The War God's Woman

7. A City on Fire

"Don't come into work this evening, the streets aren't safe."

Sage was a little relieved to get the call from her boss. She needed her job delivering food in the evenings, but she'd been worried after seeing the local news. 

"Thank you."

"Stay safe, Sage."

"You too."

The gangs were fighting. It was Skelrun versus the Bent Man – a fight that had been rumbling for a long time. But now it had kicked off, openly. One of Skelrun's men had been killed, shot outside his home along with his mother. Skelrun had retaliated. And he'd retaliated hard.

Sage paced up and down her apartment – the blare of police sirens a persistent shriek in the background.

                   The night crawled by and Sage called Jaz for the third time that evening.

"The café's still fine." Jaz spoke first – knowing her worry. "Nobody's torched the place." There was obvious tension in his voice. Nobody had torched the place, yet. But the fighting in the streets was out of control. The main high street had been peppered by bullets and the police had been pretty much barricaded out of Skelrun's territory – powerless to intervene.

"I really don't think you should be staying there. What if the looting gets worse?"

"I can handle myself."

Jaz always kept a bat beneath the cash register and he wasn't afraid to use it.

"They have guns, Jaz. You can't handle this. Please don't try to fight anyone."

Jaz was like family to her. His café had been her second home all through secondary school. Rather than go home and face her parents, she'd gone to the café after classes – ordering one drink and then sitting with it for hours. Rather than kicking her out, Jaz had given her free slices of cake and helped her with her homework.

Now, years on. Sage's parents were gone – out living their own lives with no interest in hers. She didn't have siblings. Her school friends had all moved on, first to Uni and then to jobs in better areas – escaping their neighbourhood. But Jaz hadn't abandoned her. He'd given her a job. Cesar called Jaz their lighthouse. Now, Sage was terrified that their lighthouse was being swallowed by a storm.

"Go to sleep, Sage. When you wake up – the café and me will still be here." 

She could hear the smile in Jaz's voice. But she could also hear distant gunfire.

                  Sage couldn't sleep. She didn't even try to. She stayed awake, curled up on her sofa – watching the recordings people were posting online. They showed police cars on fire and men in masks firing guns into the night sky.

A fist pounded against the front door and Sage leapt to her feet. Tossing her phone onto the sofa she rushed to the door. Was it Jaz or Cesar or Markus?

She pulled open the door, not even pausing to secure the latch, and gawped - mouth dry. The Mad Dog was standing in the hallway. Seeing her in pyjama's, Ezekiel exhaled a heavy sigh.

"You're ok..." he seemed relieved. Sage grimaced, realising her mistake. She should have checked through the peephole first.

"What are you doing here?" Her voice trembled.