Leaping Read Online Free PDF

so I’m
not arguing. Whatever he wants. I can watch. I can join in the fun. I can piss
on his face. You know, meet all his needs. Batman lives to serve the citizens
of Gotham.” He cracks a rueful smile.
    “The guy said we’re not supposed to
keep Tucker waiting,” I say, putting on a worried voice.
    “Let ‘em through,” Troll Number One
says.
    I give him a big, sloppy grin as he
unhooks the stupid velvet rope and allows us access to the staircase. “You guys
are the best. Oh My God, Tucker Cartwright. This is unbelievable,” I gush as we
head up the stairs. As soon as the goons are behind us, I give Gabe an angry
glare.
    “Piss on his face?”
    “Batman doesn’t drive the getaway
car,” Gabe says again as we reach the second floor and survey a long hallway
filled with closed doors.
    “They’ll be able to give
descriptions of us to law enforcement,” Tarren says. I’m probably imaging the icicles
of unhappiness dripping off his words.
    “Gabe’s got his mask, you’ve got
your cowboy hat, and I’m wearing a wig. It’s fine,” I hiss back at him.
    Tarren decides to generously withhold any additional
rebukes. “Gloves on. How many humans up here?” he asks. 
    As Tarren and Gabe each pull a pair
of thin leather gloves from their pocket and Bat Utility Belt, respectively, I
lower a barrier in my mind and let the angel part of me extend. Heat roils
through my hands, and the seams in my palms pull, asking for release. I feel
the auras of my brothers so close and the mass of energy throbbing downstairs.
I push, focusing my mind on this hallway.
    “Multiple humans up here. There and
there,” I point to two rooms in the hallway. Their auras lick against that
sensitive part of my brain. “We have to be careful.”
    “Don’t see any cameras,” Gabe says,
scanning up and down the hallway. “Small favors.”
    Tarren is quiet for a moment, just
a moment, as his mind calculates. We could be facing two angels up here or a
dozen behind every door. And we’ve got humans in the mix.
    Tarren’s lips press tight. The plan
is woven. “We go room by room,” he says. “Use the heat sensor to identify and
then clip all the wings we find. Tranq any humans. Do it quick. Do it clean. No
alarms. I’ll take the first three doors. Gabe the next three. Maya, those two
on the other side.”
    “I didn’t bring a tranq gun,” I
admit, “but I don’t sense any humans in my rooms.”
    Tarren gives me a look that says, We’ll
discuss this later.
    You try finding a place for two
guns and a phone while wearing ten square inches of clothing, I think back
at him.
    “Exit point?” Gabe’s voice is low,
finally serious. I watch the teasing greens drain from his aura, leaving it a
dark blue, the color of the ocean on a cloudy, unhappy day.
    “There.” Tarren points to one of
the doors. “According to the layout, that should be the bathroom. There’ll be a
window that lets out on the side of the house. As soon as your rooms are
cleared, get the bodies out and straight back to the car.”
    “Should have bought my Bat
Grappling Hook,” Gabe grumbles.
    Tarren’s eyes have shifted from
pale blue to gray and look hard as flint. I study his smooth, controlled aura. Does
he still get nervous? I wonder. Especially with a job like this. So many
ways this could melt down. All it would take is a single human letting out a
scream, or an angel with a power we’ve never seen before. I pull in a deep,
long breath and nod my assent.
    “Right on,” Gabe says.
    “Quick, quiet, clean,” Tarren says.
Our team motto.
    We each turn away, moving toward
our assigned doors. Adrenaline sloshes through my veins, and I’ve grown used to
this sick anticipation. Blood and bullets. Unless it’s one of us tonight, I
think. That familiar knot of dread is back, sitting heavily in my stomach. I
know that we cannot jump through the fire forever without getting burned
ourselves.
    My heels softly plow the thick
carpet as I wrap my gloved hand