Mistress AC-0002

I t was the breathing. The slow, deep inhales coming from above me as I'd held to the tree. Most of my training happened in the dark. I was just as comfortable without my sight as with it. In some cases, I preferred the pitch black. It made it easy to find my target. The random falling debris of bark that wasn't from me. The shaky intakes of air aside from our own. I missed nothing. The satisfaction I felt for that left me smiling as I adjusted my helmet and turned back on the night vision. This was what I wanted. What I needed.

"I don't know how you do it. You're amazing. Even blind, you found him."

"Thanks. He made it easy." I took out my gun, caressing the trigger like a lover. The man was indeed there, terrified and pushing his back into the trunk of the tree as he held to a branch above his head. "Are you coming down, or should I shoot you up there and save me the time of having to wait for you to make the trip?"

"I'd really prefer not to get shot at all."

"I'm afraid you have little choice, but…perhaps we can strike some sort of deal."

"Georgie?"

Jack's voice was so low I knew the slave couldn't hear. I kept my words barely a whisper as I stepped closer to my husband.

"New game." I cleared my throat, going back to speak to the crow. "I don't have all day. You have ten seconds to make it down this tree, or I bring you down."

The man was already standing. He was carefully feeling his way through the branches, trying to be careful. He was afraid, and I didn't think it had anything to do with my gun. It was the height. That had me smiling as he stepped down, almost even with my face. I grabbed his ankle hard, not pulling, just laughing as he let out a scared yelp and wrapped one of his arms quickly around the trunk.

"Jack." I laughed harder as the man cursed. "He's afraid of heights. He should be afraid of us ."

"One fear at a time, Georgie-baby."

"That's not fun. Hurry up," I snapped, already losing patience. "Just jump down. From that height, you couldn't break something if you wanted to."

"I could argue that."

"You'd be smart not to." I lowered the gun watching the man jump down. I didn't holster my weapon, but I did loosen my grip. "There. Was that so hard?"

"Actually—" He seemed to catch himself as he righted on his feet and put his attention on me. "I watched you fight that man. You're her. The one the other two men were talking about."

"Two men?"

My eyes narrowed as I let his thick accent soak in. At the gesture of his hand, I saw feet in the distance. It had me walking around him wider to spot two dead bodies around the other side of the trunk. They were partially lower, sloped down where the earth descended into a small ravine.

"Men…" I glanced towards Jack. "Kelvin and Percy. Those two were in the middle. They were talking about me?"

"They fear you."

"Do they? Why is that?"

The crow looked between me and Jack, again, swallowing hard.

"They said you…that you're a killer. That you probably killed all the slaves out here already."

My lips tugged back on one side, but I didn't smile. I didn't like my name in their mouth. Not that they'd lied or said anything bad. Maybe it was even some sideways compliment. It didn't matter. I was not a topic of discussion.

"If only I could be the hunter I used to be. Maybe another time."

"You found me. Maybe after the baby you can get in more hunts?"

My blood went from ice to lava. I didn't answer. I licked my lips, hearing my husband move in closer to me as I neared the crow. The man appeared to be in his early-to-mid thirties. He was more than average in looks, if not maybe slightly sexy with his good-sized beard. Perhaps it was the combination of his large, powerful build. Like the other slave Jack had just killed, this crow wasn't wearing a shirt. He wasn't wearing the black robe that was customary on auction night, either, but he wouldn't have been for what I bought him for.

"You're not answering. You're upset at me mentioning that. I couldn't help but overhear."

"I bet you overheard a lot. Jack, what do we usually do to people who eavesdrop?"

Leaves and twigs snapped under the pressure of Jack's boots as he closed the distance at my side.

"We make sure they never hear again."

The crow took a step back, and although I knew he probably couldn't see me clearly, I shook my head.

"If you run, I will hunt you down. You're in a large cage whether you can see it or not. You can't escape."

He took another step.

Silence.

A long pause.

I could see his chest rise and fall faster through his quick breaths. He kept looking around, wondering if I was telling the truth about the cage.

"If I don't run? You mentioned we could strike a deal."

"Yes." I turned, motioning for him to start walking. "Take the lead. If you don't try to escape, I let you breathe another second. If you make it to the end of our hunt without buckling under what you see, maybe you prove yourself useful and I let you live longer."

"That's it?"

An evil smile appeared on my face despite he probably couldn't see it. "For now."

I didn't need to elaborate, and maybe the crow didn't want to know. He kept the pace slow, continuously looking over his shoulder towards us. Me… I schemed . The ground descended, only to move back up, leveling off. I kept my senses alive as I put my focus ahead. Not just on the slave but to possible others in the distance.

"What are you up to, Georgie?"

"I don't quite know yet. Nothing good, I assure you."

Jack's arm wrapped around my back as he pulled me in.

"I love how you play with prey, but keep it within our agreement." He paused. "You do this every time. Are you aware of that?"

"I don't—" I stopped.

Maybe I was all over the place. When it came to plans, I was almost impossible at keeping them. I couldn't follow rules. I didn't listen to advice or suggestions. That was a lie. I did if they benefited me, but that was rare. And here I was again, not following my own rules of killing these crows. But I had new plans. New possible ways that might help me in the long run. I'd have to see, but I was pretty confident I at least had the right region.

"Your lip is out. No pouting. I didn't say that to upset you. You make things more interesting this way. I much prefer it. Just keep it minimal. Safe."

"Do you really prefer it?" I glanced over. "You don't find my instability…alarming?"

"Alarming?" Jack blew out of his nose, almost as if it were a laugh. "Baby, it's not necessarily instability. Some, yes, and we have to watch that. It's spontaneity, and it's always been your personality. If all this night turned out to be was a hunt, then I'd worry. You're always looking to liven things up, and there's nothing wrong with that so long as it's kept within limits.

Spontaneity? Perhaps that's what Jack saw, but I knew the truth, and maybe so did Elec. I was so much worse than I let on, and I was starting to see just how unstable I had always been.

"Vera and I are almost at the end. Can I get a count?"

"The end?" My eyes widened. "Were they fucking running?"

"Shane's out here all the time. You know that. He has the trails practically memorized."

I hit the mic, turning it on. "Two."

"Four for me and Kelvin."

"What about you, Shane?"

Had that come out clipped? I truly wasn't angry, not at the game. I just couldn't shake this…thing inside of me that wouldn't go away. Rage, of course, but something so much more now that I had suspicions about this slave.

"Four."

"Sounds good. When you return to the beginning, let us know. We'll tally then and go back out if we need to."

"Got it."

I held tight to my gun, throwing Jack a look I knew he couldn't see because of the night vision. My steps became faster, and the crow scrambled back as I surged past him.

"Follow. If you disappear or come close to me or my husband, I'll fuck your ass with my gun before I pull the trigger. Got it?"

He didn't answer, or if he did, I didn't hear. My stare ate up the surroundings. If I were ever on a mission, it was only now that the need was kicking in. This wasn't a game anymore. This was winning, and I never lost.

"Jack, let's split up. Go wide to the left but stay within sight. I'll move with you. We're off track. Some will have wanted to escape out of the side. They won't be able to with us caged in."

There was a pause as my husband looked towards the crow. The slave stood a few feet from the guard, who had his gun pulled out, keeping a close watch on him. Orders didn't need to be given. The level of danger was heightened with the slave tagging along, and we all knew it.

"Watch for my signals, Georgie."

Even as he whispered, his index and middle fingers pointed to his eyes. Signals. Yes. Jack and I had our own secret language since before college. Before I left to give my life to the Jane Doe Foundation. It was only natural, growing up with my parents speaking in code and hand gestures. With Gabriella as my mother, they had to. I'd been so excited to have that with Jack. We were one from the very beginning. We were like them. The perfect marriage. The perfect couple. My father adored my mother. To have Jack mirror his love…it was the best thing I had in my life. But that's where the similarities between all of us ended. Jack wasn't honorable like my father, and I wasn't widely respected like my mother. We fit in our circle well enough, we were even favored, but we'd never live up to my parent's legacy. Not many could.

Let's go. I gestured with my index finger in quick succession, training my gun as Jack and I pushed forward at a steady speed. We were in sync. Step for step. There was no more playing around or hesitation. We were out for blood, and he was just as invested in blowing out brains as I was. But our fun wouldn't stop here. Even though I was focused, my mind never lost track of the enemy at my back. I knew that accent, and he was different. He was…familiar to a part of my past. The time was coming to find out if I'd just won the jackpot, but I wasn't banking on anything. To have revenge would be a dream. It would be a fucking miracle, but no one was handing those out. Not all the way down here in hell.

"Who's that? Who's there?"

I dipped low at the voice but didn't stop as I moved back towards where I'd been in the middle. My steps were nearly silent despite the twigs and pine. I was as light as a feather. I was the air the crow breathed. He wouldn't find me. He wouldn't even spot me before it was too late.

"Hello? Trip, is that you? Howard?"

A dark figure nearly blurred at the speed. He ran from one cluster of trees to another, and me, I was racing right for him. I cut through two trees, turning to barrel through another. The air that whooshed just over my head had me spinning as bark exploded against the trunk I'd just passed. I leveled the gun at the man's face freezing as Jack grabbed the man's long hair, pressing his own barrel underneath the man's chin.

"That's my wife you almost hit."

"H-Hey man I?—"

Harder, Jack pressed in.

"Wait!" I lunged forward as Jack's finger twitched against the trigger. "Slave," I growled. "Where the hell is he? Crow ."

The guard and the convict moved past the trees, coming within feet of us.

"Crow, get over here." There was hesitation as he made his way between me and Jack. His lids squinted, and I could barely keep my smile contained as I unlatched the knife at my hip. I didn't withdraw it. Instead, I turned on a red light so the men could see each other without it interfering with our night vision. "Do you know this man?"

My crow gave a slow shake. "Not really. I've seen him around, but I don't know him."

"Pity." I handed the red light to the guard and took out the large, serrated knife. "Gut him."

"W-What? Are you fucking crazy, woman!"

"Shut up," I snapped to the convict Jack held. "Now, crow, or I put a bullet in both of you and up my numbers. Make it in record fucking speed. We don't have all night."

Umph!

No hesitation. No pause to contemplate my threat. That had my heart soaring from hope. It was the entire reason I made him do it.

The slave Jack held to jerked, his mouth parting in shock as he glanced down at the large knife stuck in his middle. Before he could go wild and fight, my crow pulled the blade out, stabbing his abdomen savagely. My eyes widened with approval, and my smile grew and grew.

Hope. Hope. Hope.

He stuck the man low, jerking and sawing up his stomach with an impressive speed. Skin tore, and blood dropped in wet heaviness at his feet. The slave hunched forward, falling to the ground as Jack let go. Where I wondered if the crow would stop, he crouched, slicing and tugging higher to the man's solar plexus. The blade snagged against muscle and cloth, and I watched crimson soak into the white material, webbing as it bled further down the dying man's sides.

I didn't take my eyes off of him. Minutes passed as the crow peeled back the skin, scooping the man's insides to dump on the ground. He was elbows deep in the dark substance, pulling and yanking as he hollowed out the corpse.

"Murder? Is that why you're here? You seem to be a natural."

My crow slowed, looking up toward Jack at his question. Seconds passed. The slave reached forward, wiping the bloody blade on the thigh of his gray sweatpants. He stood, drenched in red from the waist up. Cautiously, he handed the weapon back to me. His eyes darted to Jack, lowering to the ground.

"Murder amongst other things. Killing is easy. Try living an honest life out in the real world. Now that's what's hard."

"I bet it is." I put my knife up. "What's your name?"

Multiple expressions passed over the man's face as he took me in. I knew he could see me with the red light, I just wondered exactly… what did he see?

"My name is Walter."

"You have quite the accent. Walter, what? What's your last name?"

Hesitation.

"Don't lie to me. I'll find out if you are, and I don't like liars."

"Walter Vanzetti."

A laugh left me, and I couldn't stop it.

Hope. Hope. Hope.

"No shit. New York? Don't tell me…Boston."

He shifted. "Close enough. You act like you know me."

"Not you, but I might as well. Drugs. Trafficking. Murder. Vanzetti, Bianchi, Marini. What a small world we live in."

He swallowed hard. "You a cop or something?"

I smiled. "Or something."

"How important were you, Walter?"

"I guess not important enough. I'm here, aren't I?"

My head nodded. "Yes, you are. Vanzetti, and alive . That gutting must have felt awfully familiar. I can even bet you've done it a time or two." I slowly circled him, my mind spinning and reeling at the weight of the realization sinking in. Slowing, I moved in next to Jack. "You know, Walter, I believe some of your friends occasionally join these auctions. I mean, if you're all still loyal to who I think you are."

"What are you talking about?"

"Baby." I looked up to Jack. "Do you remember me asking the Main Master last auction what Gilbert Marks was doing inside the Gardens? I was quite shocked, truthfully. He's been out of the country for a while…correct?"

The crow was stiff, looking as if he wanted to run. As if my bullet wasn't the largest threat to his life. He was right.

"I do remember that. He was having dinner with some men a few tables over from ours at the Six. His men… Guards, I presumed."

"Oh, they're more than guards," I said, lifting the night vision so that I could meet the crow's eyes. Even in the red glow, I didn't miss the way he was shaking. "Would you like to see if Mr. Marks is here, Walter? You're family. Maybe he'll find a way to have you released."

Panic. Terror. The crow was good at hiding his emotions, but he couldn't mask what I'd spent years studying. Who I'd spent studying during my time with the Jane's. I was no fool. If Walter had been important, they would have paid to have him freed or killed. Possibly both if his crime was bad enough. He was neither, he was here, which for me…was golden.