Two days later Zach, Angel and Blade were settled in. Blade had a room right next to mine and Zach had taken the one next to his. Angel slept down on the second floor across from Mom. The first day here they’d been given a tour of the house and the second day they’d gone around the grounds. Zach and Angel were in heaven, loving this place as much as I did. Blade was happy too, though he was more reserved when it came to showing it.
Meghan and Nick came over the morning of the third day. “Hey!” I looked out my window to see both of them waving at me from down below.
“Hi guys!” I shouted down, glad they were finally here. “How’d you get in?” I asked, frowning suddenly.
Nick laughed. “Caitlin let us in. Come on!”
With a nod at them, I disappeared from the window and ran next door to Blade’s room. He wasn’t there, so I headed up to the attic, which had been converted to a gym. Among Blade’s possessions when he’d come here was one of those punching bags that hang from chains, and he worked out using that a lot—It was weird, but I knew that fighting was his thing, just like mine was drawing.
When I opened the door to the attic, I leaned against the doorframe to watch for a little bit. Blade was breathing hard and he’d taken off his shirt and opened one of the windows. Now he was facing the bag in a fighting stance, a fierce look coming over his face that made me shiver. Because I understood Blade so well, he normally didn’t scare me, but when he was like this I could see the person who’d accepted people’s money to fight for their entertainment or whatever other reason.
He moved as fast as he had that day in the orphanage. One second he was looking at the punching bag, the next he had snapped a kick to the ‘head’ and then another one right in the middle of the bag. He followed those up with neat, quick punches and elbows. It was a minute before he even noticed me. Breathing hard, he turned to face me. “Hey.”
His greeting actually said a lot more than just that. It asked if I was okay, if the others were okay, and why I was here. I gave him a small smile. “I have some friends who I’d like you, Zach and Angel to meet. I think we’d all get along really well together.”
Blade gave a half shrug, grabbing his shirt and putting it on. “Where are they?”
“Outside. Come on.” Blade and I walked in comfortable silence down to where Zach and Angel were playing in the room on the second floor.
“Hey, guys.” Blade greeted his siblings. “Max has some friends she wants us to meet. What do you think?”
Angel and Zach jumped to their feet. “Cool! Where are they?” Zach asked.
“Outside. Come on, they’re waiting for us.” I told them. Zach and Angel ran ahead of Blade and me, laughing as they shot out the door. “They’re really great kids.” I told Blade softly, looking after them.
He gave a thoughtful nod as we started after them. “I know.” Neither of us said anything more, but neither of us needed to.
Outside, a surprised looking Nick and Meghan were being greeted by Angel and Zach. From here all Blade and I could really see was two bobbing black haired heads talking animatedly, but soon enough we drew even with them. Meghan raised her eyebrow at me. “I didn’t hear about this.” She accused.
I laughed. “Neither did I, until two days ago. I would have mentioned it otherwise. These two are Zach and Angel, and this is Blade.” I turned to Zach, Angel and Blade. “These are my friends Meghan and Nick.”
Blade gave a nod to Meghan and he and Nick shook hands, but he was reverting to the silence he used around people he didn’t know—including Mom, most of the time. Angel and Zach were more open, jumping up and down with excitement as they asked about the town and the school and Meghan and Nick themselves.
We spent the day like that, talking and sitting by the lake. In the evening we went swimming and Caitlin joined us—and it was a lot of fun. Just like I’d thought, Nick and Meghan got along nicely with the other three, even if Blade didn’t talk much. They left with promises to return tomorrow. After a while Angel and Zach were called back inside to take a shower, but Blade and I stayed by the lake, lying down together on the grass. I tried to find a couple constellations, but the only one I found was the Big Dipper. Blade pointed another two out to me, murmuring their names.
We stayed in silence until Blade broke it. “I like this place…a lot. It’s different, though…from how Detroit was.”
I nodded without looking over at Blade, staring at the dark sky and letting the wind move over my body. “I know what you mean. This place is a lot different from England, too. But I love it here, and it’s my home now.” It was odd, but this was the first time I’d ever felt this way about a place. Almost immediately I’d thought of here as home, but I’d never once thought of my other foster homes or orphanages as my home.
“Mmm.” Blade murmured. He turned his head so he was looking at me and I did the same, taking in his dark eyes and hair, his mocha colored skin. “We lived with our Mom for a while—until two years ago. The place we lived in was a dump, but I never knew how bad our situation was. She died, and that’s when I found out that we had absolutely nothing. The landlords had been planning to evict us that day. We were out on the streets for a little bit, until Dave found me. He gave me a job. When I was a fighter for a year… during that time, I thought I’d never have a chance at a normal life again.” Blade whispered. I knew that this was the first time he’d ever said those words aloud, so I stayed silent, letting him get it all out.
“My mentor, Dave, would call me about once a week and tell me that someone wanted me to fight someone of their choice. Sometimes it was for entertainment—most of the time it was. The places I’d go to were almost always legal. Other times I was to fight against a specific fighter who worked for some rich, sick people who wanted to see blood. Those fights were illegal, and a lot messier.” Blade gestured at his body: he had thin scars all over, most of them unnoticeable except in the light. He was shirtless now, and I could see a long one across his chest.
“I’d tell Angel and Zach to stay wherever we were, and then I’d hope I’d come back. Normally it never got bloody or bad, the fights were just until one of us fell under blows, but sometimes things got nasty. Every time I’d think of how Angel and Zach needed me, and that’s how I got through.”
There was a pain that no one else could have heard in his voice. How I heard it, I wasn’t sure. Maybe it was just because we were so alike, or because we just clicked, just understood each other. “Those were bad times. Then when I was at a fight, someone found Angel and Zach and took them to the orphanage. I was so…scared…when I couldn’t find them. It took two days for me to find them. I never want to be separated like that again.”
I smiled a little at Blade, reaching a hand from behind my head to rest on his. “You won’t have to be. This isn’t a temporary dream, Blade. It’s going to last.” I took my hand away from his and we settled back into silence, staring up at the skies until Mom called us back in. As we walked back towards the house, I knew—this was going to last.
~~~
Crazily enough, it was easy to get used to having siblings. Blade spent some time every day teaching both Angel and Zach self defense, just in case. I joined in with them, passing afternoons learning really basic things: blocks, handholds, how to get out of people’s grips. But because the time we had was so good, it couldn’t last forever.
It was evening again. After I’d gotten home from work Blade, Nick, Meghan, Zach, Angel and I had gone swimming. After Nick and Meghan left us we’d worked a little on self defense, but soon enough Mom had called for dinner. Now it was after the meal and I wanted to talk to Blade, having nothing better to do. Despite his reservations around Mom and his quiet around Nick and Meghan, he talked a lot with me. When I arrived at his door, though, I paused.
“Dave, I told you I was done.” Blade’s voice was cold. I tensed at the name. Dave, his ‘mentor’? Why was he calling when Blade hadn’t worked for him in two months, since he’d left for the orphanage?
There was a pause in the conversation. “How the hell do you know where we live?” Now Blade was furious. A simmering silence lasted a few seconds. “Fine. I’ll find a way.” Blade finally snapped, aggravated. He must have hung up, and then I heard a thud, like he was punching something. My blood seemed like ice in my veins when I knocked.
“Come in.” Blade called. His voice was slightly strained, but I was the only one who’d ever have noticed it: he always kept every emotion but love and confidence from Zach and Angel and the others just couldn’t pick up on the subtle strains.
“It’s me.” I opened his door and slipped into the room to see Blade sitting on his bed. For the first time since we’d first met at the orphanage, Blade’s expression was guarded against me.
“What’s up?” He asked, avoiding my gaze.
I sat next to Blade on the bed, my mind reeling. Should I mention what I’d heard outright? A glance at Blade told me that would be stupid, so I decided to give him an option to tell me. “Not much. I just wanted to talk. I thought I heard you talking to yourself, though. Are you sure you’re not going crazy?” My tone was supposed to give Blade a chance to tell me what was going on while not letting on that I already could guess.
He stiffened like he’d been electrocuted. “What did you hear?” He asked tensely, too wrought with nerves to cover up his emotions well.
I gave him a surprised look, as though I didn’t know why he was so uptight. “No real words, I just heard your voice. Why?”
Blade gave a relieved sigh. “No reason. I was just talking to an old friend of mine who wants me to help him in some urgent matter. Do you think Caitlin would let me go to Detroit for a day or two?”
So Blade was going back for Dave, almost certainly to fight. Why else would Dave want him? Maybe it was perfectly innocent, but probably not. Either way, I wasn’t letting him go alone. “Maybe, but not alone. I could go with you, though, and then she might let you.”
Blade wasn’t happy. “No, this is something I should do alone.” He insisted, looking stressed.
I shrugged. “I wouldn’t go to meet your friend with you, I’d just accompany you to the city. How bad could it be?” I gave him an innocent, pleading look.
Blade sighed. “I guess. I need to ask her now, though, so I’ll be right back.” He got up and quickly left the room. I blew out a tense breath, wondering what the hell I was getting myself into.
~~~
Blade POV
I was sitting on my bed wondering if Max would want to go walking or riding with me when my cell phone rang. Immediately I grabbed it up and looked at the caller ID. Dave had gotten me the phone, and he was the only person who ever called me, though others had my number. Why was he calling? “Hello?” I demanded, picking up the phone and bracing myself to hear Dave.
His deep baritone rumbled through the phone. “Blade, my boy! It’s nice to hear your voice again.” Nice my ass. Dave was only interested in me as a source of income—I’d been clear that I was going to the orphanage and wasn’t going to fight anymore once I’d found Zach and Angel again.
“What do you want?” I tried to force a mildly polite tone into my voice, with moderate success. Sure, Dave had helped me survive, but he was a viper with a block of ice instead of a heart.
“Listen, someone has a fighter for you, and—”
“Dave, I told you I was done.” I told him flatly, looking around my room. I had everything now—my family, a place to live in, friends, and a woman who was doing a great job at being Zach and Angel’s mother. Caitlin knew better than to try and mother me, but I liked her a lot anyway. Max—I considered her family almost immediately. There was something about her that just clicked. And with all of this, I didn’t need Dave.
“Hear me out, Blade. They’re offering a lot of money, and they’ve got three fighters. Its entertainment only, but they’re very insistent. I had to tell them where you lived, so if you don’t agree to come, they might go to you—and the results might not be pretty.” Dave went for a kindly warning sort of tone, but I heard the explicit threat. That bastard.
“How the hell do you know where we live?” Now I was furious. I didn’t care if I got minorly injured—but if someone knew where I lived, then they could target Angel, Zach, Max, Caitlin, Nick or Meghan. I wasn’t going to let that happen.
“Now, now, Blade, don’t be upset. You know what your only option is. I’ll pay you well.” Dave promised.
I took a deep breath, steadying myself. “Fine. I’ll find a way.” With that I hung up, angry beyond belief. I’d thought that I’d just be able to walk away form my past. Turning to my bed, I punched the pillow hard before sitting on the bed and putting my head in my hands. How was I going to get Caitlin to let me go to Detroit?
A knock on the door jarred me out of thought. Straightening, I made sure to hide most of my stress. “Come in.” I called. No one but Max would be able to tell anything was off, and if she picked up on something it would only be very slight.
“It’s me.” Max answered, opening the door and slipping in. Her brown, blond streaked hair was curling slightly down to her shoulders, just barely touching the top of her spaghetti strap pajama top. There was an anxiousness stirring in the depths of her brown eyes, but whatever it was, she was trying to hide it.
She moved over to the bed and sat next to me. I knew that if I looked at her she’d be able to see that something was wrong, so I looked down, noting the difference in my tan skin color and her fair one. “What’s up?” I asked, wanting to help her with whatever she was anxious about.
Max shifted a little. “Not much. I just wanted to talk. I thought I heard you talking to yourself, though. Are you sure you’re not going crazy?” She asked lightly, joking with me.
She’s kidding, idiot! I though, willing myself to just laugh it off. Instead, my mouth moved too fast for my brain. “What did you hear?” I demanded. Shit. Anyone, especially Max, would be able to tell that I was tense about the call.
Max gave me a surprised look. “No real words, I just heard your voice. Why?”
I couldn’t stop a sigh or relief. “No reason. I was just talking to an old friend of mine who wants me to help him in some urgent matter. Do you think Caitlin would let me go to Detroit for a day or two?” I asked casually, brushing off the phone call and thanking god she hadn’t heard any of the actual conversation.
Max hesitated, considering the issue for a moment before answering. “Maybe, but not alone. I could go with you, though, and then she might let you.”
That was definitely not an option. The fact that whoever these people were knew where we lived was bad enough, but the thought of Max coming with me…that would be the worst choice. Max knew me like no one else did—enough to sense if something was going on. “No, this is something I should do alone.”
I had a sudden picture of Max running in just as I starting fighting, and for a moment I wondered whether she would still act the same way towards me or if she would see me as a violent fighter and nothing else. Max shrugged, giving me a small, beautiful smile. “I wouldn’t go to meet your friend with you, I’d just accompany you to the city. How bad could it be?” Very, very bad. I thought, but when she gave me a pleading look I couldn’t deny her.
With a sigh, I relented. “I guess. I need to ask her now, though, so I’ll be right back.” I slipped out of the room and leaned against the wall outside. Come on, Blade, get it together! I ordered myself. Max was right, how bad could it be? We’d go to Detroit, spend the night. I’d go fight in the night and then be back by the time Max woke up. She’d never suspect a thing.
Of course, this was Max I was talking about here. And since she was stubborn and caught absolutely everything, it could all go down the drain in seconds. Then I shook myself out of those thoughts, starting towards the library where I knew Caitlin was working on some article. If I could fight grown men and women, then I could almost certainly slip away from Max for a night.
When I asked Caitlin, she was reluctant. Just like Max said, she suggested I take Max with me—of course. When was Max ever wrong? I called Dave before going back up to my room, and he picked up on the first ring. “Can you come?” He demanded immediately, not bothering with greetings.
“Yes.” I told him curtly, not hiding my annoyance. “I’m bringing a friend, but she’s not coming to the fight. You have a hotel room for us, right? And the fight needs to be at night.”
I could almost see Dave raising an eyebrow. “A friend, huh? Is it that girl you hang around a lot, Max?”
That right there was the limit. He knew who Max was—and he knew I hung around her. “Dave, I’m going to warn you right here and now.” I used my quiet, ‘I can kill you so quickly you won’t even see me’ tone. “You need to take whoever’s watching me off watch. If you don’t, I’ll find them and kill them. I’m not joking. If you ever, ever, think about using Max or the rest of my family or friends against me, or think of hurting them—then I’m coming after you.”
I could hear it in Dave’s tone: he knew I was serious, and he knew that he was treading on very dangerous ground. “All right. I just wanted to make sure you were settling in well.”
I gritted my teeth. “I’ll meet you at your place tomorrow around five.” With that, I hung up. Anger and worry were driving me wild now, when just a few moments ago I’d been so peaceful. I wasn’t the only one in danger, and neither were Max, Caitlin, Nick or Meghan. It would be bad if any of them got hurt, but they had more of a chance against someone. Zach and Angel, on the other hand…they were eight years old. “Fuck you, Dave.” I muttered, making my way quickly upstairs.
Max was sitting cross legged on my bed when I came back, staring out the window. She smiled at me when I walked in, but there was that same anxiousness in the back of her eyes. “What did she say?” She asked immediately.
I tried not to grimace. “We’re leaving tomorrow after lunch after your work, and we’ll stay there for a night. My friend’s paying for the hotel, it’ll just be one night. We can leave again the next morning.”
Max gave an approving smile. “Cool.” Something was off in her voice. Sighing, I sat down and faced her on the bed.
“What’s up? I know you’re worried about something, don’t bother denying it.”
Max let out a small laugh, apparently finding something ironic in the situation. When I raised my eyebrow in question, she just shook her head. “It’s nothing, believe me.” She saw that I wasn’t going to let it drop and went on offensive. “What about you? What’s going on?”
She caught me there and she knew it. “Nothing—believe me.” I tossed her words back at her, knowing she’d understand what I was really saying: maybe I’d tell her someday…when she told me what was bothering her. I sighed and got to my feet, knowing I needed to practice for tomorrow. It’d been a while since a real fight. “I’m going to go work out. Do you want to come?” It was always fun to practice when Max was sitting against a wall, watching and occasionally talking, but mostly sitting in comfort. Her company was great.
This time, though, she declined with a smile and I was glad—I couldn’t be distracted. “I’ll get ready for tomorrow.” She told me, leaving the room. I nearly snorted. I just hope you don’t have to get ready for any problems.
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