She prayed for their safety on the streets, where they would defend humans from all supernaturals that meant harm to mankind. So was the burden and the duty of a Selfless.
Perhaps, the noblest duty of them all.
Once they reached the safe house, Diego immediately asked Ava when he could see Samuel.
“Soon,” Ezra lied in her place, but Ava knew this wouldn’t be enough.
She hated being right.
Diego’s impatience increased with each passing day. Even when Ezra told the old man that the work to save Samuel was delicate and slow, he did not listen. Instead, he began resenting both him and Ava.
“The boy needs his father,” he told them one afternoon. “It took me a while to understand that, but it’s clearer than day now.”
“Stay put,” Ezra ordered.
Meanwhile, the Messenger tried to bring some sense into Samuel.
Now that he was inside the Red Dogs, Ezra worked Samuel’s psyche to pull him into the light—and away from Big Dog. But such changes took time, as they always did. Samuel had spent years in a world of darkness; the transition couldn’t be abrupt.
“Puta madre, he thinks I’m dead!” Diego pushed a week later. “That can’t be doing him any good, right?”
“No, but he can’t know you live. Not yet,” Ezra patiently countered, standing in Diego’s way. A hawk facing a mocking bird. “Do not oppose me. I’m nearly as stubborn as Ava.”
At that, he and Diego chuckled.
“Hilarious,” she huffed from the other side of the room. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m having lunch with Samuel.” She pointed at Ezra. “And I believe you must meet Big Dog.”
The Messenger gave her a despondent sigh and rubbed his forehead. “Unfortunately, yes. He’s planning a big meeting with his gangs, but not before another round of pointless fighting with me.”
She shrugged. “If this keeps him distracted and BC on his good side, then it’s a worthy sacrifice.”
“Certainly.” He chuckled. “Though I think he might be using me as a punching bag.”
Diego stepped forward. “Maybe I could help and—”
“Stay put!” They both snapped at him.
They had themselves to blame, really. By telling Diego he was precious to Samuel, they’d given him hope.
A hope that perhaps he shouldn’t have.
AVA AND SAMUEL sat on a bench that faced the beautiful park ahead.
They watched the green, vast space as Ava handed him a sandwich and unwrapped her own.
It was peaceful here. Children played in the distance, people took their dogs on lazy walks, and an old couple shared an ice cream on a nearby seat.
“It ain’t wise to leave BC alone with Big Dog and his men,” Samuel said quietly, still taking in the landscape.
He was worried about Ezra, which Ava counted as a monumental success. As far as Samuel knew, his father had died by the Messenger’s own hands. However, he blamed Big Dog for Diego’s ‘death’, not Ezra.
As he well should.
“BC can take care of himself,” she said as she took a bite of her sandwich. “Besides, there’s hardly anything I could do to help him.” She noticed her sour tone but made nothing of it.
Ava couldn’t help Ezra;
she was only a Guardian.
Meek. Useless.
Samuel chuckled. “True dat, mamacita. It’s just … he should back off a bit. Big Dog is a cruel asshole.”
“He’ll be fine,” she said, but Samuel’s concern seeped into her core anyway.
Nonsense.
Big Dog could never hurt a powerful angel like Ezra.
They ate in silence for a while until Ava muttered, “You miss your father.”
He stared mindlessly ahead. “Yeah.”
“Big Dog was the one who forced you to kill him,” she said. “You should forgive yourself.”
He knitted his eyebrows at her. “You talk fancy for a whore, you know?”
“You could talk fancy too.” She shrugged, hiding the trunk of fear that had sprouted from her stomach to the top of her head. If she blew her cover, this entire mission could turn to shreds. “Up until twelfth grade you were an exemplary student, Samuel.”
He sat up straight and frowned at her with suspicion. “How the fuck did you know?”
Ava’s heart stopped and she swallowed dry, but still managed to feign an easy grin. “BC researches everyone he does business with. You did the same to him, right?”
Samuel winced as if in pain, surely remembering why he’d researched BC Bailey: to kill his own father. Nevertheless, he took her explanation—praise the Gods. “I can’t remember those times anymore. I was a different person.”
“Not entirely. You can still go back to being that—”
“Mamacita, you and Bailey need to drop that bone. I ain’t going nowhere.” He studied his own feet. “Look, BC is good, but he’s also a bad motherfucker. He’s chaotic good. So am I, yeah? But you’re good-good. If there’s anyone who should get out of this world, it’s you, Ava.”
Ava this time. Not mamacita.
A small victory.
Perhaps telling Samuel her real name hadn’t been wise, but what harm could it do? Besides, Ava hated lying, especially to the people she was here to help.
He finished his sandwich and wrapped the paper into a ball. “You too good for all this, you know.”
“So are you,” she countered quietly as she finished her food.
“Maybe. But it don’t matter. I’m in way too deep.” He hunched over his knees. “I could’ve told Big Dog to go fuck himself. I could’ve spared my father. So you see, no matter what you two say, his death will always be on me.” Samuel observed the landscape, his lips a line. “I’ll finish him, one day.”
“Big Dog?”
He nodded. “I’ll finish him and take over his gangs.”
“Your father wouldn’t like that.”
“My father is dead.” Not a snappy reply, just a simple fact.
Silence filled the space between them, gnawing at Ava’s edges as she frantically searched for ways to stop, help, him. Samuel was about to go down a rabbit hole that would be his doom.
He seemed to notice her despair, because he leaned closer and spoke quietly. “I have to take Big Dog down, Ava. When I first started this, I wanted to earn some money, that’s all. Didn’t mean to hurt nobody, you know? But he enjoys making people suffer and killing them in some fucked up ways. It ain’t right.”
Her voice failed. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Don’t become the monster you’re trying to slay.”
“I won’t.” And yet there was doubt in his tone. “Big Dog is a bloodthirsty asshole who needs to be put down.”
“You’re not a murderer, Samuel.” She gave out a weary sigh. “Ending someone’s life could change you.”
“Well, I kinda already killed my father, so …” Before she could argue, he tapped his own legs and stood. “We should get going. It’s three o’clock, time for our weekly meeting. Hopefully BC and Big Dog will have been done with their stupid ass fight by then.”
Right when they stood, Samuel’s flip phone rang. He picked it up and snapped it open. “Yeah? Hmm, yeah, alright.” He handed it to her. “It’s BC for you.”
“Ava,” Ezra said from the other side. “Don’t come to the meeting today.”
“Why?”
“There will be too many of them there. Things could get ugly.”
She stepped aside so Samuel couldn’t eavesdrop. “The Hells would freeze over before you let any of them lay a hand on me. So why worry?”
“I’m only one and they’re too many.” She found exasperation in his voice. Fear, too. “I can’t protect you and Samuel at the same time.”
“But—”
“You’re just a Guardian, Ava,” he snapped. “Know your limitations, and obey my orders.”
She snapped the phone shut without saying goodbye, anger making her see red.
Just a Guardian.
Meek. Defenseless.
Useless.
Samuel and Diego were her charges; her responsibility, and Ezra expected her to just … stay out of the way?
He should’ve known her better. Or perhaps, he didn’t know her at all.
She handed the phone back to Samuel, still shivering with anger.
“What did he want?”
“Nothing,” she lied, then showed him the way. “Shall we?”
8
The wooden door opened to a room filled with at least twenty thugs. Three of them had the smug, arrogant air of gang leaders, and they dressed in the same black sleeveless shirt and pants as Samuel.
Guns also filled the two holsters attached to their belts.
“Big Dog’s lackeys,” Samuel whispered from her left. He cocked his head toward the first of the three. “Wyatt from the Wild Dogs, Terrell from the Blue Dogs, and Malik from Hell’s Dogs.”
“Plus Samuel from the Red Dogs,” she added. “Who’s hosting this meeting in his own apartment.”
“Yeah.” He bit his bottom lip. “Wasn’t exactly my choice.”
A grim feeling set in her stomach as they settled for a spot on the far right. Whatever today’s outcome, it couldn’t be any good.
The thugs in the room formed a circle around Big Dog as they eagerly discussed their ‘business’. Anticipation and curiosity crowded the space, building atop one another.
Eventually, Big Dog clapped his hands, calling for the room’s attention.
“Aright, fuckers. BC’s product has been giving us some mad advantage over other gangs.” He nodded a thank you to Ezra, who lowered his head slightly in acknowledgement. But when the Messenger found Ava in the crowd, anger and frustration wrapped around her with scorching tentacles. His blue eyes shone colder, somehow.
Oh, Heavens. She was due for the scolding of a lifetime once this was over.
“Tomorrow,” Big Dog went on. “We gonna take over some spots from the Blood Beetles. Terrell, you gonna take care of section twenty-one.” He pointed to the gang leader with a scar on the left side of his face. “Malik, take the Hell’s Dogs to the intersection between twenty-one and two, and Wyatt, you take the Wild Dogs to the north side of section twenty-two. We gonna take over that shit fast and at once, yeah?”
All three men agreed.
“What about the Red Dogs, boss?” asked a man with pale skin and oily black hair. Wyatt, she supposed. “Is Samuel just gonna sit back and relax?”
Big Dog glanced at Diego’s son with malice. “I will lead the Red Dogs to the east side of section twenty-two.”
Samuel gasped and stepped into the circle. “What the fuck?!”
“You’re weak.” Big Dog faced him, his nostrils flaring. “You sit this one out until you prove yourself again.”
Ezra stepped between them and faced that monster. “Hey, Samuel has done everything—”
“I told him to kill his old man,” Big Dog spat. “He shouldn’t have involved a stranger in this. It was none of your business, BC.” He stepped forward and gritted his teeth. “Also, know your place, motherfucker.”
Before Ezra could reply—or punch him; she had a feeling he really wanted to do it—a shy voice came from outside the apartment’s open door.
; “Son? What’s going on?”
There Diego stood, supported by his cane, his eyes wide and asking. The reunion would be heartwarming, if not cruel.
Samuel gaped at his father as tears bloomed in his eyes. “Papá? Y-you’re alive?”
Heavens, what was Diego doing here?
“That incompetent Selfless …” Ezra grumbled under his breath as he fisted his hands.
He stepped back, closer to Samuel and Ava. Protecting them had clearly gained priority over fighting Big Dog.
Ava couldn’t fathom how the old man could’ve overpowered Selfless Wheeler, but she knew he would receive the scolding of a lifetime later—just like herself.
“I thought you killed him, Bailey,” Big Dog snarled at Ezra.
He didn’t reply. His mask was gone, along with the BC Bailey act. Ezra stood straighter now, his arms crossed.
Here was the Messenger, the most powerful child of the Goddess of Life and Love; a man respected by his peers and feared by his enemies. The greatest angel Ava knew.
Big Dog was a mere bug.
“Ava, take Diego and Samuel to safety,” he ordered.
The message was clear: things were about to get ugly. Ezra’s attention remained fully on Big Dog, almost as if it were a physical hold on the criminal.
She didn’t care. Ava wouldn’t leave him. “If you think I’ll go—”
“This wasn’t a request,” he said with a certain calm, the kind that preceded storms.
Having had her share of rebellion for the day, she didn’t oppose a second time. So she took Samuel’s hand and tentatively pulled him toward the exit, where Diego waited for them.
Worry and happiness wafted from the old man, forming a strange mix.
“Don’t you dare take another step, bitch!” Big Dog snarled, undaunted by the Messenger between them.
A wall of thugs immediately closed the path they weaved, blocking the way to the door. They put their hands on the grip of their guns but didn’t draw. They likely didn’t consider the two of them a threat, and perhaps they were right. If they knew what Ezra could do, though, they would’ve shot a long time ago.
“Samuel, I’ll give you one last chance.” Big Dog pulled his gun and aimed at him. The thugs behind Samuel stepped aside. “Kill your old man now or you’re dead.”