21. Kali
Chapter 21
Kali
“ I told her to wait in there.” Viggo pointed at the large metal door. “Better hurry. Her patience rivals yours—meaning she has absolutely none.”
I could feel Zan behind me, but he didn’t say a word as I pulled open the heavy door. Inside were rows of long, metal tables, making me believe this was some kind of cafeteria. How many Clovers used to stay here? All my silent questions faded when movement pulled my attention to the left. I stood rigidly as she jumped off the table and slowly walked toward me.
My heart pounded wildly in my chest as we stared at each other. It was like looking into a mirror. Her entire face was exactly the same as mine. There wasn’t one feature that I could pinpoint that was different between us.
She stopped in front of me, and we studied each other in silence. Her brown eyes were gleaming with curiosity as they swept down my body before meeting my gaze again. Her stance was stiff. Untrusting.
I inhaled a deep breath, waiting to feel something. She was my twin. Wasn’t there a bond or some connection I should feel? She was my blood. Family . My pulse thudded uneasily. I wanted to be excited, but all I had was questions. And I had a feeling Keeva knew even less than me since she’d been a prisoner of PARA.
Viggo’s chuckle pulled me from my thoughts. “Good thing you two have different scents.” Teasing was laced in his voice. “Or Zan might accidently kiss the wrong twin.”
“I would not,” Zan snapped in annoyance. “I can tell them apart.”
His confidence almost made me want to test that. Keeva shifted slightly on her feet as she crossed her arms.
“You’re Kali,” she murmured, her disbelief of this situation matching my own. “No one ever told me I had a twin.”
“Have you been with PARA your whole life?” I asked quietly.
Her eyes lit up with pain, causing my stomach to roll with nerves. Zan and the twins were hovering near the door, listening to our conversation, but not interjecting.
“Yes,” she spat out. “I’m guessing you were lucky enough to have a different life.”
“I had no idea about you until recently,” I said stiffly. “If I’d known, I would have tried to get to you.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she muttered, misery in her voice. “You can’t change the past. But I won’t fucking go back.”
“We’re taking down PARA,” I told her. “Their reign is over.”
She frowned. “You want the vampires to rule?”
“No.” I paused. “I want humans to live free. And vampires not to be hunted.”
Viggo snorted. “You’re describing the perfect utopia. An impossible dream.”
“Really?” I glared at him. “From what I read, it worked before the war broke out.”
“Because vampires lived in secret,” Pax cut in gently. “They can’t do that anymore.”
“Zan.” My eyes cut to him. “What do you think?”
A muscle in his jaw flexed. “I don’t know. I got you away from my father. That’s all I’d been thinking about. As for the future? We’re going to have to figure it out.”
Keeva let out a humorless laugh. “You’re saying that you got me away from PARA, but you don’t have a plan? What happens if they find us?”
“They won’t.” Zan glanced at the door when it opened. “No one knows about this place.”
My heart swelled when Warner came into sight. He flashed me a tired smile before coming closer and wrapping me in a hug. I heard Gia’s voice, alerting me that she was here too.
“You okay?” Warner whispered as if every soul in this room didn’t have vampire hearing. “I’m glad you got away from Amaros.”
“I thought you were in love with him .” Keeva’s voice had me looking at her as she pointed at Zan. “Who is this?”
“He’s my friend,” I bit out, getting defensive for some reason.
“Friend,” she repeated with no emotion whatsoever. “Must be nice to have people who care for you.”
“ Oh , you’re damaged,” Viggo drawled out before letting out a low whistle, studying Keeva. “You’re gonna have to learn to work through that hate or it’s going to eat you alive as a Shadow.”
“Viggo,” I chastised sharply. “You have no idea what she’s been through. Be nice.”
“I am,” he defended himself. “I’m telling her what she needs to do. Because emotions are different as Shadows. They can swallow you whole if you don’t have control. She is brimming with loathing.”
“You would be too if you’d been held captive by PARA your entire life.” Gia gave Viggo a stern look. “Give her time to adjust.”
Pax didn’t say anything as he stared at Keeva with a thoughtful look. Zan swiped a hand over his face before meeting my gaze. He didn’t seem bothered that Warner was so close to me that his arm was brushing mine. The jealousy I’d seen in the past was absent.
“Can we get back to the important topic?” Keeva asked quietly. “How to destroy PARA.”
Silence blanketed the room for a few seconds before Warner cleared his throat. “I think we should talk to the Clovers.”
“Are you fucking insane?” Viggo snapped. “They want us dead as much as the human government does.”
“They want a free world,” Warner shot back. “And I talked to Collin when he was under Zan’s entrancement when he and Pax were getting Keeva. I know where some of their camps are.”
“Good,” Zan said firmly. “Then we can avoid them.”
“The Clovers have ways to contact nearly all the safe cities,” Warner gritted out. “They have a radio frequency that connects all the Clover groups. They can help stage an uprising. You want the civilians to go against PARA? That will only happen with the Clovers’ help. They would never follow vampires.”
“They would never work with us.” Gia shook her head. “They hate our kind as much as the government.”
“I thought we wanted to get rid of Amaros.” Warner looked at me for backup. “He’s the one wanting to continue the war. If he’s gone, then maybe there’s a chance of peace between humans and vampires. But to do that, we need the Clovers on our side.”
“You think killing our father is going to be easy?” Viggo asked, his low voice filled with danger. “We’ll be lucky if we all survive it.”
I didn’t miss the anger laced in his voice. He might have followed me for his brothers, but Amaros was still his father. Zan’s blood. Would they really try to kill him?
“Well, we can’t hide the rest of our lives,” I said slowly. “Especially with all the Shadows. It’s impossible. We have to do something.”
“Getting into bed with the Clovers is the worst damn idea,” Viggo grumbled.
“Does anyone have a better one?” I questioned. “There’s no harm in talking to them.”
Zan scowled. “No harm? What’s stopping them from attempting to take one of us captive? They’ll want you, Kali, now that you’re a Shadow. Especially since you’re wanted by the vampires and PARA.”
“Maybe they want freedom more,” I said softly. “That was why that group was started.”
Warner grinned smugly when Zan glared at him. I was siding with Warner because he was right. Even with all the Shadows, we could only storm one city at a time to fight PARA. If the Clovers could convince the civilians to rise up alongside them, it could happen simultaneously in all the cities.
Then we could focus on killing Amaros.
“If these Clovers can help, then why are we still arguing?” Keeva asked, trying to follow our conversation.
“Because they tried killing Kali and already captured me once,” Zan grated out. “If we do this, you two are staying here, out of sight.”
Viggo cursed under his breath. “They won’t help.”
“They might,” Pax said in resignation, shaking his head. “It doesn’t mean we trust them. But we have a common enemy. It can work in our favor.”
Viggo glowered at his brothers when he realized he was outvoted. “Fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn all of you that this will blow up in our faces.”
“While you all plan that, I’d like to spend time with the sister I never knew existed.” Keeva stared at me. “Can we talk please? Alone?”