by Maddie Wade
Think. She needed to think. She remembered Zack and Ava getting married and dancing and having fun. Then the disastrous kiss with Zin where she had thrown herself at him. A blush burned her cheeks at the humiliating memory of how he had pushed her away and the shame she had felt.
That’s right she had gone for a walk on the grounds with Samson to clear her head, but how did she get here? Celeste closed her eyes and searched her memory. Samson! Celeste tried to sit up as a sudden vision of Samson in Zin’s arms and whimpering filled her mind. Oh god, her poor baby was dying! What had they done to him?
Her head turned as the door opened and an older woman in a smart, cream trouser suit entered the room, her stiletto heels tapping on the tiled floor. Celeste eyed the elegant, yet cold woman as she came and stood next to the bed. The big brute behind her jogged a memory free. Yes, he was the one who had grabbed her.
She remembered now, someone had called her mobile. It had shown an unknown number, but something had urged her to answer. Oh my god, the voice on the phone. She had known who it was, but how could that be? Had it been a ruse to trap her? If it was, it had certainly worked because she had gone running like an idiot. But what if?
“Well, I’m not sure what the Viper sees in you,” the snooty woman next to her said as she peered down her nose at Celeste and rubbed a blood red fingernail over her chin. “I would have thought he would have higher standards than this.” She laughed as she waved her hand over Celeste dismissively.
Celeste looked the woman over slowly, allowing her gaze to run from head to foot assessingly. She adopted her best pious stare and sniffed at the woman. “I suppose you think you are the higher standard?” Celeste said. Her head hurt, and her heart was beating a mile a minute. She was determined not to show this evil bitch any fear though. Somehow, she knew deep in her soul that this woman would feed on her fear.
The woman laughed, and the girlish giggle made the hair on the back of Celeste’s neck stand on end. “Well, of course, my dear. A man like the Viper needs a real woman with experience, not a little girl covered in garish ink.” Her lip curled as she looked at Celeste with distaste.
“Well then, that shows exactly how much you know about Zin, doesn’t it!” Celeste replied. “He loves my ink. In fact, he has examined every inch in great detail. With his tongue.” The woman flushed an angry red and Celeste knew she had hit her mark with the blatant lie.
A sinister smile tipped the evil bitches faces as she spoke. “You know I’m beginning to see the crass charm you might have for a man like Zin. You have balls. Here you lie chained to a bed, and still, you spit fire. Yes, I think I might like you!”
“Yeah, well, the feeling is not mutual,” Celeste hissed.
“Oh, isn’t she adorable,” the woman said to the man next to her, “I might let you have her before she fulfils her destiny.” She laughed, and the large scarred man next to her smiled, it was the most terrifying thing Celeste had ever seen. Celeste struggled not to show fear, but her natural instinct was to recoil from him. Just his look made her feel like tiny spiders were crawling all over her.
“Now,” the woman clapped her hands to get her attention, “a few things you need to know my dear. Firstly, the IV is nothing to worry about, it is just to keep you hydrated. Secondly, you may have noticed a twinge in your neck. That is a little more serious. You see, you are a very privileged young lady. You are going to make the history books. You will be the person to start the ball rolling on Armageddon.” The insane woman paused for dramatic effect as if she was bestowing some great gift on her, the excitement evident in the grin she wore. “You will be infected with the disease that will either kill or bring out latent gifts in people who are exposed to it. Once the airborne disease is dispersed in a crowded area, it will spread quickly, and the only person with the antidote is me.”
“I don’t understand. Me coughing won’t spread it that fast even in a crowded room.”
Tinkling laughter met her ears. “Oh, you silly girl, you won’t be coughing. You will be blown up as a sacrifice to the cause, and the tiny fragments of your tissue will infect everything it touches.”
Celeste gulped. They were going to blow her up? What the fuck!
“You see, the tiny grain-sized implant in your neck holds the disease and is set on a timer. In exactly six weeks you will travel to the destination we give you and follow the instructions we will then give you.”
“Are you fucking high? I’m not going to do that, you can kill me, but I won’t kill other people.”
“Butcher, isn’t she adorable?” she addressed the mean looking bastard next to her who was setting up a new drip. “I know you won’t do it without some incentive.” She held up a picture. “So, if you do not do it, this little family reunion will never take place. Now, which one shall I kill first? Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.”
Celeste looked in horror at the image in front of her, the picture was crystal clear and left no doubt as to who it was. She had to swallow down bile as fear clawed its way up her throat.
Rhea Winslow, as that had to be who this was, grabbed Celeste by the arm and images of her doing exactly as she promised filled her head.
“You see, it is not a ruse. I will do it. Now, we will send you instructions, so be sure to keep an eye on your email,” Rhea Winslow giggled, “and please give Zin my love when you see him.”
Rhea and the brute next to her turned to go, and Celeste called them back, “You’re letting me go?”
Rhea twirled on a pointed toe, “Of course not, but we are leaving, and you are not. Fortis will either rescue you or the morphine drip we have set up will kill you.”
Celeste watched as the new drip the man had set up started to drip. “But what about your big plans?”
“If you are saved, then fate proves you are the one. If not, then we will use someone else, maybe the person from the picture. Now I must run, see you soon sweet girl.” Rhea blew her a kiss and was gone.
She needed to get out of there. Celeste watched the slow drip as the poison was fed into her veins. She yanked on the cuffs until she felt blood coat her wrists and still she got nowhere. So, she either died now, or she died later and killed thousands of people. Maybe it would be better if she died now. But then the other person would be forced to do it. No! She needed to live so she could tell Zin and they could rescue them.
A heaviness stole over her body as the effects of the morphine seeped into her veins. With a last burst of energy, she fought the drug and pulled at her cuffs in an effort to dislodge the IV. Tears filled her eyes as she thought of all the things she would miss. Her friendship with Ava, getting to know her brother, her beloved Samson. Then there was Zin, the big cold Russian with a hidden soft side.
He had taught her to ride a motorbike with such patience, igniting a love for the road which she knew would have lasted a lifetime. His big handsome face filled her blurry mind, the way he had kissed her last night with such passion. She would never know what it felt like to be loved by him or anyone else. Not that he had wanted her like that, but she would miss his friendship, although she had pretty much wrecked that last night with her slutty behaviour.
She would miss all that, and it made her angry, angry at him for rejecting her, angry at this mad bitch for trying to end the world and using her to do it. Angry with her brother for hiding from her and denying her a family.
The anger boiled up in her and she promised herself if she got out of this they were going to see a whole new Celeste. One who busted balls and took what she wanted, not one who apologised and made allowances for everyone and she knew just the person who could help her.
She just needed to get out of here. Looking around desperately she looked for something to help her. Maybe if she tipped the bed over it would dislodge the IV. Throwing her body from one side to the other she got the bed rocking, with one almighty heave she threw herself to the side, and the bed flipped.
Pain ricochet up her side and into her shoulder as she landed full force on her
arm and the shoulder joint popped. Her vision blurred as pain hit her and she fought the urge to pass out from it. Breathing through her mouth, she regained control of her rolling stomach. Looking down she saw the IV was still firmly attached.
A helpless cry ripped from her mouth, and the drip, drip, drip of the IV eventually pulled her under into blissful nothingness.
Chapter Three
Ruffling the scruff of Samson’s collar, Zin gently murmured to the animal.
“It’s okay buddy, they are going to take good care of you. You just get better, and I’ll get your Mum back to you.” Lifting him, he carried him to the car as the vet, Ava, and Zack trailed behind them. Samson was lethargic and weak, all his usual vigour and zest for life seemed to be ebbing out of him.
Laying him down in the back of the car on a tartan blanket, Zin stroked his hand over the dog’s head. Samson licked his hand feebly and whimpered. He looked so pitiful and pathetic, Zin screwed his hands into fists as he fought to control the urge to rampage at someone. Turning he pinned the vet with a deadly cold stare. “If anything happens to him, I will hold you personally responsible,” he said quietly. He ignored the man’s reply as he strode purposefully back inside towards the office. Will had arrived and had already started to work on the traffic cams.
The warm sunny day defied his black mood, and even the bright, vibrant green pissed him off as if it was mocking his impotence to protect Celeste.
Coming to stand beside Lucy at the computer terminal he demanded, “What do we have?”
Lucy looked at him slightly quizzically, a question in her intelligent eyes, which he ignored. “Not a lot,” answered Lucy calmly.
This was why he liked working with Luce, she was so calm under pressure and one of the deadliest people he knew. She also knew when to shut up. He needed to tell her what he had learned, but he needed to speak to Zack first. She had already lost so much to these evil fuckers and he would do everything in his power to make sure nobody lost anyone else.
“I’ve got something!” Will shouted, and Zin crowded in close behind the computer genius and peered over his shoulder at the screen. Will could have been a multi-billionaire if he’d sold the inventions and programs that Fortis and Eidolon used. But, Will had learned from his early rebellion as a hacker that sometimes it was better to stay under the radar, so he had sold the rights to Zack and Jack his brother and leader of Eidolon for a paltry sum compared with what he could have made.
“Fuck!” Roz hissed.
Zin closed his eyes as he fought to control the desire to put his fist through the screen. “That bastard is dead! I’m gonna tear his fucking heart out with my bare hands,” Zin roared as he watched The Butcher toss an unconscious Celeste into the boot of an SUV. He started to pace in uncharacteristic fury as his vision swam with images of Celeste in pain.
She was so small and vulnerable and had no way to protect herself from an animal such as the Butcher. What was she thinking going off the Estate like that? When he caught up with her, he was going to be telling her exactly how things were and that included not going off on her own.
“Zin!” Roz shouted.
“What?” he barked back.
“We found her phone. It was at the edge of the driveway. Kanan and Nate found it, they are on their way back now.”
Zack walked back into the room and assessed the situation. “Sitrep?” he asked Daniel, who up until this point had been quiet.
“Traffic cams show a man believed to be the Butcher putting Celeste into the back of a dark SUV about a mile past the end of the Estate, heading east. We have tracked them as far as the abandoned warehouses towards Withington, then we lost them. Kanan and Nate found her phone at the edge of the estate and are coming in now.”
“What about Samson? Do we know what happened to him?”
Daniel nodded. “The vet thinks it’s rat poison, but won’t know more until they get him back to the animal hospital.”
The door flew open, and Kanan came rushing in, a ringing phone in his hand. He put the phone down in front of Will who immediately plugged it in and hit answer. A hush descended over the room as they all waited to see who it was.
“Speak!” Zack answered the phone impatiently as he crossed his arms over his broad chest.
“Well, is that any way to speak to someone who is a concerned citizen?” Trilled a female voice.
“Rhea Winslow, I presume?” Zack looked across at Zin who nodded and stood rigidly listening for any little sign that might tell him where Celeste was.
“Ah, I see you’ve heard of me. Is that ungrateful little bitch Megan there?” she asked, and Dane had to drag Daniel back as he growled and went towards the phone, what he was planning to do was anyone’s guess.
“She is safe, thank you for asking,” Zack replied, humouring her. “Well, this obviously isn’t a social call so how about you tell us what you want?”
“Zin? Is that handsome Viper there?”
“I’m here,” he answered with a deadly calm that had descended when he had heard her voice.
“Oh Zin, you have disappointed me. I thought we had an understanding and a bond, and you betrayed me.”
“I don’t bond with sick sociopaths.”
“Well, now, I’m thinking you don’t like me, and here I was about to tell you where that little, tattooed bitch was. But hey ho, I guess we can let her die,” Rhea replied in a sing-song voice.
Kanan and Zin growled at the same time. Roz put a hand to his chest as Zack did the same to Kanan. He stopped his forward motion and reigned in the beast that wanted to start tearing things apart. His eyes caught Kanan’s, and he saw the same sense of desperation as he felt mirrored in the man’s face. Kanan loved his sister, and like him would do whatever it took to get her back, even if it meant playing ball with this evil witch.
“Tell me where she is you evil bitch, and I promise to kill you quickly,” Zin hissed.
“Now, now, play nice. I’ll tell you what I will do. You give me the Phial of Jesus Blood that you stole from me, and I will tell you where she is.”
Stole from her, had she finally lost the last grasp ion reality? The Phial was an ancient artefact that had been hidden in the Hereford Cathedral when the Nazi’s invaded Belgium during WWII.
“No deal,” Zack replied instantly.
“Shame, she doesn’t have long left before she shuffles off this mortal coil. Morphine poisoning is an awful way to die,” Rhea said with fake regret.
Kanan looked at Zack with desperation in his eyes and mouthed Please. Zack dropped his head and paced for a second before Ava touched his arm.
“Please Zack,” she whispered.
“Fine, tell me where she is, and we will make the exchange,” Zack hissed.
“Very wise. I will text the details to this phone.”
The line went dead, and the room was silent for a second, then all hell broke loose as everyone started talking at once.
Standing next to Lucy and Jace, Zin waited for Zack to speak. He knew the man too well and knew he would never give up something like that without a plan. Crossing his arms over his chest and standing with his legs shoulder-width apart he waited. Zack held up his hand for silence, and the room instantly went quiet.
“I’m going to split us into three teams,” he said looking at them all, the cogs of his brain moving even as he spoke as was his way. He hadn’t been one of the most feared Captains of an SAS team for nothing. His on-the-job thinking and ability to make difficult decisions on the fly were legendary.
“Dane, Daniel, Liam, and with Roz’s permission, some of the Zenobi team will stay here. I’m not convinced this isn’t a ploy to leave the families undefended and it certainly isn’t one I’m falling for.” Roz gave a curt nod and motioned to three of her team. Zenobi, had by a stroke of luck, been handling security at the wedding yesterday so that everyone could enjoy the day.
“I’ll liaise with Daniel,” she said swiftly.
“Thank you,” Zack decreed with a tip o
f his head. He turned back to the team, “Sly, Nate, Kanan, and Angel you will make the drop. Me, Zin, Lucy, and Roz will go get Celeste.”
“No way. You’re not cutting me out of this, Zack She’s my sister. I need to be the one to get her,” Kanan said angrily as he shouldered his way towards Zack, going toe to toe with his oldest friend.
“Why don’t you send Zin to make the drop?” he said with a chin thrust and a look of disdain at Zin.
No fucking way was that happening. Celeste was his! Where the fuck did that come from? She wasn’t his, but this was his fault. If he hadn’t kissed her, she wouldn’t have gotten upset and gone off half-cocked.
Stepping forward Zin shook his head. “Not fucking happening. This is my problem to fix,” he stated and turned at the indrawn breath behind him. He saw Lucy smack her forehead and roll her eyes. What the hell was wrong with her? He dismissed her strange behaviour and looked at Kanan again.
“Did you just call my sister a problem?” K growled as he got in Zin’s face.
“Back up K, I did not mean that,” he said as he crossed his arms in front of him. “I merely meant I hold myself responsible for this; in part. If I hadn’t kissed her—” he didn’t finish because he was suddenly shoved back against the back of the sofa as K threw his body into Zins.
“You fucking kissed her?” he hissed as he landed an uppercut to Zin’s jaw.
Zin shook his head and blocked the next punch Kanan threw, landing an elbow to the other man’s stomach. “It was a mistake, you meathead,” Zin spat as Kanan tried to grab him in a headlock. Zin easily evaded it and turned locking Kanan in a half nelson. He was pulling his punches knowing that with this strange new strength he had acquired since his shooting at the hands of Walter Hamilton, one of the Chief of Defence Staff and Divine Watcher, he could do K some real damage if he didn’t, and then Celeste and Roz would be kicking his ass.
