I looked down just in time to side-step a skinny, coiling animal that looked too much like a snake. I didn't realize there were many snakes in the woods surrounding our schools—I hadn't seen a single one during my five years—but I supposed they existed in the deeper, untouched area of the woods.
Nydia looked down at the one I had just passed and gave it a wide berth, scowling and mumbling, "Why are they following me everywhere?"
I wasn't sure what that meant and asking her would do nothing but confuse me more, so I kept quiet.
The Alphas and I shuffled through the humid, warm woods. The sun sparkled between the leaves tinting the ground below in light green. Birds chirped in the distance and the branches swayed back and forth. I could almost imagine that all of these people were my friends and I was simply exploring the woods with them, not going on one last bloody mission for the school with my enemies.
The school had issued one of their own missions—a rare occurrence on the Alpha team as the school leaves their own missions for lower ranks so that the Alphas were free for official missions—and it would most likely be the last one for the entire school year as there was one week left before final exams and fifth-year placement games which lasted another week. After that, school would be over.
During finals week we'll be taking tests and the fifth years had a few final games amongst themselves to see how they rank at the end of the year before graduation, which left no time for practically everything else. If I wanted to figure out the mystery of Echo, Daria Fortier, and what the Crown Fortier has to do with my mother's crime, I have to do it before finals week. Which meant I only had a week left.
My heart raced and my hands started shaking just thinking about it. There was so much to do, so much I couldn't fail, and such little time to accomplish it. And I still hadn't figure out what I was supposed to do after. I needed to get away from the Crowns, that's for sure. I wondered if Axe had any ideas.
He was the only person left on that I relied on, but sometimes I wonder if that was a mistake. For all I knew, he would help me figure out what happened to Echo and oust the Crowns then let me take the blame. I would be forced to flee while he stayed in his position of power by their side, a position he'd always wanted. I don't really mind fleeing by myself, but the idea that Axe could also be waiting for the perfect moment to stab me in the back was not comforting in the least.
I looked up ahead where Xavier and Arielle were leading, exchanging words occasionally. I looked between the two of them, trying to find a sign of their relationship, but found none. There were no intimate gestures, no lingering glances, or sneaky smiles. It was like they tolerated each other since they had to for the sake of their country and nothing more.
They hid their tracks well... or maybe it was all fake. A sour liquid crept up my throat and compressed it. What if they had known I was there and faked a secret relationship just to throw me off their scent? What if, in the past month I had made no progress at all and instead been running in circles, chasing a possibility that doesn't exist?
No. You know what you saw. Stop panicking. Focus.
The chances the Crown Assassins had seen me were slim. I was muddying the waters with my own overthinking. I wouldn't let that happen. Xavier and Arielle were in a secret relationship and were exceptionally well at hiding it since they had so much practice. That was the truth, the only truth. I wouldn't let other naive notions destroy what I had learned.
A twig snapped and I turned, staring at the empty space behind the bushes, my hands drifting to the daggers hanging from my belt. I waited for a full thirty seconds before I relaxed and watched up with the others who didn't bother to turn around.
It hurt, but I couldn't blame them. Ever since the attack two weeks ago I became more on edge. I reported it to the school and they did a full investigation of my room. Most of them didn't believe it when I told them how the killer just vanished in seconds. And then they interrogated me in case I was the killer and only trying to throw them off.
After two whole days of investigating—which required Alphas be shoved into the available lower dorms, a change none of the Alphas enjoyed—they gave up and Principal Cartwright left with only a warning thrown in our direction to be careful. They didn't even place any guards or security measures for accessing the suite, but I preferred it that way since the tighter security could've interfered with my plans.
Not that they were going well as it is. I needed to talk to Axe after this mission about what we were going to do in such little time and if he came up with any ideas for our next moves. But for now, I needed to focus on the mission ahead.
I picked up my pace, slowly passing Axe and Nydia until I ended up next to Damien. I tensed when I was picked up out of my thoughts and dropped on the reality of where I was and who I was standing next to.
Damien swatted the air in front of him with an unappealing scowl. "Why are there so many mosquitos?"
"Good question," Nydia called from behind us. "I have no idea. They literally don't do anything to the ecosystem. We should just kill all of them. They're too annoying."
"The kill list better include Damien," a voice called from ahead. I was surprised to see Xavier smirking over his shoulder.
"It does."
"I'm not annoying!" Damien whined.
"Yes, you are. That's why I'm trying to kill you."
"Axe doesn't think I'm annoying," Damien said, pointing behind him.
Axe looked up. "I'm sorry to break it to you, but I'm joining her plot."
"It's technically Xavier's plot," Nydia stated, "But I'm not complaining."
Damien pouted before turning back around. "Ari, you must-"
"Don't even try with me," Arielle shot over her shoulder. "I've been trying to strangle you since the day you were born."
"Infanticide's not a good look."
"It is on me."
Damien rolled his eyes and set his attention on me. "Surely, you don't think I'm annoying enough to kill, right Indigo?"
Damien's lips were quirked into a small smile, a teasing one that I had seen for months and thought to be genuine. But now it carried a hidden message, one that made me writhe away in the embarrassment of my own stupidity and want to punch him square in the jaw. He knew what kind of effect his regular behavior was having on me and he was reveling in it.
But two could play that game.
I shrugged and gave a fake smile I knew he could see right through. "I think killing you would be the best thing in my life."
"You're so mean," he countered. "Besides, I wouldn't die. I would kill you first."
His eyes were locked into mine in a challenge and I knew it was an open threat. So I challenged back.
"You can try."
Damien's smile faltered. Mine stayed strong as I continued to stare him down even though I risked tripping over a root, and he reciprocated the action.
Axe, being the only member on the team who knew what this was truly about, cleared his throat. "How much longer until we get there?"
Arielle looked down at the map of the woods in her hands. We didn't bring our Tabs just in case whoever this was could trace them once they were in range.
"I'm not sure," Arielle responded. "The school just gave us a range of where they thought the threat had originated from, not a specific location. We're currently in that range."
"So we just wander around and hope to stumble upon the people who said they might kill all of us and were creepily hiding in our backyard," Axe summed up. "Fantastic."
"We're here," Xavier announced and pointed in the distance.
There was a strange block building with no windows sitting at the bottom of a hill. The solid dark green walls stood strong, hiding amongst the wooden environment. The trees branches twisted above the building, shielding it with its leaves. I wondered if they painted the entire thing white in the winter. If they were even here in the wintertime. But looking at the building, it felt as if it had been standing for at least a year, hiding in the very same woods which I had been running through all these years but failed to notice the large block standing in it.
Why the hell did they build a base just twenty miles from the school, on the property of some of the deadliest people in the world? And then send a death threat just twenty-four hours ago which exposed their location?
As we crept closer, four guards dressed in the same green of the building came into view. They stood next to what appeared to be the only entrance to the square building. Another two guards came into view as they walked the perimeter, passing each other without so much as a nod.
"We get in, take some information, kill people, and get out," Arielle commanded.
"And take the guards quietly," Xavier added. "Don't let the people inside know we're here."
We nodded and Arielle looked at Nydia. Nydia stood and notched two arrows. One of the guards walking the perimeter came into view and she let the arrows fly. One arrow struck his gun, disabling it, while the other lodged itself between his eyes. He fell without much of a sound.
The next perimeter guard was about to turn the corner and find his fallen friend, but Arielle had already walked around the building and emerged from the trees, disarming and decapitating him. One of the four guards standing by the entrance looked down at his wrist, checking the time and noticing that his other friends were taking too long to walk around the building. He said a few words to the other guards and carefully rounded the corner to check up on the dead guards. Instead, he was met with Xavier who lodged a knife—which was one of mine that he stole just moments earlier—into the neck.
The man fell and Xavier twisted the gun out of his grasp, checking its quality before slinging the strap over his shoulder and throwing my knife back into the trees. He made a signal, pointing around the corner at the guards standing in front of the doors.
I picked up my fallen knife before edging around the border of the trees with Axe and Damien. Our job was the riskiest since we had no option than to charge at the guards grouped together and hope to take them out before any could react. We needed to be synchronized.
Damien held up his fingers and counted down.
Three.
I wrapped my fingers around my daggers. Axe pulled out a knife and Damien stuffed his hand in his pockets, fiddling with an unseen invention.
Two.
I stood in a half-kneeling, half-standing position, ready to run at a moment's notice.
One.
I sprung forward like a bullet from a barrel and dashed up to the first guard, throwing my dagger ahead of me so it landed right in his neck. I caught his gun and stopped it from firing just as he fell to the grassy ground.
Damien launched a small wire which extended into a large, leather rope as it spiraled through the air and wrapped itself around the guard's arms. Before he could get loose or shout for help, Damien punched him unconscious. Axe crept up from the side of the guard and they exchanged blows before Axe finally dragged the knife across his neck.
The six of us grouped together in front of the steel door which was locked firm. Damien took out one of his electric bombs and the rest of us backed up.
"We run in as soon as the door's down," Damien commanded. "Catch them off their guard."
The rest of us nodded and Damien rolled the electric bomb towards the door. Once again, the silver ball twisted and split open, the top half lifting up. The hands of my arms stood and I heard a little crackle before it exploded, bursting in bright blue light with a bang. The door flew in and the walls around it crumbled, singed at the edges, pulsing with energy.
The moment Damien gave us the go-ahead we surged forward, raising our daggers, blades, arrows, and guns. But before we could even reach the door, bullets emerged from its depths, firing through the air. One whizzed just inches past my cheek as I darted to the side.
I found myself between Axe and Damien who had also pressed themselves against the outside wall, trying to avoid being massacred by the onslaught of bullets. The other three did the same on the other side of the door. Nydia was crouching on the ground, pressing her palms against her thigh. A dark liquid seeped through the blue cloth and soaked the blades of grass with maroon blood.
Shit.
Nydia looked up and caught my gaze. I pointed at her leg, questioning. She waved a hand through the air as if to swat the question away and mouthed, "I'm fine."
I nodded and looked back and forth between the boys. "How did they start fighting that fast? They couldn't have known..."
My words trailed off as the realization struck.
"It's a trap," Axe muttered, announcing what we were all thinking. "They knew we were coming."
"They didn't just know we were coming," Damien corrected. "They sent the threat to make sure we would come. They want us dead."
"Why?" I asked. "Who are they?"
"No idea," Axe answered. "But we need to end it here and now. Find any information we can and kill them before they get to us."
Damien nodded. "I just need them to take a quick pause from shooting their guns..."
As if on cue, whoever was inside stopped shooting. Damien dug out another electric bomb from his pocket and chucked it through the door without aim. There was a moment of silence before I heard shouts of panic followed by the trademark sizzling explosion of the electric bomb. We darted in, Nydia lagging behind, and rained down our destruction.
We had entered a space with numerous catwalks crisscrossing above our heads and multiple doors leading away from the main block. Twenty or so attackers were on the other side shouting too each other and trying to retrieve their fallen breathe. A few soldiers ran above our heads, aiming their guns down. Damien launched Magnetizers, preventing them from shooting, and we launched into action.
A man and woman ran towards me, fists raised, and carrying knives. I unsheathed my daggers and met them halfway.
The man attempted to tackle me, but I sidestepped and kicked him in the guts before bringing my dagger down on his lower neck. The woman launched a knife and I dodged only to crash straight into her.
She kicked me in the gut and then the face. I feigned a stumble and she surged forward, trying to take advantage of my weakened state. But in her haste, she missed the dagger I clutched. I stabbed it into her torso and pulled it out to slit her neck. She fell to the ground.
Another group charged and I twisted and twirled, blocking and slashing. I was on autopilot at this point, dropping bodies before I realized what I was doing, dodging and striking as if it was second nature. I didn't notice the blood soaking into my clothes, soaking my hands, spraying onto my face. This was the mode of the fight any Unassailable enjoyed, the killing we cherished. It didn't matter if I wasn't interested in the cause—the rush of adrenaline was intoxicating.
I only slowed when the fight began winding down. Nydia, who had climbed up onto the catwalks and took care of our assailants from above, shot down the last stragglers. Damien and Arielle had tied up the last living man in the vicinity and dragged him to the center. He fell to his knees.
Arielle tugged his mask off to reveal a bloody face with set eyes. Nydia climbed back to the ground with some difficulty and limped towards us, stopping only a few feet away from the man.
"Talk," Xavier commanded. He wasn't giving him any specific questions so that the man didn't figure out what we knew and what we didn't, which made him less likely to lie and feed us false information.
The man spat at Xavier's feet. Xavier barely blinked as Arielle lunged forward, bending so she was face to face with the man, and dug her golden blades into the man's neck until it produced some blood.
"He said talk, so you'll talk or, believe me, I'll chop off every finger until you do and take your tongue when you're done."
"We can hang it in the living room," Damien added. "It would make a nice addition to the home decor."
Arielle released her grip and the man snarled.
"You have the balls to tell us you're coming and then threaten us on our home turf?" the man spat.
Tell them we were coming? We never told them we were coming. It was supposed to be a surprise attack. They even made sure the mission was carried out on a break day for the students so that no one would notice our absence.
We kept silent, letting the man reveal more without knowing.
"It doesn't matter," he continued. "We aren't scared of you. Once we received your note, the mole we had in your school amongst your ranks, the one who had been torturing and killing your kind for months, told us to get ready for a fight. And he left a little gift for all of you. I'm sure you'll enjoy it."
He said all of this with his head held high and proud, eyes firm in a challenge.
"The Ravens won't back down," he added with the same strength.
My mind spun.
Nydia's voice broke the silence which ensued. "The school killer works for you?"
"Yes, you..." the man trailed off and his eyes widened as he realized his mistake. "You don't already know? I didn't mean to. I shouldn't have...no, I won't give away any more of the Ravens' plans."
Arielle opened her mouth, but before she could he cried, "Long live the Ravens."
He lunged at Nydia.
I stepped forward, trying to get to Nydia who jumped back, ready to fight. But he wasn't trying to attack Nydia. Instead, he grabbed one of her daggers loose and slit his own throat.
His body fell limp, blood oozing across the concrete. There was a moment of silence until Damien's voice echoed through the block room. "Well, that's unfortunate."
Xavier stepped forward and kneeled by the man's body inspecting it from head to toe. I wasn't sure what he was looking for until his eyes zeroed in on the man's wrist. He pushed the sleeve away to reveal the tattoo of a black bird in flight with a golden blue-gemmed bracelet.
I looked at Axe who was looking right back at me. My head spun as I could see the connections forming, one at a time, constructing a map I with too many paths stretching to and fro in a confusing bundle.
This base and the men in it worked for the Ravens. The school killer worked for the Ravens. The money missing from all of our mission targets was being sent to the Ravens. The person who killed Arrow Livingston worked for the Ravens. The people who didn't want us to find out about Daria Fortier were the Ravens. The black bird in the tattoo wasn't just any bird, it was a Raven.
Everything connected to the Ravens, a body of people who worked behind the scenes, in the shadows, pulling the strings we didn't even know existed.
What else did they control?
Arielle's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "What did he mean by 'little gift'?"
A loud creaking sound echoed through the building and we turned to find Xavier standing near the wall, pushing open a door which was half-hidden and placed away from the others. We followed after him, stepping into a room that looked like a large storage space. A bucket filled with red liquid sat in the middle of the room. A note sat on top of a table displaying sharp medical instruments.
Damien opened it and skimmed the note before turning it around to let us read. The blood-red words read, The Ravens greet you.
"Hey guys," Nydia called as she stared down at the bucket with blood. "A drop fell into the bucket."
We joined her, surrounding the bucket in a circle, staring down at its murky depths.
"What?" I asked.
"A drop fell in," she repeated and pointed as another drop of blood dripped into the bucket, sending ripples to its edges. Slowly all of us looked up at the source.
My throat ran dry and it took every bit of restraint in my body to stop the scream threatening to break free. I stared at the horrors waiting for us.
Pinned to the ceiling with knives stabbed through his hands and feet, mouth gaping open, eyes missing, was the former Alpha member, son of Alistair Delano and best friend of Damien Kingston.
Blood dripped from Knox Delano's hanging body. A message was splayed across the ceiling in fresh blood.
You're next.