Kim Harrison - Early to Death, Early to Rise

Shoe parked two houses down from his on the other side of the street, frowning at Ace’s truck still at the curb. Getting out without opening the car doors, we ran up the sidewalk, slowing as we neared. Shoe wasn’t in very good shape, even as skinny as he was. The almost full moon had finally risen, helping light the black yards. Ace’s truck was ticking as we passed it, the big engine still cooling. Maybe we were in time. Maybe nothing I’d seen in my flash forward had happened yet.

“You aren’t even breathing hard,” Shoe said, puffing.

“Yeah, well, I run a lot.” Fidgeting at the slower pace, I shivered, thinking it odd that I felt cold at all. “How long will it take to get the patch?” I asked.

Shoe glanced at me. “It will take longer to introduce you to my mom.”

The toes of my sneakers grew wet with the dew, and I glanced at Shoe’s room. The light was shifting as someone inside moved around. Ace? “Your mom thinks you’re still in your room,” I reminded him, thinking he must not go AWOL often.

Shoe immediately shifted direction. “The window it is, then.”

I couldn’t help my smile at his slight frown. He wasn’t very good at this sneaking-around thing, even if he had the car routine down. But his frown turned into anger when we got closer and we saw Ace messing around in Shoe’s top desk drawer. “What is he doing?” Shoe whispered angrily, but I was elated. We were in time.

“I don’t know. Maybe he hasn’t downloaded the virus to the hospital yet,” I said.

Shoe’s brow furrowed, and with an awkward motion he gripped the sill and swung himself up and in. “Get the hell out of my desk,” he said as he tugged his black hoodie straight.

Ace spun, his shock clear. His startled gaze shifted past Shoe to me as I came in, and his eyes narrowed. “Hey, Shoe,” he huffed, shoving the drawer shut and backing away. “You owe me a five. I was just looking for it.”

“Right,” Shoe mocked, shoving him from his desk with a single open hand. Head down, Shoe pulled the drawer open as Ace caught his balance. Shoe sifted through the clutter. His eyes widening, he looked at me as if he didn’t believe it, then tossed a laminated card to the desktop. “That’s your mom’s,” he said, and my lips parted at the hospital ID. I hadn’t seen that in my flash forward. “What are you doing, Ace?”

Instead of being angry, Ace rocked back with a satisfied expression. “Yeah, it’s my mom’s, and now it’s got your fingerprints all over it. Dumb ass.”

Shoe fisted his hands, coming forward a step. “You want to put it in the hospital? Are you crazy? Someone might get hurt. Give me the disc.”

Smirking, Ace sat on his bed, casual and infuriating in his black T-shirt, which was too thin to hide how skinny he was. “Too late. It’s already in.”

Too late? Had Ace been to the hospital already?

“You are a friggin’ idiot!” Shoe exploded, and I wished he’d tone it down. “All we wanted was the day off. Some notoriety. It’s a hospital, Ace! You’re going to kill someone! What’s wrong with you?”

Ace stood, and I took a step back at his ugly expression. “What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you? This is your fault. You’re ditching me, and you’re gonna take your hit like a man. It’s your computer. I don’t know nothing about it.”

Shoe shook his head, aghast. “This is because I’m going to college ? What do you want me to do? Marry you? People grow up! Move away! I’m going to college, not the moon! You could go, too, if you wanted!”

I heard a soft click of heels outside the door, and I felt scared. But Shoe’s mother was walking away, letting them take care of their issues on their own. She clearly wasn’t ignorant of their friendship being on the skids.

Ace’s expression was ugly. “You ain’t going anywhere but jail, Richie Rich.”

I backed up to the window. I’d never seen so much hatred and bile in someone’s expression, and I couldn’t help but think that the idea of Nakita taking this guy’s life before he sullied his soul so far that he wouldn’t even ask for forgiveness wasn’t such a bad idea. I was thinking like a dark reaper, and I didn’t like it.

Shoe was white-faced with anger. “You were with me when I wrote it. I’ll tell them—”

“Tell them what?” Ace interrupted. “ You trashed the school’s files. The disc I left in the hospital is the same program. It’s got your name on it, dude.”

Standing before Ace, Shoe started to shake. “You are an ass,” he said, and I gasped when he punched Ace. Right in the face.

“Shoe!” I shouted, but Ace was down, having hit the bed and slipped to the floor. Standing above him, Shoe shook his hand, swearing.

“You hit me!” Ace exclaimed, propped up on an elbow as he felt his mouth. “I’m freaking bleeding!”

“Yeah, and I’ll hit you again unless you come with me to the police and tell them what you did. I wanted to trash the school’s computer system, not hurt people!”

I already knew a trip to the police wasn’t going to happen, and I pulled Shoe back when Ace got to his feet, spitting blood on Shoe’s carpet. “You’re going to rot. Who are the police going to believe? It’s all on your computer.”

Shaking, I said in frustration, “I don’t think I can stop Nakita from killing you, and you know what, Ace? I’m not even a bit sorry.” I was, though. I ached for him to make a better choice. I knew he wouldn’t. Maybe Nakita was right. The seraphs targeted only people who refused to see the light, even if you taped their eyes open and stood them in the sun.

The almost-sound of spilling broken glass slid through my awareness, and a softball-size haze of light darted into the room from the open window.

“Grace!” I exclaimed, and Shoe looked at me as if I were nuts. Either something had gone really right with Barnabas and Nakita, or it had gone really wrong.

The globe circled Ace as if getting a scent, then went to perch on Shoe’s monitor. “Grace?” I questioned, suddenly unsure.

“Guardian angel two-T-four-five taking on a new charge, you lamebrain, dark-winged dark reaper,” the light said snidely. “You lose.”

My mouth dropped open, and I turned to the window when I realized what had happened. “No!” I cried, and my anger peaked when I saw Paul, smug and satisfied, standing in the bushes, his head level with the window.

“You idiot!” I exclaimed, and both Shoe and Ace turned to the window to see him. Damn it, this was my own fault. He must have been at the school, then followed us, waiting until I gave away who the mark was before assigning an angel to Ace.

“Done and done,” Paul said snarkily. “You lose, Madison. I saved this one.”

“Saved him for what?” I asked. Angrier than I’d ever been, I lunged to the window, grabbing his tunic and dragging him in.

“Ow! Hey!” Paul exclaimed, hitting the floor in a graceless pile. From the ceiling, the guardian angel was shouting, but no one but me could probably hear it. Shoe and Ace had drawn back, and I stood over Paul, wanting to give him a good kick.

“You stupid idiot!” I said, pissed. “I told you I was taking care of this! And you come in and muck it up! Why don’t you find out the entire story before you start making choices for people! Thanks a hell of a lot, Paul!”

From outside in the hall, I heard Shoe’s mom call out, “Honey? Is everything all right?”

Oh, crap!

We froze. Paul got up off the floor, his eyes wide. Ace was standing with his head craned back as his nose bled.

“We’re fine, Mom,” he called out with just the right amount of irritation, flexing his hand, which was now swollen from having hit Ace.