Page 6 of I Dated a Holiday Hero (Blind Date Corporation #19)

K rix landed at the spot in the yard, clearly marked for fliers. It was the crosshairs of two guns. A scan ran over him, and then a gate swung open. He walked up the drive, and a man stepped out of the shop at the side of the house.

“Wonder?”

“Worro Der. It was an easy work name. Krix?”

“Yeah. I don’t bother with a work name.”

They shook hands, and Worro paused. “Oh. It’s for a girl.”

“Yes. She has a need, and I can’t fulfill it without help. I don’t have long-range tracking for something I have never seen.”

Worro nodded. “But I do. How do you know that?”

“I know what people wish for, and I wished for help.”

“I see. You have affection for her.”

“I remember her eyes as a child, and they were hollow. I recently learned she had a pair of wings that were cut from her and that remained mobile after the amputation. She hopes for them. Misses them. Needs them.”

Worro nodded. “Understandable. She’s an active?”

“And an omega.”

That shocked Worro. “A powered omega?”

“Yes, you must have been here for a while. There are many of them. She is an escort for the Blind Date Corporation and also works for Z-Corp. I also met her when I was nearly a teen and she was younger. She looked different then.”

Worro cocked his head. “Do you wish to tell me anymore?”

“No. I believe that is sufficient.”

“They have omegas as escorts?”

“Yes. And some who can take a knot without the omega scents.”

Worro’s eyes lit up. “How does one hire one of these ladies?”

“You need to fill out an application, have a full medical, and if you are going to date an omega over her heat, you will have to be temporarily sterilized.”

“Ah, but you can ride an omega through a heat?”

“If she lets you. She would actually have to like you for that to happen.” Krix chuckled. “They have the final say. If they don’t like you, they don’t have to go for a repeat.”

“And she repeats for you?”

“A few times, but I need her to have this. It’s important.”

Worro nodded. “I see. Well, describe these wings to me. I will make some tea. Come into the workshop.”

Krix followed the man with blood-dark hair and charcoal clothing.

“I don’t know much about the wings, but she said that even cut off, they flapped and tried to fly.”

Worro blinked. “That is pretty specific. What colour are they?”

“She used to be black with a rainbow sheen. I am guessing that they would be soft black.”

“What colour is she now?”

“Her skin is pale now. She’s Ambassador Veradil’s daughter. Adopted.” Krix said, “When I flew her home, she mentioned her wings. If she didn’t say it, I still heard it.”

“Can you give me that image?” Worro asked as he brought over mugs of tea.

“Sure.” Krix touched Worro’s temple and gave him the discussion and all that he had picked up during the flight.

“She’s charming.”

“Yes. She is. Extremely intelligent and very sweet.”

“I see.” Worro blinked. “I have them.”

“What?”

“I have the wings. They are in Uradda, under rubble. They are very much alive.” Worro blinked.

Krix projected maps of the Uraddan capital on the table. “Where?”

Worro reached out and moved the map. “Here. This facility. This is where the wings are.”

“Thank you. What do you want for the information?”

Worro smiled. “Show me how to apply to the BDC, and what is your escort’s number?”

Krix blinked. “Why?”

“Because, having seen her through your eyes, she is precisely my type.”

“You are going to steal her?”

“No, she’s an escort. She is not exclusive to you, nor you to her.”

Krix blinked. “I suppose that’s right.”

“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.

* * * *

S he looked up when she was told there were visitors. She got up and brushed her winter gown down, moving down the steps slowly and feeling something important near the door.

Krix and a strange alpha with blood-red hair and black clothing were standing there. Krix had a box under one arm and a pack full of files under his other arm.

She looked at the box and then at Krix’s face. She smiled. “Hello, Krix. I didn’t think to see you for a while.”

“You are looking well.”

“Yeah. Turns out I also had complications from sabotage. I am doing better now. What have you been up to?”

Krix swallowed. “I remembered about your wings, and I asked Worro to find them. He did, and we have them here.”

Hever inhaled and said, “In that case?”

“Yes, we had to keep them inside because they were flapping a lot.”

She chuckled. “That’s how I lost them to begin with. They were annoyed by the flapping. May I have them?”

Krix blinked. “Oh. Of course.” He awkwardly turned the case toward her.

There they were. Her wings. She stroked the glass, and they flapped rapidly. Her hand turned glossy black, and she cut through the glass with her claws.

The glass shattered, and the wings sprang loose, flapping over to her back.

She laughed. “So impatient.” She reached back and clawed her dress and the skin beneath it open.

The wings attached, and she felt them burrowing back into place.

When they started to draw to grow, she staggered, and Krix and his companion reached to support her.

The wings firmed up and became part of her again, and then they started growing.

Hever heard the moment her mother saw her. “Hever!”

Hever laughed. “They found them for me. My wings are back.”

Her mother approached and caught her. She was sobbing. “My wings are back.”

“They are beautiful, baby, but I think we need to call your cousin Khytten. They are bleeding more than they should.”

Hever grinned. “I can fix that.” She let go of her mother and ran to the courtyard, launching skyward. Her wings pulled her up, and she lit her body with dark energy. Silver, purple, and black crackled around her, and she grinned. “Woohoo!”

Her wings firmed up, and the crackling of dead nanites ceased.

She laughed and began flying figure eights around, letting the dark energy dissipate.

She landed in front of her mother and smiled.

Resuming her pale appearance, folding her wings, and locking them tight around her neck, like a cloak. It was a hug, and she could wear it.

Her mother beamed. “You are beautiful, Hever.”

“Thanks, Mom. I feel... whole.” She laughed.

“The wings aren’t wiggling.”

“They are where they need to be. They don’t have to fight anymore. We are one.”

“We?”

“Uh, they weren’t part of me originally. They were an addition in the dish. Uradda backpedalled hard after they made me.”

Krix held up the pouch. “We have the files.”

Hever smiled. “Bring them to the prefect. I can come with you, if you like.”

He smiled. “I would like that.”

Veradil said, “I will call ahead. You are flying in?”

“Oh, yes.”

Hever had a thought, walked up to Krix, and said, “Thank you. Thank you so much.” She grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him down for a kiss.

He remained stiff for a moment before he wrapped his arms around her, and the kiss took off.

She tasted him, tongues duelled, and she held tight until there was a soft clearing of a throat.

“Salmet is wondering where you are,” Veradil said softly.

Hever blushed and backed away. Krix reluctantly let her go.

The other alpha stood smiling. “I believe I am owed a thank you as well.”

“I don’t know you.”

He walked toward her and bowed. “I am a finder of things that fit in my life. It was easy to find your wings, as they were part of you, and you are going to fit into my life.”

“You are very sure of yourself.”