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“...You don’t look like a Part.”
Eden raised her eyes, surprised to hear such a composed voice at such a moment. Dante De Luca had somehow come to stand in front of her, almost too close. She froze, shocked and unsure what to do. She glanced down by reflex. His gun was still in his hand, but the other was now carrying a glass of whiskey as he slowly brought it to his lips. Eden wondered if this man was mad or truly didn’t care about dying. There was a whole war going on a few steps away from them, yet he was standing there and drinking!
“You don’t look like a hacker either.”
Eden’s blood went cold.
He had linked the disabled weapons to her? It couldn’t be! Loir had only deactivated one. Or had he heard her? That was the only explanation but even that seemed impossible. The bar was thrown into chaos, gunshots were being fired behind them from all directions. Even more bottles of alcohol were exploding all around them. Eden couldn’t understand that man. Who would focus on the actions of a hostess instead of caring about the armed men shooting at them? Plus, he was the main target, to begin with!
“Why do you care?” she hissed.
She just didn’t have the strength to be polite or play along anymore. Her whole life was just about to be ruined because that man had decided to piss off his rival at none other than her bar, her workplace! She was in a hellish amount of pain from her injury and starting to feel like she was about to collapse.
De Luca chuckled but stayed quiet and drank some more. Eden was pissed. She wished he or Kris would get a bullet to the head, and this madness would be over. Everyone would run away and leave them alone. She didn’t care about any of these men, and she was especially furious at De Luca. He was a huge storm of trouble that had hit her out of nowhere. And now, he was getting to her as if she was caught in the eye of a hurricane. Eden wanted to get away from this man, as far away as possible, and never see the bastard again. As long as she made it out of there alive, Eden knew she could survive. She just needed to survive. That was all she needed.
“De Luca!” yelled a voice behind them.
Eden glanced behind the column, and to her shock, Yang was still very much alive and well. He had half of his face covered in blood, but he was smiling and showing some of his hideous gold teeth, wielding weapons in both of his hands.
“It’s your doomsday!” he yelled. “You provoked a Dragon, and you’re going to die! And that bitch Part too!”
Eden grimaced from being linked together with De Luca. Meanwhile, the Italian put down his glass, raising his gun to shoot again, a smile on his face. Opposite him, behind the crowd of men fighting like wild dogs, Yang laughed hysterically, raising his guns too.
She had a scary thought in a split second. What if Yang survived, and De Luca was killed? He’d be the next Dragon, and she was going to die anyway. If De Luca survived, at least she had a chance. A slim one, but it was still a chance. Eden hesitated, hidden behind that pillar. She could stay there and let them die, and deal with the consequences later. Would she have a chance to, though? Once one of these two was dead, things were going to escalate quickly. Would she be able to evacuate Jack and whoever else had survived? What of the pups? They were still downstairs, and they needed her!
Eden took a deep breath, and as soon as she heard the first gunshots, she decided. She shifted her position and appeared next to De Luca, suddenly grabbing his shoulder. Whether it was because she had caught the same arm he was shooting with, or because he hadn’t realized, the Italian didn’t push her away. Eden raised her leg right in time to stop Yang’s two bullets aimed right at De Luca’s chest. Trying to shield herself, Eden raised her arm to cover her head and felt a third bullet entering her right flank once again, making her grimace. A fourth one hit her shoulder, and she thought this was it. She had made the wrong decision and was going to die.
She heard De Luca shoot, but Eden was already in a strange state, where she was numb to everything else going on around her. The lapse of time she had lifted her leg to shield De Luca had been a split second, but it suddenly felt like hours, time stretching around her.
Eden heard Loir’s voice, but she had no idea what he was saying. The irony was, although she was in pain, her legs were strong and smart enough to remain in position until the gunshots stopped. Only then did Eden begin to fall to the side and lost balance for real.
She waited for the second she’d hit the ground, but it never came. Maybe she blacked out for a second and missed it because the next thing she knew, she was on the floor. She could feel the hot liquid under her and her hair strewn across her face. She gazed at the ceiling, completely numb. The pain felt like shy waves trying to hit her, but she couldn’t really feel them. She wasn’t even conscious enough to regret her decision. She heard the familiar buzz of her legs, unhappy with all the bullets suddenly lodged in them. Eden was vaguely aware of the sounds going on around her, but she wouldn’t have been able to tell if it was because her ears were failing or the fight was stopping.
She still had her eyes open somehow, and she heard someone scream her name. She thought she had recognized Jack’s voice, but she wasn’t sure. Just then, a face appeared above her, blocking the lights.
“...She’s still alive,” whispered De Luca, with a little smile.
“Boss, what do we do? We got Yang, but more will be coming...”
“Finish the job here. We’re going back.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Take this one with us.”
“Th-the Part, sir? Are you sure? She’s... probably not going to make it by the time we are back...”
“If I say she’ll make it, she will.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Eden woke up slowly and without any pain, which wasn’t the norm for her. Any time she opened her eyes, she would mentally prepare for the pain to hit her. Yet this time, there was nothing. Hence, her instincts took over as soon as her eyes were open, and she sat up, checking her surroundings.
The place was completely unknown to her. Her heartbeat accelerated, extremely confused. Was she dreaming? Or in a simulation? This room was so big and luxurious, something felt wrong. Instead of a wall on her left, there was a large screen displaying a gorgeous panoramic view of Chicago, but Eden wouldn’t be lured by such a thing. High-resolution screens were common in rich people’s houses. This place could be anywhere, even in a basement. She looked around, but other than that, the room was pretty much bare. A single chair was strangely positioned in front of the bed and behind it, a shelf with only three books. On her right, only a wall with a lonely light bulb. That was it. Eden couldn’t understand. Where was she?
She then looked down, wanting to check her legs. She was in a very large bed, although she couldn’t see its framing. The mattress was so large it could have easily welcomed three people. She pulled on the gray silk sheet, revealing a large tiger embroidered on it.
The Tiger.
