Graze Her Heart

Chapter 4

He was asleep.

Greya shifted subtly, waiting for him to open his eyes. He didn't.
He was breathing deeply, still out cold.

She moved again. Shifting until she was sure he wouldn't wake, Greya slipped out of Quin's arms.

Standing in front of him, her eyes ran over his long eyelashes, shielding his cerulean blue eyes. Down to his straight nose and nose ring that made him hotter than he had the right to be. To his soft pink lips, slightly parted in sleep.
The most gorgeous man I've ever seen, she thought to herself.

Sighing, she turned slightly, keeping him in her periphery and soundlessly stalked out of the metro car.

Greya made her way to the front of the train.

Looking around, there were a couple of people standing, many seated on the plastic chairs. A baby was shrieking in his apologising mother's arms.

She made her way toward a standing woman.

The woman looked around twenty. Light brown hair with a bouncy fringe over her forehead. A thin, shapely body swaddled with scarves and a magenta coat. A pale pink phone was clutched in her hand, her thumb scrolling speedily. Her lashes fluttered as she scanned whatever was on the screen. She was pretty.

"Hi, where's the next stop?" Greya asked.

The woman looked up. She had pale green eyes. "Salzburg ma'am," in a heavy Irish accent.
Greya nodded a thank you.

She was going to get off. The metro had taken her far enough from Berlin.
She was now on the run. As attractive as Quin was, she didn't trust him. Not by a mile. 

She remembered her years in Ceylon before she was taken. Her mother had worked in a circus. She was absolutely beautiful. Long black lashes framed deep obsidian eyes. Her river of midnight black hair was always braided down her back. She was tall, something Greya always wondered if she'd ever inherit.

Her mother was graceful beyond reason. An acrobat.

Greya remembered how she'd watch her mother fly through the air. She belonged in the air more than the ravens did.

Her loose braid whipping like it was tasting freedom.

Her lean body arching into flips and gliding from one platform to another. She was incredible.

Greya couldn't find her mother. Not yet.

She had to make sure the Jenkov wouldn't follow and catch onto what she was doing. She couldn't risk her mother like that.

The metro began slowing down when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
Her body tensed. Quin.

She peeked over her shoulder to see the pretty green-eyed woman.
"Yes?"

"You seem a bit lost, I'm a travel guide. I'd love to show you around if you're visiting Austria," she informed Greya perkily.

A travel guide. Someone who knew how to navigate a city she'd never set foot in. Useful.

"That would be lovely. I'm travelling Europe alone for a month. I'm rather bad at it though. I keep losing track of where I am," Greya forced a laugh.

She had been trained. She knew what to say and how to say it. She knew what she needed. She needed to run. She needed to run far.

"Great! My name is Carlotta, you can call me Charlie," Charlie told her.

"Greya," she greeted.

"Nice to meet you Greya. Let's stop by my office okay? We can arrange payment?"

Payment.

"I'm a spontaneous traveller Charlie, I move around a lot. I'm looking for work for a few days here. Save up and move again as soon as I can afford a ticket," Greya shrugged.

"Oh! That's fun! Alrighty, we can work our way around that, don't worry about it love," Charlie beamed at her.

While her new guide was rummaging through her handbag, Greya looked her over again. The toes of her suede black pumps were peeling. The coat she was bundled in was ridden with holes at the hem. Her green eyes were slightly sunken into masterfully concealed bags.

This woman wasn't doing well in something. From how she offered services to someone she'd met on the train on a silver platter, she was either really friendly or really broke.
Maybe both from the look of it. She was desperate.

"Here's my card love, you just hang on to that."

"Thanks," Greya nodded, slipping the small piece of cardboard into her pocket. Knowing full well, she didn't own a phone to contact Charlie in the first place.

The train came to a stop, looking around making sure Quin wasn't waiting ready to grab her and drag her to his boss, she stepped out.

A mixture of rolled German and Bavarian invaded Greya's ears as she stepped onto the platform.

Charlie immediately started walking off, murmuring into her phone.
Assuming she was meant to, Greya followed her.

They walked through the underground station. Salzburg was not as cold as Berlin, but still cold.

Greya was dressed in a thin cotton shirt, it was lose around her neck from the nervous habit she had of yanking it when she was younger. A habit she was disciplined out of. She had left Quin's jacket on the seat of the metro car. And was beginning to regret not nabbing it. 

She had on black cargo pants that most of the other mercenary trainees wore. Though hers were looser and needed to be tied around the waist with a shoe lace.

She wore the same dull black leather combat boots she had worn since she was thirteen.

Greya didn't think she looked terrible, she was fairly clean, but dressing lightly for travel through spring Austria wasn't what she'd opt for.

They passed quaint tourist shops advertising souvenirs and different kinds of coffee.

Greya wanted to look in every one of them. Explore all the little baubles and trinkets they offered.
She reminded herself she wasn't on a vacation. She was running for her life. She needed to focus.

Charlie hailed a cab and they made their way into central Salzburg. It was a big city. New smells and sights made her dizzy with curiosity. The temptation of exploring it all was nearly too much for Greya.

She kept her head tilted down and studied her fingers instead.

Would Quin find her? No, he hadn't even realised she'd left. He wouldn't know which city she got off in, he definitely wouldn't know who she was with either.

Quin didn't feel like a danger. In fact, she felt safer with Quin than she did Charlie. But logic, ever the right voice to heed, told her she couldn't trust him.

Quin knew things. Charlie didn't. That made Charlie the safer option.

Greya would stay in Salzburg, earn a little and then head perpendicular to the course of the train. Opposite would be too obvious. She couldn't go anywhere near Germany anyway.

She'd throw Quin off for a while. He'd give up when he got tired of the chase, tell his employer she'd died or something.

The cab suddenly came to a screeching halt and Greya's door was yanked open.

Looking up, she sighed. She knew she should've explored a little.