A STUDY IN BLACK ✓

XXVII

The two were asleep on Josh's small cot when the alarms went off. Josh had his back pressed against Tyler's back, their legs tangled underneath the thin, cotton covers.

As soon as the lights dipped to red and a loud shrill noise like a fire alarm startled them awake, Josh was on his feet, and Tyler was already making his way to the glass. He pressed himself against it, staring into the darkness.

"Son of a bitch did it," he laughed in disbelief, looking at Josh with relief.

Tyler had told Josh about Dallon's ongoing search to rescue them. Before being taken, Tyler had given Dallon a list of facilities owned by Heaven's Templar in case they were taken. Josh didn't expect anything to come of it, seeing as they've been missing for probably years.

Now, with the rumble of explosion after explosion indicating their nearing freedom, it was almost too good to be true.

"Took him long enough," Josh snorted.

The door on his left clicked. Josh ran to it and flung it the rest of the way open, running out and sliding to a stop as Tyler joined him. He looked left, then right with Tyler at his heels.

"The explosion was other way!" Tyler yelled.

"I don't care, I'm not leaving without her!"

Josh broke off into a sprint and flung himself straight through the glass, curling into a ball as he did so. Jenna sat in the middle of the floor, grinning when Josh uncurled.

"Are the angels here to save us?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

He picked her up bridal style- surprisingly, she let him- and leapt through the crater in the glass. "I don't know, crazy Jane, let's find out."

As soon as Jenna saw Tyler, she jumped out of Josh's grasp and into his arms. Tyler spun her around, but laughing hysterically.

"I thought you were dead!" Tyler nearly sobbed, burying his nose in her hair and shaking.

Jenna whispered soothingly, pulling away enough to trace his face with her fingers. Her hand rested over the new tattoo, and she looked back at Josh.

"They marked you."

"Uh, sorry what?" Josh glared at Tyler, mentally demanding answers, but Tyler only shook his head.

"Oh, you didn't know? Heaven's Templar marks all of us. Mercenaries, assassins, spies."

She pulled down the turtleneck of her shirt, exposing three black vertical lines parallel to each other. They were encompassed in two red rings.

"Lines are smuggles, diamonds are recruitments you've brought in, circles are assassinations, and x's are betrayals."

"And the colors?"

Jenna grinned. "They're for the aesthetic."

Tyler opened his mouth to speak, but the wall to their left suddenly collapsed, leaving a dozen dead Heaven's Templar mercenaries in its wake. A mask in SWAT uniform waved them over.

"Let's go, I won't ask twice!"

The three follow the man out of the wall and into a large space lined with empty cells. Bodies lined the walls, bloody and ridden with bullet holes. They slowed to a steady walk, the man

"Where's Dallon?" Josh asked the man.

He pulled of his mask and held his hand out for Josh to shake it. "In the entrance. If I'm going to be honest, I didn't expect to find you guys alive. Pete Wentz, SWAT team."