“Thought I’d check in to see how it’s going.” A slow smile spreads across his face. “Clearly, it’s going well.”
I roll my eyes. “You have horrible timing.”
Kylie snorts.
And Cal pulls out a chair and sits at the table. “Still nothing major on the radar. Our names are being dragged through the mud. A lot of death threats, but no organized movement yet. I’m confident we’re safe here for now.”
I nod. “Where’s Kane?”
Cal shrugs. “Should be here shortly. There’s one more thing he said he needed to check on.”
The morning moves forward after that. Kylie finishes her breakfast. Cal gives me more updates about what Holland and the other gofers are currently plotting and scheming.
And for the most part, everything feels good.
Until a few hours later, that is.
The door slams open, and Kane bursts in with a woman slung over his shoulder.
Holy fuck.
She’s thrashing in his grip, her arms flailing and legs kicking. Her mouth is wide open in a scream that never makes it past her lips, eyes wild with terror and fury.
“What the fuck?” I snap.
Cal is already on his feet. “Holy shit, Kane!”
“She’s fine,” Kane says, breathless but controlled. “I mean, she’s real fucking pissed at me, but she’s fine. She’s safe.”
Kylie’s eyes are wide as she looks between Kane and me and the unknown woman on Kane’s shoulder. I don’t hesitate to stand up and move across the room to wrap my arm around Kylie’s shoulders. Her body shakes with concern.
“Who is she?” Cal asks, and Kane has to adjust his grip as the woman fights harder against him.
“Her name is Blair.”
Blair’s eyes meet mine—panic bleeding into disbelief—and something hits me like static.
Her thoughts. I can hear them. They’re disjointed and fragmented and fear tangled up with expectation. She’s thinking about elites and vampires and shouting that she’s going to kill Kane. And her mind is filled with names that belong to very fucking powerful people.
I freeze. “Kane, why do you have her?”
“I had to,” he says. “I had to save her.”
Blair tries to scream again, but still, nothing comes out of her mouth. And when I look at Kane again, I’m certain her silenced screams have something to do with him. He’s controlling them. How, I don’t know, but he is.
“She thought she was being chosen,” Kane adds. “Thought it was an honor. A fucking privilege. She was just going to walk into the viper’s fucking den willingly. She has no idea what they were planning to do to her.”
“Fuck me.” Cal sighs. “You met her at the preview, didn’t you?”
“What preview?” I question, but both of them ignore me.
Kane just stays silent and Cal looks enraged.
“I can’t believe you fucking kept this from me, Kane,” Cal snaps, but Kane doesn’t back down as Blair continues to thrash her body on his shoulder.
“She didn’t know the truth, Cal! She thinks it’s some kind of fucking fairy tale! Her goddamn mother was helping her shop for fucking clothes!” Kane shouts, his eyes wild with unnamed things. “I couldn’t not step in. I couldn’t not save her. I had to. I fucking had to.”
But the more he speaks, the more I see the look in his eyes, the more I start to realize.
