“Look, Thane will let you go if that’s what you want,” Kole explains with an even tone. “But the longer you two are separated, the more the bond will call you together.” Kole glances at Thane, who still has his back to me. “After last night, we’re worried he won’t be able to stay away from you.”
“But I thought that was because of the eclipse?”
“It was,” Kole confirms. “But it was also because of the mark. Each day you’ve been gone, it’s been harder for him to stay away.”
Thane suddenly whirls around to face me. “You feel it too, don’t you?”
“What? No!”
“Really?” Thane presses. “Then why haven’t you left? If you’re so scared of me and hate me so much, why stick around?”
“It doesn’t matter, because as soon as I get back, I’m packing my things and getting the hell away from you!” I snatch the contract from Kole and tear it down the middle before tossing it on the floor. “Fuck your contract. And fuck you!”
Thane lunges forward, but Kole cuts him off, stepping between us.
“I’ll take you back now.”
Thane looks like his head is about to explode, but he steps aside, allowing me and his brother to pass. Koleapologizes for Thane as we make our way out to the SUV, but I tell him to save it for someone who cares.
Once we pull onto the road, it feels like a weight has been lifted. Telling Thane that I plan on leaving wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but seeing as how he’s been watching me, he’ll find out soon enough anyway. I just hope I can get far enough away before the bond sends him after me.
“The contract was your idea, wasn’t it?”
“I had to do something,” Kole says, keeping his eyes on the road.
“You had to have known I would never agree to it.”
Kole shakes his head disapprovingly. “You’re so stubborn that you can’t see this is the best thing for you.”
“What is best for me is to get the hell away from here.”
When I turn toward him, he looks utterly defeated. He doesn’t even continue to argue. He just remains silent the rest of the drive. Once we’re back at the abandoned house I’ve been staying in, there’s hesitation from both of us. We know this is probably the last time we’ll ever see each other, and everything about that feels wrong in this moment.
“I hope you find the freedom you’re looking for,” he finally says. I can barely look at him without feeling like my heart is breaking. Whatever this invisible string is that seems to connect the two of us, it feels like it’s on the verge of breaking, and the feeling is almost unbearable.
“Goodbye, Kole,” is all I can muster.
I slip through the door, shutting it before the tears start to roll down my cheeks. I can still feel him on the other side, waiting for me to change my mind. It feels like I’m being split down the middle. Half of me wants to lock the door and forget he ever existed, while the other half wants to run into his arms and tell him to take me back. It’s the latter that reminds meI’ve gotten in too deep. If I don’t leave now, I might never, and a life under Thane’s control is no life at all.
Minutes feel like hours before I finally step away from the door and accept that Kole has gone. I even resist the urge to look, holding onto the sliver of hope that he’s still on the other side, waiting.
Eventually, night falls, and I decide it’s time to gather my things. The small comfort I had been holding onto dies the moment I open the front door and find Kole no longer standing on the other side. A hurricane of emotions whirls inside of me, but I do my best to block it all out. If I give in to them, I’ll never make it out of here, and right now, that’s all that matters.
I head for the forest, looking to grab some of the things I had stashed away in my hiding places. It's been a while since I’ve sprayed myself with vampire blood, but I suppose I’ll have to do that again in order to keep Thane from tracking my scent. Actually, I’ll have to hide from the vampires and werewolves again too. If he decides to come for me, which feels inevitable, it will only take him sending out an order for them to report back with my location.
After everything, it feels weird to go back to the way things were, but what choice do I have? If he finds me, there won’t be any contract restricting him—not that I think a piece of paper was ever going to do that.
I quickly grab what I need from two of my hiding places and make it back to the house to finish packing. I’m in the middle of rolling up my clothes when a loud knock on my door sends my heart skittering. My first instinct is that it’s Thane coming to collect me as his prisoner again, but that thought quickly dies when I realize he would never knock. Kole on the other hand…
“I know you’re in there! Let me in!” I rush for the door, and Sienna comes barreling in, giving me a painfully tight hug.
“What are you doing here?” I gasp, pulling away from her.
“Thane just told me where you’ve been this whole time! He wouldn’t tell me before. Otherwise, I would’ve been here the day I found out you were gone!”
My shoulders sag, and she pulls me in for another hug. All this time I thought maybe she didn’t care about me enough to visit, but it’s only because she didn’t know where to find me.
“I thought—”
