Marik just watched me as I continued my tirade. His face lacked all emotion and I recognized his blank stare. It was the Protector expression that they all adopted whenever they were working.
"This is really for the best."
I stood up and walked towards him until I stood directly in front of his face. "I will not survive our enemy if you take him now. At least, let us get out of danger first, and then you can reassign him. I promise not to resist or rebel against whomever you choose. Please, Marik. I need to be protected by someone I actually trust."
“It’s time you let us do our jobs and took a step back. This decision does not involve you! You’re officially dismissed, Ariya.” He sent me away with an abrupt wave of his hand, like I were no more than a pesky fly.
I shuddered before taking a deep breath, reeling from what this meant for all of us. Without James, I really doubted I could survive. I walked out of the bedroom, angrily shutting the door behind me. James was sitting on the couch again, waiting for me, and looking like he’d been hit by a bus. His hands rested on his knees and he jumped up the minute I shut Marik’s bedroom door behind me. He’d probably heard everything and thought I was stupid and pathetic.
My eyes uncontrollably filled with tears at the thought of saying goodbye. Lukas stood off to the side, watching me cautiously. I blinked several times, unable to form words, and didn’t have a clue of what to do next. James stood still, but Lukas and the mystery man I saw before rose and stepped forward. The tension in the room grew more palpable in seconds and Lukas seemed alert and on guard, ready for any defiant moves or unexpected attacks from James. James was looking calm now, though. The emotions that were previously running across his face disappeared and when he looked over at Lukas, it was as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
“I’ll just see her to her room and say goodbye. Then I can give you a rundown of things before turning her over to you.” James’s unfazed tone was a stark contrast to the emotions I was struggling to conceal at the thought of losing him.
Lukas hesitated with a hardened expression on his face, but slowly seemed to soften before he stepped back. “Quickly, James.”
We walked towards the elevators in silence, James trailing behind me in what felt like super slow motion. When the doors pinged close, James slammed his hand into the emergency stop button, jolting the elevator to a halt between floors. My arms flew out to brace myself on the side of the elevator and I looked at him in utter surprise. He dented the button permanently, after hitting it so hard. Turning to face me, he pushed me against the glass mirror on the side of the elevator.
"Ariya," he said in a shaky voice, his hands wrapped around my arms gently, "do I have any reason to hope for something with you?"
He looked down into my eyes and my heart gave me away. It was fluttering so fast inside me, I feared it must be what a heart attack felt like. My whole body went tense.
"Hope? You're already over me, remember? You wanted to be friends."
I looked down again, unable to make eye contact anymore. I stoically resisted the urge to throw myself at him, risking his rejection, which I wasn't sure I could handle. Talking to Marik was already making me too emotional. I doubted that James’s suggestion that we had to focus on our friendship would be something I wanted to add to my day.
“My heart will belong to you for eternity, Ariya. Whether you accept it or not,” James whispered as he brought his face closer to mine. “I'll never be over you." Pushing into me, he practically attacked my mouth with his perfectly smooth lips.
I gasped as his hands pulled my arms around his neck and I clutched onto his hair when he pushed into my body harder. Weeks of built-up passion began to consume me. I felt as if I couldn't breathe, but he didn’t let me go. After a few more moments against his lips, I pulled back just to get some air into my lungs, but he came at me again. He ran his hand down the length of my leg and wrapped it around him in what was becoming his signature move. The sensation of his hands gliding up my leg caused my body to shudder and tremble in anticipation. I felt him grinding into me and my one knee, which was still holding me up, suddenly weakened from the intensity of the moment. I felt him smile as he pulled back. He still held me firmly against him when he pulled his head away from me, searching my eyes.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked before kissing my forehead.
"I tried to, but you...” His hips hit me again in the perfect place, causing ripples of pleasure to rush through me. Holy hell, did I mention I couldn’t breathe?
It was the absurd the effect he always had on me. I tried to bring some control to my voice before I continued. “You interrupted me, and I couldn't get it out. But if you recall, you said you were fine with us not being together anymore." His lips were over mine again, gentler now and I softly said his name in a moment of pure bliss.
He groaned. "Ariya, I thought it was what you wanted."
"I told you so many times that I would give up having a family for you, and you never listened to me. I'm sorry. I worried you wouldn't forgive me for using that as an excuse, but I wanted to keep you safe. I had to keep you safe. I feared you'd be a bigger target if you were with me and Marik told me you were already in danger."
James pulled back further this time, and the warmth of his body being pressed up against mine slipped away. “What? What do you mean, Marik told you I was in danger?"
James was pissed. His eyes darkened so I pulled his face into my hands. I did not want to think about Marik’s overt attempt at manipulating me.
"Do you really not know how I feel about you?"
"I could say the same to you." He combed his fingers through my hair and kissed me more softly this time, barely brushing his lips against mine as he kept speaking. "I missed you."
Tears welled in my eyes. "So, you're not over me?"
"I told you, I'll never be over you." My eyes closed, relishing this wonderful moment. His face was so close to mine, I wanted to keep him there forever.
He reached over and pushed the release button on the elevator before we began to move again. I buried myself into his chest and he wrapped his arms around me.
“What are we going to do about Lukas? Where will they take you? How will you be able to protect me?” I clutched onto him, not daring to let go as the questions poured out of me. He chuckled when I tightened my grip.
"I'm not going anywhere," he said before kissing the top of my head. The doors to the elevator dinged open and James began pulling me behind him.
He threw me over his shoulder and rushed me to my bed in the hotel room. I cried out gleefully at how fast we got there. Pinning me beneath him, he continued where he left off in the elevator.
“Sorry about this,” he said as he tore my sweatshirt off with extra strength that managed to destroy the shirt beneath as well. “It’s been too long. Your heart has been killing me, Ariya. You have no idea what it does to me when I hear your heart pounding. It’s like my own, if mine could still beat.”
I couldn’t form words at that moment, so I said nothing. My breaths were coming out short and gasping. I swear, it probably sounded like I had just finished running a marathon.
James easily tore off the yoga pants I was wearing, ruining those as well.
“Caroline told me,” I finally managed to breathe out and James smirked.
“So you knew what you were doing?” His fingers trailed slowly up the insides of my thighs.
“No, I tried not to make you uncomfortable,” I managed to get out before gasping at his touch. “It was difficult for me not to be near you, James. I need you.”
Understanding exactly what I meant, he threw his clothes off quicker than he had mine. “Ariya, don’t ever doubt my love for you. There will never be a single moment when I would want to be anywhere but right beside you,” James spoke before his hot lips caressed my stomach.
“James,” I choked out in a sob.
He brought his face up to mine and brushed away my tears. “Don’t cry, Ariya. I won’t
ever make the mistake of doubting what we have between us again, I swear.”
“I love you.” It was all I could think of to reply after hearing his perfect words. His lips met mine again and I sensed the gentleness of our candid talk succumbing to the desire of becoming one again.
“I hate to break this up, but we have a situation,” Nick’s voice suddenly blurted out. He seemed amused, but also on edge.
“Nick!” I yelled, grabbing the disheveled bedcovers and turning to see him with his hands over his eyes, chuckling. He turned around and James whirled in and out of the room, returning fully clothed again.
“Get dressed, Ariya,” he said before tossing a pile of clothes at me. Just like that, the mood was extinguished and we were right back to business.
James and Nick spoke in low voices as I hurriedly threw on the t-shirt and shorts that he flung my way. Nick sped off as James returned his attention to me.
I raised one eyebrow and asked, “What’s happening?”
“We have to leave, now. Before they realize I’m not bringing you back,” he said, gathering a few items as he spoke.
"How? How can we get away from Marik?”
“We just need to hurry. Grab whatever you can of yours and Riley’s things in the room.”
I obeyed and ran around the hotel, snatching up whatever I could and shoving it into our two duffel bags. James was on his cell phone when I returned to the sitting area. He rose, grabbing my things and smiling at me reassuringly.
"Are we meeting up with the others? Did you send Nick somewhere?”
"Yes, we’ll reconnect with them…”
Before James could finish his sentence, I was wrapped up in his arms and tossed into the hallway. A crash sounded from inside the hotel room and I froze. Shattered glass was flying in multiple places. James yanked me by my arm and pulled me onto my feet again. We turned, running down the hall for the elevators when the window that was closest to us shattered as well.
James covered me immediately with his body, blocking my view momentarily.
“And so we meet again,” Tristan’s voice boomed down the hallway.
Great. Of all the possible worst moments of timing, Tristan seemed to have gotten something right. He was blocking our way, standing in front of us and halting our progress so that whoever crashed into the room would be behind us in moments.
“Wish I could stay and kill you, but sadly, today isn’t the day,” James said as he wrapped his arm around my waist and pushed me harder against him.
Tristan cackled. “We’ve got you surrounded, lover boy. This time, you’re mine.”
“Hang onto me tightly, Ariya, and close your eyes.”
I obeyed instantly and felt us lurch before the air whizzed past my face. James’s body wrapped around me again as we crashed through broken glass. My eyes jerked open, wondering what he was doing.
That was a huge mistake.
No sooner did I open my eyes when the sensation of falling hit my stomach and I automatically screamed. James hurled us out the penthouse window of the hotel and we were now plummeting at a rapid speed towards the streets below.
I shut my eyes again, hating the feeling that I had no control. It was simply a gut reaction to the notion that I was about to splatter on the cement. We landed on the street without splattering there, and James was still holding me as if I weighed nothing when he set me down on my feet.
“That was fun,” he winked as he took my hand, tugging me. “Keep moving.”
I didn’t think Tristan managed to keep up or follow behind, but James still turned sharp corners, leading us swiftly through blocks of streets and masses of people. It was hard to say what, if anything, was behind us. We turned another corner and James let go of my hand, pausing next to an alley. I saw nothing but a pile of dirty clothes stacked up in it. James snatched the clothes away and removed everything, revealing a car beneath them. A young boy came running out of a door I failed to notice in the alley. James tossed a wad money to the young boy, who shrieked with joy and gave James a thumbs-up sign.
I stared at James, openly wondering how on earth he could have possibly secured all of these escapes and coordinated his plans so well.
“What? I’m the best there is, Ariya,” he grinned, fully aware of my awe toward him. He nodded towards the car doors and I scurried in.
After backing out from the alley, James started down the streets, driving like he had been here forever and knew exactly where to go. As the silence grew between us, I watched James’s expression grow darker. The adrenaline of the escape was wearing off, clearly giving him more time to think.
We only drove for a few moments before stopping outside a bar that was well hidden from the typical tourists and casual passersby. I would have assumed it was deserted had it not been for an elderly man leaning up against the window. He was smoking and watching everyone walking around on the street. He monitored our movements too as James parked before he went back to puffing his cigarette and staring out at the streets. I fondly wished I could be him for a moment, lazily watching the world pass by from a safe place.
James hadn’t said anything, but I could feel the heat billowing off him like he was ready to explode. I was about to ask him why we were there when Caroline, Nick and Riley ran out of the bar a few seconds later and jumped in the car with us.
“What the hell, guys? This is insane!” Riley fumed as James began pulling away.
James’s hands tightened on the steering wheel and I glanced at him in my peripheral vision.
"Are you okay?" I asked cautiously.
" No. I'm trying to figure out how Marik could do this to us. I'm angry, Ariya."
"You don't know it was him," I started to say before Nick cut me off.
"Who else could it have been? He shows up and so do the wolves. We need more time to figure out how he's been managing to pull this off." His voice was filled with anger, too, coming from the back seat.
“Ariya’s right. It seems too obvious. Shouldn’t it be clear to everyone that he was working with the enemy after today?” Riley inquired.
“There really isn’t another explanation, Ry,” Care replied, visibly upset.
“We turned our cell phones on after we found the dagger. We just wanted to see what would happen so we knew what we were really up against here,” Nick added. “That’s how they found us. Once our phones were on, they could locate us by using the cell signals. We didn’t want to do that until we were finished with our own, private mission, just in case things turned out… well… like this.” He finished with a wave of his hand.
James’s stony glare intensified as Nick spoke.
“Let’s try to calm down,” I said hesitantly. “Why would Marik deliberately put us in more danger by letting rogue vampires know that I existed? He has always held himself and his duty to a high standard, I can’t imagine…” I was interrupted again.
“The minute he teamed up with Audrey, all of that fake duty bullshit went out the window,” Nick said.
I wasn’t so sure about Marik anymore. I know he loved someone in my line, and I truly believed in his stout sense of duty. How could he have willingly put us into more danger? But like Nick said, if not Marik, than who? It only made sense for him to be the traitor at this point, given how easily the wolves got their information on us.
I wasn't sure what to do so I turned in my seat and touched James’s cheek. He briefly closed his eyes before turning and kissing the palm of my hand.
"It's going to be okay," I said softly.
"When I destroy every last one of them! Then, yes, it will be okay." He spoke with such conviction and certainty that I realized I would not want to encounter James's wrath. The thought brought a smile to my face. My hero.
Facing to look out the car window in front of me again, I noticed James hadn't slowed down.
"Are we still in trouble?"
"No, just need to put some distance between us, Marik and the wolves."
"Where to now?"
; "We'll make our way to an airport in Belgium. It's located out in the country and easy to slip under the radar. Then we’ll head back home." He paused to look over at me and I noticed he glanced in the rearview mirror too, apparently having another private conversation with Nick.
"I'm proud of you, Ariya. You never cease to amaze me." Taking my hand, he planted a kiss on the back of it, but didn't return it to me. Instead, he kept it in his lap and I watched the outside world moving past us as we escaped the betrayal, now reflected only in our rearview mirror.
After another long stretch and several hours of traveling, I spotted a sign that read Cologne.
“How much longer?” I asked.
“It’s only a few more hours from here, but we should rest for the night.” James smiled at me quickly before turning the car onto a dirt path towards a small inn. “Wait here.”
He was back quickly and we all piled into the quaint-looking accommodations. “Somewhere you’ve been before?” I asked.
“I knew their grandfather before he passed. He opened up this bed and breakfast. I know it’s safe.”
We collapsed into the first room we came to at the top of the stairs. Everyone was exhausted, still confused and reeling from the day’s revelations and events.
James and Nick, as always in a mission focus zone, had already rifled through our belongings and pulled out the dagger, spell and a map. Together, they hunched over the items on a round wooden table at the side of the large bedroom.
“What is the plan? We don’t know where Audrey will be, much less, how many wolves she’ll have. How will we know what’s next?”
“What’s next always seems to come, Ariya. Whether you think there’s a way to find out or not,” Nick replied and his mouth pursed into a thin line of determination. “Our goal is to try to analyze what we know and make a few plans accordingly. Contingencies, smartest routes, and all the names of people we know in different areas that may be able to help us for awhile. The usual routine,” he smiled, letting me into their world briefly.
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