Chapter 6: Ace

“We need to talk.” Nicholas looked more serious than a fatal wound.

“What for?” I asked.

He shook his head. “In private.”

“What about Mr. Coleman? It might be a study hall, but one of the strictest teachers in the school will hardly let us wander through the hallways during class.”

“I got permission. Mr. Coleman’s in a good mood right now because his daughter is visiting. Plus, I think he’s growing on me.”

Of course he was. Nicholas had a magnetic pull that drew both students and teachers. Even Bryce had admitted he was cool for a freshman.

“Are you coming or not?” Nicholas asked.

My curiosity got the better of me. Pushing in my chair, I followed him out the door. He led me through several empty hallways before stopping at a heavy wooden door. Nicholas fiddled with the handle for a few moments before the lock came undone.

Alarm bells went off in my head. David’s warning sprang to mind. I palmed my knife as Nicholas pushed open the door and flipped the switch.

We headed down a tiled hallway with flickering lights. A set of double doors stood at the end. Nicholas pushed past them too. We stood in a room piled with random objects. There were baseball bats, tennis rackets, and other sports equipment, alongside boxes with books, glass beakers, and test tubes. A clunky computer stood in the corner, covered in dust.

“What is this place?” I said.

“An old gym,” Nicholas answered. “No one uses it anymore except as a storage space. Alex called it a secret hideout.”

“While I’m flattered you deemed me important enough to bring here, what did you want to talk about?”

Nicholas took a deep breath. “I know you’re part of the Underground.”

My shoe scuffed against the floor.

I almost tripped. “How do you—”

“I’m going to ask you a few questions,” he continued, “and if you don’t answer them truthfully, I’ll turn you in to the police.”

I slapped on a taunting smile. “Something tells me you’ll rat me out to the authorities either way. It’s what a good little EAGLE agent would do.”

The look on his face was priceless. His eyes became perfect circles and his jaw dropped to the ground.

“That’s right.” I smirked. “I also have friends who give me information. Now, we’re going to head back to class and you are going to keep your mouth shut, unless you want me to hand you over to the Underground. Unlike EAGLE, the Underground isn’t held back by the law.”

I doubted Nicholas could provide them with much intelligence, but information was still information.

“You’re bluffing,” he said.

“Try me.” I crossed my arms, hiding the pocket knife in my hand. “I can kill you right now to save myself the trouble. Maybe when I’m done, I’ll do a blackout, just for the fun of it. Your mother, your father, your siblings, even your pets. Dead.”

Nicholas burst out laughing. “I’m sorry. Just the thought of you searching the ends of the earth for my nonexistent siblings and stabbing my dad’s rotted corpse wondering why he isn’t dying is…”

The rest of his sentence dissolved into laughter.

I felt a little insulted. “Perhaps your mother then. I could let you watch me slit her throat before I do the same to you.”

“Don’t you dare lay a hand on her.” There was no mirth in his voice now. “I’ll kill you before you do.”

“Big words from someone who sits behind a desk all day.”

Nicholas looked confused. “What do you think my job is?”

“I saw you writing a Playfair cipher the other day. You translate the coded information spies send back.”

“I’m not a codebreaker.” Nicholas launched himself at me.

I dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way.

He stomped on my hand, hard enough to break bone. I caught his heel before it could hit the ground and yanked him off balance. He did a half-flip in the air, landing back on his feet. Definitely not a move a codebreaker could do. I remembered his time through the obstacle course in gym class. It had beaten mine by two seconds.

Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t notice Nicholas approaching until pain exploded in the side of my head. Stars burst in my vision.

I flicked open my pocket knife. Nicholas paused at the sight of it. I swept his feet out from under him and lunged, knife aimed toward his chest.

He caught my arm and pushed back. We were at a standstill. Inch by agonizing inch, I brought the blade closer and closer to his heart.

But I had forgotten about his other arm. Nicholas slapped the knife out of my hand. It skidded along the floor and slid underneath the bleachers.

I cursed. My mother had given me the pocket knife, and I had used it to kill my first target. It was one of the few objects I had an attachment to.

But now was not the time to worry about it. Nicholas butted his head against my chest, knocking the breath from my lungs. I slammed my forearm down on his neck. He grabbed it and threw me over his head.

My head cracked against the gym floor. Nicholas grabbed my hand, about to break my fingers. I kneed him in the groin and he released me with a cry of pain. We wrestled on the ground, a mess of tangled limbs. Bruises formed along my spine.

I hooked my legs around his and flipped us over, pinning his arms under my knees.

Nicholas thrashed and fought as I closed my hands around his throat. I tightened my grip, arms shaking. Strangulation had always been one of my least favorite methods of killing.

Nicholas grew weaker. His thrashes lost power and his face turned purple. His eyelids fluttered like he was fighting to stay conscious.

No one had put up such a fight in a while. Most of my kills had been businessmen whose hired bodyguards barely glanced at a teenage boy. Nicholas, however, fought like he had had years of training. Paired with his knowledge in codes and strange charisma, the answer was clear.

Nicholas was a spy. I considered asking him what missions he had been on, if I had encountered him before, then decided against it. In order for him to answer, I would have to relax my grip. Besides, it wouldn’t matter once he was dead.

Footsteps came down the hallway. Whoever it was, they weren’t trying to be quiet. I released Nicholas as the door opened.

“Guys?” Alex said. “What are you doing?”

The scene must have looked suspicious. Our hair was messed up and our clothes disheveled. Bruises dotted my arms. We were breathing like we had run a marathon.

Nicholas coughed. “Ace and I heard Jefferson High has a wrestling team. We’re planning on trying out next year so we wanted to practice with each other first. As you can tell, I lost this round.”

“Dude, you should know better than to go up against the guy who defeated Josiah Sargon.” Alex grinned. “For future reference, there are mats you can wrestle on to prevent bruises. You two better head to class or John will mark you tardy.”

I stood up and held out a hand to help Nicholas to his feet. He crushed my fingers in his grip as he took it. I squeezed back just as hard.

“For who so firm that cannot be seduced?” John asked our class.

He was still wearing medieval garb. I wondered if he had ordered the costumes in bulk online. There was a new outfit every day.

“Othello?” Gregory guessed.

John shook his head.

“Hamlet?”

“Not quite.”

“Macbeth?”

“Nope.”

“Richard III?”

Another head shake.

“Julius Caesar.” I sighed. “Cassius says the line to Brutus.”

“And we have a winner.” John flashed me a smile. “Now, because of the school’s policy about having a certain number of grades each semester, we have to move up the project deadline. However, your English teacher is unwilling to relax the standards so I’m afraid you’ll have to get some work done on your own time.”

The class groaned.

“I know it’s not ideal, but it’s only three more weeks. At the very minimum, your group should have an idea for your project at this point.”

Alex and Lexi exchanged panicked looks.

“We need to meet up at someone’s house over the weekend to get work done,” Alex said once he finished speaking.

“Not mine,” I said.

The last thing I wanted to reveal to an EAGLE spy was where I lived. If the government came knocking, I wouldn’t put it past my mother to hand me in just for the bounty.

Lexi frowned. “And I’m staying with my grandma.”

“The one who bakes delicious cookies or the one who has a grudge against anything that breathes?” Alex asked.

“The one with the grudge.”

He frowned. “Shoot. And we can’t do my house either. I’ve got relatives coming over. That just leaves you, Nicholas.”

Nicholas glanced at me. “We can’t go to my house. My mom doesn’t like having too many people over.”

The excuse wasn’t up to his usual standard.

“Three isn’t that many,” I said. “Especially if it’s for a school project. Give me your phone and I can ask her.”

“There’s no need.” Nicholas rubbed his throat.

“Let him try,” Lexi said. “My mom always agrees when my friends ask.”

Alex nodded. “Mine too.”

I could have hugged both of them. Alex and Lexi had backed Nicholas into a corner. He couldn’t get out of it without contradicting what he already said.

Nicholas pulled his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it with his thumbprint. He glared daggers as he thrust it into my hands.

I opened up the contact labeled Mom and pressed the call button. The phone rang three times before someone picked up.

“Hello? Are you alright, sweetheart? Why are you calling during school?”

“Hi, Mrs. Pierce,” I said. “This is Ace. I’m working with Nicholas on a project.”

“Why do you have his phone? Is something wrong?”

“Nothing like that. But the teacher moved up the deadline for our project. We need to go to someone’s house over the weekend work on it. I was hoping we could come over.”

“Oh, that’s perfectly fine,” she said. “I’m glad Nicholas has friends who can help him stay on top of things. Send him my love!”

She hung up.

“His mom said yes.” I looked at Nicholas. “She also told me to send you her love, but I doubt you would appreciate it coming from me.”

Nicholas blanched. When Alex and Lexi started chattering about project, he pulled me to the side.

“If you hurt my mother,” he hissed. “I will—”

“As long as you don’t give me a reason to, I won’t,” I said. “And if you do, then her death will be your fault as well.”

The bell rang a few minutes later. Josiah was waiting for me by the front doors with a look on his face that reminded me of an angry bull.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he snapped.

“To a friend’s place,” I said.

I needed to talk to Genevieve.

Josiah tapped his foot. “Aren’t you forgetting about detention? Not to mention, you forgot to walk with me to your class last period. Maybe I should take up Ethan’s offer to buy a dog collar for you. People could let me know when you wander off.”

“You wouldn’t.”

That was a lie. I knew well enough by this point that he would be glad to.

“I won’t if you go to your detentions like a good boy.” Josiah smirked. “Otherwise, I might even get Cheryl to pick the collar. She’s fond of rhinestones.”

“Is this a new hobby of yours?” I asked. “Seeing how much you can humiliate me?”

“Consider it payback for breaking my arm. Even with the new experimental treatments, I’m missing almost a fourth of the season. Now run along to your detention unless you want me to call Ethan and tell him to place the order.”

I flipped him off as I headed back into the school.