Chapter Thirteen
FRANKIE
Iroyally fucked up.
Not only did I lose my shit, but I also exposed my darkest secret to four very dangerous men, and the sense of inevitability threatens to crush the last of my spirit.
Despite every mile that flies past, the noose around my neck continues to tighten.
If the Orion couldn’t track me before, they will have no problem hunting me down now.
Even if I put distance between me and the incident, the council grants them access to amulets that will allow them to track me once they lock on to my signature.
I’m aware that I’m spiraling, defeated by the fact that anyone would believe I murdered Givvens. Tears of frustration and rage threaten to spill from my eyes, and the grief that has haunted me day and night since I left is almost too much.
But tears aren’t going to get me out of this mess.
Yet no matter how much I try to come up with a plan, I’m stuck. I can’t just keep wandering the countryside. The Orion will never stop hunting me, but the thought of giving up is untenable. I’ve lost too much.
I refuse to let the council win.
I need to find a way to beat them at their own game.
The obvious answer is to embrace my magic, but I suspect learning how to use it will be a whole other issue. It takes years to master, and I don’t have that time.
The silence in the car is suffocating. I’m hyperaware of each of the men, their closeness scratching at my last nerve, and I clench my teeth to keep from snapping at them to stop fucking watching me like I’m a mouse trapped under their paws.
They know more about me than anyone else on the planet, and it’s setting off my paranoia. The dark part of me says there is only one solution, one way to keep them quiet, and that’s to kill them. My wolf protests, growling at the back of my mind that they’re innocent.
Even if I could override the moral code Gramps instilled in me, I’m not sure I could force myself to do it.
I’ve never killed in cold blood, and I flinch away from the thought of having their deaths on my hands.
That leaves me with only two other options. One, I could force them to forget that I ever existed. I could pull over the car, order them out, and wipe myself from their memory.
My throat tightens at the prospect of losing that connection.
It’s hard enough without Gramps to guide me, and I fear what will happen if I cut myself off from everyone. I’ll become a shell of a person. I’ll become like the council—my only thoughts of surviving. Once I go down that dark path, there is no turning back.
That leaves one last option—trusting them.
I nearly snicker. Everyone in Kyperian would sell me out in a heartbeat. I would be a fool to believe they are any different. My wolf’s ears swivel, and she paws the ground lightly in my mind, urging me to have faith.
I snort at the stupidity.
Hope is more dangerous than the Orion sitting next to me.
One false move, and I will be living out my existence as a slave.
Is that something I’m willing to risk?
As I try to untangle the mess of my life, I realize I don’t really have a choice. I’ve never had a choice. Gramps warned me that life was going to get harder. I thought I could decide my own future, but I was a fool, and he died for my mistakes.
I refuse to let that happen to anyone else…which means I need to either trust them with the full truth or cut bait and run.
Tension leaves my spine as I finally come to a decision, and I melt back against my seat.
As I cut through the back country roads, I glance at the Orion sitting next to me.
I startle a little when I find him studying me, and I grimace when I realize the asshole hasn’t looked away from me since the fight.
What’s even more unnerving is that part of me preens under the attention.
I almost smack myself for my own stupidity.
As much as I don’t want to be that girl, my beast is fascinated by him. Though I grew up around the Orion, I’ve always done my best to stay under their radar. I made it my business to learn their routines and faces, yet I’ve never stumbled across him. I would have remembered.
“I didn’t kill him,” I blurt out, wincing when my voice cracks.
For some reason, it bothers me that he thinks I would hurt a hair on that old man’s head.
“He was the only good thing in that godforsaken place, the only one who ever gave a crap about me. He was my everything since I was a child.” I swallow the lump in my throat, tightening and releasing my grip on the steering wheel as I struggle with my rage and sorrow.
“I still can’t close my eyes without seeing him fighting for his life. ”
A snarl rips from my throat, and I press my foot to the gas, the car leaping forward with a roar when the pedal hits the floor.
“The bastard ordered me to leave. I tried to break his command. I should’ve been able to break his command…
” The hoarse whisper hurts my throat, and I curse that I sound like a lost child.
“They sent two teams to our house and broke down the door.” I shake my head, the memories threatening to drag me back to that night. “We were holding our own for a while until they sent in a witch.
“I can still see the fucking bitch smirk as she cast her spells. While I wasn’t affected, Gramps was still susceptible, and it took me precious seconds to reach her.” My grin is bloodthirsty as I remember her shocked expression when my blade nearly filleted her face off.
“Unfortunately, another wave of Orion spilled into the room before I could rip out her heart. Gramps was still standing when I left. He was supposed to join me. I waited hours, but he never showed. I tried to circle back, but they were already tracking me. It was either leave or be captured.”
I rub my tired eyes, focusing on keeping the vehicle on the dark road. “I hoped he was still alive, that he would eventually follow me, but after the first week, I knew he was gone.”
If he were alive, he would’ve joined me by now.
To have his death confirmed is devastating, the pain like losing him all over again.
The Orion doesn’t comment as he studies me with narrowed eyes. Honestly, I don’t know why I even bother telling him anything. It won’t change the outcome. He’s here to take me back. Nothing, except death, will make him deviate from his job.
“Why even bring him with us?” Dante asks, glaring at the Orion like he’s imagining the many ways he could dismember and hide the body.
I…have no good answer for that.
It was a stupid move.
Yet I still don’t pull over and kick him out.
The Orion in question peers at me like he’s curious about the answer as well. I can only shrug, a tired sigh escaping me. “Call it temporary insanity,” I mumble.
“Now that he knows the truth, does that change anything?” Tyler asks, though from the scowl on his face, he already knows.
“Nope,” I say while the Orion answers at the same time. “No.”
I side-eye the man in chains, my gaze dropping to the collar around his neck.
It’s disguised as a necklace, something awarded to every Orion who graduates the program, but it’s a collar all the same—a way to control them.
If they don’t do as ordered, they’re punished.
If they try to run, they’re punished. If they disobey, they’re punished.
If anything, he’s just as trapped as I am…not that I feel bad for him in the least.
He chose that life.
He can deal with the consequences.
From the many runes burned into his neck, it’s obvious that he’s horrible at obeying.
Every time an Orion defies the council, a rune is carved into their flesh.
He must have hundreds of them, some so faded that they’ve begun to overlap.
The only way he’s still alive is pure stubbornness and raw strength.
“Once the Orion are given a case, they have no choice but to obey or die trying.” The grim fact rings ominously in the car. “It’s either him or me.”
Silence follows for a heartbeat, then all hell breaks loose. Tyler lunges forward, looping the straps of his bag over the Orion’s head, settling it around the man’s throat, then he heaves back with all his might, pressing his foot against the back of the seat for added leverage.
It happens so fast that I barely have a chance to blink.
The Orion reaches for the straps with claw tipped fingers, and a snarl of rage contorts his features when the chains prevent him from cutting himself loose.
He doesn’t say anything as he fights for his life, twisting his body to relieve the pressure.
His feet land on the dashboard, and he shoves back until the seat screams for mercy, plastic snapping and metal groaning as it slowly bends.
And the other two shits?
They just fucking sit and watch.
I slam on the brakes, hoping the momentum will loosen Tyler’s grip, but the fucker doesn’t budge an inch. The other two knuckleheads grunt when they plow into the back of my seat, but that doesn’t knock any sense into them.
As I struggle to keep the car on the road, I reach over, allowing my claws to slice through my fingertips.
The Orion bares his teeth, his face an alarming shade of red, but he doesn’t flinch, like being threatened with death is an everyday occurrence.
I brace myself for him to lash out, but he remains focused on the straps cutting off his air supply, never once taking his accusing gaze from mine.
My claws slash through the first polyester strap with ease, only I’m distracted when the tires begin to spin on gravel, forcing me to glance away so we don’t crash.
I blindly dig my claws deeper until I snag the edge of the second strap.
Yanking hard, the material finally snaps free with a jerk, and I grab the wheel with both hands as the car slowly skids down the road sideways before we rock to an abrupt stop.
The Orion is coughing, struggling to catch his breath, twisting so his back is to the door and no one can reach him while he’s vulnerable. I inhale a shuddering breath through my nose, silently praying for patience, before I turn and glare at the assholes in the back seat.
Tyler meets my furious gaze, completely unrepentant, while the other two dickheads act like attempted murder is normal, neither of them bothering to intercede.
What a bunch of fucking psychopaths.
I twist in my seat, letting my ire show.
The last thing I can afford is a new fucking car if we trash this one.
It might look like shit, but it’s gotten me out of a lot of tight spots.
“Do you honestly believe that if I wanted him dead, I wouldn’t have handled it myself?
I could’ve knocked him out, tied him up, and left him behind.
What gave you the impression that I’m a weak female who needs a male to come to her rescue and make decisions for her? ”
I glare at all three, knowing the other two wouldn’t have hesitated to do the same if given a chance.
Foxy just acted first.
The men glanced at each other, as if trying to think of something to say to appease me. None of them offer an apology, each of them completely un-fucking-repentant.
It pisses me off more.
“I came back for you instead of leaving, but maybe that was a mistake.” I reach forward and slam the car into gear. “I’ll take you to the next town, but then I think it’s best we part ways.”
“Frankie—”
“No, I don’t want to hear your excuses.” I refuse to listen to Foxy’s plea, twisting the rearview mirrors to avoid their imploring gazes, unwilling to have my resolve weaken.
My insides cramp at the thought of never seeing them again, but I can’t risk it.
If they don’t listen, they will only end up in even more danger, which will increase my chances of being captured.
I won’t go back to Kyperian because they ruined my only shot at freedom over some macho bullshit. “You made your opinion of me glaringly obvious. I’m done.”
As much as I hate the decision, I have no choice.
If I want to live, I have to leave them behind.