Blood and Bone | 1

2 | 6

      "And so after Johnson had left his house last night, he drove, I don't know, maybe forty minutes out of the city. I followed him the entire time in our car until he stopped at this old farmhouse. I watched him get out of his car and he went inside, so I followed him."

      Kane paused, trying to get his words in order. I didn't think I'd ever heard him talk this much.

      "In one of the rooms, a living room, I think, stood another man that I couldn't see at the time because of the angle I was watching them at. Johnson asked for his mission report, and the other man told him reluctantly that the job wasn't yet done. I heard Johnson warn him that they were getting impatient, probably meaning Adiago Hundsen. The other man stepped into the light as he threatened Johnson with a knife, saying that he knew better than anyone in that."

      I leaned back in my seat, frowning as I listened. What was this 'job' they spoke of?

      "When the other man finally moved, I could see that he was dressed in all black, with a hood on. I think that he was the man who attacked us at the airport."

      Though I was slightly surprised that my destruction of the terminal at that airport hadn't killed him, I kept my poker face. The rest of my team, however, wasn't as discreet. I watched Gigi's facial expression turn to one of horror and Arlo leaned forward in his seat in amazement.

"That sucker won't stay dead," Jaxon remarked.

"So, that's my story," Kane concluded lamely, not liking to be in the spotlight. He sat back in his seat and crossed his arms across his chest, done talking.

"It matches up with my night," I spoke for the first time and all eyes turned to me.

"Yeah, what exactly were you doing that kept you out all night?" Finn asked, but not suspiciously. It was almost like he cared about my wellbeing. I couldn't decide if I liked it or not.

"I found the Crepuscule Club's meetup point in some old warehouse in the worst part of the city. They were talking about some job that wasn't getting done. But then, Adiago said something about how their job was going to be practically done for them, because he'd pulled some strings."

I didn't mention how I'd seen a murder last night. I needed them to think we could actually do this. It wouldn't help if they were already more scared than they needed to be.

      "And around the same time they get together, trying to complete some job, people start getting killed. It does match up," Finn broke in, his eyes flickering between Kane and I.

"Wait, the Crepuscule Club?" Riley voiced her confusion.

"That's what they're called," I informed her. "Jake just decided to keep that small piece of information to himself."

      "So they could actually be the ones doing the killings, seeing as it does match up."

"Actually, I have more information regarding that. While I was in the warehouse, I caught Hundsen working on a map that had notes written on it and places that were crossed out."

Finn's blue eyes widened a fraction. "A map? That could be of the places they've already struck and where they're headed next."

      "No shit," Jake remarked sarcastically, regarding the blonde boy with a glare so icy that only he could give. He was normally so quiet and still that I almost forgot that he was there. It wasn't the kind of laid back quiet that Kane was. No, this was more like an incoming storm. And that worried me.

       Finn pretended like he hadn't been affected. "So we need to get that map. And once we do, we might be able to catch them before they strike next."

      "But how do we get in?" Jaxon questioned suddenly. All the eyes turned to me once again.

      "We go through the roof," I decided, standing up from my seat. "And we strike tonight. Wear dark colors and bring your weapons."

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"Jaxon, can you get your foot out of my face?" Arlo demanded exasperatedly as the blonde boy accidentally kicked Arlo in the face as they climbed up on top of the roof using a chain link fence.

"Did you tell me to stay here to catch anyone or to be fallen on?" Kane inquired, looking up at me from the ground.

"Both," I answered, not hesitating a second.

"You can catch me, Kane" Riley suggested with a coquettish smile down at the Spanish boy. Kane narrowed his eyes and looked away. She pulled herself up and onto the shingles of the roof.

The one who'd gotten up the fence and onto the building the swiftest and most graceful had surprisingly been Gigi. She stood next to me on the roof, looking down at everyone, her bow and bag of arrows hung over her back.

When everyone had finally gotten up the fence and onto the roof, I was already jumping onto the next building. I had no idea which direction that the Crepuscule Club's warehouse was in, but I figured that I'd know the domed skylight when I saw it.

"What if we fall?" I heard Finn yell behind me, who I guessed wasn't great with heights due to the shaky sound to his voice and the pale tinge to his face.

"Don't," I threw loudly over my shoulder as I jumped over another gap between edifices.

Gigi kept up with me as I navigated my way across the plain of roofs and ridges. She was very quick and agile, two qualities of a great archer and spy. I supposed that I'd underestimated her and her abilities a bit.

After a while of jumping from building to building under the rare clear night sky, I found the familiar half-dome of the skylight. It disconnected easily from the building from the last time I'd snapped it off.

Kane tied the rope he'd been carrying to help us get in and out onto a post sticking out of the roof. As I was the only one who'd been here before, I went first.

My hands went over and under each other as I worked to keep myself from falling. After what seemed like forever, my feet hit the concrete floor. I spun in a complete circle, making sure that there was no immediate danger threatening us.

The warehouse was as dark and empty as it had been when I was stuck there for the night yesterday. No one was here.

I gave the rope two tugs, the signal that it was safe to come down. Immediately, it began jerking and swinging around as someone else began their descent.

I got a paranoid feeling that the gang was here and waiting in the shadows until we were all in here to attack. But a more rational side of me knew it couldn't be true. There was no way they could expect us to be coming. The idea was almost more absurd than jumping into a gang's hideout at night.