by Juniper Hart
I was panicked for nothing. He’s not going to do anything stupid. He really thinks that he’s going to win me over by bringing me here.
“Why?” he finally asked. “Why are you so unhappy that you felt like you had to run away?”
Kendra stared at him dubiously. Did she really need to explain to him that he had coerced her into marrying him? Did he really see himself as some wronged husband? Kendra tried a different tactic—honesty.
“Does it really matter?” she sighed. “I was unhappy. I wanted to leave. Would you have let me?”
Fury overtook his face.
“Of course not,” he snapped. “You are my wife. You cannot just walk away from our vows.”
Kendra almost laughed aloud. “Petro, you’re a mobster, a deviant. Why would you ever think I’d want to be with you if you hadn’t forced me into it?”
He scowled, glancing around to ensure her words were not understood. Kendra immediately lowered her voice, sensing that she was treading on very dangerous ground.
“That did not seem to bother you when you were driving a Mercedes and wearing diamond earrings, did it?”
“You’re despicable,” she choked, unable to stop the torrent of emotion flowing from her mouth. “You’re a brute who doesn’t know how to treat a woman.”
Instantly, she thought of Trevor and his kindness, his patience. She had never known a man to treat her as well as he had, and she was sure she’d never find another like him.
He’s my mate.
Petro’s grip around her waist tightened, and although she was finding it difficult to breathe, she refused to let him see her fear.
“You are my wife, Kendra. It is your duty to stand by me no matter what,” he hissed, his breath hot in her ear. “Now say you are sorry for making me worry, and I will forget this ever happened.”
Disbelief washed over her, and she shook her head before she could stop herself.
“I am not sorry,” she retorted, her anger overriding her fear. “And I hope you don’t forget that it happened because given the chance, I will do it again!”
The silence was thick, and Kendra wished she had not said so much.
You have gone too far. Are you trying to get yourself killed? She considered that perhaps she didn’t want to live, not without Trevor at her side. She couldn’t imagine a lifetime under Petro’s rule.
“Kendra, you will never leave me again,” he told her with a certainty that chilled her to the bone.
“You can kill me, Petro. That is the only way to guarantee such a thing,” she laughed.
A slow, cruel smile formed on his full mouth, and his eyes twinkled.
“You think you love this man in the States, huh?” he asked almost conversationally. “You think he can provide a better life for you than I have?”
Kendra scoffed. “I know he can, and yes, I love him. I won’t ever stop trying going back to him.”
Petro’s eyes flashed with malice.
“What are you going to do about it?” she asked with far more confidence than she felt. “Kill me?” She was mocking him, playing an unnerving game that couldn’t possibly have a good outcome for her, but she held her ground, glaring at him indignantly.
“No, my love,” Petro purred. “I would never hurt you.”
The words should have caused her to relax. Instead, Kendra felt as if her body was going to snap under the pressure she was feeling. She comprehended why when Petro spoke again.
“If you ever try to leave me again, I will kill your beloved Trevor and bring his head back to Ukraine in a box to mount on my wall.”
11
“Are you excited to be going home?” Leonid jeered, pointing out the window at the landscape of Kiev appearing before them. Kendra almost spat in his face. She turned to her husband, her face wrought with ire.
“If I am expected to remain your prisoner, Petro, you better do something about that one and his mouth. I’m about to put a bullet in him myself.
Both men stared at her, mouths agape. Leonid scowled, and Petro’s face flushed with anger.
“You are not my prisoner!” he snapped. “You are my wife, you ungrateful brat!”
Kendra didn’t falter as she folded her arms over her chest. “Am I? Could you possibly enlighten this Neanderthal of this, please? He has been nothing but rude and uncouth this entire journey. I’m getting sick of listening to him talk.”
Petro glared at his solider, but Kendra could tell he wasn’t pleased at the position she’d put him in.
“Apologize to my wife,” he growled. Leonid’s face puckered as if he had swallowed a lime, his lips pursed together unwillingly. “I said, apologize.” Petro’s voice was a strangled whisper.
“I’m sorry, Kendra,” Leonid choked, the words clearly sticking in his throat. She smirked and ignored him as if he hadn’t spoken.
“Going forward, I would prefer to have Andreas as a chaperone,” she told her husband. Petro shook his head, another unpleasant smile forming on his lips.
“That is not possible. Andreas is on Svetlana’s detail. They are going to be married, didn’t you hear?”
Kendra was shocked, bile filling her throat at the idea. This is all my fault. I did this to her by sending that invitation to her. What was I thinking? Of course enough time hadn’t passed. And now she’s going to be even more trapped than I am. I wanted to save her, and I sealed her fate.
“When did this happen?” she breathed.
“Oh, I suppose it was right around the time you sent her the wedding invitation. I guess love was in the air.” Petro laughed mirthlessly as he confirmed her worst fear, and Kendra closed her eyes as if to block out the words.
“Petro, what did you do?” she hissed, but both men only laughed at her question.
“Attention, ladies and gentlemen, in just a few minutes, Flight 892 to Kiev will be landing. I would like to instruct you…”
Kendra barely heard a word of the flight attendant’s spiel, her heart heavier than she could ever remember.
Suddenly, she understood what had been done. Petro had ensnared everyone she cared about to ensure that she never again left. Her mind had already been working toward ways of warning Trevor, but she could not protect Svetlana if she married into the mafia. Trevor was a dragon, one who had overcome his insecurities to become strong and powerful. If push came to shove, he could protect himself.
But Svetlana… she was a mere mortal, one without even the hidden abilities that Kendra possessed as a fox. There would be no escaping the prison that Andreas would encase her in once they were legally married.
Kendra sank back into her seat, and Petro patted her knees, grinning smugly. She would never be free, not when everyone she cared about was at Petro’s mercy.
Time was not moving. Of this, he was certain, for the minute hand had been on the five for over twenty minutes. He paced around the terminal, his heart still racing from the flight he’d taken on his own wings, though that was the least of his blood pressure issues.
Marika’s flight had landed fifteen minutes before, and he was a wreck, waiting for the gates to open. He could sense her coming.
He did not know what to expect. Who were the men with her? Were they friends of hers or people from whom she was running away? He planned to be front and center when she walked through the gates and gage her expression. He would know what she wanted him to do as soon as he saw her face.
Once more, he was overcome by feelings of insecurity as he watched the first passengers walk off the flight.
What if I went off the deep end? What if all of this rejection has led me to a nervous breakdown, and I just stalked a woman to the other end of the world in a psychotic episode? What if I imagined the danger? What if I am reading into everything, and nothing is wrong except Harley has been right about you all along; you’re a loser whom no one will ever love. Turn around, go to the closest ticket agent, and catch a flight home—
His endless doubts were cut short when the sliding doors opened aga
in.
Marika was walking through the double doors. Trevor’s breath caught in his throat, her beauty captivating him like it always did, but it wasn’t her attractiveness that held him. He immediately caught the look of distress on her face as a man firmly held onto her arm and another stayed on her heels. There was no doubt in his mind that she was being taken against her will.
Trevor stepped forward, his mouth poised to call out, but at the moment, Marika’s aquamarine eyes looked up and met his. They widened in shock and panic, causing him to freeze in his tracks.
“No!” she mouthed, arching her eyebrows in warning. “Go!” Her eyes darted toward the man holding her arm, and the well-dressed stranger blinked and looked about. He seemed to sense her abrupt nervousness, and on cue, Marika shifted her own gaze away from Trevor.
She turned to distract her captor, speaking indistinctly as they walked away, leaving Trevor to stare after them, confused. He stood, unsure of what to do next. It was clear that Marika didn’t want him to act, but he had not flown across the world to leave without his mate.
They were already disappearing around a corner, and Trevor had no intention of letting them out of his sight. Shaking off his paralyzed state, he bolted toward them, consciously willing himself to slow down, lest they see him on their trail.
From a safe distance, Trevor watched as they interacted, the men seeming to speak more to one another than Marika. Every so often, she would glance, back but she had not yet seen him following, even though Trevor kept her firmly in his sights.
The trio made their way outside of the terminal. Trevor kept close.
How am I going to do this?
His mind raced as he tried to devise a plan. He needed a car. Surely, they would be getting into a vehicle soon, and he would lose them. He considered shifting and flying after them, but he had no idea who or what he was up against. At that distance, he couldn’t be sure if he was dealing with Enchanted creatures or not. Moreover, there were far too many mortals around for him to safely shift without detection.
It would be a shame to save Marika only to be sentenced to death by the Council for exposing his true nature.
None of this changed the fact that he needed a way to chase after them. He couldn’t depend on a taxi to keep up, and there was no time to rent a vehicle.
He looked about at the passenger drop-off area. In his peripheral vision, he could see Marika heading into the parking lot.
Suddenly, a stunning wave of adrenaline washed over him, and he did not give himself an opportunity to reconsider. He walked to the nearest vehicle, a newer red Renault Kwid, where an older man was patiently waiting inside. Without thinking, he leaned into the car, yanked the man out, and tossed his frail frame onto the sidewalk, replacing him in the driver’s seat. The keys were still in the ignition, and bouzouki music blasted from the radio.
Before the old timer could react, Trevor had zoomed away toward the parking lot entrance. For a bizarre moment, with the Greek folk songs in the background, Trevor felt like he was in an alternate reality, one where he was a strong, fearless man out to save his true love. The feeling of disembodiment faded, as in less than a minute, a black Mercedes S class rolled slowly out of the lot, the giant man in the driver’s seat.
Trevor could not see Marika or the other man, but he knew they were both there. He wasted no time, quickly putting the Renault in gear and starting after them. He stalled the car, grinding his teeth as he tried to remember how to drive stick again. He quickly regained his footing and took off after the Mercedes, racing at breakneck speed to make up for lost time.
Inside the Mercedes, Kendra was sure she was going to faint from stress. She hadn’t been able to believe her eyes when she saw Trevor in the terminal, and for a split second, she thought she was dreaming.
He looked disheveled, alarmed, and very, very angry.
What is he doing here? How could he have possibly known where to find me? She wracked her brain, trying to make sense of how he might have found her, but she couldn’t piece it together. I hope he goes home. There is nothing he can do here for me that won’t affect Svetlana, she thought, wondering if that was really true. After all, Trevor could kill her captors, and Andreas would never be the wiser. Then they could go for Svetlana.
Kendra silenced the childish thought from her mind and steeled her erratic breathing. Why couldn’t she do what Harmony could? Why didn’t she have telekinetic abilities? In fact, of all her sisters, Kendra was sure she lacked any kind of special powers, aside from shifting, a trait they all shared. Yes, she healed faster than mortals, and she was promised immortality, but what good was any of this when she was in real danger?
Even Samantha had psychic means to instill a range of emotions in those who crossed her. What did Kendra possess but panic?
Now is really not the time to envy your sisters, she snapped to herself grimly. You have common sense and street smarts. Use them.
She was sure they had lost Trevor in the terminal, but a feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that he would not give up so easily. If he’d come this far, he wasn’t going to walk away without her. Or at least, that was what she hoped secretly.
Trevor a year ago would have walked away. Trevor three months ago wouldn’t even be here right now. Kendra stared upward at the moon roof and said a silent prayer. Please, God, keep him safe from harm. His only mistake was trusting me. It’s not his fault. I dragged him into this, and he shouldn’t suffer because of it.
“I imagine Svetlana will be happy to see you,” Leonid piped up for some reason Kendra couldn’t fathom. She scowled at him.
“Why are you talking to me?” she demanded. “Don’t you ever get tired of hearing your own voice?”
“I’m sure she’ll want to thank you for her impending engagement, since you had so much to do with it.”
Kendra opened her mouth to unleash another scathing response, but Petro growled.
“Enough. Both of you. You’re like squabbling children, and I’m sick of listening to it.”
“Children,” Leonid murmured. “Maybe that’s what’s in store next for you, boss.”
Kendra shuddered at the notion and felt a burst of tears fill her eyes. She could see Ellsbeth’s precious face in her mind, and she wondered if she’d ever lay eyes upon the girl again.
What if they hurt Ellsbeth? More apprehension threatened to knock the wind out of her, and she turned back to the moon roof.
She began to fantasize that Trevor was coming to rescue her. She would be in her room back at the mansion on the outskirts of Kiev, and he would burst in through the high windows on the third floor, wings flapping as he unleashed a stream of fire upon Leonid and Petro, charring them in seconds.
“What the hell?” Leonid yelled. Suddenly, there was a clang of high impact metal hitting metal as the Mercedes careened off the highway and into the guardrail.
Then there was nothing but blackness.
Kendra was flying on the back of Trevor’s scaly back, the air around them whizzing by. Shapes and colors became one speed.
“It’s beautiful up here,” she tried to say, but her words were slow and slurred. She tried to speak again. “I love this.” She heard a noise that made little sense up there in the sky.
“Marika! Marika!” a voice called out urgently. “Please wake up!”
Pain erupted in her head then, and her surroundings became clearer. She slowly turned away from the motion picture playing in front of her and faced the driver of the car beside her. His face was contorted in distress as he continued to look at her, the vehicle moving at much too high a speed for any semblance of safety.
I’m in a car, she thought with unusual slowness. But this isn’t Petro’s car. She struggled to sit up as the proper alarm surged through her. Where is Petro? Her head was paining in a manner which made her realize she’d probably sustained a brain injury.
“You’re awake! Don’t move! We’re going to find an Enchanted hospital. You’re really badly hurt,” Trevor
was saying. And then, she finally understood what had happened in its entirety.
Trevor! Trevor is here! Trevor saved me! She looked down at her jeans and realized she was soaked in blood. Whose blood was it? At once, she recalled the accident. The car had flown into the guardrail and sat suspended above the side of the cliff.
“What happened?” she heard herself mumble. “How are you here?” He eyed her grimly, half-focused on the whizzing roadway ahead.
“I’m sorry you got hurt,” he sighed. “But I didn’t know what else to do.”
“What did you do?” she asked, managing to right herself to peer at him cautiously. “Where are the others?”
“I ran you off the road,” he confessed, his jaw clenched. “I couldn’t let them get away with you.”
“Oh,” she moaned. “Where did you leave them?”
“They’re not going to be bothering you again.” His explanation wasn’t good enough.
“Trevor…”
“Shh, just lay back. I’m going to take you to Belarus. I’ll find an Enchanted hospital there to check you out.” Kendra started to shake her head, but the movement was too much, and a wave of nausea overtook her.
“I don’t need an Enchanted hospital,” she told him. “I’ll heal. It will just take some time.”
“You’re a mess,” Trevor insisted. “And you’re not healing.”
“I don’t heal as fast as you do,” she agreed. “But I will. Trust me.”
“I’ll feel better if a doctor checks you out,” he insisted. “We’ll be there—”
“No, Trevor! We can’t leave Kiev. I have to find my friend and get her out of here, too.”
Trevor looked at her warily. “What friend? What is going on? Who were those guys? Why did they take you?”
“I promise, I’ll explain everything to you as soon as we find Svetlana, but we need to go to her. Turn the car around, Trevor, please.” Whatever he saw in her face made his soften slightly, and he exhaled.
