03 Saints (21 page)

“Thanks,” I said.

“It’s something all Watchers with families have to deal with,” Daniel said sadly, obviously thinking of his parents.

“That’s life?” I questioned sarcastically. I found the idea entirely unfair.

He shrugged. “Either you learn to never love, or you learn to accept that fact that the people you love are worth worrying about on a constant basis.”

“The never-loving thing sounds easier,” I said.

“It’s not,” he assured me.

“I know,” I said.

“Ellen’ll be fine,” he assured me. “I’ll get her and Sam some new names in the morning. That should help them hide.”

“You would do that?” I asked.

“Anything and more,” he replied.

“Admit I’m a better fighter,” I challenged him.

“Almost anything,” he corrected.

When the sun had started its slow descent below the horizon, Reaper joined us again. He and Spider had fixed the dishwasher, and had spent the extra time discussing mechanics and electronics, while Alex had shifted between Naomi, Ellen and Sam. Alex and Naomi became instant friends, something that didn’t surprise me in the slightest.

Reaper sat across from us, his silver eyes full of questions. “That kid is smart. He tries to pretend like he isn’t, to con me, but he has got some serious intelligence. He was talking about electronics so over my head, I felt like a human.”

“What a lovely way to phrase your bigotry,” I said primly.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said.

“When are your people going to meet us?” Daniel asked, saving Reaper from my retort.

“We’ve got about half an hour,” Reaper said.

“Are you ready?” Daniel asked me.

I nodded and followed them inside.

Inside the house, Ellen and Naomi were making a fuss over Spider. He accepted their mothering without his normal sarcasm, and his face had lost its hard edge. When he saw us, he knew in an instant it was time to go. Alex didn’t even need the look. She got up from the sofa when we came inside, her face expectant. The room went quiet for a moment as we all stared at each other; the words were too difficult to find. We didn’t know what would happen; the uncertainty made us afraid to speak.

Naomi broke the ice.

“Oh! A staring contest! First person to blink has to clean my house!” she said. She pointed at Ellen. “Ellen lost!”

“This is probably her mess anyway,” I said.

Naomi smiled in agreement and pulled me in close for a tight hug. “See you later,” she said.

She never said ‘goodbye,’ even when we didn’t know when we would get to see each other again. She was convinced ‘goodbyes’ were cursed.

“Yep,” I promised.

“Will I see you again?” Ellen asked timidly.

“Mom, we’re just checking out Reaper’s club...” I pointed out.

Reaper cringed at the word. “Organization,” he corrected.

“Gang,” I said. “We’ll let you know if we will be staying with them tomorrow. I’ll call, okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed.

Ellen gave me a quick hug, worried that if she made a big deal about me leaving, her fears of never seeing me again would come true. When the goodbyes were done, the five of us walked out into the dusk.

“I can see why you were so intent on finding them,” Reaper said to me as we walked to our meeting place.

“Me, too,” I agreed. “I owe you for helping me find them.”

He shrugged. “I’ve been needing a vacation anyways.”

“Some vacation…” I said.

“My last one ended up with that situation with thirty Watchers,” Reaper said with an arched eyebrow.

“Well, I suppose this would be an upgrade,” I said.

“Clare?” Spider said, interrupting us.

“What?”

“Would you be offended if I said your mom was better looking than you?”

“Yes,” I said eyeing him dangerously.

“Okay,” he said with a smirk. “Just wanted to make sure you still dug me.”

Daniel playfully pushed Spider for his words. Spider’s grin was irrepressible. Alex and I shared a look of amusement at seeing them interact. Neither of us missed how similar their grins were.

Sara and Shawn were already waiting for us.

“You’re early,” Reaper said when he saw them.

“We took a group a couple of blocks over,” Sara said. “We didn’t feel like making two trips.”

“We’re ready to go home now,” he said.

“Yes, take us to the rebel base,” I said.

Daniel shook his head in exasperation, while the others just stared at me in confusion.

“I am going to force you all to watch Star Wars, if it kills me,” I muttered.

Sara and Shawn held out their hands to us, their faces more confused than the others at my oddness; they hadn’t come to expect it from me yet. Spider was the last one to take a hand. It was obvious he preferred more conventional methods of traveling. I didn’t blame him, but at least he wasn’t bombarded with whispering voices urging him to stay in the dark…

When we reappeared, we were on the third floor of the school. People swarmed the corridor in front of us, heading out for their nightly mischief making.

Spider held his head, as Sara and Shawn joined the moving crowd. “I just can’t get used to that.”

“Let me show you around,” Reaper offered.

I realized as he spoke that his voice had changed. It was more precise, less friendly. His face was different as well; it was politely distant, though amiable. The man I had seen in the past two days was hidden under a layer of professionalism I found irritating. I knew he had a gang to run, but why the act? Who was around that would notice?

“Lead the way,” Daniel said. He had also noticed the change but was more prepared for it.

Alex frowned at Reaper’s back as she followed him down the hall. This shift in his behavior seemed to irritate her as much as it did me.

“This is the third floor,” Reaper said. “Our rooms are up here. This floor wraps all the way around and has more rooms than we could ever possibly need. If you decide to stay, you are welcome to whichever one you want.”

We walked the whole length of the floor then went down to the second floor. People walking back and forth from the common area greeted us with respectful nods toward Reaper and expressions of curiosity toward us.

“This is our entertainment floor. It’s also where we stockpile our riches from our nightly endeavors,” Reaper said.

“Riches?” Spider asked casually.

“Guarded at all times,” Reaper added.

Spider’s face fell. Reaper fought his grin, still in reserved mode.

“This is the common area,” Reaper said as we entered the open area full of sofas and tables.

The room was full of people. The energy they brought to the room was magnetic. People in dark clothes chatted with each other, flirted, and brought a sense of capable alertness to the room I would have never been able to express in words to the others.

At the same table I had first seen him at was King. He smiled when he saw me and waved; I saw Daniel frown out of the corner of my eye as I waved back. King nodded at Reaper in respect then went back to looking at the others around the table. The poker game had grown since the last one. River was next to King, the streaks in her hair blue now, matching her eyes, and the man she had introduced as Preacher was next to her. There were several others, but I didn’t know their names, and they only looked vaguely familiar.

Reaper approached the table. “Who’s winning?” he asked eyeing the large pile of money on the table.

“Who else?” River asked, thumbing over to King.

“I’m just that good, baby, what can I say?” King said.

“I fold,” another girl sitting on Preacher’s opposite side said.

She had warm, golden hair, and a sunny face. Her eyes were a deep coral. Something about her face was familiar, but I couldn’t place the feeling.

“This is Grace,” Reaper said, pointing at the blonde girl.

Grace gave a half wave.

He pointed to another man with sharp dark eyes and short brown hair. “That’s Quinn.”

Quinn acted as if he didn’t hear the introduction.

He pointed to the last person in the group around the table, a man with black, almost blue-black hair that was kept in dreadlocks. He had purple-blue eyes and sharp, pointed features.

“And this is Ghost.”

“You’ve been doing some recruiting?” the girl known as Grace asked.

She eyed Spider, noticing he was a human. Her face transformed into a frown, but she didn’t say anything.

“They’re thinking about hanging around for a little while,” Reaper said in a neutral voice.

Preacher threw a card down and picked up one from the deck. His eyes circled our strange group for a moment. “And what are they called?” he asked. “Or do they prefer not to have names?”

“Daniel, Alex, and Spider,” Reaper said pointing at each of them in turn. “You’ve already met Clare, right?”

“Briefly,” Preacher said.

“Are you the one Reaper fished out of the ocean?” Grace asked me.

“It depends on how many people he’s fished out of the ocean lately,” I said.

Something about my reply irritated her, her expression flickered with annoyance. Her look of annoyance made the feeling in my gut that I had seen her before grow. Reaper answered happily enough.

“You’re the only one,” Reaper said.

“Then, yes,” I said.

Grace nodded, her frown not disappearing. River threw her cards down and stood from the table. Her blue eyes were serious and laced with secrets she wasn’t willing to share with the others.

“Got a minute?” she asked Reaper.

Reaper nodded, eyeing us apologetically. “Back to work. Do you mind?”

Daniel shook his head. “Clare can show us around.”

“My home is your home,” Reaper said extravagantly.

He walked away with River at his side, headed toward the stairs.

“Missed my little workout buddy,” King said to me as he placed his cards on the table face up. The others in the group groaned as he collected the pot. “Are these the friends you were looking for?”

“Some of them, yeah,” I said.

“What’s with the squirt?” he asked eyeing Spider questioningly.

“Squirt?!” Spider was indignant. “I’m not the nickname women give your private parts, dude. Name is Spider. Learn it.”

Daniel was nervous, obviously aware that our crowd wasn’t the sort of people regular people went around making angry, but I knew King better than that. He started laughing, his neon eyes filling up with respect. Not many humans, who knew what a Watcher was, would dare be so bold.

“I’ll have you know that particular nickname is ‘Tiny,’” King said.

“Maybe you shouldn’t admit that to people,” Spider pointed out. “What are you guys playing?”

King’s eyes turned sly. “Five card draw. Want to sit in?”

“I’ve never played…is that okay?” Spider asked.

I hid my smile. Spider was about to con them like they had never been conned before. It wasn’t just from the way his green eyes were suddenly full of sharp knowledge. I knew Spider would never ask to sit in on something he didn’t know how to already do.

“Oh, sure,” King said. “I’ll even give you some money to start your bet with.”

“Thanks, man, that’s super cool of you,” Spider said.

“I’ll finish showing you around, if you like,” Preacher offered, adding his cards to the deck and handing the deck to Ghost.

The one Reaper had introduced as Quinn also got up as Preacher stood, but it wasn’t to lead us around. He shook his head in irritation and walked off, not bothering with an explanation. I watched him go, wondering what his problem was. It felt rather personal.

“Sure,” Alex agreed, also watching Quinn’s exit.

Preacher took us through the school, introducing us to so many people I lost track. Alex had a million questions. She asked him about the generals, learning more about the ten than I had in two weeks – the others we hadn’t met yet were named Elizabeth and Moira – and then she moved on the organization as a whole.

“How do you manage to keep doing what you’re doing and not have the others attack this school? It seems like you have a pretty fluid population, certainly this place is no secret,” Alex said.

“Most people think this is a safe house, that we are a peaceful operation offering safety only. Lorian, Darian, and Marcus think of us as a low ranking criminal organization that is too busy being wild to focus on the war. They think we have no interest in the war, beyond not being involved. Those we allow in to the Saints as members know to keep their mouths shut. Even then, a lot of them stay focused on the activities that keep us financially afloat. And honestly, we’re not much of a threat. The others like to think we’re saving the world, but it’s going to take more than what we have to accomplish what we want to accomplish. Reaper is an able leader, but our resources are limited. If Lorian, Darian or Marcus wanted to come down on us, they would win. Extracting King from Lorian’s was difficult enough…we couldn’t attack directly, only provide a diversion. We were lucky to get him out.”