Page 30 of Take You

He glared at me for a while, but I stayed silent. I wasn’t intimidated by him, though I knew that was what he wanted.

“So what’s going on with you?” He sounded disinterested, but I doubted that was the case. It really wasn’t his MO.

“What did Dillon tell you?”

“That’s hardly the point, is it? Dillon only knows the part of the story he’s involved with, or whatever version thereof, that you’ve told him. You know the whole thing, and I want to hear if from the source.

“Well, in a nutshell, he’s been helping me with... an issue, much like he did with you and Rocky.”

“I’m going to need more than that.”

“I figured. Look, I’m not being an asshole about this, or trying to make your life difficult, or whatever, it’s just that this is a really tricky situation and touchy subject for me.” I paused, and Xavier gave me a look that conveyed something like, You’re smoking crack if you think I’m going to let you off the hook that easily. “Okay, so like I said, it’s like your situation with Pixie, and therefore your deal with Rocky.”

“So it’s a revenge thing?”

“Basically, but it’s far from simple, and it’s more serious than that problem. No offense.”

“I’ll reserve judgement on whether to take any or not, until after you tell me what happened.”

“Let’s just say it was a life or death situation. Actually, there was no life. Just death. Senseless, pointless, and avoidable death.”

“Julian?”

“Yeah. Can we leave it at that for now, please, and just suffice to say that she’s earned what’s coming to her? There’s a lot about my past that you don’t know, and I’m still... I dunno, dealing with how I tell people. It’s not the easiest thing for me to talk about, and honestly, I try not to even think about it as much as I can, let alone explain it. That all ended when Rose turned up out of the fucking blue, and made it impossible to ignore.”

“Yeah man. I get it.”

“Thanks. The thing is, I always swore that I’d get my revenge on the people responsible, someday, somehow. And unlike Rocky, Rose isn’t collateral damage in this situation. She was front and center of the whole thing—one of the key players. She deserves everything I’m planning, and more. It won’t bring Julian back, nothing will, but at least this way, I’ll feel like I’m doing something to honor his memory, and even up the balance a little, or some shit. I probably sound crazy, but it is what it is.”

“Nah man, you don’t sound crazy at all. In fact, this is the most lucid I can remember you being in forever. You have my support for whatever it is you’re planning.”

“Thanks. There are a couple of things I was going to ask you for, as a matter of fact. Nothing major—I had Dillon do a bunch of the more technical stuff, which you know.

I briefly outlined what was needed, and got no resistance from Xavier, as I suspected I wouldn’t.

“Is everything else cool?” It was an unusual show of concern from Xavier, which made me instantly suspicious.

“Well, apart from the fact that while Rose is here, not only is she a daily reminder of what happened to Julian, but she also stands between me and the full Fellowship, so she’s a fly in my ointment twice over.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Oh? Well, that’s pretty much all that’s going on right now. Other than that, school’s school, and I’m just keeping on keeping on.”

“So you and Kane are cool?”

Again with the weird questions. “Kane? Yeah, why wouldn’t we be?” I tried to figure out his angle as I answered him.

“No reason.” He shrugged noncommittally. “Except that every time I looked across at you at the bar last night, there seemed to be some kind of vibe between the two of you.” He was nothing if not observant, and perceptive. I already knew that nothing got past him, even when he gave the impression of ignoring what was going on around him.

“Nah, we’re cool. I was a little sideways, I guess, because it was the first time I’d seen her in person for six years, and it kind of threw me for a loop for a second there, but it’s all good now. I’ve snapped the fuck out of it, thanks to Kane, and it’s back to the advertised programing. By the time I’m done with her, Rose is going to wish she was never born, let alone ever met Julian or me.” I almost believed my own words.

The fact was I was still kind of off-kilter about the night before, but I was around ninety percent okay, and that was going to have to be good enough. The other ten percent could take a back seat while I did what needed to be done. On that note, I needed to get on with shit before the day’s events kicked off proper.

“When shall I swing past the storage locker and get the cloaks and masks?”

“Now, or whenever you want. The code is 2062.”

“2062. Got it.” It was true—I never forgot a number or sequence of numbers. “Wait, they’re the right ascension coordinates of Cygnus.”

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