Chapter 10: Ace

My head pounded like a war drum, every beat of my heart sending pain pulsing through my temples. I groaned and reached up to rub my eyes.

But my hands were stuck, secured around the back of my chair with zip ties.

“Sir, he’s awake.”

I turned toward the sound. A man with tattoos down his arms stood next to Will.

“That’s good to know. I was beginning to think you had killed him with an overdose, Jeff.” Seth left the wall he had been leaning against and walked over to me.

“What’s all this?” My voice came out raspy.

“A precaution,” he said. “You have a reputation of being unpredictable, and I needed to get a hold of you for a job.”

“I just did one for you. The billionaire’s kid will be dead by the end of the day, and I expect the four thousand dollars you promised for his death.”

“Yes, the idea with the Skittles was clever, but the assignment was Firebrand’s so he’s the one who gets the money.”

“That’s not fair.” I hated sounding like a petulant child.

“Life isn’t fair, Spades.”

“Yeah, I think I’d know that better than anyone else.”

Seth sighed. “Tell you what, if you complete this next assignment, I will cover the expenses of your friend’s medical treatment.”

“How do you know about Dav—about Harley?”

“Do you want the job or not?”

The image of David lying on the bed drifted into my mind. Leaving him without care wasn’t an option.

“I’ll do it,” I said.

Seth smiled and gestured for Will to untie me. He did it with no particular gentleness.

I rubbed my wrists as I stood. “Who do I have to kill?”

“It’s a team assignment. You’ll receive the information at five thirty along with the rest of the assassins at the meeting point in the older part of town.”

“A team assignment?” I repeated. “I don’t work with others.”

“Then you better figure out how to cooperate fast. Believe me, you won’t be able to complete this on your own.” Seth looked to his team of bodyguards. “See him out.”

Will grabbed me by the waist and tossed me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I squeaked in surprise, an undignified noise I regretted when Jeff started chuckling.

“Let me down,” I snapped. “I can walk on my own.”

“Don’t get pouty, boy,” Will said. “You heard the boss. It’s just a precaution.”

I pitched forward to throw him off balance, but Will leaned in the opposite direction as he tightened his grip.

He threw me in the backseat of a car and slammed the door shut before I could escape. The lock clicked into place. There was a set of metal bars separating me from the front of the car.

I fell face first onto them when the car started moving.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Your house,” he said. “817 Cropper Road.”

I didn’t want near my house, especially when his intentions toward me were less than kind.

Will glanced in the mirror. “I don’t plan on killing you in your sleep if that’s what you’re worrying about. The boss made it clear he wants you alive for the time being. Besides, you’ll meet your end on one of these assignments. With luck, maybe it’ll be this next one.”

When the car pulled up in front of my house, I tripped over myself in my haste to get away.

Mother was home from her shift at the diner so I opened the door as quietly as I could and slipped off to my room.

“Get down here, Ace.” Mother’s voice made me jump. “I heard you come through the door.”

I trudged to the kitchen. “What is it?”

“Sit down,” she said.

“I’d rather not.”

Sitting down meant receiving a long-winded lecture that could last over two hours. I didn’t have the time.

“I said,” Mother repeated. “Sit down. That wasn’t an option.”

I dropped into the wooden chair opposite her.

“The school called today asking why you’ve been absent all week. I told them it was ridiculous because I saw you leave for the bus each morning. They replied saying that the attendance records show that you weren’t in any of your classes.” Her eyes narrowed. “Care to explain where you’ve been? And will I be hearing about any suspicious deaths in the news soon?”

I sighed. “You always jump to the worst conclusions, Mother.”

“I’m right, aren’t I? You were on a job.”

I studied the cracks in the dining table.

“You can’t stay in the Underground forever,” she said. “I’m thinking about your future. What you learn in school will help you in college and in your later career. I want you to have a stable life with a legal job.”

“I’d say the Underground’s stable enough. Rich people always have a vendetta.”

I looked at the clock. It was just shy of five o’clock. I’d have to hurry if I wanted to reach the meeting point on time.

“The Underground ruined my life,” Mother said. “I don’t want you to end up like me.”

I snorted. “Don’t worry about that. I don’t think I have the looks to be a prostitute.”

“You know what I mean. By the way, the school had your student monitor bring over the work you missed. You better get started if you don’t want to fall behind.”

“I can’t. I have to be somewhere in twenty minutes.”

“Another assignment?” my mother said. “Have you listened to a word of what I said?”

“David’s life is on the line. Genevieve doesn’t have the funds to pay for his medical expenses, but this assignment could provide the money we need.”

“I’ll handle the money,” she promised.

“And how do you plan on paying for everything? You’re working a minimum wage job!”

“I’ll scrape something together.”

I rolled my eyes. “Because that worked out so well before. There’s more at stake here than a birthday present. I won’t gamble with his life.”

My mother didn’t say a word.

I had wasted enough time. “I need to leave.”

She latched onto my wrist, but I shook her free and dashed for the door.

“Jacen Rostislav Griffin, if you leave this house, you can forget about coming back!” Her face was red and her lips pursed, but her eyes shone with tears.

I pushed down a surge of guilt. “I guess I won’t be coming back then.”

The taxi I took dropped me off at a bookstore halfway down Claremont Street. Gunshots came from the meeting point. I took out my knife, keeping the blade closed to avoid frightening pedestrians.

At least twenty assassins, and twice as many EAGLE agents, were at the antique shop. Seth was nowhere in sight, though he could have been a body on the ground or one of the lucky few who escaped when the agents arrived.

A gun flashed at the edge of my vision. Unlike the black shotguns carried by EAGLE agents, this one had a silver barrel.

Nicholas stood with his finger around the trigger, pointing the weapon at Hemlock’s back. I broke into a run, pushing past the mess of limbs, and tackled him to the ground. The bullet missed her by a wide margin.

He cursed, swinging a fist at my head.

The fight was dying down around us and it was not going in my favor. Agents overwhelmed the assassins, snapping handcuffs around their wrists and throwing them down with guns trained on their backs. I edged away from the scene.

“Don’t you dare.” Nicholas raised his gun. “You move and I’ll shoot.”

I flicked open my pocket knife, not that it would do much good. Nicholas stood out of my range while I was well within his.

“You wouldn’t do that,” I said. “You’re not a killer. I don’t think you’re keen on becoming one either.”

“You’re right. It’s sick, the way you throw away lives like they’re empty soda cans.” His voice was full of disgust.

“Straight from the mouth of someone who has never killed. Do you know what it’s like to hold life in your hands?” I said. “To crush it in your fist like a bug? It’s intoxicating to feel so powerful.”

“Shut up. Just shut up!”

His hands were trembling. He wouldn’t shoot me. Not even if I pressed my forehead against the barrel of his gun.

“Is it wrong to want to play God?” I asked.

Nicholas shook his head. “You’re a monster. How old were you when you first killed?”

“Six.”

I remembered it clear as day. My hands couldn’t wrap all the way around the knife. I had squeezed through a gap in the window to my target’s bedroom. When I slit his throat, I didn’t understand what I was doing. All I knew was that a man handed my mother a wad of green bills afterward, and she had given me one of her rare smiles that made me feel warm inside.

“Why did you come here?” Nicholas’s voice snapped me out of the memory. “Who were you going to kill?”

“I don’t know. The leader of the Underground gave the order, and I followed it.”

“Does everyone else blindly obey the leader or is that just you?”

I bristled. “I need money. My friend’s life is on the line.”

“And I thought you had control over life and death. Where are your godly powers now, Ace?”

“Hilarious. You’re a real comedian.” I took a step back.

“I didn’t say you could leave,” Nicholas said.

“We’ve established the fact that you wouldn’t shoot me. Lower the gun before your arms cramp up.”

“Wrong, we established the fact that I wouldn’t kill you, but a bullet lodged in your shoulder can be painful enough for you to wish you were dead. Besides, I think it’s in your best interests to listen to what I say. I can give you the money to help your friend.”

It sounded too good to be true. “What do you want in return?”

“EAGLE intercepted a message coming from the Underground,” he said. “I want you to decode it.”