Wings of Blood

by Miranda Martin

  I nodded. “Okay. Do you have any idea where to begin?”

  He grimaced a little. “Not a concrete idea,” he admitted. “Though I think we can reasonably narrow down the search by prioritizing areas that aren’t as busy. More traffic means more of a chance of people seeing something amiss. If it was me, I’d probably stay away from the more affluent areas as well—the places police actually respond to calls in a reasonable amount of time.”

  “Makes sense. But that doesn’t narrow things down a great amount,” I observed.

  He nodded.

  “Sometimes you just have to put in the leg work,” he agreed. “We’ll start the search while we wait on my informants. I’d give that a few hours. In the mean time, we’ll check out the more questionable areas. They’re easier areas to stash someone and conduct not-so-legal activities, since they’re running mostly unchecked already.”

  I nodded. “Okay.” He was the expert, so I’d let him lead. For now.

  This wasn’t going to be easy, but at least I had something to do now.

  Hold on, Adara.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “What’s going on?” an authoritative voice asked, cutting through the noise.

  I finally let myself relax against the floor as Doctor Fearson rushed over to me, her footsteps quick and light. She looked calm and in control as she knelt down next to me.

  I answered the questions she threw at me as she checked me over, my mind on Siro. How much time would she need to get to a busier street? How long before she got out of this area?

  “Get her into the lab,” Fearson snapped to Kal as she stood up.

  He gave her a narrow-eyed look, obviously not liking the order or the tone. I didn’t know where the doctor figured into the hierarchy, but Kal at least didn’t appreciate it.

  Still, he complied, crouching down to pick me up in his arms with more efficiency than gentleness. No big surprise there.

  He carried me into the lab and set me down on the exam table that I’d seen before but hadn’t really spent time on yet. I didn’t particularly want to be there now, either, especially not after Fearson began to run a battery of tests.

  I wanted to just ignore her, but I needed to play this ruse as long as possible. The longer I kept them from figuring out the truth, the longer Siro had to escape.

  As she poked and prodded me, I pictured Siro getting farther and farther away with a deep sense of satisfaction. The longer this went on, the more certain I got that she was gone.

  I’d gotten her out.

  At this point, I trusted her to have run far enough away, to have disappeared into the crowd I’d observed in the more traveled sections of the city dome. It was out of my hands now. She had Sven’s contact information. I was confident that she was smart enough and resourceful enough to figure out a way to send him a message.

  It was almost a half an hour after I’d initially faked the siezure that I saw Pele leave the lab. Immediately, I knew where he was going. He was getting a tray ready for Siro.

  This was it. I was about to be found out. I braced myself, my heart rate increasing. This wasn’t going to go over well.

  It didn’t take long to figure out he’d realized something was wrong. I heard yelling and the sound of a door being opened.

  “What do you mean she’s not there!” I heard Eli roar. “You were supposed to be guarding them! That was your only job!”

  I heard Pele’s tight voice come out after a beat of silence. “Convenient that Adara just had a seizure, don’t you think?” he pointed out in a cool voice. “What a coincidence.”

  Pele did not take kindly to being yelled at. But Eli didn’t seem to care or maybe he just didn’t pick up on it. I was betting on the latter. If he wasn’t careful, someone might knock some sense into him.

  I wasn’t the only one who heard the conversation out there. They were holding it at a decibel level that ensured everyone here could listen in, including Fearson.

  She stopped what she was doing and simply stared at me. She looked bemused, like she didn’t know what to make of this new development.

  Before she could say anything, Eli burst into the room. He focused on me right away, glaring at me, his face red with anger.

  “You bitch,” Eli spit out in a low voice, walking closer. “Did you think you could make a fool out of me?” he demanded.

  “I think I already did,” I said.

  It just popped out. Stupid.

  He wasn’t the most physically fit person, but a punch from any grown man hurts, something I could attest to.

  I could have stopped it, could have blocked the blow or dodged it before it reached me, but that would likely have made the situation worse.

  Eli would respond to the perceived embarrassment well. I knew his kind. He’d get even angrier and feel like he’d have to make an even harsher point to save face. That meant I might end up getting hurt even worse.

  All of that went through my brain as he wound up for the punch and I stayed in position. Not an easy task when my body was screaming at me to move. I needed to just hold on now, hold on until Siro was able to get help, and not making waves now was my best bet in that case.

  I needed to get back to Sven, so I buried my anger, stuffed it way down deep where it wouldn’t show in my face as I raised my head up again, wiping the drop of warm blood that leaked from my mouth.

  My lip was split. A punch like that could have done a lot more damage if he knew what he was doing, so I was lucky.

  Eli was glaring at me, his hands in fists at his sides, his round face closely resembling a tomato at this point. A splotchy, angry one.

  He didn’t look away from me as he barked out orders to Pele and Kal. “Get everyone out looking for her right now! I want her found immediately. Do you understand?”

  There were murmurs of agreement as they left the room to get the orders to everyone.

  Eli looked over at Dr. Fearson, who had a neutral expression on her face. She did not seem particularly angry about the fact that I’d been faking it, though she didn’t look like her usual chipper self, either.

  To top it off, I’d seen the look of derision on her face when she looked at Eli before she smoothed out her expression.

  Interesting.

  Everyone here was risking a lot, but it didn’t seem like they loved Eli all that much.

  “Take the next batch,” he ordered, looking over at me again. “You’re going to regret this.” He leaned forward, lowering his voice as if that would intimidate me more. It just made his double chin more prominent. “I guarantee it.”

  With one last glare at me, he stepped out of the room, the cloud of his rage exiting with him.

  “That wasn’t the smartest thing you could have done,” Fearson remarked as she gathered everything she needed. “But that isn’t my problem.”

  It was much too soon to take more blood from me, but nobody was asking my opinion.

  I pressed my lips together in a thin line, looking straight ahead as she pricked me once again with that hated needle.

  Come on, Siro. I’m counting on you.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Sven

  “Park over on the right side.”

  I nodded, steering the car smoothly over to the curb and squeezing into one of the few spots available. Saying space was hard to find in the city dome was like saying the desert was dry.

  Once parked, I stepped out, looking around at one of the many sketchy streets that we’d already searched. Frustration was a constant companion as we continued from block to block.

  I couldn’t fault Jacob for the meticulousness with which he’d planned everything, the thoroughness of the search time-consuming but necessary.

  I had to force patience onto myself. Rushing might result in missing something important, and Jacob looked like he was just the man to have for something like this.

  It seemed as if he had a contact on almost every street, almost in every building.

  This one was no exception.
/>
  As we walked into the lobby of the rundown apartment building, I blinked to help my eyes adjust to the dim interior. Walking into these places with compromised vision was not fun, but we didn’t have to go in very far.

  A small, slim man appeared out of the thick shadows under the rickety stairs.

  “Deon,” Jacob acknowledged, not at all surprised.

  “I hear you’re looking for information,” the man greeted in a low, hoarse voice, his eyes glancing at me without interest before locking back onto Jacob.

  “I am,” Jacob agreed. “Do you have anything for me?”

  The man got a sly look in his eyes. “How much are you paying?” he asked, reaching into his pocket to pull out one of the cigarettes that were supposed to be outlawed.

  There were a lot of things that were supposed to be outlawed. Funny thing, that. People just went ahead and did what they wanted any way, most times.

  “The usual,” Jacob replied easily. “And if you give me any false information, you know I’ll find you,” he added without changing his tone.

  The warning was clear.

  It didn’t catch the man off guard. He nodded, licking his chapped lips. “Everyone knows not to give you bad info,” he reassured Jacob.

  I didn’t know how much reassurance someone like that could actually provide. He looked like he was on much harder stuff than cigarettes just those cigarettes. Stuff that had likely never been legal.

  “I’ve heard rumors of slick operation,” he admitted, taking another step closer and lowering his already low voice until I was straining to hear him from only feet away. I caught a whiff of unwashed human. “They’ve taken over one of the warehouses. Apparently, word is not to try anything. They have a watch on it twenty-four seven.”

  My heart skipped a beat. It could be nothing. But…

  Jacob and I looked at each other.

  “Do you know which warehouse? That’s a large chunk of area you’re telling us about,” Jacob said. “Not very helpful.”

  The man shrugged. “All I know is that it’s a warehouse. You’ll have to figure the rest out yourself,” he said shortly.

  Jacob nodded. “Fair enough. Do you have a timeline on when they took it over?”

  The man shrugged. His gaze unfocused a little as he looked at something over my shoulder. When I turned to look in that direction, I didn’t see anything that could have caught his eye. Whatever he was on, it must have been making them see things that weren’t there.

  This was not someone whom I would normally rely on for anything, but our pickings were slim. I was willing to take the chance. If this wasn’t it, we’d be no worse off than we were right now.

  “About a week ago,” he replied readily enough, his eyes focusing again. “Though apparently there’s been more activity going on recently.”

  “Where are you getting your information from?” Jacob asked. “Is the source reliable?”

  The man hesitated. “That’s extra,” he said, shifting his feet.

  “That’s fine. I’ll double the amount,” Jacob offered, his eyes sharp. “Who told you?”

  “Fine. Be you didn’t hear it from me,” he snapped. “I don’t want to be blacklisted.”

  “Understood.”

  He sighed, still figuratively dragging his feet. He didn’t want to give up his source.

  His need for money won out in the end. “Mitchell was hired to do their IDs,” he admitted. “They hired him for a couple other things too.”

  “Do you know who they are?”

  Deon shook his head. “Strangers. Nobody’s ever heard of them.”

  That was a good sign.

  Jacob nodded. Raising his watch, he tapped on the screen a few times.

  “I just transferred the amount we agreed on. If you have anything else to tell me, you know how to get in touch.”

  The man raised his scrawny arm, his blue sweater sliding back to show us the state of the art watch on his wrist. I wouldn’t have expected it from his worn and patched clothes. Perhaps those were another kind of camouflage. It wouldn’t be smart to be hanging around this area looking like you had money.

  “Pleasure doing business with you,” he said after he’d verified the deposit.

  Then he melted right back into the shadows he’d come out from. If I hadn’t seen him step back, I wouldn’t have known anyone was even there.

  Jacob jerked his head towards the door and turned to leave the building. I followed him out.

  “Where to now?” I asked. We hadn’t gotten a specific place.

  “To see Mitchell,” Jacob said grimly. “The warehouse district is huge. If we can get a more specific location or at least a quadrant to search in, it will be a lot more efficient. And I don’t particularly want to be there longer than necessary. Bad shit goes down there.” He shook his head. “Mitchell isn’t going to want to talk to me about this. I’ll have to persuade him. Hopefully money will do the job.”

  I nodded. If it didn’t, I wasn’t above scaring the man.

  I felt so close now that I could almost taste it. Nobody would get in my way.

  When we got back to the car, there were a couple of kids hanging around it, obviously not thinking angelic thoughts. Jacob gave the teenagers a look and they scuttled away immediately at the sight of us.

  Smart. I was guessing idiots didn’t last long here.

  “This isn’t the best place to leave a car,” he remarked.

  I nodded, sliding into the driver’s side. “At least it’s still intact,” I observed wryly.

  “Wouldn’t have been in another five minutes or so,” Jacob remarked.

  Good to know. Best to keep moving.

  Before I could start the engine, I heard the ding of an incoming message, and I tapped on my watch to check who it was.

  An unfamiliar name.

  “What is it?” Jacob asked.

  “A message from someone I don’t know,” I muttered, opening it.

  This is Siro.

  I was with Adara but she managed to help get me out of there. She is being held in a warehouse right now.

  We need help.

  I’m at a cafe named…

  I quickly read through the message, adrenaline spiking. Then I read the message out loud to Jacob.

  “Do you know where it is?” I asked, looking over at him.

  He nodded.

  I shot back a message to Siro letting her know we were in the dome and on our way.

  “Go straight ahead and then take a right,” Jacob told me as soon as I was done.

  I followed his directions to a much better part of town, resisting the urge to weave in and out of traffic. Being pulled over by the police could be a costly delay.I also didn’t relish having my ID scrutinized, though it should’ve held up.

  The cafe was on a busy street, the sidewalks heavy with foot traffic.

  Smart. She was using the crowd to hide. I was sure whoever she’d escaped from was out looking for her, but the chances of finding her in this were slim.

  Finding a parking spot was torture, but we eventually found one a couple blocks away. We practically ran down the sidewalk to the cafe. We were inside within twenty minutes of receiving the message.

  I searched the interior, looking for the distinctive head of curly dark hair from the picture I’d seen.

  I found her in the back, squeezed into a corner with a couple of teenage boys crowding her. I didn’t like their body language at all.

  My eyes narrowed and Jacob muttered something unpleasant under his breath. We shoved our way through the crowd.

  “I let you use my phone. I think that deserves something a little more than a ’thank you,’” the boy who was sitting next to her remarked, his eyes raking over her.

  He was tall and had the beginnings of muscle on that still slender frame. Probably just started hitting the gym. His new sneakers and the bling visible at his wrist also let me know that this boy came from money. This probably explained why he felt he could be an entitled assh
ole; he was someone used to having everything handed to him.

  His friend seemed like the kind to just go along with whatever the asshole did. I’d seen it before. Some weaker personalities felt the urge to bask in the glory of others.

  I saw the first boy lean in closer as we neared, as well as Siro’s disgusted, uncomfortable expression.

  Yeah, that was more than enough.

  I set my hand down on the jerk’s thin shoulder.

  The boy frowned at it, shrugging my hand off as he looked over his shoulder. “Let me the fuck go, asshole,” he muttered.

  Then he got a good look at me and at Jacob behind me.

  I saw him take a mental step back. Good.

  “I think you need to leave,” I said silkily. “You too,” I said to the kid’s friend.

  The first kid opened his mouth to argue.

  “I wouldn’t,” Jacob interjected, crossing his arms, displaying the bulge of muscle there.

  “Come on man,” the friend said uneasily, his eyes looking at us and rightly coming up with the conclusion that we were a bigger threat than they wanted to fight. “She’s not worth it.”

  “You just tell yourselves that,” I murmured, watching them with a level look.

  The boy’s face tightened, but he slid off the stool and slunk away, muttering something under his breath. When they were near the exit, I turned my attention back to Siro.

  “Siro?” I asked.

  She was looking over at the boys, but the sound of her name caught her attention. Her eyes widened as she recognized me. “Yes. King Sven?” she asked hopefully.

  “I got your message,” I confirmed, taking the recently vacated seat. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, hunching her shoulders. Her face looked drawn and tired; it was no wonder, with what they’d been through. “I’m fine. They didn’t do anything to me.”