He acted nonchalant, but Eadric’s mind accelerated. If Codex caused the power outage, what good did it do them? It wouldn’t do anything to bring down Eadric’s business empire. Which meant they wanted something else.
He ran through the list of emergency protocols for this instance. Computers automatically backed up every five minutes, so they wouldn’t lose much work. The building itself remained unchanged. Employees would evacuate through emergency stairwells since the elevators wouldn’t work.
Eadric paused.
The elevators didn’t work, which meant neither did the security gates or the automated locks. In fact, everything could be manually unlocked in this state. Anyone could go anywhere.
“It isn’t fair if you don’t tell me what your second move is.” Eadric kicked the door open and dashed for the emergency stairs.
There was now only one reason Codex would attack his building. They were after someone.
The voice sighed. “So you finally came to your senses. Did you know that your little flower looks especially radiant today? I hear she has a smile to combat sunshine.”
Eadric read through to the threat. They’d had eyes on Amorette, or at least wanted him to think they did. He slammed the stairway door open and blinked against the flashing red emergency lights.
Amorette should still be secure on the fifteenth floor, but that was fifteen flights of stairs between them. If he was on the phone, he couldn’t contact Collins. He had no way to know what the plan was or if she was still safe.
“I swear, if you touch one hair on that woman’s head, I’ll kill you myself.” Eadric took a breath and took a running start, two steps at a time.
“Oh, as if you could.”
“I’ll find a way. Look forward to it.”
“I see you’ve reached the stairs. I’ll give you a minute’s head start before I make my next move.”
Eadric rolled his eyes. “I think I’m at the disadvantage here. You won’t tell me what your moves are.”
“I’ve been nothing but open and honest since the moment you picked up the telephone.”
“Oh, really?” Eadric checked each floor number as he passed it. A minute wouldn’t be enough. His fingers shifted around the staff he still held. If he ever met this man face to face, he wouldn’t hesitate. “Then why won’t you tell me what your next move is?”
“We’re on your turf right now. I think you have the advantage despite all that.”
Eadric didn’t think arguing would get him anywhere, so he didn’t try it. Why bother to waste time when it wouldn’t solve anything? “I’m at floor five.”
Eadric rounded another corner. Five wasn’t close enough. He could call it a strategic move, one after which he hoped his opponent showed his hand.
“Well, then. Let me reveal my next move. I’ve taken one of your pawns.”
That could mean anything. In this wretched game, he could consider any number of people pawns.
Eadric didn’t answer. He focused instead on speeding up. Each second that ticked by meant one more second that something could happen.
“I think it’s only fair I tell you that I already have one of yours.” That should at least throw the man off the scent for a while.
A clatter from the stairs above him disrupted Eadric’s private strategy meeting. He raised his head and held tighter to his staff. No way would he stop to wait for whoever or whatever it was to come to him. Eadric wasn’t that kind of man.
He hugged the wall and kept his pace up the stairs.
The footsteps coming down echoed through the stairway along with Eadric’s. Eadric counted steps, calculating approximately how far apart they were.
When they approached the same corner, Eadric swung the staff.
He pulled it up just shy of hitting the man’s head.
Doon held up his hands and skirted away from the solid wooden staff. “I’m sorry! I should have announced my presence. What’s going on? Why the power outage? Why aren’t you in the lobby?”
“Come with me.” Eadric flipped the staff over his shoulder and took off running again.
“Okay...” Doon sounded incredulous, but he didn’t argue. Eadric liked to think that had something to do with the no-nonsense attitude he portrayed. It may have had more to do with the fact Eadric almost clobbered Doon with a bow-staff.
The voice on the other end of the phone clucked his tongue. “I see you’ve made another move. You’re running out of time, you know. I didn’t want to do this, but I have no choice but to take a knight.”
Eadric set his jaw. Each second that ticked by upped the stakes. First a pawn. Now a knight. If he didn’t hurry, it would be his queen.
Eadric’s sneakers and Doon’s designer shoes clanged against the metal stairs. Floors sped by.
Seven.
Eleven.
Fourteen.
Eadric threw open the door to the fifteenth floor and stepped into the haunting green lights.
“Have you arrived yet? I can’t stand the anticipation any more.”
He didn’t feel the need to let the man on the phone know his progress. The less he said, the more likely he would win.
Doon tugged on Eadric’s sleeve. “Over there.” He jutted his chin in the general direction of The Nook’s open doors.
Collins and Bryant lay in a crumpled heap by the glass entrance. Shadows etched their features with the ghoulish contrast of peace and pain.
Eadric gripped his staff and pointed the end toward the floor, prepared for anything and anyone. He bent before Collins first.
A needle protruded from the man’s neck. Eadric used two fingers against the other side of Collins’ neck to check for life. A rapid, sporadic pulse met his touch.
Doon did much the same for Bryant and sent a nod in Eadric’s direction.
Eadric expected as much. Codex had no real reason to kill the guards. Their only transgression was standing in the way of Codex’s path to an immortal and his woman.
“You’re surprisingly quiet.”
Eadric winced. He had almost forgotten about the man on the phone. Eadric’s lips opened to answer, but Doon’s cry cut him off.
“Melodia!”
Eadric spun to his feet as Doon raced inside. Signs of a struggle littered the front of the store. An overturned shelf. Books and bags scattered across the floor. What drew Eadric’s attention, however, was the blonde woman sprawled in the middle of it all. He jogged closer.
Doon knelt beside Melodia’s limp body and took her face in his hands. Blood trickled down one temple and matted the hair by her ear.
Eadric spun in a circle, the panic rising as he realized the one thing missing from The Nook.
“Where is she?”
“Now you ask the pertinent questions.”
"Tell me!” Eadric shouted at the phone.
“Touchy, touchy.” A sigh, then a pause. “I suppose this is where the game gets fun. It would be a shame if you run out of moves and your queen falls to her death.”
“The roof.” Eadric shot a look at Doon.
Doon waved him on. “Go get Amorette. I’ve got Melodia. Go. Now.”
Eadric shot for the stairs. If only the elevators worked. He would need to rethink that. The lights hadn’t gone out too long ago, which meant he wasn’t too far behind the culprits.
A sudden, throbbing pain ripped through Eadric’s abdomen. He doubled over.
The phone clattered to the stairs.
For a moment, the staff was the only thing that held him up.
Eadric grimaced and reached for the phone again.
“Something the matter, Oh Great One?” The voice taunted.
“Absolutely not.” Eadric spat. He took a breath and went running again. “She hasn’t done anything to you.”
“Her existence is vexing.”
Eadric didn’t like the tone with which the man said it. As if he could do without Amorette and all she embodied. Eadric couldn’t climb the steps fast enough. Why did the Tower have to be so ta
ll?
“Your fight is with me.”
“She’s a part of you, though. Isn’t she?”
He couldn’t argue with that. Each new tidbit of information made Eadric that much more irate.
Since he couldn’t keep the truth from this foe, he might as well give in. “If she’s hurt when I find her...”
“You’ll kill me? Yes, we’ve been over this. It’s dull to rehash the whole thing, don’t you think?”
Eadric ignored the man and climbed the last few sets of stairs to the roof. He emerged into the cold night air. Thankfully, the darkness inside lent to his ability to assess the situation immediately.
Nearly a dozen men stood in formation facing the stairs. In the middle, doubled onto her knees with her hands bound, sat Amorette. A split decorated the corner of her pretty lips, but other than that she seemed none the worse for wear.
Eadric clenched his fingers around his staff. “I think we’ve reached the endgame, don’t you? Sorry to rush off, but I have business to attend to.”
He didn’t wait for an answer. Eadric ended the call and tossed his phone to the ground.
Codex wouldn’t have sent just anyone to do this job. These men had been specifically chosen, and he knew it. They weren’t high enough in the political inner workings of Codex to compromise anything. Instead, they must be the ones trained to fight. The thugs. An apropos title for the work they were doing this evening. They wouldn’t let him leave with Amorette if they could help it.
Eadric widened his stance and motioned the closest thug closer. “I’m sick of chit-chat. Let’s get this show on the road.”
The men rushed forward like a pride of lions descending on their prey. Except these lions didn’t know when they were outmatched.
Fists and feet flew in Eadric’s direction. Eadric met each blow with his staff or a fist of his own. Having studied defensive tactics in The Orient paid off now. Thankfully, none of them seemed to have weapons aside from a few knives and a bat. Those he could deal with.
The distinctive fluttering of a helicopter interrupted the fight. Eadric glanced over his shoulder to see red lights nearing the rooftop he stood upon.
As much as he wanted to lay eyes on Amorette, Eadric forced himself to focus on the task at hand.
He understood now why they cut the power. They made him run stairs in an attempt to weaken his stamina. What no one counted on was the dogged determination of a man fighting for his woman’s life.
The time crunch didn’t faze him. Eadric had dealt with more difficult situations in numerous wars. Obviously, no one told these men they would be fighting an experienced warrior.
From the corner of his eye, Eadric saw one of the men wrap a hand around Amorette’s arm and roughly pull her to her feet. A gun appeared in that man’s hand.
Eadric’s staff cracked against one thug's neck and sent him to the ground. There were still too many. He wouldn’t be able to get to her in time.
A distinct pop ricocheted in the air.
The man holding Amorette cried out and released her to grab his own arm.
Eadric spotted two of the security team members at the top of the stairs. “Get Amorette to the manse. Now!” He spun to allow his staff to make contact with another thug’s knee.
The security staff bolted into motion.
It was only after Amorette was below again that Eadric truly let loose. In a matter of minutes, he had every last one of the assailants writhing in pain.
Sirens from below reminded him that Doon would have already called the paramedics. Good. These men were going to need them.
The helicopter swerved and disappeared into the night sky.
Eadric’s phone trilled from where he dropped it. He glanced at the screen from where he stood, then stooped to answer. “Checkmate.”
“For now.” The man laughed. “Until next time. Look forward to it.” The line clicked.
Eadric pocketed the phone and bent over to breathe. The dull pain in his abdomen hadn’t stopped, but it had lessened. Whatever happened, he would heal. He always did. For now, he needed to clean this up and get home to Amorette, if only to ensure she was alright.
[Episode 15]
More Questions Than Answers
IF SHE COULD SIT STILL, she would. Amorette wished she had control of herself, but all thoughts of control fled hours ago.
The power outage had been surprising, but even more so were the men who stormed into The Nook seconds later. Amorette and Melodia never had time to think about evacuating.
For a few minutes, they stood off against the girls. Then someone made a call to their leader. After that, everything seemed blurry. Someone attacked Melodia, not knowing the woman took self-defense classes on a weekly basis. There was a struggle. Someone hit Melodia, who went down.
Amorette remembered fighting back when they dragged her toward the stairs. She remembered doing her best to get away and getting punched in the stomach as a result.
The roof... The roof, she remembered too well. The men forced her to her knees and tied her up. Then they all waited.
Eadric’s appearance didn’t surprise Amorette. She expected him to come after her, but she had never seen him so enraged. Not even when he retrieved her from her father’s house. She rooted for him the whole time, even when someone put a gun against her head.
Amorette glanced her fingertips against the spot on her temple. One wrong move and that man could have shot her. She never appreciated Eadric’s security team more than at that moment.
She couldn’t stay in her room anymore. She needed to know what was going on. Amorette flung the door open.
The guards from the Tower spared her a glance. One raised an eyebrow.
Amorette didn’t care what their orders were. She brushed past them and jogged down the stairs.
Their footsteps followed.
Amorette found a sort of peace in knowing someone watched over her in Eadric’s absence. The other half of her quickly grew annoyed with their overbearing presence.
Amorette hit the main floor at the same time the front door clicked open. One of the guards stepped in front of her like a human shield.
Hunter took a step back. The door shut behind him. “Okay, wow. Didn’t expect that. Who are these guys? Where are Collins and Bryant? Aren’t they your shadows?”
Amorette dodged around the guard. She pressed a palm against the man’s arm to reassure him that this was normal. “You didn’t hear? No one told you?”
“Ma’am, I really think it will be safer if you return to your room.” The guard eyed Hunter suspiciously.
Amorette rolled her eyes. “He’s kosher, he lives here.”
The guard took a step back, but neither of the two moved very far.
“What happened? Are you okay?” Hunter’s eyes shot between Amorette and her current entourage.
“Okay” didn’t begin to describe how Amorette felt. Of course, she knew better than to lie to Hunter, but no one said she couldn’t omit some of the truth. “There was an incident at Hawkmore Tower. It’s probably on the news right now. I don’t want to relive it.”
“That bad?” Hunter scratched the back of his neck, a bad habit of his when he overthought something. “You’re sure you aren’t hurt?”
Amorette nodded, even though that was only a partial truth. “I’m fine. Thanks for asking. Why weren’t you home at this hour?”
“I had some things to do.” Hunter stepped forward and gathered her into his arms for a hug. “I’m glad you’re okay. You sure you don’t want to tell me what happened? If it’s on the news, it’s a big deal.”
“I’m okay,” Amorette repeated like a mantra. She should have known Hunter wouldn’t believe her, but it would be worse if he heard about the incident on the news. She had to at least warn him. Now that she did her duty, Amorette wasn’t so sure she did the right thing in tipping him off.
A little wiggling wormed her way out of Hunter's hold.
Amorette tucked her hair behind her ears. “I
’m really okay, Hunter. You didn’t happen to see Eadric or Doon on the way in, did you?”
“Not a trace of them. Just the car from the Tower.” Hunter motioned to the guards. “I assume it’s theirs.”
“Yeah. I guess they went to the hospital.” Amorette traced a thumb against her bottom lip.
“Hospital?!” Hunter’s eyes went wide.
It would make sense for them to go. Doon probably wanted to be sure Melodia survived. Eadric would want to know everything, and the simplest way to figure that out was to follow everyone to the hospital. The police would want him to fill out a report, as well.
“Earth to Amorette!” Hunter snapped his fingers in front of her eyes. “Hello! Explain. What hospital? Is someone hurt? Do we need to go, too?”
“I’m under lock and key.” Amorette shot a look to the security duo.
She didn’t resent it, but frustration set in easily when she didn’t know what was happening with everyone else.
“Okay, fine, we won’t go anywhere, but who went to the hospital?”
“Melodia.”
No use denying it. The news would report that, too. Anything that happened in Hawkmore Tower was a matter of public interest. Amorette understood the curiosity.
“What happened to Melodia?”
“She got hurt.” Amorette blew out a breath. Vague answers wouldn’t get her anywhere with Hunter. She opened her mouth to explain.
The door flew open.
The guards sprang to position between Amorette and the door.
Eadric brushed them both aside and gathered Amorette close to his chest. He didn’t utter a word, but Amorette already knew he assessed the situation and made note of everyone in the room.
“Eadric, I’m sorry. I—”
Eadric cupped his fingers against her jaw and bent his head to kiss her. As always, his actions spoke louder than his words.
Amorette leaned into the embrace, accepting the fact that Eadric had been worried. Both of them ran high on adrenaline at a time like this.
She never imagined her first kiss like this, but somehow Amorette couldn’t think of a more fitting scenario. True feelings often shone through when lives were placed at stake.
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