Page 6 of Lily and her Mercenary (CHANGING OF THE GUARDS)

Lily

I shook my head slowly. “There are only two weeks to the end of the school year. I can’t just leave my kids.”

Ryker took hold of my arms and looked me in the eye. “You are endangering those kids if you stay.”

My stomach dropped. The weight of his words hit me like a physical blow.

I glanced at my kids, clustered together on the sidewalk as police officers handed out shock blankets and paramedics checked for injuries.

Tommy was animatedly recounting his snow globe throw to an officer who nodded with exaggerated interest.

"That's not fair," I whispered, though I knew he was right. The thought of someone targeting me—targeting my kids—made me feel physically ill. "They're my responsibility."

"And keeping them safe is part of that responsibility," Ryker countered, his voice gentle but firm. "Whoever these people are, they didn't hesitate to attack a bus full of kindergarteners."

I pulled away from him, wrapping my arms around myself. "Who would do this? Why?"

"I don't know yet," he said, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "But I will find out.”

"But I don't know anything!" My voice cracked. "I'm just a kindergarten teacher who can barely remember to water her plants."

A police officer approached us, notepad in hand. "Ms. Andrews? We need to get statements from you and the children. And we'll need to contact all the parents."

The parents. Oh god. How was I going to explain this?

"I'll handle it," I said automatically, teacher-mode kicking in despite my internal panic. "We have emergency contact information in my clipboard."

Except my clipboard was on the bus. Along with my phone, my bag, and twenty-seven paper baby chicks that Ryker had carefully cut out this morning.

He placed a hand on my shoulder. "I've already called Principal Guthrie. She's contacting the parents and sending buses to pick up the kids."

I stared at him. "How did you—"

"I used Earl's phone." He shrugged. "Seemed like the logical next step."

For some reason, that small act of thoughtfulness—of seeing what needed to be done and just doing it—made tears spring to my eyes. I blinked them back furiously. The last thing my kids needed was to see their teacher crying.

"Ms. Lily!" Emma ran over, clutching her pufferfish pencil—somehow salvaged from the chaos. "Are the bad guys coming back?"

I crouched down to her level. "No, sweetheart. The police are here now, and they're going to catch those people."

"Tommy says they were aliens," she informed me solemnly. "He says they wanted to steal our brains because we learned too much about sea creatures."

Despite everything, I had to fight back a smile. "I think they were just regular bad guys. But you were all so brave, and I'm very proud of you."

Emma nodded, then leaned in to whisper: "Mr. Ryker was brave, too. He fought them with a fork like Aquaman!"

"It was a plastic trident," Ryker corrected, kneeling beside us. "Much less impressive."

"Still cool," Emma decided, before racing back to join her friends.

I watched her go, my heart twisting. These kids trusted me to keep them safe. And today I'd nearly failed them.

"This isn't your fault," Ryker said quietly as if reading my thoughts.

"Isn't it?" I stood up, brushing off my knees. "Whatever this is, it followed me to them. What if—" I couldn't finish the sentence.

The next hour passed in a blur of police questions, parent phone calls, and reassuring traumatized children. By the time the replacement bus arrived, I was running on fumes, operating purely on autopilot.

Principal Guthrie appeared, her normally immaculate suit wrinkled as if she'd run out of her office the moment she heard. She took charge of the parent communications while I focused on getting the children safely onto the new bus.

"Ms. Lily?" Tommy tugged at my sleeve as I was checking names off the hastily recreated list. "I saved this for you." He pressed something into my palm—a small blue stone from the gift shop, polished smooth.

"For protection," he explained seriously. "From aliens AND regular bad guys."

I closed my fingers around it, throat tight. "Thank you, Tommy. I'll keep it with me always."

After the last child was safely aboard and the bus pulled away with police escorts, I finally let myself collapse onto a bench. Principal Guthrie sat beside me.

"The school board is insisting on an emergency meeting tonight," she said without preamble. "Police will be present. They want to discuss security protocols going forward."

"And whether I should be allowed near the children," I added flatly.

She didn't deny it. "There will be questions. Hard ones."

"I understand."

Guthrie patted my knee awkwardly. "For what it's worth, I think you handled this situation remarkably well. The officers said your quick thinking probably saved lives."

"It wasn't me." I glanced toward where Ryker stood, speaking with a detective.

"Ah, yes, your mysterious volunteer." Guthrie followed my gaze. "Who exactly is he?"

I opened my mouth, then realized I didn't have a simple answer. "He's... a friend who stepped up when I needed help."

"Well, tell your friend the school board will want to speak with him, too." She stood, straightening her blazer. "Meeting's at seven. Don't be late."

After she left, Ryker rejoined me, sitting heavily on the bench.

"So," he said, "good news: they didn't find any trace of the people who attacked the bus. Bad news: they didn't find any trace of the people who attacked the bus."

"How is that possible? There were witnesses, broken glass—"

"The vehicle they used was reported stolen this morning. They're checking traffic cameras, but the detective didn't seem optimistic."

I stared at the smoldering remains of our bus, now surrounded by fire investigators. "This is happening, isn't it? Someone is trying to... what? Kill me? Kidnap me?"

"I don't know," Ryker admitted. "But I'm not waiting around to find out their exact intentions." He turned to face me directly. "Lily, you need to disappear for a while."

"I have a school board meeting at seven," I said numbly.

"Perfect. We'll go to that, and then you're coming with me."

"Coming with you where?"

"Somewhere safe. Somewhere, they won't think to look for you."

I laughed, a slightly hysterical sound. "And where exactly is that? I don't exactly have a secret hideout."

Ryker's expression turned grim. "No, but I do."