The War God's Woman

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."