I woke up to a thump and the hair on my neck raised while I stared at my living room ceiling. It took me a moment to remember why I was sleeping in the living room but when I did I sat up roughly and looked down the hall. There was a flashing light followed by hushed male voices. I slipped silently from the couch, grabbing my pistol which was laying on the coffee table. I started to walk slowly toward my bedroom door where Arabel had been sleeping. Halfway there a hand appeared out of the dark bathroom that was between the living room and the bedroom and I was yanked back into the darkness with my mouth covered. It took every fiber of my being to not fight back but when I registered the familiar lighting bolts on my skin and heard the faintest of flutters from white wings I instantly relaxed and she slowly uncovered my mouth. As my eyes adjusted to the dark I saw her put a finger to her lips. She was staring at the dark door which was partly closed, allowing only a sliver of light to enter.
“She’s not here boss,” came a gruff voice from the bedroom. “If she was here, she’s been long gone.”
I listened as I realized that was what she was doing as well. There were two men in the bedroom and one of them was talking on a phone so we only heard one side of a conversation.
“No, he was asleep on the couch.” This sentence left me with the bitter realization that they either saw me through the window or managed to get close enough to not wake me. Which in turn meant they were heavily trained, probably military.
“I’m telling you boss, she isn’t here. The bed isn’t even warm.”
“What about the detective?”
“Got it boss.” And I heard the click of the phone. There was movement coming from the room and I realized that they were heading towards the living room. I pushed Arabel toward the shower despite her emphatically shaking her head in disagreement. But I narrowed my eyes at her and pointed to the shower for her to get in until she begrudgingly complied; I was going to need space in the bathroom. I went to the door and glanced out, there were two men, dressed in heavy, black, combat gear. Both of them had pistols with silencers on them, armed and ready, it didn’t take much imagination to know what their orders were.
As they walked passed the door I inched it open and much like Arabel had done to me I grabbed the man closest to me, covering he mouth with my hand and pulling him quickly and silently into the bathroom, with one hand I wrangled the gun away from him while I wrapped my arm around his neck and tightened my grip until he couldn’t even make a groan. He clawed at my arms with his hands and looked at me with terror in his eyes. I kept my grip tight until I saw the light dim in his eyes and they closed and his hands fell limp to his side. Once I was sure he was unconscious I set him down and looked at Arabel who I realized was staring at me with wide eyes. This time I was the one who held my finger to my lips.
I moved towards the door but was stopped with her hand on my arm. I looked at her and she shook her head, to which I nodded and moved her hand off of me. I held my gun in front of me as I moved to open the door, again she tried to stop me but this time before she could the door slammed open and I felt a painful blow as something hard connected with my face. I groaned and shook my head before tackling the man, ducking under his gun. A shot set off with its muffled sound but appeared to have hit the wall. I pushed him out of the bathroom and into the hall, it would be a difficult place to fight but at least it was out of range of Arabel. With a firm twist of his wrist I was able to dislodge his weapon and send it to the floor. I kicked it all the way to the living room. The man tackled me this time, and I felt myself get pinned against the wall and grunted as I felt his fist make impact with my ribs. But I pushed past the pain and pushed him back, turning to pin him against the wall this time, I threw several punches of my own feeling him buckle under them and then with one powerful throw that came in contact with his temple his whole body crumbled and he was out of commission. I rubbed at my ribs and ran back to the living room to grab his gun off the floor.
“It’s all clear,” I called back to Arabel.
“Nathan!” I heard her scream and in a flash of white I found her in front of me with her good wing wrapped around me. My first reaction was surprise. My second was horror as the realization hit me as she knocked me to the ground with her wing, that the window had shattered with a bullet.
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