Broken Butterfly

by Maddie Wade

  Zack shook his head. “Not yet, but I’m waiting to hear back anytime now.” Zack looked pained when he spoke a few minutes later. “She’s strong Zin, she will be okay.”

  Zin didn’t reply because what could he say. She was strong but if she would be okay remained to be seen. They both knew that shit could go sideways in a heartbeat.

  He had been on countless missions and they rarely went to plan; the key was planning, and they’d had very little of that. For the first time in his life, he felt like praying to a god he didn’t even know if he believed in, but he needed all the help he could get.

  Soon they touched down and boarded the flight to Bulgaria. They had heard no more from Celeste, but he knew she was out—drugged by those assholes. Maybe that was better for her.

  When Eidolon meant private flight, he had thought they meant a tin can, but, oh no, they had meant a luxury flight complete with bedroom and leather seats. There was even food and drink provided. He stretched his big frame into a seat and closed his eyes. He had no intention of sleeping, but he didn’t feel like talking to anyone either.

  More platitudes would drive him nuts. He needed to remain calm. He felt the chair next to him move as somebody sat down. He opened an eye and saw it was Will. He had a laptop open on the table in front of him as he typed at the speed of light. Lines and lines of code came on the screen which meant nothing to him, or probably anyone else in the team.

  Will said nothing, and Zin continued to watch as he switched from screen to screen, typing in commands as he did and then switching again.

  “Do you still see her?” Zin couldn’t help but ask even though he knew that if they had lost her, he would have heard.

  Will nodded his head but did speak or turn to him for a second. “Yep, there he is,” he said and pointed at the screen and a tiny red dot that indicated his Pixie.

  He clenched his fists to stop himself from reaching out and touching the screen like a pussy. Closing his eyes, he tried to drown out the white noise and calm his mind. Something big was coming. He had no clue what it was, just that it was bad.

  The flight touched down quicker than Zin expected, and they disembarked. They grabbed their gear, having had it all stashed beforehand. Each person had their own preferred weapon. It made a huge difference knowing what you were carrying. They were meeting Jack from Eidolon at a small farm they had rented from god knew who. Jumping into three different vehicles, they made quick time to the farm.

  It was run down and perfect as a base for them. It had internet and telephone connection but was run down enough so as not to attract attention. The vehicles they had arrived in obviously belonged to the farm and fit in perfectly. Jack had not met them but left the keys with one of the maintenance crew whom Eidolon had on their payroll.

  The main house was a stone building with what looked like three outbuildings behind and to the side of it all in a similar stone as the main house. The vehicle he was in stopped, and he and Will got out. He wasn’t sure why Will had attached himself to him, but he liked the constant blink of the red light showing where his Pixie was.

  The light had stopped moving about forty minutes ago just outside of Sofia, now it just blinked at them.

  “Zack.”

  Zin watched as Jack walked towards them. Now, there was one tough bastard. He worked his ass off and expected nothing less than perfection from his team. Eidolon were the elite of the elite, as were Fortis in his opinion. The difference was that Eidolon worked in the shadows and Zin had had more than enough of that. They were fantastic allies to have though.

  “Jack.” Zack shook his hand. Zin watched as Jack then shook Jace’s hand and gave him a shoulder bump. Jace and Jack were cousins, their mothers being sisters. From what Zin knew they were close, having grown up playing together. The same could not be said for Jack and Will though, who were brothers.

  They were like chalk and cheese. Will, was carefree, ate junk, and spent his life in front of a computer. Jack was a fitness freak, who liked order in his world. Despite that, Zin knew from talking to Lucy that they had been close, but then Will had gotten himself into some trouble hacking and ended up in trouble with the law.

  The incident had nearly cost Jack his job and had severely damaged their relationship. That was why although Will shared his tech with Eidolon, he worked for Fortis. There was love between the brothers but no common ground it seemed on which to heal the breach.

  The fact that Fortis was not as regimented was a better fit for Will, and in all honesty, he was a massive asset to the team.

  “Will,” Jack said with an awkward nod.

  Will lifted his chin. “Jacky.,”

  Zin watched a muscle tick in Jack’s jaw.

  Jack ignored his brothers needling and turned, striding back to the house. “Shall we take this inside? I have news.” Zin felt his muscles tense for battle. Here it was, the shit was starting.

  Jack led them into an open plan kitchen and dining area, it had a huge stone fireplace and an old Aga that was used for cooking. In the middle of the space was a large oak table that could easily seat twenty people, right now though it was covered in comms equipment and maps.

  “Can I set up here?” Will asked, pointing to the end of the table.

  “Sure, go ahead.” Jack motioned with his chin, his face strained as he looked at Will. Zin was too keyed up to worry about it though, his mind was on what the news was that Jack had spoken of.

  He looked at Jack. “What’s the news?”

  Jack put his hands on his hips and eyed Zin silently as if sizing him up. Zin knew he had a reputation and he bit back the urge to tell the man to hurry the fuck up. He had a feeling nobody told Jack anything. Infinite seconds later he seemed to come to a decision. He encompassed the entire Fortis team when he spoke. “We did some reconnaissance of the Olympic Stadium and the Olympic village. As you might know, the contracts for security are nearly always put out to tender and sometimes more than one company will handle it. In this instance, two companies got the contracts.”

  Zin felt his muscled go rigid. This was not good news.

  “The first is a company called Triple S. They are a well-known, reputable company whom we have had some dealing with. The second is a company called Donatus Security Specialists. We knew nothing about them, so we had our computer expert,” he glanced at Will out of the corner of his eye as he said this, “do some digging, and Donatus is owned by a shell company. We followed the money trail, can you guess where it went?” he asked needlessly.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” roared Kanan.

  Jack swung his gaze to K and frowned. “No, I don’t, fucking kid,” he said sardonically. He turned to Zack then. “Is he going to be a problem, Zack?”

  Zack shook his head. “No, he won’t be,” Zack stated firmly and glared at Kanan.

  “Just get on with it,” said Lucy as she twirled her hand in a motion to move on. Jack raised an eyebrow at her. “Please,” she said in a sickly-sweet tone.

  “So, the Divine Watchers are behind this security company,’ Jace said.

  “Yes, but it’s not just that.” Jack turned to one of his men, one Zin didn’t know and pointed at the screen. The screen on a large monitor at the end of the table showed a still picture. The team moved closer and peered at it. There were indrawn breaths and muttered oaths from Jace and Zack.

  “That’s one of the men from my team,” Jace ground out.

  Jack nodded. “Yes, we have identified five from that team as well as over fifty other soldiers that have gone missing, presumed dead, over the last two years. We have only touched the surface with this though. Our records show that over three-hundred soldiers have gone missing in the last five years.”

  “So, you’re thinking that we will find them here, working for Donatus?” Jace asked.

  Jack nodded again. “Yes, that’s what we believe has happened. Some have even been identified as dead and yet here they are, large as life.”

  “So, we now have the issue of
elite soldiers trained or more than likely drugged and gifted, working for Donatus,” Zin said quietly.

  Jack nodded and crossed his arms over his chest as he stood as if ready for a fight.

  “We need to do some reconnaissance of our own, then we will form a plan. Is there any news on Smithy and Lizzie?”

  “Yes, we believe they are being kept in the actual Olympic village. It’s like a fucking fortress though, so we can’t get in without causing a stir. Our best bet is to wait until the opening ceremony and then go in. They will have their attention divided. The sheer volume of people will give us cover.”

  Zin fought an inner battle, on the one hand, he knew Jack was absolutely right. On the other, the thought of Celeste being with Rhea Winslow for longer than a day made him want to vomit.

  Zack cast him a glance and must have known what he was feeling. “Let’s have a look and then we can discuss it later. Jack, can we split the teams? I want Kanan, Lucy, and Jace to work with Zenobi to secure Lizzie and Smithy, and Zin and I to work with you to secure Celeste and detain Rhea Winslow.”

  “Zenobi are coming? Jack asked, and Zin saw him frown and curl his lip. He should be pissed by that, but he knew that Roz and some of her girls, especially Angel and Mustique, were quite a handful and they loved nothing more than to wind up Eidolon, just for shits and giggles.

  “Yes, they are. Do you have a problem with that boys?” Roz said as she and the aforementioned girls sashayed through the kitchen door. Angel winked at some of Jacks men and then came to stand beside Zin.

  “Hey Zin,” she smiled at him, and he did a chin lift in acknowledgement.

  Alejandro Cardenas, Jack’s second in command smiled at Mustique and Angel. “Beautiful ladies, welcome to our abode,” he said on a flamboyant bow.

  The man was one of the most gifted strategists Zin had ever met, he was also the biggest womaniser. Apparently, women found his tall, tanned, brown messy hair, brown eyed, muscled body, and killer smile irresistible. Even his sister eyed the man up and down and grinned as she came to stand the other side of Zin.

  “Always a pleasure Alex,” Roz said as she leaned in to kiss the man’s cheek, before offering a sly side glance at Kanan.

  “Pleasure is my middle name.” He winked and grinned. Zin felt slightly put out for Kanan, who was over in the opposite corner grinding his teeth into dust.

  “Jack,” Zack called, and Zin watched his boss as he raised his eyebrows at Jack in question. “Is that okay with you?”

  Jack nodded. “Yep, that works for us. Alex is cooking some chilli. Why don’t you stash your gear and then get some grub,” he said and then turned to Will. “Can I have a word please?”

  Will nodded and got up to follow Jack out the door. He stopped before he did and turned to Zin. “If you want to keep an eye on the tracker then be my guest. Also, if you turn the comms to channel five, you will tune the rest of us out and only hear Celeste.”

  Zin nodded. “Thank you,” he replied, and taking the laptop, walked with it into the room next to them. It was a small living room, with deep fabric couches. Sitting in one he set his bag beside him and put the laptop on his knees. Switching the comms channel, he listened. The tracker and chip were so advanced that he could hear her breathing. The fact that Will had managed to take the technology from the watches they all wore, that monitored their hearts, and could report back with a health check, and put it into a tiny tracker that was implanted under the skin like a contraceptive implant, was mind-blowing.

  The man was a true genius and was the epitome of the word gifted in Zin’s mind.

  He sat back and closed his eyes as he listened to her breathing. He wished he could talk to her, to reassure her he was there. As if sensing him somehow, she began to sing softly. It was the song they had danced to in the Gin Bar. He remembered how she felt in his arms as he held her and how she made him feel as they looked at each other as if they were the only two people in the world.

  He let the sound of her voice flow over him and calm the farthest reaches of his soul. Hold tight Pixie, I’m coming for you, he thought as he listened to her voice and planned his revenge.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Sitting up Celeste looked around at the room she was in and took in the cheap threadbare carpet in a dingy brown colour, the walls had some 80’s green banana leaf print on it that had seen better days. She was lying on a single bed with a plain white cover. Thank goodness, it at least seemed clean.

  They had half dragged, half carried her into the room yesterday and then left her. She hadn’t seen Rhea or the two thugs since. Not that she wanted to see any of them. Her eyes followed a crack in the ceiling as she took some deep breaths and willed her legs to work.

  She tried to sit up, and the room started to move, so she lay back down until the feeling passed. She didn’t know what they had given her, just that it was not good and made her feel nauseous and foggy headed. Her hands were free as were her legs, which she was glad of.

  She had woken once in the night, but it had been for a brief time. After she had crawled to the bathroom, although it seemed a stretch to call it that when it only had a toilet and a sink, she had relieved herself and crawled back to bed.

  The last thing she could remember was singing the song to herself that she and Zin had danced to. It had calmed her and made her feel close to him, which she desperately needed right now. She wondered where they were, and if they were close could they see her on the tracker? Maybe it was best not to think about it., She would drive herself crazy wondering. She needed to put her faith in Zin and the others and pray she came out of this.

  Sitting up again very slowly, Celeste lowered her feet to the ground and then stood, checking if they could take her weight. They did, so she took a few tentative steps towards the bathroom. She felt like Bambi on the ice, but at least the nausea was subsiding a little. Grabbing the door frame for support, Celeste reached the bathroom and pushed the door shut. There was no lock, so she made quick work of using the facilities, such as they were.

  Standing, she quickly washed her hands and then looked in the mirror. She looked pale and tired, but at least she was physically fine apart from being drugged. The mirror started to waiver in front of her eyes. She held on tight to the sink. Oh god, not now., As a vision moved through her mind.

  In the mirror, she saw people running in different directions., They were covered in blood and looked bewildered. Smoke and debris were everywhere, and then she heard gunfire. The area they were in was ‘open-plan’ like a football stadium, but as people tried to get away, they couldn’t because the doors and exits were padlocked. She saw people screaming and men, huge men, herding them towards the centre of the stadium with guns.

  A feeling of despair washed over her as she spun and couldn’t see anyone she knew. Just blood and death everywhere and no way of escape. The mirror started to weave in and out, then the vision was gone.

  Celeste gripped the sink and tried to calm her racing heart. Turning on the cold tap, she splashed her face with water, and not trusting the cleanliness of the towel decided to let it dry naturally.

  She’d had visions on occasion, but they were rare. They always came true though, it was one of the reasons she hated them. She had no control over what she saw or when. She was completely at the mercy of her gift as always.

  Walking back to the bed on shaky legs she sat down heavily on the edge of the bed and thought about what to do. She had no idea when this would happen or where. Although her gut feeling was soon, and it was probably one of the Olympic stadiums she was seeing. One thing she did know was that she needed to warn Zin. Celeste wished she could talk to him, but had no idea if they were watching her, so she had to be very careful.

  The door opened suddenly, and Rhea Winslow walked in, wearing a white, sleeveless pencil dress that showed off her incredible figure with a slim red belt around the waist and red, pointed stiletto heels. She was carrying a tray with orange juice, and warm croissants with butter and jam on th
e side. Her stomach grumbled despite her earlier feeling of sickness.

  “I hope you’re hungry. I brought you breakfast,” Rhea said cheerfully, and it made Celeste take a metaphorical step back. This woman was not what anyone could consider cheerful, and this sudden switch made her nervous.

  Celeste nodded silently. Rhea set the tray down on the bed and looked at her expectantly. Taking the juice, she took a sip. The sweet, cold liquid was heaven. Placing it back down after a few sips, she lifted the croissant and split it open with the small blunt butter knife before putting lashings of butter and jam on it and then taking a bite.

  As with the juice, the croissant was beautiful, and she chewed and took another bite. Rhea Winslow watched her expectantly when she finished.

  “Thank you, that was nice.”

  “You are welcome. I want you to eat only the best for the next twenty-four hours. Instead of a ‘last meal’, you will have a ‘last day of meals’.” As Rhea spoke the food in Celeste’s stomach turned to lead. “You are performing a very important service to The Divine Watchers, and I want you to know how important you are.” Rhea finished speaking with what was meant to be a smile, but the amount of Botox she’d had made smiling impossible.

  “We will be moving you later today and taking you closer to the final venue. I will be back shortly with a change of clothes for you,” she said as she walked to the door and then left.

  Celeste sat feeling bewildered and scared, but she was also determined. She knew, or she hoped the guys could hear all this so at least they would have a heads up on what was happening. Now, to tell them about her vision without it causing suspicion with Winslow and the thugs.

  The door flung open before she could decide what to do. Rhea Winslow swept in leaving Brutus the thug at the door before closing it. She had a deep blood red, Grecian style dress on a hanger in her hand. It was a one-shoulder affair, with beading just under the breasts. It fell to about knee length in chiffon wisps. It was truly beautiful, and Celeste hated it on sight.