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Kristina
“Rose?” I put the receiver to my ear and wait to hear her voice.
“Kristina, honey, how are you?” She sounds exhausted. I suppose, under the circumstances, this isn’t at all strange.
“Grandma, what’s wrong?” Shuffling comes in from the other end, followed by the sound of someone going through a coughing fit in the background. “How’s Wyatt? Is he holding up okay?”
“We are both doing fine. Tired, but okay. Are you still with Tiger?”
“Yes. We’re okay, too. Same as you, I guess. We really haven’t gotten much sleep and it’s been hours since we last ate a decent meal.”
“Where are you right now?”
“Near the Putnam Museum of History and Natural Science. We just got here but we probably won’t stay long. We may be heading out soon, depending on how things turn out here.”
“Have you met someone there?”
I open my mouth to reply, but something clicks in my head. Why is she asking so many questions all of a sudden? She has never been interested in where I am or who I’m with as long as she knows I’m safe.
“Not really. We’re just stopping by on our way out of town. We have been discussing splitting up and going our separate ways from now on. It’ll be easier to ditch Gerard’s men that way.”
She is silent for a moment and I hold my breath. Is something wrong? Or is fatigue getting the best of me, leading me to see things that aren’t really there?
“That would probably be best for you both,” she responds in a lighter tone.
Maybe I am reading too much into things. I’m in desperate need of sleep, actually.
“Kristina, I have to go. Please take care of yourself.” Luster is missing from her voice. It almost comes across as robotic, which throws me off. She’s been on the run, too, and is probably as worn out as I am, so I try not to make things into something they are not.
“I’ll find a way to get in touch with you, Grandma. Take care, okay? I love you. Say hi to Wyatt for me.”
“Me too, honey.” And the phone goes dead. I stare at the screen, feeling as if I’m missing something.
“He is quite the specimen, isn’t he?”
I spin around at the sound of Gabriel’s voice right behind me. Finding him so uncomfortably close to me, it makes the hairs at the back of my neck stand on end.
“Who?”
“Gerard’s prized possession.”
We are alone. The rest of the inhabitants of the mansion, along with Hayden and Drake, are in the dining room. In order to make my way to them, I have to stride by the baby-faced vampire and the last thing I want to do is present my back to him.
“How...uh, do you know about Gerard?”
He sets his hands behind him. “Because thanks to something I have in my possession, Gerard had the means necessary to begin his experiments.”
It is brief, but I believe I detect a measure of coherency in his blue eyes. “What are we talking about here?”
“I have tried to share it before, but no one listened.” He moves to clasp his hands in front of him, interlocking his fingers like a nervous child who has just been reprimanded for misbehaving. “Do you want to hear the whole truth?”
Run! My brain screams for me to get the hell away from this strange individual, but the more rational part of me says I should hear him out. After what Nyall said, I shouldn’t take Gabriel’s words too lightly.
“Yes.”
His thin lips split into a grin. “Not here. There is something I have to show you.”
I ponder his offer. He may not be entirely lucid, but I have no doubt he has information that may be of value to us.
“Where are you taking me?”
His face grows serious once more. “To the basement.” When I don’t immediately respond, he adds, “I won’t hurt you.”
That is difficult to believe, considering he’s a vampire—and one who doesn’t seem to be entirely coherent half the time, but I give him the benefit of the doubt anyway. “Fine. Let’s go.”
***
Gabriel’s eccentric behavior unnerves me. He acts like a nervous squirrel, moving from one side of the room to the other in rapid movements. He opens one drawer and then closes it. Opens another and slams it shut before dashing to another area to repeat the same process. He’s so engrossed in what he does that I come to think he’s forgotten I’m standing quietly by the furnace, watching him.
I decide to speak up, just in case he has. “What have you figured out that the others haven’t?”
Gabriel glances behind him, and focuses his pale eyes on a trunk a few paces away. His mouth breaks out in a gleeful grin. He rushes to it, forcing open the top. “Found it!” he exclaims with delight. “I thought I had lost it.”
He leans forward and picks up a big packet from within. After slamming the trunk’s lid shut, he rushes over to a wooden table at the right side of the room and sets the bundle on top.
“Come.” He doesn’t take his eyes away from the package. “Come closer.”
Hesitantly, I stride toward the table, eying the parcel wrapped in some kind of tattered, reddish-brown leather as I move closer.
“Take a seat.” He motions to an empty chair to his left.
I sit facing Gabriel, as far away from the young vampire as the table will allow. “What’s that?”
Gabriel removes the leather—releasing a cloud of dust in the air that causes me to cough and sneeze—and tosses it on top of the table. What I thought was a parcel is in fact a book of average size. The slight discoloration of the cover and the yellowing of the pages suggest it’s old.
“This is what I wanted to show you.” He sets the book in front of me and opens it. “This references some of the oddest vampire lore we have ever heard of.” He flips through the pages. I catch bits and pieces of weird drawings, but I can barely make out anything concrete because he jumps from page to page too quickly for me to catch any of it. “Gerard Radcliffe used this book as his guide.”
Finally, he stops and points to the title on the top, left corner of the page. It reads, The Romanian Brothers. I turn a startled gaze to Gabriel. “Who are the Romanian Brothers?”
He pins me in place with a confused look. “Castiel and Nyall, of course.”
“So what purpose does this book serve?”
“I think it was meant as a guide for someone. Who? That part is not clear, but Castiel and Nyall’s history is written down here.”
“Is this how Gerard found about Nyall and Castiel?”
Gabriel nods enthusiastically. “We don’t know who wrote this book. Or how this person,” he shrugs, “or vampire knew so much about every undead being in this book, but Gerard got a hold of it and well, was able to track down Castiel.”
“Gerard had this in his possession?” I study the page. It is neatly written, by hand. Whoever wrote all the information about Nyall and his twin took a lot of time and effort to make sure each and every word was legible and arranged in a straight line word after word, sentence after sentence.
“Indeed, he did.” Gabriel taps his long, glassy fingernails on the wooden frame.
He’s a nervous one. Constantly moving. Always looking around, as if he’s waiting for something or someone to pop out of nowhere.
“How did he get ahold of it?” I look up at him and find him staring at the door we came through. My gaze falls to the entrance to the room but it’s empty.
“I had it with me the day he captured me.” His expression is completely solemn.
I snap my gaze up to him. “Captured?”
Gabriel rushes a hand over his blond locks. “He found me in Paris.” He starts pacing the length of the room then, nervously moving his fingers up and down as if he’s playing a piano. “I didn’t know anything about Gerard or what he’s doing—or trying to do. I...was in my home, alone, when his men broke in through the front door. I had no time to escape. They were on me before I could jump out the window. I was a fairly new vampire back in the day, having been turned not eight days before. My powers were undeveloped, and he took advantage of this.”
Gabriel’s focus is on the floor as he marches from one end of the room to the other. “He forced me to tell him where the book was. I had no choice but to tell him. I thought...I thought he would let me go once I handed it over, but he didn’t.”
“Gabriel—” I want him to stop. His edginess saddens me. I’d prefer it if he does not relive something so obviously upsetting to him, but he’s beyond hearing.
“They took me to one of his many locations—an empty warehouse somewhere in the French countryside. He has founded Institutes in many places.” He finally stops pacing and spins around to look at me. “Gerard went through the book and then asked me how accurate the stories were. I thought they were just tales, made up by some crazed individual. At least, that’s how I saw my maker. The man who took me in and made me a vampire was the book’s original keeper. He left that night, right before Gerard came, and I have never heard or seen him since. He might have set me up, but I have no proof of this. I have every reason to believe he had lost his mind some time during his immortality, much like I have now.”
How unhinged can he actually be if he’s capable of recognizing he’s not entirely put together?
“Sometimes I don’t even remember my own name.” He tips his head and laughs, but the action doesn’t show in his eyes. “Sometimes he didn’t seem as if he had all his wits about him so I had no reason to believe the information in the book was accurate. But I was wrong.”
“How do you know these stories are all real?” I ask.
“They have to be. If Castiel and Nyall are real, the rest must be, too.” He rushes over to the table and begins flipping the pages again. “Look at this.” He stops and points to a likeness of a very beautiful young woman with waist-length brown hair and gray eyes. “This is said to be the most powerful vampire to have ever existed. Many don’t believe she’s real, but I do. See here,” his brow rises as he gazes at me with renewed enthusiasm, “although she is relatively young in vampire years, not yet considered to be an elder by some, she is rumored to be more powerful than all of them combined. It is said that even the elders fear her.”
As intriguing as his story is, he’s deviated from the conversation.
“What does all of this have to do with Hayden?”
A light bulb seems to have gone on in his head. His eyes widen as he says, “Yes, of course. Well, it was through this book that Gerard found out about Castiel and Nyall. When he heard about the Romanian brothers, he went in search of them. He spent five years of his life searching, hunting them down. Now, Castiel, with his gift, could see Gerard coming, so he broke away from his brother and ventured out on his own. If you ask me, I believe Castiel allowed himself to be captured. Castiel is old. Very old. Close to two thousand years old. He would never fall prey to someone like Gerard so easily.”
“What’s the link between Castiel and Hayden?” I watch Gabriel carefully as his demeanor changes from anxiety to excitement in seconds.
“Did Nyall relate the story of how he came to be a vampire?” When I nod, he continues by saying, “Well, vampires are incapable of breeding. We are the undead. The undead have no way of creating new life.”
“Right.” I sit up straight in the chair.
“Castiel, however, is not your ordinary vampire.” He sits on the table, moving the book to one side so that he can make himself comfortable in front of me, and crosses his legs. “He has the same basic needs of a vampire. Drinking blood is a necessity rather than a choice. Sunlight weakens him. He is forever young and of course, immortal. They have some tolerance for food, but no vampire on earth ever slumbers. No matter what ancient lore says, we have no need for sleep. Castiel and Nyall, they nap. That, there, is what makes them different. Can you guess why?” He looks at me expectantly.
I’m not sure where he’s going so I respond with a, “No.”
“Castiel—a part of him is still human.” Gabriel claps his hands excitedly.
“How is that possible?” My ears are ringing. My heart is beating a thousand beats per minute. Castiel? Nyall? Part human? How?
“They weren’t bitten themselves. Their mother was...while she was in her last weeks of pregnancy. Whatever it is that makes us the undead, whether a disease, virus, or poison, it spread through their system while they were still in the womb. By the time they were born it was a part of them. It made them...into something unlike anything that has ever walked this earth.”
I sit there for a moment, stunned. “We’re talking about hybrids? Right? Castiel and Nyall are half-human, half-vampire hybrids?”
Gabriel jumps off the table, spins around in a complete circle once before coming to a stop right beside me. He’s a nervous wreck. His mind is not fully there half the time, but he has much more information stuck in there than many know, and he’s sharing it with me.
“You are correct.” He grins. “They are the first of their kind. Gerard knew this. That’s why he made it a priority to capture at least one of the brothers.”
“I get what you’re saying, but I still don’t understand the link.”
His grin only grows. “Gerard’s obsessions has led him to play with Mother Nature in ways no one will ever understand. He’s a lunatic, but he’s also brilliant.” Gabriel kneels beside me, looking up as he says, “A normal vampire cannot procreate, but Castiel can, and he did.”
I think my heart skips a beat.
“Gerard took Castiel because he thought—probably still thinks—he’s the answer to immortality. In his research and trialing, Gerard has created a one-of-a-kind creature that is unmatched in every sense of the word. But he didn’t do it alone.” Gabriel shook his head. “He needed the right...components. Ultimately, he acquired what was needed and...a child was born.”
“What child?” I brace myself for the answer.
“The story doesn’t end there. Gerard didn’t follow the norm and use a human to carry this child. No.” With force, Gabriel grips the backrest of the chair I’m sitting on. “He decided that wasn’t good enough. He wanted to take a step further. Bridge a gap no one ever thought to cross. He acquired a female werewolf, an ancient one, member of the original Ancient Twelve, and used her as a guinea pig. Impossible as it may have seemed, in spite of the genetic differences between a vampire and a werewolf, somehow Gerard managed to inseminate her. The end result was a child engineered to kill, to be stealthier, stronger, more powerful than any other creature we have seen so far.”
I hold my breath as he talks.
“He’s perfect. Unlike any of us and yet, very similar. And by what I’ve observed so far, he is not aware of how amazing he truly is, because he doesn’t know what he is.”
Gabriel couldn’t have put it clearer if he tried.
“Hayden? You’re talking about him? Aren’t you?”
His expression softens. “He has no idea what he’s capable of.”
I cover my mouth with one hand. I’m so blown away by Gabriel’s story that I feel like I can’t form a decent reply.
“Gerard wanted Tiger, or as you call him, Hayden, to believe he could be easily destroyed. He never allowed the boy to develop into his full potential. That was dangerous for him, you see. And also inconvenient. Had Gerard allowed this to happen, his perfect child would have been unmanageable. No one could have contained him then.”
“Hayden is Castiel’s son? Is that what you’re telling me?”
“Yes.”
“And he’s a hybrid himself? Conceived by a vampire and a female werewolf? Half vampire, half werewolf...?”
“Hybrid, yes? I wouldn’t say he is exactly half-and-half. The werewolf and vampire in him are predominant, but a part of him is also human. Remember, Castiel and Nyall are not entirely vampire, so neither would Hayden be.”
“Did you ever explain this to Nyall and Akana?”
He shakes his head vigorously. “They have been kind to me, but they mistook my prattling for something else. I wanted to tell them everything from the start, but my mind tends to wander a lot, so I lose sight of what I want to say. That, and I had no proof.” He points to the basement’s ceiling with one finger. “But the proof came waltzing in through the front door tonight.”
Understanding his dilemma, I shut the book and pick it up off the table. “Maybe you should give it another try. As you said, Hayden is here and there’s nothing like evidence to credit what you say. Come on.” I start for the door. “Hayden needs to know, too.”
He follows me out of the basement, up a set of stairs, and through another door that leads to a hallway at the other side of the dining room.
“Were you imprisoned long?” I slow my steps so that he can keep pace beside me.
“Some fifty years, I think.” He reaches up to scratch behind his left ear. “It wasn’t very long, but it was short.” He squeezes his eyes briefly. “I wasn’t a very experienced vampire. Immortality was new to me and I had no clue how to use my abilities. I got caught. I should have fled, but I was scared.”
Something tells me he still is. He looks so young and vulnerable. So timid and broken at times that I can’t help but feel sympathy for him. He’s like a child trapped in the body of an immortal adult.
“How did you escape?”
“A small group of Gerard’s men was ordered to transfer the book and me to another Institute. On the way, they made the mistake of stopping for a meal, and left us both unguarded. I managed to break free of my shackles and fought off the driver. I left the man for dead and snatched the book from its case, running off before the other individuals could catch up to me.” Gabriel digs his fingernails into the opposite wrist, so deep I watch for signs of blood, but see none. “Nyall and Akana found me two nights later.” He grows quiet, solemn, detached. Whereas he was animated and exhilarated a second ago, he’s now disconnected to the world. I infer that his fragile brain has taken refuge in order for him to deal with horrid memories of the past.
We round the corner and stumble upon Akana and Nyall by the staircase leading up to the second floor. As soon as they spot me they rush to us, a look of relief on both their faces.
“Kristina! There you are.” She lays both hands on my shoulders and even though she tries very hard to hide it, I can see she’s looking for any signs of an assault.
“I was in the basement with Gabriel. He was showing me this,” I hand the book over to Nyall, “it contains information I think you will find valuable.”
Nyall takes the book and turns it in his hands as he studies the cover. “This is the book Gabriel had on him the night we found him.”
“Did you ever read it? It contains an inscription about Castiel and you.”
“I’m afraid I never bothered. I thought it was a ledger of some kind, given that Gabriel grew aggressive the first time we took it away from him.” Nyall’s gaze seeks Gabriel’s. “It has information about my brother and I?”
Gabriel doesn’t respond. Judging by the vacant look in his eyes, he’s possibly miles away, as opposed to standing two feet from me.
“Gabriel has information on Hayden I think you need to go over, Nyall. He might have felt comfortable telling me because I’ve spent a great amount of time with Hayden the past few days. Regardless, he might be inclined to share a bit more with you, now that you know about Hayden’s existence.”
Nyall’s countenance reveals remorse. “Gabriel.” Laying a hand on the young vampire’s shoulder, he says, “You were right and I was wrong. I do apologize for not taking anything you said before seriously.”
Gabriel refocuses on Nyall, as if seeing him for the first time. “I tried to tell you,” he says but his voice is barely above a whisper. “You wouldn’t listen. You thought my broken mind was entirely defective, but I have things up here that would surprise even you.” He points to his right temple with a thumb.
Akana steps forward to offer an apology. “We are both sorry, Gabriel. We mistook your words and set aside your concerns too easily.”
“I have a lot to say,” Gabriel mutters, but he sounds confused.
“Come now, Gabriel. We should discuss things further.” Grabbing ahold of his elbow, Nyall leads Gabriel to the kitchen.
They need to talk in private to settle things so I turn to Akana, but only now realize Drake and Hayden are nowhere to be seen. “Where are Drake and Hayden?”
“Drake has left to confer with the nearby pack leaders. He was in a hurry, but he told me to tell you to keep his phone handy in case your grandmother calls again. If anything pops up, he advised to hit the number three in the speed dial and it should connect you with someone you can rely on. Hayden...” she points to the staircase, “is up on the second floor freshening up.” Her lips curve up slightly. “He was very concerned for your safety, but I assured him Gabriel wouldn’t hurt you.”
Her actions from before contradict her words. If she knew Gabriel wouldn’t hurt me, then why give me the once-over?
“I’m fine,” I reassure her.
“He’s well-behaved, but sometimes he forgets how strong he is,” she offers by means of an explanation. “Go up and calm Hayden’s worries. Second door to the right will be the guest bedroom he is in.”
“Thank you.”
I rush up the stairs, and then through the door Akana indicated. Hayden is just emerging from an adjacent bathroom, towel in hand, when I walk in and shut the door. He’s wearing a pair of black pants and nothing else. His semi-long, dark hair is wet and disheveled.
“Kristina.” He tosses the towel on the bed and hurries to me, pulling me into his embrace. “Did something happen to Rose?” He hugs me to him as if he hasn’t seen me in days, when I’ve only been gone for about fifteen minutes, tops.
“Did my absence scare you?” I ask, but I find it hard to concentrate when I’m crushed against a perfectly sculpted chest, which I vividly recall running my hands over just hours before.
“I thought something happened to Rose and you were hiding it from me.” His big, warm hands generously work their way down my spine, to my waist, where they linger. “I was coming to look for you but Akana insisted I come up here instead. I thought you were discussing something with Rose you didn’t want me to know about and I didn’t want to intrude in the conversation. Is everything okay?”
“I believe so,” I murmur against his skin.
“Where were you?”
“In the basement with Gabriel.” I curl my arms around him and bury my face in the hard contours of his chest. He smells of soap and water, fresh. Clean. “Grandma is fine.”
The conversation dies down as our hands begin to explore a bit more, caressing, touching, feeling. I map out the ripples of his shoulder blades with the tips of my fingers, committing them to memory as I explore each one individually.
Hayden presses against me as his fingers cup my chin. He lifts my face up so that our gazes meet. I can see the burning desire in his eyes as easily as I can feel it pressing against me.
“Kristina.” I can hear the longing in his voice. My own heart feels as if it is going to burst through my chest, just thinking about what he wants and what I’m willing to give.
Hayden’s mouth captures mine before I can think to resist. A sweep of the tongue, fingers slipping under my top, and I’m ignited like a ball of fire. I cling to him, pressing as tightly against him as I can manage. Arms circled around his neck, I allow myself the freedom to return his caresses with equal fervor.
We lose all sense of time as we allow ourselves a moment to let out emotions we have been holding in for days. We have finally made it here in one piece, relatively speaking, and the relief over having come this far together, fighting and enduring as a team, is palpable with each heated kiss and fiery touch.
Is it appreciation? The desperate need to feel alive, since the future remains so uncertain for us? I can’t say for sure, but it hardly matters now. He’s here and I’m here. We’ve come a long way and somehow managed to survive this long in spite of the odds.
Our fight is not over. The realization hits me like bucket of cold water. I can’t allow myself to forget where we are and why. Now is not the time for us to give into our carnal urges. That will have to wait until later. There’s something very important I need to tell him.
I tear myself away from Hayden and fix my gaze on the mattress a few paces away, hating the distance but firm in my decision. “I have something to tell you.”
“I do, too,” he says, catching me off guard.
“You do?” I face him again, a bit startled by the news. “What is it?”
Gone is the confident Hayden who kissed me with so much passion. In his place is the same feral, distrusting man I met a few days ago. I’m puzzled by his bizarre behavior. Why is he acting like this, all of a sudden?
“I didn’t happen upon you at random. I knew you were going to be on the road that night.”
I blink, unsure of whether or not I’ve heard him correctly. “I’d ask if you’re joking with me but somehow I don’t think you know how to do that. Can you explain what exactly you mean?”
“Castiel. He told me. He has a distinctive gift.” Hayden hesitates. With hands in his pockets and head cocked to the side, he finally adds, “He can see into the future.”
“What?”
“Castiel knew where you would be and when. That is how I came upon you that night.”
“He told you to find me?” I ask with skepticism. What the hell is he babbling about?
“Yes. He said I needed to be on that road at the specified time. He described you in detail and mentioned I should be firm with my request without being overwhelming or coming across as frightening.”
I’m so stunned I can’t even form decent thoughts. “He predicted when I’d be driving along that road?” I ask in disbelief.
“His predictions never fail,” Hayden says, matter-of-factly. “Kristina...before I met you, I did not understand how heavy the weight of guilt is. Human emotion, it meant nothing to me. I was only committed to my cause. The rest failed to matter.
“I was told I’d meet a girl who would eventually help me, but I did not care for you or your feelings. All I wanted was your pity so that you would be willing to bring me to Nyall. To me, all humans were the same, so I refused to take your emotions into consideration.
“Much has changed since then. You and Rose were kind to me, in spite of your reservations. When I realized my selfishness was costing you so much, I understood how misguided I was. Sooner rather than later, I began to feel compromised, because something is happening in here...” He flattens the palm of his hand on his chest, over his heart. “I can’t stop it. I can’t control it. I don’t know what is, but it’s so strong, it takes over completely and doesn’t allow me to think past you. It’s like you have become the center of my everything.
“My priorities have changed. Yes, I still want to free those imprisoned at the Institute, but not at your expense. I want to protect you, make sure you are safe, but what right do I have to ask anything of you, after the way I have handled things to this point?”
“After being controlled and manipulated my entire life, I should be more aware of how unpleasant it feels to be used. I have been forced to do heinous things...things you would never forgive me for if you knew the depths of them. I am a monster, Kristina. I endangered your life so that I could save those at the Institute. For once, I was selfish, thinking only of what I would gain, and I behaved like this with the wrong person. I am sorry.”
Hayden used me. He. Used. Me. I risked my life, and all this time, I was just a means to an end for him? He practically served Grandma to Gerard on a golden platter, and all for what? So that he could liberate his supernatural friends? Why did I let things get this far? I should’ve left him on the side of the road.
“Everything you have told me these past few days has been a lie? That crap you fed me about your life at the Institute and how you were treated was a lie?” I’m agitated. Disappointed. Indignant to the point of wanting to run off and never see him again. How could he do this to me?
“No. I did not lie about any of that. Everything else, I have been truthful with.”
“Really? And how am I supposed to believe anything you say? You just admitted to using me. What’s worse, you put my grandmother in danger. You took me for a spin. Why? For what? I can’t believe you’d do this.” I’m so irate I want to vent my anger by punching his nose, but I doubt my measly human strength will cause any real harm. Where’s a crowbar when you need it? “So you’re a monster, huh? What does that entail, exactly? Did they teach you how to hunt us down and finish us off efficiently, like some kind of killing machine?”
His golden brown eyes register hurt. He glances wildly around the room then, like a cornered animal getting ready to pounce. “Kristina, I couldn’t tell you...I...was afraid you would...”
“Oh my God.” My hands fly to my mouth. “You did, didn’t you?” I back up a step, in shock at what he’s admitted to. He is a killer. A killer. The humble, quiet, sad-looking individual that took gentle care as he made loved to me no more than sixteen hours ago used those very hands to end other people’s lives. And I’m practically his accomplice.
It’s too much. I can’t deal with this. Should I feel disgusted or relieved that he didn’t kill me, too? But then, he needed me, so he couldn’t even if he wanted to. God, what have I done? I did this, not him. I could have left him where I found him but I didn’t. I brought the enemy home. I made the mistake, not him. This is all my fault. I ruined our lives. I put Grandma at risk.
“It’s over. I’m done with this. I’m done with you.”
Blinded by the heavy, wet tears forming in my eyes, I reach for the knob and yank the door open. I hear him call my name as I rush down the stairs and out of the house. I don’t stop. I run with no destination in mind. The only thing I want is to put as much distance between Hayden and me.
How could I not see right through him? I’m caught between the thin line of sorrow and profound anger. He’s here. I served my purpose, so should I go back home and abandon him to whatever fate is destined for him?
“Manipulator. Liar.” I sob as I cross the street, ignoring the sound of a horn being honked to my right. I’m unaware of the world as I follow the brilliant lights of the museum’s parking lot. I trudge aimlessly, not caring where I’m heading as long as it takes me away from him. I need to clear my head. To think of what I should do now.
As much as I want to leave, there would be no way for me to maintain contact with Rose. My safest bet would be to wait for Drake to return and discuss things with him. If there’s one thing I’m absolutely sure of, that is that I’m not standing by Hayden another minute. I don’t ever want to have any contact with him again. Let him exit my life as quickly as he appeared.
“Kristina.” I spin around abruptly at the sound of Hayden’s voice and find him standing a few paces away. He’s barefoot but did manage to don a shirt before coming after me.
My mouth opens automatically to send him on his way, but movement to my right catches my eyes. I glance to the side, realizing with much dread that in my race to get away from Hayden I’ve stumbled into the hands of our pursuers. We’re quickly surrounded by a group of fifteen or so men, none of whom have covered their faces, but are well-equipped with guns, Mace, and electric batons.
My breath hitches in my throat. They have come for us. But how? Grandma. The answer comes in a flash. She’d asked me where I was and I broke the number-one rule by revealing my location. Her voice had sounded odd, but I’d failed to connect it with the possibility that she might have been captive, and under direct command to find out what our next move would be.
“Oh, God.”
“Run!” Hayden screams as he bolts in my direction, trying to put himself between me and the first group of men, but it’s too late. A large, black van speeds up behind me and comes to a screeching halt as a pair of hands pushes me toward it. I kick and punch to defend myself, slapping appendages away as more reach for me. I’m being pulled in all directions. Their urgency to take me and leave makes their actions seem sloppy and unprofessional, but I’m unable to break free, no matter how hard I try.
Hayden struggles to get to me in time. In his desperation, he body-slams as many of them to the ground as he can, but the mob just keeps growing. More men appear and so does a second van. They are going to take us both, I realize, which means we will probably not see the light of another day again. This last thought sends my heart into a race.
Panic sets in and I lash out by sinking my teeth into the forearm of the man closest to me. He yelps in pain, drawing his arm to his face to inspect the damage. Once he’s established I’ve only broken the skin, he reacts by slapping the side of my face so hard, my teeth knock together. The same man then grabs a handful of my long hair and hauls me inside of the van along with him.
In one last attempt at escaping, I glance up at the man still gripping my hair and shove my thumb in his left eye. He releases a series of oaths, and covers half his face with one hand. As soon as he lets go of me, I crawl to the door, but it’s immediately shut from the outside, preventing me from locating Hayden among the chaos of bodies merging together.
“Hayden!” I reach for the handle but something solid is brought down on the back of my head, hard enough to force me to crumple to the side in a heap. I’m blinded by the searing pain that radiates through my skull and find myself unable to move. I glance up, meeting the gaze of my attacker.
He sneers, the look on his face triumphant as he says, “Don’t worry. You two will be reunited soon enough.”