“You should work on you aim, kid,” a familiar voice muttered.
My lips twitched. “It would’ve hit the target if you hadn’t caught it.”
“Lucas?” another familiar voice called out in surprise.
My stomach dropped. I knew exactly who that voice belonged too. If Eva was here then it meant that Silas wasn’t far behind. How had they found us?
The point was proven when a light suddenly flicked on. I blinked twice and then focused on them.
A man I recognized as Eva’s grandfather stood near the light switch with Eva slightly to the left, half behind Silas and Grayson. Eva’s eyes darted over to me before they dropped and widened.
I followed her gaze and bit back a curse of my own.
Bodies littered the floor—all dead—while some of the walls and furniture were decorated with blood splatters.
The Hunters had tried to sneak up on us but one of those stupid bastards had made enough noise to wake me.
With Ariana hidden, I waited for them with my own weapons ready. For some reason Ethan had just disappeared. He was either still at the garage or he’d left us.
I wasn’t going to lie and say that I hadn’t suspected that Ethan had set the trap for us.
“Where’s my daughter?” Silas asked, completely ignoring the bodies as he stepped over them. “I’m not going to ask you again, boy.”
I could lie…
Spike had given me a few extra doses. I could inject Ariana and sneak her out the first opportunity I got. This time I just had to take extra precautions.
“Who?” I asked.
Silas growled. I tensed when he closed the distance between us and reached out.
Adrenaline still ran through my veins which made me react without second thought. I dodged his hand and kicked out with my leg. The moment my foot connected with his middle, he went flying backwards.
He slammed into the couch and dropped to the floor but he immediately got to his feet. Silas growled as he raised his head to look at me.
“Where’s my daughter?”
“Lucas.” My eyes snapped over to Eva. “Ariana’s with you, isn’t she?”
I swallowed when our eyes locked. I could feel the pull but I now knew exactly what it meant.
It was everything Ariana had explained to me but feeling it again with Eva only a few feet away was throwing me off balance.
Like I had said earlier: Fate was playing a cruel game.
In all the years my mother had planned their destruction, had she never considered the possibility—
“Lucas.” Grayson moved closer, making my eyes snap to him. “Where—”
A body slammed into mine.
The air was knocked from my lungs when we hit the ground. My fingers clenched around the handle of the knife but before I could use it, a fist slammed into my cheekbone.
I instantly blocked the pain and took inventory of our position.
After the second hit, I moved.
My elbow slammed into his chin, followed by a fist to his ribs. The sound of bone cracking was extremely satisfying. It only spurred me on, so I hit him in the same spot again before I changed out positions.
With a sneer, I raised the knife.
“No!”
The scream had me freezing. My head snapped up and my eyes darted around until I located her.
“Please don’t hurt him,” Ariana begged.
My eyes dropped to the man beneath me and after a moment’s hesitation, I got to my feet and walked over to Ariana.
“I told you to stay there until I come get you.”
Our eyes locked for a few seconds before hers dropped to trail over my body. Ariana swallowed loudly, hesitated and then took a step closer, but she flinched when I reached out to touch her.
“I’m s-sorry,” she whispered.
She stared at me for a few more seconds and then looked at them.
“Daddy!”
I stepped aside and watched as she hurried over to her father. He instantly pulled her in for a hug despite the broken rib I was sure he had.
“Drop the knife, kid,” Grayson ordered.
“One of them took off.”
He smirked. “He’s dead.”
His eyes narrowed when I didn’t immediately obey his order. Letting out a sigh, I wiped the blood from the blade on my pants and then placed it down within easy reach.
“Let’s move this...conversation somewhere else, please,” the grandfather said. “As impressed as I am with the way you handled this, I’m starting to feel sick.”
***
Ethan was on his way back to the house when he was shot with a dart gun. He was found unconscious near the back of the house.
My best guess was that they were planning on grabbing him after they got Ariana and killed me.
Things would’ve gone a lot differently if I hadn’t been waiting for the Hunters and her family hadn’t showed up.
I needed to figure out how they found us—the Hunters and Silas.
When we left Spike’s lair, I had made sure to check the cars for trackers along with everything else. Ariana didn’t get the opportunity to make any calls.
Unless…
She had a few minutes alone with Ethan when we first got here. Has she asked him to call them?
Son of a bitch.
My hands curled into fists as my eyes darted over to Ariana. She sat next to her father at the table with the first-aid kit open in front of her. She hadn’t looked at me once since she ran to him.
It was like I didn’t even fucking exist anymore.
Swallowing, I hesitated a moment before I slipped away. Making my way down the hall, I entered the bedroom and grabbed our bag. I walked across the hall and entered the bathroom. The towels we had used earlier still hung over the railing so I grabbed one and wet the end of it.
My eyes locked on my reflection in the mirror.
I sighed, pulled my shirt off and threw it to the floor. Picking up the towel again, I started wiping the blood from my face and neck.
“Why didn’t you call me when you found her?”
I froze before I continued cleaning myself. “It wasn’t safe.”
Eva hesitated a moment and then entered the bathroom. It didn’t come as a surprise when she pushed the door closed behind her.
“I’ve been worried sick about my sister and you didn’t even have the decency to call me and let—”
“If she was in danger you would’ve felt it Eva,” I interrupted her.
Dropping the towel in the basin, I turned around to face her. My eyes darted over her face before they locked with hers.
“That day we met at the dorm when I—”
“I remember,” Eva said as she frowned. “What about it? What does it have to do with the conversation we’re having?”
“Nothing.”
“Lucas—”
“Get out. I want to take a shower,” I told her.
Eva crossed her arms and pushed her chin out as she stared at me with narrowed eyes. “Go ahead. It’s not like I haven’t seen a man naked before.”
Fury burned through my veins as I thought of all the men who had seen her naked. I thought of those who actually got to touch her.
“You—” I slammed my mouth shut and spun around.
It shouldn’t fucking matter.
It shouldn’t matter if Eva had slept with someone other than me.
It shouldn’t matter whether Ariana was safe or not.
It shouldn’t fucking matter because in the end I was going to do what my mother had planned for them.
I was going to destroy Silas.