Her nod was slow; her eyes wide. She didn’t have to see anything to know for sure, she just did. Maybe it was instinct. Zeke was a Warrior. Not Exiled like Seth and his brothers. He worked for the Masters. If she was really being taken to the President, then that could only mean the world was in worse condition than they all thought.
The trip was long. They drove for hours. A flight was out of the question for her. But she knew they wouldn’t waste days to get there. Her questions were answered as soon as dusk descended and her body could handle being outside long enough to be forced onto a train. Since the changes, the nation’s capital had been mostly destroyed. People no longer resided there with the exception of the President in the White House—and it was only him. There were no longer any Senate or House of Representatives or Congress. He made all of the laws now, and whatever he decided, it was final.
The train took them to Alexandria, Virginia and from there, they got back in similar sport utility vehicles again to take her to the capital. She slept most of the time. The exhaustion and the silver from the cuffs had got to be too much.
“Wake up.”
She felt Zeke poke her in the rib.
When she sat up and looked around, she’d found they’d parked. They were there. Guards surrounded the vehicle with weapons.
“We’re going to sit here for a while, until dusk, so that you can be escorted inside,” he added. She shuddered and continued staring out the darkly tinted windows. It was hard to believe that almost two days had already passed since she’d left the safety of The Compound. She secretly hoped that Draven had found the video and that everything was going okay there with everyone. She definitely didn’t want another rescue mission like with the Nathanial situation. It would be suicide for them. No. This time she was handling things on her own.
During their travels, Boss and the other Hunter had been moved to the other vehicle after another two humans were executed behind the train station. It was just her and Zeke alone in the SUV, with a driver of course, and she kept glancing at him from the corner of her eye. He had a familiar look to him. His hair was short and black, neatly trimmed, and he was tall and lean. His face was round, with wide bright green eyes--unlike the normal gold eyes seen in the other Fallen she knew.
“I don’t know why I feel like I’ve seen you before,” she said at last, daring to speak for the first time since he told her not to.
He turned to her with a frustrated sigh.
“I told you not to talk.”
She shrugged and stared down at her hands. Her wrists had burn marks from the cuffs. Blood oozed from the wounds. She ignored the pain.
The guards outside tapped on the window to grab their attention. Zeke tugged on her shoulder. Night had started to set, making it safe to transport her from the vehicle to inside. Her mostly-dead heart thudded hard once in nervousness as she stepped into the building and allowed them to surround her. They escorted her toward the office.
Zarah was still barefoot and clothed in her pajamas from two nights ago. She felt icky. The thirst gnawed at her stomach, cramping it. Her legs were weak. She smelled a mix of human and Fallen through the halls.
“So nice of you to join us, Zarah,” a voice said from the desk when they shoved her inside. She looked around to see that guards remained outside the office with the exception of her main escort, Zeke, and she was forced to stand in the center of the room.
She looked to the source of the voice to see the man she’d come to loathe—the man who wanted to end vampires—smiling at her from the desk. Beside him stood another man. She swallowed hard. He looked like a perfect blend of Seth and Draven. His hair was long with a mixture of dark auburn—almost a match to her hair color—and light brown hair. His eyes were a swirl of amber and navy. And he was so tall, she had to crane her neck. Fear spiked in her chest. It couldn’t be. She blinked hard as she tried to will away a possible nightmare, only to find the images around her still there.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. Maybe you know my associate?” President Perkins added, motioning to the man that Zarah couldn’t keep her eyes from.
“Do you know what he is?” she asked the president with caution. Her legs trembled and she started to fall. Zeke reached out and pulled her back up.
“Of course. And he’s been a great help in hunting down you vile monsters. Your special little group though, I’m not so sure what to do about just yet. So we’re going to wait and see.”
The Fallen stepped around the desk and stared down at her with an amused smirk.
“So, how are my sons doing?”
Acknowledgements
As always, I thank all of my biggest supporters, family and friends, because without you I would’ve given up long ago. Thank you for continuing to read The Guardians of the Night trilogy, and I hope that you continue to read other future releases as well.
Also a big, huge many thanks to the wonderful book bloggers out there. Without you all, authors like me wouldn’t be here. You rock!
About the Author
Pixie Lynn Whitfield resides in Texas with her husband, three stepchildren, cat and dog. When she’s not writing, she’s reading and blogging. The Guardians of the Night trilogy is her first published work, though there are plans for others to come in the near future. You can find her on Twitter or through Goodreads.
Through These Wicked Nights (Guardians of the Night Book 2) Page 11
