Angels of the Resistance by Noelle Salazar

Author:Noelle Salazar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MIRA Books
Published: 2022-09-06T18:14:44+00:00

18

Click.

The sound echoed off the nearby trees. No one moved.

I squeezed again.

Click.

I looked to Elif, who was trying to get to her own gun from where it was strapped to her thigh, hidden beneath her skirt, its use not planned.

Charlie slid the bag he carried off his shoulder.

“Don’t move.” My voice trembled as I pulled the trigger yet again. But it was no use. It was empty.

Fear and confusion warred in my mind. Hadn’t I checked the gun before I’d left? No. I’d checked it in the morning, though. How—

I looked at Elif, but she seemed as confused as I and was still trying to retrieve her own pistol, but in her frenzy, she was having a hard time undoing the strap holding it in place.

“Dammit,” I said under my breath as I took several steps back and shoved my gun into my pocket and then reached for my dagger, my eyes glued to Charlie.

Charlie.

I didn’t understand. All this time...he was working for the other side?

“I have something for you,” he said, holding the bag out to me. The same bag our target was meant to be carrying...

I gripped the hilt of the dagger in my waistband and glanced at Elif, who had pulled her gun and was checking to see if it was loaded. Her eyes met mine and she shook her head. I turned back to Charlie, who had taken another step toward me.

“Stop moving,” I said, pulling the weapon free and holding it out in front of me. “What do you mean you have something for me?”

“Take the bag. Check the front pocket.”

When I didn’t move, he sighed and pulled a slip of paper from the pocket he’d mentioned and then held it out to me. I stood rooted to my spot on the path, hoping he couldn’t see how bad my hand was shaking.

“I’m going to take a step forward and place it on the ground,” he said. “Is that okay?”

I gave him a curt nod.

As he stepped forward I changed my hold on my weapon—just as he’d taught me—and then watched as he knelt and placed the note on the dirt path. When he stepped back again, I changed my grip once more.

“It was a test,” he said, and raised his arms in surrender. “All this—it was a test. To see if you two were ready. If you could do what it takes.” His smile was grim, his voice flat, the look in his eyes confusing. Proud, but there was something else too. Disappointment? “Congratulations. You passed.”

Elif took a half step forward and stopped. “It was a trick?”

“A test,” he said again. “We all have to go through it. To make sure we can do the job. To see if we can pull the trigger. It’s why I wasn’t at the last two training sessions. So it would look like I didn’t know what you were doing in there.” He gestured toward the pub and then back at me and the weapon in my hand. “Lien, you can put the dagger away.

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