Chapter 32 Asylum
Asylum
Seeking asylum is not a crime; it is a human right.
— UNITED NATIONS REFUGEE AGENCY (UNHCR)
Under cover of darkness, we drove through the forested road that led to headquarters and pulled up to the gated driveway. Lucas lifted an eyebrow at me. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. This is your headquarters?”
I hopped out of the Jeep to push open the gate.
A whistle sounded, and I lifted my hand to signal my affiliation.
Lucas drove through, and I closed it while he pulled into the circle drive.
After exiting the car, he assessed the grand entrance to the rotunda from the shadow beneath his hoodie, all darkened behind the metal window covers.
The watchman left his hidden post to meet us, weapon raised, but when he drew close, he froze, eyes wide. “Sophia?”
The familiar voice iced my nerves. “Jayden?”
“Sophia?” He crossed the distance between us, gathering me in a bear hug. I whimpered and cringed as my glued wounds protested his touch.
He released me, his hands cupping my shoulders, expression concerned. “Are you okay?”
I glanced sideways at Lucas. “I hurt my back. Please don’t touch it.”
Lucas’s narrowed eyes studied us, and my insides filled with butterflies. These two men were never supposed to meet.
“Where’ve you been?” Jayden’s voice cracked. “We thought you… I’ve been worried about you.”
“It’s kind of a long story. I can’t really explain—”
“Sophia, who is this?”
The deceptive calm in Lucas’s voice made my eyes flutter closed. “This is Jayden,” I said, forcing a brightness I didn’t feel.
Only then did Jayden acknowledge we weren’t alone. His attention flickered to Lucas. “Friend of yours?”
The dark kept Lucas’s features obscured enough to remain anonymous.
“Yeah. From another safe house. He needs to see the general.”
Jayden lifted his chin toward Lucas and lost interest, turning back to me. “God, girl, it’s good to see you.”
I opened my mouth, not sure what I could say, but he cut me off. His arms slid around my neck, and he pressed his mouth to my hair.
Lucas’s expression sharpened into a murderous union of displeasure and rage. “Sophia.” His voice was eerie in its softness. “Please make it stop.”
Or I’ll kill him.
I extracted myself from Jayden’s grasp. “We need to see Theo, Jayden.”
Unaware of the predator in his midst, Jayden nodded. “Come with me.” He headed toward the house.
Instead of following, Lucas turned full on to face me. He tilted his head in a silent question.
I shrugged. “He’s just excited to see me.”
His eyebrows lifted, but his tone stayed dry, neutral. “Who is he?”
“He’s…no one.”
Tension vibrated in every line of him, and his gaze traveled toward Jayden, studying him the way a cat would contemplate a mouse.
I reached for Lucas’s hand, where tremors served as evidence of the stress still coursing through his body. “He was before you. He’s not a threat.”
“Everything is a threat,” he murmured.
“Lucas?”
He shook his head—a tight, jerky movement. He was teetering at the breaking point, struggling to hold himself together the same way I’d nearly dissolved when he wanted to leave me to chase down Jack Miller.
One step closer, I pressed our joined hands to my heart. “Picture the trees, okay? They’re tall. The rain is warm and smells of cypress.”
His forehead dropped to mine. “Things are about to get so much worse, Sophia. Whatever happens, promise me you’ll stay safe.”
“Soph?” Jayden’s worried voice hissed across the yard. “You coming?”
“Promise me,” Lucas said, more urgent now.
“I promise.” I squeezed Lucas’s hand. “You ready?”
With the tiniest nod, he followed me toward the side entrance. Jayden knocked in the series of rhythmic raps required after curfew, and the door unlocked from the inside. We stepped into the main hall of Defiance headquarters.
Lucas snorted in disbelief. “Fucking hell. No wonder we could never find you. This is genius.”
Inside, the place glowed with warm light. Several soldiers lounged around the common rooms on either side of the hall, snacking or chatting. Lucas glanced at the metal covering the windows.
“Don’t let them see you,” I whispered as people peered at us. He pulled his hood further over his face.
Luckily, none of my friends were nearby, or I’d have been inundated with questions.
“General’s still working,” Jayden said. “I’ll let you head that way. I have to get back outside.” He paused and placed his hand on my shoulder. “I’m glad you’re safe.”
Nodding his way, I dragged Lucas toward the staircase. My stomach twisted with nerves and questions. What would Theo do when I brought a Blood Colonel into his office? Was Lucas right? Would Theo really arrest him?
After a slight hesitation that Lucas clocked at once, shooting me a knowing look, I knocked on Theo’s door.
“Remember what you promised,” Lucas murmured.
I ignored him.
The familiar “Enter!” turned my hands clammy.
I poked my head in. “Theo?”
He stood at his desk, absently flicking a pen on the edge, but his body stilled. He closed his eyes while I opened the door.
“Theo, it’s me.”
A rough breath escaped him. “Soph?”
Neither of us moved once our eyes met. It took several seconds before his attention shifted to the person attached to me. Lucas had his hood raised, but he glared at Theo from the shadow underneath with undisguised hatred. Theo gripped his knife.
I hauled Lucas inside with me and closed the door. The lock turned with a loud click.
“Lucas Scott.” Theo kept his voice assured and steady.
“Uncle Theo.” Lucas matched the tone. Lips pressed in a flat line, vivid eyes locked on Theo, Lucas couldn’t have exuded his hate any more clearly.
I rubbed my forehead, willing away the headache. “Put your knife down, Theo. He won’t hurt you. He thinks you’re going to kill him.”
Theo’s shoulders relaxed. “What’s going on, Sophia? Are you okay? The quarantine house—”
“I’m okay,” I said. “I’m…fine.”
Theo’s brow creased at my hesitation. “Why is he here?”
I bit my lip. “We had nowhere else to go.”
“I’ve had people searching.” His voice roughened. “Where were you?”
“When they— When—” I scowled at my own incoherency and straightened my shoulders. “I was captured. I ended up a prisoner.”
Alarm sharpened Theo’s dark eyes. His gaze whipped to Lucas. “You’re in charge of the prisoners, are you not? What happened?”
Lucas launched into the story without hesitation or inflection, appearing unfazed—almost bored—but the claw of his fingers on my hand told me he’d nearly reached his limit of what he could tolerate tonight.
“He did what?” Theo’s posture straightened when Lucas explained about my back.
Tears filled my eyes again, and I wondered when I’d run out.
Lucas bent toward me and murmured, “Will you show him?”
I turned, letting Lucas lift my shirt.
Theo cursed, his tone dripping with hatred. “What then? What did you do?”
“I killed them.”
My shirt dropped, and silence followed. I leaned into Lucas’s side.
“You killed…who?” Theo asked.
“The five other Blood Colonels currently in this territory. Though I didn’t actually see Miller—”
“He was as good as dead, Luke,” I said.
Scratching his eyebrow, Theo opened his mouth for several seconds before he said, “You—you did this—all this—for her?”
“Yes.”
Theo’s eyes sought mine. “And you brought him here, why?”
“He can’t go back. You swore him exoneration if I continued to help you, and I did. I’m requesting asylum on his behalf.”
Lucas turned, sending incredulity and outrage my way. “Please tell me that’s not true.”
I ignored him.
“Can he not ask for asylum himself?” Theo asked.
“He won’t.” I threw a scowl at Lucas. “He’s a fool who doesn’t think he deserves it.”
Theo exhaled. “Maybe he’s right.”
“He saved my life, and you swore, Theo.”
At Theo’s clear displeasure, Lucas chuckled. “I’d be more than happy to disappear. You’d never have to see me again.”
I whirled on him, pointing my finger at his face. “You shut up and let me do this!”
His undamaged arm lifted in a submissive gesture.
“You say nothing unless it’s to help this situation,” I said. “Do you understand?”
Theo’s gaze ricocheted between us. “You just…listen to her?”
After a beat, Lucas said, “She gets what she wants no matter what I do. This tends to be the easiest course of action.”
Theo had the gall to laugh. He dropped the knife back onto his desk. “Her stubbornness knows no bounds.”
Lucas glanced at me, then raised a brow at Theo. “I’ve long suspected you sent her to me because you knew her tenacity would outlast mine. She thrives no matter what you throw at her.”
I curbed the compulsion to kick them both in the knee.
“Yes, she does.” Cogs turned behind Theo’s eyes. “And you came here, even when you thought I’d kill you, simply because she asked you to?”
Lucas drew a breath, peering at the chandelier. Fractured light dappled his unshaven face. He merely shrugged, resigned to his fate.
“I’m trying to understand here,” Theo said. “Give me something.”
Lucas continued his perusal of the crystals. “She’s safest here, and…I promised her I’d stay.”
A troubled expression creased Theo’s brow.
“I have a signed document hidden in my room that states you won’t hurt him, Theo,” I said.
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I have to harbor him as a fugitive. Williams will never go for this.”
“But—” I took in his weathered desk, the riveted window. “This is the safest house we have.”
An unattractive choke emerged from Theo’s throat. “You think he’d be safe here? What do you think people will do to him once they recognize who he is?”
“Once they learn how he’s helped…”
Lucas and Theo exchanged skeptical glances.
I glared hard at both of them. “We’ve all seen what he can do. They’d be stupid to come at him. He’ll kill them without breaking a sweat.”
Lucas snorted. “I’m not a magician.”
Theo dragged a hand down his face.
Gaze distant, Lucas muttered, “I’d sweat a little.”