Page 26 of Bones
I hesitated again, my stomach twisting. I didn’t have to lie about this. “I don’t know. They knew who I was. I guess…I guess one of the Reapers must’ve talked.”
“Do we know who was coming to collect?” the old man asked Madame.
Madame frowned. “No.”
“Wrangler doesn’t know who took her,” Mac spoke up for the first time, his voice flat. “They didn’t know Exo. They’ll figure it out eventually, but we have some time.”
“Wrangler knows better than to make a move against me.” Madame smiled, sending a shiver down my spine.
I tried not to panic as my mind whirled. Someone had been looking for me. It could've been a Reaper. Gods, I prayed it was a Reaper. I'd even prefer it to be Vulture coming for revenge. I couldn't begin to entertain the idea of it being someone else. Not without totally falling apart. Under the table, my hands twitched anxiously.
“If Vulture is alive, he’d be looking for me,” I said, unable to keep my voice from shaking.
“The Reapers are broken,” Zana inserted with a sneer, “even if it is Vulture, they’ve got maybe a dozen people left in one piece. I doubt he’d be a real threat.”
Nemo watched me. I tried to school my expression into something neutral.
“There’s always the possibility a Reaper used their knowledge of Bones’ powers to join a different gang,” he said. “The Voiceless were in the area. So were the Crows.”
A shudder went down my spine. The Voiceless were a fanatic religious group who devoted themselves to the gods. The seven leaders had their lips stitched crudely shut with thick black thread so they could only speak to the gods or some shit. I’d had nightmares about their faces after first seeing them. They portrayed themselves as the saviors of the world, but I’d seen firsthand the horrible things they did to people in the name of the gods.
The Crows were a rival gang to the Reapers. Their leader, a woman named Seven, had hated Juck. If one of the Reapers had joined the Crows, Seven would be delighted to track me down and take me for herself just to spite Juck’s ghost. Neither option would be good, but the Voiceless would definitely be worse.
“Are there more powered people?” Madame asked.
“Not that I’ve seen.”Just be calm. Breathe.
“Was Juck looking for more?” she pushed.
“Yes.”
“Is that why he was so far North?” Nemo asked.
“Yes,” I said again.
Only me and Vulture knew the real reason Juck had been traveling farther and farther. He’d been chasing stories of miracles and unexplainable things, but that’s all they’d ever turned out to be, just stories.
“You were born with this power?” Zana asked.
“As far as I know,” I said.
“How did you figure it out?” Nemo sounded genuinely interested, but my stomach plummeted.
“I found an injured dog and when I picked it up, its wounds healed.” My voice shook, and I hoped no one noticed.
“Fascinating,” Nemo murmured.
A short silence fell where I prayed no one would ask any more questions about my past.
“I assume Mac gave you all the details about your new job?” Madame asked as though I had any say in this.
I nodded.
“Good. Mac, have your informant keep an eye out for who comes looking,” Madame added. “I want to stay ahead of this, you hear me?”
“Yes ma’am,” Mac said.
"I want a round-the-clock guard on her," Madame added, staring at me. "We don't want our precious treasure to get lost."
