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Old and new come together,
If you learn from the dead, you can burn together,
Ancient secrets, buried forever,
School is out, the future is never.
What the hell does any of that mean?
“Where should we head?” Ray asks. “We might as well burn the midnight oil, since we’re already up.”
Part of me wants to go back to my brownstone, back to Sophia, but I can’t say that after what I just told Ray.
We’re the only ones without families.
It’s true.
Then why do I feel this nagging sense of responsibility to the girl I have locked up in my tower?
Fuck. It’s not a mystery, no matter how hard I try to make it one.
It’s because you want something more from her!
That’s why I kissed her. Because I wanted to. Because I wanted more than the silly games we were playing.
That kiss was real. And it might be the only real moment Sophia and I have shared since we first exploded into each other’s lives…
For the rest of the night, Ray and I drive around, stopping only for coffee and at spots we think the Greeks might target next.
We don’t find any signs of suspicious activity, and by the break of day we’re still no closer to cracking the code than we were at the beginning of the night.
“It’s got to have something to do with kids,” Ray mutters for the hundredth time since I read him the riddle. “School is out. Learning. New. The future. I mean, it seems obvious, right? But they wouldn’t dare blow up a school… that’s too evil… even for them.”
“I don’t think they would,” I agree. “Not yet, at least. The second they do that, there’s no going back. Hell, who’s to say I wouldn’t just kill their princess in response to something so vile?”
“… Do you think you could kill her?” Ray asks.
The question makes me lose focus. For a moment, all I can think about is Sophia again.
No.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that…” I deflect, shifting in my seat.
I’m supposed to be a stone-cold assassin, a ruler of killers. My family’s entire empire was built on blood and murder.
Who am I if I can’t take a life?
What am I if I can’t kill my enemy?
That’s not a question I want to delve too deeply into, because I already know the answer.
If I can’t kill, then I’m not me.
I am a killer. It’s my identity, whether I like it or not.
Without saying another word, Ray slows down to a stop, parking outside of a coffee shop. The streets are starting to get busy again. It’s a Monday morning, and everybody is heading off to work… or school.
My fists clench as I consider that the Greeks might actually blow up a school full of children.
