Chapter 130: The secret

Marcus POV

I flicked my lighter open and shut. The metal clicked. Beside me, Jax blew a cloud of smoke toward the rusted pipe above his head. Leo kept his eyes on the dirt path.

"He's taking too long," Jax said, tapping his boot on the loose gravel. "What if he took the front gate?"

I turned my head and stared at him. "Did I ask you to think?"

Jax dropped his eyes to the dirt. "No, Marcus."

I swung my open hand across the side of his face. The slap cracked off the wall, snapping his head sideways. "When I say he's coming this way, he's coming this way."

"I see him," Leo whispered, pointing toward the trees.

A skinny kid with a backpack stepped past the oaks. He pulled his bag straps tight and hurried toward the back fence.

I dropped my cigarette and crushed it under my boot. "Let's go."

We cut across the grass. Jax and Leo stepped in front of the kid while I stepped up behind him.

"Where are you running to?" Jax grabbed the kid's shirt collar and shoved him back.

The kid stumbled into my chest. I grabbed his shirt and dragged him up onto his tiptoes.

"Marcus... please," the kid stammered, his teeth rattling. "I don't have anything today. I swear."

"Check his pockets," I told Leo, throwing the kid to the ground.

Leo knelt down, pulled out the kid's wallet, and flipped it open. He held up two crumpled bills. "Ten bucks. That's all."

I stepped over the kid, grabbed the bills from Leo's hand, and spat on the dirt near his face. "Ten bucks?"

"My mom didn't give me money today!" the kid cried, covering his face as Jax kicked dirt over his chin. "I'll bring fifty tomorrow! I swear!"

I kicked his shoulder hard, turning him onto his side. "You better. If you don't have fifty here tomorrow morning, I'm breaking your glasses."

"I will! I will!" the kid sobbed into the dirt.

"Get lost," I growled.

The kid scrambled up, grabbed his bag, and ran down the alley, wiping his nose with his sleeve.

I looked at my hand, stepped up to Jax, and wiped my dirty palm across his white shirt.

Jax flinched back. "Hey, boss—"

I raised an eyebrow. "Got a problem?"

Jax backed off, staring at the floor. "No."

I turned toward the main road as Elena walked past the fence, holding her bag against her side.

"Elena..." I muttered under my breath, watching her move away from the school gates.

"If we want to teach Liam a lesson, we do it through her," Leo said, stepping up beside me.

I kept my eyes on her back. "Isn't there something strange about that girl?"

Jax frowned. "You've said that before. What if we check it out?"

"I saw her fly that day," I said, looking at both of them. "When she fell near the stairs, she floated before hitting the floor."

"Her eye color is different too," Leo said. "She acts weird most of the time."

"Let's find out who she really is then," I said.

Elena wasn't going toward the bus stop. She headed down a side road toward the old warehouse district alone. Jax and Leo nodded, and we stepped after her, staying fifty paces behind in the shadows of the walls.

She walked fast, turning her head to check behind her. We ducked behind wooden crates every time she turned around. She stopped behind an old brick building near the river tracks.

We crouched under a cracked window, pressing our backs against the cold brick. Inside, heavy music rattled the floorboards.

"Who is this man?" Jax whispered, peeking over the frame.

I grabbed his jacket collar and yanked him down. "Shut up and watch."

Through the glass, a tall man holding a dark glass stood near a wooden table. He reached into a box and handed Elena a thick black book.

"Did he just give her something?" Leo whispered. "Is that money?"

Inside, Elena took the book, pulled her sleeve down over her wrist, and turned toward the back door. The man stepped up beside her, opening the heavy door so they could walk out into the alley together.

"Move," I said, waving my arm.

We ran around the corner, blocking the exit as the door creaked open. Elena stepped out into the cold alley with the black book under her arm, the man standing beside her.

I rushed forward and yanked the heavy black book straight out of her grip.

"Give it back to me!" Elena shouted, stepping toward me with her hands out.

I held the book over my head, laughing as Jax and Leo stepped between us to block her. "I'll give it back if you fly like you did the other time!"

"Give us a show!" Leo sneered, stepping closer to her face.

"Fly, you say?" the man beside Elena said, stepping forward. "That means I need to give you a show as well."

I glared at him, clutching the book tightly in my hands. "Who are you? What is your relationship with Elena?"

"You mean us meeting here?" the man asked, tilting his head without moving away.

"Why are you holding my girlfriend's belongings?" an angry voice boomed from the end of the alley.

I turned my head. Liam stood at the entrance of the alley, his face red and his fists clenched. Daniel stood right behind him.

"You bastard!" I roared, swinging my left fist straight at his jaw.

Liam charged forward and grabbed my right wrist, twisting my arm backward with a sharp crack. Pain shot up my shoulder, and my fingers opened up. Liam snatched the book straight out of my hand before I could react.

​Liam turned toward the man beside Elena and froze. He stopped dead in his tracks, his jaw dropping as he stared at the man's face in complete shock.

Wail! Wail! Wail!

A sharp police siren blasted from the main road, blue and red lights flashing against the alley walls.

"Cops!" Leo yelled, grabbing my coat. "Marcus, move!"

​I spat on the ground and turned on my heel. "Let's go!" I shouted, sprinting down the back passage with Jax and Leo right behind me.