The Starling Saviour

Chapter 43

'Are you seeing what I'm seeing?' Leyla immediately rang me again. 'How could Merlyn do such a thing?'

'It's the other archer, I'm sure of it,' I informed Diggle so he wouldn't suspect me of anything.

I quickly tuned into the police feed I had installed on a small device in my pocket, hearing signals carrying the panicked voices of officers telling each other to get to the scene.

'And the police are already there,' I felt betrayed as I told Diggle.

'I'll get Oliver,' Diggle announced, leaving the room immediately as I stared at the screen, aghast.

'Merlyn?' I repeated, still shocked at the obvious. 'I should've known. He's used Rose against our family before, when I went back home after the island. And now he's endangering her to get to us once again.'

'That swine,' Leyla hissed, before stopping the call.

Why did he always have to put my family in danger? I wouldn't have cared if it was me in trouble, but Rose? Gathering ideas from the last time I had seen her, she was young and vulnerable, and was no match for a master assassin. It was heartbreaking to see her terrified face and trembling body on live television, making me think of the time Merlyn had used Rose to get to me in England after Amanda Waller had rescued me. It was as if Merlyn knew about Leyla meeting with me, despite my sister's confidence in her pseudonym being unknown to him. And the SCPD not alerting me on the situation was a whole other matter I would soon have to attend to.

I quickly switched the TV off, not able to witness my sister in pain any longer. She had looked terrified, her whole body shaking. It was too much for me to bear.

Oliver and Diggle rushed into the room, joining me at once.

'The other archer moved onto the next level,' Diggle filled Oliver in on the events. 'He's taken hostages. This just hit the news.'

Diggle picked up the remote and turned the screen back on while he gave me a confused look, probably trying to understand why I had switched it off. The camera filming the awful scene was focusing on one of the hostages, a piece of paper trembling in her hand. She had tear stains down her cheeks, her lip quivering.

'Happy holidays, Starling City,' she read from her script, looking absolutely terrified like my sister had. 'For the past three months this city has been laid siege by a vigilante, but the police have been unable to bring him to justice because they lack the will to do what justice demands.'

The hostage sounded as though she was talking in the words of Merlyn, the assassin making sure no one would know who he was.

'I will kill one hostage every hour in the name of this vigilante until he surrenders himself to my authority,' the woman started to cry, the video feed breaking up in sync with her tears.

Diggle was now the one to switch the TV off.

'The police are on the scene, Oliver,' Diggle added for Oliver's benefit. 'I think you should let them handle this.'

'Those people are there because of me,' Oliver answered in an annoyed tone. 'I have to end this.'

'Oliver, this guy... This guy, he's very dangerous,' Diggle pointed out.