Chapter 35 Maddy
MADDY
My scream was still reverberating through the cabin. My eyes were locked on Kenneth’s body. All I could see was the massive pool of blood spreading from his head. He was gone. In an instant. One second, he was alive and talking to me. The next, he was just gone.
I was shaking violently, like I was freezing to death. My mind was starting to dissociate. I was dangerously close to going into shock, and I was fully aware of it. There was So. Much. Blood.
“Move!” Nico hauled me through the front door, almost tearing my shirt off with the grip he had on me.
I hadn’t even noticed the other gunshots.
Bullets were knocking out windows and snapping through the wooden doors.
Nico and I stumbled down the steps and sprinted into the woods.
He tugged me along, his breath remaining steady.
Nico was running so fast that a normal human would never have been able to keep up.
I was just barely able to stay with him because he was pulling me along.
My foot snagged on a tree root, and I crashed into the ground.
The forest floor was thick with pine needles, so I thankfully didn’t hurt myself.
Nico slid to a stop and crouched down with me. “Are you okay? I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was going so fast.”
“Are they still shooting?” I whispered.
Nico looked back the way we’d come and shook his head. “Not right now. I don’t hear them following, either. It doesn’t mean we’re safe. We really need to keep moving.”
I nodded and wiped dirt off my hands and knees. “Okay, just not so fast.”
Nico took my hand and led me deeper into the forest. He stopped every two or three hundred yards to find a break in the trees and check the position of the moon.
It felt like he was leading us somewhere, but I had no clue where.
Nico had never been here before. He had to have some sort of plan, but whatever it was didn’t make sense to me.
All I could do was follow. I didn’t even want to risk whispering.
Shifter senses were strong, and the people who’d killed Kenneth could still be on our tail. I didn’t want to give anything away.
After nearly forty-five minutes, we emerged into a small clearing with a narrow gravel road that led east and a big lump of something that was covered by a camouflage tarp.
“Thank God. I wasn’t sure I’d remember how to get here,” Nico said, relief coating his every word.
“What the hell is this?” I asked.
Nico led me toward the tarp, then took hold of one corner. With a jerk of his arm, the plastic sheeting slid away, revealing a small Swedish SUV. I looked at Nico like he was some sort of magician. How the hell had he managed to get a car to this clearing?
He must have seen the look on my face. “I didn’t put it here—Kenneth did. There’s three or four gallons of water and some shelf-stable foods in there. And a pistol in the glove box.”
“Kenneth? How did you know he had this here?” My mind was still reeling from everything that had happened in the last hour. This was the last straw.
“After the night of the full moon. You were out of it. You slept the entire day. He told me he had an escape plan if things went bad, then brought me out here and showed the car to me. I snuck out a couple nights ago after both of you were asleep to make sure it was still here. I had a terrible feeling that Kenneth was involved in all this crap. Turns out I was right to make sure. It was the only thing I could think of when the bullets started flying. Thank fuck the guys with guns came from the back of the house. If they hadn’t circled, there’s no way we could have gotten here. ”
“Kenneth? So he basically just saved our lives? Even though he was selling us out to the royals?” I still had a hard time believing he’d done that. He was dead now, so I could never get all the answers I wanted.
Nico nodded. “I think he originally had good intentions. He got all twisted up in his own jealousy and greed. Some shame as well. It doesn’t forgive what he did, but it explains it a little. At least he did this for us,” he said, gesturing at the car.
I released a weary sigh and did my best not to think of the way Kenneth’s body been splayed out on the cabin floor. “Let’s get out of here.”
Nico helped me into the car and we took off, spraying gravel off the access road as we went.
I sat in the passenger seat, my lips clamped tightly shut.
The images of the last few hours kept flashing through my head like a nightmare that wouldn’t quit.
Remembering the blood and look of surprise on Kenneth’s face made me want to vomit.
Nico took my hand, his other hand gripping the steering while tightly. “It’s gonna be okay.”
I felt really fucking far from okay, but I nodded and smiled at him. Once we were back in cell range, Nico’s phone started ringing. He handed it to me. “It’s Luis. Answer it. I need to keep both hands on the wheel in case something happens.”
I answered, immediately putting the phone on speaker. “Luis? It’s Maddy.”
“Where’s Nico?” He sounded more panicked than I’d ever heard him before. “Is he all right?”
“I’m here, man,” Nico said.
“Oh, shit. Thank God. I’ve been calling you for like two hours. What the hell happened?”
“The royals showed up. At least, we assume it was them, I never got a look at them. You were right, Kenneth was the mole,” Nico said.
“They took him out. He’s dead. We’ve got to abort the plan.
God only knows what’s going to happen now.
We need to drop back and reset.” Nico pounded a fist on the steering wheel.
“They were already at the cabin, Luis. Kenneth said he’d given them bad info, but they were already there.
Fucker lied right up to the last second. ”
“No,” I said. “He wasn’t lying. I know it.
I’m not sure if it was because we were family or because my senses are overloaded, but when he told us that, I could…
” What I was about to say sounded crazy, but it needed to be said.
“I could hear his heartbeat. It never sped up or did anything weird. He was telling the truth. The royals double-crossed him.”
“Either way,” Nico said, calming down a little.
“We need to get out of here. Luis, get your ass out of Norway. However you can, get back home. We’re on the way to the airport.
I already messaged Dad to have his pilot buddy send the plane to us.
He was in Britain, so he should be there when we get to the airport. ”
“Got it,” Luis said. “I’ve got a plan. Found a shifter commune in Finland. A distant cousin moved there years ago, and I contacted him. They’ve got their own little airfield. I think I can get out there, or at least get someplace a little friendlier, then I’ll make my way home from there.”
“Okay. I’ll let you know when we get to the airport.”
“Talk to you later.”
The call disconnected, and the silence that fell over us allowed me to slip back into my sadness and mourning. It was crazy to mourn someone who’d betrayed me, but I guess I was the type to see the best in everyone, even when they didn’t see it themselves.
I pitied Kenneth. He’d never been able to make contact with the wolf buried so deep in his DNA.
I couldn’t imagine life without mine now.
He’d spent his whole life desperate to feel whole.
He did betray me, but it didn’t stop me from crying for him as we continued driving.
I turned my face away so Nico wouldn’t see my tears.
A few hours later, we arrived at the airport, and sure enough, the jet was waiting for us.
Nico didn’t rush toward it, though. We spent nearly an hour watching and checking the surrounding areas for any sign of the royals.
Once Nico was as sure as he could be, we finally drove up and onto the tarmac, then boarded the plane as quickly as we could.
The flight was scheduled to be almost ten hours. I was absolutely exhausted and fell asleep in one of the fold-down beds. I slept the entire flight. When I woke up, it wasn’t because I’d had enough sleep. I woke up because my wolf was frantic and pawing at my chest, desperate for me to wake up.
I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes. “Is something wrong?” I asked. It was then that I realized the plane wasn’t moving. We’d landed.
Nico was staring out the window. “I’m not sure. Come on. Stay behind me.”
I walked over to him. A glance out the window showed me what he was so worried about.
A woman stood on the runway, staring at our plane.
She stood there with her arms crossed, hair pulled back into a severe ponytail.
She wore a designer suit and dark black sunglasses even though it was dark outside.
The pilot looked at us in confusion. “Uh…do either of you know this woman?”
Nico grunted and shook his head. “Thanks for the flights. Can you open the door?”
I tugged Nico’s arm and pulled his ear close. “Is that smart? Should we go out there?”
Nico sighed, and I’d never seen him look so exhausted. “Babe, we’re out of options. The jet’s out of fuel, and we can’t just keep hopping around the globe. We’ve got to hope this isn’t the end. That’s all we can do. If it goes bad again, I’ll make sure to give you as much of a head start as I can.”
I swallowed and slipped my hand into his as the pilot opened the door and lowered the steps.
The moment I stepped outside, I caught a whiff of the woman, and my wolf started growling and snarling inside my head.
As we stepped off the stairs, the woman took a few steps toward us, then pulled her sunglasses off.
She smirked at us. “Good evening. My name is Viola Monroe.”
Her accent was thick. European. Similar to the Bogdan guy who’d tried to kill me, but not exactly the same.
She turned her gaze on to me and I could see the hunger in her eyes.
Nico growled and stepped in front of me, blocking me from her sight.
Her smirk turned to a smile as she turned her gaze to Nico.
“I am the head of the royal family.” She chuckled.
“Well, I guess that’s somewhat trite. We don’t have castles or armies anymore.
We do have mansions and assassins, though.
We don’t make laws, but we have the money to keep those who do make the laws in our pockets.
Our titles died out centuries ago, but our power still makes us royal. ”
“Listen, chick, are you done spouting off about how fucking special you think you are?” Nico growled.
Viola curled a lip in disgust and sent Nico a withering look of disdain. “Dogs should not speak unless they are spoken to. You’d do well to remember that, Mr. Lorenzo.” She looked back at me again. “Miss Sutton? Or should I say Miss Samuels?”
“My name is Maddison Sutton. I would have been Miss Samuels if you hadn’t murdered my father and forced my mother to put me up for adoption.”
Viola gave a slight nod of agreement. “True words. Well, Miss Sutton, your existence has put what we’ve built over centuries at risk. You are a disruption.”
I shook my head and laughed. “You mean what you’ve built with Edemas’s money? Is that what you mean? The fortune you tore from the bloody hands of his dead children and grandchildren? The fortune”—I glared at her—“that belongs to someone else?”
Rage flashed in Viola’s eyes, and it took her a moment to pull her features back into a cool and calm smirk.
“Young lady, we will tear you to pieces if you think you’re owed even a penny of that money.
Simply because you have the blood of a monster in your veins doesn’t mean you understand what a monster really is.
We’ve had decades and centuries to learn how to be monsters.
Do not talk so flippantly with me, little girl.
” She crossed her arms again. “Besides, if your full beast awakens, you’ll find yourself in the same position Edemas was all those many years ago—lying on your back with a sword slamming down into your throat.
Honestly, we’re probably doing you a favor by taking your life sooner. Probably best for everyone that way.”
Nico took a heavy step toward Viola. “If you touch one hair on her head, I’ll bring death and destruction to your doorstep. I’ll make what Edemas did look like child’s play.”
There was a moment’s flash of fear in Viola’s eyes, but she recovered quickly.
“I’ll make the two of you a deal,” she said with the fakest smile I’d ever seen.
“We’ve spent centuries ridding the world of the sin of Edemas.
Cleansing the earth of all his seed. In that time?
We’ve learned some of his tricks.” She raised a hand and snapped her fingers.
A man emerged from the car behind her. He carried a manila envelope.
Nico took an instinctive step back, raising an arm to guard me from whatever the man was planning.
The man didn’t even glance at us, though.
Instead, he walked right up to us and dropped the envelope on the ground in front of us, then turned on his heel and strode back to the car.
Nico glanced at me over his shoulder and raised a questioning eyebrow. I nodded at him.
Keeping his eyes on Viola, Nico bent and picked up the envelope.
Viola nodded toward the package in Nico’s hand.
“I think the contents of that envelope will help you make your decision. Give us what we want. The blood of Edemas, or see what happens. I’ll be taking my leave now.
” She turned and strode toward the car. Once she was there, the man opened the back door for her, but Viola turned back to us.
“One last thing. It’s not a drop of blood we need from you, Miss Sutton.
We need you on the brink of death. We need enough blood that would kill a normal human.
Hopefully, your mate claims you soon. That may be all that saves your life. ”
“Who the fuck said we were giving you what you want?” Nico barked.
Viola smirked. “Look in the envelope, Mr. Lorenzo, and tell me you’ll say no.”
Without another word, Viola slid gracefully into the back seat. We stood there, waiting until the car pulled off the tarmac and disappeared down the road. Nico held the envelope so hard his fingertips turned white.
“We have to open it.” I said, fear screaming through my mind. I had no idea what was in there, but I knew I wasn’t going to like it.
Nico nodded. “Yeah. I guess we do.” He ripped the envelope open with a finger.