Wounded Wings

by Ariana Hawkes

  “Axel, this is Eurus. He’s my bodyguard,” Eden explained.

  “How you doin’?” Axel winked at Eurus from behind his round, tortoiseshell glasses, while Eurus returned the greeting by making an almost imperceptible gesture with his eyebrow.

  “What do you need a bodyguard for, Eds?” Axel asked.

  “There’s been a threat against Dad,” Eden replied.

  “Old man still keeps on getting himself in trouble, huh? Like I’ve always said, too much work has never done anyone any good.”

  “It’s done you some good that your parents have made some money through their hard work,” Eden said.

  “Eh,” he grunted in response.

  Eden found Axel less attractive and way more irritating than the last time she’d seen him, despite the fact that, objectively, he looked healthier and neater, and he acted as he always did.

  “How’s your graffiti work going?” she asked.

  “It’s the bomb, Eds. It’s happening big time. We’re on the verge of getting some real traction,” Axel explained. Eden thought he was always on the verge of “getting some real traction,” while continuing to live off his parents’ money. “We’ve got a new manager now, and she’s doing some freaking good work for us. We’re so close to getting an interview with the local newspaper.”

  His last words got lost in the sound of bellowing voices that had suddenly risen up on the opposite side of the street. Eden turned her head and saw a small group of people in the midst of some sort of a commotion.

  Eurus shuffled to her left and stepped forward, craning his neck, trying to get a better picture of the scene. “I think it’s a child,” he said. “That woman over there is saying something about her son.” He pointed to a dark-haired lady in her early thirties who was frantically going from one pedestrian to another, asking them questions.

  “You’ve got a pretty good hearing, dude,” Axel muttered.

  Someone was telling the woman, in a rather aggressive tone, to calm down, when she suddenly looked up and shouted something into the air. Eden followed her glance and saw a child sitting on the verge of a balcony, three floors above them.

  Eden grabbed Eurus’s arm and pointed to the kid. “That must be her son,” she said, her heart beating fast.

  Eurus followed her hand, and his eyes filled with horror.

  “You can go,” Eden said. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry. You can leave me for a few minutes. Go save the child.”

  “I’ll take care of her, man.” Axel puffed up his chest and patted Eurus on the back.

  Eurus looked at Eden, his eyes full of guilt and hesitation.

  “It’s fine,” she reassured him.

  “Go into that café and wait for me there,” Eurus said, pointing to a place a few doors down from them. He turned to Axel. “You go with her and you don’t lift your eyes off her for a second. Do you understand? Not for a second!” He stared at him, expectantly.

  “No probs, bro. I’ll take good care of her. I always have,” Axel said and led Eden toward the café.

  They walked into the small shop and joined the queue of people waiting to be served.

  “That dude’s quite uptight,” Axel offered, nodding toward the street where Eurus was. “He should just smile every now and then.”

  “Maybe being in charge of other people’s security is quite stressful.” Eden raised an eyebrow.

  “I’ve gotta pop into the toilet, Eds.” Axel cocked his head in the direction of the bathrooms. “I’ll be real quick, don’t worry. And you’ve got all these people around you, so I’m sure you’ll be in safe hands,” he said and left before Eden could respond.

  Gah! She was so annoyed with him. Everything was such joke to him. Eurus had just asked him, in a very serious manner, to not let her out of his eyesight for even a moment, and only a minute later, he’d ignored all of that, broken his promise to Eurus, and fucked off to the bathroom.

  She was safe in the middle of the café, surrounded by so many people, but that wasn’t the point. Didn’t Axel give a damn about her safety? Didn’t he think that, against all odds, something might happen? She used to love his happy-go-lucky attitude to life, but he really needed to learn to take some situations seriously.

  She exhaled and pulled her phone out of her bag, irritated at the customer behind her who was standing way too close. She was reading a new message from Martine when the guy behind stepped closer. She opened her mouth to tell him to give her some space when she felt a hand on her right shoulder.

  Leaning over, the man behind her whispered into her right ear, “If you try to scream or run, I’ll shoot you. There’s a gun under this coat.” He tilted his head to indicate the coat that hung casually over his right arm, concealing his hand. He was standing behind Eden and she couldn’t see his face, just wavy dark hair falling way too close to her own face. She froze, her body weak and shaky, her throat convulsing.

  “I want you to do exactly as I say,” the man continued. “You’re going to turn around to your right and slowly walk out of the shop without making eye contact with anyone. I’ll be right beside you, and I’ll see if you try to pull any tricks. Do you understand?”

  Eden nodded her head a few times.

  “Say it,” he hissed.

  She opened her lips to speak, but no words came out. Her mouth was dry and the throb in her throat was worsening. “I—I understand,” she finally said, her voice scratchy and quiet.

  She made her way to the door as instructed, wondering what was taking Axel so long in the bathroom. If the moron hadn’t left her, this wouldn’t be happening. The man walked on her left, his right arm with the gun between them. She opened the door, and he stepped back, letting her go out first. She had to do something, but she needed to find the right moment first. She stepped onto the street, which felt silent and empty, the noise and bustle all lost in her ringing ears and blurred vision.

  She was waiting for the man’s next instructions, time having slowed so much it felt like he was moving at half-speed, when something collided with the right-hand side of her body, pushing her off balance. She stumbled and turned just in time to see Notus’s fist smash into the face of her kidnapper. The man wobbled backward and the jacket slipped from his arm, exposing the gun. Notus grabbed his arm and twisted it viciously behind his back, making him scream in pain and drop the weapon.

  Then he forced the man’s head down with his left hand while raising his right knee up and smashing it into his face. There was an almighty crunch and the man cried out again. Notus elbowed him behind the neck, bringing him down onto all fours, and kicked him in the stomach, hard. He grabbed the gun that was lying on the ground and stormed toward Eden.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, putting his hands on her upper arms. His eyes, wide with concern, were fixed on hers, as if he was searching for the answer there, and he suddenly looked soft.

  “Notus—”

  “Did he hurt you?” he insisted.

  Eden felt lightheaded and confused, her body shaking all over. Everything has happened so quickly. What was Notus doing here? Wasn’t he working on a different case? How had he appeared here so suddenly and right on time?

  “I’m fine,” she said quietly. Their side of the street had been deserted by the fight, but a bunch of people were staring at them from the opposite side of the street. “He—” Eden pointed to her abductor, who was scrabbling to get to his feet. Notus followed her eyes but just then Eurus emerged from the crowd, running in their direction.

  “I’ll take care of him,” he said and cuffed the man, who had collapsed to the ground again.

  “I’m not sure he’ll be of any help, but see what you can get out of him,” Notus said.

  Just then, Axel walked out of the café with a coffee in his hand and the expression of a person who didn’t have a single worry in the world on his face. He cocked a casual smile at Eden. “Where did you disappear, Eds? I thought you wanted a coffee,” he said.

  Notus’s head snapped in Axel�
�s direction.

  “You must be the asshole who was supposed to look after her,” he snarled, taking a big step toward Axel and towering over him.

  “Eds, who the hell is this?” Axel craned his neck and looked around Notus’s shoulder at Eden, his eyes wide. “And why is he baring his teeth at me? Chill out, man.” He waved a hand dismissively at Notus. “You’re even more uptight than him.” He threw Eurus a glance.

  Notus grabbed Axel by the neck of his shirt, lifted him up, and slammed him against the wall of the café. Axel’s coffee cup dropped to the ground and the coffee sloshed around Notus’s boots.

  “She almost got abducted because of you, you useless dumbass,” Notus hissed in Axel’s face. “What the hell were you doing leaving her alone when Eurus told you not to let her out of your sight? You’re lucky I got here on time and nothing happened to her.” He let go of Axel’s shirt and her ex collapsed to the ground, landing on his knees.

  Eden stifled a laugh.

  “Get out of here before I shove your pretentious hipster glasses down your throat.” Notus waved a hand, dismissively.

  Axel stood up and dusted himself off, sulking and blinking at Eden expectantly, as if it were her job to protect him from not protecting her.

  “So much hatred in this world. So much war,” he mumbled as he shuffled away.

  Notus turned to Eden, his voice soft. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

  She nodded. “I am, thanks.” She felt more composed now. She looked at Eurus, who had hauled her assailant off the ground and was holding him in a headlock, to keep him upright.

  “Is everything alright with the child?” Eden asked.

  “I managed to get to it just in time. Still not sure what happened, though. The mother was saying he disappeared when she was buying some tea down the street. She had let go of his hand for a moment to get to her purse, and next thing she knew he was gone.” Eurus raised his shoulders. “And we have no idea how he got from there to the balcony, which about twenty shops down the street, all by himself. It may have been staged to distract me. I’m really sorry.” He lowered his gaze.

  “You did the right thing,” Eden said. “I had more chance than the kid to survive.”

  “We’re lucky Notus saw it coming,” Eurus said, shaking his head.

  Eden raised an eyebrow.

  “He’ll explain. I need to go and take care of that now.” Eurus shook the dark-haired man. “You’re back in Notus’s hands now.”

  Notus raised his eyebrows at her, meaningfully, a little smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

  “Oh,” Eden mumbled. “It was nice to meet you, Eurus.” She stepped toward him and stroked his free arm. “Thank you for everything.”

  “You too, Eden. Take care of yourself.” He patted her gently on the shoulder and walked away.

  “You too seem to have enjoyed each other’s company,” Notus said as they walked toward Notus’s bike.

  “Oh, are you jealous now?” Eden asked.

  “Me?” Notus puffed his chest out. “No, of course not. There’s nothing to be jealous of.”

  “Well, good. Because yes, I did enjoy Eurus’s company,” Eden said.

  A small puff of smoke escaped Notus’s nostrils.

  Eden stared at him. “What was that?”

  “A sneeze,” he said and put his helmet on, muttering under his breath.

  “So you foresaw my kidnapping?” Eden asked, taking a big bite of her capricciosa. The adrenaline rush had replenished her energy and all she could think about by the time they got back to her apartment was eating a massive pizza. They’d ordered two extra large ones from her favorite take-out place and it tasted better than ever.

  “Yes. I was trying to get through to the Oracle about something else, when she warned me about this situation—you, Eurus and the child, the café, the kidnapper. I knew when I had to get there,” Notus explained. He was talking about it so casually, as if he was saying how the grass was green and the sky was blue.

  “Wow, it’s incredible that you have such skills,” Eden said. “You can keep everyone safe all the time.”

  Notus chuckled. “It doesn’t work like that. It’s not like I have a direct line with fate or anything. Bad things happen all the time without my foreknowledge. Sometimes the Oracle speaks to me and gives me guidance. Sometimes I can approach her too, but she doesn’t always talk to me when I try. But nice try to get rid of your security detail.”

  “I wasn’t trying to get rid of you! I’m actually glad you’re back,” Eden exclaimed.

  Notus cocked an eyebrow at her. “Really?”

  Heat flooded Eden’s chest. She shouldn’t have been so direct. Notus was just doing his job. He must think she was pathetic.

  “I wanted to say thank you for the necklace.” She tried to change the topic. “It’s stunning. I love it!”

  His face lit up. “I’m very glad you liked it!”

  “How did you find it?” she asked.

  He squirmed on the sofa, tucking his hands in his pockets, before drawing a long breath. He didn’t seem to have heard her question. He’d been restless and somewhat distracted since they’d come back.

  “Eden—” he said, after a moment, his eyes full of concern. “I have to tell you something.” He pulled his hands out of his pockets and turned toward her. “Your father has been kidnapped.”

  “What?” Eden gasped. Her hand flew to her mouth, tears instantly welling up.

  Notus inched closer to her and laid his hand on her knee. “We know that he’s okay, and we know where he is.”

  “How did they get to him? When?” Eden said in a choked voice, uncomprehending. “I thought he had a bodyguard.”

  Notus sighed. “On the night of your birthday, after we’d gone to bed, Xephyr got in touch with me and told me that your father had been kidnapped that evening. He’d had to go to his office to destroy all of his work on the project, complying with new instructions he’d received earlier that day. Zane, his bodyguard, couldn’t accompany him all the way because he hadn’t had the necessary security clearance, so he’d waited at reception. It wasn’t a security concern because of the high security in the building, and your father had assured Zane that he didn’t need more than ten minutes.

  “But when fifteen minutes had passed and your father still hadn’t returned, Zane had asked the reception staff to look for him. They called his office and when there was no answer, they sent a security guard. The place had been ransacked, and there was no trace of your father. They called the police, but we, as private investigators, haven’t been given any permission to search the building, or be part of the investigation.” He stroked Eden’s hand gently with his fingers, his touch and calm voice subduing the fire of anxiety burning in her stomach.

  “That’s why I had to leave—to contact the Oracle and find out what’s happened and how we can find your father. The people who kidnapped your father want him to work for them. They’re Russian. They aren’t planning on harming him, but they aren’t planning on releasing him any time soon either. One of his employees had been working for them as a spy all along but we don’t know who. And that’s why your father has been kidnapped from his office. That’s all we have so far; all I could get from the Oracle. She’s not always very communicative. But it’s a big, big advantage that we know where he’s being held, so we’re keeping the location under very tight surveillance to get a fuller picture and assess the risks before we rescue your father.”

  “Are you sure he’ll be okay?” Eden asked. She wished they could save him immediately. “What if the Oracle was wrong?”

  “She’s never been wrong. And I’ll be contacting her very frequently to try to get as much from her as possible. It won’t be long.” He nodded, squeezing her hand. “Two or three days at most, we hope.”

  Eden let out a deep breath and picked at her nails. Her father had said that there wasn’t anyone better than Dragn Protection, and he was always very thorough when it came to security, or anyt
hing else for that matter. And the way Notus had saved her today only proved how good they really were. She should just trust them and try to remain as calm as possible. Panicking wasn’t going to help.

  She looked at Notus. “I hope so, too,” she said, forcing herself to smile.

  Chapter 8

  Notus

  “You have been quiet today,” Notus said to Eden next morning. He leaned against the window pane of her house, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his back, and observed her as she fiddled with the washing machine in the kitchen.

  They’d had pancakes for breakfast, which he’d prepared—he wasn’t sure how successfully—following the instructions of a cookbook he’d found in Eden’s apartment. He’d woken up feeling bad for her and he’d wanted to do something to help her start the day on a good note. He’d heard that American humans loved pancakes, so he’d hoped that’d be a good choice. Eden had thanked him and said they were very tasty, but she’d eaten distractedly, and she hadn’t said more than fifty words all morning.

  “I’m sorry,” Eden said. “I guess I’m just worried; with a lot of ideas going around my head.”

  She left the room and came back a moment later with a basket full of laundry that she loaded into the washing machine.

  He watched her idly, wishing he could do something to ease her worries, but he wasn’t sure what.

  “Is there something you’d like to do?” He raised an eyebrow.

  “No. Not really.” Her words weren’t cold but they weren’t particularly friendly either, and he had the sense there was something else on her mind, besides her worry for her father. Maybe she was mad at him for not being able to save Todd immediately.

  Should he ask her if she’d prefer to have Eurus back instead? A pang of jealousy gripped his heart, and his dragon rose beneath his skin, its scales scratching in protest, in perfect keeping with its recent deranged behavior.

  The damn animal had given him no peace yesterday. A volcano of jealousy had erupted within him at Eden’s admission that she’d really enjoyed Eurus’s company, and he’d been all black clouds and lightning for a good while, his mind burning with torturous thoughts. What had Eurus been up anyway? He was supposed to protect Eden, not act like a clown or a BFF or whatever he’d done for her to have enjoyed his company so much and be so charmed by him. All day, Notus’s fingertips had tingled with his desire to rip into him.