Chapter 12
Eden
Eden sat on the floor, leaning her back against the cold stone wall of the basement and took her head in her shaking hands. Her eyes were burning, and there wasn’t enough air in the room. She felt like she was suffocating. Panic, fear, and misery all welled up inside her, and she clenched her jaw, trying fruitlessly to hold her tears back.
She was in a basement, which was either in the middle of nowhere or it was soundproof because she couldn’t hear anything from the outside. The only sound she’d heard when they’d carried her in here from the delivery van earlier was the horn of a ship. So she must be somewhere near the water. Or was she? How far would the sound of a ship horn travel? She had no idea. And who were these people? Notus had said yesterday that the dragons had captured all of the Russian agents so what had happened? Was the gang bigger than the dragons had realized? What were they planning to do with her? Blackmail her father? Take revenge? And how had they found her anyway?
She had so many questions and so little to make sense of. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in front of the fireplace with Notus yesterday. She had a vague recollection of him carrying her to the bed later and tucking her in, and then the next thing she knew she was waking up in the back of a small delivery van, alone.
Her mind was fuzzy and confused, and her vision was blurry. Her hands had been tied behind her and there was tape across her mouth. She must have been sedated, which was probably why she hadn’t panicked immediately when she woke up in the van—the drugs must have made her unnaturally calm.
She’d lain like that for a while, waiting for her senses to sharpen, trying to be still, so she didn’t alert the kidnappers. She thought she’d heard muffled voices at the front of the van of two different people. She’d tried to identify their words, but they were too faint. She couldn’t even tell what language they were speaking. Where was Notus? What had happened to him? Was he okay? The thought that he might be hurt brought waves of panic and fear sweeping through her.
She’d been desperate to free her hands and her mouth and scream as loud as she could. She’d breathed in and out through her nose, trying to calm herself down, and she’d been so focused on her breathing she hadn’t felt the vehicle stopping. The door had opened and light suddenly flooded in, and she’d been confused, at first unable to understand what was going on. Then once it dawned on her, she’d quickly shut her eyes, pretending she was still unconscious.
The next few moments had happened so fast, and she’d still been so muddleheaded that it was all a blur. A man had blindfolded her. Picked her up and carried her over his shoulder. She’d fought. Tried to free herself. She’d heard the voice of another man. He’d spoken in English but with a heavy accent. Then more hands trying to restrain her punches. And then she’d felt weak and limp.
When she came around, the tape from her mouth and the blindfold were gone. Her hands were free, too. And that had horrified her because she realized that meant that there was nothing to see, no one to fight, no one to call for help.
She’d been imagining Notus’s face, seeing flashes of it, ever since she’d woken up in the delivery van. His deep indigo eyes. How he looked so fierce when he’d confronted that asshole, her ex; so kind when they’d played in the snow; so passionate when they’d made love. She heard his voice, deep and sexy, and then so beautiful and enchanting when he’d sung for her on her birthday. She felt his gentle stubble, the way it brushed her face when they kissed, sending tingles all over her body. His strong hands. His big chest.
There were so many things she wanted to say to him. That the birthday they’d spent together was her best ever. That their day, in the mountains, had been the happiest day of her life. That when they first met she’d fought so hard not to like him because she’d been so afraid he wouldn’t reciprocate her feelings. That she’d been so exhausted by denying her heart. She hated herself for not telling him that she cared for him too, when he’d told her so by the fireplace. That she’d been a coward who couldn’t say the words, so afraid she didn’t deserve him.
And now, she might never get to say those words to him. He might never know how he’d made her feel and how much she loved him. Yes, she did. She didn’t just like him. She loved him with all her heart. She pulled her legs toward her body, wrapping her arms around them, and rested her head on her knees as tears rolled down her cheeks, her heart breaking for everything she and Notus could have been. For the snowman they’d never made together. For all the love and happiness that had been taken away from them. She stayed like that for a while, crying silently, limp with resignation.
No! No, no, no! She couldn’t do that. She couldn’t just give up. She had to fight. For Notus. She must fight. She knew that wherever Notus was right now, he was looking for her. Her fierce, loyal, heroic Notus. She knew he was coming for her. And she had to help him. She couldn’t be emotional now. She had to be strong. She had to think. There must be something she could do. There must be a way to escape.
She looked around and examined the room again. Four walls, a heavy metal door, and a mattress in the corner. That was all. Nothing that she could hit someone with. No windows she could break and escape from. She’d tried screaming already, and the only thing that had achieved was to get her a smack on the face from a guy in a balaclava. He’d stormed in and told her to shut up. He’d told her, in the same heavy accent she’d heard before, that no one could hear her, and that horrible noise she was making with her horrible voice was driving him crazy. She’d started screaming even louder at his words, and the douchbag had slapped her across the face.
She got up and started walking up and down the room. Think! She examined the mattress. Nothing there that could be of any help. She scrutinized the walls for loose bricks. There weren’t any. Nothing on the floor either. She looked up, inspecting the top of the walls and the ceiling. Nothing. Frustration welled up inside her, and she considered screaming again and just attacking the Russian when he came through the door with her bare hands. But that wasn’t a good plan. He was a big guy and she needed some leverage.
And then she saw it. The pipe. Her eyes had just passed over it without thinking much of it. There was a pipe that ran the length of the room, starting about a foot above the door. She could try to catch it, pull herself up, and swing her body forward, while thrusting her legs out in order to kick the Russian when he entered the room. The door opened to the left inside the room, and the pipe was on the right, so she’d have a clear shot.
She tried it. She jumped up and caught the pipe. She pulled herself up, bent her legs, and quickly swung forward while pushing her legs out. It should work. She appeared to be at the right distance: not too close to the door to take away from the power of her kick, but not too far either to risk that she’d only brush against that asshole, a weak blow that wouldn’t achieve much more than startle him.
She tried a few more times, rehearsing and tweaking her technique until she’d improved it as much as she could. It still wasn’t a very strong kick, but if she could get him in the head, she’d probably at least blindside him long enough to escape.
That would be one of them, but what about the second guy? Was he still around? She hadn’t seen or heard him since they’d brought her to the room. She couldn’t know, so she’d just have to improvise when the moment came.
Adrenaline rushed through her veins, making her feel restless and on edge. She considered screaming again to lure the guy in the mask back in, but she thought that if he came into the room of his own accord, she may have a better chance at catching him off-guard, which should be in her favor.
She took a place under the pipe and massaged her arm muscles. The moment she heard the key in the door, she’d jump to catch the pipe and try to do her best. The door was heavy and slow to open so she’d hopefully have enough time. She rested her body against the wall and waited. She stretched every fifteen minutes to keep her body active and prevent it from getting stiff, but besides that, she tried
to move as little as possible in order to preserve her energy. She hadn’t eaten at all today, but the adrenaline was helping to keep her going.
At last, she finally heard the sound of metal sliding on metal—the key in the door. Her heart sped up, throbbing in her neck, and she forced herself to remain calm. She jumped up the moment the door started to open and hung suspended, waiting for her attacker to enter the room. Her ears were ringing, and her breathing was so loud it must have been audible from hundreds of feet away.
The Russian appeared, his balaclava helping her since it blocked his peripheral vision. He froze for a second, presumably because he couldn’t see her. Eden took a sharp breath, pulled herself up as high as she could while swinging back, then forward with all her strength, kicking violently from the knees, aiming for his head. The whole thing happened in two short seconds, but it felt like hours to her.
She got him right in the middle of the head, hopefully in the temple. His head bounced to the right, taking his whole body with it, as his legs wobbled. It looked as if he might collapse, but Eden didn’t wait around to see if that was the case. Instead, she ran out of the door as fast as she could.
“Suka!” he screamed behind her. Eden knew what that meant. She’d had a friend in high school, Alina, who’d been born in Russia, and she still remembered some of the words she’d taught her, and suka wasn’t one you could say in front of parents.
The door led Eden to a massive warehouse. A man in a balaclava, with a short, stumpy body, jumped out of the delivery van that was parked to the right of the door and ran toward her, stopping suddenly when he saw her. Eden took advantage of his confusion and went for his knee. He bounced back just in time to avoid most of the impact of her kick, but even so she’d done enough damage to make him cry out. Then, suddenly there was a gun in his hand, and it was pointed at her.
“On your knees!” he yelled. His accent was American and there was a familiarity to it that Eden couldn’t pin down. “Get down on your knees! And keep your hands where I can see them!”
Eden followed his orders as the euphoria at managing to escape her prison quickly dissolved into a pool of resignation. The American made her lay down on the ground, on her front, and lock her fingers behind her head. He then tied her hands and taped her mouth again.
The Russian came back at some point, muttering and cursing in his language. He pulled her up by her hands and shoved her violently into the back of the delivery van. Eden clenched her teeth together and clenched her fists, wild with anger at her failed escape attempt.
The engine started, and she felt the vehicle move. Where were they taking her now? Was she never going to see Notus again? Would he never know that she loved him? Her face heated up and the lump in her throat grew as she surrendered to the stifling pull of desperation. She leaned against the wall of the windowless back of the delivery van and stared into the blackness around her, zoning out.
She snapped out of her haze when the vehicle lurched violently to the left and sent her flying across the back of the van.
“What was that?” the American shouted from the front, as a loud thump on the top of the van made Eden’s heart jump into her throat.
The van sped up and zigzagged along the road before stopping abruptly, which sent Eden crashing against the front wall. Her hands were still tied behind her back, and she’d managed to turn her body to the side at the last moment, preventing herself from colliding face-on with the metal. It still hurt like hell though, the impact wrenching her shoulder. If whatever was happening outside didn’t kill her, their driving definitely would.
Something smashed into the left side of the van, rattling the vehicle, before another bang to the roof made the back doors swing open. Without thinking, Eden got up and ran out. She looked around, trying to identify the source of the commotion, and froze at the sight of a dragon hovering in the sky above the van. It was red, and its scales seemed to be changing color from bright to dark red, like a magical light show. Puffs of smoke jetted from its nostrils, and its wings were huge, spreading twice as wide as the two-lane road, one of them sitting slightly lower than the other. At the sight of her, it flew over and made a huge circle in the area above her, slowly flapping its wings, its scales changing color to yellow and then glowing orange. Eden felt her heart skip a beat. Was that Notus?
The dragon flew back toward the front of the delivery van, its scales turning dark red again, and breathed fire on the windshield. The two men leapt out of the side doors and ran in opposite directions. With just one flap of its wings, the dragon caught up with the tall figure of the Russian and smacked him with its wing, sending him flying to the side of the road. Then it landed, ran on its long, powerful legs after the stocky American, and swiped him with its tail, which made the man collapse to the ground. Her savior grabbed him by the ankles and shook him violently, making him drop two guns, some coins, a wallet, and bunch of other stuff. Eden caught a glimpse of the man’s face as the dragon shoved him into the back of the delivery van. It looked familiar. The dragon picked up the Russian and deposited him with his friend while Eden was straining to remember where she’d seen the American. Oh my God, wasn’t he dad’s driver—the one who’d picked up her father late at night to drive him to the airport?
The dragon strode over to Eden, towering above her. It was huge and formidable, with long sharp teeth, but she wasn’t scared. In fact, her heart seemed to swell with warmth.
“It’s me,” it said in Notus’s voice, as its scales changed color to yellow, orange, and then green. “Notus.” His huge scaled arm went behind her, there was a slashing sound and her wrists were free. She grabbed the tape on her mouth and yanked it off. It burned, but she didn’t care. Notus had saved her life!
“I knew it!” she exclaimed, weak with relief. “I knew it was you!” She flung her arms around the base of his muscular neck. To her surprise, his scales felt soft and silky, and as she gazed up at him, he looked less and less like a dragon and more like the man she loved.
He chuckled. “I’ll just change,” he said and disappeared behind a row of bushes on the side of the road.
Eden saw its wings swoop up high, then fold back down. Shortly after, Notus emerged from the same spot, wearing a curious outfit of just a pair of boxers and a T-shirt.
“I had to travel light,” he said, raising his hands in the air. “I’m sorry about my clothes choice.”
Eden ran toward him. “You’re not one-armed anymore!” she thrilled.
Notus swung his right arm around her, picked her up, and twirled her in the air. “I never was one-armed!” he mock-roared at her before drawing her into a passionate kiss.
“I put up a good fight, you know?” Eden said once Notus put her down. “I almost knocked the tall one out, the Russian!”
“I was sure you would.” He grinned at her. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” he pulled her into his arms and gently stroked her hair.
“Just my shoulder, when the van stopped suddenly,” Eden said, only realizing now that it was hurting pretty bad.
Notus pulled the neck of her shirt open and examined it. “Can you move it—this way? How about this?” he asked, voice shaking with concern. They deduced that it wasn’t broken or dislocated, just badly bruised.
“Are you okay?” she asked, looking deep into his eyes.
“I have five bumps on the back of my head and a throbbing headache, but I’ve never been better,” he said, his eyes smiling at her.
“You can fly again! That’s amazing!”
“Yes!” Notus beamed. “I don’t know how it happened. You were gone, I was worried sick and desperate to find you, and it was all or nothing. I jumped off a cliff, hoping that somehow I’d manage to stay in the air before hitting the rocks about a mile below me. I started flapping my wings but it hurt a lot. I was falling quickly. My broken wing wasn’t working as strongly as it should. Then all of a sudden there was this sharp, agonizing pain, so severe I thought I’d broken my wing again. But it was fine. I’d
stopped falling. I was flying, and the pain was gone.”
“You’re so brave,” Eden breathed. “I can’t believe you risked your life for me.” She pressed her lips to his, her stomach fluttering.
“I was so scared I’d never see you again,” she continued after she pulled away, stroking his face. “I was so scared I’d never get to tell you that—” The words caught in her throat, and she forced her tears back.
“That what?” Notus asked, his eyes wide, face taut with repressed emotion.
She paused for a moment, trying to subdue the throb in her throat. “That... That I like you, too,” she finally said and paused for a while.
“You are an impressive woman, Eden. So brave and strong and determined,” Notus said, laying a hand on her cheek. “And I hope that one day, I can give you wings in the same way that you’ve given me mine back.”
“You already have,” Eden said and crushed her mouth onto his.
Epilogue
Eden
A week later
“There’s something I want to show you,” Notus said and took a sip from his coffee. His blue eyes sparkled with mischief in the early morning sun. “It’s about fifteen minutes’ walk from here, so maybe we can go after we finish our breakfast?”
It was their first weekend together and after some slow, sensual morning sex that had left Eden tingling all over, Notus had made breakfast for her, which they were now eating on the balcony of her apartment.
Eden grinned and ran her fingers along his forearm. “Does it involve you singing to me again?”
“No, not this time,” he said. “That could be arranged with a little persuasion, though,” he added playfully, winking at her.
Eden giggled and leaned forward and planted a kiss on his mouth. The last week had been incredible. They both worked during the day, Eden juggling the bakery and researching for the self-defense studio, while Notus busy working for the agency. Now that he could fly again, Xephyr had put him on one-hundred-percent flying duty, and Notus would come home full of energy and tell Eden all about his flights, his eyes shining with excitement. He was a different person to the guy she’d first met—whimsical, light-hearted, and full of joie de vie. It was beautiful to see the transformation in him.
Wounded Wings Page 11
