Matt Archer: Redemption (7 page)

After fifteen minutes, I started to lose hope. What if Ella was buried under that pile of bricks lying off to one side of the fallen fire escape? What is she was unconscious?

What if she was dead?

That thought froze my insides and I was in danger of an imminent freak-out when a distant voice cried, “Giant Will? Where are you?”

Will chucked a huge piece of concrete back onto the pile and took off running. I followed, nearly collapsing in relief when we spotted Penn and Ella a block away. From here, I couldn’t tell if they’d been hurt at all, but they were walking without assistance, and that was good enough.

Ella pointed. “There they are, Captain!”

A huge form broke out of the shadows—Captain Johnson. Mamie was cradled in his huge arms. She hung limp, one arm dangling free.

Then I was flying down the middle of the street, leaping over whatever got in my way. Ella’s pale face flashed by as I skidded to a halt next to Johnson and pressed a finger to Mamie’s neck. Her pigtails were half-unraveled, but there wasn’t a mark on her.

“She’s alive,” I gasped. “Pulse is a little slow, but steady.”

“She’s definitely alive,” Johnson said in his deep rumble. “Just worn out. She fainted a few blocks back. We need to find her a quiet place to rest.”

“Everyone’s back at the Rayburn building.”

Johnson nodded and started walking that direction. I took a deep breath, trying to slow my own pulse. Ella put a hand on my arm but didn’t get a single word out before I pulled her into a tight hug.

“We couldn’t find you,” I said. “We thought—”

“I was worried about that,” she murmured against my chest, “but when the military moved down into the Mall, a couple of monsters stayed behind. We realized it was too dangerous to be outside so we hid until things calmed down. The guards wouldn’t let us into the Rayburn building when we got there, though.”

“Bastards,” Penn barked. “Those MPs didn’t listen when we told them you’d lose your minds if we weren’t there when you came back, so we were trying to find a way to sneak in when we found the captain.”

Mighty Penn had her hands on her hips, like a miniature Napoleon ready to go to war. Will, smiling, bent down and scooped her up like she was a preschooler.

“I have an idea,” he said, touching her nose with his. Another time, I might’ve gagged at the cuteness, but today everything got a pass as far as I was concerned. “Let us escort you back to the Rayburn building so you can walk right past those mean guards.”

Penn gave him a fierce nod. “Have I told you yet that I’m really glad you’re alive?”

“No, but I knew you’d get around to it as soon as your need for vengeance was satisfied.” Will put her down and took her hand. “I’m really glad you’re alive, too.”

Ella and I trailed after them, holding hands. Worried as I was about Mamie, I wasn’t in a hurry to be sucked back into operations. If I could stand here for a minute and enjoy the fact that Ella was alive and next to me, that would be enough to erase some of my pain.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Had better days. You?”

She looked away, taking in the damage around us. “I’ve had better days.” Now she captured me with her gaze and I stopped walking, spellbound. Something about her green eyes never let me go. “I want you to know how proud I am of you. I’ve seen you fight before, but not like that. What you and Will can do now? It’s amazing. You saved so many lives today. I know you’re focusing on the worst of it, but keep all the good stuff in mind, too.”

“I’ll try.”

We walked in silence until we were nearly at the entrance to the building. “Hey, where are you staying? Because Congressman Patrick is eating his words. He rented out a floor at the Ritz Carlton for the team and is buying our dinner.”

Ella smiled. “That sounds better than the Best Western.”

“I’ll send someone to go get your stuff and bring it over,” I said. “I think a few of those MPs owe me some favors.”

She laughed.

When we approached the checkpoint, the guards snapped to attention. That would be hard to get used to, being treated like an officer. But, remembering all the times I wished Ella could see me in action, I puffed out my chest, nodding to the guards like I got this kind of treatment every day.

Totally worth it when she bit her lip, giggling, as we went inside.

The bunker was a hive of activity by the time we arrived. Mom knelt next to a bench, where Mamie lay, still unconscious.

Brent came storming over. “Why didn’t you bring her back when you ran into her out there? She could’ve been killed!”

Any measure of balance I’d regained with Ella drained off in an instant. I got right in his face. “She told me she was fine. Brent, you don’t understand, not even a little, what she’s capable of. You’re right, we need to find a way to keep her from running toward danger, because she’s too valuable. But today she had a purpose and I wasn’t about to get in her way.”

He clenched his fists. “Just because you don’t care about risking your own life doesn’t mean you can blow off risking hers.”

Flashes of the night Mamie had been kidnapped by monsters back home stormed my brain and before I could contain myself, I had him against the wall with my hand on his neck. “I care about her more than you do. I always have. And don’t you
dare
talk to me about risk.”

His face turned purple with rage and he knocked my hand away. “And don’t
you
dare assume you care more. You never should have let her stay out there.”

“She saved nine children from sure death,” Johnson said behind us. “I asked her why she left the bunker, and she told me she’d been called to help.” He calmly pulled me away from my brother. “Matt’s right, Brent. You have no idea what your sister’s become. None of us do, I think.”

“No, we don’t,” I said. “I found her on the Mall, picking up a four-year-old. This monster swooped out of nowhere to grab her, then just veered away. It never touched her, like it was scared of her.”

“They
were
scared of me,” Mamie murmured from the bench. “And you and Brent better stop fighting. You’re upsetting Mom.”

We rushed to her side—Johnson included—and she sat up slowly. “Tired. Does anybody have any chocolate?”

Johnson lumbered out of the room without saying anything.

“Chocolate?” Mom looked confounded and frazzled down to a nub. “Sweetheart, what happened?”

“I had something to do.” She blinked, like the dim lighting in the bunker hurt her eyes. I recognized that expression—I had it often enough after a fight. Post-magic migraine.

Glass shattered down the hall and every wielder dropped into a crouch, knives out.

“Everyone back,” Mike ordered.

Tense seconds ticked by as heavy footsteps crunched on the debris in the hallway, headed straight at us. Had Nocturna Maura called something new to torment us with?

Then Johnson appeared in the doorway, his arms full of junk food. “Mr. Congressman? In that list of things we need, you might want to include a vending machine. I didn’t feel like bumming spare change from the MPs.”

I relaxed, rolling my eyes. Jumpy. We were so freaking jumpy. Johnson shot me an amused smile as he went to Mamie, offering her first pick of his stolen snacks. She thanked him before taking a package of peanut M&Ms. And a Snickers bar.

And a bag of Skittles.

“Holy crap, Sis. You trying to go into diabetic shock or something?” I said, relieved to see her interested in food.

“My blood sugar dropped after, uh, everything,” she said, darting a worried glance at Mom and Brent. “I need a boost.”

I snagged a bag of potato chips for myself as Johnson came by, along with a Crunch bar for Ella. She kissed me on the cheek for that, which calmed me down a little more. Which was probably why she did it.

Uncle Mike joined us and gently tugged one of Mamie’s braids, before saying, “We need to meet then we can go to the hotel.”

Mamie downed half the M&Ms before saying, “Do I have to go to the meeting?”

“Not this one, Daisy May,” he told her. “Why don’t you stay here and rest a bit. We won’t be long.”

Then he stared at Brent—a cold-ass Colonel Tannen glare. “Do not question your brother in front of his men. Not ever.”

Whoa, I wasn’t expecting that. Brent’s furious expression told me he hadn’t expected it, either. “Fine, whatever. But I’m Mamie’s bodyguard. Don’t
you
forget that.”

“Brent Michael Archer, do not talk back to the colonel,” Mom said, sounding more weary than angry. “This isn’t our place. We’re here by happenstance and they need to do things their way.”

I
really
wasn’t expecting that. Much as I appreciated the backup, I knew what this meant. Every raw wound that had scabbed over between Brent and me had just been ripped open.

“Archer, let’s go,” Uncle Mike barked from the doorway.

Calling me Archer was one more reminder to my family of how much had changed.

I reached out to squeeze Mamie’s hand. “We’ll be back.”

She nodded, taking a huge bite of her candy bar. “Ella and Penn will keep us company.”

Ella whispered in my ear, “And we’ll make sure she stays down for a little while.”

Glad they planned to take care of each other, I followed the colonel into the hall. Everyone else had already gone to the operations room, so I pulled him aside.

“Sir, there’s something I need to do,” I said.

He tilted his head to one side, and I knew he was afraid to ask, but he did anyway. “What?”

I pulled Parker’s knife from my belt. “The spirit, well, I was the only person he allowed to handle the knife.” Or maybe I was the only one who
could
, but I wasn’t ready to admit that to anyone, not yet. “He told me to bring him home. To you.”

Uncle Mike’s face drained of color. “Chief, I can’t. I’m leading this operation. I can’t go back out into the field.” He scrubbed his hand across his hair. “Why now?”

“You were a wielder once,” I said, holding the knife out to him. “It seems like you’re meant to be one again.”

He let out a heavy breath. I knew what was going through his mind: Katie, Aunt Julie, leaving Pentagram Strike Force in someone else’s hands. But sometimes we didn’t get to choose our destinies. Tink had made sure I understood that. Finally, he reached out to take the knife.

The handle stayed dark and cold in his hand.

Chapter Eight

“Wait,” I said. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

The look of relief on Mike’s face was plain. “Maybe you had your wires crossed.”

“But, the spirit said … ” Oh, God. This wasn’t right. It
couldn’t
be. Because the alternative—no, I wouldn’t think about that yet. “Here, I’ll take it back and we’ll see if it wants to transfer to someone else.”

He handed it to me, smiling. “Dodged a bullet, huh?”

“Um, yeah.” My mind spiraled a thousand scenarios as we joined the team in the operations room—none of them good. Finally, I whispered. “Show me home again.”

Here
. Parker’s knife-spirit flashed up a mental picture of Uncle Mike’s house.

My chest heaved like I’d been running. How I could give the knife to its rightful owner without hating myself for it? Would Mike ever forgive me?

You hesitate.
Parker’s knife-spirit sounded disappointed.
You promised.

Give the boy a minute, will you?
Tink said firmly.
This isn’t going to be easy, not for him nor several other people here.

Sometimes I was so grateful she had my back, but waiting would only delay the pain I was about to cause. After taking a moment to steady myself, I waved Aunt Julie over. “Captain Tannen? I need to talk to you.”

Mike’s head popped up from the reports he was reviewing on Davis’s laptop screen. Yeah, he knew where this was headed.

“Matt, why don’t you come here a minute?” he barked. “I need to talk to you.”

Julie shot him a quizzical glance. “Give us a second, sir.” She shook her head. “He’s wound really tight today. Anyway, what do you need?”

Feeling sick down deep, I held Parker’s knife out. “You need to take this from me.”

“Captain Tannen!” Uncle Mike’s voice was like a thunderclap. “Don’t.”

My aunt’s shoulders relaxed and she seemed more dangerous in that moment than I’d ever seen. Without heeding her husband’s—her
commanding officer’s
—warning, she reached for the knife’s handle.

Which promptly flashed blue and hummed in content.

Everything stopped. I don’t think any of us breathed, except for Mike, who was staring in horror at his wife.

Our new wielder smiled the most badass smile I’d ever seen. “Well,” Aunt Julie said. “That’s better.”

“Better?” Mike cried. “
Better
? You can’t go into combat. You
can’t.
We have to find someone else.”

She turned on him, and if I’d been my uncle, I would’ve eaten every one of those words with ketchup to make sure I choked all of them down. While everyone else backed up against the walls, Uncle Mike stood stubborn in the center of the room as Aunt Julie closed the space between them, as deadly and beautiful as a lioness.

“My maiden name was Hunter,” she said calmly. “Every man on my father’s side
was
one. Then my dad had two girls. But that didn’t mean the end of the hunters in that family. I can do this, Colonel. I believe it, and so does the knife. He’s telling me so right now.”

“You can hear him? The knife-spirit?” Jorge asked, his strange eyes alight with excitement. “Truly?”

“Of course,” Julie said, looking confused. “Aren’t I supposed to?”

“Yes, eventually,” Ramirez said. “You just tuned in faster than most of us did.”

“Except Cruessan,” I added. “He came online immediately.”

“During a fight,” Ramirez said. “The captain isn’t under threat. That’s what makes it so unusual.”

He had a point. “It took me months to hear Tink for the first time.”

“And it took two years for Parker and me to hear ours,” Ramirez added.

“Maybe this is a sign that the captain belongs here, Colonel,” I said. “In fact, I’m certain it is.”