The Untouchables

Chapter Twenty-one: Luke

I can't believe I lost.

I'm supposed to be an Assassin, the best in The Army. But I can't even win in a fight against a girl who was just working off of her adrenaline.

My entire career was based around the fact that I was the best around, and that I could do my job better than anyone.

But I wasn't.

Was I losing my skill?

Was I going soft?

I didn't think so, but maybe being around Lynn and the kids for so long was making me think twice.

Everything that happened in the past twenty-four hours spun around in my head. Walking to the house through the mud and rain, Wylda exposing my job, hiding from Rangers, training, finding Lynn being attacked by Rangers, and the raven.

Informer's Raven.

The Army was supposed to be the resistance against the Monarch, so I didn't understand why he would want to eliminate Lynn.

Especially if I was right there.

Not like I would do it, but still.

"What's wrong?" Wylda asked, as she walked next to me.

We were all walking back to camp after training, and after I was humiliated.

Lynn went on to walk a little ahead of the group, and Wylda and I were following in the back. The kids walked between us, but were all so exhausted, that almost none of them were talking, and just trudging along so they could get to bed.

The night was quiet. The only sounds coming from the woods around us were the kids footsteps, the Echoes chirping in the distance, and the occasional owl flying overhead.

"Hello?" Wylda waved her hand in front of my face to get my attention, snapping me back into my senses.

"What?" I blinked and quickly looked around to regain my bearings after my space-out.

"I asked what's wrong?" Wylda repeated, getting impatient with me.

"Oh nothing." I assured her. "Just lost in my thoughts."

Wylda rolled her eyes, but left it at that.

We were walking for a while, and eventually, one of the younger kids decided he didn't want to walk anymore, and sat down on the dirt.

"Come on." Lynn tried, after she came back to see why we had stopped. "We're almost there."

"No." She crossed her arms in a fit and looked away. "I'm tired."

"Come on kid." Wylda tried as well. "Let's go."

"No."

I sighed, and knelt down to her.

"Why don't I carry you?" I offered.

She nodded with a pouty lip, and I picked her up to carry her back so we could get going again. Lynn smiled at me as she made her way back to the front of the group, and I felt the blood rush to my face. I was thankful for the darkness, because I didn't think anyone saw my reaction.

The girl wasn't kidding that she was tired, because after only a few minutes passed, she was fast asleep with her head resting on my shoulder.

"I see the way you look at her." Wylda whispered.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"The way you look at Sparrow." She told me.

"What's wrong with the way I look at her?"