Guardians: The Girl (The Guardians Series, Book 1)(24)

“We’ll head out in a sec. The rest of you get going.” Before I had even finished talking, they were airborne. Ameana and I remained on the roof.

“You’re not going to tell them what the Sage said, are you?” she asked.

“Why should I? It’s not true. Why would I even worry them about it?”

“They need to know.”

“There’s nothing to know.”

“You can’t leave them in the dark like this.”

“They wouldn’t believe what he had to say. They have faith in me and aren’t so easily convinced of my betrayal.”

“You’re making this personal, and it’s not.”

“Is it ever personal with you?”

“This is not about us. I’m the second-in–command, and I think your holding out information from the team is in poor judgment.”

“I’m sorry you don’t like the way I’m handling things. But it’s my decision, and I am not saying anything until I feel it is absolutely necessary.”

“So, you’re gonna wait to Turn and then tell them?”

“I AM NOT TURNING!” My wings spread across the night sky and moved wildly.

“Don’t you flare your wings at me! I am not here to agree with you. I’m here to get a job done and you’re getting in the way.”

“You aren’t the only one who has to make this mission happen. We all have to play our parts.”

“Good. Why don’t you try playing the role of a First Guardian and take care of his team?”

“I am done having this conversation.”

“You have to tell them.”

“Because you think it’s true?”

“Because it’s your duty.”

“I will. But only when I feel they need to know, and not one second before.”

“You’re just afraid that they will lose faith in you.”

“Well, if they’re anything like my girlfriend, they never had any faith in me to begin with.”

“Marcus—”

“Enough.”

Without another word, Ameana took off into the night sky. I followed her. She was taking me to see a Seller that she thought the Akons might have gone to. She took us to a pawn shop on the Lower East Side. It was still dark out and had we not had the strength of angels, it would have been a bad idea for us to be out.

The dark alleys and suspect-looking humans make for a scene in some kind of street-crime drama. We landed in an empty alleyway. The wind whipped and battered the garbage on the street. It smelled. The rats had long taken ownership of the area.

We entered the pawn shop and found random items on display. They had everything from guitars to baby monitors. They were held in place by Samson string. Samson is the guy who had had all his hair cut off by a woman he loved and trusted, Delilah.

But what they don’t tell you is that Delilah then sold his hair to a Seller after finding out that it was as strong as that of an angel’s. Samson string could hold a car in place on the wall. But the most impressive thing about Samson string is that it could not be untied by any hands other than the ones that had tied it. You also never needed more than a few inches, so it was something Sellers often kept it in stock and made good money off of.

The guy behind the counter was heavyset, with a hairy chest, a half-open button-down Acapulco shirt and a gold chain. The chain is a holder, just like the one Jay wears. Except Jay’s is platinum. I’m guessing the pawn shop gets robbed so often, he keeps the Holder around as protection. A Holder is a bubble-like prison. Once it is thrown onto the floor, it traps the person it’s been thrown at by encasing them in a film that can not be pulled apart.

I’m sure many robbers have been held in place at this shop until the cops came. Then, when the cops show up, the Holder is removed and it seems as if the robber just stayed behind to get caught. The truth is they were held prisoner by the holder chain around the Seller’s neck. No robber ever got the best of a Seller. These are men and women who have lived not one but many lives. And each time Sellers come back to Earth, they get better at stealing and cheating.

Many argue that Sellers should be sent to the darkness, but every once in a blue moon, a Seller sees the error of his or her ways and gets entrance into the light. Also, the act that the Seller committed on Earth to be granted eternal life is always an act of courage. I guess it’s hard to send a guy to burn to ashes after he has saved a baby’s life or done something equally heroic. The Seller looked at us and gave us his best car-salesman smile.

“Well, I’ll be a Runner’s last meal. The Guardian couple right here in my little old shop! Can you shed some light on some of the rumors that have been circulating? Is it true that you had something going with another Guardian before Marcus? I hear you and the mood ring guy had a thing way back when.”

She walked up to him slowly. She whispered something in his ear. I don’t know what she said, but Tony-Tone’s face went bright red.

“You will never ask me anything like that again. Do you understand?”

“Yes, yes, I’m sorry. I was just curious.”

“We didn’t come here to be questioned. We came to question you. And if you tell us what we want to know maybe we won’t have to end your cycle right here,” I say.

“I thought you guys would be nicer.”

“Tony, I’m low on patience. So if I were you, I’d play it real carefully,” I warned him.

“Look, I can’t tell you anything. I’m a Seller and we Sellers have a code.”

“To rip off as many people as you can?” Ameana asked.

“Well, yeah. But more than that, we have to keep our clients happy. That means whatever they purchase is kept confidential.”

“You will tell us what we need to know,” I threatened.

“Okay, but you should know that I hold my profession in higher regard. It hurts me to break my code.”

“We’ll pay you.”

“What do you need to know?”

“Did the Akons come to see you?” I asked

“Yeah, half hour ago.”

“What did the Akons get when they came here?” Ameana said.

“They brought two things; a vile of weeping oil and—”

“Weeping oil? What’s that?” Ameana asked.

“It holds memories like a collector, but only of the times in your life you’ve cried. You put it into someone’s drink, and after they drink it, you take the cup and fill it up with water. The remains of the oil will reveal the last tearful memory of the person who drank it. On us it wouldn’t do anything, but on a human, it’s like ingesting bleach. The body rejects it. Three or four rounds of weeping oil can kill a human,” I informed her.

“It would only take three rounds. I sold them the good stuff. It comes from the best hospice in North America. I only provide the best. I am not just a Seller—I’m a Seller who cares.”

“You care so much, you sneak into rooms of terminally ill people, wait for them to cry themselves to sleep and gather all their tears,” I point out.

“Hey, I didn’t give them an illness. You can take that up with the council. All I do is gather up a few of their tears. And, by the way, the process doesn’t stop there. I have to pay a guy to mix it, pay a guy to strip the salt from it—a lot of work is done to make it what it ends up being.”

“You poor man,” Ameana said without any sympathy.

“Poor is right. You wouldn’t believe the overhead.”

“What did they need the weeping oil for?” I asked.

“Yeah, like they would tell me.”

“Make a guess, Tony. Guess as if your life depended on it,” Ameana suggested to him.

“I’m guessing they just need information about a human’s past. And once they’ve found the memory that they are looking for, they’ll dispose of the human. That is, if the weeping oil hasn’t already done that.”

I had a lot I wanted to discuss with Ameana. What in this Emerson person’s past did the Akons want to know? Which of the three Emersons would they give the oil to? What could we do to get the same information without hurting a human? Now wasn’t the time to talk. Tony should not know more than necessary. He could not be trusted. No Seller could, really.

“What is the other thing they brought?” I asked.

“You mean stole. That’s why we need a union  . It makes no sense to get the gift of eternal life if any Akon, Runner or Pawn can take anything from us! How are we supposed to make a living? It’s always the same thing. We live here in peace, and every six-six-six, you and Akons come and take whatever you want. It’s injustice, is what it is.”

“You can save your speech for the union   meeting, Tony. We just need to know what the other thing was they bought,” I told him.

“You guys are supposed to be the good guys. Don’t you care about the injustice and unfairness of life as a Seller?”

“No,” Ameana said.

He looked her over. He admired her beauty and her body. That irked me. I wonder if it would have had I not been her boyfriend.

“Tony, you try really hard not to stare at her like she’s a candy apple. And I’ll try really hard not to split you open like one, deal?”

“Ah, yeah. Sorry about that. What was it you wanted to know again?”