Splinter (The Machinists Book 2) (13 page)

Anthony was already climbing to his feet, reaching for the gun in his waistband. Maddox could see the black pistol grip against its chrome casing. The streetlights reflected off it, and the cool air fogged the chamber. In a single fluid motion, Maddox brushed aside his jacket, reaching for the gun tucked in the holster under his armpit. He flicked off the safety, pulling the gun out of the holster just in time to see the nine-millimeter Glock begin sliding out of the thug’s pants.

“Freeze!” Nolan stood in the doorway, his gun pointed at Anthony. Any trace of his previous hesitation had disappeared. His months of training had finally kicked in.

Anthony pulled his hand away from the gun’s grip and held both hands in front of him. His sneer had been replaced by a look of irritation. Pedestrians watched from both sides of the street, some going so far as to take pictures or capture the situation on video.

Maddox returned his gun to the holster, snapping the safety back on, and reached for the pair of handcuffs he had hidden inside the other half of his jacket. The police would arrive any moment—downtown was teeming with them.

“Get on the ground,” Nolan commanded. “Hands behind your head!”

Anthony dropped to his knees, hands still held out in front of him.

Before Maddox could move forward, Nolan was tackled from behind. His gun dropped to the pavement and bounced against the sidewalk, out of reach. It took Maddox a second to comprehend what had happened. Travis had blindsided Nolan, and the two were now rolling across the sidewalk, in the middle of a grappling match.

Cursing, Maddox watched as Anthony’s hand went back to his waistband. He hadn’t had time to rid the young assailant of his weapon. In a blink, the weapon would be out, and the kid just might be stupid enough to use it.

Maddox didn’t have enough time to go for his own gun. He charged.

Before the gun was completely out of the young man’s pants, Maddox was on him, driving his knee into the man’s face. Anthony fell backward, and Maddox stumbled into the street. A pair of headlights barreled toward him then dipped as the driver slammed on the brakes. The car screeched to a stop inches from Maddox, blue smoke billowing from the tires.

Maddox turned back to the fight. Nolan and Travis continued to roll back and forth, throwing wild blows. Nolan’s suit was torn and ripped, dirt covered his back, and blood stained his starched shirt. He fought a trained fight, controlled and precise, and would eventually subdue the assailant, unless Travis landed a lucky strike.

Anthony rose to his feet. His nose was already swollen, and dark bruises were forming around his eyes. His gaze darted across the sidewalk, looking for something. The bulge from the gun was gone—the gun must have fallen out when Maddox tackled him.

Anthony raced forward. Maddox saw the gun lying with the butt of the grip pointed toward the sky, resting between the curb and a parked car. Choosing to go for it instead of his own weapon, Maddox got there a moment after Anthony did. He lunged, intending to tackle the man, but Anthony ducked at the last second. Maddox grazed his shoulders and landed on the concrete with a slap. Pain shot up his shoulder, and his right arm went numb.

Anthony was on his knees, turning to face him, gun in hand.
He really is stupid enough to use it.
Horrified, Maddox rolled onto his back. Anthony approached, holding the gun sideways. The sneer had disappeared from his face.

“Put it down,” Maddox said.

Anthony adjusted his grip. Sirens rang in the distance, but they wouldn’t make it in time.

“Don’t do something you’ll regret over a two-dollar beer.”

“It’s not about money, old man.” Anthony’s finger tightened around the trigger. “It’s about respect.”

Shots split the night.

Maddox flinched, squeezing his eyes shut. The muzzle flash was brighter than usual, illuminating the insides of his eyelids. Half a beat later, Maddox heard a
smack
and the sound of metal falling on stone. He opened his eyes.

Anthony was down. He lay on his back, the gun inches from his hand. Nolan was on his side, gun pointed at where Anthony had been. Travis was unconscious at his feet.

Maddox scrambled and rose. Rushing toward Anthony, he kicked the gun out of his reach and wrenched his arms behind his back to cuff him. The kid didn’t give any resistance. Maddox rolled him onto his back and checked the wound.

“Where’d you hit him?” Maddox asked.

Nolan secured his firearm inside his holster. “Torso.” His voice was shaky. He produced a second pair of cuffs and turned to secure the second assailant.

Maddox ran his hands across Anthony’s chest and stomach then over his back. Other than a bloodied face and a few cuts and scrapes, the kid was unharmed.

“You sure?”

“He went down, didn’t he?”

He had, but it hadn’t been from a bullet wound.
He must have stumbled and hit his head on the pavement.
They would have to monitor him for a concussion. Most importantly, they were both safe, and the assailants, secure.

Maddox exhaled, laughing wearily. The sirens drew closer. He could see the flashing blue lights of approaching squad cars several blocks away.

“What’s wrong with you?” Nolan leaned against the bar, exhausted. “You told the kid not to do anything stupid, but what do you call that? You almost got us killed over a beer.”

“They didn’t pay.”

“You came here looking for a fight.”

“You need to cool it.”

“You did, didn’t you?”

Maddox shook his head. “I don’t have to listen to this.”

“You can’t take your frustration out on the world around you,” Nolan continued. “It’s your responsibility to uphold the law, not enforce it. The bartender was happy to let them go.”

“But it isn’t
right
.” Maddox pierced the air with an outstretched finger for effect. “The law isn’t something that can be followed sometimes and not followed others. The law is the law
because
it’s the law. It needs to be upheld all the time. Otherwise, it ceases to have meaning. And they broke it.”

Nolan sighed. “Why did I have to get partnered up with Team America?”

“I won’t stop you from putting in a transfer request.”

“Are you that eager to be rid of me?” Nolan asked.

Maddox hesitated, sensing hurt in Nolan’s eyes.

Nolan took his silence as confirmation and turned away.

Maddox groaned. He hated what he was about to say. Not because it wasn’t true, but because he shouldn’t have to say it. “No,” he began. “I…
like
working with you. I won’t stop you from putting in for a transfer, but I hope you don’t. You’re my partner—the first one I’ve had in a very long time.”

Nolan eyed him for a moment and nodded, an understanding growing between them.

Maddox’s pinched his forehead. Opening up was the most painful thing he’d had to do all night. He just wished Nolan had understood how difficult it truly was.

Chapter 14

S
now fell steadily around Allyn and Kendyl. Already more than a foot deep, it had been walked on and trudged through so much over the last hour that it was packed hard, making it slick and dangerous. They were amid a small forest clearing, where they could move around, circled by pine trees heavy with ice and snow. Every so often, one of the thick branches snapped under the accumulating weight, dumping a fresh load of snow onto the layer that already covered the forest floor.

The training session had gone about as well as Allyn had expected. Inexperienced, he didn’t have an overarching lesson plan, and without Jaxon’s or Liam’s deep understanding of magi tradition, he hadn’t known where to begin. It made the session clunky and frustrating. Fortunately, Kendyl’s positive attitude was contagious, and her encouragement gave him hope.

“You did good,” Allyn said. He rested against a rough pine, taking shelter under its thick limbs. “Better than I did during my first lesson.” He’d copied Jaxon’s first lesson, giving Kendyl a puzzle to solve in a less-than-ideal setting. He’d even gone so far as to find an old tangled necklace and had her work the knot out of it. It was a mental exercise meant to help magi separate their mind from their body. Pain, as Allyn had learned firsthand, could block an undisciplined magi from wielding, and one needed to be able to separate oneself from pain and discomfort to avoid being rendered inept. It could mean the difference between life and death, and it was an ability that Allyn himself hadn’t yet mastered. Another reason he didn’t feel qualified to train Kendyl.

“Thank you.” She breathed warm breath into her hands. Her slender fingers trembled and were a deep red; their tips, white. He’d meant it when he’d said she’d done better than he had. What had taken him hours had taken her less than one, and she was working under worse conditions.

The knot wasn’t as intricate,
Allyn told himself then had to stifle a laugh. Measuring his proficiency through competition was an old habit, and for some reason, it had always extended further with Kendyl. He didn’t know if it was a sibling thing or a twins thing, but he’d always found himself competing with her over even the smallest of things.

“Do you understand why I had you do that?”

“It’s like you said,” Kendyl said, “if you’re overcome with pain or anxiety, you can’t wield. You have to separate yourself from it. You can’t let it cloud your ability.”

“Exactly.” Allyn copied Kendyl’s gesture, blowing warm air into his own hands. Like Kendyl, he was wearing only a thin layer of clothing. He didn’t feel right exposing her to the elements if he didn’t share in her discomfort. He thought back to that day when Jaxon had taken him into the forest that surrounded the manor. Jaxon had worn a sleeveless shirt, letting the rain cascade down his face, paying it no attention, while Allyn shivered and struggled to keep his teeth from chattering. He’d done better as the teacher, showing a modicum of control, but he had a long way to go before he was at Jaxon’s level. He couldn’t even keep his nose from dripping.

“How do you think you did?” he asked.

“It was hard at first, and after a while, my fingers were so numb that I didn’t think I was going to be able to finish, but it eventually got easier. I don’t know when. But it did.”

“That’s good. Do you know what changed? Why it got easier?”

Kendyl shook her head. “No.”

“It might be different for every magi, but I find it easier to accept the discomfort than to ignore it.”

“Accept it?” Kendyl furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

“Yeah,” Allyn said. “Have you ever been in the middle of something—painting or sculpting or anything—and gotten hungry or thirsty or had to pee, but you didn’t want to stop?”

Kendyl laughed. “Of course.”

“What did you do?”

“I finished what I was working on.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. I just pushed it to the back of my mind, I guess.”

“You ignored it.”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t work like that,” Allyn said. “I can’t just ignore it. If I was at the office and I was hungry or something, I’d just tell myself that I’d eat when I finished what I was working on. I’d recognize the hunger, accept it, and move on.”

“It doesn’t sound like it’s that different.”

“No,” Allyn said. “The only difference is how we think about it. So figure out what your process is and apply it to this, and I bet it will get easier.”

Kendyl played with the ends of her hair, giving him an appraising look. The glow from the freshly fallen snow bathed her in a soft white light, and a warm-brown sheen glowed within her dark locks. Her hair was one of the few striking differences between Kendyl and Allyn. His hair was dark, bordering on black, while Kendyl had inherited a trace of their mother’s auburn hair.

“What?” Allyn asked, growing uncomfortable under her gaze.

“You’re good at this.”

Allyn laughed. “I don’t know about that. I’m just making it up as I go along.”

“Then you hide it well.”

“I’m a lawyer, Kendyl. It’s my job to bluff and fill you full of bullshit.”

“Now you’re just being modest. You don’t see the way they look at you, do you? They follow you, Allyn. Liam, Leira, Nyla, even Jaxon. You’re a natural leader.”

He shrugged. “I’m not trying to be. I just want to be helpful.”

“I follow you, too,” she said softly.

Allyn’s lips parted. He felt as if he should say something, but he had no idea what.

“You held it together after Mom died,” Kendyl continued. Her eyes were growing moist. “I don’t know what would have happened if you didn’t, but you were strong. You told me it was going to be okay. And it was.”

Allyn swallowed the lump in his throat. “I said that as much for me as I did for you.”

“But you said it, and I believed it.” Kendyl met his eye. “I don’t think I ever said thank you.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“Thank you, Allyn.”

“Kendyl…”

“
Thank you
, Allyn.”

“We got each other through that.” Allyn’s voice was quiet and tight with emotion. “I couldn’t have done it without you, either.”

“I don’t know how much help I could have been.”

“You were there,” Allyn said. “I knew that whatever I was going through, you were, too. I wasn’t alone—and on my toughest days, I had you to lean on.”

Kendyl smiled, and it stirred old memories inside him. Their features and expressions were so much like their father’s, but that smile—the way the right side of her face went a little higher than the left, her perfect teeth, and the sparkle in her eyes—was their mother’s. It was times like that when Theresa Kaplan still lived, and in a way, it gave him strength and reassured him that everything was going to be all right.

“We gave each other strength,” Kendyl said.

“And we still do.”

By the time they began the short hike back to the cabin, Allyn felt as though something had changed between them. The uncomfortable tension that had been so prevalent over the recent weeks had vanished. They weren’t what they were before—they’d been through too much to go back to that—but they were something new. And Allyn looked forward to finding out what.

When the cabin finally came into view, Allyn was quickly reminded of the previous days’ events. He’d grown used to the quiet activity of the McCollum Family. With the addition of the Hyland refugees, the number of magi had doubled, and within the already bulging confines of the cabin walls, the activity seemed to have tripled. Kids ran and played, screaming as little kids do, having imaginary magi battles where snowballs replaced both fireballs and ice blasts. Erik and his small team of carpenters had felled another tree and were in the process of blasting it into small blocks for firewood. A steady hum of conversation ventured outside through the cabin walls.

Amid it all, Joyce sat on the porch, quiet and contemplative. She didn’t notice Allyn and Kendyl approaching until Allyn spoke.

“Morning, Joyce.”

She blinked, awareness returning to her eyes. “Allyn.” The word lacked any emotion, as if she were simply pointing at something and naming it. “Kendyl.”

“Everything all right?” Allyn asked. “You seem… troubled.”

She gave him an appraising look, as if judging whether or not she could trust him. “It’s not right,” she said.

Allyn cocked his head to the side, confused. “What’s not right?”

“She’s only a kid.”

“Joyce, I—”

“Allyn!” The voice was followed by a series of quick footsteps echoing across the wooden porch.

He turned to find Liam rushing toward him. He wore the same too-big smile he always had when he was truly excited, the one that looked less and less likely that he would ever grow into.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” Liam said, coming to a stop in front of Allyn.

“What’s going on?”

“He responded.”

“Who responded?” Allyn asked.

Liam’s eyes flickered from Kendyl to Joyce then back to Allyn, as if he didn’t want to share what he was about to say with the women.
“He
responded,” Liam said.

J.P. Niall!
The person behind the videos.

“When?”

“Earlier this morning.” Liam glanced at Kendyl. “I didn’t know where to find you.”

“What did they say?”

“I’ll show you.”

Allyn apologized to Joyce, telling her they could talk later, then headed inside. When they were halfway through the hallway near the bedrooms, he finally realized Kendyl had no idea what they were talking about.

They hadn’t told anyone else. But that was before he and Kendyl had come to their understanding. Before their relationship had changed.

“We contacted the person behind the video,” Allyn said.

Kendyl’s eyes grew wide. “When?”

“Yesterday.”

“What did you say?”

“That he had my attention.”

Kendyl glanced at Liam, who was watching the two of them out of the corners of his eyes. “I take it not very many people know about this?”

“No,” Allyn said.

“Then I won’t say anything.”

Liam relaxed and opened the door into Jaxon’s room.

Allyn and Kendyl stood over Liam’s shoulders as he brought up Niall’s YouTube page. Under their comment was a response from the user:
You’re a hard man to find, Allyn Kaplan.

“Do we write back?” Liam asked.

Allyn leaned forward, taking the back of Liam’s chair in his hands. The wood creaked under his grip. “I don’t know.”

“What are you guys trying to do?” Kendyl asked.

“I want to know who’s behind these videos.” Allyn proceeded to tell her about his theory that Niall was a magi who’d come to power outside the Families.

Kendyl chewed her bottom lip. “If that’s the case, then they’re not going to tell you who they are any more than you’re going to tell them where you’re hiding.” She sounded as though she were thinking aloud. “So what are you trying to accomplish?”

Accomplish?

Kendyl must have read the confusion on Allyn’s face, because she pressed forward. “Are you trying to get them to meet you somewhere?”

“I…” Allyn said. “I guess that makes the most sense.”

“Then we need to gently nudge the conversation in that direction,” Kendyl said.

“What do you suggest?”

“How about this?” She leaned over Liam and typed in the discussion box.
I could say the same thing about you.

“I like it,” Allyn said. “It’s short and simple. Puts the focus back on them.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Kendyl said.

“You want me to post it?” Liam asked.

Allyn took a deep breath and nodded. Before he had time to second-guess himself, Liam clicked the Post button.

“And now we wait,” Liam said.

“And now we wait,” Allyn repeated, taking a step backward and sitting on the side of the bed. He pointed at the disconnected hard drive next to Liam’s computer. “I take it the transfer is complete?”

“Yeah,” Liam said.

“Have you begun searching the computer for other information?”

“It’s clean,” Liam said. “Whoever wiped the hard drive knew what they were doing.”

Allyn cursed under his breath. It wasn’t that he was surprised—he had known the person who’d left the computer wouldn’t leave compromising information on it, not after going to such lengths to delete it, but Allyn had hoped that Liam’s ability would prove more powerful than the person’s expertise. Even a machinist’s magic, it seemed, had its limits.

“How’d the first session go?” Liam asked, turning to Kendyl. He and Kendyl hadn’t spent a lot of time together, but there was a certain understanding between the two. Kendyl was struggling to find her place, and that was a situation Liam knew all too well.

Kendyl smiled, glancing at Allyn. “It went well.”

“Good,” Liam said. “We’ll make a magi out of you in no—”

The computer chimed. The corners of Liam’s mouth turned up as he spun back to the computer. Niall had already written back.

Allyn stood. “We both have reasons to hide,” he read aloud.

“What are they hiding from?” Kendyl asked.

“Type this,” Allyn said. “I’m hiding from false accusations. You?”

Liam tapped the keyboard.

The response came back seconds later:
I didn’t say I was hiding
from
anything.

“What does that mean?” Liam asked.

“It’s a riddle,” Kendyl said, running her fingers through her hair. “They’re hiding, but not from anything in particular. So…” She tapped a finger against her lips. “They’re hiding from
everything
.”

“Because the people around him don’t know he exists,” Allyn said, picking up on Kendyl’s train of thought. “He’s hiding in plain sight.”

“Just like we would if we returned to society,” Kendyl said.

“And he’s afraid to say too much in case the account is traced back to him,” Allyn said. “But who is he afraid of? What does he have to lose if someone learns the truth?”

“What would you be afraid of losing the most?” Kendyl asked.

It was a simple question, but one Allyn struggled to answer. He’d already lost his career, his home, and his future. What else was he afraid of losing? Why was
he
hiding?

You haven’t lost your future
.
It just changed. The future you wanted became something different, and you’re afraid of losing that
. But what was
that
? Was it the future he had in mind or the prospect of a future in general?

“He’s afraid of losing his
choice
,” Allyn said. “If he’s caught, he’ll be jailed or experimented on or worse.”