The Guardian

by Donna Grant

  “Which put the heat on you.”

  He shrugged. “It did. I’ve been expecting something like this for a while, though, so I wasn’t taken completely off guard.”

  “Where is the information you have?”

  “In a safe place.”

  She gave him a flat look. “Do you not trust me now?”

  “If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t have told you everything I already did. Part of this is to make sure that you have nothing to tell anyone if you’re captured.”

  “Oh.” Eden swallowed and licked her lips. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

  He saw the goon begin to twitch as he regained consciousness. “I’ll guide you. Now, grab your things. We need to go.”

  Without question, she got her backpack and slung it over a shoulder as she stood. Maks glanced behind them to make sure that no one was coming, then he stepped into the aisle and waited for the sliding door to open so they could go into the next car. Eden remained in step with him.

  “Act calmly,” he whispered over his shoulder.

  He heard a snort behind him, then she said, “That’s a tall order, but I’ll do my best.”

  That made him smile. He walked to the middle of the car and found two seats facing each other. He motioned her into the one facing forward, then he took the one looking back the way they’d come.

  The man next to her was in a heated conversation on his phone, which meant he wasn’t paying attention to them. Across the aisle were two lovers that were making out in such a heated fashion that Maks was surprised one of them wasn’t naked yet.

  “What now?” Eden whispered.

  Maks took a deep, steadying breath. “We make it to the station without being seen.”

  Her hazel eyes widened. “You’ve got to be kidding. There are only so many places we can go while it’s moving. Forward or backward.”

  “Backward is where two of the men are.”

  “Forward it is,” she said.

  He twisted his lips. “If we go too far, then we won’t leave ourselves room for escape. Besides, we don’t have first-class tickets. We’ve gone about as far as we can go.”

  She pulled out her phone and looked at the time. “We still have forty minutes.”

  “That’s right.”

  “How can you be so calm?” she asked, her voice rising as hysteria took hold.

  He met her gaze and held it. “I need you to breathe. All you have to do is trust me and do what I say. Everything will be all right.”

  “You’re asking a lot.”

  “I know, but if you want to live, you’ll do it.”

  She flattened her lips. “Of course, I will. I’ll give you shit about it, but I’ll do it.”

  Maks fought not to chuckle at her sarcasm. He liked that she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind or give him an earful despite the situation. She didn’t have to trust him, and he wasn’t sure she did, at least not completely. He’d given her a lot to digest in a short period of time. It wouldn’t be until she went through everything that he had that she’d truly understand the depth and scope of who the Saints where.

  Maybe then she’d trust him without reservation.

  He wasn’t offended that she kept a wall up. It was the smart thing to do, and Eden was sharp. If she had blindly trusted from the beginning, he’d have been wary and wondered if she was a Saint. There was still a chance that she was with the organization. He was putting everything he had on his instincts that said she could be trusted.

  But he was going to make sure that Callie had a link to what he planned to show Eden. That way, if he was betrayed, at least the Loughmans would have the intel he’d worked so hard for over the years.

  “Focus on your breathing,” he told her.

  Little by little, her hands unclenched in her lap as she started to calm. She closed her eyes as if meditating. He used that time to look around them, noting the emergency exits and how many people stood between them and each doorway. With every minute that passed, neither of the goons he’d knocked out came at them, and they got closer to Budapest.

  The outside was a blur as the bullet train sped down the railway. Maks looked at his watch. Thirty minutes had passed. They only had ten more before they reached the station. He was beginning to think they might actually make it when he saw movement through the doors to the car behind them.

  Maks leaned forward and tapped Eden’s knee. Her eyes snapped open. “Do you have a hat or a scarf?”

  “For my hair?” she asked.

  He nodded, his gaze going to the door again.

  She unzipped her pack and pulled out a scarf that she hastily draped over her hair just as the doors opened and the two goons walked in, their gazes scanning faces.

  “Remain calm,” Maks said, keeping his head down and his focus on the men.

  One of Eden’s hands clenched the ends of the scarf together to keep it from falling off. The other hand gripped her backpack strap, ready to jump up at a moment’s notice. As the men approached, the man beside Eden began to yell in German into his phone. He jumped up and continued spewing profanities at the caller. The goons barely glanced at Maks and Eden as they tried to get as far from the loud man as possible. When they were gone, Eden smiled while the man next to her ended the phone conversation.

  Maks really hated to burst her bubble, but he had no choice. “They’ll come back through when they don’t find you.”

  “Oh,” she said, the smile disappearing.

  Then Maks had an idea. “Go to the toilet.”

  “What?” she asked in confusion.

  He looked over his shoulder, knowing the men would be back soon. “Go to the toilet. Stay there until I come and get you.”

  “Okay,” she said nervously. Then she rose and took her pack with her as she walked to the back of the car and the restroom there. It wasn’t long after the door closed behind her that the men returned. And just as Maks had suspected, they took their time looking at each individual.

  The goon that stopped next to him was the one he’d knocked unconscious first. He hadn’t seen Maks’ face. “Excuse me. Wasn’t there a woman sitting here?”

  Maks shrugged and answered with a German accent to his English. “I think she went to another car.”

  “Danka, thank you.”

  If things went his way, then the second goon wouldn’t stop.

  But luck wasn’t on his side because the second guy halted beside Maks and asked in German, “Were you with the woman that was sitting here?”

  Maks shook his head and looked out the window. He used the window like a mirror to see the goon studying him. The moment the man recognized who he was, Maks rose up and slammed his elbow into the man’s face. The sound of bone crunching was followed by a spray of blood from the man’s nose.

  At the sound of the scuffle, the first goon spun around. Maks shoved the Saint he was fighting backwards, right into his partner so that both went down. Maks landed on top of them, punching the first so his head slammed back into the second. All around him, people were screaming and trying to get away.

  The moment Maks felt the train slowing as they neared the station, he threw two more quick jabs into the men and jumped over them, rushing toward the toilet area. He reached it as the train came to a stop and said Eden’s name. She opened the door, and he took her hand and waited for the crowd to come around them before they disembarked.

  “Keep your head down,” he told her. “In five steps, we’re going to separate. Find a group of people and stick with them until you clear the north entrance. I’ll find you there. Don’t talk to anyone. Don’t stop for anything. Can you do that?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  He gave her a reassuring smile, and then they parted ways. He wanted to glance back at her to see how she was doing, but he didn’t. There were cameras everywhere, and he made sure to keep his cap low and his head down. When he was able, he took off his coat and tossed it onto a chair as he passed. That way, if anyone was looking for h
im by that, it would throw them off. Not for long, but enough that it would give him and Eden more time.

  12

  Nothing in her life could’ve prepared Eden for any of this. She knew that someone could point at her and shout her name at any moment as she walked through the station. Sweat covered her brow and ran down her back. Her legs wobbled uncontrollably, and her heart thumped wildly, threatening to burst from her chest at any second.

  She knew why Maks had separated them, but she didn’t like it. At least with him, he knew what to look for as far as their enemies went. To her, hell, everyone was a potential enemy. And that was probably the smartest thing she could put in her mind. She had a habit of trusting people too easily, of taking their word for stuff. She’d been burned so many times that she should’ve learned her lesson by now, but somehow, that wasn’t the case.

  Eden tried to swallow, but her mouth was dry. She kept her head down like Maks had told her to do and refused to look up. She was so terrified. The fight or flight thing was going into effect, and she was all about the flight.

  It was easy for her to stay with a group and appear as if she were one of them when the train station was so crowded. As they neared the exit, that became more difficult. She did her best, which had so far gotten her through most of the building. When she saw the exit signs ahead, relief loosened the tight hold that fear had on her.

  Then she spotted the police officers at the entrance, looking at everyone. Eden froze in place. In her head, she screamed at herself to keep moving like Maks had told her. But her legs simply refused to obey. Her fingers grew numb, and she loosened the hold she had on the scarf, remembering only then that she still had it on. A woman with a fedora walked in front of her, chatting on the phone with someone. Eden’s gaze followed her into the toilet.

  Even though Maks had told her not to stop, something had prodded her to change her appearance. Eden pivoted and made her way to the toilet area. Oddly, there weren’t many women inside. The woman with the fedora went into a stall and locked the door. Eden remained at the sink. She looked at herself in the mirror and removed the scarf. Next, she took off the backpack and unzipped it to take out her thickest sweater.

  Eden shimmied her shoulder to remove the jacket and fold it up to put into the pack, leaving her in a thin, long-sleeved tee. She put the sweater over the tee and straightened to run her fingers through her hair. Her gaze slid to the scarf sitting by the sink. She quickly folded it and put it away, but she still needed something to cover her head.

  It wasn’t as if she could stop in a shop and buy something. And she’d never stolen anything in her life, so that wasn’t an option.

  Your life is at stake. Do what needs to be done.

  At that moment, the woman walked out of the stall. Eden kept her gaze lowered as she put her hands beneath the faucet to run water over them as if rinsing them from washing. The woman stopped two sinks away and removed the fedora to comb her short hair. Eden knew now was the time. They were the only two in the restroom. She could just take it, wrestling it from the woman if need be.

  That would be stupid. Yeah, let’s cause a ruckus so the authorities are called.

  Okay. So she had to think of something else. But her mind was blank. Then she thought about Maks. What would he do?

  And then it came to her.

  Eden dried her hands and put her pack over her shoulder. She opened her mouth, but the words came out as a squeak. Clearing her throat, she tried again. “Excuse me. Is that yours?” Eden asked and pointed to the side.

  The moment the woman turned, Eden grabbed the hat. The woman kept walking towards the place Eden had pointed, which gave her the time she needed to leave the toilet. She didn’t immediately put on the fedora in case the woman came running out to look for her. Though she did find another group to fall into step with.

  Eden maneuvered herself into the middle of the crowd to hide herself even more. As they approached the exits, she placed the hat on her head and smiled at one of the men next to her. He returned her smile and asked in German how she was. She used the opportunity to reply to him as they walked through the doors and out of the station so that it appeared as if they were together.

  When no one tried to stop her or call her name, she kept going, wanting to be as far from the station as she could. The air hit her face, cooling her. She made herself stop and take a couple of calming breaths. Then she turned around and looked at the train station. It wasn’t her first time in Budapest, and she had spent time exploring the architecture of the station before, but now she looked at it differently.

  She looked at everything differently.

  Seconds felt like an eternity. She scanned faces, looking for Maks. The longer she went without seeing him, the more worried she became that he had arrived while she had been otherwise occupied in the toilets. Maybe he’d left.

  He wouldn’t leave you.

  Eden snorted. Why wouldn’t he? She was doing nothing but weighing him down. If he knew a hacker, then they could look through the intel he had. He didn’t need her for anything. She couldn’t protect herself. She didn’t know the first thing about going undetected through a city, and she certainly didn’t know enough about the Saints to know what to look for.

  “For fuck’s sake,” she said and closed her eyes in frustration.

  “What’s wrong?”

  The sound of Maks’ voice next to her had her eyes flying open. She threw her arms around him, holding him tight. “I thought you’d left me.”

  “I wouldn’t do that,” he said, his arms coming around her.

  That’s when she realized what she’d done. Eden loosened her hold and stepped back. “Sorry. I sometimes let my imagination get away from me. Actually,” she grimaced, “it’s not sometimes, it’s all the time.”

  One side of Maks’ mouth lifted in a smoldering grin. “That could come in handy. It’ll keep you on your toes so you don’t trust anyone.”

  “Eh. I trust too easily. I mean, look at you. I took your word for everything.”

  His blue eyes were intense as they stared at her. “Actually, you asked questions and wanted proof. You’ve had no reason not to trust people before now. Some people believe everything.”

  “Like me,” she interjected.

  “And some believe nothing.”

  She raised a brow. “Like you?”

  He chuckled softly. “Like me. Ready to get out of here?”

  “Please.”

  They turned right and started walking. She felt his gaze rake over her, and she took the opportunity to do the same. She just now realized that he no longer wore his jacket.

  “I thought I told you not to stop,” he said.

  She shrugged and pointed at him. “You seem to have lost your coat.”

  “I got rid of it, but I didn’t stop.” He jerked his chin to the hat. “You seem to have picked up something yourself.”

  Eden raised her eyes to the fedora and shrugged. “I know what you said, but something told me to change my appearance.”

  “While I don’t disagree with what you did, next time, I need you to do exactly as I say. Because it might mean your life.”

  “I understand.”

  “Changing your appearance was smart.”

  She lengthened her strides to keep up with him. “I just took off my jacket and replaced it with a sweater. The hat, well, I stole that. It’s the first time I’ve ever stolen anything in my life.”

  He glanced at her. “How did it feel?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m alternating between knowing I had to do it and wanting to run back and give the woman some money.”

  Maks smiled and shook his head. “You have a good heart. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, you also have a strong will to survive, which means you’ll do what needs to be done to ensure that. It’s a good combination.”

  “If you say so.”

  “Well, you’re about to get another dose of knowledge because I’m going to steal a car.”

 
The toe of her shoe caught on the lip of the sidewalk, causing her to stumble. Maks had his hand on her arm immediately, steadying her. She flashed him a reassuring smile, but his frown said that it did anything but that. “I’m good.”

  They walked in silence, Maks taking them deeper and deeper into the city. The streets became narrower, and the people thinned out so that the tourists were left behind. Eden hadn’t seen this part of the city before. She tended to stay close to main attractions the first few times she visited a city, then slowly worked her way outward to take in as much as she could. Living in Vienna had made that possible. Otherwise, if she had made it to Europe, she wouldn’t have been able to spend nearly the amount of time in each city as she had.

  “Stay here,” Maks said before he suddenly walked between two parked cars.

  She watched as he made his way down the line of vehicles along the street until he found the one he wanted. Eden was shocked at how easily he got into the car. He motioned for her to join him as he got behind the wheel. She got inside and closed the door in time to see him twist two wires together as the engine roared to life. In the next second, he pulled out onto the road.

  “Whew,” she said and fastened her seat belt. “I wasn’t sure we’d make it.”

  Maks didn’t look at her as his gaze scanned the streets. “We’ve not made it out of anything yet.”

  “But we got out of the train station and are now in a car heading…I don’t know where. But there are no border checkpoints, so we’re good.”

  “Just because there are no checkpoints in place doesn’t mean they can’t spring them up for some special reason while looking for us.”

  Eden was deflated. “Oh.”

  “That doesn’t mean what we’ve done is diminished. You did good.”

  “What happens now?”

  He glanced at her. “Get some sleep if you can. We’ve got a bit of a drive.”

  Eden wasn’t sure she could sleep, but she would take the time to rest her eyes and meditate. At the rate things were going, she was going to need all the meditation she could get to keep from expiring from fear.