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“TAYLOR SPARKS AND JULIE Winters,” a voice bellowed through a megaphone, “this is the police. Come out with your hands up.”
I cautiously stepped out with my hands in the air.
A multitude of officers rushed at me, pointing guns at my head.
“Don’t shoot!” I yelled.
“We’re not armed,” Julie said, raising her hands high.
A policeman with black bangs, who looked to be in his early thirties, lowered his gun and took a step toward me. “That’s quite a scratch,” he said.
I glanced over at the huge scratch embedded deep into the metal, a claw mark that ran down the length of the car, and I tried to keep my hands from trembling. “Um, I must’ve gotten sideswiped,” I explained, feeling it was best not to mention werewolves.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “You know what it looks like to me?”
I engaged him. “What?”
“Wolves. Werewolves, to be precise.”
I chuckled. “You watch too much sci-fi.”
“We both know this has nothing to do with my DVR, ma’am.”
I stared at him hard. He was obviously an immortal, a werewolf. I was sure he or the others would attack, but they didn’t. Instead, he was trying to gain my trust.
“Is Halo’s Diamond intact?” he asked.
“Not for long if you come any closer,” I bargained.
He backed up and walked over to the cluster of police cars to talk to the others, all of whom kept their weapons trained on us. I wondered what they were planning. I knew he could’ve easily overpowered us, but for some reason or another, they were trying to play it nice.
“They’re gonna steal the diamond from us,” Julie whispered.
“Not if we destroy it first,” I whispered back.
“Without that as collateral, they’ll kill us, Taylor.”
“Not necessarily,” I said, letting out a long breath. “Grant said they were on to us. That means they know we’re human again, and they’ll need us for the ceremony. But they need the diamond too.”
“So they won’t shoot us, but that doesn’t mean they won’t steal the diamond.” She sighed deeply. “If you try to throw it or smash it, they’ll shoot you. Petals are rare, but we’re still replaceable. That diamond isn’t!”
“They’ll have to catch us first.”
“Very funny,” she said, her voice wavering. “They’ve already caught us, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Not necessarily.” I looked around. “We can still get out of this. C’mon. Think about it. We’ve got a huge bargaining tool.”
“But they’re werewolves, and they’ve got access to police cars and helicopters. There’s no way to outrun them. Haven’t you ever seen Cops?”
“I’ve got a plan, but I don’t want them to overhear it. Just follow my lead.”
She nodded.
“Don’t shoot!” I yelled to the police surrounding us. I held the diamond high in the air so they could see its swirling colors. When the lead officer stared at it, I knew I had his attention. “I have Halo’s Diamond, and you know I have the power to destroy it.”
Suddenly, a few wolves began running around, surveying the scene like trained dogs, and I realized any one of them could slash me to pieces at any given moment.
The officer inched toward me.
“One more step, and I’ll smash it,” I threatened.
He motioned for the officers to back down. Lowering their weapons, they slowly stepped away. “Taylor,” he said, “nobody here wants to hurt you.” He spoke calmly and softly, trying not to spook me, telling me everything was okay and that there would be no charges filed if I surrendered.
I eyed him suspiciously and said nothing.
“If we wanted you dead, we would’ve already shot you,” he said. “We want you alive.”
“Only for a few more months,” Julie retorted.
“We know you’re not vampires, and we want to protect you,” the officer said.
I laughed. “Sure, just till you don’t need me anymore.”
“You were chosen for this 1,000 years ago. Why don’t you accept your fate like every other petal over the last millennium?”
“Because I don’t want to die, that’s why.”
“But it’s your destiny,” he said. “It is what you were born to do.”
I shook my head. “Not this same, old lame speech again. Can’t you come up with some new material? Because I’ve heard it all before from your kind.”
“Like from the man Jesse killed in the woods?”
“Not a man,” I said.
“You’re hanging out with a known murderer.”
“I’m looking at one too. Because you and I both know you’re taking me to my death.”
“Like I said, you were born for this fate.”
I was born to live. My destiny is not carved in stone, no matter what any old, dusty prophesy says.”
He gazed deeply into my eyes. “You can’t change fate, Taylor. It was preordained centuries ago. You know you have to do what’s expected of you. It’s what your ancestors would’ve wanted.”
I gripped the stone tightly. “My ancestors murdered innocent people just to get their so-called powers back. All of the petals who were murdered over the last 1,000 years are crying out for revenge, and their blood is on your hands...or paws, actually.”
“Taylor, this is the way it’s been done for hundreds of years. Who are you to try to change all the rules?”
“I’m the teenager who wants to live to see my grandchildren.”
He scowled. “You’ll be a disgrace to them, a coward who backed down from her destiny.”
“If I do what’s expected of me, they won’t exist anyway.”
“I was warned about your smart mouth,” he grumbled. “I suppose now I get to hear it for myself.”
“Is that all you heard?”
“No. I also heard you like to make lots of waves.”
I shook my head. “Yeah, well, I’m not one to go with the flow. I’m not gonna die with a smile on my face. If you want to take my life away from me, you’ll have to fight me for it.”
The officer stepped closer. “I don’t think that’s a challenge you want to make,” he said menacingly.
“I told you to get back, or I’ll smash this thing to dust. You know a petal has the power to unleash the witches’ powers.”
“No! Don’t destroy the diamond!” a woman shouted.
“We’re taking the white sedan,” Julie said. “Now step away.”
Glancing to the right, I saw the vehicle about 500 feet away.
The man motioned for his team to step back. “It’s all yours,” he said. “Just don’t throw that gem. You have no idea of the power you possess.”
I looked up at the thundering helicopter overhead. “Get rid of your eye in the sky, too, or I’ll pulverize Halo’s Diamond.”
The officer nodded and talked into his walkie-talkie, and the chopper suddenly moved off to the left.
Julie rushed over to the white sedan, and the officer stared at her.
“Touch her, and the diamond bites the dust. And I mean that literally,” I said.
He scowled at me, then said something into his walkie-talkie. “I think it’s best you surrender,” he then said to me, with an evil smirk crossing his face.
“You just told us to take the sedan and go,” I said, incredulous.
“We’ll just follow you, and we’ll have to shoot you in the end. I’d rather not kill you today, Taylor.”
“I know, because then you’ll have to scramble to find another petal, and I know they aren’t so easy to come across.”
His gaze narrowed. “It’s pointless to argue. Just gimme that diamond.”
I had assumed he wasn’t really going to let us get away so easily. It had just been a ruse, a ploy to buy them more time to try to talk me into surrendering and keep me from throwing the diamond. We were surrounded, after all, and highly outnumbered. Then it hit me: Grant couldn’t touch it! They can’t steal it, or it will shock them. They need to keep at least one of us alive to handle it and take it back for safekeeping.
“Taylor,” the officer said calmly, “can we stop with this charade? We’ve got you. It’s over.”
My hands began to shake as I asked, “What happens next?”
He met my gaze. “There will be no reports or charges filed. This will all go away, as if it never happened, and nothing will go on your record. We’ll take you back to your parents, to Max.”
My mother’s sweet face popped into my mind, then my fathers. My lips trembled at the thought of my parents, and I missed my dog almost as much.
“I know how much you miss them,” he said. “Wouldn’t you like to return home to Big Bear Lake? Your mother hasn’t stopped crying since you left.”
I gasped deeply. He knew exactly what strings to pull, what buttons to push, and he was getting to me.
The officer held out his hand. “I can take all the pain away. Just tell me this is over and that you’re ready to go home.”
“Drake will kill me,” I said.
“Not on our watch,” he assured me, sounding quite sure of himself.
I shook my head. “You couldn’t protect me before. He snatched me from Julie’s while you were guarding me, and he forced me to cure a werewolf bite.”
“Things will be different this time. I promise, Taylor.”
“I’m scared.”
“Of course you are. You’re not a runaway. You’re a good student, with an excellent track record. It isn’t like you to engage in high-speed car chases and run from the police. Let us take you home, to your parents. No one will harm you, not even Drake.”
“And how do you intend to stop him?”
“Blackmail, I suppose you could call it.”
“What? You know...secrets about him or something?”
“Something like that. Please don’t worry. We have everything under control,” he said. He then pulled out his cell phone and handed it to me. “Call your mom and talk to her. Tell her you’re coming home.”
“No!” I screamed. “Are you crazy? What if I tell my mom you plan to murder me right after Christmas?”
“Taylor, it will restore power to every witch around the globe. Surely, that has to mean something. It means you were born for a very special purpose.”
“No,” I whispered.
He dialed a number and held the phone out for me again. “Take it,” he said.
I looked at him cautiously, wary to grab it.
“No tricks,” he said. “I promise.”