Josian turned back to the group. “You all stay here.”
Quarn and Brace’s expressions were a mirror of annoyance, but they didn’t comment.
I took the four steps across the room. Josian was on my butt the entire way. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Go from having no parents to hovering worried ones in a matter of hours.
Okay, I kind of liked it.
When I reached the cabinet, the energy was so strong I almost gagged. Swallowing loudly around the lump in my throat, I flipped open the blue box and withdrew the two-piece tool. This locking mechanism was slightly more technical than the ones we generally practiced on, so it took a few minutes of twisting. The quiet in the room made the job easier. Finally, as the last of the grooves clicked into place, the bolt released.
Yanking the door open, I peered inside.
“Anything we can use?” Josian peered over my head, riffling through the higher shelves.
Damn these giants.
Focusing on the contents, I smiled, one of my first true ones since Lucy’s disappearance. We were going in armed.
Reaching forward, I grabbed a handful of palm-sized grenades. Dark gray in color, they had small red tags attached to their detonator pins. Smoke and gas grenades, we used them in simulation practices, but they were real. Apparently that was the only way to really understand their debilitating nature. More like the only way Olden could torture us and receive payment for it.
They weren’t lethal, but you’d damn well find yourself dizzy and disoriented.
Josian opened his pack.
I placed them inside with care. “These grenades will be perfect for our initial infiltration,” I said as I went back to the cabinet. “And the goggles help with night vision.” I threw a pair to everyone. “Keep them on you until we get there.”
I went back to the hidden gold mine in the cabinet.
“Pepper spray.” I held it up for all to see. “Spray straight into their eyes.” I moved on to the next gem. “Tasers – hold and press.” They were high voltage, knock an elephant down.
I pressed the button. Brace looked impressed as the visible electricity arced across the prongs.
Near the back, I found the gun lock-box. Dragging the heavy container toward me, I dropped it to the floor. It rattled loudly. I crossed my fingers that it still contained the training weapons.
I picked the bolt-lock. Within thirty seconds I was inside staring at three revolvers.
I pulled out the first gun.
“This is a Colt 911, a semi-automatic weapon.” I checked the clip. “It has seven rounds, so you need to make the shots count.”
I turned to Quarn. “Do you have any experience handling guns?”
He was my best chance. Despite guns’ rarity on the streets, they weren’t non-existent.
Quarn nodded. “Besides chasing you around York, my other aim in life was to remove every gun from the gangers. Which was hard to achieve without handling them on more than one occasion.”
The second gun was the same. I handed that to Josian, after pointing out the basics. “That’s the safety. Click it off before you shoot.”
He dropped the gun into his deep side pocket.
The third gun was useless, just a prop for beginners.
“So the guns are just as useful as a threaten-scare tactic. They will fear the weapons. With some luck we won’t need to use them,” I explained to the men.
At some point everyone had moved nearer and we were pushing uncomfortably close to the corner of the room.
Most of the gear went into Josian’s bag, although the tasers and pepper spray were shared around.
Josian reached up to the top shelves. He pulled out a sheaf of rolled material, which he handed to me. I recognized it immediately.
A wicked smile crossed my face. This was my weapon.
I untied the leather string that held it together. I felt a slow motion flood of anticipation as the roll unraveled.
Quarn, smiling broadly, let out an exclamation. “A throwing-knife set. Are you going to use that?”
He leaned forward eagerly, his blue eyes alight. He wanted his sword, a gun and the throwing knives. Someone had a problem sharing ... weapons hog.
I nodded. “Oh, yes. This was one of my specialized advanced classes. I’ve been waiting to get my hands on this set for a long time.”
I lovingly stroked the shiny pearl handle of one of the eight knives. Lifting it free, I laid it flat on my hand, inspecting the high quality and perfect balance.
Reluctantly, I re-sheathed the weapon and tucked the leather into the deep pockets of my coat.
“Let’s go kick some ass.”
“Aribella,” Lallielle protested half-heartedly.
My swearing had eventually breached her maximum mother capacity.
Josian laughed. “You’re definitely my daughter. Your mother is going to have her work cut out.”
He ducked down to kiss her cheek. She chuckled, accepting his attempt to appease her.