The Artful (Shadows of the City) (22 page)

“Of course not. Whatever. My plan was simple; I was going to lower myself down from the skylight to the second level balcony. Hop the railing and keep it quiet until I found you. Unfortunately as I made my way down, the damn rope got tangled up in the chandelier. I couldn’t reach the balcony. But I kept trying until I finally got my fingers on the railing. I had to keep pulling at the chandelier to get more give on the rope. I thought I was going to make it, for a moment, until the railing broke and we both went tumbling down. The rope held though, so when the railing landed in the main hall and alerted the two Angels I thought I would be a sitting duck. Easy target practice, just flapping in the wind. Guess my knot wasn’t that good because next thing I know I’m free falling and I can hear the rope winding around the chandelier.

Right before I went splat, the knotting must have got caught or something cause I came to a hard stop. The Angels were still in shock from the fallen railing that had landed only feet away. Unfortunately, the rest of the rope came loose, dropping me right at their feet. I was laid out, looking up, thinking of something clever to say, but there wasn’t any time for pleasantries because the chandelier was somehow coming straight for me. I rolled over onto my feet and half-ran, half-crawled out the way, with the Angels on my tail. They would have caught me, too, if it wasn’t for the chandelier crashing onto their heads in an explosion of glass and metal.”

“I heard it even at the other end of the cathedral,” I said.

“The Angels were toast. One of the bodies landed right next to me. I didn’t want to, but I didn’t see much choice. I pulled the robe of his dead body, feeling a pang of guilt while I stripped him of his possessions, and wore it as my own. Voices came running into the grand hall. So, thinking on my toes, I yelled for help. Three Angels came in, two with their hoods up and the third with a fancy robe of gold symbols and his hair pulled back in a ponytail. He asked what happened, eyeing up the Angel whose robe I stole. I took a chance and said ‘We were keeping guard down here, Michael and I, good and proper. Then, all of a sudden, the railing comes tumbling down, and, before we had time to inspect the situation’―I pointed at the downed Angel wearing only his underwear and T-shirt―’this guy comes falling out the sky, he does. A second later the chandelier comes crashing down behind him. Took out Michael, shame… in’it?’

“Ponytail looks at me for a second, then up at the roof I asked if he thought someone was trying to break in. He told me to mind my business and get the mess cleaned up while he investigated. He told the other two to help; luckily they weren’t much for talking. They pulled the bodies out from under the wreckage and placed them aside. I felt bad. They died because of me, you know?”

“It wasn’t your fault. It was just dumb luck,” I said.

“Sure. Anyway, we were cleaning up for a while. It wasn’t the most annoying thing I endured that day. But it was annoying enough for me to curse you and the rest of your bloodline. My body was sore, I felt like crap, and now I was sweeping up glass and wiping blood. But right before I lost my mind, another set of marching feet came into the hall. I looked up to see this dude, braided hair and a bullet-proof vest. The way the other two Angels dropped to their knees told me it had to be Adam, so I dropped down too. Adam looked at the scene for a second before yelling at us to come with him. He didn’t even slow his steps, just kept walking, expecting us to follow. He led us through a side door, which went into a maze of corridors.

“We went on, until we reached an open garden. You pretty much know the rest; Adam had a hissy fit and went after you. I was trying to come up with a plan while you fought with them, but then something happened, you just gave up. You stopped struggling, like you were ready for death. Before I could realize it, I had the gun from the bar in my hands, its muzzle trained on Adam’s head. I don’t remember pulling it, or even thinking to pull it. A cold sensation ran through my hands, as if the gun itself was taking over my body, compelling me to use it. My mind felt numb. The muscles in Adam’s arm tensed. The blade was coming for you. The sound of the gun firing seemed so loud; I thought the world was crumbling.”

I told him everything that happened to me after we split up. He seemed to particularly enjoy the parts where I almost hooked up with Eve. “Here I am getting thrown out of windows, while you’re getting some. I can’t be mad at you; I’d do the same in your shoes.” He gave me a proud pat on the back.

I was shocked to find out all he went through. I thought I was doing the right thing leaving him behind, and yet I seemed to have put him in more danger.

“I’m sorry, is all I can say. I didn’t know it would turn into a crap show,” I said.

“Please, it’s all in a day’s work.” His smirk returned.

Throughout his whole story, he had a light-hearted attitude about him. When he brought up shooting Adam, he was no longer himself, becoming stiff and distant. All our years living the life we have, and neither of us had ever killed anyone. He refused to carry guns and knives for that reason. Dodger was by no means innocent, but it was like killing Adam destroyed what little he had. He stared out over the lake, lazily skipping pebbles; each stone created ripples across the surface that subsided as they reached us.

“Are you going to be okay?” I asked, too scared to hear his reply.

He just looked at me with empty eyes and shrugged.

“My head is killing me,” he said, getting up and walking away. “I’m going to get some sleep. We should head to Red’s first thing in the morning. I need to get whatever this is out of me.”

“Okay,” I didn’t know how else to help.

“Oh, and Twist, watch yourself around her.” He pointed at Gia. “Girls are only good for one thing, and that one isn’t even worth the hassle.”

“Dude, she saved us both!”

“Yeah, and I suppose I’m grateful for that. But she’s not worth the way you look at her. She might be cool but I’ll be damned if I let someone… break you.” He walked to some benches off further in the park. It didn’t escape me that they were far away from Gia and me. He stiffly lay back and went to sleep.

pon returning to Red’s tribe, we were met with a welcoming applause. Dodger still had trouble walking; his arms were draped around Gia’s and my shoulders as we marched into the circus of misfits. Some cheered, and others patted us on the back. We were each offered mugs of frothy beer within steps of entering. It helped to lift our spirits; even Gia’s uneasy caution was replaced with joy. Had they just assumed we succeeded in our mission? As if to answer my thoughts, we were met by Red’s inviting arms, Peter standing proud at her side.

“You guys finally made it!” he said, running over to shove Gia away and help support Dodger. “The Runts started showing up late last night. When you guys didn’t come back, I came here looking for you.”

“We had a long night,” I said, glancing over at Dodger.

“Jeez, Dodger.” This time Red came up to us and placed a hand on Dodger’s cheek. “You look like utter crap!”

“I feel ten times worse,” Dodger said.

“They said you were in bad shape. Let’s get you into bed.” Red motioned for a couple of guys to help and directed us toward the infirmary tent.

“Sorry, Red,” Dodger began as they led him away. “Not sure if I’ll be able to sleep with you, after all.”

“Oh, really?” Red shook her head with a smile.

“Well, actually, probably, I could. You’d have to do all the work though,” he said before disappearing into the tent.

Red came over to me with a look of anticipation, but, before she could speak, I nodded. Her face lit up with excitement. She threw her arms around me and held me in the tightest embrace.
Man, she smelled good.
I looked over at Gia in time to notice her roll her eyes
. That was a good sign,
right?
I pulled away from Red and gave her the antibiotics; she thanked me numerous times while we made our way into the tent. One of the nurses was trying to force Dodger to lie down while he commented on the size of her breasts. Even with the crimson flush coloring her burning cheeks, she managed to remain professional and slam his head down on the pillow with a frightening amount of force. Red walked over to her sleeping daughter’s bed, kneeling by her side and running her hand through her hair. She whispered something in her ear as another nurse came over.

I thought it best to give her privacy. Gia and I walked over to Dodger’s bed. He looked agitated and uncomfortable; he didn’t like being around the sick longer than he had to. Worse still, he didn’t like being in a hospital, tent or otherwise.

“Some reward, huh?” he said as the nurse lifted up his shirt, revealing welts and bruises all up and down his ribs and back.

“Jeez.” Gia came over and ran her hand along his side. “What happened to you?”

“Did a lot of running. Fell from the top of the cathedral. Chandelier almost fell on me…take your pick―ouch!” He yelled as the nurse pressed on his side, a little harder than she had to.

“You have some broken ribs,” the nurse said, checking his back and arm. “Your wrist might be sprained, too.”

“That’s okay, the only part of my body you’ll need to worry about is still a hundred percent―ouch!” She bent his wrist a little further than a healthy wrist should go.

Red came over, smiles from ear to ear. “I don’t know how to thank you guys; this means so much to me. And, jeez, Dodger, it looks like you went to hell and back for me. I’ll never be able to repay you.”

“Oh, give it a rest, sister.” We were all taken aback when Gia jumped in. “You damn sure better repay us. The deal was you tell us where Smith is so we can get Dodger his cure!”

“Whoa, calm down.” Red tried to rub the tension from Gia’s shoulder.

Gia shrugged her off. “These two morons nearly died doing a favor for you. In order to find out something from you that you should have frankly told them anyway! From everything I’ve come to know of Twist, he would have helped you anyway, and yeah Dodgy here”―she slammed her hand down hard on Dodger’s bruised shoulders, bringing out a string of curses―“might be the shadiest person alive, but he would have, too. All you had to do is tell them one bit of info to help save his life, and you used it to blackmail them. Everyone is acting all friendly like, but the honest-to-God truth is you’re a huge bitch!”