59. An Unexpected Guest

Zahira woke up to the sound of someone hammering on her front door. Scared, she pulled on her dressing gown and darted out into the hallway. She stared at the door, unsure what to do. Should she call someone? She didn't know who to call. The knocking was so forceful it was threatening to break the door off its hinges. Whoever this person was, she didn't want to make them angrier by making them wait.

This was perhaps the wrong idea.

She grabbed a dusty badminton racket, for protection, and held it in a fierce grip before sliding back the lock. Zahira stared, wide-eyed at the sight of the Mad Dog and Dante on her doorstep. She quickly took a step back to let Ezekiel inside. He was the gangster in charge of the city, he basically ran the place. He was a giant man with tattoos on his face. She'd heard that he was called the Mad Dog because he'd once eaten a man's face.

Ezekiel lugged Dante into the apartment. Zahira pressed herself against the wall to make space for the two burly guys. Dante did not look good. He was leaning heavily on his boss and his face was a mess of bruising and blood. Ezekiel dragged Dante to the sofa and set him down.

"Dante needs a place to lay low." Ezekiel explained, out of breath.

"It's that shits fault. He's been after me for weeks now."

Zahira wondered if he was talking about Orion.

"He needs a hospital." Zahira whispered, startled. Ezekiel looked torn but Dante vehemently said no.

"Until we get that footage back, I'm a sure thing for the nick."

Ezekiel sighed and nodded.

"He needs to stay hidden." He told her. Zahira nodded. Her place was used to hide illegal goods, now she supposed it was being used to hide wanted criminals.

Zahira hovered in the living room, unsure what to do.

"I have some paracetamol..." She suggested lamely. Dante cast her a derisive look.

"What about something to clean and dress wounds?" Ezekiel suggested. She shook her head. The most she had was some plasters.

"I'll go and buy something." She offered, already stressed that she'd pick the wrong stuff. Ezekiel rubbed his head.

"Nowhere will be open this late." He reminded her. "We'll have to make do until morning."

Ezekiel hunted through her cupboards, searching for anything that could be useful. Zahira poured Dante a glass of water.

"You got anything stronger?" He asked. Zahira hung her head.

"I have some summer berries cider?" She offered. Dante shook his head.

"Not really my thing."

She hadn't thought so. Dante sipped his water, but his lip was so badly swollen that most of it dripped down his chin.

"I'm sorry." Zahira apologised, rushing to get a towel.

In the end, she held back – fidgeting in the kitchen – and let Ezekiel take care of Dante. When it was late enough in the morning to visit a pharmacy, Zahira was fast asleep on a chair and Ezekiel didn't have the heart to wake her. Zahira woke up when Dante was already nicely bandaged and fast asleep.

"I'm sorry." She apologised meekly.

"No worries." Ezekiel told her; his voice gruff. "I'll drop your rent completely whilst Dante's here."

"Thank you." Though in truth, Zahira wished that Dante would stay somewhere else. How long would he be staying here? She didn't want to live with the scary gangster.

"Just don't tell anyone that he's here."

"I won't."

Zahira's heart was pounding. How did she get mixed up with such scary stuff as this?

**

Zahira struggled through her front door, laden down with shopping bags.

"Why are you back so late?" Dante demanded, appearing in her path. Zahira squeaked in surprise. She quickly looked down at the ground.

"I...I went to get food after work." She'd felt bad for how empty her cupboards were. She ate a lot of yoghurts and fruit, nibble stuff really. But she doubted that Dante wanted to live off her snacks. So she'd brought some proper food to make meals out of.

Dante looked down and saw her shopping bags.

"Oh." He took a step back and let her go through in the kitchen.

"I didn't know what you'd like, sorry." She apologised as she set the bags down the kitchen floor.

"I'll eat whatever." Dante replied.

Zahira set about unpacking the shop. Dante stooped to help her and winced.

"Argh!" He groaned, shutting his eyes and clutching at his side. Zahira froze and stared at him, unsure what to do.

"Are you alright?"

He clearly wasn't. Zahira half made to reach out to him but couldn't quite bring herself to do it. This guy scared her far too much.

In the end, she watched Dante limp slowly back to the sofa. She chewed her lip anxiously as he eased himself down against the cushions, his face drained of colour. Zahira poured a glass of water and placed that and a packed of paracetamol down on the table next to him. Dante swallowed the tablets without needing the water.

"I'll make dinner." Zahira mumbled shyly.

She was midway through cooking when her phone pinged with a message from Orion inviting her over to his place.

I can't tonight. Sorry.

She texted back before quickly turning off her phone and hiding it in her pocket. She didn't want Dante to see Orion's name flash up on the screen.

**

"Zahira," Jaz called her name, coming across her alone in the cafe's kitchen. She was busy loading up the dishwasher. Zahira looked up, startled. "Don't worry." Jaz spoke gently. "I know you've been avoiding me. I won't ask you about Orion, if you don't want me to."

Zahira ducked her head, but she was grateful. She'd felt bad about avoiding Jaz, and it had been yet another thing stressing her out lately.

"I just..." Jaz rubbed his head, looking troubled. "I want you to be careful with him. Orion doesn't have a good reputation."

"Why not?" Zahira asked, confused. As far as she was aware, Orion was being revered as the city's hero.

"Orion's never been sincere about anyone. I've known of him for a long time. He has a reputation for treating those close to him as if they weren't... even human. He's cold, Zahira."

"Cold?"

Like a star.

Zahira stared at the dishwasher she was loading. "Thank you for being worried about me." She spoke shyly.

"But it hasn't changed your opinion of him, has it?"

She shook her head.

"He's been good to me." She replied, too shy to look Jaz in the eye. Jaz sighed in defeat.

"Well, if that changes, you can always come to me for help."

**

"I'm back," Zahira announced timidly. She entered the kitchen in her flat, expecting Dante to be asleep on the sofa, but he was leaning against the fridge – waiting for her.

"Someone knocked on the door whilst you were gone." He told her. Zahira shivered. There was something in Dante's gaze that made the warmth leave her body.

"Oh?" Who could it have been? She wondered. One of the neighbours, perhaps?

"I didn't answer. But I saw them through the peep hole." Dante pushed off from the fridge and prowled menacingly toward her. Zahira had a horrible feeling that she could guess who had come calling. Too late she realised that she hadn't turned her phone back on when she was out of the apartment. If Orion had tried to contact her, he'd have been unable to for the last couple of days.

"Why is that immortal fucker sniffing around you?"

"He's not-"

Dante smacked her across the face. Zahira's head collided into a kitchen counter and she cried out in pain.

"Have you told him that I'm here?!" Dante yelled, grabbing Zahira by her arm in a painful grip.

"No! I swear I haven't!" She whimpered when his grip tightened. "You're hurting me!" He released his hold on her arm and Zahira tried to escape through the door but Dante stopped her easily, pulling her back.

"Don't leave without my permission!"

Tears were rolling down Zahira's face.

"Please, let go of me. I haven't told anyone that you're here. I swear!"

Dante grabbed her by her hair and forced her head to look up so that he could see her face.

"Why did Orion come over here?" He demanded; his face up close to hers.

"We're dating." Zahira burst out, tears dripping down her chin. "But I haven't told him anything, I swear!"

Dante's face scrunched in disgust.

He let her go and Zahira cowered against the wall, crying. Dante took a deep, calming breath. "Stop seeing him." He demanded. Zahira nodded.

Her lack of resistance helped Dante to calm down. He studied Zahira for a moment, seeing her trembling - like a leaf in the the wind. "You really are an idiot." He sighed, frustrated. "You'll get yourself killed if you don't wise up to the situation."

"The situation?"

Dante held her gaze, his expression fierce.

"The gang owns your life, Zahira."