The Prince of Manhattan by Alexei Iskander

Author:Alexei Iskander [Iskander, Alexei]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

7.

Miranda had managed to stop shivering when they left the apartment. She wore a hoodie over her t shirt to hide her face from any prying eyes. Leofric came behind her, a hoodie concealing his face too. They were headed for the only safe place that Miranda could think of, the Jefferson Archival Library at NYU. She had pulled many an all nighter studying there, the library had a policy of allowing students to stay the night provided they had student ID. The building itself was large and had many entrances and exits which suited Miranda just fine, she didn’t want to be in a situation in which she could be easily cornered again. They exited through the back of the apartment, through the fire escape and made their way down the streets. Miranda kept her eyes low but she made furtive glances at passerby’s, paranoid that any one of them could be a monster in disguise. Meanwhile her mind ran over the events of the last few hours relentlessly.

If it wasn’t for Leo that monster would have eaten me. But then if I had never met Leo than that monster wouldn’t have hunted me down. But then if I hadn’t met Leo I would have been violated by those two thugs in the alleyway. Why does life have to be so complicated? She shivered at the recollection of her captivity in the hands of the beast. It’s deformed face, wide snout, leering eyes and inhuman growls would haunt her dreams. Leo told me he killed one in a gas station bathroom and that’s how he realised that I too was in trouble. And he then made the choice to come all the way back to make sure I was safe. Miranda shivered at this memory too, but not out of fear or horror. It was because a warm tingle ran down her spine, one that suggested safety and comfort. Watching Leofric grapple with the beast and slay it had inspired intensely powerful emotions in her. Like how she imagined medieval damsels felt when they saw their knight in shining armour slay the dragon for them. After the monster had been slain it had taken all of her will power to not throw herself at him and bury herself deep within his soothing embrace. She’d been taken aback by how strong the feelings were, she’d never felt that way before and had never imagined one could feel that way. She had convinced herself that the feelings were just a result of the rush of the moment but it was a halfhearted explanation. The fact that Leofric had come back for her would have made her beam if she wasn’t so shaken up.

“See that man by the street vendor” Leofric uttered. Miranda surreptitiously glanced at the individual in question. “Is he one of them?” Miranda asked.

“I don’t know” Leofric replied. “But keep an eye out”. They passed the man buying food from a street vendor and continued on their way. Miranda wished that she could cling to Leofric’s frame, to hold onto his lean torso and never let go.

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