by Juniper Hart
“I thought Svetlana was your cousin,” he said dully. Kendra knew he was predicting the disappointment of her betrayal already.
“I lied to you about a lot of things,” she told him quietly.
“Marika—”
“Like my name.” He didn’t seem as surprised as she expected, and she wondered how much he had already pieced together himself. “Trevor, I never wanted you to be caught up in this mess.”
“What is your name?” he asked, his tone flat.
“Kendra,” she answered. “My name is Kendra Jagger.”
12
Night had fallen when the stolen Renault finally sputtered and died, three miles from where Kendra had told him Svetlana’s home was. Kendra had slept after giving Trevor vague directions where to go, only to wake just before the car failed near the city. Trevor wondered if she had purposely slept to avoid answering his questions, ones that were burning hot and bright in his mind as they drove.
When her eyes fluttered open, her color seemed better, but Trevor could see that she wasn’t out of the woods yet.
“We must run,” she told him urgently when the car refused to start. They were out of gas, but Trevor wasn’t sure she could handle the flight.
“You’re in no state to run,” he told her gruffly, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice.
“I don’t have a choice,” she breathed. “Please. Even if Petro is dead, it’s only a matter of time before they come for Svetlana.”
“What is going on?” he demanded. “Mar—Kendra, who were those men? Who are you?”
Kendra shook her head, reaching for the handle to jump from the car.
“There’s no time to explain,” she insisted, but Trevor wasn’t accepting that as answer. He pulled her back into the dark vehicle, his dark eyes boring into her.
“Make time,” he said bluntly. “You’ve lied to me for a year, and I deserve some answers.”
Reluctantly, she pulled her leg back into the car and faced him, the shame and humiliation evident on her pale face. For a long moment, she didn’t speak, and Trevor felt himself growing impatient.
“You need to tell me something,” he said. “I’ve earned it.”
“Yes,” she agreed, turning her eyes upward to meet his with a wistful expression which made his heart ache. “You deserve so much more than just an apology or an explanation. You deserve to be free of all this.”
“Kendra,” he growled. “I want the truth.”
She visibly swallowed and nodded quickly, sighing to look at her hands. “As I already told you, my name is Kendra Jagger. I’m American—or at least, I was until ten years ago, when I came here.”
Trevor’s eyes widened. “Were you… trafficked?”
“No,” she replied, shaking her head. “No, I came on my own. I wanted to get away from my family, from my roots. I engrained myself in Ukrainian culture right away, and I had every intention of staying here forever, but I ran out of money fairly quickly, and I needed to make ends meet.”
That explains her lack of thick accent and her perfect English. More questions exploded in Trevor’s mind, but he waited, knowing that Kendra needed to tell the tale in her own way.
“I started running with a robbery crew,” she sighed. “Run and sanctioned by the Bratva mafia. There were six of us, two girls and four men. As females, we were responsible for distraction while the men stole from the houses.”
Trevor’s mouth gaped open at the confession. She’s a thief! She was running from the law when she came to me.
She caught the look on his face and shook her head again, the red strands slapping at her mouth.
“It’s not what you think,” she went on quickly. “Things are different here, Trevor. Survival is different, especially for a woman like me.”
“I guess you can justify it any way you want,” he muttered, wishing he wasn’t judging her so harshly. It was impossible. He really hadn’t known the first thing about the woman he’d thought he was going to spend the rest of his life with. He couldn’t help feeling hurt by all that he was learning.
“Petro was the head of the mafia,” Kendra continued, her voice quietening. “And when he set his sights on me, he didn’t want to let me go. He gave me a choice—marry him or become one of his prostitutes. To show he was serious when I didn’t answer him, he turned out Svetlana.”
Understanding began to seep into Trevor’s bones, and he fell back against the seat, a combination of disappointment and comprehension flooding him.
“I wanted to find a way out,” she whispered. “I tried to bide my time and devise a plan, but I was being watched constantly. He didn’t want me to leave him, and I was too afraid that he would hurt Svetlana.”
“You have family in the States!” Trevor cried, not wanting to forgive her yet. “You didn’t need to take advantage of some unsuspecting schmuck on the internet!”
“I couldn’t go to my family. Petro knew too much about me, and even though we’re estranged, I would never wish harm on them. It would only be a matter of time before he found me with my sister or mother and stepfather—assuming that Jennifer and Brent would even let me back into their home, which I doubt.”
“Seriously?” Trevor hissed. “There had to be another way that didn’t involve me and Ellsbeth!”
“That was never part of the plan!” she cried. “We weren’t even supposed to meet, but I saw you standing there, waiting for me…”
Trevor remembered the day he’d gone to pick her up at the airport. He recalled how desperate he’d been to meet her and how he’d been so sure she’d stood him up. That’s why she took so long to find me.
“You came in from Hungary so I couldn’t trace who you really were,” he guessed coldly. “You covered your tracks well.”
“I did that so that Petro couldn’t figure out where I’d gone.” There was a sincerity in her voice that he couldn’t ignore, but he still wasn’t sure what to believe. “And I fell in love with Ellie,” Kendra went on, tears welling in her surreal eyes. “Trevor, how I feel about you is not a lie. I wanted to tell you the truth, but I knew it would only put you in danger. I should have just walked away and disappeared when I had the chance, but something was drawing me to you, something I’d never felt before.”
“I’m your mate,” he snapped. “You can’t escape that.”
She nodded, her eyes shining with water.
“Nor do I want to,” she breathed. “I don’t know where we go from here, but at least you know the truth now.” She fell silent, and Trevor took the opportunity to process everything he’d been told.
She’s still the same woman. She could have gone anytime, and yet she stayed. She wanted to be with you.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I understand if you never want to see me again.”
Without answering, Trevor reached across and opened his car door.
“Where are you going?” she called out, alarm lacing her words.
“To save your friend,” he said. “That’s where we go from here.”
As they approached the modest house in the outskirts of town, Kendra held out her hand to slow Trevor. He had flown them both most of the way on his back, but as they neared civilization, he knew he needed to keep a lower profile and shifted back into his mortal form to take the last steps.
Even in the dark, he could see that Kendra was handling the trip a lot better than she had earlier, and the knowledge filled him with relief. Regardless of his hurt, he didn’t want to see her in pain. He had no idea what they were going to do if they got out of this mess, but he knew in his heart that he hadn’t followed Kendra to Europe only to lose her again.
“Wait,” she whispered as they drew near, holding up a hand. Trevor obeyed her instruction, his eyes peering out into the darkness to make sense of what was going on beyond. There was no obvious movement, and slowly, they crept closer down the road toward the house like two thieves in the night. And Kendra had been a thief, used to skulking around like that.
He reminded himself that she had also been a kid when she’d started her entire criminal endeavors. You aren’t the same person you were when you were nineteen. Hell, you’re not even the same person you were last year. Doesn’t she deserve the benefit of the doubt? She’s never stolen from you. On the contrary, she’s given you so much.
At the house, they again paused, and from the side of the property, they peered in the windows.
“Oh, shit,” Kendra muttered. Trevor’s heart leapt into his throat at the sight of the blood splatter in the kitchen, staining the white countertops a gruesome red. “We’re too late,” she moaned, her slender hand to her mouth. Her blue-green eyes were filled with tears. “They already came for Lana.”
He could read the clear grief in her face, but before he could utter a word of comfort, the front door opened. Trevor and Kendra stepped back against the house, trying to make themselves as scarce as possible. A tall blonde emerged then, holding a pair of bloodstained scissors, a dazed look in her eye.
“Svetlana!” Kendra screamed, springing forward. Gone was the pretense of quiet as she rushed toward her. The blonde stared blankly at the injured redhead who flew at her.
Suddenly, recognition filled her blue eyes, and Svetlana gasped, the scissors falling from her hand to the grass of the lawn. She cried out in Ukrainian, and the friends embraced, squeezing each other tightly.
Trevor felt himself softening at the display. She loves Svetlana. She really was trying to save her. More and more, he was beginning to realize that Kendra had exercised a lot of bad judgement despite having a very pure heart. And I can’t hold that against her. We all screw up. Some of us more than others.
Svetlana turned to Trevor suspiciously, like she was seeing him for the first time. Instantly, she dropped to her knees to reach for the knife, but Kendra said something, and she instantly dropped it again. Weeping, the stately woman sank to the steps, shaking her head as Kendra wrapped her arms around her.
“We should get out of here,” Trevor said urgently, looking around with worry. Kendra smiled weakly.
“We will,” she agreed. “Just let Lana catch her breath.”
“What happened?” Trevor did not know which way to turn. He only knew that he wanted to take Kendra and get out of the Ukraine as fast as possible.
“She killed the man who was keeping her here,” Kendra explained. “Helped by the other girls that were being kept here against their will.” Trevor’s mouth parted, but no sound came out. “That’s a good thing,” Kendra offered. “These bastards have caused more pain than anyone can ever imagine.” Trevor believed her and didn’t argue. “Just give us a minute.”
“And then what?” Trevor asked, ambling closer. “Then where will we go?”
“Let’s catch a train to Budapest,” she joked, and he snorted in spite of the situation.
“No, thanks,” he replied. “I think I’d just prefer to go home.”
13
“I know we’ve discussed this before, but we really need to buy a house,” Kendra sighed, and Trevor ground his teeth together in exasperation.
“Oh, I am well aware of our pressing need for space, but that’s not exactly what we’re discussing right now, is it?”
Kendra averted her eyes and looked toward where Ellsbeth was playing at her art easel. “I’m not ready to do that yet, Trevor. We’re still trying to rebuild after everything we’ve been through.”
“Part of that rebuilding starts with your own family, doesn’t it?” he asked patiently. He didn’t want to push the issue, but since returning from the harrowing ordeal in Europe, Trevor had been unable to get Kendra’s family out of his mind.
Doesn’t she want to see them? Know how they’re doing?
“I have a family here,” she reminded him, glancing back at Ellsbeth again and then at Svetlana, who was reading a Russian romance novel in the very same spot that Kendra had always liked to sit.
“Trevor, I liked you better when you were just a techy geek without a life,” Johnny had gasped when Trevor had asked him to produce fake identification for his fiancée’s friend. “You’ve had me do more illegal activities in a year than I did before in my entire life.”
Not that Trevor had bought into his hyperbole, but he admitted that he liked the new and improved version of himself.
Regardless of Johnny’s hesitations, his brother-in-law had come through, and Svetlana had come to stay at Trevor and Kendra’s condo as the couple began to pick up the pieces of their relationship. Trevor had initially thought the move to be temporary until he could set them up in their own place, but as the months passed, it became apparent that Kendra enjoyed having her friend nearby. Despite their constant lack of privacy, Trevor felt it was a small sacrifice to make. If it meant that Kendra was home safe with him, he would have entertained all of Kiev in their apartment.
But with Ellie and Svetlana, the space was more than cramped enough.
“I’ll deal with my biological family at my own pace,” Kendra continued. “If you promise to buy us a house.”
He affectionately read her exasperation and nodded.
“After the wedding, I will find us a twenty-five-bedroom house,” he joked. “Anything else?”
She nodded, pulling herself into his arms. “Yes. I want us to have a real family dinner with your sister and Johnny and your mother. The last one didn’t go very well, and I don’t want to enter into this marriage with them looking at me like I’m trying to trap you or something.”
Trevor grimaced at the idea. “As long as Harley isn’t there, I’m fine with that.”
“Can we go visit Mommy and Daddy?”
The plaintive question caused the couple to pull apart and stare at Ellsbeth’s innocent face. Trevor shot Kendra a wary look and dropped down to meet his niece’s face at eye level.
“Honey, you know that your mommy and daddy…” He trailed off and cleared his throat delicately.
“They’re dead, I know,” Ellie said without emotion. “I want to go to their graves.”
“Oh.” Trevor drew back and straightened his shoulders as he bit on his lower lip. “I can’t see why not,” he agreed. “When do you want to do that?”
“Now,” Ellsbeth replied, turning back toward her bedroom. “Can I get dressed?”
“Uh…” Trevor looked desperately at Kendra, who shrugged and nodded. “Sure.”
They watched as the little girl scampered off down the hallway toward her bedroom, and the adults stood about.
“There’s no harm in her going there,” Kendra told him. “Has she been since they died?”
“No,” Trevor said slowly. “She hasn’t even asked to go.”
“Has Damiana been sentenced for their murders?”
“Oh yes. She’s in an aranium cage as we speak. She’ll be there for eternity.”
Kendra grimaced. “Sounds painful.”
“She should have thought about that before ruining everyone’s lives,” Trevor said without sympathy. Kendra eyed him with barely concealed appreciation.
“You really are different now, aren’t you?” she asked, and he chuckled.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“No,” Kendra denied, shaking her head. “Not at all.” Their eyes locked, and gently, Trevor brushed a kiss across her lips.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done for us.”
“Ditto,” Kendra said, smiling, and returned the kiss. Svetlana grunted in protest, but they ignored her.
“I’m ready,” Ellie announced, returning from her bedroom.
Trevor nodded at her, extending his hand toward her.
“Us, too,” he replied. “Let’s go.”
The Enchanted cemetery in Burlington looked exactly like any other graveyard in America. The pristine lawns were well-tended and the headstones polished. No one would have guessed by looking that Lycan, dragons, and vampires lay lifeless below the dirt, their immortal lives cut short in myriad ways.
“We should have buried the
m in a mausoleum,” Trevor muttered, more to himself than Kendra.
“I hate to be crass, but I don’t think they mind,” she said lightly, answering anyway. “Wherever they are now, it isn’t here.”
Ellsbeth was crouched before her parents’ joint grave, and although Trevor couldn’t hear what she was saying, he could read the sadness in her stance.
“Do you think she’ll ever get over their deaths?” he asked, but again, he felt like the question was rhetorical.
“Grief is a personal thing,” Kendra offered. “When you lose someone…”
Trevor eyed her, his heart picking up slightly.
“Are you talking about Petro?” he demanded with too much sharpness. Her eyes bulged, and she laughed shortly.
“Of course not! You did me a favor by letting that car go over the guardrail. I never loved him, and I certainly never think about him.”
Trevor felt his body relax.
“Good,” he sighed. “I don’t think I’d forgive myself if I thought you resented me for that.”
Kendra slipped her hands into his and shook her head.
“No,” she insisted. “I was thinking about my father.”
He twisted his head and peered at her.
“Is your father really gone?” he asked, and she chuckled.
“I deserved that. Yes, he died in his latest prison stint. He wasn’t ever really around in our lives because my mom didn’t let him, and when she got remarried… well, let’s just say he was nowhere to be found. But that doesn’t change the fact that I miss him.”
“He’s your dad,” Trevor agreed sympathetically. “That’s the way it is. I miss my brother, even though he busted my chops as much as possible. Not a day goes by that I don’t wish he was here.”
Kendra’s eyes shone, and she cocked her head to the side to study his face intently. “Would you have him back if you could?”
“In a heartbeat,” Trevor replied without hesitation. Before Kendra could speak again, Ellsbeth hurled herself into his arms, tears streaming down her face as she buried her face into his waist.
