Chapter 30 #2
She didn’t answer, just turned her head away and looked out of the window.
I grimaced. How did I manage to constantly mess things up?
“Sor, please, I didn’t mean that at all.
” I gave her thigh a gentle squeeze before pulling her nearest hand into mine.
“I love you so much.” Jesus, could I make this whole situation worse? My wolf whined his answer.
“Okay.” But her whispered answer didn’t reassure me.
She kept her gaze trained out of the window, and I could hear her sniffles as I drove.
Fuck, I hated that I’d hurt her. It was the last thing I wanted to do, but I couldn't seem to form the words to tell her that, not when I was so messed up. Maybe she’d be better off away from me…
After a while, I put the radio on. The atmosphere was so damned strained, it left me tense and unable to even try and talk. The only reprieve was when Sor fell into a fitful sleep.
The morning was almost over, and fatigue dragged at me as we hit the outskirts of London.
Well away from the Gambit and any Original vampire territory, we ditched the car.
Keeping our heads down, we wound through back streets and residential areas, using my past life on the streets to gauge where would be safe and away from supernatural territories.
I had no desire to come across one of Jasper Dean’s rogue Alphas, nor did I want vamps of any kind on our tail.
In a supermarket near a station, Sor grabbed some money from her bank account.
I hadn’t wanted to risk Bal’s tech team tracing us, but I was too damn tired to walk miles across London, and we needed cash.
I had no bank accounts or money of my own that I could access, which was fucking embarrassing.
I grabbed us a couple of hoodies and a cheap rucksack, and got Sor to tie her beautiful hair back and hide it under the hood.
We had no phones on us that could be traced, and we paid for the tickets in cash.
I told her when to duck her head from the cameras as we took the underground to Hyde Park, then hopped on a bus to the embankment.
Cameras were all over this damned city, so it wouldn’t be long before Bal figured out where we were.
I was hoping we’d be found by my sexy attacker well before then.
He said he’d be watching and waiting. I could only hope that was true.
Grabbing us a coffee and two bacon sandwiches, I firmly took Sor’s hand and guided her to a seat, where we could watch the water of the Thames swirl by, or she could.
I stood with my back to the railings, keeping an eye on the people moving around us.
Sor looked exhausted, and I just wanted to take her in my arms and promise her everything would be okay, but I couldn’t. I had no idea what was going to happen.
“Eat up, sweetheart. I doubt it’ll be much longer, then we can rest.”
Despite my empty belly, I couldn’t eat more than a couple of mouthfuls.
The bread sat like an ever-expanding sponge in my belly.
The latte I sipped didn’t settle much better, either.
Sor stared at the concrete under her feet, looking so dejected, I couldn’t stand it.
There didn’t appear to be any threats nearby, so I knelt beside her and took her coffee cup, placing it on the ground.
“Don’t let him win, baby. Don’t let him destroy all the confidence you’ve built recently. I’m sorry for what I said in the car. I was angry. I adore you, and not for one minute do I regret us. But I let myself love him, and I should have known it would end like this.”
Her chin lifted, her eyes meeting mine. “No, you still love him, Shane. And he loves you, I know he does. There’s something else going on here…there has to be…”
The raw emotion on her face was too much to bear.
My heart shattered all over again, because she was right.
I still loved him. I might not have told him, which I was glad for, but she was right.
I loved everything about him: his stupidly stunning face, his powerful yet elegant body, his dark moods that tipped so easily into lust, his amused smirk that was often at my expense, his strangely beautiful eyes and the way they bled to the most stunning red when his emotions raged.
The way he ensured we were well cared for, the way he sometimes prepared our favourite food with his own hands, the soft touches and glances that I didn’t think he even realised we noticed.
There were so many things, not least the way he stoked an inferno of desire between us all and played our bodies until we danced to his tune.
I loved that he took control in and out of the bedroom, so I didn’t always have to.
It was liberating. It had made me feel wanted, and safe—until the rose-tinted glasses broke, and he was revealed as the lying, cheating, fucking bastard that he truly was.
But rather than say any of that to this sweet woman, who would forgive anyone for the insults she endured at their hands, I gently kissed her with all the respect and love I could.
“Touching,” said a voice that sent ice through my veins. I shot to my feet and glared at Bal. I took Sorcha’s hand.
“Touch her and I will kill you, Count.”
Bal’s pale eyes truly did look like chips of ice.
How had I ever thought them warm when he looked at me?
His face remained utterly devoid of emotion.
Pain tried to dampen my fury, but I wouldn’t let it.
I needed to stay objective and controlled, just like him.
If he’d taught me anything, it was to rein in my emotions.
It’s easy to manipulate an enemy who loses control… His words.
Silently, I faced him, walking around the bench and putting myself between him and Sor. She stood and tried to look past me.
“I understand. But the thing is, fledgling, she is not yours to protect. You have not claimed her. Besides, you are no longer a shifter, and she is a member of my House. As such, I can do as I please with her. As I can with you.”
It took everything I had to appear as detached as he was. I wasn’t, but I could fake it—or I could try. He’d forgotten that I had plenty of experience at portraying confidence and detachment that I didn’t feel.
“Why?” asked Sor, her voice nothing but a whisper.
Bal glanced at her, his face remaining icy, but I didn’t miss the way his hands fisted in his trouser pockets.
My eyes narrowed. So he felt…something about all this.
Fuck only knew what, but it didn’t matter.
Around us, I saw Elliot, Dav, Vito, and at least eight other elite vampire guards.
This wasn’t going to end well for us, but maybe I could give Sor a chance to run.
Bal tilted his head and studied Sor. “Because you were a distraction for the king’s new pet…and you were fun to play with.”
“I don’t believe you.” Sor took a step forward.
I reached for her arm. “Don’t.”
“No, please, Sor. Tell me why you don’t want to believe my reasons.” Bal’s quick smirk held no more warmth than the Arctic.
“Let me go, Shane.” Her eyes met mine, determined and full of pleading.
“That’s right, fledgling, let her go. She doesn’t want you any more than I do,” Bal taunted.
My teeth creaked, I clenched my jaw so hard, but I had no choice. My fingers released Sor, and she walked right up to the bastard, who was about to irreparably break her heart and her trust. Perhaps it was best that she saw him for what he was…
But she didn’t show any fear. She stopped right in front of him, not cowed by how he dwarfed her, and raised a hand to his face. My breath caught when he didn’t stop her cupping his cheek with her hand. If I didn’t know better, I’d have sworn I saw his gaze soften.
“I know this isn’t who you really are, Balthazar. You care for us. I don’t believe this is your choice. And I forgive you.”
His hand gripped her wrist and yanked it from his skin. “Really? You forgive me?” His cruel smile had me surging towards him, but I was too late. He gripped her under her arms and threw her sideways.
“No!!” I roared.
Bal grinned. “Too late, Wolfie. I have no further use for her.”