“The only one I have.”
“And you mean to accomplish what by this?”
“I’ll steal his heart and his soul will be mine. Everything. I want his everything. I’ll have it.”
“She’s his everything.”
“His job is his life. He lives for it. But the fierce archer? She makes him feel the light in the world when he’s surrounded by all darkness. Men like me, we touch him and make his life like ours, but in a different way. He fights against it, while we welcome it. And he doesn’t want his heart to get tarnished by the darkness. He doesn’t want his hope to get stolen by marauders like me.
“He and I both know that I’m the best at what I do. I can go beyond the physical and feel what means the most. He already gave her his heart to keep safe. To keep clean. Even though she has a tongue like a whip, she’s good, no matter how much she doesn’t want to be. She acts tougher than she is.”
“Have you ever loved a woman, Cashel?”
I tried to keep it down, but my laughter still boomed around me. “That’s the only thing we have in common, Father. Never. I’m committed to this life. You’re committed to yours. Funny enough, neither life leaves enough room for the love of a woman.”
He took a deep breath in and then released it slowly. “I’ve known you since you were a wee babe. As much wrong as you’ve done, you’ve never done this particular thing before.”
“Like I said, I knowwhoandwhen.Scott Stone. Now.He’s vulnerable. I know his crack, and I’ll slip in like a thief in the night and steal what he stole from me. His entire life.”
A noise echoed inside of the booth. It sounded like Father Flanagan had set his hand against the divider. “All you feel is hatred for Scott Stone. All you see is a way in to steal what he claimed as his. But you’re forgetting one thing, my son. You’re forgetting the innocent woman. What about her?”
“I remember her. Vividly. She’s already mine—in hatred and in love. You and I both know how close they are. You’re not capable of feeling one without having the ability to feel the other. Indifference is the cold bullet to all feelings. This archer, she hates me now, but her heart is as good as mine. Even if she fights me for it.”
“One thing to keep in mind,” he said. “A woman’s heart was designed with thievery in mind—it was designedso that it couldn’t be tampered with. Not even by the best marauder around. You turn the stolen key, or pick the lock, and it might be your heart she claims.”
I hadn’t come to seek advice. I came to confess. So I sat back, settling in, comfortable with the uncomfortable. “I didn’t come here to confess my plans to you, Father. I came here to confess my sins. Or in this case, sin. Through my own hatred, I’m going to use her. Even though it’s unfortunate, it’s not enough to stop me from doing it.”
“It never is,” he muttered. “It never was for Maraigh, either. But we’ll see what happens this time.”
“We shall see,” I said. “No one has proved me wrong yet.”
That was that.
* * *
Father Flanagan watchedas I walked down the street. He’d done it ever since I was a boy. Usually it was Killian and I together, come to say our penance and then off to act like little fools afterward. Father Flanagan used to say that he was surprised we could make it two steps from the church before trouble found us.
Make it a little harder for the devil, will you now, lads. The devil is fond of cheap dates.
Sticking my hand in my pocket, I whistled while I walked down the street, looking forward to my meeting with Harry Boy and family. Family, meaning his sister. I wondered if she was going to finally make good on her threat and punch me in the face, since her bow and arrow wouldn’t be allowed in my building. Despite my acceptance of death, I demanded to live long enough to taste the sweetness of revenge on my tongue.
As I passed a warehouse, I noticed two guys standing against it, smoking cigarettes. My eyes didn’t linger, but I took notice of them. Halfway down the block, them still trailing me, I stopped in front of another warehouse.
I turned, facing them. “What do you need, fellas?”
“You Cash Kelly?”
Remember—stupid questions. Still, I gave him a brilliant answer for it. “All day.”
“Our boss has a message for you.”
One of them stepped forward and punched me in the gut. It wasn’t hard enough to make me double-up, but the other one decided to land a blow to my nose before I could move. I shook it off, blood splattering in all directions. “You done?” I said.
They both grinned at me.
My fist flew through the air so fast that neither one of them had time to react. I crushed the guy’s nose that had broken mine. He cursed, and before he could go for his gun, I pulled mine and shot him point blank in the forehead.
I felt the pressure of a gun behind my head, and the other fella snatched my gun from my hand, taking it. “You’re going to die a coward, just like your old man. He was never needed here. Never. He came here from Ireland on a martyr’s cause—”
