by Kenya Wright
Outside of the store, people shouted and screamed. More people were shooting. Tires screeched. That had to be the bikers.
It’s almost done. We’re almost free.
On the inside of the store, Kazimir crept forward with his gun out. He was ready for blood. I could see it all over the Lion’s face.
As he passed, I crouched behind a rack of thongs.
Here, kitty kitty.
Two feet close to me, I charged for his back, wrapped my arm around his neck, and slung him down, taking us to the floor. My body slammed against the hard ground.
Kazimir roared, “There you go.”
“Fuck you!”
We wrestled on the ground. Our shirts and jackets ripping. Punching and head-butting. Knee thrusting and upper cutting. Ax kicking and violent elbows to the midsection.
There would be no calm. No rules. No dignity. I tried to tear his fucking face off. I had to get the gun out of his hand. Once that happened, we would be fair.
Kazimir lost his grip on the gun. It slipped and stopped three feet away.
The Lion and I both struggled to go for it at once. Snatching and grabbing. Punching and slamming. Biting and kneeing. And then somehow, we untangled. He rolled to the right into a robe display. I fell back into a shelf. It crashed to the floor.
We both caught our breaths for one second and then charged for the gun, slamming into each other.
Displays of perfumed lotion fell on top of us. Blue cream covered him. White powder decorated me.
Just when I was about to go for the gun again, the bikers showed up, shooting Kazimir’s way. He leapt forward, still grabbed the gun, and ran away.
Goddamn it.
I caught my breath, for the first time in hours, and fell to my knees. Every part of me hurt and throbbed. I wiped some of the white powder off my face.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” Rafael roared from the other side of the store. Blood dripped from his nose. “It’s about time the bikers came!”
I murmured. “Fi-na-fucking-ly.”
Tons of bikers zoomed through the store. I counted ten zipping by with guns, disrupting the space and scaring away more Russians and shoppers. The bikers rushed the Lion out the store and down in the other direction.
“You goddamn right, motherfucker!” Rafael got to my side and beat his chest. “This is our city!”
I ran my fingers through my hair. Every part of my body no longer hurt, it exploded in more pain. Kazimir had given me the fight of my life. I’d be on bed rest for several weeks.
But Eden would be with me too.
For the first time in days, I smiled and walked off. “Let’s go.”
Giorgio’s van sat in front surrounded by more bikers.
I limped out of the store. Wiping away blood, Rafael stumbled after me.
What now?
My phone rang. I rubbed away more powder and grabbed the phone.
Rafael walked on.
I put the phone to my ear and watched the bikers chase Kazimir further down. “Yes?”
The Mouse’s voice roared over the phone. “Call the bikers back!”
“Where are you, friend?”
“Close enough to shoot your fucking head off.”
“Prove it.”
A shot rang out by my foot but didn’t hit me.
I jumped.
Well, you’re a good shot too.
Louis hurried out of the passenger side. “Where the hell did that come from?”
“Do it, Jean-Pierre,” the Mouse urged on the phone. “Tell them to leave him alone.”
I yelled. “Call the bikers off the Lion!”
With an odd look, Louis gestured to Giorgio.
In the van, Giorgio honked the horn.
The bikers swerved and turned around.
People still ran, but not many. Fires had been started in some places. Some shoppers had shifted from running to looting. Cops sirens blared, while mall security cowered with others.
“The bikers are off your lion.” I scanned the space for her and spoke into the phone. “Are we good, Mouse?”
Her voice held edge. “Only he can call me that.”
The bikers zoomed back.
Louis shook his head. “Why didn’t you let them kill him.”
Kazimir limped away and turned the corner.
“Not today. Let the Lion live.” I turned back to the phone. “Are we good for now, Emily?”
“Are you going to let us leave France safely?” she asked.
“That’s an important question. Kazimir has men on the way in planes. I plan to shoot them down. Perhaps, you can convince him to turn them around and keep you both out of France.”
She sighed. “Jean-Pierre, I don’t want a war. I can do my best to—”
“Do your best. If he comes for me, I’ll come for him. For now, get the fuck out of France.”
She let out a long breath. “What happens next?”
“Meaning?”
“Don’t come for Kazimir.”
“This is interesting.” I looked around the area some more. “I know you have a gun pointed to my head, even though I can’t see you. There’s a heaviness to your voice.”
“Hurry, Jean-Pierre. I’m starting to rethink not killing you.”
“Thanks for not taking me out. You definitely have the shot. I’m glad you’re not going to take it.” I stared off into the spot where I thought she might be. A small black woman stood near a kiosk, but running people kept blurring my view. “It looks like we’ve become friends after all.”
“Don’t come for Kazimir.”
“Friends don’t kill friends.” I smiled. “Make sure your lion knows that. You get safe passage out of France, and I promise to not bother the Bratva again, unless its warranted.”
I had my queen. There was no reason for war, if I could avoid it. And now another piece had come into this complicated puzzle.
Emily was the Mouse, and she made Kazimir crazy. If necessary, she could be used in the future. It was best to develop some form of a connection. Especially when she’d could’ve killed me and didn’t.
Her words came out shaky. “I can’t make Kazimir do anything—”
“You can and you will.” I got to the van door and opened it.
Inside, my lovely queen spotted me, hurried, and wrapped her arms around me.
And I crumbled on the inside, as I held her with my free and aching arm. I’d almost forgot that the Mouse was on the phone when she spoke, “I can’t promise—”
“You can. I’ll give you time.” I inhaled Eden—my heart, my love, my destiny and then whispered into the phone, “Tame the Lion.”
I hung up, unable to focus on anything else, but Eden. I climbed into the van with her. We sat on a bench. I damn near encased her, trapping her to me. There would never be another moment where we would be separated.
Louis and Rafael jumped in behind me.
The chef looked relieved to see them.
The door closed.
The van moved.
And I closed my eyes, holding Eden and whispering in her ear, everything I’d been waiting to say since she’d been stolen from me.
Louis spoke within the darkness. “My men have an eye on the Mouse.”
I kept my eyes closed, as I held Eden. “Where is she?”
“Scurrying in the direction that Kazimir fled.”
The van bounced.
The driver honked.
“They’ve got a head shot,” Louis said. “Should they take it?”
Eden whispered, “Please, don’t.”
I nodded.
Louis spoke the order, “Let the Mouse go.”
I tightened my grip on Eden. “How are you, my love?”
“I’m fine.” She shivered against me. “Now that I’m with you. Everything is okay.”
“When we get to Nice, I’ll have someone look at your face. How deep is the cut?”
She shook her head, not wanting to talk about it.
I ran my fingers
through her soft curls. “It’s okay. He won’t touch you anymore. No one will.”
Kazimir had mentioned the Devil, as a bargaining chip. I’d take the Lion up on anything he had to offer, just to play a song on the Devil’s face.
Your day will come, Devil!
This time I would kill him. This time I would take my time. This time he would scream, and cry for his death for the same amount of days Eden had been taken from me.
Soon, Devil. Very, very soon.
“You’re going to Nice?” Rafael asked.
I opened my eyes. “We all should.”
“I’m not leaving, until I bury Shalimar.”
“We stay together. If you want to bury Shalimar here, then we will.” I shrugged. “We can go to Nice afterwards.”
Eden moved from my hold and turned to Rafael. “I’m so sorry, Rafael. I’m so sorry, about Shalimar.”
Rafael whispered, “It’s not your fault.”
“It is.” Eden left our bench and went to his, sitting on his side. Everyone turned her way. Already my hands itched to touch her.
“I…” She swallowed. “I led them to Shalimar.”
Rafael responded in a dark chuckle. “Shalimar led them to her. Had she told us everything from the beginning, none of us would be in this van now. . .and she would’ve been alive.”
“Still. . .” Eden hugged him. “I’m so sorry, Rafael.”
“I’m fine.” He didn’t raise his arms to hug her back.
She held him longer.
And then he broke down. Not a loud cry or a shriek. Not a groan or sound. But tears fell from his eyes. And tears never left him.
Everything had finally hit us.
Rafael hugged Eden back.
Louis closed his eyes.
Gwen let out a long breath, as if she’d been holding it for hours. And I watched my beautiful queen, console the other important person in my life.
It was worth it. Every bullet. Every dead Russian. Every play. Every swerve. Every fight. It was worth it to see her again. Anything for her. Anytime. Any day.
Chapter 25
The Feel of Love
Eden
Are we really safe? Is everything over?
We separated from everyone. Rafael had to take Gwen to her apartment. Louis rushed off to the airport, to make sure the Russians left. Jean-Pierre and I left the limo and went to his car.
Jean-Pierre drove out of Paris. Two black vans filled with guards led the way. Three more black vans followed behind us.
Thank you, God. Thank you, for bringing me back to him.
At first, our conversation was rushed statements of how much we’d missed each other. Next, we discussed the pain of being away from each other. And then he asked the hard questions, the ones I didn’t want to answer. He asked about the Devil.
I told him everything—the couch compartments, the slapping, the cutting, the torture of Shalimar. I confessed it all, doing my best to not cry.
Still driving, Jean-Pierre moved his right hand and held mine. “Don’t worry about anyone coming for you. I have more men and—”
“I know I’m safe with you.” I tightened my grip, scared that we would get separated from each other again. “I’m always safe, when I’m by your side.”
He slipped his thumb along my wrist. “I’ll never leave you alone again.”
“You can’t promise that.” I leaned over and rested my head on his shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself for what happened.”
“I do.”
“Don’t.”
“Then who?”
My heart ached. “Blame Aunt Celina. She stole codes from her boyfriend, that died. Ones that controlled nuclear weapons.”
“Kazimir’s babies? That’s what all of this was about?” He gripped the steering wheel hard. “And she thought that she could just mail them to your house in Belladonna and no one would get them? Even if my men had been there and hers, they would’ve been killed.”
I swallowed. “Now she knows. Leo is dead, along with Shalimar, her mother and her sister…so many people are dead because of…codes.”
Silence filled the car for a few seconds.
And then Jean-Pierre ended the quiet. “People will go after Celina, now.”
“I know.”
“They will also come for us.”
“Due to the Lion’s lover being kidnapped?”
“Yes.” Jean-Pierre cleared his throat. “I may have. . .kidnapped her, thinking Kazimir had taken you.”
“I heard.” It was hard not to keep a smile off my face.
“You think that’s funny?” He quirked his eyebrows, speeding up fast and guiding us with precision into another lane. The vans struggled to keep up. He frowned, slowed down, and then turned back to me. “Why are you grinning?”
“I… I guess I’m just trying to find the funny parts to this.”
“That’s a good way to not drown in the darkness. Were there any other funny parts?”
“Besides talking to a unicorn… no.”
“Unicorn?”
“I was drugged.”
His soft expression hardened, as he turned back to the road. “Who did it?”
“He’s dead now.”
“He’s lucky. Who killed him?”
“I don’t remember anymore. Maybe the Devil. He kept killing his own men.”
“He always did. It increases the pot, when the job is done.”
I blinked as a cold shiver ran through me. “So many people killed others.”
He gritted his teeth.
“But there was a unicorn that would come and talk to me. I would pet him. At first, I was mad that he was talking to me, but. . .this is stupid.”
“No. Things are making sense.”
“What?” I asked.
“You were petting something in the van.”
I cringed. “When? Never mind. It doesn’t matter. Damn it. When are the drugs going to wear off?”
Is this all an illusion?
I looked around. “I’m in the car now?”
“Yes. You’re here with me.”
I let out a long breath.
He slid his thumb along my palm. “We’ll find out what they gave you. We’ll make sure everything is okay. I’m here. Don’t worry.”
I’m still petting Uni. I don’t remember. Maybe it’s a habit now. I pet the air. That’s not normal. I have to pay attention.
“Eden. . .” Jean-Pierre lowered his voice. “You went through a lot. Let me take care of you.”
“Okay.” I squeezed his hand back. “You’re injured too. Let’s take care of each other.”
“We will.”
There was more to say, but I couldn’t find the words. Lots of fear lingered in my heart. Everything had finished, but still my body trembled. The Devil. Kazimir. The Russians were all gone, but still I felt them in the car, crowding the space.
I noticed myself petting the air and stopped.
Uni wasn’t there.
It’s just a nervous habit then. . .maybe.
“What’s wrong, reine?”
“I’m. . .” My words left me. I touched the large bandage on my face with my free hand. The hand that was clearly swollen. I couldn’t bend my fingers. My index and middle were twice the size of the ones on my other hand. They looked back at me, fat, and with a reddish tint. I went back to touching the bandage, knowing the ugly scars that lay underneath it.
Will they heal back to new? No. How could they? But would they be less of scars?
When Kazimir’s doctor finished stitching the lines and showed me a mirror, I’d cried. The scars started near the top of my right ear, sliced down my face and cheeks, and stopped at the corner of my mouth. Four jagged lines across my right cheek.
Every time I would look in the mirror, I’d remember the Devil.
Would Jean-Pierre see the devil too when he looked at me?
I moved my hand away from the bandage, rested it on my lap, and studied my fingers.
Will I play
again? No. Don’t even say it. You will. Your fingers are just… bruised… swollen…
Pressure swelled in my chest. I looked out the window. The gray clouds seemed closer to the Earth than usual. Like everything had sank down on my shoulders.
I thought back to what the Lion had said in the theater.
Kazimir watched the screen. “You’re scared?”
I shivered. “I am.”
“I won’t hurt you, even if Jean-Pierre has given me every reason.”
“He won’t hurt your lover either.”
“She’s more than my lover.” For the first time he turned to me. “She’s more than me.”
I nodded.
“Because of my mouse, I understand Jean-Pierre’s moves, more than I ever did before. He’s lucky he did this, at this specific time.” Kazimir threaded his fingers and turned back to the screen. “I’m calmer now. I know what’s at stake. I know that this next moment, could either end the world, or continue it.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant by ending the world. Would he literally end it, if Emily was not returned to him? Or, was it all a metaphor?
Uni looked at me and shook his head, scared to speak.
Kazimir spoke again, “After this is over, do you want me to kill the Devil?”
I gripped the end of the chair.
Kazimir raised his eyebrows. “You want to kill him yourself?”
“I do, but I probably couldn’t.”
“You could.” Kazimir checked his watch. “But that is a discussion for another day. The Devil will have his moment to die. For now, we wait.”
I blinked the memory out of my mind. I’d told Jean-Pierre that part in the van, in front of Louis and Rafael. Neither of the men appeared pleased, especially Jean-Pierre.
Now in the car, Jean-Pierre’s soothing voice filled the air. “Eden, what were you saying?”
“That I’m. . .”
I’m probably not going to play again. Or sleep again. Or eat again. Or not be scared again. I’m. . . not me.
Jean-Pierre slowed the car down. “What’s wrong, reine? Tell me. Anything.”
I’m not going to be the same, Jean-Pierre. I’m not the Eden, that you fell in love with. I’m someone else.
“Eden, what’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
For now, I’m fine. I can figure out my own shit. Jean-Pierre saved me from the Devil. I can at least save me, from myself.
