by Hayley Todd
A glance over my shoulder showed me that Carson had already dispatched the witches he faced off against. We slowed to a stop, looking around for any other combatants. A group of mixed company went running into the forest, Vampyres already disappearing from sight and the witches making a quick escape behind them.
Our group of fighters came to a rough stop, most of them still fueled with adrenaline and struggling to shake the bloodlust. Carson approached me, completely calm. I was breathing hard, heaving great breaths. I wasn’t even sure I needed to but it felt wrong to stop, as though it would make me suffocate in the process.
My father, mother, Gabrielle, and Kellic approached from one side, Anton appeared from behind me. I looked to my father, anger still riddling my body. Anton stepped beside me, his hand locking onto my shoulder.
The red lining my vision began to fade and my breathing slowed. I glanced to him, his eyes watching me carefully. “Thank you,” I said on barely a whisper. He nodded.
“Henrick has escaped, along with Liam,” my father reported, his voice filled with a barely contained rage. “I’m sending a troop of Magicks after them but they’re not going to go far. I can’t risk anymore of my people in the event of a potential ambush.”
I looked up at him and he was watching me. “What are we going to do?” I asked him.
He huffed a laugh that bore no humor. “Well, we can at least go home with one victory tonight,” he announced. “Thanks to Anton, the three of you survived Henrick’s attempt to break the imprint.”
Kellic had been watching her feet to the side but at this, her head shot up, her eyes wide and angry. She passed her glare from Damien to Anton and then to me. I knew she wanted to talk by the look on her face. “Can we have a minute?” she asked, watching me but speaking to my dad.
Damien nodded. “Let’s load up and see if there are any injured who we may be able to save,” he instructed and stepped back towards the trucks flanked by my mother and Gabrielle.
The four of us stood there for a moment in silent awkwardness. Carson and Anton both stood closely toward me though Kellic was farther back. She cocked her hand on her hip, her body shaking with rage.
I had rarely seen Kellic truly mad. It was a terrifying sight to behold. She was always a very happy and laid back person, making anger unbefitting on her. Her golden brown eyes flicked to Carson, then to Anton. “I’m not going to hurt her,” she growled. “You can leave us alone.”
Each of them glanced at me in turn and I nodded. “We’ll be ready to leave in a few minutes,” I told them and after a reluctant moment from them both, they followed after Damien. I watched them as they walked away. They stood closer together than they used to, more the distance between people who feel somewhat comfortable together than the buffer of a stranger. I took that as an improvement and turned back to Kellic.
Guilt filled me as I looked over her face. She had plastered on an expression of rage but there was hurt and sorrow in her eyes. My heart plummeted into my gut. I hated this. I hadn’t intended for any of it to happen and I hated that she had been pulled into it.
“I’m sorry, Kellic,” I sighed, my shoulders sagging from emotional weariness.
Without responding, her arms were suddenly around my neck, yanking me into a lopsided hug. She pulled me down to her which had me hunched oddly under her grasp. “I’m so glad that you’re all alive,” she babbled, and I was sure those were tears I could hear in her voice.
I breathed a little easier hearing that. Based on her posture, it hadn’t been what I had expected. She eventually pulled away, her hands pressed to my shoulders. “What the hell happened in there?” she asked, her eyes darting around the area to scattered bodies.
I sighed. “Henrick broke the imprint,” I replied, thinking about how the events had unfolded. “Anton saved us...but the only way to save us was to make a new imprint.”
Her eyes glazed for a moment, her vision seeming disconnected, as though she were watching pieces of a puzzle lock into place in her mind and not looking at what her eyes gazed at. “Anton had already imprinted you,” she said, bluntly. I wasn’t sure if anyone had already told her this or if it was just all making sense to her now.
“I...He...We...yes…” I replied, my response broken as I fought how to respond, how to explain.
She nodded as though she had expected that.
“Originally, I hadn’t imprinted him. Henrick forced him to imprint on me...and worse, but he refused,” I explained. “But in order to save us, he had to form two mutual imprints. One with me and Carson,” I paused for a moment before forcing the words out, “and one between he and I.”
Kellic stood quietly for a moment, processing the words and their meaning. She took a deep breath and breathed out a long sigh. “So, he’s imprinted to you, and you’re imprinted to him,” she said more than asked.
I nodded slowly, gauging her reaction.
“What does that mean for us?” she asked and I knew she didn’t mean she and I.
I shook my head. “I’m not sure, Kel. Damien thinks that after enough time, he may be able to find a way to break it without hurting us. But in the meantime, he and I share a connection.”
Her head shot up to me and I could see the question in her eyes.
I held my hands up, palms out in a placating gesture. “It’s not what you may think though,” I said quickly. “I am in love with Carson. Which I finally just told him for the first time,” I continued, rushing the end of it as a self-realization. “I love Anton. I don’t know why. I don’t know how. I don’t know when it happened but I do. I love him. But I’m not in love with him,” I said.
She nodded slowly, understanding what I had meant.
“I love him like I love Will,” I explained further, not liking the way the words were coming out. “I care about him. And he saved my life.”
“And risked our very early relationship in the process,” she chimed in bitterly.
I couldn’t help but feel bad about this. Kellic had never given much time to relationships. She had Will and I and honestly didn’t expand much outside of that friendship. She was a loving and bubbly person but she didn’t let people in easily. She had had two major relationships that I even knew of. One in high school that lasted for a year and one in college that she managed three years in before it all fell apart. What was building with Anton had been a big step for her and I knew that this course of events had somewhat derailed that.
I reached forward, grabbing her hand in mine. “Kellic, this doesn’t mean anything. It only means that we’re connected. If your magick was different than his, it could’ve just as easily been you,” I said, wanting to do anything to rid her face of the depression that had formed there.
“But it wasn’t,” she said sadly. There was no accusation in, no vitriol, but there was an endless disappointment.
“Kel, Damien did say he’s going to try to find a way to break it. This isn’t necessarily over yet,” I supplied. I was at a loss. I didn’t really know how to fix this. I didn’t want to ruin what she and Anton had but it didn’t change that I was now imprinted to him as well. As soon as I thought of him, I knew where he was and I knew that he was watching, and I knew that he was worried. Damn imprint. I forced myself not to look up at him.
“Did you find out where Henrick has Will?” she asked suddenly, completely changing the subject. I took that as an assurance that we were at least on okay terms.
“Unfortunately, no,” I replied, saddened by the fact. Will’s face kept appearing in my mind and I kept trying to force it on the backburner. I needed to make sure I was capable of helping him first, adjusting to all of the overwhelming emotions I was feeling right now. Then I could find him. And I would find him. I touched her hand again. “We’ll find him, Kel,” I told her, knowing it was true. I wouldn’t stop until I found him, no matter how long it took.
She nodded up at me and pulled me by my hand over to where the others were beginning to load into a gigantic hummer.
&nb
sp; Damien, my mother, and Gabrielle had climbed into a jeep that stood taller than me, with huge off-roading tires. My father had the back door open, leaning out and waiting for us. As we approached, he offered me a sympathetic smile. I stepped alongside him as Kellic loaded into the hummer sitting next to the jeep.
“Everything okay?” my dad asked.
I hesitated for a moment. Things really weren’t “okay” but for now, that would have to do. I nodded.
“Okay,” he replied. “Let’s get back to the mansion and let everyone calm down. Then I’ll meet with you all in regards to finding Henrick, Liam, and Will.”
I nodded again, suddenly endlessly exhausted. I didn’t know what else to say. My world had continued turning but at the same time, it felt as though time had never advanced since Will was gone.
Damien jutted his head toward the hummer and I turned. Carson and Anton both stood outside the door, waiting for me and watching me warily. “See you at home, dad,” I said and moved over to them. My dad’s car door clicked shut behind me.
Carson grabbed me as soon as I was near enough, pulling me into a hug. “I saw you fighting out there,” he said pulling away and grinning down at me. “You are incredible, Kyra.”
I smiled tiredly up at him. I felt almost numb and just wanted to sleep. I wanted to not think for at least a few moments. I shared a quick glance with Anton who gave me a small smile in return but didn’t speak. I couldn’t help the tiny grin that crept across my face at him.
Carson took one of my hands, helping me hoist myself into the back seat of the hummer. Once I got situated, he and Anton slid in beside me. I laid my head back against the seat and let my exhaustion creep in, drawing me into a blissfully quiet slumber as we rolled back to the mansion.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
I didn’t wake up when we arrived at the mansion. I finally began to stir when a pair of warm arms swept beneath me and lifted me from the vehicle.
The night was beginning to get colder, summer now ending and the first tendrils of fall making their appearance.
I blinked my eyes, lifting my head from Carson’s chest and glancing up at him. He glanced down at me and smiled. I shivered without meaning to in the cold and his smile vanished. Anton had stepped out of the vehicle behind him, his hand darting back into the hummer to help Kellic out. They exchanged a glance.
“I’m going to take her to bed,” Carson said looking over to Anton. “We’ll talk later.”
Anton nodded and Carson turned toward the building with me still in his arms. He carried me inside, silently.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, not realizing how exhausted I really was until we started making our way down identical corridors. I still wasn’t sure that I could find his suite on my own.
“For what?” He asked, heading down another hall.
“For everything,” I replied. “For almost killing you. For you having to come save me. For the imprint. For Anton.” I dreaded bringing up the tension between us but I couldn’t pretend it wasn’t there.
He walked quietly for a moment until we reached his door. He pulled keys from his pocket and unlocked the door, balancing my weight easily.
His eyes were dark but he didn’t seem angry. “None of this is your fault,” he said at last.
“It feels like it is,” I replied.
He looked me over as he swung the door open and entered. His gaze softened as he glanced me over. “None of this is your fault,” he said again, as though he were trying to convince me. “Anton...did what he had to. I only fault Henrick for that.”
That hit me hard and I found myself crying without much reason to. “What did I do to deserve you?” I asked, sleepily, feeling more drowsy the closer we got to the bedroom.
He chuckled, opening the bedroom door and sauntering to the bed. He laid me down gently, rolling me to help unzip my dress and tugging it from my body. He then made quick work of untying the restraints on my corset and tugging it off next.
I breathed deeply for what felt like the first time in ages. He then covered me and began tugging off his shirt. He discarded it to the floor and tucked the blankets around me before working on his pants next. Once he was clad in only his boxers he worked his way around to the other side of the bed, sliding in beside me. He pulled me to splay across his chest.
“It’s funny you say that,” he said, “because I’ve been asking myself that every day since you woke up.”
I pondered that asking myself the question again. I felt so undeserving of this magnificent man. He had gone to Hell and back for me and had saved my life already on countless occasions.
The warmth of his chest lulled me closer to sleep all the time. “I love you, Carson,” I whispered, fighting to keep my eyes open.
His fingers brushed my face, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “I love you too, Kyra. For always and ever,” he replied and it was the last thing I heard before falling fast asleep in his arms.
I woke up suddenly, my hands grasping at the sheets around me. The bed was warm, meaning Carson couldn’t have left long before. I could hear the sound of water running in the bathroom and feel the warm air around the room. I sat up, searching around the room for my purse.
I found it sitting on a table near the door back into the rest of the suite and fished around in it, looking for my phone. I pulled it out seeing a text from Kellic reading ‘I love you, cuz’. I quickly typed a response and said ‘I needed that, Kel. Love you, too.’
I turned to walk back to the bed, phone clutched in my hand when it started to vibrate. I looked down, lifting the screen to my face. It was a video call from an unknown number. I nearly pressed the decline button out of habit but curiosity got the better of me. I hit the green answer.
The screen opened, the large display blank for a moment. There was a smaller display in the top right corner showing my own sleepy face. My hair was a mess, tousled around my head in a heap and there were dark bags beneath my eyes. I stepped out and into the living room as I stared at the screen.
Will appeared on the screen, bound in an office chair with his hands taped behind his back. He looked haggard, his face a mess of dirt and blood, his dark hair a mess, matted in places with something. There was a line of blood running from his nose and his lip had been split open.
My heart hammered in my chest. Will. It was Will.
It had been weeks now since I had seen him even though his face never left my mind. I felt a pit form in my chest at his appearance.
The image swayed and Henrick appeared. “Hello there, Kyra. I’m happy to see that you did indeed survive the breaking of the imprint.”
I growled, low in my chest, not even realizing I was going to do it. It took me a moment to realize that the sound came from me. “Henrick,” I hissed.
He smiled and I wished I could reach into the image and choke him. “Are you missing your friend?” he asked and I could see Will in the background behind him. Liam appeared in the image, standing behind Will’s chair. He stepped forward and looked back at Will. Liam reeled his arm back and cracked it into Will’s jaw. Will’s head snapped back and fresh blood dripped down his face.
“You bastard,” I growled. “What do you want? He’s done nothing to you!”
Henrick laughed. “I want you, of course, my dear. I need you to remain calm.”
I realized then that I had a huge pit of anxiety forming within me. I swallowed hard, forcing the anxiety down, focusing hard on it.
Henrick paused, watching me try to compose myself with a smile on his face. “You will leave the mansion, get on a plane, and fly to Rome. You will contact me once you touch down for further instructions,” he commanded.
My blood ran cold. If I left this house, I would be completely vulnerable. “Why would I do that?” I asked, barely able to breath the words.
Henrick glanced to Liam who socked Will again. Will groaned and my heart felt like a chunk of lead. “If you don’t, I’m going to kill your friend.” He lifted a ball of fire ove
r his palm. Then the ball steadily spun away from his hand, moving closer to Will. Once it was inches from Will’s face, I couldn’t bear it anymore.
“Okay, okay!” I shrieked, pressing my hand to my mouth as tears welled down my cheeks.
“You better get going,” Henrick replied and the phone’s screen went black.
Oh no. Oh no…
I forced the anxiety building back down into me. If I panicked Carson and probably Anton would be here in moments. They would never let me leave. I couldn’t risk Will’s life for my own. It wasn’t right. Will had done nothing to do deserve this. I didn’t want Henrick to win. I didn’t want what he had planned but I could think of no other option.
Will would not die for me.
I ran back into the bedroom, my phone clutched in my hand. Carson was still in the shower, the steam roiling out into the bedroom. I ran to the dresser, ripping drawers open. I grabbed a few items of clothing and yanked on a bra, t-shirt, and jeans, moving quickly. I had to be gone before Carson got out of the shower.
I found a duffle bag in his walk-in closet and started stuffing random outfits in it. I tossed the back over my shoulder, stuffing my phone in my pocket and sliding on a pair of socks and shoes. I darted back out into the living room, finding a notepad attached to the refrigerator door with a magnetized pen.
I pulled it down and jotted down the only words I could think to leave and then I was gone.
It took me several moments to orient myself and find my way back to the foyer. I was almost surprised that I managed it but was equally relieved that I hadn’t needed help. The foyer was empty, no one to be found. I burst through the front doors, pulling a set of keys from my pockets.
Thankfully, Damien had allowed my Mercedes to sit on the front drive in case I had ever needed it. I ran to it, wasting no time, jamming the key in and unlocking the door. I threw my duffle bag into the passenger seat and turned over the engine. The purr that it elicited used to bring me so much joy but instead it was barely a balm to the agonizing emotions trying their hardest to erupt from me.
