Artemis Fowl and the Dawn Pursuit

Chapter 18: Going Home

The knock on the door of the Carter family's home startled the three people at the kitchen table.

Aurora's father went to open it, revealing a young man in a suit accompanied by a man who looked more like a human mountain.

"Can I help you?" he asked, his voice clipped.

"Hello, Mr Carter. We're here on behalf of your daughter, Aurora," the younger man said, smiling at the standoffish man before him. "We heard she was missing."

"I know where she is," he sniffed. "My daughter said she ran off with the two men who visited our house over a month ago, without a word. We didn't report her as missing, so I don't know why you're here."

Artemis frowned. "Your oldest daughter was kidnapped," he stated. "Why would you not report her as missing?"

"Tracy is in the kitchen," Aurora's father replied sharply. "She's here."

Artemis's spine straightened as he realised what the man meant.

"Daddy?" Aurora's younger sister poked her head around the door that was closest to the front door. "Mum says dinner is ready."

Aurora's father glared at the pair standing at the front door. "My dinner is getting cold. Now, unless you have anything important to tell me, have a great day."

"I'm glad we kidnapped her," Artemis replied coldly, smirking when he registered the surprise on Aurora's father's face. "Have a wonderful day, Mr Carter."

He stepped off the front porch, Butler following closely behind him.

"Call Holly," Artemis ordered his bodyguard. "I know the Russians would defend Aurora with their lives to keep Granger away, but I really don't want them to demonstrate it just yet."

And with a heavy heart, Artemis returned to Fowl Manor.

*********

The first thing Aurora was aware of was the presence of somebody sitting beside her, and a low soothing voice reading a book aloud.

It felt as though she was wading through a thick fog as she tried to move her arm, managing to shift it slightly.

The person reading stopped immediately, and as her eyelids fluttered open she was greeted with Artemis's surprised face.

"Hey," she croaked, her lips lifting upward as she tilted her head to look at him. 

He looked haggard, his skin almost translucent and a hint of five o'clock shadow on his usually clean-shaven face. She noticed the dark circles around his eyes as he carefully checked her over. His suit jacket lay discarded on the side of the armchair, his trademarked black tie lying on top of it, and he had the top two buttons of his white Oxford shirt undone.

He smiled at her, reaching out and gently squeezing her hand.

"How are you feeling?" he asked quietly.

"Tired," she whispered, squeezing his hand back. "No offence, but you look like crap."

He chuckled. "I feel like crap too. I haven't slept in thirty-six hours."

She patted the right side of the bed that had remained unoccupied while she had been unconscious.

"How long was I out?" she asked, watching him come around the other side of her bed and flop down on top of the mattress beside her, staring up at the ceiling as he lay on his back.

"Well, we're into day fifteen as of today," he replied, glancing at the clock on the bedside table, which informed him that it was two in the morning. "Honestly, I'm impressed, because you even managed to stay asleep when my mother came in here to yell at Myles and Beckett for causing an absolute ruckus last week."