by Tawny Taylor
She had stopped, was looking back toward the house.
Talen. Where was Talen?
Michelle’s gaze hopped from her mom to the horde of men in black gathered at the rear of the house.
Something was happening.
Did they capture him?
Her mother turned toward her, her expression a mixture of fear and worry. “What’s happening? Who is that man?”
“Mom, that’s the father of my child.”
Everything was fucked up. Everything.
Talen was on the ground, facedown, hands and legs bound. His arm felt as if it was on fire, thanks to the fucking gunshot.
He needed to get to his phone and turn off the GPS. If he was going down, he didn’t want his brothers going with him. They would track them down if he didn’t. Right now, they were safe. The Secret was safe. Rin and Lei were safe. It was better for everyone if things stayed that way.
A couple of guys caught him by the arms. Another one grabbed his legs, and he was lifted. They would take him in and torture him, try to get the location of The Secret. He’d prepared for this day his whole life. It was here now. He prayed he was ready.
He was surrounded by black uniforms. FBI agents. Undercover Chimera. He couldn’t see Michelle. She had to have gotten away. She had to be safe. She was his weakness, the one person he might risk The Secret for. If they knew that . . . if they used that...
They dumped him into the back of an armored truck. He landed hard. The air left his lungs, and for a few seconds he struggled to draw in a breath. It hurt, but he knew it was nothing compared to the pain that would be coming.
“Child, Michelle? Your child?” Her mom’s face was the color of bleached flour.
“Yes. I’m pregnant, Mom.” Michelle held her breath, waiting for her mother’s reaction. Would she be angry? Worse, would she cry?
“Oh honey.” Her hands trembled as she smoothed Michelle’s hair back from her face.
“It’s okay. I’m set. I have everything I need. I’ve decided—”
“Except a husband. You don’t have a husband. Your child won’t have a father.”
“You’re right.” Turning, Michelle looked up at the back of the house. Her mother’s words stung, but not nearly as bad as the horrific sight Michelle was watching now. They were carrying Talen away, hog-tied. “He wanted to marry me.”
“What did he do? Where are those men taking him?”
“I don’t know exactly. They say he’s a terrorist, but I don’t believe them.” Her nose and eyes were burning. Dammit, she was going to cry. She hated crying. Crying was weak.
“A terrorist?” her mother shot back. “Like . . . like the kind who blows up buildings?”
“He’s not a terrorist.” Michelle dragged her index fingers under her eyes. They came away damp.
“Oh honey. Oh.”
“He’s not. I know it. He’s a good man. A kind man. A strong man. Brave. Sweet.” Tears were flowing freely now. She couldn’t hold them back.
“Honey.” Her mom gathered her into her arms and held her as the sobs ripped through her chest. She couldn’t stop crying. She tried. The sobbing hurt so badly. Her insides felt as if they were being crushed under the weight of a hundred cars. Just as she had when Michelle had been little, her mom held her and smoothed her hand down her hair. “I don’t know how you got tangled up in this mess, but it’s over now. It’s over.”
“It won’t ever be over for me. Or the baby.”
“Yes, the child. I’ll help you. Come home. We can raise the baby together.”
“That’s not what I mean.” Michelle sniffled and hiccupped between words. “I can take care of the baby. But I don’t know if I can live without him. I love him, Mom. I love him so much I hurt everywhere when we’re apart. I can’t breathe when he’s away. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I have been trying all week to convince myself I didn’t need him. But I failed. I still hurt as much today as I did the first day.”
“It’s going to take time. Time will heal your heart.”
Michelle didn’t believe that. Nothing would heal her heart. Because it had been ripped out of her chest. She didn’t have a heart anymore. It was gone.
Surrendered to Talen.
Her mom slid her hand down Michelle’s arm. When it reached her hand, she gripped it. “Come on. Let’s go back to the house. It’s safe now.”
“I don’t know.”
“They took him away. It looks like they’re all leaving. Come on now. We can’t hide out here forever. I’ll make you some tea, and later, when you feel more up to it, we’ll talk about what we’ll do next.”
This wasn’t the end she had hoped for. No. Not after talking to Talen earlier today. But it had been the one she’d planned for. So why did she feel so awful? So . . . hopeless?
Unable to speak, she merely nodded. Together, she and her mom walked up to the house. With each step, her racing heartbeat slowed a little, the adrenaline easing. By the time they reached the house, she was feeling wrung out and exhausted.
Her mom opened the door and stepped inside. Michelle followed. But before she’d made it one step, two men grabbed her, jerking her arms behind her back.
Her mom wailed, “Nooooo! They promised! Leave my daughter alone!”
Promised?
What?
“Mom?”
Her mother’s eyes were dilated with terror. Her face was the shade of milk. “I called them when you arrived. They were supposed to leave you alone. I trusted them.” She sobbed. “Let my daughter go!” she screeched.
“Sorry, ma’am. We can’t do that yet,” one of the officers said as he yanked Michelle toward the door.
She was going to be arrested? Then what?
“Mom, I’ll be okay. I don’t know anything,” she said to her distraught mother as she was tugged toward the exit. In truth, she didn’t know whether she would be okay or not. It was against the law to torture people, but she had to wonder whether that mattered behind closed doors. And if these men were really members of some secret society, then who knew what they might do to her to motivate Talen to talk.
Her blood turned to ice.
As they shoved her into the back of a black van, she turned pleading eyes to one of her captors and said, “Please. I’m pregnant.”
He looked at the man next to him.
They smiled.
“Isn’t that convenient?” the first man said, his voice a frightening, low growl.
Stars glittered in Michelle’s vision, and the air thinned. She gagged as a wave of nausea blasted through her. They gave her one last look, then slammed the door, locking her inside the cargo area.
Oh God, what were they going to do to her?
28
Pain. Throbbing.
Sharp, shooting.
His head. Chest. Leg. Face.
Talen eased onto his back. Light seeped through his closed eyelids. Bright light.
Where the fuck was he?
Hospital?
Prison?
That fucking light was so intense.
He lifted one hand to shade his face. The fingers of his other one moved. They scratched into something soft, gritty.
That wasn’t cotton beneath him. It was earth.
Where the hell?
Ever so carefully, he inhaled. It smelled like outside. Like wildlife. Dirt and sunshine and plants.
He fought to think, to remember. What happened? A flashback shot through his mind. A truck. He’d been in a truck. Then . . . nothing.
Had they dumped him out? Why?
Keeping his hand over his eyes, he slowly opened his eyelids.
Blue sky. White clouds. Treetops.
He rocked his head to the side. There was the road. And roughly thirty feet from the road was the truck. It had veered off, rolled down an embankment, but it hadn’t flipped over. The doors were all open.
Stretching his neck, he looked around. He saw nobody. No men.
What the hell?
Moving c
arefully, he pushed upright. His head pounded. His stomach turned. He swallowed hard. His throat was dry, and his mouth. He ached. Muscles. Bones.
Damn. He wanted to lie back down. Close his eyes. For just a minute. One minute.
No.
Going against everything his body demanded, he climbed onto hands and knees. It hurt like hell to move. He continued, pushing up onto his feet. He staggered a couple of steps forward, a couple more. His sight narrowed. Blackness obscured his peripheral vision. He focused on the vehicle and took another step, then another. When he made it, he collapsed into the empty driver’s seat.
Nobody was in the truck.
What happened?
He checked the vehicle. The key was in the ignition. He turned it, and the engine started up.
He had transportation. Where would he go?
He pulled the door shut, but left the window open for fresh air.
Where would he go?
Michelle. He had to check on her first.
Phone.
His pocket.
It wasn’t there. Damn.
He leaned back in the seat, closed his eyes. He needed to rest for a minute, and to think. His head was so fucking muddy.
“Hey, buddy. You okay?”
It was a voice. Male. Someone was speaking to him.
With difficulty he opened his eyes.
There was man, a stranger, standing next to his door, peering through the open window. White hair. Pale blue eyes. Face that had seen a lot of weather. “Are you hurt?”
“I think I’m all right.”
The old man’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t look all right. Maybe I should call nine-one-one.”
“No, that’s okay. I just had . . . an upset stomach. I’ll be fine. Thanks.”
The man’s forehead furrowed, lines deepening. “Are you sure?” He raised his phone. “I have a phone right here.”
“You know what... can I borrow that?”
“Sure.” The man handed him the phone.
He dialed Michelle’s number. Voice mail. He dialed Drako’s number. Voice mail. He dialed Malek’s number. Voice mail. Didn’t anyone answer their fucking phone? Shaking his head, he handed it back to the man. “No answer. Thanks anyway.”
“You’re welcome.” The man gave him a once-over. “Listen, I live right over the hill. Would you like a cup of coffee or something?”
“No, thanks. I should be going.”
The man stepped back, and Talen hit the gas. The vehicle’s tires dug into the soft earth for several seconds. Finally, they caught hold and the truck lurched forward, toward the road. He pressed on the accelerator to get it up the embankment. When it was finally on the road, he eased up. He had no idea where he was or which direction he should go.
Hoping there would be a town somewhere close by, he followed the winding road through the thick forest. He’d driven no more than a couple of miles when he heard his phone’s ringtone.
Heart thumping, he steered off the road, jumped out of the driver’s seat, and opened the back door. It was on the floor. He scooped it up and checked the screen.
Michelle. She’d called. She was safe. Safe! But for how long?
He hit the button to call her back. It rang twice. Three times. Four. Just as he was about to give up, he heard a click.
“Talen.”
“Michelle. I’m okay. Don’t know where I am.” Memories flooded his mind. “Are you still at your mother’s place?”
“No. I’m not. I’m . . . I’ve been . . . they want to talk to you.”
His blood turned to ice.
“You know why we’ve let you go,” a voice said. It wasn’t Angela’s voice. It wasn’t even a female.
He didn’t respond. There was no need.
“We know about her delicate condition. Congratulations,” the prick on the phone said.
Talen’s heart stopped.
“Give us what we want, or they’ll both die.”
It took almost thirty minutes before Talen found any sign of life. He pulled into the somewhat dilapidated gas station-slash-coffee shop, killed the engine, and dialed his brother’s number again.
This time Drako answered, “Talen. Tell me it hasn’t gone bad.”
“It’s gone bad. The pricks found out I’d come back for her.”
“Damn. Sorry.”
“Yeah.” Talen let his head fall forward. His forehead rested against the steering wheel.
“You know what we’ve been taught to do.”
Talen closed his eyes. “I know.” An image of Michelle’s face flashed in his memory. His blood burned with rage.
“You can’t do it, can you?” his brother asked.
“No. I can’t. Could you?”
“No. Want some help?”
“No.” Talen’s heart thumped hard. He knew what he had to do. “I want you to go on without me, as if I were . . . dead. If I don’t know where you are, and I can’t reach you, they won’t be able to torture or drug me into helping them find you.”
“ ’Kay. If that’s what you want.” Drako went silent.
Talen’s hand shook as he pressed the phone tighter against his ear. Would this truly be the last time he spoke to his brothers ? Would he never see them again alive? “I love you, bro. And Malek. And Rin and Lei. You’ll tell them, won’t you?”
“I will.” Drako’s voice wavered slightly.
“Thanks.”
“You’re sure about this?”
“I owe Michelle this much. She’s carrying my child. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t go after her.”
“We’ll be thinking about you. Especially Lei.”
Lei. His insides twisted. He would never see her again. It hurt, a lot, to realize she wouldn’t be a part of his life anymore.
But it hurt even more imagining life without Michelle.
Yes, he was doing the right thing. He was sure of it.
“Love you,” he said to his oldest brother. Drako would be okay without him. He would do just fine.
“Love you, too.”
The call ended.
Talen took a moment to compose himself. It was hard to breathe, difficult to think. He needed a little time. Once he was sure he could concentrate, he dialed Michelle’s number.
The bastard he’d talked to earlier answered on the first ring, “I knew you would make the right decision.”
“We’re not letting him do this alone,” Drako announced as he slammed his phone down. “No fucking way.” They were at a diner in some godforsaken town in the middle of nowhere. Exactly where they didn’t need to be.
Malek leaned forward, looked left, right. “I didn’t think you’d go for that,” he whispered. “What’s the plan?”
Drako glanced over his shoulder. The girls were in the bathroom, getting cleaned up. They would be back any minute. “I don’t have a plan yet. We need to find out where they’re holding Michelle. If Talen genuinely loves her, which I have no doubt, he’ll discover his gift. Whatever it is, hopefully it, along with ours, will be enough to get us all out of danger.”
Malek sighed. He shoved his fingers through his hair. “I’m so tired of this shit.”
“Me too.” That was no understatement. After what they’d been through this past year, he would do anything to live a normal life. And to give his wife a better life.
Their waitress came over to take their order. Drako ordered a burger and fries for himself, a salad for his wife. Malek ordered for himself and his wife.
When the waitress left to get their drinks, Malek said, “Too bad your plan to go on the offensive and knock them all out for good didn’t work.”
“There’s too many of them.” Drako checked for the girls again. Still no sign of them. Telling Rin what they were up to was going to be tough. He wanted to wait until they were alone. In private. “We’re just going to have to be smarter. Move farther.”
“Or . . .” Malek’s eyes met his. “We could destroy it.”
“No. We can’t.” Didn’
t he wish it could be that simple?
“Why not?” Malek challenged. “What the hell are we keeping the goddamn thing for anyway? If it’ll cause the total destruction of our culture, our economy, our government, why not get rid of it? We won’t be forced to live like this anymore.”
Drako leaned closer and lowered his voice even more. “For one thing, they won’t believe it’s actually destroyed.”
“What if we do it in front of them?” Malek suggested.
“They still would probably think it’s a replica.”
“There’s got to be a way.” Malek jammed his fingers through his hair again. “I’m so fucking tired of running, hiding, living in the shadows.”
“Me too, Malek.”
“And Lei . . .” Malek blinked several times. He was trying to hide his emotions. He wasn’t succeeding. “I don’t want to divorce her.”
“You don’t have to. No matter what.”
“If we can’t save Talen and Michelle, then that leaves you and Rin to have all three Gryffons. Who’s to say she’ll be able to have three boys?” He stopped short when Drako jumped to his feet. “What are you doing?”
Drako poked the buttons on his phone. “Getting ready to find Talen.”
“You don’t have a plan yet.”
“No, I don’t. I’m hoping something will come to me on the road. Go, tell your wife good-bye. We’ll leave the girls here and take your car. I’m going to grab The Secret. We’re taking it with us.”
29
How long had it been? How long had she sat in this sterile effing room? Hours. Days. Weeks?
It had been tedious. But it could have been worse. When Michelle had first been abducted, she had been terrified. She’d feared being raped, beaten up, killed. None of those things had happened. Although she was relieved, every time her door’s lock disengaged, her heart would start racing again.
