101 - A Perfect Sky; A Storm

10

Hanging off Lily's shoulder as they embark for the church, Jay's limp is more pronounced now than before—thanks to her. But at least his nose has stopped bleeding.

Too proud to lean on her entirely, he's trying to match her brisk pace as best he can, breathing through the jolts of pain ratcheting up his left leg, the throbbing in his ankle. It takes effort to keep each step from twisting his expression, relying mostly on his sheet of blond hair to conceal it. Jay doesn't doubt that Lily calculated exactly how much power to put into that blow, and it will only be a matter of a week—If he can stay off that ankle entirely after this.

He pretends not to notice her sidelong glance, wiping any pain from his features. But Lily shifts, easily shouldering his weight and taking the pressure off his ankle as if somehow seeing through his curtain of hair and the stony face behind it—just like she read the truths they'd tried to hide from her earlier tonight.

He wondered if that was a skill taught in the Organization—if all slayers had the same ability to read looks as easily and accurately as Lily. Or perhaps there is a reason Faith sends her to confront, to be the first wave.

I can get you out of this, Lily had said, with so much slayer-confidence and ease that he didn't doubt she hadn't done something similar before. He now knows, from glimpses of her psyche, that more darkness and secrets follow this slayer than any others he felt in the Dreamscape. Like she tries so hard to bury them in her subconscious backyard that she isn't aware she's left the front door to her home unlocked.

And he knew, from the cold fire blazing in her eyes when she'd realized he was distracting her yet again, that Lily could've killed him at any point back there—she abandoned her axe, probably because she would've buried it in his face too quickly if she'd held onto it, and pulled her punches right up to the very end. Like she was doing everything she could to not kill him.

Like she was keeping herself on a leash—or tried to.

He watches her through slices of his hair, noting how she's been mindful not to drag him. Even with him towering over Lily, her moves remain strong and fluid, with more feline grace than her slayer companion, who is scouting a block ahead with a slight—but noticeable—difference in technique.

Seems a bit odd that Lily appears to have more skill than her superior. To Faith Lehane, the last of the One True Line of Slayers.

And the way Faith had looked so furious when Lily promised to get him out of his bind... Jay isn't sure what all that was about, either. It must mean something that only members of the Organization know. Maybe when he convinces his sister to give up the chest to Lily, he'll ask them about joining—to find out what it's all about.

Because he is certainly not going to stay under his mother's roof a moment longer.

When Jay realized what he had been sent to retrieve, he was so angry that he could've walked out on his mother right then if it hadn't been for Kai. And because of Lily, he'd found out that Kai kept things from him, too.

That was when he knew it was time to find an out. Working for the Doctor was changing them—not just making their lives harder. And for what? A few bags of medical supplies and cash that barely last half the month? And will the next job be another ancient artifact that should definitely not be floating around the black market?

Clearing nests, taking out the occasional demon, patrolling; that is what they were told the contract was. Retrieving sketchy packages in sketchy buildings had never been discussed—at least not with him.

Kai, however, doesn't seem to have a problem with how closely they walk this line.

Gods, if the First Slayer doesn't haunt me for this...