I don’t think I’d ever cried over another person. My lovers had never been anything more than warm bodies and passing company. Yet now there was nothing I could do to stop my vision from blurring. I did fucking care. So much. I’d thought I’d finally found my place in life, with Sor and with Bal. I snarled and blinked to clear my vision before pushing my hurt away.
The symbol on the wall mocked me as surely as every slap of Bal’s hips against Minerva’s skin. The perfect trifecta, or so I’d thought. Our relationship, I choked silently on that word, was abare-faced lie. One he’d executed so damn well, it was breaking me to see it for what it was.
I turned to Sor. Tears tipped from her eyes, and my heart ached for her pain, but now wasn’t the time to discuss this. I brushed her tears away with my thumbs and indicated the door. She nodded.
Leaving the sound of Bal’s and Minerva’s betrayal behind, we crawled under the dusty bookshelves, then slipped out of the door, latching it quietly behind us.
I got to my feet and helped her up. “We need to get out of here. This whole fucking farce was to keep me here until the vampire king wanted me in his court.”
Sor’s eyes were wide and damp, her face pale. “But he…he said that he loved us…”
I stroked her cheek, hating the hurt and confusion I saw in her face. “It was a lie, baby. He lied through his godsdamned perfect fucking teeth. He never wanted me. He was ordered to get me through bloodlust and deliver me to his king. You just got mixed up in this on the way. You heard him; taking you was a way to assert his power over Nicolai, and when he saw how much I cared about you, he used you to keep me here. I’m so sorry, so godsdamned sorry, little bird…”
“Don’t call me that,” she hissed, wiping her cheeks of moisture. “Never again. Do you hear me?”
“Yeah, I do. Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
My fury at Bal made it easy to morph into the hybrid monster that constantly simmered beneath my skin. “Jump up.” My voice was rough and deep, but Sor wasn’t scared. Her weight settled on my back, and I held her there easily as I ran silently through the castle and out into the night. I felt Sor glance back. “Don’t spare him another thought, sweetheart. We’re on our own now.”
The quiet stillness of the night was shattered as I took off over the landscaped gardens towards the boundary fence, the wind rushing in my ears. I didn’t scent any guards nearby, which was weird. I’d been prepared to fight any of them to get Sor away from the bastard who’d broken her heart—and mine.
Without breaking my stride or speed, I jumped the electric fence and disappeared into the empty Scottish tundra. I sped around the outskirts of the nearest town and didn’t stop sprinting until I reached the next. I had no idea when Bal would be done with that bitch Minerva, but if he was under orders of the king to transport me to Europe, he’d track me down. And he’d do it quickly.
I carefully lowered Sor to her feet next to an old, beat-up Ford Fiesta. I’d lived on the streets of London for years as a teenager; nicking cars had earned me decent cash, enough to eat and find somewhere safe to sleep until Jasper Dean had found me and offered me a place to stay. There were no rules in the Rogue Alphas’ hideouts, except no-drugs and absolutely nothing that would draw the attention of human law enforcement. I’d done it. I’d stayed clean, or rather I hadn’t gotten caught, and I hadn’t caused trouble. Seeing Jasper while I’d worked at the Gambit had been kind of nice. We’d caught up, and he hadn’t seemed bothered by me changing allegiances and staying with the vamps. Maybe he’d be willing to help us? I quickly discounted that idea. I couldn’t risk it.
Guiding Sor to stand in the shadows, I quickly found what I needed to get into the battered old vehicle. Part of me wished I’d asked Bal for flying lessons; jumping in one of his helicopters would have been a far better escape. I doubted even Bal could jump high enough or move fast enough to keep up with a damned whirly bird. But I hadn’t, so here we were…
Once we were in the car, I made sure Sor was buckled in and took us steadily out of the town, not rushing or drawingattention, but keeping on the upper end of the speed limits until we’d left its lights way behind.
“Where are we going?” Sor’s voice was quiet, defeated.
I had an idea, but wasn’t entirely sure how to get there. Going to Connor wasn’t an option. He’d had my loyalty once, and I’d had his, but how far would he go to keep his alliance with the Count? No, there was only one place I could go now, and I had no real idea how to find him.
“London.”
“But he’ll find us there.”
“Sweetheart, he’ll find us wherever we go unless we have help.”
Her face was pale in the headlights of the passing cars. “What help? We can’t trust your old pack.”
“I know.” Admitting that hurt, but I’d made my peace with leaving my shifter life behind. Fuck, this was the story of my life. I’d find a sliver of happiness only for it to be whisked away. No more. I glanced at Sor, not sure what the fuck to think about our relationship now. Would she stay with me or run? The cowardly, hurt part of my soul almost wanted her to go, so I didn’t have to deal with her giving up on us later. Jesus, what a fucked up mess. I wanted to go back and punch Bal’s handsome fucking face in and demand answers.
Fucking bastard! My blood boiled, but my heart felt like it had splintered into tiny shards. I’d managed to keep my fury under control so far, but right then, it threatened to burst free. My wolf snarled, but once I promised him vengeance, he settled to fester in his own rage, and I managed to lock down my need to destroy everything within reach. Now wasn’t the time. I’d been impulsive and reactive all my life; it was time to plan my next move carefully. After all, revenge was a dish best served cold. My bitter huff filled the little car. I wasn’t sure about that, but eitherway, I needed an ally; someone who was invested in my safety and would gain nothing from handing me over to Bal.
I took a deep breath and sighed heavily. “The enemy of my enemy….”
The silence from her was loaded with tension as she worked it out. When she did, her reaction would have made me laugh in any other situation. She never swore.
“What the fuck, Shane!? You can’t. Mades? You’re going to the Mades for help? They almost killed you.”
“Did they? Or like all species, are there good ones and bad ones? And as for the poisoning, did they already know about your blood, your heritage and that you could save me? Poisoning me with those arrows might have been a message to Bal that they know he has a witch as well as a hybrid monster in his possession.”
“But why, Shane?”
We reached the motorway south, and I put my foot down. When the road around us was clear, I glanced over.
