03 Saints (41 page)

“Really?” I asked.

He nodded.

“Well, how’s that for a piece of news?” I asked dryly, feeling doubly grateful Reaper had won.

Alex was waiting in the room that held the secret stairs. It was the closest she had allowed herself to come to the fight. She was pacing out of the way of the crowd; she walked from one wall to the other, twisting her hands in circles. When she saw me, she stopped pacing. Her eyes said everything.

“Reaper won,” I told her.

She took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay.”

“He told the crowd there would be no more fights…the Saints are his group, and if they didn’t agree with how he ran things, they could leave,” I added, knowing she would be interested in that detail.

She bit her lip, her blue eyes sparkling with an excited light. I thought she might have been fighting the urge to smile. She grabbed Spider by the back of the shirt as he passed by. He swore at her, thinking her one of the Watchers. She put her arm around his shoulder to keep him in place.

“Apologize,” Daniel said.

“Sorry, doll,” he apologized to Alex. “I thought you were someone else.”

“I forgive you,” she said.

“What a fight!” Spider said. “The others will be mad they missed it.”

“I’m sure they will be,” I said.

“I guess I won’t have to look over my shoulder anymore,” Spider said.

“You always look over your shoulder, regardless if there’s a threat or not,” I said.

“Yes. But I had reason for my paranoia this time,” Spider said.

“True,” I said.

Daniel stopped walking abruptly and turned to stare out a window. I stopped, too, and saw where he was looking. Reaper had built his own small pyre for Quinn far enough away from Elizabeth’s to respect the circumstances of her death. He was standing beside the fire, his head bowed in thought. His back was full of tension and determination. The light of the flickering fire cast his body in to strange shades of orange and red. As we watched, River joined him in the light. Her face was serious and her body was just as tense. She put a hand on Reaper’s, and they watched Quinn burn together.

Alex, who had also stopped to watch, turned away at the sight of them holding hands. Her pace was quick as she walked away, but Daniel and I caught up with her again. Spider had disappeared with Alex’s distraction – I presumed it was to collect on more bets.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” I told her.

“They’ve been together,” she told me.

“How do you know?”

She pointed at her eyes. “I see what I see. I can’t stop it, just because I don’t like what I see.”

“Alex…” I started to offer her another explanation, but she wasn’t in the mood.

“I spent some time looking over your grandfather’s book, while I waited to see if the world would end,” she told me.

“Oh, yeah?” I asked, accepting her change of subject.

“Has Ellen ever made mention of a family sword?” she asked.

“No. I would have told you if she had.”

“Well, apparently, in the dark ages, the Michael family was given a gift. It was a sword that a great warrior reportedly used in battle. It was given to your ancestors in return for saving the warrior’s life. The only reason I mention it is because your grandfather made mention of it, as if he had it in his possession…he was sort of bragging about it.”

I shrugged. “The house is the only family heirloom I know about,” I said.

“Huh…” she said.

“Besides, a sword doesn’t change anything,” I said.

“Well, it could have been the reason he hid the book,” Alex said. “To hide mention of the sword.”

“But where’s the sword? Shouldn’t it have been with the book?” I asked. “And what makes it so important?”

“I haven’t gotten that far. Your grandfather doesn’t write in a linear form. It’s more like a journal than anything else,” Alex said. “He made the book in order of his discoveries, not in order of your family line.”

“Oh,” I said.

“Did he give any kind of description of the sword?” Daniel asked. He was obviously more intrigued by the news than I was. His eyes were narrowed, but bright, as if the mention of the sword had meant something.

“Not yet,” Alex said.

“We’ll just have to keep reading, I guess,” I said.

“You mean, I will have to keep reading, since you don’t seem that interested,” she said.

“You try reading something written by a grandfather, who didn’t want anything to do with you, because you’re a sin against God,” I said.

Her face was instantly apologetic. “Sorry,” she said.

“Let’s go somewhere,” Daniel interjected.

“Now?” I asked.

“It’s about to get noisy,” Daniel said. “People are going to be celebrating Reaper’s victory…”

“I could show you my city,” I said.

“You guys want to be alone?” Alex asked.

Daniel and I shared a look. It was obvious she was still upset over the scene between River and Reaper.

“No,” Daniel said.

We walked outside to the cars. People were scattered across the front drive of the school and more were pulling up in cars. Music blasted from the third floor and from the cars. Reaper and River walked around the edge of the building as we got in to one of the sport’s cars. They didn’t seem to notice us at all.

Alex kept her eyes on the floorboard as Daniel drove around the cars blocking the driveway. Her expression of doubt was something I had never seen on her usually in-control face. In the rearview mirror, I saw Reaper finally notice us. His expression enigmatic, he watched our car until we disappeared out of sight.

We stayed gone until it was almost dawn.

By that time, the party had settled down. People were still hanging around the school, but it was more of the regular crowd. Bottles and trash littered the gravel yard and a couple of people were passed out on the front stairs. I wasn’t sure what kind of wild party had Watchers passing out on the front stairs, but I was glad I had accepted Daniel’s offer to leave.

As we were passing Reaper’s room on the third floor, the door opened. I saw Reaper by the door and the rest of his generals sitting on chairs inside. His expression told me he had been waiting for us. He was clean and fully dressed – the fight was only a memory. It was strange to realize it had only been hours ago when he had killed a man in a duel to the death. His eyes were serious, though he refused to look at Alex.

“Would you care to join us?” Reaper asked.

“Are you having a tea party?” I asked.

“Board-game night for the murderous inclined,” Alex said quietly.

Reaper’s mouth twitched as if he wanted to laugh. He didn’t. “We are planning an attack. We would like your opinion.”

“Of course,” Daniel said.

Reaper moved back to give us room to enter. Alex hesitated in the hall. The argument was still fresh on her mind. She wasn’t sure she was as welcome as we were to sit in on their mission planning. She wasn’t sure she was as important to the planning.

“Please, come in,” Reaper said quietly to her.

She stepped through the door, without looking at him. Reaper shut the door behind her and stepped around Alex, close enough that he brushed against her. She looked affected by the touch, but still refused to meet his eyes. He sat on a chair and waited for us to sit down. Alex refused, preferring to stand near the door. I sat in a chair next to King, and Daniel sat on my other side.

“We were just talking about our planned attack on Lorian’s,” Reaper said.

“The one that involves Anna?” I asked, trying to act casual, though my hands were clenched.

“Yes.”

“You’ve decided to move forward?” Daniel asked, taking my hand. His thoughts told me to wait and see what they had planned. To calm down. My anger wasn’t as hidden as I thought.

“With Quinn out of the way there is no reason to not go ahead,” he said.

River shifted in her seat. She obviously didn’t agree, but she didn’t say anything.

“What’s the plan?” Daniel asked.

“Anna has told us that Lorian will be in town for the next month. We know he will be there, and we know that Anna has the ability to get back in to the house. She has told us that it is not uncommon for most of Lorian’s people to not know what the others are doing. She can get us through the front door, though Lorian will know she has been missing. But…if she can get to Lorian, whomever we send in with her can make sure he gets what he deserves.”

“And who are you going to send in with her?” Daniel asked.

“I couldn’t risk my people’s neck on something I wouldn’t do myself,” Reaper said.

“So Anna is going to get the dubious honor of capturing you, and you’re going to kill Lorian?” I asked. “That’s the plan?”

“Yes,” Reaper said.

“It’ll never work. It’s too convenient,” I said.

“Convenient?” King asked.

“If Reaper is so easy to capture, why hasn’t Lorian captured him already? He’s obviously a thorn in everybody’s side,” I said. Alex made a small noise of agreement. “And Anna just happens to disappear during your attack and shows up a month later with Reaper in tow? Even the stupidest of Watchers is gonna wonder about those lucky turn of events.”

Reaper frowned at me. “And you have a better idea?” he asked.

“Something personal. Anna wouldn’t just ‘disappear,’ unless she was tracking down someone or something that meant a lot to her. The fact that she tracked me down just for the sword I took is proof enough,” I said.

“I couldn’t ask anyone else to go in my stead,” Reaper said.

“That’s noble and everything, but shouldn’t we focus on something that actually works? I don’t know about you, but I am eager to make sure Lorian never abducts another person again,” I said. “And things are going to be tricky enough with the force he’s got hanging around the house, without your nobility getting in the way,” I said.

The others looked between Reaper and me as if they thought we were going to get in a fight. Grace looked upset with my tone of voice, obviously thinking it rude, while River looked as if I had brought up a good point.

Reaper was amused. One of his eyebrows raised in sardonic amusement. “Anything else you would change?” he asked.

I took his question as an invitation, though I knew he was being sarcastic. “Well, we definitely need to make the prisoners a priority as well. We shouldn’t leave them. But we could also use that to our advantage. Lorian is probably pretty well-guarded,” I said.

“Two guards at all times, not to mention his soldiers that are at the house at any given time,” River said.

“So…we create a distraction. We free the prisoners and draw the attention there. The guards will be pulled out of the house, and we get Lorian.”

“It’s a sound plan,” River said.

“With limitations,” Grace said.

“We can’t control all the variables,” Ghost said.

“You don’t need to. You just need to send someone in with Anna who won’t stop until the job is done,” I said.

“I’ll do it,” River said.

We all looked at her. Reaper frowned. “River…” he started to object.

“Lorian will remember me. He’ll let Anna through. We both know he has a price on my head,” River said to Reaper.

“Why?” I asked.

“You’re not the only one to endure that prison,” she said pointedly. “Except I was not rescued until well after my initiation. My escape was even messier than yours.”

A new respect for her welled up. I hadn’t realized she had been through the same thing. She hid it so well.

“Oh,” I said.

“Drawing attention to the prisoners seems risky,” Daniel said thoughtfully.

“Create full chaos, then,” King said. “You saw how they reacted last time. As much mayhem as we can manage. Have a couple of teams that are there just to cause a distraction, not to fight.”

“That brings up a point…you would think their defenses are better after your last attack,” Daniel said.

“What do you think River’s been doing?” Reaper asked. “Twirling her thumbs?”

“Of course not,” I said. “Her thumbs look firmly attached to me.”

“They have increased their defenses, but I know how they think. Lorian teaches his people to think of fighting like he was taught to fight. He’s about numbers and intimidation. He and his brother are very similar in that way,” River said. “It’s why the war is so stagnant. It’s only recently that he’s started using agents like Anna…and that’s only because of Marcus’ example.”

“Some guerilla tactics and plenty of explosions should take care of things,” Daniel said. “I wish Jackson were here,” he fretted.

“We’ll have to manage,” Reaper said. “I don’t like you going in there with Anna,” he said to River.

“Do you see any other options?” she asked.

“I’ll do it,” I said.

“No.” It came from several places around the room.

I frowned at their profound lack of trust in my abilities. I might not have been as skilled as the rest of them or as Watcher-y, but I could hold my own. I had proved that by now.