Chapter 12
Nothing in her life could’ve prepared Eden for any of this.
She knew that someone could point at her and shout her name at any moment as she walked through the station.
Sweat covered her brow and ran down her back.
Her legs wobbled uncontrollably, and her heart thumped wildly, threatening to burst from her chest at any second.
She knew why Maks had separated them, but she didn’t like it.
At least with him, he knew what to look for as far as their enemies went.
To her, hell, everyone was a potential enemy.
And that was probably the smartest thing she could put in her mind.
She had a habit of trusting people too easily, of taking their word for stuff.
She’d been burned so many times that she should’ve learned her lesson by now, but somehow, that wasn’t the case.
Eden tried to swallow, but her mouth was dry. She kept her head down like Maks had told her to do and refused to look up. She was so terrified. The fight or flight thing was going into effect, and she was all about the flight.
It was easy for her to stay with a group and appear as if she were one of them when the train station was so crowded.
As they neared the exit, that became more difficult.
She did her best, which had so far gotten her through most of the building.
When she saw the exit signs ahead, relief loosened the tight hold that fear had on her.
Then she spotted the police officers at the entrance, looking at everyone.
Eden froze in place. In her head, she screamed at herself to keep moving like Maks had told her.
But her legs simply refused to obey. Her fingers grew numb, and she loosened the hold she had on the scarf, remembering only then that she still had it on.
A woman with a fedora walked in front of her, chatting on the phone with someone.
Eden’s gaze followed her into the toilet.
Even though Maks had told her not to stop, something had prodded her to change her appearance.
Eden pivoted and made her way to the toilet area.
Oddly, there weren’t many women inside. The woman with the fedora went into a stall and locked the door.
Eden remained at the sink. She looked at herself in the mirror and removed the scarf.
Next, she took off the backpack and unzipped it to take out her thickest sweater.
Eden shimmied her shoulder to remove the jacket and fold it up to put into the pack, leaving her in a thin, long-sleeved tee.
She put the sweater over the tee and straightened to run her fingers through her hair.
Her gaze slid to the scarf sitting by the sink.
She quickly folded it and put it away, but she still needed something to cover her head.
It wasn’t as if she could stop in a shop and buy something. And she’d never stolen anything in her life, so that wasn’t an option.
Your life is at stake. Do what needs to be done.
At that moment, the woman walked out of the stall.
Eden kept her gaze lowered as she put her hands beneath the faucet to run water over them as if rinsing them from washing.
The woman stopped two sinks away and removed the fedora to comb her short hair.
Eden knew now was the time. They were the only two in the restroom.
She could just take it, wrestling it from the woman if need be.
That would be stupid. Yeah, let’s cause a ruckus so the authorities are called.
Okay. So she had to think of something else. But her mind was blank. Then she thought about Maks. What would he do?
And then it came to her.
Eden dried her hands and put her pack over her shoulder. She opened her mouth, but the words came out as a squeak. Clearing her throat, she tried again. “Excuse me. Is that yours?” Eden asked and pointed to the side.
The moment the woman turned, Eden grabbed the hat.
The woman kept walking towards the place Eden had pointed, which gave her the time she needed to leave the toilet.
She didn’t immediately put on the fedora in case the woman came running out to look for her.
Though she did find another group to fall into step with.
Eden maneuvered herself into the middle of the crowd to hide herself even more.
As they approached the exits, she placed the hat on her head and smiled at one of the men next to her.
He returned her smile and asked in German how she was.
She used the opportunity to reply to him as they walked through the doors and out of the station so that it appeared as if they were together.
When no one tried to stop her or call her name, she kept going, wanting to be as far from the station as she could.
The air hit her face, cooling her. She made herself stop and take a couple of calming breaths.
Then she turned around and looked at the train station.
It wasn’t her first time in Budapest, and she had spent time exploring the architecture of the station before, but now she looked at it differently.
She looked at everything differently.
Seconds felt like an eternity. She scanned faces, looking for Maks. The longer she went without seeing him, the more worried she became that he had arrived while she had been otherwise occupied in the toilets. Maybe he’d left.
He wouldn’t leave you.
Eden snorted. Why wouldn’t he? She was doing nothing but weighing him down.
If he knew a hacker, then they could look through the intel he had.
He didn’t need her for anything. She couldn’t protect herself.
She didn’t know the first thing about going undetected through a city, and she certainly didn’t know enough about the Saints to know what to look for.
“For fuck’s sake,” she said and closed her eyes in frustration.
“What’s wrong?”
The sound of Maks’ voice next to her had her eyes flying open. She threw her arms around him, holding him tight. “I thought you’d left me.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” he said, his arms coming around her.
That’s when she realized what she’d done. Eden loosened her hold and stepped back. “Sorry. I sometimes let my imagination get away from me. Actually,” she grimaced, “it’s not sometimes, it’s all the time.”
One side of Maks’ mouth lifted in a smoldering grin. “That could come in handy. It’ll keep you on your toes so you don’t trust anyone.”
“Eh. I trust too easily. I mean, look at you. I took your word for everything.”
His blue eyes were intense as they stared at her. “Actually, you asked questions and wanted proof. You’ve had no reason not to trust people before now. Some people believe everything.”
“Like me,” she interjected.
“And some believe nothing.”
She raised a brow. “Like you?”
He chuckled softly. “Like me. Ready to get out of here?”
“Please.”
They turned right and started walking. She felt his gaze rake over her, and she took the opportunity to do the same. She just now realized that he no longer wore his jacket.
“I thought I told you not to stop,” he said.
She shrugged and pointed at him. “You seem to have lost your coat.”
“I got rid of it, but I didn’t stop.” He jerked his chin to the hat. “You seem to have picked up something yourself.”
Eden raised her eyes to the fedora and shrugged. “I know what you said, but something told me to change my appearance.”
“While I don’t disagree with what you did, next time, I need you to do exactly as I say. Because it might mean your life.”
“I understand.”
“Changing your appearance was smart.”
She lengthened her strides to keep up with him. “I just took off my jacket and replaced it with a sweater. The hat, well, I stole that. It’s the first time I’ve ever stolen anything in my life.”
He glanced at her. “How did it feel?”
“I’m not sure. I’m alternating between knowing I had to do it and wanting to run back and give the woman some money.”
Maks smiled and shook his head. “You have a good heart. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, you also have a strong will to survive, which means you’ll do what needs to be done to ensure that. It’s a good combination.”
“If you say so.”
“Well, you’re about to get another dose of knowledge because I’m going to steal a car.”
The toe of her shoe caught on the lip of the sidewalk, causing her to stumble. Maks had his hand on her arm immediately, steadying her. She flashed him a reassuring smile, but his frown said that it did anything but that. “I’m good.”
They walked in silence, Maks taking them deeper and deeper into the city.
The streets became narrower, and the people thinned out so that the tourists were left behind.
Eden hadn’t seen this part of the city before.
She tended to stay close to main attractions the first few times she visited a city, then slowly worked her way outward to take in as much as she could.
Living in Vienna had made that possible.
Otherwise, if she had made it to Europe, she wouldn’t have been able to spend nearly the amount of time in each city as she had.
“Stay here,” Maks said before he suddenly walked between two parked cars.
She watched as he made his way down the line of vehicles along the street until he found the one he wanted.
Eden was shocked at how easily he got into the car.
He motioned for her to join him as he got behind the wheel.
She got inside and closed the door in time to see him twist two wires together as the engine roared to life.
In the next second, he pulled out onto the road.
“Whew,” she said and fastened her seat belt. “I wasn’t sure we’d make it.”
Maks didn’t look at her as his gaze scanned the streets. “We’ve not made it out of anything yet.”
“But we got out of the train station and are now in a car heading…I don’t know where. But there are no border checkpoints, so we’re good.”
“Just because there are no checkpoints in place doesn’t mean they can’t spring them up for some special reason while looking for us.”
Eden was deflated. “Oh.”
“That doesn’t mean what we’ve done is diminished. You did good.”
“What happens now?”
He glanced at her. “Get some sleep if you can. We’ve got a bit of a drive.”
Eden wasn’t sure she could sleep, but she would take the time to rest her eyes and meditate. At the rate things were going, she was going to need all the meditation she could get to keep from expiring from fear.
The car was old and smelled like someone had left rotten food in it. Or vomited. Either way, it wasn’t a good smell. But beggars couldn’t be choosers. She would deal with the stench if it got them where they needed to go.
Despite wanting to meditate, she couldn’t keep her eyes shut.
She looked out the passenger window as the city fell away.
Without meaning to, she was going to see another part of Hungary that she hadn’t gotten the opportunity to see before.
She found herself grinning, because she was doing what her mom always had, finding the silver lining in any situation.
It had worked for the most part until her father had left them with no money, no home, and no place to go.
That’s when her mom finally had enough and left her dad.
“You’re smiling. That’s good,” Maks said.
She turned her head to him and shrugged. “I was thinking about my mom.”
“Did she want to visit here?”
“She had a list a mile long of places she wanted to go. When I was a little girl, she got a map and put colored pins in all the places she wanted to visit. She bought another color to change them out to show everywhere she had been.”
Maks briefly met her gaze. “How many places did she get to see?”
“Two. And only because she finally divorced my father and was actually able to save money and travel. The two of us went together. We were just about to leave for our third trip when she died.”
“I’m sorry.”
Eden smiled, her heart full of love for her mother. “Thank you. She was a good woman, who always found a way to make any situation suit her. It’s what I just did, thinking about how I’d never seen this part of Hungary before and now had the opportunity to do so.”
“You two have a rare gift. Most people see the negative in everything.”
“Do you?”
He seemed to think about that for a moment. “I think I see the reality of any situation. My training and years in the military taught me that.”
“In your line of work, that’s to your advantage.”
“Maybe. But in the real world? I’m not sure it is.”
She twisted her lips and looked through the windshield to the road before them. “I don’t know. People take advantage of me all the time. It might be nice not to let that happen. Maybe I can pick up a few tricks from you,” she finished with a smile, her gaze returning to him.
“The worst thing that has happened to you is me coming into your life. You’re a rare treasure, Eden. I wouldn’t change anything about you. I’m sorry I pulled you into this.”
“I’m not,” she replied honestly.
His blue eyes met hers for a heartbeat. “You won’t be saying that in the end. You’ll be cursing the day we met. Everyone does.”
“I won’t.” She lifted her chin, daring him to argue the point.
Despite now running for her life, she knew that what they were doing was for the greater good of the world. How many people had the opportunity to take such a stand? It had come to her, and she had the right, no, an obligation to do her part.
She wasn’t going to let Maks or anyone else down.