Chapter Eight

Kane

Things had been quiet since I'd turned Rawlings down. He'd decided to go home for the weekend, and I was glad. I was surprised Danny hadn't gone with him because, from the sounds of things, he was a regular visitor. Rawlings had asked me, but I'd told him I wanted a quiet weekend. I knew Rawlings was disappointed in my refusal of the undercover job, but the thought of going back inside made me ready to take a knife to myself.

I didn't want to live in any reality that involved me being back there. None. It wasn't what I signed up for either. I was supposed to be a bodyguard. In fact, some guy called Ringo was coming around later to take me somewhere safe to spar. Which was good. I certainly didn't want to spend the weekend in my room, that was too close to what I'd done for the past seventeen years.

It was odd that Rawlings still hadn't asked me about my ability. He hadn't pushed me to see the doc either, but I imagined all that would happen next week. I'd signed the initial three-month contract.

And yeah, I'd been avoiding Danny. He was giving me a bit of whiplash, and…shit, no, no he wasn't. He'd tried to be friendly, but I was avoiding him because I didn't want to give him another reason to dislike me. It seemed I wasn't good at speaking up for myself.

Big surprise.

I got a text from Ringo a few minutes later and saved his contact details. He was coming around in an hour, so I decided to do a few stretches because some guys could be dicks, take one look at my scar, and decide they had something to prove. Like I said to Rawlings, I was fit, but normal human fit, and I didn't know Ringo. I didn't know how hard I could punch because I'd always held back.

I heard Danny in the kitchen and decided I was hungry. I could get a snack. It was weird and a novelty to eat when I wanted. I would be careful, though. I didn't know how intense the sparring session, or whatever it was, would be.

As soon as I walked into the kitchen, I knew something was wrong with Danny. The fact that he was sitting on the floor. The fact that Sadie was practically sprawled over him. That his skin was gray, his breaths were shallow, and I absolutely knew if I could feel his pulse, it would be off the charts.

I hunkered down without a thought of being near the dog. "What can I do?" Danny didn't answer, just focused on the floor like it was alive. I remembered what I used to do with JoJo and risked that, scooting close. Danny's hand clutched Sadie's collar like it was his last grasp on reality.

"Look at Sadie," I said. "She scares the shit out of me, but she's got a really pretty coat." I focused on her as well. Actually, it was. I usually didn't look past her teeth.

I debated touching him when the violent trembles continued. JoJo hated touch. He liked you close, but you put a finger on him and he'd bite it off. "Do—" but my words cut off abruptly as Danny moved and grabbed my hand. He still clutched Sadie with the other, but now he held me as well.

I held my breath for far too long. Touching, being touched, except in anger, had never

been a thing for me. I guessed my mom had—maybe—but she'd left before I even started school, and I suppose the fact that she didn't take me with her spoke volumes.

"I wanted a dog once. Dad brought in puppies. Beat the shit out of them until they turned mean, but there was this one girl. She had sad eyes. Nothing he did made her turn." And I'd wanted to keep her desperately. My breath hitched, which was embarrassing, and I swallowed. "I walked nearly all day to take her to a no-kill shelter." I huffed. "They called it Chasing Tails. And then I just pretended I'd forgotten to lock the crate when I got back."

"S-sorry," Danny rasped, either at the dog or sitting on the floor, and it brought me up sharply. Some help I was. I was getting stuck in my own head, so I started talking about other things. Told him about Archie, the gangs, and how he'd avenged his wife and son. Told him that Archie let me come into his cell and read, and that the guards used to leave me alone when I was with him. That I'd missed so much school growing up even before I got the mark, that Archie had taught me everything other than the basics I was shit at anyway. "He used to say that I kept him sane, but really, it was the exact opposite. I was so angry when I went in, I doubt I'd have even made it to twenty-one alive if he hadn't been there." He'd been my dad. Not the bastard that called himself that.

We stayed there on the floor for some time.

"I don't really know exactly what I can do." I felt Danny's breaths ease and knew he'd turned to look at me. "Did Rawlings tell you what happened?" It distracted him, but it was eating at me, and I wanted to know if I was being played with.

"Rawlings hasn't told me anything. He wouldn't."

I pondered that for a couple of seconds. That made no sense. "It didn't take me long to find out my eyesight was different after I transformed. I can see in the dark. I don't know why, because Archie warned me not to say anything, so I've never seen a doc or anything. I can also…" Shit. Rawlings had seen me, so it was kind of out there, anyway. "I can stop other people from seeing things. This dark cloud kinds of comes out of my hands. Fuck," I swore. "This sounds so dumb."

"Actually, there's a guy on the Tampa team that can make fire come out of his fingers," Danny said. "But he doesn't have to use his fingers to create it either. Do you know if you have to use your hands?"

The question surprised me, but I was relieved Danny seemed to be more cognizant. And he made it matter-of-fact. Like it was normal and not fucked-up. "I have no idea. I spent the last few years hiding what I can do. I've never tried to see what else I have going on."

Danny hummed thoughtfully. "What's the reaction of whoever is blacked out?"

"Reaction?"

"Yeah, I mean, we know the guys had guns. Did they fire? I would have thought it would have been the first thing they did. They've got to have panicked, surely. Anyone would."

I thought about the three times it had happened. The first in front of Archie, who'd just pulled me back out of the way and told me to get back to my cell. The second my mind drifted over because it didn't want to make me remember those hands clawing at me before I escaped. The third…wait, that made no sense. Why didn't they fire immediately? "That's crazy."

"What is?"

"The first time it happened was when Archie and I were just walking into the dining hall. Some dick had a blade. A rival gang member had just arrived and in the space of a second, it was a riot. Two guys ran straight for me, and I just did it. Archie was behind me and pulled me back out of the way."

"They just stopped running at you?"

I tried to think. "They must have."

"And no one said anything about smoke coming out of your fingers?"

I shook my head. "I panicked. Archie said not to get involved and to stay with him. I've no idea why no one else didn't unless they assumed it was tear-gas."

"Did Archie see what you did?"

I thought. "We didn't talk about it. He just said to keep whatever it was to myself." He hadn't mentioned the black cloud, but I'd panicked so I hadn't either.

"What happened yesterday?" Danny asked calmly, and I glanced at him. How had things shifted to him being reasonable? I was supposed to be helping him.

"He was gonna shoot the grandmother."

"No," Danny stopped me. "Tell me exactly step by step, as you remember."

I took a breath. "Saunders told Rain to get in the car. She refused because of her gran, and Saunders repeated the order and raised the gun. I knew he was going to shoot the old lady, so I did the thing with the shadows, grabbed the grandmother and the kid, and dragged them back outside."

"When did they start shooting?"

I huffed. "I was damn lucky. The firing didn't start until we were out of the room."

"How soon after you stopped the smoke, or whatever you call it, can they see?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"Where exactly had you gotten to when the first shot was fired?"

"The front door."

Danny was silent a moment. "How fast did the grandmother move?"

I winced. "I put my arm around her waist and hustled her."

"But simple logistics. She can't run. You had the kid as well, and three of you can"t fit side by side."

I shook my head. "The girl went in front."

"Then tell me how you all didn't get a bullet in the back?" He paused. "And tell me how come the boss just saw what you could do and calmly went away for the weekend?"

"I would have gone back for him," I grumbled.

"What, you think he's angry because you got the hostages out? You did your job. You did exactly what all of us would be expected to do." I knew by the indignant tone in Danny's voice that he was telling the truth. He looked down and so did I. We were practically holding hands. If I'd have thought about it afterwards, one or both of us should have let go instantly, but for some reason neither of us did. Touching. More touching. And this time panic wasn't an excuse.

"Has it happened any other times?"

I stilled, and Danny must have noticed because he just skipped over my reaction. "I don't know for sure without you testing yourself," Danny said slowly, "but from what you describe, I think two things might be happening. Firstly, that the only person who sees the black fog that you describe might be you, and secondly that something else happens. I don't think it"s just your vision that's obscured." He tightened his grip and turned to me, his voice getting stronger. "Think about it. They didn't fire until you got to the door? They should have pressed those triggers right away, and the guys in jail that were running at you. They suddenly stopped?"

"But—" But what? What could I say?

"The easiest thing is to ask Diesel what he saw. I'd suggest a demonstration, but I'm not in the right headspace for anything remotely dark at the moment."

I gazed at him, not knowing what to say.

"Thanks, by the way." He flushed, and I let him go as he withdrew his hand. "You know—well, actually I didn't go into details—but sometimes I get triggered by the stupidest shit."

It wasn't stupid. I knew that, but I had a feeling Danny knew that as well, so he didn't need to hear it from me.

"It was the sirens. Not on their own. I've heard loud noises before, car backfiring, things like that, you know, but both together? And all those on their own I can deal with, but I had a bad night."

"Tell me." If I could have bitten the words back, I would have. It was none of my business.

He looked at me as if trying to weigh me up, but then he must have made a decision. "I told you we were attacked? Well, we were abducted."

I nodded.

"They kept us in a pit." He leaned back and was silent for a moment. "The degradation," he croaked. "Plus, the shit they gave us to eat messed with our stomachs, and there wasn't exactly a restroom. One of our guys—Aubrey—he—" Danny swallowed. "He couldn't take any more. They shot him, but we, Gray and I, knew he'd goaded them into it."

Danny's breaths quickened, but he fell silent.

"When I was young, if Dad was mad at me, he'd lock me out of the house. Rain, cold, middle of the night, never mattered. All I wanted those times was to get back inside, and then I spent seventeen years wishing the opposite." Danny's eyes were so blue they reminded me of all the nights I'd wished I was looking at the sky, and for a moment, a really long moment, I thought I saw something else in them. Understanding?

At least until we both heard the knock on the door. Danny wrenched his gaze away. I wasn't that strong. He looked at his phone when we both heard the notification. "It's Ringo."

I was off the floor first and extended my arm. Danny took it. The second knock had us both huffing and Danny went to the door.

Ringo didn't surprise me. Well, possibly the fact that he had ten years on me. Not that I thought bodyguards had an expiration date, and he seemed friendly enough, even if he also seemed hard. There were shadows behind his eyes that I recognized. Maybe he'd been inside? Maybe Rawlings had a type?

Danny informed us he was staying put, so I got in Ringo's truck. I'd brought a small bag with shorts and a t-shirt.

"Where's the gym?"

"Not a gym exactly," Ringo hedged a little. "More a club." I glanced over.

"What sort of club?"

"Atlanta's like the Tale of Two Cities."

I got the reference thanks to Archie's books, but I didn't think he meant London and Paris. "You mean socially."

He shrugged. "Economically, whatever."

"Okay." Most places were.

"Father Peter runs a safe place where kids can go to hangout. Diesel and the guys support it. It has a gym attached that has proper fights. Kids are allowed certain days and times."

I didn't think anything more could have surprised me that day, but yep—that'd do it. There was a small parking area, but I wasn't shocked to see Ringo park on the street where he couldn't be boxed in. I looked at the buildings, dark, rundown, and felt right at home. There was a tiny church at the end of the block and what looked like some sort of industrial unit next to it. I watched as two teenagers got off a bus and headed over. "That's the gym?"

He nodded, and we both reached for the door handles simultaneously until I saw the guy following the kids and stopped. Some distance away. Shoulders hunched, head down. But I clocked the gate, shoe size, the width of his shoulders, and his exact height and before I even registered the facts going through my mind, I knew who it was.

The guy from the gas station. The enhanced that had recognized me and hadn't said a word. I saw the small gym bag he carried and knew in that instant he wasn't there to rob the place.

The problem was, what the fuck did I do now?