Cole
Icould hear the explosions in the distance from the battle raging at the Fallen Saints’ headquarters. Such a battle did not need to be won in the traditional sense of the word. We only needed them to divert enough forces from Lucius’ house for us to kill him.
On the drive over, I felt focus unlike anything I had felt before. Nothing entered my head. No emotions were felt. I had truly become something of a machine, programmed for the sole purpose of infiltrating, killing, and escaping. And even then, if I managed to only accomplish the first two objectives, there was something to be said for a happy ending.
We pulled off the last main busy street and into the neighborhood housing Lucius’ mansion. Although he lived behind a gate that would separate him from the rest of the houses nearby, his neighborhood was actually pretty massive. Based on our previous reconnaissance, if we disembarked at the entrance of the neighborhood, we’d still have to walk nearly three-quarters of a mile before we got there.
But to get any closer risked blowing our cover, and so we found a dark part of the entrance, pushed our bikes over there, and dismounted.
“You guys know the deal,” I said in a loud whisper. “We move in, we kill Lucius, and we get out. Nothing else—”
“There she is!”
We froze when we heard first the sound of an angry man, and then someone running and... luggage wheels grinding on the street? It was hard to say exactly what that was, but the sound pulled me out of my focus and triggered the protective feelings I’d had all my life. Gone was the machine intent on killing; someone was in danger, and I needed to help.
I ordered Patriot and Phoenix to follow me, and we headed into the street. Under a lamppost about fifteen feet away, a woman—I recognized her, even if I couldn’t place her—ran in a full sprint, carrying some sort of airport luggage with her. And then, half a second later, the sound of a motorcycle revved to life.
“Fallen Saints,” Patriot muttered under his breath.
“Go for the kill?” Phoenix asked.
“Yes,” I said.
I didn’t care that we were in a semi-public space and likely to blow our cover. I remembered now—I knew that woman from the funeral, and though I didn’t know anything more about her, if the Fallen Saints were chasing her, that was good enough reason to protect her.
“Hey!” I roared.
I raised my rifle.
“Get down on the ground!”
The woman almost literally collapsed straight onto the asphalt beneath her. When she fell, two Fallen Saints came into view. To my surprise, though, neither of them had their guns drawn; both of them simply rode their bikes, as if intent on kidnapping, not killing, the woman on the run.
I saw their mouths open wide, likely at the realization of what they had just run into. I saw their hands start to reach to their hips, trying to grab their guns. But I never saw them move again, because Phoenix and Patriot fired with precise aim, killing both of them. Their motorcycles skidded to the sides of the road, careening into the ground and sending the corpses tumbling.
“Go take care of the bodies,” I said. “I’ll check in on the civilian.”
Phoenix and Patriot ran ahead as I holstered my weapon and approached the young woman. She was still on the ground, hands over her face, protecting herself from the dangers of the night. And who could blame her?
“Are you hurt?” I said.
She peeked up at me, just barely lifting her face. And when she saw me, she gulped, sat back on her ass, and scooted back.
“You’re... you’re with the Black Reapers, aren’t you?” she said.
She said the name as if we were a drug cartel who had come to behead her. I reminded myself that to the person who wasn’t a part of this world, there was probably a reason for that assumption; all the tattoos, beards, sunglasses, and hardass attitudes didn’t exactly win us any favors with the rich crowd of this neighborhood.
“Yes, I am,” I said. “But I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”
She looked over her shoulder, then back at me.
“I thought you would kill me.”
I scoffed.
“No, I’m only looking to kill one man,” I said.
“Who?”
