Cornelius doesn’t stop moving, rushing through those rooms and up, up, up the spiraling staircases until finally, he makes itto the upper level. There, he also doesn’t stop, walking through the fray, ignoring the greetings of the many people in our way.
He doesn’t stop until I’m suddenly blinded by sunlight, and sharp, cool air enters my lungs.
He deposits me beside Zion’s bike, dropping me rather unceremoniously, then immediately stepping in my way as I attempt to go back. I try again and again, but each time, he knocks me back, until, finally, I accept I have no choice but to give up.
Then I collapse onto the ground, completely numb, Cornelius’s angry glare a prelude to the hell I know I have to answer to.
FIFTEEN
ON THE EDGE
Zion
What the actual hell was that?
Whatever idiocy that had me thinking I’d be able to just stroll in there and stroll back out without any type of complications is lost on me.
For one, nothing ever goes smoothly, especially when dealing with a woman who is obviously trouble.
But the fact that I didn’t have the foresight to get more information from her before going into a potentially dangerous situation is on me. Because I’m a damn moron.
Jacob would have loved to have snatched Vivian up and gotten to the bottom of her outburst himself. Fortunately, we have a decent enough relationship that he trusts me to handle the situation. Of course, the fact that I explained the otherworldly-like connection we have with each other made him more inclined to go along with it.
And, I was saved from having to talk him into letting her outburst go by the arrival of the darkness. It took us a few minutes to wrangle it back into the shadows, but its sudden arrival only adds to the many questions we already have.
Mainly, who is Vivian Jones?
Cornelius did exactly as I asked him to and hustled her out of there, so by the time I make it to the parking lot, they’re standing beside my bike. Or rather, Cornelius is standing. Vivian is collapsed on the ground, obviously struggling to control herself.
Stopping beside Cornelius, I ask him, “Is she alright?”
He shrugs and replies, “Not particularly, but I think if we give her a minute, she’ll figure it out.”
“What the heck was that?”
Again, Cornelius shrugs. “I don’t know. She hasn’t really said anything.”
I blow out a breath and rub my hands over my face as I try to collect my thoughts, reminding myself that one person’s truth rarely matches another’s. Then I squat down beside Vivian, my palm pressed against her back as I ask quietly, “Hey, you okay?”
Her body tenses slightly under my touch, but she doesn’t flinch away. She also doesn’t look at me as she whispers, “I don’t know.”
“You going to tell me what’s going on?”
She inhales sharply and holds her breath as she shakes her head rapidly. But when she doesn’t say anything, I add, “You’re going to have to give me something, Viv. Jacob isn’t too impressed with your little outburst. We’re going to need some answers.”
The breath she had been holding explodes from her lips, and she turns her head sharply and glares at me. “Maybe he’s the one who should be answering questions.”
Pretty sure my eyebrows rise into my hairline as I respond, “Is that so?”
She sneers, “Yeah, like how my sister ended up in a cage in there.”
“Oh, fuck,” Cornelius mutters beside me. I glance up at him, and he’s staring down at me with an uneasy expression on his face that matches the pain in my chest.
Sighing heavily, I glance around our surroundings. It was pretty obvious from her overall demeanor in the last twenty-four hours that she didn’t just happen upon our bar. And I don’t know what otherworldly bullshit has me feeling so drawn to her, but there’s no excuse for me not getting any kind of details beforehand. That doesn’t make me any less pissed that she didn’t just offer up the information, as ridiculous and preposterous as that sounds.
Because who am I, right?
As far as I can tell, I’m the only one feeling a certain way about us. Which normally would be super annoying, but this whole situation is such chaos that it just feels normal.
