The Artful (Shadows of the City) (20 page)

I was walking around with this foolish notion of being a hero and of getting a hero’s due. Yet there I was, about to be killed by people who understood how the world worked. All that time I spent trying to run away from Dodger’s shadow, taking for granted what we had―true unconditional friendship. As Adam brought the blade up over his head, ready to snuff out my life, I thought once more about Dodger and hoped he would be okay

I shut my eyes tight and waited for death.

There was a loud bang. And the weight of the world fell on top of me.

thought the scream was mine at first, no matter how feminine it sounded. A weight fell on top of me, and I thought it was Adam snuffing the life out of me. Warm liquid spilled across my chest and arm. Blood. I feared it mine. At least I didn’t feel anything. Thank goodness for small miracles. I waited for the darkness to overcome me, welcoming me into the afterlife. But then I heard Dodger’s familiar voice.

“Back off, assholes! Twist, no time for panic. We have to go.”

I opened my eyes. Adam’s lifeless face was inches from mine. The blood was pouring down his face, trickling onto me from a small hole on the side of his head. I looked around as I struggled from under him. Dodger stood a couple of feet away from us, holding a smoking gun in his shaking hands. He wore the robes of an Angel, the hood pushed back to reveal his face. He had a distant look, and his skin was paler than Adam’s dead flesh. I kicked the body off, and Eve was quickly at its side, emitting a mix of cries and screams. I almost felt bad for her.
Almost.

“Angels! Kill those bastards!” she yelled, pointing a condemning finger at us.

I ran to Dodger’s side. He still held the gun, but he wasn’t aiming it at the other two Angels. They stood frozen, surely under the impression that he would shoot them, but coming up closer to him, I realized his eyes weren’t exactly seeing anything.

“Dodge,” I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. He flinched, looking at me as if for the first time. “You saved me!”

“We… we have to go!” he said, still not moving. I took the gun from his hands and aimed it at the two remaining Angels. My actions seemed to pry Dodger from his trance, like the gun was a curse that I had just lifted. He blinked a couple of times, trying to clear his head, and looked at me with a half-grin. “I need to start keeping track of all the times I save your behind.”

“You killed him!” Eve glared at us, still holding Adam’s limp head in her bloodied lap. “You killed him! I swear to God I will make you pay!”

“Please,” Dodger said, as I started pulling him toward the door. “No need for clichés. I know, I know, you’ll make it your life’s work and all, etcetera, etcetera.”

We began running with no sound of pursuit. The only thing that followed us was Eve’s anguished screaming. I had precious little time to appreciate not being chased before the sounds of heavy boots echoed throughout the corridor.

“Which way?” Dodger yelled from behind me.

“I’m not sure. I followed her here, and, even so, the way we took only leads deeper into the cathedral. We need to get out, not in.”

“Wait!” Dodger grabbed my arm. “This way, I remember now.” He led me down a corridor. We went in silence, making turn after turn. At first, I feared we were just running in circles, I was about to protest as much when we came out into the open. We were in the grand hall, where a shattered chandelier lay. I was about to ask what happened, but he didn’t stop and ran on toward the exit. The doors burst open under his weight, and the welcoming night air greeted us. As luck would have it, the doors swung open with such force they knocked one of the outside guards out cold. The other one barely had time to register what was happening before Dodger punched him in the jaw, putting him to sleep.

“I can’t believe we made it out!” I said, happy to see the night sky again. Dodger, however, was bent over at my side, violently throwing up until there was nothing left but dry heaves.

“Jeez, man,” I said. “Are you okay? We have to get out of here.”

“Yeah, just give me a second.”

Looking behind us, I saw Angels running into the hall from all sides. “We don’t have a second, come on!” I pulled him by the arm and ran down the stairs, two at a time. Once we made it to the sidewalk, a whole army of Angels had come down the stairs, followed by Eve. Dodger looked at her, and, for a second, I could swear I saw remorse in his eyes.

“Move it!” I yelled, and we took off down the street.

No question about it, we were completely screwed. We were behind enemy lines and outnumbered, and Dodger wasn’t in good shape. We tried our best, ducking through alleyways and hiding in every dark corner we could find, but it seemed like, after every turn we made, another Angel was waiting for us. I found the more we maneuvered, trying to lose our assailants, the further into Angel territory we went. We needed to get to the train station and fast; they weren’t out to capture us anymore. This was blood for blood.

We stopped and leaned behind the cover of a building; I peeked out around the corner. “I told you not to come for me,” I said halfheartedly. In all actuality, I was glad he came, but I needed to keep us both distracted.

“Yeah, you definitely had everything under control.”

“Come on, man, no time for a break. We’ll rest when we get to the station,” I grumbled as he struggled for breath, leaning on the wall and sliding down to a sitting position.

He looked up at me and shrugged. “Do you really think we can make it? We are a bit outnumbered, if you didn’t notice.”

“We just have to get underground. We can lose them on our turf.”

He had that faraway look again that worried me. I knelt down next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You okay, man?”

“Tired, I guess. I… I killed him…”

“Yeah, he totally deserved it though. You saved my life.”

“I know. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I just… I can’t believe how easy it was. Bam! And just like that, he was dead… I did that. I took his life.” His eyes were looking at me, but I could tell he wasn’t seeing me
. Was he seeing Adam’s empty eyes?

“We can’t think about that now. If we get caught, it would have been for nothing. Check it out.” I pulled out one of the antibiotic boxes. “I got the stuff; we just have to make it back.”

“Yeah. Yeah, we should get going.”

We both got to our feet and peeked around the corner, the coast was clear. “Okay,” I said. “We have about three blocks to the station.”

“And over an avenue.”

“So, how ‘bout Plan B?”

He nodded his head. He wasn’t in a good way, but I had no choice. We couldn’t sit around talking about it. So I took off, and thankfully he followed.

Angels, they fought with swords. It had something to do with tradition, and the fact that heavenly Angels used only swords. They were honorable weapons. Frankly, who gives a crap? I was only happy for the fact that the ten or so Angels running after us had no projectile weapons or means of hurting us, unless they got right in our faces. It was officially a sprint to the finish line. We gave up on hiding and took to speed, hoping to outrun them. My heart skipped a beat when the station entrance came into view. It wouldn’t be long now. We were almost home free. We ran down between parked cars and threatening buildings, doing our best to stay clear of either side of the street to avoid potential ambush. I felt naked; we were so vulnerable, completely out in the open.
Only a block left.

Whatever hope I had was quickly put in its place. As we reached the station, a group of Angels shuffled out, then another group from our left, and one more from our right. They casually walked toward us with a thick air of confidence. I started backing up, until the sounds of approaching boots reminded me of the group chasing us. I looked over at Dodger, who unceremoniously plopped down onto the ground. We were screwed.

“We got to get out of here,” I whispered to Dodger, desperately searching for a quick exit.

“No point,” he said, seemingly not interested in the approaching Angels. “We aren’t getting out of this one; I don’t think I should either.”

“Come on, man, snap out of it!”

The Angels who had originally been chasing us stopped in their approach, and the others flanking us followed suit. There was an eerie silence; I almost expected a bush of tumbleweed to blow on by. Like the Red Sea, the Angels all parted down the middle, and Eve walked toward us. Even from this distance, I could tell her face still shone with tears. She wasn’t the same wild-eyed girl I met earlier. Now she had a cold, hard determination to her. She aimed all her animosity toward us, mostly at Dodger.

She came within feet of us. “You stupid son of a bitch!” she growled. “I am going to make the remainder of your life, as short as it will be, a living hell.”

“He was going to kill you!” I shouted.

“That was my business, not yours!” she shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Dodger, who just stared up at her.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, tossing the gun at her feet.

“What?” This seemed to enrage Eve even more. “Sorry? Sorry! Sorry won’t bring him back, now will it?”

Dodger began coughing a loud dry cough. Once he regained composure, he wiped his mouth and sighed. “Listen, sister. You gonna walk the walk or talk the talk?”

“I am going to wear your skin as a―” Her proclamation of doom was cut off by familiar sounds.

“Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!” We all looked around for the source; the chant seemed to be coming from all around us. A barrage of rocks, spears, and arrows soared through the air. They came from to the surrounding buildings. Little faces peeked out behind open windows, and roof tops. The dirty little faces of Runts!

“Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!” they yelled as they let hell rain down on Angels. Taken by surprise, the Angels ran and ducked for cover, trampling each other as they hastily avoided missiles. Bodies dropped all around us as spears and arrows buried themselves in soft flesh. Jagged rocks and small bricks knocked others unconscious. It was pure anarchy, yet Eve still stood over us, unfazed by her dwindling army. “This isn’t over,” Eve pulled out a knife and pointed it at Dodger. “Blood for blood!” The moonlight reflected off the dull silver blade. I had no time to think. Before I could piss myself, I heard the echoing thunder of a gunshot. The knife fell down at my feet; Eve lay on the ground, holding her bloodied arm. Everyone froze, looking around for the source of the shot.

“The only one making his life miserable is me, bitch!” Gia walked out from behind the subway entrance. She was a sight to see, wearing a leather jacket with black plants that were tucked into armored boots. The ornate spear was strapped on her back. Most importantly, she held a rifle trained on Eve’s fallen body. She was goddess come to save the day.

“Now that’s hot,” Dodger said, before collapsing on the ground.