“You said you were gonna sell it. Did something happen to the Prim?” Miku asks.
“Well…kind of.”
“Go on,” Rio pushes.
“Well, here’s the thing…”
I don’t know what he’s about to say but I have a feeling I’m not gonna like it. And judging from the expression of the face of the others, I’m not alone.
“Tony, spit it out,” Ameana orders.
“A couple of Demons and a Pawn broke in here and took it. I came in just as they were leaving.”
“The Prim is gone?” Miku says incredulously.
“Yeah.”
“How did they even know about it?” I ask.
“The Pawn must have told them,” Tony concludes.
“And who told the Pawn?” Ameana snaps.
“That would be me. I told some people at the market. He overheard,” Tony confesses.
“Why would you do that?” Rage asks.
“It’s not everyday a Seller makes a working master key. Prim is my legacy. This is the stuff that makes history. I want credit for my creation.”
“Does this mean the Sage has it?” I ask, fearing the reply.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure he sent them to come and get it.”
“What could he do with it?” Rio wonders.
“Every single gate, shield, or lock in the Angel world uses some kind of pattern. So he would be able to unlock just about anything,” Tony adds remorsefully.
“So, if he wanted to, he could use the Prim and unlock the shields that protect the entrances of our camp?” Jay asks.
“If he has the Prim, your camp is an open door for him.”
“That’s great, Tony. Good job,” I snap bitterly.
“Hey, I have done some good,” he says sounding very hurt.
“We have to stop the Sage from getting his hands on it,” Ameana tells me.
“How do we know he hasn’t already?” Rage asks.
“You can ask the Pawn that came in the shop with them,” Tony suggests.
“You know where he is?” Ameana asks.
“That’s what I called you over to see. I caught him. The others got away but I caught the Pawn with a Holder,” Tony brags.
“Where is he?” I ask.
“He’s in the back,” Tony replies.
We head towards the back room and find a kid of about sixteen, held captive under the bubble like prison. He has dark eyes and a scar above his right eye.
As we walk into the room, Tony looks up at me and smiles smugly.
“See, helpful,” he says proudly.
I shake my head and free the Pawn from the Holder.
“Yeah, you better let me go,” he says venomously.
He looks around the room to see if he could somehow escape.
“Does the Sage have the Prim by now?” I ask.
“Screw you!” He says as he spits on the floor.
“Why would the Sage send you? You’re just a Pawn,” Ameana asks.
“Yeah, that’s just like you Angel bastards. You look at me and all you see is a lousy human. But things won’t be that way for long. Godfather welcomes and loves us all. He didn’t send me; I wanted to serve him. I’m not just a Pawn, I’m a Believer.”
“You really think the Sage is going to look out for you?” I ask.
“Better than you guys ever did. I overheard Tony Tone bragging at the market about the master key he created. I told some Demons and the Godfather set this up. I came along so that he knows how dedicated I am.”
“You’re an idiot; he doesn’t care about you,” Miku replies.
“Your words have no effect on Believers. We know the truth; we owe everything to Godfather and his version of an Angel-free world.”
“You’re going to tell us what he plans to do with the master key,” I instruct him.
“You wish, Guardian,” he says confidently.
“Okay…” I reply.
I signal to Ameana and she lifts him into the air and slams him back onto the ground, hard. He cries out as his body hits the floor. I go over to him, look in his eyes and reflect his fear back to him.
He screams and wiggles around in pain for several seconds. I ask him if he’s ready to talk and he says no. I reflect back to him a few more times and, as much pain as the Pawn is in, he refuses to give us any information.
This is why I really hate Pawns: it takes twice as long to get anything out of them because they know we can’t take their lives. If I reflect any harder on him, it’ll kill him. And while the Council is no longer here, killing someone with a soul is still wrong.
Jay Glides over to him and warns him that things are about to get worse. The Pawn just laughs.
Jay grabs his left arm and snaps it out of its socket. The cry that comes from the Pawn is very much like a wounded animal.
“Are you ready to talk?” I ask.
“Fuck you.”
Jay puts more pressure to the already pain-filled arm. The screaming continues. Rage asks Ameana why Jay can’t Convince the Pawn to tell us what he knows. She informs him that Jay can’t make people give away their secrets.
Finally, shaking and bleeding on the ground, I tell Jay to let the Pawn go. I look down at him and ask him why he’s willing to suffer for the Sage.
“Godfather promised all of us a better life. All we have to do is get rid of you Angels and we can have all the power we want.”
“You really think the Sage is going to share his power with you? He’s just using you.”
“There’s a reason for all he does. Believers don’t question. We just have faith and we do as he says.”
“You guys aren’t gonna win. We’ve already gotten rid of more than half of the Sage’s army,” Jay reminds him.
“You will never truly be rid of us. Believers aren’t all out in the open. We move covertly. You’ll never know where Godfather has placed us. We are everywhere. An army of Believers that are determined to eradicate you winged mistakes.”
“We can torture you to death, is that what you want?” I bluff.
He laughs despite the pain.
“You think I became a Pawn yesterday? You can’t kill me, Guardian. I have a soul,” he says, with smug satisfaction.
“You’re right. We can’t kill you,” I reply.
I look over to the back of the room where Rage stands in the shadow.
“But, he can,” I say signaling for Rage to come forth.
As soon as he sees Rage’s ink colored wings flap in the air, the Pawn urinates on himself.
“You can’t let him…no, that’s not fair,” The Pawn pleads.
“I’m only going to ask you this once more. Then, I’m gonna let the Akon have some fun,” I reply.
The Pawn can’t take his eyes away from Rage.
“How is the Sage planning to use the Prim? Is he going to use it to try and unlock the shields that lead into our camp?”
The Pawn tries to talk but no words come out of his mouth. Rage summons up a power ball in the palm of his hand. It dances dangerously close to the Pawns face. I signal to Rage that he can kill the Pawn. Rage raises his flame filled hand high in the air.
“Okay, okay,” The Pawn says.
“How is he planning to get into our camp?” Rage shouts.
“H-h-he’s n-n-not using the Prim to get in; he’s using it to get something out.”
“What?” Rage orders him to reply.
“I don’t know. I swear,” The Pawn cries.
“We need to go back to the field. Winter might know what The Sage is planning,” Ameana replies.
“You’ll never be able to stop us. Long live Godfath—”
The Pawn never gets to finish the sentence because Rage’s power ball engulfs his face and sets him on fire. In a matter of seconds, the Pawn has been reduced to ash.
“Yo, for real, did you have to kill him?” Jay asks.
“Um…yeah, I kind of did,” Rage replies.
“Yo, you sure know how to pick’em,” Jay qui
ps as he walks by Ameana.
“Tony, you’re coming with us,” I order.
I now see that we have to watch him. Who knows what other kinds of trouble he can get into.
And we may need him to help us keep the Sage out of our camp.
“Okay and because this was my fault, you guys get up to twenty percent off anything in the store,” he announces.
“We don’t need to buy anything form you, Tony,” I remind him.
“Some of you have already,” he mumbles.
“What?” I ask not sure I heard him right.
“Nothing, nothing. I’m ready. Let’s go.”
Once we get back to the battle field, Rio goes to find Winter and the rest of us head straight for the command center. There, we find Dalce and his daughter, in addition to a Quo soldier who’s gathering supplies to restock the infirmary.
“We need to talk,” I declare as soon as I see him.
“What is it?” Dalce replies.
“According to a Pawn, the Sage is planning to set something free. Do you have any idea what it could be?”
“No.”
“Look, Dalce, we are too close to winning this thing to drop the ball now. So if you know something, now is the time,” Ameana warns him.
“You have no reason to distrust me.”
“Funny, it feels like all I have are reasons,” I quip.
Frustrated, I order Tony to the infirmary to help and send others back to the battle field. Then I head off in search of Winter. She may know what the Sage is planning.
I find Winter and Rio sitting on the edge of a cliff together. Judging from Winter’s body language, she’s having a hard time.
I want to interrupt them but I know Rio wanted to get some time alone with her. And I know all about wanting time with someone and not being able to get it. I think in the time that I’ve known Emmy, we’ve been alone a total of five minutes.
Great, I have to be nice to the guy who tried to kill me. Sometimes I hate this job…
“I have info about the Sage, but it’s not much,” Winter says, looking out across the mountain range.
“Then, it can wait,” Rio replies.
“Does Marcus think so?”
“I don’t know what he thinks. I came to check on you.”
“Why?” She asks.
“I thought you might need…I don’t know.”
“I don’t need anything, thank you,” she says curtly.
“Look, don’t listen to what everyone says. Uri is the one who lied; you just fell for him. Then, when you found out he was taken, it was too late. You were already head over heels. It happens.”
“Wow, that’s a nice little story you’ve written for me. Do I get the final edit?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your story is fiction, Rio.”
“What part?” He wonders.
“The part where I didn’t know he was married.”
“Oh.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you find a way to justify my behavior.”
“You don’t have to be so snippy. I came here to help you,” he responds.
“You came here because you needed something to make you feel better about falling for a girl who could commit such a hideous act.”
“Wait a minute. Why are you jumping on my case?”
“You came here to make yourself feel better,” she challenges.
“That’s not true.”
“Yes, it is. Well, I can’t help you. Because the truth is, the girl you’re starting to have feelings for is an awful person.”
“Who said I have feelings for you?”
“I don’t need powers to see when a guy likes me.”
“You’re delusional.”
“Maybe, but I’m not wrong about this,” she maintains.
“Fine, maybe I do have feelings for you. So what?”
“So stop.”
“Just like that?” He asks.
“Yes.”
“Because, you’re an awful person?”
“Exactly.”
“You think you’re the only one who’s done stupid, unforgivable things?” He counters.
“What are you saying, Guardian? You’ve broken up a marriage before?”
“No, but I’ve done things that were awful,” he confesses.
“Like what? Crossed against the light? Had a few too many bottles of Coy?”
“I left my friend alone to die.”
She looks at him, shocked.
“That’s not true,” she concludes looking into his eyes.
He meets her stare. She can tell he’s being serious.
“What happened?” She asks.
He tells her what happened in West Virginia on the bridge.
“Wow…why did you leave him there?” She asks.
“I thought I did it because he took way the girl I loved. Or because I resented him being chosen as leader. But those aren’t really the reasons. The real reason I left Marcus to die is far darker…”
“Tell me,” she says.
“I can’t. Then you’ll know.”
“Know what?” She wonders.
“How broken I really am.”
“Rio, I pursued Uri because of the way he made Angela smile. I wanted that smile. Angela’s smile seemed to be almost magical. And I thought if he could make me smile like that, maybe it would be enough to fend off the loneliness.”
“Did it?”
“The first few times, yes. But when you’re with someone’s love, you’re on borrowed time. I knew he was starting to regret cheating on her; our time was nearly done. But I fought to keep him because he was the only thing that stood between me and the abyss.”
“Why didn’t you get someone else?”
“Somewhere along the way, he became more than a weapon to ward off isolation. I started to love him. He, on the other hand, was with me because he was deathly afraid he’d committed to Angela too soon. But the more time passed, the more certain he was that he only wanted her. So, while he was falling for his wife, I was falling for him.”
“How did it end?” Rio asks.
“He started to enjoy the hold he had on me. It was an ego boost, I guess. In a weird way, I think he needed me to need him. We were both playing games. And one day…he stopped playing.”
“Are you still lonely?”
“It’s better now,” she replies.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t fight it anymore.”
“Winter, the last guy in your life can’t be the last guy in your life. You should make room for…someone new.”
“And who wants to date the broken?”
“I left Marcus to die because I wanted to teach the girl I loved a lesson. I wanted her to grieve, to be inconsolable. I wanted to make her hurt just like she hurt me.”
“Wow, you are a horrible person,” she confirms.
“I regretted my actions instantly, but I did it, so I guess we’re both…broken,” he says miserably.
“I guess so,” she says, smiling warmly.
A few moments later, Winter turns to Rio and speaks with a forced causal tone.
“So, you still feel something for this girl?”
“No, not anymore.”
“Oh.”
“What about you and Uri?” He asks.
“No, it’s…over.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
They exchange a heated gaze.
Finding out why Rio left me on the bridge didn’t have the effect I thought it would. Instead of being pissed, I’m actually feeling sorry for him. I didn’t think he loved Ameana to that extent.
When Emmy was with Lucas, it was brief but I planned many ways to kill him in my head. They were all painful and very un-Angel like.
Yes, but I didn’t actually do it. Rio actually left me on the bridge to die…
No matter what I feel about the situation with Rio, once again, we don’t have time to get into it. I interrupt the two and we head back to the comman
d center, where Dalce and Bianca are waiting.
I summon the rest of the team from the battle lines.
Miku comes in, soaked in blood, wearing a goofy smile. I’m guessing she really enjoyed her last kill. Jay looks worn out but he assures me that he’s fine. Ameana doesn’t have a hair out of place, although I’m sure she’s been fighting. Rage watches protectively over her. I call Elle to check on Emmy before we start; there is no change.
C’mon, baby, please wake up…
I force myself to keep it together and stay focused. We ask Winter for an update.
“I really don’t have a lot, I’m sorry to say. Sage continues to act strangely. Like I said before, it’s like he knows something we don’t. Something that will somehow swing things back in his favor.”
“Winter, we need more. He sent Demons to go to Tony-Tone’s shop to get Prim; a master key that can open any gate or lock. A Pawn told us he wanted to set something free. Do you have any idea what that things is?” I ask.
“No, but last night he did send his best Demons on an errand. I couldn’t follow without being noticed. But I was able to hear some of their conversation. He’s sent them to the Black Sea.”
“What? Are you sure?” Dalce asks, clearly frightened.
“Yeah, I’m positive.”
“What is it?” I ask.
“No, no, no Sage is not crazy. He wouldn’t do it. He just wouldn’t do it,” Dalce says muttering to himself as he paces back and forth.
“He wouldn’t do what?” Ameana asks.
“No, no, no… It can’t be. It just can’t,” Dalce continues to mutter.
“Daddy, is the Sage going to set them free?” Bianca asks, terrified.
“No, he’s not crazy,” Dalce replies.
“Yes, he is. He wants all the power he can get and he will do anything to get it. Now, what is going on?” Jay demands.
“The only thing in the Black Sea that’s of any importance is the City of Tess,” Dalce replies once again going into his own thoughts.
“Hey! What’s so special about the City of Tess?” I bark.
“It’s a city we built, but kept under glass. You can’t see it unless you know it’s there. But it is.
And is holds them prisoner.”
“It holds who prisoner?”
“The Goumy.”
As soon as the words come out of Dalce’s mouth, Rage turns to me with an emotion I’ve never seen on his face: fear.