Pulse of Heroes (52 page)

“She’s no match for any of us and you know
that,” said Rion, lowering his voice. He himself felt disturbed by
the idea of Hadeno having his way with little Michelle, which only
made him angrier at Elliot. “She’s a little freakin’ girl and you
just couldn’t leave her alone, could you!!!” Elliot slammed the
phone on the wall so hard that it shattered into pieces. Xander and
Devin rushed to the room to see what the noise was all about.
Elliot’s eyes glowed and changed hues rapidly. His mouth hung
slightly open and his jaw was tight to the point of pain. The idea
of Michelle being used for anything made his blood boil.

“I’m going to kill him.” That was all that
Elliot could get out of his clenched teeth.

How did they find out about Michelle? And
where were they keeping her? Did they force her to tell them about
him? Hadeno had no qualms about taking human lives; at least he
needed her alive for now. But Elliot also worried about other
things. What if Michelle really did fall for Hadeno, and it had
nothing to do with him overpowering her physiology, something that
any of them could do in a matter of seconds? Hadeno was obviously
handsome; even Elliot as a man could see that, and he was one of
their kind; he could offer her anything Elliot could. Yet less than
three weeks ago Michelle had told him that she loved him, and
Elliot was no fool. He recognized that Michelle had never said
those words to anyone. She had never been in love before.

In Hadeno’s arms, Michelle was going to lose
her innocence if she hadn’t already, and the thought of that had
Elliot clenching his fists so hard that his white knuckles showed
through his skin and his nails dug so deeply into his flesh that it
began to bleed. Hadeno was going to use her up for his own means
and then discard of her, something that would devastate any woman,
no matter how experienced she was. Rion was right; everything was
his fault. What if he couldn’t pick up the broken pieces and put
her back together?

When Elliot thought about Michelle like that,
he had no choice but to admit that he had been wrong to let her go
and that he wanted her back; she was his from the start. He thought
he was protecting her, but Lady Fortuna had decided otherwise. For
better or worse, Michelle made him smile, and he actually felt it;
it wasn’t just facial expressions without any depth behind them.
She had somehow managed to give the same ordinary world that he had
grown to know, and at times detest, a new meaning. Her excitement
over the things he did or even ordinary things, was enticing him
back to life. Like when he kissed her on the back of her neck and
she screeched and laughed, rolling away from him into a fetal
position. And then she asked him to do it again and again so she
could feel the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand up. He
could have kissed her like that for hours just to see the joy on
her face as she discovered new things about her body and life
itself. Michelle was funny, and warm, and she was clean and soft.
He loved the way her hair smelled and adored the way she kissed him
so full of affection and mystery. Michelle was growing up with him
by her side, and Elliot wanted to be there with her for all of it.
And when the time came, he wanted to make love to her; in fact he
had been dreaming about it. And now, Hadeno was going to ruin all
of that. Hadeno, the man that was never satisfied with just one
woman; Hadeno, the man that did not love anyone but himself.

“I’m going to kill him,” Elliot repeated
himself, coolly. And while Xander looked worried, Devin agreed.

“He’s had it coming for a long time,” Devin
said thoughtfully, and he was right.

Haden might have fought alongside the ‘good
guys’ back when his lands were raided by the Turks, but that was as
far as his morality compass tilted. While nowadays most of their
type stayed clear of human wars, he profited from them, and many
times even exacerbated the issues.

Haden always claimed that humans were
mediocre at best, and whether he was there or not everything would
still happen as it did. He was just trying to make a living and
provide for his family. He was a businessman who had decided that
everything was relative, depending on which point of the conflict
one was looking from. For him, there was no good side or bad side.
He amassed a huge fortune through arms dealing, oftentimes
supplying both sides of the conflict. It was rumored that it was he
who helped the Grand Mufti escape Iraq in 1941 in exchange for an
oil deal, just as the British were closing in on his location.
During World War II this same Grand Mufti befriended Hitler and
helped him strategize and inspect the Nazi death camps for
efficiency. The Nazis even nicknamed him the
Arabic Führer
.
When the Mufti turned his deadly attention towards the Churches in
Eastern Europe, burning several Serbian ones to the ground with the
parishioners still inside, Haden took no responsibility whatsoever,
telling Rion that it was beyond him to predict the future. How was
he to know that the man was going to turn maniacal?

In front of Francesca’s house, Elliot secured
a small dagger with a handle carved out of bone into its leather
sheath and strapped the weapon to his calf before getting out of
the car. He looked at Devin, who lifted his shirt to reveal a
katar, an Indian fist held blade, tucked into his belt. Both
weapons were made of
Nizabar
and had been stored in
Hekademos
’ underground library. Everyone at the school kept
a small weapon on hand for self-defense, while the rest of the
arsenal was hidden in various places around the globe.

Elliot lightly knocked on the front door and
heard small footsteps shuffling across the floor. “Who is it?” a
surprised Francesca asked from inside the house.

“I’m Elliot, Michelle’s friend,” he
answered.

“I’m sorry, but Michelle is not here,”
Francesca answered back.

“I know,” he said, “that’s why I’m here. I
need to ask you just a few questions.” Elliot heard Francesca
unlock her deadbolt and the front door opened just a few inches.
When Francesca laid her eyes on Elliot she was completely shocked,
immediately recognizing him from the wedding photo that Michelle
kept asking about. She opened the door all the way and looked up at
Elliot, unable to say a word. She then stepped closer to him and
raised her hands to touch his face, which he let her do.

“My God!” she exclaimed, “It is you.” Once
Francesca was satisfied that Elliot was real she looked beyond him
to see Devin standing guard next to the Explorer. Elliot assured
her that he was with him. Francesca asked Elliot to come inside and
as soon as he stepped indoors he asked her if she knew where he
could find Michelle. Francesca looked at him confused. Shouldn’t he
know where she is? Weren’t they dating? Elliot didn’t really want
to explain every detail of his relationship to Francesca right
then. Michelle was in danger and time was running out for her.

Francesca walked over to a beautiful bouquet
of flowers and pulled a small envelope from underneath the vase.
She handed the small card that Michelle had sent her to Elliot.
“You can see for yourself; she said she was in Budapest on
Wednesday, but she also told me they would be traveling around. She
mentioned visiting Austria, but who knows. I have no way to contact
her,” Francesca added sadly. She sensed that there was something
wrong.

Elliot read the heartwarming note that
Michelle had written in her own handwriting and cringed at the
thought that someone as lovable as her had been dragged into his
ugly world. “She’s in trouble, isn’t she?” Francesca asked.

“I’m not sure,” he lied, “but I’m going to
make sure she’ll be all right.”

Francesca looked at Elliot quizzingly and
told him that she didn’t know who or what he was, but she
remembered that her grandparents had told her stories from Italy
about different types living among the people, and that she had
always believed them to be true. She warned him that Michelle was
the sweetest girl, and deserved a good life with good friends. Was
he really the same young man that had married her friend so many
years ago after she had already had a child? That’s when Elliot
realized how Michelle knew about his sticky marriage, but she
didn’t know everything. No one did.

Elliot smiled at Francesca softly. “I am, and
I remember you too. You went to the same school as Ruth. You’d stop
by with your parents sometimes to buy olive oil. You are still a
very beautiful woman after all these years.”

Francesca smiled back at Elliot, “I have
tried my best to keep up, but I think you must have found the
fountain of youth first… I know my time will come soon enough. Do
you remember my Renzo? He’s waiting for me, and I wouldn’t trade
seeing him again for anything. You love Michelle, even an old bat
like me can tell that. And Michelle loves you very much. You must
look after her.” Elliot took Francesca’s hands in his and kissed
them gently. “I promise I will.”

Francesca watched Elliot walk back down her
garden path and out the small gate. She had always believed in
angels, but now she had gotten to see hers and feel his loving lips
on her hands.

Samantha let Elliot read the e-mail that
Michelle had written about going to a two-day music festival, and
Elliot relayed that information back to Rion. Rion was already in
the region of Imereti Georgia, a place where he had once ruled over
an ancient kingdom, and it would only take him a few hours to get
to Romania. In that part of Georgia, Rion’s legacy had been passed
from one generation to the next and everyone knew that the King was
still alive and well. Most of the families were related to Rion
through marriage or blood. And after years of pairing up with women
from all over the world, Rion decided that if he was ever ready for
love and family again he would return to his people and choose a
wife from one of their daughters. There was never a shortage of
pretty girls, and they already knew all about him so he didn’t have
explain himself over and over again and deal with their shock.

When he contacted the elders about his
arrival for a visit they immediately thought he might be looking
for a wife and all the young women became very excited. Rion was
quick to clarify that he was not coming for that reason, and things
were quite gloomy among the women when he showed up to the small
village. Nevertheless, they still treated him as their king and
cooked many of his favorite dishes from thousands of years ago for
him to feast upon. Despite the serious nature of the task at hand,
Rion slept well the first night he arrived, and was not surprised
to find Nadia, one of the women he had been introduced to earlier
in the evening waiting for him in his bed. She told him that she
was in love with a man who lived in town, but after meeting Rion
she could see herself being his wife if that was what he wanted.
“When I saw you, you took my breath away,” she said.

Early, even before dawn had broken, a horse
caravan was fully packed and ready to go when Rion emerged from the
home he kept in the village. While the first rays of light were
appearing, he and a few knowledgeable men were well on their way to
retrieve some of the ancient weapons hidden deep within the
mountain caves. To the untrained eye the Caucasus Mountains looked
like majestic snow-topped peaks straight from the storybooks, but
what lay beneath them was just as amazing if not more so. There
were networks of caverns and cave formations that sometimes
stretched out for many miles underneath the snowy sleeping giants.
Some of these caves and halls were known to the public and had
become national parks, but others were purposely well hidden from
the world. It was a two-day trip to get there, and no matter what
part of the year it was, it got freezing cold at night even for
Rion. There was a designated resting spot in a beautiful cave that
was covered by crystal formations formed from thousands of years of
glacier water slowly dripping through tiny cracks in the rocks.

Rion always enjoyed sitting by a large fire,
drinking the regions cold press wine while grazing on game and
farmers’ bread. It reminded him of old times. How he missed the
simpler life. He often thought about returning to live again
amongst his people, but every time something would tell him that it
was not good for him to hide in the past. Georgia was no longer his
kingdom but a war-torn country, and the memories of what it used to
be like would only drive him crazy.

The sign read Alba Iulia and Vilna announced
to Michelle that they were there. She steered the Audi off the main
highway and onto a dirt road where a sign announced that they were
entering private property. “We’re taking a short cut,” was all
Vilna said as she downshifted and drove the car up a steep and
curvy hill until they reached the top where they were greeted by
some sort of ruins.

”Was this a real castle?” Michelle asked in
excitement, and Vilna explained to her that a long time ago the
pile of gray rocks was one of the most magnificent castles in the
entire area, and that her family had owned the land for many
generations. “So you are royalty?” Michelle asked, looking back at
the ruins.

“No, not royalty like the Queen of England,
but we do come from noble ancestry. Once there were so many small
principalities here; I think most Transylvanians have some
connection to one of the families.” As Vilna maneuvered the car
down the other side of the hill, Michelle caught a view of the huge
concert area sprawling down below them to the right. She had never
seen anything that big in her life.

“Wow! This is amazing,” she said. Vilna
laughed in agreement.

“We can get to meet the bands too, if you
want?” she told Michelle, who was getting a little dizzy looking at
all the tiny people down below. Right before they reached the
bottom of the hill Vilna pulled the car behind some trees and
parked in front of a large home that had a stone facade similar to
the ones Michelle saw at the castle ruins. The home was shady, but
had several entrances into a central sunny courtyard.