17. Charmer

"Medium non-fat latte with French vanilla," Cherish cheerfully told the barista before turning to Riley. "You want anything? My treat!"

She wanted to say no out of spite, but her eyes fell on the basked of jelly-filled, sugar-dusted donuts, and lingered there for a second too long. Cherish adjusted her order with a knowing smile, and threw in a cup of tea for good measure.

The barista blinked in confusion, then flustered under Cherish's gaze.

"My treat," he told her, looking the part of the smitten teenager trying to impress. Riley rolled her eyes, and Cherish's obnoxious smile grew wider.

The order was ready in a record time, to the dismay of the employee who had been using the espresso machine and was summarily pushed out of the way, and the delight of the blushing barista who received a wink for his trouble.

They gathered their order, Riley with a cup of tea and a full box of donuts (despite Cherish only ordering one), and Cherish with a coffee and a phone number she threw in the garbage at the first opportunity.

Cherish took the time to pour an ungodly amount of artificial sweetener in her coffee, enough that even Riley gave her the side-eye.

"Let's go on the terrace," Cherish said once she was done, and Riley followed her outside to sit at one of the tables. The few people who had been sitting there hurried to leave, and they found themselves alone.

"What do you want?" Asked Riley.

Cherish took the time to sip her coffee before answering.

"Same thing as before. A team."

Riley double-checked to make sure no wandering ear could catch their conversation.

"The Nine are over. I didn't kill Jack to take his place."

"I know. And seriously, you couldn't do that before I started the tests?

The hand that wasn't holding her coffee lingered on the opening of her jacket, drawing the edges together. Concealing her tattoo. She noticed Riley's stare and the look on her face hardened.

"You're welcome, by the way," she continued.

"I'm what now?"

"You wanted an opening against Jack. I gave you one."

"I seem to recall you begging for help."

"You asked for help first. We had some nice teamwork going, until you dropped a bioweapon all over the place and fucked off with Siberian."

Okay. When you put it like that…

"I thought about making contact then, but it seemed like a better idea to wait until you weren't in the middle of a killing spree. That, and I don't think your striped Mama Bear would have let me get a word in edgewise before ripping my head off."

"It wasn't… a killing spree."

"How many people did you kill?"

"That so doesn't count."

"Sure."

"I'm turning over a new leaf."

"How many people do you need to kill for that?" Cherish asked, raising a knowing eyebrow as Riley bristled. "That's the plan, isn't it? Hunt us down until there's no one left but you? Kill us all so you can go on pretending you're not a killer? Jack would have liked that."

Riley took a sip of tea to avoid saying something rude.

She knew he would. That was the worst part.

"Where's Burnscar?" She asked to change the subject.

"Nearby. Told her to torch the place if I go dark. Speaking of…"

Cherish took out a flip phone and fiddled with it, presumably texting Burnscar.

"That wouldn't kill me."

"But it would kill everyone else, and you care about that stuff now."

Cherish grinned, and Riley felt the urge to wipe that grin off her face.

"What happened with Shatterbird?" She asked.

Cherish huffed, rolling her eyes.

"Daddy dearest sent my brothers to check up on me after seeing what happened with the Nine. We had a bit of a scrimmage, and my control slipped while I was distracted by them. She took the opportunity to switch on those countermeasures you made — Burnscar told me all about them — and then she turned on me. Burnscar defended me against both Shatterbird and my brothers, and we managed to escape. For now. But it's only a matter of time before they catch up with me again."

"And you want me to scare them off," Riley guessed.

Cherish nodded.

"Why were you in Shelburne?"

"I've been keeping tabs on you since the start, waiting for the right moment to make contact."

"Why?"

"I know you're not from around here. I was on my way back from the tattoo shop when you woke up that Friday, and all of a sudden, everything is turned upside-down. You hate the Nine and want to save people. But the most fascinating thing is that you're not a different person. The relationships are still there, but it's like years have passed."

"Are you saying I'm from the future?"

"I'm saying that everything in your emotional makeup points to it. At least a couple years, and something pretty major must have happened for you to switch sides."

You have no idea.

"What was that? I'm right? Of course I'm right. You're from the future, and you're planning something big. That's exciting. More exciting than anything Daddy ever did. More than joining the Nine for kicks. Whatever this is, I want in.

"You don't even know what I'm planning."

"I know enough to be interested. So, what's the future like?"

"I'm not telling," Riley said before stuffing her mouth with a donut.

"What about me? I can tell you have strong emotions about Jack and Siberian, but I'm barely a blip on your radar. Did I die? Did I make it through the tests at all?"

She tried not to think about Cherish's fate, but the thought invaded her mind anyway. She reached for the smallest unit of truth available.

"You didn't die, and you made it through the tests," Riley said around a mouthful of donut.

She didn't elaborate, and Cherish didn't look comforted at all. She took a sip of coffee.

"Anyways, I figured since we both want the rest of the Nine dead, we should team up. I can track Mannequin, and you can counter his tech. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement."

"You can barely sense him, and he doesn't have enough in the way of emotions for you to make a real difference."

Cherish frowned.

"It sounds like you just want someone to do the heavy lifting," Riley continued, taking a sip of tea. "He'll go into hiding to repair himself anyways. I don't think you will find him until he resurfaces of his own free will."

"What about Shatterbird? I can track her."

"Do you know where she is now?"

"She's out of my range. She flew South from Shelburne."

"Same thing, most likely. Going under. Not sure what she'll do without a group, though. Does she know Jack's dead?"

"I may have passed that along."

"How did she react?"

Cherish giggled.

Riley took a sip of tea, patiently waiting for her to finish.

"She's appointed herself as his successor. She wants to rebuild the Nine and then come after us. Our fine feathered friend can carry one hell of a grudge, and I'm afraid we've both made the naughty list. You for killing Jack, me for controlling her. Way I see it, we both have a vested interest in taking both her and Mannequin down, so teamwork is the way to go."

"What about Burnscar?"

"You can kill her if you want, but I think we can use the firepower, pun intended."

"I'm hearing a very convincing argument of why you want to stay with me, but not why I should stick with you."

"I can read people. You want to continue your little healer shtick? I can make sure no one's getting suspicious.

Riley opened her mouth to riposte, but already, Cherish had picked up what she was about to say.

"By reading them and warning you, not necessarily by enforcing it. If Shatterbird comes within a few miles of us, I'll know it instantly, and then you can do your thing. C'mon. I'm too useful to waste."

Riley took a long sip of tea, buying herself time to think.

Killing Jack had been a matter of survival, a necessity. Killing Crawler had been a stepping stone to get to Jack. Killing Manton… was a different kind of survival. Killing Mannequin or Shatterbird was fair game, since they were planning to come after her anyways. But killing Cherish… wasn't. The girl wasn't a threat, and her words about usefulness were uncomfortably close to Riley's own after her surrender.

At the same time, Cherish knew enough to make herself a nuisance, and definitely had the aggravating personality for it. Riley had better things to do than babysitting Heartbreaker's wayward child, but letting her go with that knowledge could create more problems than it would solve.

"Why are you here, really?"

Cherish sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Figured you're one of the few people who can remove that thing Mannequin forced me to get."

Ah. Of course.

"I could. Why would I?"

"Because fixing people is your thing now, and you want the Nine gone. Not just the Nine, but their impact. Their legacy. This is part of it."

Riley gave an unimpressed look, and Cherish grinned.

"Or, if we're speaking purely transactionally, name your price. I've got more than enough money with the Number Man."

"Let's not involve the Number Man in this. He was quite fond of Jack, so he might not be very fond of me now."

Cherish's eyes widened.

"Jack? As in Jack Slash? The Number Man was fond of Jack Slash?"

Riley nodded, sipping absentmindedly at her tea.

"Jack used to tell me bedside stories about him. You ever heard of Harbinger?"

Cherish's left eye twitched, so she probably had.

"He's nothing like Jack said. Kinda mean, actually." Those comments on her clones were so uncalled for.

"Right. A large chunk of the criminal underworld's economy is in the hands of a notorious serial killer, and he's kinda mean."

"Retired serial killer," Riley insisted, then thought about it. "Maybe. I don't know exactly what he does in his free time these days." Aside from participating in worldwide conspiracies. "And I'm pretty sure it's the global economy, not just the criminal underworld."

"Are there any other ex-Slaughterhouse Nine running around that I should know about?"

Riley thought of the clones, then decided that it was better not to bring it up. They didn't exist yet anyways.

Cherish's eyes widened.

"Fucking… fuck. Just tell me you don't have Grey Boy stashed somewhere doing taxes.

"Va— Glastig Uaine collected him," she answered.

A corner of her mouth curled upwards thinking of Valkyrie. It would be nice to see her friend again, eventually. She hoped they could meet somewhere down the line.

"I don't think she pays taxes," she added as an afterthought.

Cherish offered a very satisfying silence. Riley took another donut.

"So what now, if we have to wait for Mannequin and Shatterbird to resurface? Take over a small country? Kill my dad? Take down Nilbog?"

Cherish's joking smile melted into barely concealed terror as Riley wordlessly licked the powdered sugar from her fingers.

"He's my friend," she said while wiping her hands on a napkin.

Cherish's eyes glazed over as her expression shifted to one of polite interest with the ease afforded by a lifetime of practice with her father.

It occurred to Riley that Heartbreaker was to Cherish what Jack was to her. Maybe they should deal with him, eventually.

She noticed that she was already thinking about a future involving Cherish, and Cherish had doubtlessly noticed it too.

"So, what's the plan for now?" Cherish asked, a neutral expression on her face.

"I dunno. I'm still trying to figure it out. Lay low, I guess."

"So you agree? I can stay with you?"

"If you want to come with me, you'll have to play by my rules." The Wardens' rules, really. Or her version of it.

The importance of those rules when she had all the freedom in the world and no one to look over her shoulder was exactly the sort of things Riley had wanted to figure out on her own before being so rudely interrupted by Cherish's smug face.

Said smug face was scrutinizing her, eyebrows drawn and lips halfway into a pout. Not used to being unable to rely on her power, and even less used to restrictions.

"Do tell," said Cherish, chin resting on her hands.

"No killing or messing with people. No intentional harm. We keep a low profile, so no conspicuous use of powers, and you stop your little head games now. Nothing that can draw unwanted attention. Burnscar can come along too, as long as it's of her own free will."

"Right. From now on, we're the Slaughterhouse Nice. If I agree to the rules, do I get the full story?"

"I'm not sure you're that trustworthy."

That was a lie. She knew exactly how trustworthy Cherish was.

Was she making a mistake? Hard to say, but until Mannequin and Shatterbird were dealt with, it was better to keep Cherish by her side rather than against her. She could deal with that.

Monsters were, after all, familiar territory.