Galdoni (12 page)

“
He wants the complete
human experience, so why not let him have it?” the doctor
asked.

Nikko watched us both quietly.

“
Somebody’s paying for my
food, and I know money’s not easy to come by, so why not?” It made
sense the more I thought about it. “I don’t have any
qualifications, so I’ll probably have to work in fast food or
something to start.” The thought made me smile.

Dr. Ray replied with an answering grin, “I
don’t think you could hide those wings under a uniform.”

“
Yeah,” Jayce piped in.
“And I’m sure the laws about animals in restaurants’ll put a damper
on your interviews.”

“
Hey!” I said and he
chuckled.

Nikko gave a thoughtful frown. “You know,
they do need someone for security at the city center since they let
Bode go for spray-painting the library.”

“
He must have had an
overdue book he didn’t want to pay for,” Jayce replied. He laughed
at his own joke.

Dr. Ray groaned. Nikko rolled his eyes and
turned back to me. “But the job would be perfect. It’s night
patrol, and you could wear your coat. Plus, it’s only a few blocks
from here, so you could walk.”

It actually sounded promising. “I’d just
walk around and keep things safe?”

“
Exactly. I doubt they’ve
filled it yet and you’re more than qualified to handle a few drunks
wandering the grounds at night.”

Dr. Ray nodded. “I’m on the city council. It
shouldn’t be too hard to get you on. I’ll talk to Mr. Mason at the
security office. I’m sure we can swing something.”

“
Perfect.” My stomach
growled and I gave a half smile. “Did someone mention
dinner?”

Allie giggled from the doorway. Nikko and
the doctor left to the kitchen to help; my body still ached with
exhaustion, so I sat on the couch by Jayce.

After a few minutes of staring at the
ceiling, he turned to me with a slightly annoyed expression.
“What’d you have to go and do that for?”

Surprised, I stared at him. “What?”

He looked up at the ceiling again in mock
despair. “Why me?” He turned back to me and rolled his eyes. “Being
so gung-ho to get a job. You’re making me look bad!”

I fought back a grin. “I’m indebted to all
of you. You’ve kept my secret; it’s the least I could do. Besides,
I’ve never had a job. It sounds like fun.”

Jayce shook his head and settled more
comfortably on the couch. “You don’t owe us anything. You brought
Brie and Allie back safe. That’s more payment than all the money in
the world.” He glanced up and I followed his gaze. Allie peeked at
us from the kitchen door. I smiled and she jumped back out of
sight. Jayce nodded again. “More than enough. If you want a job for
the heck of it, go ahead. But remember, you’ve paid whatever dues
you feel you owe here.”

The thought made me smile. “Thanks.”

He pushed up from the couch and slapped my
shoulder as he went by. “Don’t mention it.” He paused. “And the
less you talk about the job, the better for all of us. Me
specifically.”

I laughed and he disappeared toward the
scent of food.

***

At dinner I caught Brie looking my way, but
whenever I met her eyes she dropped her gaze with a flush of
embarrassment. My thoughts were tangled after the bridge and then
rescuing Allie. I couldn’t fight the heaviness in the pit of my
stomach when I thought of the look on Brie's face when I realized
she expected me to kill her step-father.

I took a breath to calm my thoughts, then
called her name before she could leave with everyone else after
dinner was over.

She glanced at Allie who sat on the couch
with a pink stuffed animal puppy which she was wrapping in
different rags from the kitchen. Brie turned back to me and her
voice quivered. “Kale, I’m so sorry.”

The tears began to spill down her cheeks and
I forgot what I was going to say. I fought down the urge to dry her
cheeks with my fingers. “Brie, you don’t have to cry.”

She nodded and, wiping at her tears, pulled
a chair close and sat so that our knees touched. “Yes I do. I was
wrong about you, terribly wrong. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

I whispered the truth that pounded with my
heartbeat, “You could never hurt me.”

She met my eyes and hope and pain warred on
her face. “How could you forgive me? I thought you would kill him.
I thought-”

“
That killing my enemies is
so ingrained into who I am that I couldn’t control it?” I
finished.

She dropped her eyes and looked away. “I’m
sorry,” she whispered.

I shook my head and touched her hand. “You
saved my life, Brie. You helped me start over when I thought it
wasn’t possible. You believed in me.” She looked away but I brushed
her fingers with my own. “You make me better just by daring to be
near me.”

She looked back at me and the shadow of a
smile touched her lips. “You’re an amazing guy,” she said quietly.
She wrapped me in a hug and buried her face against my chest.

I ran a hand down her soft hair and closed
my eyes, taking in the scent of her flowery perfume. My heart
pounded and I wondered if she heard it. When she finally sat back
up, her face glowed despite the tear tracks down her cheeks. I
wiped them gently away with the backs of my fingers and she smiled
a soft smile that warmed my soul.

***

“
You’re the new kid Dr. Ray
sent over?”

I fought down a sudden rush of nerves and
nodded.

The man behind the desk glanced at the
papers in front of him. He was a head shorter than me but was stout
and solid in the shoulders. He wore a red hat with thick brown hair
poking out around the edges and had a nose that looked like it had
been broken more than once. His hands were strong with thick, beefy
fingers, and he twirled a nightstick as he read through the papers
like he knew how to use it.

“
Says here you’re from
California?”

I nodded. “Dr. Ray’s my uncle. I’m staying
with him to finish up the school year while my dad looks for work.”
The story Dr. Ray had come up with sounded false to my ears; I
hoped Mr. Mason didn’t catch it.

“
Times are tough,” he said
with an understanding nod.

I waited silently and watched his eyes run
down the paper, my heart pounding in my chest.

“
Says here you’re
proficient in martial arts.” He glanced up at me again. “We let the
cops handle the major stuff, but it’s good if you can take care of
yourself in sticky situations.”

I nodded and fought back a wry smile. “I can
take care of myself.”

He finished reviewing the résumé, then set
it on his desk and rose to his feet. “I’ll give you a two-week
trial; if things work out, you have a job.” He held out his
hand.

A feeling of relief washed through me and I
stood and shook his hand. “Thank you, sir. I won’t let you
down.”

He gave me a thoughtful look. “No, I don’t
think you will.” He held out the nightstick he had been twirling
along with a flashlight and a utility belt. “Put these on and I’ll
show you around.”

I followed him through the city grounds,
enjoying the easy familiarity he had with the buildings. He showed
me a few tricks, like where to look for students who wanted to hide
out and party, which locks were the most often picked, and where a
family of raccoons had made their home in the hollow of a tree near
the old city building. He tossed a few pieces of dried bread on the
ground at the foot of the tree and winked at me when a pair of eyes
peeked out, shining in the setting sunlight.

I appreciated the amiable silence while we
walked the beat. When we made it back to the main building, he
tossed me a spare set of keys to the grounds. “Good to have you
with us, son.”

***

Moonlight lit the grounds in a peaceful
glow, illuminating the buildings that lined the sidewalks like
watchful sentries. It was my third night of the watch; I had one
more tomorrow, then three off with the rotating schedule. I truly
enjoyed security duty. Walking the city center grounds at night was
like watching ghosts of the day’s commotion dance themselves out
through the shadows. I imagined I could still hear the laughter and
conversations that bounced between the great halls at noon, and see
the students sprawled out studying and families eating picnics on
the lawns. I wondered if the Arena echoed in the same way with the
cries of the dying; the thought made me somber.

The city center was made up of the new city
building, the new library, an old mill building that had been
converted into a museum, a handful of smaller buildings grouped in
one corner and preserved as the first settlers’ dwellings, the old,
towering city building for which the demolition plans kept getting
pushed back, and a three-story parking garage. It was a good-sized
beat checking doors and making sure no one was using the parking
garage to make out, and I enjoyed the solitary time to remind
myself what I was here for and to try to figure out a plan to stop
the Arena battles.

I turned the corner of the library in time
to hear a panicked shriek.

“
Stop, please!” The cry
came from the direction of the parking garage.

Memories flashed through my mind of brown
and white feathers drifting toward dirty cement. I put a hand
against the cool brick to steady myself. Healed wounds ached with
the surge of adrenaline that filled my body. I squeezed my eyes
shut in an attempt to close it out, but the cry sounded again,
filled with terror this time.

“
No, don’t!”

I shook my head to clear it, reminding
myself that this was a job and I was in charge. I pushed off from
the wall. Following the sounds, I ran around the corner, through
the alley between the city building and the old mill, and up the
ramp to the top level of the parking garage.

A lone truck sat in the garage just out of
reach of the lamp light. I crept through the dark around the edge
of the lot to the source of the commotion.

Two young men I recognized as seniors from
the high school had a girl pinned in the bed of the truck. Another
student jumped up into the truck beside her. “Hold still, honey.
We’re just havin’ a bit of fun.”

The other two students laughed
drunkenly.

“
Let me go, Bryce. This
isn’t funny.” She struggled and their grips tightened around her
arms. “You’re hurting me!”

“
Then stop struggling.”
Bryce reached down to caress her face and she turned away from his
touch. His jaw clenched in anger and he grabbed her
hair.

Fire filled my veins along with the
frustrated fury of that night not so long ago when I had almost
died saving another. I stepped into the circle of light. “Let her
go.”

The two students dropped her arms and backed
up in surprise. Bryce whirled and glared at me, his eyes flashing
with anger. “Get out of here.” He glanced at my nightstick and
flashlight and gave a mocking smile, “Security.”

“
Leave her alone,” I
growled.

The girl backed up in the bed of the truck
until she huddled in a corner near the cab. Bryce looked at her and
a dark chuckle escaped his lips. “You want in on this too, hot
shot?” he asked. He gave me a knowing smile.

Bile rose in my throat. “I don't want in on
anything. I want her out of it and you three miles from here before
the cops show up.”

Bryce's chuckle turned into a growl. “What
are you gonna do, tell on us? Cry to the police like a little girl?
You security guards can't stop us anyway. You're supposed to report
it and let the cops deal with it.” He said the last sentence in a
whiny sing-song tone that made my hair stand on end. He leered down
at me from the bed of the truck, confident in his superior
position.

By that time I had reached the truck. Rage
filled my chest and I couldn’t control it any longer. I reached
over the lowered tailgate and grabbed him just above the knees.

He cried out in surprise and made a lunge
for the side of the truck but I threw him with a twist of my
shoulders. He flew over the side and landed on the pavement with a
thud.

“
What the?” one of the
other students said in surprise.

I levered myself up into the bed of the
truck and they backed up near the girl. “Get on the ground.”

“
Okay,” the one on the
right squeaked before he scrambled down the side and backed up near
Bryce.

The second man took a step forward, his
knees bent. “You don't know who you're messing with.”

A surge of vicious glee rose in my chest.
“You don’t either.”

He lunged, attempting to catch me off
guard.

His shoulder caught me high in the chest,
but I had already sized him up and knew my center of balance was
lower than his. I grunted with the blow, and he barely moved me
back inches. He slugged at my stomach and I rolled to the left,
pulling his fist along. The force of both our efforts threw us off
and we fell over the side of the truck.

I rolled when I hit the ground and came up
with fists raised in time to block my own nightstick levered by
Bryce. I threw it to the side, jabbed under his raised arm and felt
his ribs give, then caught him across the jaw with a quick
left.

Bryce stumbled back, the nightstick
discarded between us. Footsteps announced an attacker behind me,
and a spin kick sent the first man who had jumped out of the truck
crashing back into its side. He crumpled to the ground with a
whimper.

The third student let out an angry growl. He
dove at me with his arms out like a linebacker attempting to drive
his opponent into the ground. I moved to the side at the last
second and elbowed him in the back with a simultaneous chop to the
back of the head. My foot caught his leg and he landed with a thud
on the pavement. He pushed up to his hands and knees and stared at
the ground like he wondered what had hit him. It would be so simple
to crush his windpipe or snap his neck. I had to fight the urge to
eliminate him as a threat. I shook my head to clear it of the
violent desires.