by Casey White
“Fuck.”
“Yep.”
He cracked an eye back open, peering up the road towards James’ house. “This sucks,” he muttered.
Leon nodded, chewing his lip. “W-We can...We can call the police. They can-”
“They’d want answers that we don’t have,” Daniel said. “I can...I can do it.”
“But...She’s-”
“I’m fucked either way,” Daniel mumbled. “She called me. She knows I’m close. Knows we’re close. If she’s on their side, the whole thing is probably a trap. And if she’s not...then I guess we’ll need the help.” They’d need every advantage they could get, more like.
And if it was a trick, if it was all some ploy...His jaw tensed. If it came down to him and them, well, he wouldn’t let it go their way.
Nice words, his thoughts hissed. But do they mean anything?
He reached for the car door, silencing them. The morning air rushed in, wiping away the stench of fear that’d grown so thick. As quietly as he could, he stood, closing it behind him.
A second car door clicked shut. Daniel froze, looking up.
Leon stood on the far side, still pale but grinning. “So where to?” he whispered.
Daniel shook his head, slowly at first but increasing in intensity. “No. Hell, no. Leon, you’re-”
“Come on,” Leon said. “We gotta go. Come on.”
“Leon,” Daniel hissed, hurrying forward as Leon stepped away from the car. “Get back in the damn car.”
Leon twisted, fixing his baleful blue eyes on Daniel. “What? No. I can help.”
“I don’t-” Daniel licked his lips, swallowing. “I don’t want you in there if..if things go bad. Just stay here. If you hear...anything, then just drive. Get out of here, and find Maya, and-”
“I’m not leaving.”
The words were hushed, but firm. Daniel stopped. Leon was still watching him, but his expression had hardened. “James is my friend too,” Leon said. “I...I know you didn’t mean to, but…” He smiled grimly, his eyes softening. “None of us were prepared for this. But I’m not going to run off and leave everything in your hands, either. Let me help you.”
Daniel paused. His breath caught in his throat, leaving him reeling. He wanted Leon to stay. He needed Leon to stay, to keep out of the line of danger. But...it’d be nice, to not have to face the chaos alone.
He’d never really had that before, he realized. He’d been strong, inside Alexandria, but...alone. She’d kept him isolated. He thought he’d known that, but every time he thought he’d worked through the mess of his life, it unfolded a whole other layer, like a bullshit onion. The thought rankled at him more than he liked.
Besides, he told himself. When push came to shove, he’d have Leon somewhere he could keep an eye on him.
And so he nodded, his mouth dry. “Okay,” he whispered hoarsely. “Keep close, okay?”
Leon’s face split into a grin—and he nodded right back at Daniel. “Lead on,” he said.
Daniel turned away, forcing himself back toward the house before he could lose his nerve.
He’d done this before. He’d already charged into danger once. Just like he’d gotten Leon out, he could go get James.
It was that simple.
Hitching his hood back up over his head, Daniel broke into a run.
- Chapter Twelve -
The apartment lay dead ahead, smack dab in the middle of Daniel’s vision.
He tried not to stare too hard. Tried not to think about James inside, and the things that could be happening to him. And he definitely tried not to think too hard about the other question on his mind—about Olivia, and what she was after, and how he should handle it.
Instead, he tried to keep an eye out, scanning the neighboring units as Leon and him hurried forward. There were...a lot of cars in the street. Enough that he was really, really hoping they weren’t all inside James’ rental. No one stirred, though. Not from the cars, not from the houses around them that gave way to businesses beyond. The world was still sleeping.
If things went well, it might even stay that way.
Leon pressed in close to his side, tucked right behind his shoulder as though they might get separated from each other if they weren’t all-but-touching. Daniel wasn’t about to complain. Something about him being there, just a solid mass of stability...it helped. Not much, but enough.
The asphalt under their feet turned to concrete sidewalk, then to grass. The scraggly trees pushed back against Daniel as he worked his way through, biting off the pained hisses that rose to the tip of his tongue.
Not far, now. He narrowed his eyes, leaning forward through the branches. James’ rental sat square ahead of them, just a short run across an open yard. The trees would give way in a few feet. The neighbors’ buildings were close, too. They’d squeezed everyone in, which was...less than ideal.
A patio sat at the edge of the unit, surrounding a weathered storm door. A half-hearted attempt had been made to garden the place, but the only real feature of note left in the yard was a pair of sheds set just off the patio’s haphazardly-arranged tiles.
Daniel squirmed, biting his lip. A patio. Just like Olivia had said, at least.
But all that meant was that she’d been here, his mind screamed. She might have set foot in the place—that didn’t make her an ally. No way in hell.
He’d do this on his own. Setting his jaw, he tucked his chin to his chest and stepped forward into-
A branch cracked, snapping underfoot. Not his foot. Someone else was here.
Leon’s hand closed about his shoulder. In an instant, he’d yanked Daniel back, shoving him to the ground just as quickly. The branches swallowed them whole.
“Quiet,” Leon whispered in his ear.
As much as he appreciated the warning, Daniel very much did not need it. He was already watching, wide-eyed, as a figure stepped around the back corner of the building.
It was a man, one Daniel had never seen before. And...A shiver ran down his spine. He had to assume the man was here with Indira, but he didn’t look anything like the overly-academic Booklenders. He was wearing a jacket, but even past that, Daniel could see the muscles rippling across his shoulders and arms. And even if he didn’t have it in hand, the imprint of a pistol in his pocket was too recognizable for Daniel to mistake.
Leon pressed against his side. Daniel didn’t say a word—he only leaned back, taking solace in the knowledge that at least he wasn’t here alone.
He’d planned on mages. He hadn’t planned on mages with guns. Maybe he should have, but...it’d seemed ridiculous. They never had guns in the stories.
And now here they were.
The man continued his walk, picking a lazy path around the edge of the patio. A cigarette hung from his lips, the tip glowing with a rosy light against the gloom. His eyes dragged across the neighborhood around them. The trees.
Daniel didn’t move. He didn’t breathe.
A heartbeat and forever later, the man’s eyes flicked away—and he kept walking, trudging around the other side of the apartment. Just like that, he was gone.
Leon sighed, the noise whisper-soft, but Daniel shifted, bringing himself up to the balls of his feet. Just like that, he felt Leon move alongside him. “W-Wait. What are you-”
“Come on,” Daniel whispered, offering a tiny smile to his friend. “Almost there.”
His hand met Leon’s—and closed around it.
He saw Leon’s eyes widen fractionally.
And then he squeezed back.
A warmth spread across Daniel’s thoughts, but the moment wouldn’t last. This was their chance.
Still gripping Leon’s hand, he surged out of the shadows, dragging him along.
The yard had seemed so small from inside the trees. Once they were out in the open, Daniel realized how horribly wrong that assumption had been. The yard was an open expanse, an eternity of bare grass and dirt between them and their target. He tried not to think about it, but it didn’t help.
>
His veins were full of adrenaline by the time he hurled himself between the two sheds, pulling Leon with him.
Only one target left. His eyes settled onto the storm door. There was no doubt in his mind that inside, they’d find more enemies. More people with magic and guns, here to cause harm.
Which meant he had a decision to make. He could go this alone. He could trust in his own training to protect everyone. Alexandria had been a place of learning, but learning took many forms—and he’d spent a long, long time inside her walls. It hadn’t just been books he’d studied.
Once they got through the door, they’d be in close quarters. He might be able to take advantage of that and get the jump on them. Maybe. But if he got it wrong…
He couldn’t afford to get it wrong.
Again, he chewed on his lip, still staring at the door. He had another option, his thoughts screamed. If he had someone on the inside, it would make things easier. It would take the uncertainty out of the matter, if only a little.
Assuming he could trust Olivia, that was.
“Hey,” he heard Leon murmur. “Daniel. What are we doing?”
What were they doing?
Olivia had had ulterior motives. There was no denying that. But...did that make her malicious?
His inner thoughts roared, screaming their displeasure at the line of thinking he was going down.
He didn’t trust her. At all. But...She’d wanted personal power. She’d been willing to use herself to get it. There was a long, long way between that and being okay with hunting people. Torturing them.
He’d trust Olivia that much. For now.
“I’m going to do it,” Daniel mumbled.
Leon’s head snapped around to face him. “W-What?”
Daniel twisted, straining his ears, but no footsteps approached. The guard was gone—for now. But probably not for forever. “I don’t- I don’t know another way,” he whispered. “To keep everyone safe.”
Leon stared at him, his blue eyes round. Slowly, he nodded, just once. “Okay.”
There was a plea buried under those words. Be careful.
Daniel didn’t need a reminder of that, either.
With hands that only shook a little, he raised his burner phone. That unregistered number was still there, waiting on top of the myriad attempts he’d made to reach James and Leon. It was too easy to pull it up, switching to texts.
And then the chat interface lay in front of him, and his fingers were moving across the keyboard.
Go.
His chest twinged as he hit the send button, and the message was off. There. It was done, and too late to take it back now.
With a final glance to Leon, he broke from their hiding place, accelerating toward the back door to the house.
Every step of the way, his senses screamed. He’d hear it at any minute, he knew—another set of footsteps. A voice, raised in alarm. Someone would spot them, and they’d have nowhere left to hide.
The only sound was the pounding of their own feet and their ragged, rough breathing. In an instant, they hit the back wall of the apartment, and Daniel’s hand closed around the handle of the door.
He waited, though. Slowly, every second feeling like one too many, he pressed his ear to the door. Olivia had said she’d help. She’d said she’d create a distraction, bring people to the front of the building. If he broke in too early, all of that would be ruined.
All they could do was wait.
There were people inside, he realized. Their voices rumbled through the quiet, too low and soft for him to make out. One voice was different. Pained—and even if he couldn’t make out exactly what was being said, he recognized James when he heard him.
His hand tightened around the cold metal of the handle. Bastards. He knew he needed to wait, but everything in him screamed to yank the door open, race in there, and-
“Hey!” he heard someone cry. A woman. Olivia. His heart froze. Her voice was raised, loud enough that he could make it out. “Hey, there’s something- I think you should see this!”
A distraction. His mind went blank. She’d actually done it.
Or maybe this was all a ploy, too, and she was just lulling him into a false sense of security. When he burst through the door, they might be waiting on the other side for him, at the ready.
With Olivia’s cry starting to fade, though, he heard movement. People. The murmurs were fading, moving farther away, and the creak of the floorboards as they shifted toward the front of the unit completed the mental picture for him. He licked his lips. Now or never.
The handle turned under his grasp. Unlocked—just like she’d said. He drew it open as slowly as he could manage, cringing back from every squeak and burr of the hinges.
When it was open enough to fit his shoulders through, he squeezed past.
The dark of the outside world fell away into warm, cozy light that left him blinking. A hallway stretched out before him, lined with doors. He inched forward, peering into one. A bedroom, slovenly enough to put Leon to shame. In any other circumstance, he’d have chuckled. Typical college kids.
They were on a schedule, though, and Olivia’s distraction wouldn’t last long. Pausing just long enough to jerk his chin for Leon to follow, he hurried inside.
Olivia had said they were holding James further in. Daniel’s head swiveled back and forth, his eyes darting to each and every sign of life. Somewhere. James would be in here somewhere, if only he could-
Peeking out from around a corner, he froze.
A squat living room sat ahead, all but filled with couches and beer-can-covered end tables. Daniel hardly noticed the mess.
All he could see was James, crumpled on the floor. His face was a mess of bruises, with scrapes covering the exposed skin of his arms. They’d zip-tied him, Daniel realized. Bound his hands back so he couldn’t fight.
Of course, his thoughts whispered. It’s only logical. You knew what you’d find.
Logically understanding something and seeing it with your own two eyes were very, very different things. Daniel swallowed hard, steeling himself, and lunged forward. Leon’s muffled hiss rang out behind him. He’d caught sight of his friend, then.
Daniel lurched, all but falling over James. “Hey,” he whispered in James’ ear, rummaging through his pocket for the knife he’d stashed. “James. You there?”
Silence—but he felt James shift, twitching ever so slightly at the touch.
Not good, then, but he’d take it. Daniel smiled, the expression cold and mirthless. “Hang in there. We’ll get you out.”
His hand closed around the knife. Elation shot through him at the feel of cold metal in his fingers. Yanking it free, he stooped, working the serration of the blade against the hard plastic binding James’ ankles.
A hand brushed his shoulder. Daniel flinched. Leon. He’d dropped to the ground alongside Daniel, his eyes glued to James’ face. His mouth hung open, but words seemed to have escaped him. Daniel sighed. Just as well. “Help me carry him,” he murmured.
James twitched again. This time, his eyes cracked open. “I-I can walk,” he mumbled, the words slurred.
The plastic snapped. Daniel shifted, grabbing hold of the tie around James’ wrists. “Of course you can. But let us help.”
One more good yank, and the knife sheared straight through. Daniel’s mood brightened instantly. “Okay,” he whispered, folding the blade shut and tucking it away. He took hold of James’ arm in the same moment, pulling gently. “L-Leon. Could you-”
“Got it.” Leon’s voice was hushed, too muted for Daniel’s liking, but he helped Daniel ease James to a sitting position.
James was a big man, it turned out. With the seconds ticking away and every quiet noise screaming like an alarm in their ears, it felt like it took forever to hoist their friend aloft. He mumbled something dark and foul, but despite his bold claims of independence, James seemed perfectly happy to lean on Leon, letting the two of them guide him toward the exit.
Almost ther
e. Daniel’s eyes flicked to the doorway, to the narrow line of light around its rim. They were almost there, and then-
James’ foot caught at something. A wire, Daniel saw in horrified fascination as time slowed to a crawl. It wasn’t like anyone living in this house had cared much for organization, after all. It was such a simple thing—just one of a hundred different obstacles lining the place.
That wire was the one that mattered, it seemed.
James lurched, losing his balance. Daniel and Leon winced, straining to keep him upright.
They came close. They came damn close. But James’ knee hit the carpeted floor with a dull thud. Barely a noise at all, really.
But when Daniel looked up, his palms starting to sweat, he heard the voices in the room beyond stop. “What was that?” someone said.
Someone else sighed—and mumbled something in a low voice. Something that sounded way, way too much like an I’ll check it out.
“Come on,” Daniel hissed, glancing back to Leon. “Hurry.”
As they turned, though, he heard it. Another creak from the floorboards ahead, punctuated by footsteps.
Footsteps that were getting closer.
- Chapter Thirteen -
Daniel had a single moment to stare blankly at the door in befuddled confusion before his mind kicked in.
When it did, it did so with all the force of a lightning bolt. “Shit,” he gasped, clinging to James’ arm and dragging him a step backwards. “Shit, shit, shit.”
“Come on,” Leon whispered. Daniel could feel James shift as they moved together, angling away from the door. “We gotta go.”
“Right.” Hitching James higher, Daniel half-turned back-
Back toward the hallway. And the patio.
The patio where they’d hidden from a patrolling guard—maybe a normal, non-magical person like them. Well, like James and Leon, anyway.
Or maybe not. It might well be a mage lurking in the early-morning gloom for them. Hell, even a normal person with a gun would be plenty to ruin their day.
The thoughts raced through Daniel’s head in grim succession, spelling out a picture he didn’t like.