The Starling Saviour

Chapter 54

As Helena and the other woman journeyed further into the room, I spotted a small gun being pressed into Helena's back. And I could do nothing to stop them, not yet.

I hadn't seen Helena in what felt like an age, and yet she was being held at gunpoint right in front of me, all because of me. This wasn't the reunion I was quite hoping for.

'I hear you and Helena Cadent were good friends, for a while,' Vanch commented as Helena trembled with fear. 'But dear Helena here couldn't cope with being a vigilante anymore, after Isaac died.'

Helena started to tremble even more as the woman whispered something in her ear, something hurtful. But what had she said that had made Helena so afraid? Vanch's friend was just as bad as him, it seemed.

'Don't kill her!' I shouted at once. 'Please, don't. She isn't involved in any of this. It's about me, not Helena.'

'Do not talk to Vivian that way,' Vanch ordered me, defending this Vivian. 'She is only helping me, there's no need to be rude.'

Well, Cyrus Vanch was certainly something.

'Let Helena go,' I snarled this time, not letting Vanch make me weak any more.

'I can't until you tell me something about Oliver Queen!' Vanch shouted, losing his cool.

'Why is this so important to you?' I tried to figure out Vanch's game. 'What's Oliver ever done to you?'

'Nothing, really,' Vanch informed me. 'But he has upset many other people. Really, I'm doing you both a favour; there are some out there who would do much worse to you and Oliver if they were the ones in my position.'

Vivian pushed Helena closer towards us, the gun still pressed into her back.

'And I don't think you'll want to see your friend here die because you wouldn't comply, now?' Vanch merely muttered, my attention fully on him.

And I knew Vanch wasn't bluffing; he was a notorious killer who would do anything to get what he wanted.

'What do you want to know?' I asked him monotonously.

'I heard a lot of traffic on the SCPD radio,' Vanch smirked at his triumph. 'The police are interrupting a meeting with The Hood tonight, aren't they?'

I gulped, trying not to answer Vanch's accusations.

'Tell me or Helena is dead!'

'Fine,' I confirmed his conclusions, clenching my jaw. 'You're right, of course you are.'

'And who is the lucky person he's meeting?' Vanch carried on, making me regret everything.

I couldn't get Laurel involved in this. I couldn't.

'No answer, no Helena!' He shouted, invading my personal space.

'No,' I stood my ground.

'No?' Vanch laughed at my choice of word. 'You're going to be very sorry, Aria.'

I looked back at Helena to see if she was okay, if Vivian had pulled the trigger, but instead of the fear on her face I had anticipated, she looked determined and inspired. I could sense she was planning something, and I guessed right.