Protective Shadows (The Protective Series, Book 2)

Chapter Sixteen

[Asko's P.O.V]

Jarmo and I fell into step behind Jed and Janne, eyes darting back and forth along the sidewalks for any sign of the unidentified person. The weapons in our belts clicked as we walked, bumping against our hips. It was the only noise in the otherwise silence, save for our concentrated, careful breathing.

Jed cornered the shadow, throwing his knife, but the blade only sank into the lines of the brick wall. He cussed under his breath, ripping it out, and scaled the wall after them.

Jarmo, Janne and I followed his advances, grunting as we pulled ourselves onto the timber roof, using every muscle in our arms to lift ourselves up, crouching low, just in case the shadow was near. The dark blue night sky offered a limited amount of light, complicating the situation for all of us.

A blur of sudden movement dashed past us, catching Jed's eye, and he spun, coming face-to-face with the shadow. They wore a distinguished paper mâché mask, featuring drawn on pirate swords, crossing blades, and crimson droplets of blood dripping from their tips.

Jed reached forward just as they stepped back, managing to catch their ankle between his hands. They gave a deep grunt, impossible to tell their gender, and drew a handgun from the inside of their black trench coat, aiming behind him to where all three of us were standing, spaced out a few cms apart

He swung around in an attempt to throw off their footing, but a shot rang out, piercing the silence.

I clenched my eyes shut as a reflex, reopening them when I felt no searing pain ripping through my torso. Janne stumbled right before our eyes, disappearing over the edge of the roof.

"NO!" Jed screamed into the night, his voice echoing around us in the vast, empty space. "JANNE!"

As he leapt down from the lowest point of the roof, Jarmo and I moved out towards the back of the building, spreading a metre apart, but keeping close distance. We each held up our handguns, taking each forward step with great caution, knowing that if we missed the slightest, subtle movement, we'd be in trouble.

A knot tightened in my throat, noting the mournful, distressed tone in Jed's pained voice. Tears collected in the rims of my own eyes, but I wiped them away before Jarmo could notice, sniffing back mucus.

Janne had been no better than me, nor worse. He and I both screwed up, big time, and while he had tried to make it up to Jed anyway he could, I had wallowed in self-pity at night, wishing I could take the whole thing with Hannele back, and make things perfect once more.

A stone skittered across the concrete behind us. Jarmo and I both turned sharply, cocking the barrels of our guns towards the direction it had emerged from.

"Asko, I'm scared," Jarmo swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he walked closer beside me. "Since whoever it was killed Janne, they could easily wipe us out too."

I exhaled a tense sigh through my teeth, turning in a full circle as we walked around each other, back-to-back. This was the most effective strategy, unless we wanted to end up dead like Janne.

It wasn't his fault - it was none of ours. Jed's strength had failed to match the figure's. I still had doubts about their gender, as I'm sure Jed and Jarmo did, but my gut told me they were male, and that somehow, I knew them, like Corey and Caleb had said.

That was the only convenient piece of information I had gotten out of them.

Briefly, from the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of auburn hair spilling out from the black hoody the figure had drawn over its head. They dashed by too fast to observe much else, disappearing over the chainlink fence.