Page 77 of The Apprentice

Daire rolled his eyes and huffed. “Fionn, this is Zed. He’s a bit of a professional.”

Zed barked out a laugh and stepped up to us. He held out his hand, and I took it in a firm shake. “Professional in laser tag and in real life. You’re Fionn Killough. Pleasure to meet you, man.”

I cocked my head. “Do I know you?”

“Nah, but I know you. Everyone in my occupation does.”

Daire cleared his throat and leaned in closer to me. “He works in the same society as Ardan, sir. He’s an associate of ours,” he whispered.

It was funny how quickly Daire slid back into his role of second-in-command, but it made sense when we were around someone who’d done work for us.

Zed certainly wasn’t someone I’d suspect as a Society associate. He had a baby face and an innocent look. Though, I supposed he used that to his advantage.

“What is someone like you doing in a place like this, Zed?” I asked.

He threw his thumb over his shoulder at a younger man who couldn’t have been older than eighteen. Probably closer to fifteen. They appeared to be related, with the same floppy blond hair and big blue eyes. “My younger bro, here, loves laser tag.”

I frowned. “You’re brave to be admitting he’s family.”

Zed snorted out a laugh. “I have faith in my abilities, sir, and I know how to protect my own.”

I simply nodded, and he took that as a signal to go back to his brother. Once he was gone, I whispered to Daire, “Is he trustworthy?”

Daire smiled as he pulled out the vest from my locker and yanked at the sides to undo the Velcro keeping it together. He slid the vest over my head and pressed the sides together again. “I wouldn’t put your life in danger, boy. I didn’t expect Zed to be here tonight, but he’s been loyal to the Company, and he’s building up his portfolio.”

“What if he could add our names to that list?” I trusted Daire, but I had an inherent suspicion of hit men.

“He’d make the biggest enemy in America. Hisaffiliation has a special relationship with your uncle. They wouldn’t risk it.” He placed the helmet on my head and plopped a kiss on my mouth. “Now come on, Mr. Killough, let’s show these guys how it’s done in the real mob.”

I laughed quietly. “In the words of true Irishmen, feck yeah.”

He shook his head, and while I grabbed my laser gun, Daire suited up in his own vest and helmet.

An employee walked through the door and clapped his hands, gaining the attention of the crowd. He went through thebasic safety rules and the dos and don’ts, before he waved at an entrance on the opposite side of where we’d entered.

“Through that door is the arena. It’ll be mostly dark with some dim lights to guide you around. When the timer counts down, your vests will light up in the middle with a color to show what team you’re on. You do not want to shoot your own teammates, since that will take points off you. When you get shot, your vest will go dark for five seconds before you’re able to shoot again. It’s a point system. There are two teams. In case of an emergency, there are glowing buttons on the walls under a hard casing. Open the cover and hit the button. The lights will automatically come on and we will find you.” He waved at a large screen above his head. “You have twenty minutes to succeed. There will be TVs like this around the arena to show you how much time you have left. You have two minutes after the door is opened where no shots are allowed. We will be opening the door in five seconds.”

A countdown of five came on the screen, and the employee moved to the side of the wall near the entrance.

“Good luck, you’re going to need it. Start the countdown!”

I watched the clock on the TV intently, clutching my laser gun tightly in my hands as the time began to tick downward.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

All our vests lit up and mine turned green, while Daire’s went red.

“Looks like we’re enemies, boy,” Daire murmured right as the door to the arena opened. “Run, because when I catch you, I won’t be lenient.” He slapped me on the ass as the crowd of laser taggers filed out.

I winked at Daire before I followed everyone else. As soon as they were through the door, they began to run, so I did, too. I went left and found myself in a huge room with all kinds of obstacles, from small wooden fortresses to foam ball pits, but to get to these kinds of locations, we had to go through a maze of walls.