Zephyr
to happen.
Zephyr woke up the next morning with the feeling, and the lead weight sat heavy in her stomach. She didn’t know if it was an aftermath of the shooting, or because of all the talk of gloom and death over the night with everyone, or a response to the dark, heavy clouds that had taken over the skies.
She didn’t know, and since she wasn’t someone who got ugly feelings like this frequently, she didn’t know what to do with it.
“Don’t go to SLF if it’s bugging you,” Alpha suggested while trimming his beard in a towel as she stood to his side, brushing her teeth while wearing his t-shirt, their domesticity as its peak.
“I always go,” she talked over the brush in her mouth, the toothpaste messing her words, the amusement in his eye contrary to the heaviness in hers.
He put his trimmer down on the counter and stepped behind her, standing a head taller in the reflection. He put his hands on her waist and leaned down to the spot at the juncture of her neck and shoulder blade. “Or you can stay, and we can spend the day in bed. How does that sound, hmm?”
Zephyr spit and rinsed her mouth, before locking eyes with his reflection. “Sore. My vajajay needs time to adapt to your beast mode.” One side of his lip twitched. “Besides, Zen would want to see me after I told her about the shooting. Which reminds me, I was thinking if I could talk to her about moving here… in the guest house if that’s okay with you?”
Alpha shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind. She’s a good kid.”
That went smoother than she’d expected. She was half ready to bribe him.
They took a shower together and went down to meet the guests, Nala and Leah getting the breakfast ready. Between all the guests and kids and dogs and staff, it was a madhouse of sounds and scents and just senses.
And even in the midst of all the joviality, the lead in her stomach remained.
***
Morana wanted to see the city, Amara wanted to relax in the pool. In the end, they decided that Morana would accompany Zephyr to SLF while she volunteered and met her sister, and then she’d take her on a tour of the city.
The two of them gave their men kisses and left with Victor driving them. Zephyr pointed out different tourist attractions to Morana on the way, enjoying showing her lively hometown to someone who didn’t live here. On the edge of the rainforest, with a river going around it, Los Fortis was a bustling hub of culture, people, and food, a thriving business center with over five million residents and counting, a mix of tropical paradise and corporate skyscrapers. It was also an underbelly of dark industries she’d not known about before she stepped into Alpha’s world, now her world too.
They exited at the SLF building, and Zephyr explained to Morana how things worked at the organization and what the non-profit did, introducing her to different people as they made their way to the back where Zen usually was. Weekends usually have heavier foot traffic with volunteers and staff coming in, making the building a loud space.
Zen was in the corner office surrounded by paperwork that she handled. Her sister looked up as she entered. ‘Oh, Zee,’ she came to give her a tight hug, looking her all over. ‘Are you okay?’ She was still worried about the shooting and its effect on her.
‘I’m trying not to think about it,’ she told her sister honestly, turning to properly introduce her to the other woman. “Zen, you remember Morana. She wanted to see the city so we came out.”
Silence from Morana made Zephyr turn to find her at her side, her head tilted to the side, scrutinizing Zen.
Her sister frowned, exchanging a look with Zephyr. “Is everything okay?”
Morana seemed to shake herself out of a stupor. “Yes, of course. I apologize! I just get lost in my head sometimes.”
Zen chuckled. “That is Zee’s favorite habit. Come, I’ll show you around. Zee, there’s a sixteen-year-old wanting a makeover in the common room.”
As the girls departed on the tour, Zephyr went to the common room and met the girl, chatting with her as she gave her a makeover, her eyes going to Morana to find her and Zen looking at the laptop, talking, chuckling, talking again. A sense of foreboding sat like an unwanted rock in her stomach.
Zephyr rarely got such gut feelings, but as she stood there, the feeling crawled over her skin like scorpions, stinging in their wake. The clouds rolled heavily in the sky outside the window, matching her insides, heavy and full and about to burst.
Somehow, the day passed, and her anxiety got worse with each passing hour, to the point she decided not to take Morana on a tour at all but simply return home and ride it out.
‘You’ve been a bit off today,’ Zen mentioned as the three women walked out of the building. ‘Is it because of the shooting?’
Zephyr shook her head, looking around to see where Victor had parked the car. ‘I don’t know. It’s just… something feels off.’
Morana pushed her glasses up her nose. ‘You should trust your gut, you know. If there’s one thing the last few months have taught me, it’s definitely that.’
That was all great but where the hell was Victor? It was getting late, the night was setting in, and she just knew she had to get back home.
Zephyr looked around, trying to understand why her bodyguard who never strayed from his location was not in his usual spot.
Suddenly, a dark van with tinted windows came screeching into the parking lot.
Zephyr froze as the doors opened and four men with balaclavas on their faces got out, heading straight for them.
‘Run, Zee!’
The shout spurred her into motion. She saw Morana and Zen running back toward the building and she sprinted after them, her heart beating out of her chest as the men chased. She had no idea who they were but the entire setup, hell the entire day didn’t bode well.
Gunshots rang out, and she saw Morana fall, screaming as she held her shoulder, blood tinting the white of her top.
Zephyr stopped, kneeling down to help her up while Morana yelled in pain. ‘Go. Go, get help!’
Before Zephyr could get up, two iron arms grabbed her. A dark cloth covered her face and she was bound and carried to the van, her last sight of one of the men chasing her sister, leaving Morana on the cemented parking lot.
Fear, true unadulterated fear, consumed her. She didn’t know who these guys were, but they pushed her into the van along. Another body collided with her, Zen’s lavender body mist giving it away.
‘Zen?’ she asked, needing to be sure she was okay.
Zen’s response came from her side, muffled by some cloth. She’d been gagged.
Zephyr tried to struggle against her bindings, trying to get out, all in vain. The zip ties dug into her wrists, cutting her circulation off.
The doors to the van shut and then it was in motion. They were taking her and Zen? And Morana was being left behind? She was shot! She needed help before she bled out. God, she hoped she got help for herself and called for rescue for them.
‘Where are you taking us? Who are you?’ The fact that she couldn’t see a thing scared her even more.
Her demands went unanswered.
She didn’t know how long they were in transit for, but she heard Zen stop struggling to get free. She stayed silent, knowing the kidnappers were there listening. She had to try to figure some way out of this mess. Soon, the vehicles stopped and someone picked her up. She felt someone pick up her sister as well. The one carrying her put her in a chair, retying her wrists to the arms of the wood with the zipcuffs.
The cover was removed from her face, and she blinked, trying to focus on the sudden sight before her. Zen was similarly strapped to a chair in front of her, quiet but awake, looking around, thankfully uninjured and unhurt, just shaken up. Zephyr couldn’t get the sight of Morana from her head, blood spreading down her arm from her shoulder, her white top completely red. God, she’d lost a lot of blood, and if the bleeding didn’t stop before someone got to her…
No.
Focus here, Zee.
She looked around, trying to gauge their location. It looked like a small wooden shack, old and unused. The sound of water nearby alerted her of their closeness to either the river or a waterfall. The men who’d abducted them left the shack, leaving the two sisters alone.
What the hell was this abduction for? Was it The Syndicate? The killer? Someone else? Did they want her or Alpha? Had Morana’s gunshot been an accident or was she the target? She didn’t know but she knew they had to get out somehow.
‘No,’ Zen’s broken whisper brought her eyes up to see her sister looking behind her, horror on her face.
Zephyr tried to turn to see what it was, but the chair held her in place.
She heard footsteps behind her, a man’s footsteps, and her heart began to thunder as she waited to see who it was.
His bald head gleaming in the light from the bulb, he came into the view, smiling at her, a knife in his hand. ‘Yo, Zee.’
Hector. Alpha’s most trusted man. It was him.
Looking at the sinister smile on his face, seeing his true form, Zephyr knew he was the killer they’re been looking for, he was the man who had tortured and blinded her husband. Hector.
