T. A. Chase

Firebird-Part Nine

Firebird copyright (c) 2006 T.A. Chase

Part Nine-

Rue felt his mouth drop open. Shit. Vlatko was an assassin. This changed everything. “So did you find the fugitive and kill him?” He wasn’t sure about what he was expecting to hear, but it certainly wasn’t what Vlatko said.

“Yes.” Vlatko gathered the empty plates and set them in the sink.

“If you did what they asked you to do, why are you a deserter?” Rue frowned.

Vlatko moved to stand in the doorway, staring out into the forest. “I learned too much. I saw too much.” The big man looked down at his hand. “When your hands are stained red by all the blood spilt, you began to question everything.”

“And the I.U.M. doesn’t like questions.” Rue climbed to his feet and went to join Vlatko at the door.

Vlatko shook his head. “It wasn’t the I.U.M. I was questioning. I knew they were wrong before I even volunteered to be their trained killer.”

Fuck. Rue’s head was starting to hurt. “If you weren’t doubting them, what the hell were you doubting?”

Vlatko sighed. “It doesn’t make sense, I know, but I doubted everything. Why do we fight so hard to live?”

Rue followed Vlatko as the man wandered back towards the clearing where Rue had been tied the day before. “We fight because the only other option is lying down and dying.” Rue reached out and took Vlatko’s hand.

Vlatko glanced over at him, but didn’t pull his hand away. “Why? Why are we living? Are we supposed to learn something?”

Rue started laughing. “The I.U.M. must have freaked out when their trained assassin turned into a philosopher.”

Vlatko smiled. “I.U.M. freaked because I told them I had files and information, not only on the most recent mission, but on all the people sent me to kill.”

They walked into the clearing and stopped in front of the firebird’s tree. The creature screeched at them as sparks rained down from her feathers. The bird’s plumage was brilliant red and orange as if the creature were on fire. Another ear-piercing screech ricocheted through the clearing.

“Hush, you old biddy,” Vlatko called out to her.

Rue found himself jerked up against Vlatko’s body. He stared up into Vlatko’s black eyes. “You’re covering your ass by blackmailing them into letting you go.” He reached up and rubbed a thumb over Vlatko’s bottom lip.

“Yeah and I never thought they’d send such a sexy thief to steal them from me.”Rue felt his heart stop.

Tuesday, October 10th, 2006, by and is filed under "Uncategorized ". You can leave a response here, or send a Trackback from your own site.