Die for Me

by Nichole Severn

  “Take it easy.”

  She wiped stray tears from her eyes with the back of her hand as she stared up into the night sky. “I can’t do this anymore. Too many people are dying because of me.”

  That’s what he’d been afraid of. She wanted to give up. She wanted to leave him. Taigen backed away from her, not far, but enough to give her some room. “What’s your plan? Turn yourself over to Isaac?”

  He didn’t even want to think about it. “You think giving up will solve anything? They will kill you. Adelaide will kill you. I can’t stop her without your help.”

  “I don’t care anymore.” Her eyes glazed distantly as she turned her head to face the fire. Torrhent wasn’t the same girl he’d met less than two weeks ago. She was his world, his everything, and she’d be the death of him.

  He never wanted to let her go.

  “You stupid girl,” Taigen scoffed, shaking his head. He stood and turned his back on her. Barely able to breathe through his anger, he worked to get the words out. “I may be a bastard, but you’re a coward.”

  She nodded in agreement. Standing, probably faster than was safe for her stitches, she circled around him. Her eyes were wide, but steady. “You’re right.” Torrhent started to crumple right before his eyes.

  Taigen caught her by the elbows just before she went down. He kept his voice even, low. “That’s it? You’re going to let others fight your battle?”

  She wrenched herself out of his grip. “I never asked people to fight for me!”

  “But they have, Torrhent!” He couldn’t keep his temper under control anymore. Taigen wanted to shake her, make her realize exactly what would happen with her decision. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, trying to rein himself in. “You told me Isaac should pay for what he’s done. All I’m doing is giving you the chance to make that happen. Was it a lie?”

  When he reopened his eyes, he found hers wet with tears.

  She swallowed hard. “No.”

  “Then what are you doing?”

  “It was your plan that didn’t work.” It took her a moment to go on, her stare darting into the fire once again. “I was an idiot to think I could go up against them. I should have let those men kill me back there.” Her stare returned to him. “No one else would suffer if I had.”

  “I would.” Taigen worked to release the tension in his body. He stepped toward her, wrapping his fingers around her biceps, and immediately felt the effect. Touching her slowed his pulse, cleared his mind. “I don’t even know how I came to feel this way. Something about you has me fighting against all my training and instincts.”

  She looked away from him, her skin flushing, even in the campfire glow. “I think you’d say anything to get what you want.”

  “Torrhent.” He waited until she looked back to him to go on. “I’m a selfish bastard for using you, but I won’t give up on the chance we could make it out alive. Together.” Taigen tried to clear the lump in his throat. “I want you.”

  “You don’t even know me.”

  He brushed a stray piece of hair back behind her ear. “I know you can be brave. You’re not afraid to speak your mind. You’ve been a ballet dancer and I can’t get you out of my mind. What else do I need to know?”

  “The longer you’re around me, the more danger you’re in.” Torrhent’s gaze met his, fiery, strong. “And nothing you can say will change my mind.”

  * * *

  She wished she’d meant it.

  Torrhent stared into the electric blue depths of Taigen’s eyes, the darkness having no effect on the intensity radiating from them. One thing would change her mind, but she prayed he wouldn’t say the words. She didn’t want to hear it.

  “My life was empty before I met you.” Taigen licked his lips.

  She followed the movement, but closed her eyes in order to keep her sanity. “Just stop. Please.”

  She wanted to believe him, but he’d already chosen the greater good over her once. In reality, she admired him for it. He fought for something she didn’t have the courage to. And he’d win without her. If nearly being filleted alive taught her anything, it was Taigen Banvard didn’t deserve to rot in prison because of her selfish wish. She’d made a mistake in choosing him and hoped he’d forgive her for changing his life so drastically. But first, she had to take the first step to fix it.

  Torrhent reopened her eyes. “I’m sure there’s a nice stripper waiting for you back in Los Angeles who’d appreciate it more.”

  She stepped around him, unwilling to believe his face had crumpled in front of her. Picking up the bag of jerky from the ground, she winced in pain. She needed her strength, but the movement had her sucking air through gritted teeth. Her insides felt like ground beef and would have been if Taigen hadn’t interfered. She turned to face him, talking to his back. “Thank you for helping me.” For helping me trust again.

  “You’re not going anywhere.” He turned on her, his eyes blazing without the help of the nearby campfire.

  Frozen, Torrhent had never seen a look like that from him.

  He closed the distance between them. “I’ve killed and bled for you.”

  Fisting his hand in her hair, Taigen sent a jolt of pain through her head. “Whether you like it or not, we’re in this together and we’re closer than ever. We can end this.”

  She was speechless, unsure what to do, to say. The hit men who’d nearly killed her were nothing compared to the passion in Taigen’s eyes. She couldn’t move. Only the searing pain of the cuts on her stomach let her know she wasn’t already dead.

  “You’ve done a lot of stupid things so far,” he said, releasing his hold on her physically. She wanted to argue but was interrupted and shoved down to sit. “I won’t let you kill yourself and I am not going to let you fuck up my plans to get to my sister either. No one else can stop her.”

  Torrhent’s eyes darted away from him, calculating her chances of outrunning him.

  They weren’t good.

  She rubbed at the back of her neck, massaging the hair that had almost been pulled out of her head. “I can’t keep looking over my shoulder. I’m not a killer. I’m not like you.”

  The words came out with just the right amount of hatred. She needed them to hurt. She had to separate herself from him once and for all.

  “I’m not asking you to be like me, Torrhent.” Taigen confronted her again. “Isaac brought you into this. I’m just trying to help you out of it, and right now you owe me the courtesy of seeing it through.”

  The frustrating part was, she agreed with him. Isaac needed to pay for what he’d done, but what happened back at the bar had been just the beginning. They’d find her again and they’d kill her. They’d kill Taigen. “Do you remember what you told me the other night? About revenge? You said I was blinded by it.”

  Torrhent didn’t wait for him to answer. It was childish, but she didn’t care. She had a point to make. “What if it isn’t me who’s been blinded?” She stood then began walking north. “I’m turning myself in tomorrow. With or without your help.”

  New York rested eighteen hundred miles away, but there had to be a police station somewhere along the way. If things went her way, Torrhent would be in a cell by tomorrow night.

  “You’re making a mistake,” he said from behind.

  “You were going to turn me over to them anyway!” she spat. “I’m just a fucking bargaining chip to you.”

  “Yes, you were. But not anymore.”

  Shit. Torrhent didn’t know how to respond. She’d never planned for things to get this far. “I can’t let more people die for me. Why can’t you understand that?”

  “Because you’re going to get yourself killed, Torrhent!” Taigen ran his hand over his buzzed head, his eyes meeting hers. “Don’t do this.”

  His voice lowered an octave. Taigen’s accent tinted every word. He meant what he said. “We can pay Isaac back for what he’s done. We can find Adelaide, stop her and run away. We can be happy. Wherever you want, I can get us th
ere. Anywhere. Just tell me where.” His entire body pled with her, but his eyes kept her in place. “If you turn yourself in, Isaac will kill you. You know it’s true.”

  She wanted to take him up on his offer. No worries, wet beaches, dry martinis, maybe even love. Torrhent was ready for it all, but she knew her stepfather too well.

  Torrhent stepped into him. “Let me go, Taigen. To save your own life. Please.”

  “I can’t. I made you a promise I fully intend to keep.”

  Her heart sank. “You would die just for the chance to fulfill your promise?”

  Taigen didn’t miss a beat. “Yes.”

  Last chance. “Fine. I won’t turn myself in.”

  He didn’t answer at first, his brows creasing toward the center of his forehead. “Just like that?”

  “No,” she said. “On the condition we leave right now. Tonight. We don’t look back, just run for Mexico or England or wherever the hell you want to go.”

  “And leave Adelaide alive.” It wasn’t a question.

  “And Isaac and Nicholas. We’d leave it all behind.” Torrhent gripped his forearm, giving it a squeeze for her own assurance. “Can you do that?”

  Taigen stepped back, betrayal written over every feature of his face. “You want me to choose between stopping Adelaide or being happy with you?”

  “Yes.”

  “In that case, if you want to turn yourself in, you do it alone.” He picked up his duffle bag, wiping the dust from the bottom. “I need to stop my sister.”

  * * *

  “Gentlemen. Councilwoman.” Isaac faced the ten men and one woman of the council with Nicholas at his back. The darkened chambers did nothing to conceal their faces despite their vain attempts to hide their identities. It’d been too easy to track the council members through credit card statements, airline history and cell phone usage to their secret headquarters. They hadn’t even bothered to use aliases. “My name is Isaac Rutler and I presume you know why I’m here.”

  “You are in violation of—”

  “I did not come here to speak of violations, Councilwoman Lee.” He shot her a warning glare. “Unless you wish to speak of your own.”

  “Our own?” a man to the left asked. “You speak to the council, Mr. Rutler, the same council able to take every fighter you manage. Tread lightly, sir, if you wish to remain a part of this organization.”

  Petty threats. They could take his fighters. They meant nothing in his future. “I’ve tracked you here to simply claim what belongs to me.”

  He took a step closer to the large U-shaped conference table. Two seats remained empty. The end, Keller’s seat. The middle, the commissioner’s, the head of the organization and a symbol of his hard work, his sacrifices and greatness.

  His seat.

  “You killed Commissioner Yanez and Councilman Keller.” Councilwoman Lee stood, her expression filling with pain. “You’ve committed treason, Mr. Rutler. You have declared war on the council and the organization.”

  He addressed every member. “I am here to give you a choice. Cast your ballot for me as commissioner and take part in a new order where privatized security will not be left to the government, but to the organization, as it should be. Where our fighters have the opportunity to discover their real potential rather than waste it away in the center of a ring.”

  The silence pounded against Isaac’s temples.

  “Commissioner? You’ve lost your mind, Rutler. This organization is not a mercenary service.” Councilman after councilman nodded in agreement.

  “You’re right, Councilman Suthers. I have lost my mind. It happened the second this council decided to kill my wife.” He let that sink in for a moment, studying their shocked expressions. To his own surprise, the words left his mouth effortlessly. As if he’d created a barrier between his heart and mind, Isaac reveled in the newfound control over his grief. “Yes, I know firsthand of the power you claim does not exist.”

  “And you believe blackmail will get you what you want?” Again, Councilwoman Lee scowled at him. “We built this organization from nothing”—she reached under the table from her standing position—“and we will not leave it in the hands of men like you.”

  Before the councilwoman lifted her weapon, she collapsed over the conference table, eyes wide, dead.

  Adelaide removed the knife from the councilwoman’s spine slowly and a burst of pride blossomed in the center of Isaac’s chest.

  He addressed the remaining members. “Does anyone else agree with Councilwoman Lee?”

  Blood dripped in sloppy droplets onto the carpet as Isaac sauntered around the conference table. Studying the council members as he passed behind them, he smiled as he moved toward his chair. Isaac paused before sitting, his fingers taking in the feel of the soft leather, the sturdiness of the crafted wood.

  Tense, with fear written in every small movement they made, his lambs waited for their orders.

  The moment he’d worked for for so long had finally come upon him. I did it, Charlie. I did it for you.

  Gurgling noises interrupted the perfect moment and another council member slumped to the floor. His attention snapped back to reality in time to see two more bodies drop without warning. Dread descended like a parachute onto his shoulders as Isaac comprehended the source.

  Adelaide moved onto the next council member without hesitation.

  “No!” Isaac lunged toward her.

  Eyes wide, mouth open, Councilman Suthers screamed in anguish before the blade severed his jugular. Blood rushed over Adelaide’s pale hands and the light in her eyes brightened.

  “Nicholas!” Why hadn’t his bodyguard moved in on her yet? Isaac searched the conference room and froze midstep.

  Adelaide stood in front of him, a smile crawling across her face as she held the dripping blade idle. She hadn’t confronted him yet, but she would, and not even his personal bodyguard would be there to save him.

  * * *

  She’d given up hope he would come back.

  In the end, Taigen had chosen the potential lives of strangers over his own.

  Torrhent pushed forward, the wad of cash he’d left in her right pocket and a bottle of water in hand. She’d been an idiot to think she could change his mind and she’d live with his blood on her hands for the rest of her life. Right along with Richard Clemet’s.

  She’d almost told him she loved him.

  It would have been a lie. She screened her eyes from the sun, surveying the next few miles for any sign of civilization.

  You’re kidding yourself if you really believe that, an inner voice reprimanded.

  The heat wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been, but it was still uncomfortable with heavy clothing and no sunscreen. Every now and then her stitches stretched too far and she had to slow her pace. She’d been able to cover a mile in less than fifteen minutes walking. Now, she’d be lucky if she made it in thirty.

  She groaned to herself, covered in blood, sweat and dirt, but she wouldn’t stop. No matter how much it hurt to keep going. Even if she needed a doctor.

  “The doctor left you,” Torrhent chastised herself. She ran a free hand through her hair. The closest town couldn’t be far. She’d already been walking for four hours. Unless you’re going the wrong way. She blocked the thought out. She couldn’t think like that. Everything depended on her making it into the next town.

  She’d gone through her water supply in less than an hour, she hadn’t eaten since the night before, and she had no other supplies. She had nothing except the price on her head.

  The August sun stole the energy from her body, wringing out every drop of water from her skin. Wind swayed the wheat fields around her but hardly cooled her down. If she didn’t find a town soon, she’d collapse and Taigen would die.

  Her eyes roamed over the empty fields stretching out before her. In the distance, a dark shadow grew closer. It formed the shape of a car or SUV, but Torrhent knew better. There was nothing out here. She blinked, unable to rid herself of the
hallucination. “Can’t be.”

  The shape continued toward her, the sun glinting off the car’s black panels.

  Not a car, a luxury SUV.

  Nobody drove those in farm country.

  Torrhent forced herself to stop in the middle of the field. “Please let it be the police,” she prayed, but knew better than to hope. Hope had gone with Taigen.

  The SUV angled toward her across the field, a small apology in the back of her mind to the farmer who’d just had his crop ruined.

  The vehicle stopped, but Torrhent refused to move.

  If they wanted her, they’d have to work for it.

  Chapter 15

  The cell was a lot smaller than others she’d been in, almost claustrophobic. Mice scurried under and around her feet, but all Torrhent had attention for was the man standing on the other side of the bars. She didn’t have to look up to know he waited for her to respond, her head bent low, her hands clasped in front of her as she supported her weight on her knees. She’d felt the change in atmosphere the second he’d walked into the station. “I should have known he’d send you instead of coming himself.”

  “He didn’t send me,” Nicholas corrected, his voice husky. His clothing was nondescript. Black on black. Aside from his scar, not even his facial features could be described by the officers if they chanced a look toward the cells. “But I’m surprised to find you here. You’ve been careful until now. Why?”

  “I’m tired of running.” Torrhent finally let their gazes connect, his a piercing blue that didn’t compare to the color of sky she was used to seeing in Taigen’s. The cruel expression permanently marked on his face was offset by a crooked smile. It terrified her, but she wouldn’t let it get to her. After everything she’d faced, Nicholas was the least of her worries. “What do you want?”

  “To bring you back to New York.”

  It was the most she’d ever heard Nicholas say. They were having an actual conversation. She’d almost been convinced the killer was just another illiterate barbarian with muscle for hire. Torrhent scoffed. “I’ve turned myself in. I’m not going anywhere.”