Page 22 of I Dated a Holiday Hero
“Don’t worry. I don’t steal. I only accept that which is freely given.”
Krix sipped at his tea. “You will hate the BDC then. The cost for one night is astronomical.”
“How do you afford it?”
“I am a maker. I do side jobs for the government.”
Worro nodded. “I will come with you to the facility. Uraddan’s are treacherous, and you need a heavy-hitter to move that rubble.”
“I am a heavy-hitter.”
“You are? You look fit but not bulky.”
He sighed. “I am aware that I am a stunted alpha.”
They finished their tea, and Krix contacted dispatch, registering a visit to a defunct Uraddan facility.
He looked at Worro. “Can you fly?”
“No.”
Krix walked outside and looked at Worro. “Are you used to a lift?”
“Yes. How fast are you?”
Krix grinned. “Pretty fucking fast.” He picked Worro up and said, “Exhale.”
He blasted forward, and they were over the destroyed facility in Uradda a moment later.
Worro staggered when set down. “You weren’t kidding.”
Worro walked toward the building, and together, they followed his tracking and finding to a lab three levels deep, where images of children at different stages of development were stuck to walls and charts. Krix grabbed a stack of files and put them in an expanding pack on his work suit. Worro found a lab with different preserved child-sized limbs, and there was a case with the wings flapping away. Krix walked up to them and touched the case. “Little ones, we are taking you back to her. She’s bigger now, so you are going to have to catch up.”
He gripped the case and pulled the whole unit from the wall.
Worro asked, “Why not take them out?”
“Because they can’t fly, but they can still move. So, do you want to chase them around? I think it would be best to get them to a medic who can do grafts.”
Worro blinked. “Sensible.”
“I will contact the doctor her family uses when we arrive. Can you hold the case?”
“Uh.” He looked at the wings.
“Never mind. I can carry you and them.” He fixed his bag, put the case with the wings facing him, and they walked up and out of the facility. Krix grabbed Worro around the waist and said, “Exhale.”
They shot forward and were in front of Ambassador Veradil’s home in under a minute. They were standing outside the gate, and Krix said to the guard, “I have something for Miss Hever.”
The guard looked at him. “You are a polite one.”
“My parents were strict. Manners matter.”
He called it in, and the door opened.
Krix walked in with Worro at his side.
They were welcomed into the house, and Hever walked toward them with a smile and a curious expression.
