"I'll tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife," Take Me to Church by Hozier
My shadow stalked the wall as a dim light turned on. I stilled. I kept my eyes cast down. Entwining my fingers together, I stood in the doorway of Hayden Marks' study, waiting for him to speak.
Hayden could've passed for a king on his throne with his aristocratic features and the way he sat comfortably behind his black desk. The golden glint from the studded pieces of gold lining the chair reflected in the silver mirror behind him. I could just make out the coiling Chinese dragon design in the trim.
I'll bet his wallpaper is made with gold shavings. It was too dark to confirm my suspicions though. I wish he'd turn on a brighter light.
"You're prompt. That's good."
"I want to see Harper," I said, faster than I had intended.
I wanted to punch myself for being so outspoken. He held the cards, not me. It was something I had to keep reminding myself of. Demanding could get me in trouble. With one flick of his manicured finger, he could have me carted off to prison with digital footage of my thrice times trespassing. My eyes darted up to ascertain his reaction, but there wasn't one.
I cleared my throat. "I just haven't seen her since you took her is all. I miss her."
His shoulders lifted as he heaved a sigh and shuffled some papers in his hands. "After we go over the details; the success of this mission is in the details. Do you understand?"
I nodded.
"Have a seat," he said, gesturing towards one of the two chairs in front of his desk. "In the left seat, you'll find your first week's uniform, a name badge, and a book bag with basic supplies. The bag in the right chair is your makeup bag."
I glanced down at the red and black box, not taking the seat he offered. "Not a makeup kind of girl."
He raised a charcoal-colored eyebrow. "I suppose it's a good thing that it's not real makeup then."
Slipping a finger under the strap of the book bag I carried on my shoulders, I lifted it, and glanced warily at the glossy, mini-red bag. "What is it?"
"Weapons."
I snorted under my breath. "Small weapons."
The corner of his mouth rose. "Yes. Even a mini-hand gun."
"A gun? Guns are illegal!" So illegal that people couldn't even get the chance to do the crime three times. If you had a gun it was an instant termination order.
He chuckled and smoothed a finger and thumb over his day old stubble. "Trespassing is illegal too."
"Yeah, but guns are--I mean--I don't think I've ever even seen one. How will I know how to use it? Will I have to use it? I'm not killing anyone!"
Lifting a finger, he effectively stopped my rant. "In your luggage there will be instructions."
"What luggage? I only have the one bag," I said, pulling on my book bag straps again.
He picked up the stack of papers and started shuffling through them again as he spoke. "This luggage has already been shipped. Two pieces contain clothes and other female necessities, the other three hold blue prints, background history, particularly weaknesses for every guard, and important inmates you need to befriend. An escape with the tools necessary to execute the plan will be in the piece of luggage that has a red-faced devil sticker."
"Escape? You think I'll have to escape? It's a school, not a prison. I mean, how bad could it be?"
Hayden set the papers down and formed a steeple with his hands. "Sit."
I rolled my eyes and bent down, carefully pulling the pseudo-makeup bag into my lap as I sat. I jiggled my knees, pretending to listen to Hayden as he droned on. If I told him I didn't care, would he yell at me? Did I care?
Not really.
The smacking sound of flesh against the desk jerked my attention from my thoughts.
"Tā mā de! Zhēn tā mā yàomìng. Zhù yì!" Hayden snapped.
I ignored the throbbing pain at my temples and resisted the urge to scowl at his swearing. "I am paying attention... sort of."
He scoffed and tapped his ring finger against the desktop. "I had hoped you would act more like the experienced martial artist you are and not the teenager."
"Tài zāogāo liǎo," I said with a shrug and stood up. "Let's call it a night then... I mean, after I see Harper."
"Sit. Now."
Plopping down harder than necessary, I folded my arms across my chest and scowled. "Fine. If this is so dangerous why send a teenager to do it anyway?"
His eyes narrowed. "Nice try. I've never seen anyone who can mimic body movements like you and you're trained. Your body is your best weapon," he paused and let his gaze slide down the front of my body, "in more ways than one."
You're not going to vomit. You're not!
"Plus, I'm poor. The rich always take advantage of the poor. What's the point of all that power if you can't use it to make someone's life miserable, right?" I said.
"Nonsense. You've put yourself in this position. Your poor status had nothing to do with it."
Whatever. "When can I see Harper?"
The groan he emitted was longer than it needed to be in my opinion. He was an overgrown drama king, and proving my observation true, he dropped his forehead into his thumb and pointer finger. "Once we finish here. Now, you'll be infiltrating a government run facility that detains and tortures people."
"A government run facility? I thought this was a rich prep school."
His eyes widened and he cleared his throat. "Right. Of course, a school... Do you remember learning about the FEMA concentration camps during WWIII?"
I frowned. It was one of the five pieces of history I had trouble forgetting. "Yes."
"Well this-this school is running an underground concentration camp."
"And you want to... what? Close it down?" I scoffed and pulled at my black beanie cap, batting a piece of my hair that fell free. "Why do you even care?"
Hayden's mouth drooped slightly. My eyebrows rose at his hesitation, and for a moment I thought I saw a real person behind those cold eyes. Someone who didn't want people to be so mistreated, someone who wanted to fight back, but it was gone too fast to really analyze it further. I had to ask. "Are you a rebel?"
His eyebrows snapped together, and his eyes searched my face. He licked his lips before speaking. "Do you think I'd tell you if I was?"
My heart felt like it was going to fly out of my chest. Was that a disguised yes? "I suppose not."
"The only thing you need to know about me is that I'm looking for someone who might be a captive in this camp. Her name is Marion."
"A girlfriend?"
"A sister. My sister."
"I don't understand. Why would they take your sister? You're the richest man on this side of the world. Why would anyone mess with your family?"
"Marion is a free spirit. She believes in equal opportunity, and she's been particularly distant these past few years. Her disappearance is due to the fact that she aligned herself with the wrong people, but the facility that has taken her most likely doesn't know. These people don't discriminate in who they take. Rebels, non-rebels, rich, poor... it doesn't matter."
So that was it. Marion was the rebel and he wanted me to save her to keep her rebel status quiet. Being a rebel meant death no matter how rich someone was. This is some scandalous shit right here! I've really gotten myself in too deep.
I cleared my throat. "And you don't want anyone finding out what she is."
He nodded. "Correct. Part of this agreement is that you don't inform authorities."
I slide up the chair to sit on the edge and rested my elbows on his desk. "Don't worry. I'm more afraid of them than you."
He glanced down and reached for a sleek black pen, a small smile playing across his lips. "It's hard to believe that someone with your talent is afraid of anything," he said under his breath. "I've seen your work. Taking down a man twice your size is impressive."
Scowling, I folded my arms across my chest. I thought someone had been in the shadows that night. I'd been detailing for a semi-famous rock band. Most of the males in the band looked ridiculously gorgeous and feminine, which led to a large following of both sexes, and a previous incident made the lead singer seek out some cheap bodyguard agency. The one I happened to work for. They'd wanted the best for cheap so they got it. An over-zealous male fan, drunk off his ass, had grabbed one of the guys. I did my job and intervened. End of story.
"He was a sloppy drunk b-but that was months ago. That was-" I quickly did the math. "That was before you even offered to take on Spense's debt, isn't it? How long have you been watching me?"
Hayden didn't even deny it. "I've had you watched for a number of months. A little Bird told me about you. It was perfect."
My eyes widened and goose bumps scattered down my arms. "Wow, that's not creepy."
His jaw clenched. "As I was saying, your brother had a debt. I needed your skills and anonymity to infiltrate this place, and assist the other rebels in finding their disappearing comrades. Gathering weapons and Intel is a perk, of course, that's not how Bird sees it. It wasn't easy linking these disappearances to this place either. Even my money couldn't open doors to the information I need. That's where that innocent face of yours comes in."
I blinked rapidly. "But you took Harper. Not me," I whispered as my mind started connecting the dots.
Was it my fault he'd wanted Harper?
He seemed to understand my train of thought before I could even voice the questions. "That's right. Harper complicated things. The minute I saw her, I had to have her." He gave me a quick grin before writing on a square piece of paper. "I lucked out when I realized you had a stubborn streak and an intense sense of loyalty."
"So it was my fault?" It was so softly spoken I didn't think he'd heard me. I'd barely heard myself.
"Had it not been for you, I never would've seen Harper. So yes, Kender, I suppose it was your fault."
My stomach rolled. I slapped a hand to my chest, trying to ease the tightening. He didn't let it sink in long before he dangled what I wanted most in front of my face.
"Would you like to see Harper now?" He glanced at his diamond studded watch. "We haven't gone over everything, but we don't have much more time thanks to your persistent interruptions."
I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. My arms curled around my stomach. The sting from threatening tears made it hard to blink. I didn't want him to see me cry. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. With the edge of my sleeve, I rubbed my burning nose, attempting to cover up a sniffle.
Flinching away from the mirror across from me, I stood up. He followed, and straightened the cuffs of his sleeves before turning to his left. He walked towards the wall and pushed against it.
What the hell was he doing?
I couldn't believe it. How could someone so stupid be so rich? The thought barely finished as the wall he'd been at opened. A gasp escaped my lips. His hide-away was way more high tech than ours.
"Let's go see Harper," he said, gesturing me forward.
Harper had to know it was my fault. She wasn't stupid, and Hayden wasn't keeping it a secret. How would Harper ever be able to forgive me? The question seared through me because I knew Harper wouldn't forgive me. After all, if positions were reversed, I wouldn't have forgiven her either, but it didn't matter. Not right now. All that mattered was that I was going to see my sister.
_+_+_
Tā mā de! Zhēn tā mā yàomìng. Zhù yì. = Damn it! This is damn dangerous. Pay attention.
Tài zāogāo liǎo = Too bad.