The Tower

He raised his head to look at his mother, and it was just as it had always been. Allander stood abashedly before her, a naughty child. He could almost feel the years fleeing his body, the small lines departing from around his eyes, the potency draining from his organs. He was helpless again, a frightened boy lost in the forest of his own sexuality.

It was her cursed inconsistency. She was so uneven, so rounded. As he gazed on the drifts of hair around her neck, the movement of her flushed chest, the fullness of her hips, he was reduced to a weakkneed helplessness. It was all he could do not to flee.

Darby opened her mouth as though to scream, but nothing came out. A tear rolled from the corner of her eye. She stared at her son and felt no anger, only fear. No matter what they do, she thought. I felt him grow inside me for eight months, three weeks, and a day, and he stands before me still as my child. She understood that he loved her in some way, that this was all because of her, and she would have to carry it, alone, until the end of her days. She stood erect, almost proudly, with the force of her natural dignity about her like a shield.

Allander blinked back threatening tears and felt the softness of his emotions washing around inside him as he lowered his eyes from his mother. He was disgusted by his weakness. Glancing at Jade standing right beside her, he felt his rage reemerge, as pure and fresh as a torrent of water.

When he looked back at Darby, she caught his eyes and held them. He saw in them a coldness that he didn't recognize, as if she were looking right through him. She kept her eyes glued to his with a force he could almost feel in the air. And then, with excruciating slowness, she moved her hand two inches to her right, into Jade's.

Jade barely had time to be surprised when he felt Darby's skin against his-he was too focused on Allander's reaction. Allander's face seemed to tear itself apart in a scream as he kicked his father aside and lunged forward. He bellowed something but it was unintelligible; his throat was closed like a sobbing child's.

Jade was fully extended in the air, diving for his pistol, before Allander had staggered into a second step. He gripped the weapon by the stock before his body hit the floor, and he dug his finger through the trigger guard, whipping it to aim it at Allander's shoulder.

Jade struck the ground as he fired and the impact jolted his gun hand upward. Rolling onto his back, he heard a scream and the knife clattering to the ground. He came up in a crouch.

Allander's hand was leaking blood, but he could see that the bullet had only grazed him. Allander blinked twice, as if remembering where he was, and then sprinted for cover in the crowd by the bar. As he ran, he pulled Jade's Glock from where it was tucked in his jeans.

He fired blindly in Jade's direction and the bullet ricocheted off the metal vat behind him. People were screaming now, some still frozen in place at their tables, others standing, unsure where to run.

Darby's expression did not change, but she rocked on her feet to keep her balance. She didn't even turn her head to watch her son disappear.

"GET THE FUCK DOWN!" Jade yelled, firing once in the air.

The crowd broke, scattering behind stools and tables. More screams pierced the air. Everyone sank to the floor except Allander, who bent at the waist and scurried for the door, trying to shield himself with other people. Jade waited for a clear shot to open up, but Allander kept fading behind tables and crouching guests.

As Allander got within ten feet of the front door, it banged open and Travers swung into the restaurant, gun leveled at his head.

Allander was still pointing his pistol blindly behind himself in Jade's direction, and he didn't have time to swing it around at Travers. With a scream, he ducked behind a woman and hurled her toward Travers. She toppled forward on her high heels and smashed into Travers, knocking Travers's arms above her head and causing her head to bang against the door frame as she sank to the floor.

Jade lined his sights on the back of Allander's hip, but before he could fire, Allander had moved behind the staggering woman, jumped over Travers, and disappeared through the door.

Jade followed, screaming over his shoulder, "Someone call an ambulance." Travers was on her feet by the time he reached the door and she followed him out.

As they ran onto the sidewalk, two gunshots echoed loudly up the street. They went down over their right shoulders in exactly the same way, and completed their roll in a crouch behind a red Nissan parked out front. They glanced at each other over their weapons for a second, surprised.

"Agent down?" Travers asked.

"And out," Jade replied, straining to see up the street.