Her eyes wide, she looks around the room petrified, the shouts only getting louder as people jostle her on their way out, their terror unmistakable.
Shots are fired, round after round discharged in the restaurant as some meet bare air while some meet flesh.
She’s stopped moving, wildly looking about the room in an attempt to make sense of what’s happening around.
But there’s nothing to make sense.
Not when there are at least five people waving guns around and aiming for the kill.
It all happens in slow motion as I turn slightly, making eye contact with one of the gunmen and seeing an arrogant smirk spread across his face before he lifts his gun, aiming it straight at Noelle.
Conscious thought leaves me as my body acts on its own, my feet moving before I realize.
It’s a flurry of movement as I charge her to the ground, my body covering hers and serving as a shield for the incoming bullets. Adrenaline runs through my veins, masking the pain as a bullet hits my shoulder. The only evidence of the shot the blood that pours from the wound.
My body is flush against hers on the ground, and I feel her stiff with fear against me. Her mouth opens on a silent scream, her eyes wild as she terror engulfs her.
‘Shh,’ I whisper softly, bringing the back of my hand to her face. ‘It will be over soon,’ I tell her before I use all my strength to roll us over from the ground and the incoming path of more bullets.
Holding on to her midriff, I keep her tugged to my side as I push us towards one table, kicking at its feet and turning it sideways to find some cover from the other shots.
She’s trembling in my arms, her breathing punctured. But she’s not yelling, or screaming in fear, and for that I’m thankful. Especially as the situation demands my entire focus.
The shots continue amid the crowd’s screams, and I sneak a peek to see Cisco and Yuyu nestled behind their table. Cisco is assembling a gun while Yuyu is helping him with the parts.
Our eyes meet and he gives me a sharp nod that I return.
‘Why are they shooting at us?’ she asks in a small voice, coming even closer to me, her hand on my arm as she squeezes it for comfort.
‘Who knows,’ I reply grimly. ‘That remains to be ascertained. For now,’ I pause as I remove my own small arsenal from the back of my pants. ‘We need to make sure they’re taken out.’
I take out two handguns and a couple of knives, placing them in front of us.
‘Do you know how to shoot?’ I turn to her.
She shakes her head ever so slowly and my lips stretch into a thin line.
‘Here,’ I hand her one of the guns, quickly explaining how the safety works and what she should do if anyone comes near her.
‘But you…’
‘Someone needs to take them out,’ I add, knowing that Cisco would not dare to leave Yuyu’s side for a second.
‘Don’t go,’ Noelle’s hands grasp on to the material of my jacket, trying to keep me by her side. ‘Please,’ she pleads.
But it’s in vain as I disentangle her fingers from me, shaking my head at her.
‘You know what to do.’ I nod to the gun in her hand before raising my head over the table.
There are three men inside, all shooting randomly at the many people hysterically running around, and two men at the front door, ensuring no one gets out alive.
Propping the barrel of the gun on the edge of the table, I aim at the closest man, hitting him right in the chest. As soon as he drops to the floor, though, the others’ attention is fixed on us. So without lingering, I roll on to the floor, visibly moving away from the table and distracting them from Noelle’s location.
Bullets fly past me as I barely make it to cover, taking just one breath before looking back and firing at the other men.
The two by the door, noticing that the others have difficulty in managing the situation, leave their posts and come inside too, swinging their guns around.
They don’t make it much further than the middle of the restaurant though. Not as both Cisco and Yuyu move in sync, their fingers on the trigger of their guns as they fire at the incoming men.
The effect is immediate as both drop dead, holes forming in their foreheads and blood pouring out of them.
With three down, it’s only a matter of getting to the other two.
Seeing that they might be outnumbered, the men are quick to pick some people off the floor and use them as shields, all the while shooting at both our locations.
‘Noelle,’ Cisco yells at me, motioning to the direction of his sister.
But just as my attention is drawn to her hiding place, so is the shooters’.
A brief moment of eye contact and the race to Noelle begins, one of the shooters staying behind and trying to take out Cisco and his wife, while the other dashes to where Noelle is.
My feet move—faster than they’ve ever moved—and I only manage to reach her side a few seconds before the other man. Tugging her to her feet, I waste no time in twirling her around, keeping her nestled to my side as I extend my arm to shoot at the man.
Guns drawn out, we’re both at a standstill as we stare into each other’s eyes. Just like a gunfight in the wild west, it’s all about speed as both of us have our fingers on the trigger, ready to fire.
The seconds stretch, and time becomes null and void as I hear my heart thumping in my ears.
Noelle’s small body is draped across my chest as she nestles even closer. She’s holding tightly onto me, her hands wrapped around the material of my shirt, a small sob escaping her lips.
But I can’t worry about her now. Not when my full attention needs to be engaged in the matter at hand.
Slimy hair and dirty clothes, the shooter looks like a completely regular person. In fact, all the others had been rather nondescript too—all of it compounding my confusion as to why they would attack the restaurant in the first place.
My intuition, though, is telling me that the attack isn’t random. That they’d had a target all along.
And as my mind remaps the trajectory of the bullets, from the first one fired, I have to admit to myself that there is only one probable answer.
They’re here for the bounty.
Fuck! I should have realized that sooner or later this was going to happen—that someone was going to try to get the bounty regardless of the dangers involved. And I probably would have been more prepared if my entire attention hadn’t been distracted by a certain someone.
Grounding myself in the present, I force myself to focus on the target at hand.
Sweat trickles down the man’s temple, his eyes blinking rapidly as he looks at me, ready to pull the trigger.
But as soon as my mind’s ascertained that, I realize that I’m likely dealing with amateurs—especially considering the haphazard way in which they’d tried to burst into the restaurant.
My eyes narrow on his trembling hand, noting the way he’s trying very hard to keep it extended in front of him in order to aim at me.
A slow smile pulls at my lips at his actions, and I give him a false sense of security as I emulate his movements.
But just as he gains a little more confidence, his pointer finger making contact with the trigger, I quickly pull on mine, not giving him any chance of actually firing.
My bullet hits him square between his eyes. Still staring at me with wide eyes, he drops to the floor, the noise a thundering bang that makes Noelle jump in my arms.
Cisco helps his wife up, getting out from their hiding place.
Yuyu is completely unfazed as she takes in the bloodbath on the floor.
In their bout of madness, the shooters had managed to kill quite a few innocent people, their blood currently staining the floor.
Cisco dusts his suit, looking unbothered as he studies the dead shooters.
‘Now, that was unfortunate,’ he mentions as he stoops down to search one of the men, coming up rather empty handed.
Yuyu, too, does the same with another, eliciting a look of surprise from me.
Certainly, you don’t see every day a seven-month pregnant woman rummage so clinically through pure carnage. It’s even more striking when comparing her reaction with that of Noelle, who is still holding on to me for dear life.
‘Noelle,’ I softly call out her name, but she doesn’t answer.
Her teeth are clattering, her eyes unfocused.
My hands on her shoulders, I move her off me, stooping down on one knee so I’m closer to her eye level.
‘Noelle,’ I repeat, waving my palm in front of her.
‘Is she alright?’ Yuyu asks, coming from behind me.
‘I don’t think so,’ I answer grimly when I note that she’s entirely unresponsive, her features a tad too pale. Her eyes are fixed on the blood on the floor, and she doesn’t seem to acknowledge our presence.
‘Damn, we better hurry,’ Cisco mentions as he comes to our side. ‘The police should be here any moment.’
‘Any survivors?’
He shakes his head.
‘There were around thirty people in the restaurant to begin with. Everyone who tried to leave was killed by one of those,’ he points to the two men he and Yuyu had dispatched. ‘The others were simply killed in the chaos,’ he pauses, his gaze on my shoulder. ‘You should get that looked at,’ he nods at the blood slowly trickling down my arm.
‘Not now,’ I shrug, the pain minimal considering the things I’d been accustomed to. ‘Let’s go through the back,’ I say, turning my focus back to Noelle.
Swaying a little on her feet, her eyes roll in the back of her head before she loses her balance. Catching her, I simply swing her over my non injured shoulder and follow Cisco and Yuyu out.
‘At least there were no witnesses,’ Cisco jokes once we are in the car and heading back home.
‘I’m surprised that the first people to come after me were those,’ I chuckle, gently cradling Noelle’s head to my chest.
‘That is rather interesting. Everyone knows you’re under my protection now, so theoretically speaking, only fools would dare pull a move like that.’
‘I think you’re right on that account. They didn’t seem to have any experience. The last man was practically shitting himself when he was trying to shoot me.’
‘They probably jumped at the opportunity to make some money. Certainly, if they had known who they were up against they wouldn’t have come so unprepared,’ Yuyu comments, her brows pinched together as she stares at Noelle with a worried expression.
‘On that note,’ Cisco smiles. ‘I must give it to you,’ he winks at me. ‘You didn’t disappoint.’
‘I wasn’t aware it was a test,’ I raise an eyebrow.
‘It wasn’t,’ he replies, though his words don’t seem very convincing. Especially as he shares an amused look with his wife. ‘So to speak.’
‘Meaning?’ I shoot back. Of course nothing is ever black and white with Cisco. There’s always some kind of test, even deep in the middle of a bloodshed.
‘He’s joking,’ Yuyu waves her hand. ‘A little?’ She pauses before laughing, and her reaction makes me even more confused. ‘We just wanted to see how you handle yourself,’ she shrugs.
I look at them flabbergasted. Now that the adrenaline is starting to wear off, I can assess the events more rationally. More than anything, I get their meaning as it dawns on me that they had delayed their involvement on purpose.
‘So it was a test,’ I state in a deadpan voice, unable to believe they would play like that with Noelle’s life. Because while I could get myself out of a difficult situation, they couldn’t have known I would be able to defend her too.
‘Now, don’t look like that,’ Cisco says dismissively. ‘We wouldn’t have let anything happen to either of you.’
His words make me even more confused. Especially as he continues with an odd question.
‘Have you heard of the Black Monarch?’
‘Yes. I don’t think there’s anyone in New York who hasn’t,’ I frown.
The stories have been around since I was a kid, the Black Monarch almost legendary in the underground world. One wrong step, and you’d fall prey to his merciless swords—two butterfly blades that would separate your head from your body.
One season in particular, the hunt for the Black Monarch had been in full swing after a succession of headless bodies had been found all around the city. After years, it became an urban legend, no one knowing his identity, or his affiliation.
‘Should we tell him?’ Cisco asks with a knowing smile.
‘He’s going to be part of the family,’ Yuyu answers, eyeing the sleeping Noelle in my arms.
‘Very well. The Black Monarch,’ Cisco nods. ‘You’re staring at it.’
‘You?’ I blurt out, taken aback by the confession.
‘Not me,’ he makes a funny face. ‘The lady next to me.’
‘You? You’re the Black Monarch?’ My voice must betray my awe, especially as Yuyu winks at me conspiratorially.
‘Not many people know, since we’ve tried to keep it under wraps. But she was my right hand before she was my wife,’ he chuckles. ‘She’s the skilled one in the family when it comes to killing,’ he murmurs, looking at her adoringly.
‘Oh come on,’ she swats him on the shoulder. ‘You forget you were the one who taught me everything I know.’
‘Maybe. You’re still the best.’
‘That’s very surprising,’ I interrupt their saccharine exchange. ‘I don’t think anyone would have ever imagined that the Black Monarch is a woman.’
‘Was,’ Yuyu corrects. ‘I retired some time ago.’
‘That still doesn’t explain why you’d risk your sister’s life like that,’ I jibe, a little put off by their behavior.
‘You’re a wanted man, Raf. Can you fault me for being curious to see how you’d handle yourself?’ Cisco shrugs.
I grunt, his reasoning solid. Yet why does it still make me uncomfortable?
As the car wades through the streets of Manhattan, Cisco changes the topic, giving me a short rundown of his history with the Black Monarch.
I listen to him talk, my fingers move absentmindedly over the smooth skin of Noelle’s cheek, this proximity not affecting me as adversely as before.
And as we pull in front of the house, I say goodbye to Cisco and his wife as I take two steps at a time, hurrying to the third floor to tuck Noelle in her bed.
Her reaction to the shooting, while not unwarranted, had been a little blown out of proportions. She’d been white as a sheet of paper as she’d looked at the dead men on the floor. And to my everlasting chagrin, that worries me.
Kicking her door open, I head straight for her bed, gently lowering her to the mattress. Instead of leaving, though, I find myself taking a seat by her side, my eyes on her face as I study her features.
Her expression as she’d played the piano flashes in my mind, the animated way in which she’d given herself to the music showing me a different side of her—an appealing side of her.
And that is a problem. Add to that the lingering realization that her music had been my mental escape while in captivity, and I’m faced with a dilemma.
Brushing my hand across her forehead, I can’t help but think back to those times, and to the power of her melody as it had helped me cope with the shitshow that had been my life.
Thank you.
The words are on my tongue, ready to be released into the air. Yet as much as I want to, I find that I can’t utter them.
Not when she’d also been the architect of my suffering—and that of Lucero’s ultimate demise.
Can one right make up for all the wrongs?
I sigh, the night’s events taking a toll on me, especially as pain shoots up my shoulder, more blood pooling down my arm.
But just as I’m about to rise from my seat, her eyes snap open, her irises swirling into a hypnotizing mix of brown and green. She’s staring at me, those gorgeous eyes of hers big and full of curiosity.
Maybe I would have expected fear, or apprehension. But there’s none as she quietly looks at me, her small hand coming up to tug at the sleeve of my blazer.
She doesn’t speak as she pulls herself to a sitting position. She doesn’t say a word as she swings her legs over the bed, coming in front of me and pushing the blazer off my shoulders.
There’s a certain calm in the silence of the night as she softly unbuttons my bloodstained shirt, slipping it off my shoulders to reveal the nasty wound.
I can only look reverently at her as she dabs at the blood, going to her bathroom to wet a towel before coming back and tenderly cleaning my wound.
Thankfully, the bullet hadn’t entered my body. Rather, it had only grazed my skin, causing a big enough gash to bleed a bucket, but unlikely to be life threatening in any way.
Raising my eyes to her face, I watch her movements—brisk and efficient and wholly unlike someone who just fainted at the sight of a dead body.
She’s so focused on thoroughly cleaning the blood that she doesn’t realize the sight she strikes, especially as she pulls her lower lip between her teeth in concentration.
Once again, I find myself entranced by the vivid play of emotions on her face, and it’s like time stands still as I lose myself in her.
When she’s done, she gets a small first aid kit, taking out a medium bandage and applying it over my wound.
She releases a satisfied sigh as she surveys her handwork, stepping back to assess me.
For once, I note no animosity. No fear. Nothing.
There’s a certain vulnerability to her expression that’s laid in the open for me to see, and my heart constricts painfully in my chest at the sight.
We stay like that for what feels like forever, our eyes affixed to one another.
It’s her who speaks first, breaking the spell.
‘Thank you,’ she utters softly, the hint of a smile on her face.
‘For what?’ I frown at her.
‘For this,’ she lifts her hand, the ghost of a touch as she trails it over my bandaged wound. ‘You saved me,’ she murmurs, almost reverently.
I nod at her, not wanting to dwell on the particularities. Because truth to be told, I hadn’t been fully conscious of my actions as I’d pushed her to the ground, putting my body between her and the bullet. Even now, as the events replay in my mind, I can’t say for sure why I’d done that—and why the action had come to me so naturally.
Annoyance spears through me at the thought as I realize that would have been my chance to get Noelle to pay without having any fingers pointed at me. I could have used that opportunity to hurt her—maybe even kill her.
All I should have done was to stay put.
Abruptly, I stand up, grabbing my soiled clothes and heading for the door.
It’s by chance that I hear her whispered words—and oh, how I wish I didn’t. Because they have the power to haunt me…
‘No one’s ever saved me before.’
