There was ringing in my ears as the bullet flew through the air. The silence was broken by Eva’s scream as it made contact.
They both went tumbling to the ground.
*Run!* I silently urged *Eva. Run towards me*.
She rolled away from Oliver as she clutched her bleeding shoulder.
*Run, Eva. Run*
Relief flooded me when she followed my silent order. Eva stumbled to her feet, glanced at Jason, and then moved.
“Get her,” I ordered Ethan as I moved my attention back to Oliver.
Conner was blocking my view. I couldn’t get another shot in. Muttering a curse, I looked for Jason and found him running back to the van.
Emeric had jumped out and was making his way towards Oliver.
In the distance, brakes screeched.
“We have company,” Grayson warned.
Eva’s scream pierced the air, making me jerk upright. It was cut off so abruptly that I thought she had been killed.
Leaves rustled, making my eyes snap over to the tree a few feet from me.
My eyes widened in surprise when I saw Eva clutched to Ethan’s chest as he balanced on the thick branch.
Our eyes locked for a few seconds before he focused his attention on her. He pressed his hand to the back of her head and lowered his head to speak softly to her.
“Kill him,” Grayson ordered
It was the words I had been waiting for since he had grabbed Eva. I settled back into position and trained the rifle on him again.
Oliver was on his feet, a hand pressed to his wound as he turned into a circle while glancing around as if he was searching for something.
I aimed and fired without any hesitation.
His body jerked when the bullet made impact. Stumbling back a few steps, he stared down at the blood soaking his shirt in shock. Oliver only got the chance to raise his head slightly before I shot him again and he dropped to the ground.
With a satisfied smile, I sat up and turned to look at Ethan.
Ethan was straddling the branch with Eva cradled to his chest as he inspected the wound on her shoulder.
“Just keep breathing, sweetheart,” he instructed her. “You’re doing so good.”
The way he was touching her, the way he spoke. . .it was clear that Eva was his daughter and not Ariana, which would explain why Silas seemed to care more about Ariana than he did Eva.
But why weren’t the twins aware of it? Why was Silas forcing his brother to stay away from his own daughter? Does it have something to do with Lara?
My brows dipped into a frown when a thought hit.
As far as I knew, Silas only had one brother and he had died in the fire Mother claimed had been set by Lara. If he was still alive. . .that meant that Ethan. . .No, it couldn’t be true.
Ethan had called Silas brother. He had referred to the twins as his niece and his daughter.
If Ethan was indeed Silas’s brother then that meant that he was my biological father.
The moonlight didn’t offer enough light for me to get a good look at his futures to see if it matched mine or not. When we had met him the first time, I had been too occupied with Ariana to take note of things.
If Eva was his daughter it would make her my half-sister and Ariana my. . .How could we possibly be mates if we were related?
A scream echoed around the park, making me jerk back to reality. There would be more than enough time to make sense of things later.
“We’re leaving,” I told Grayson but got no answer in return.
I looked at Ethan and found him already watching me. He shifted and reached into his pocket to pull keys out. Hesitating a moment, he threw it to me.
“My truck is parked in an alley four blocks from here,” he said softly. “You should get her out of here before things get worse.”
I nodded as I pushed the keys into my pocket. Pressing a hand to the tree trunk, I stood. Just as I was about to start climbing down, a man stopped under the tree for a few seconds before he took off again.
“The place is probably surrounded,” I muttered.
Ethan stood and carefully hugged Eva to his chest. She was silent which was a bit worrying. Why wasn’t she cursing at him? Was she in shock?
“I’ll distract them.” Ethan gripped her by her shoulders and pushed her away from him. “I know that you’re in pain, but I need you to be a brave girl for me. Think you can do that?”
Eva shook her head but then started nodding instead.
“Turn around,” he ordered softly.
With a grip on her upper arm, he helped her turn around to face me.
A whimper fell from her lips.
“I’m going to help you walk to the edge of the branch.” His hands slipped down to her hips.
“Y-you want me to j-jump?” she breathed in surprise. “N-no!”
“I’ll catch you,” I told her as I moved closer. “You don’t have far to jump.”
“I—”
“I know you can do it, sweetheart,” Ethan interrupted her. “The sooner you leave with Lucas, the sooner I can go help Silas.”
“Dad’s here?”
“Yes,” I answered her. “I promise that I will catch you.”
I reached up and grabbed hold of the branch above me and held out my other hand for Eva.
The trees were planted only a few feet apart and the branches were thick enough to hold our weight. Unlike some of the other trees, the branches didn’t overlap to make things easier, but the distance between them was jumpable.
It was why I had set up in the tree instead of on the roof of one of the surrounding buildings. They wouldn’t have expected it and it was an easy escape route if I needed one.
“I don’t trust you,” Eva croaked.
“I’m aware.” I smiled. “It’s a good time to work on your trust issues, firecracker, but I suggest you hurry up.”
“On three,” Ethan said before she could start arguing. “One, two. . .”
I wished he would’ve prepared me for his plan. Ethan only counted to two before he picked her up and threw her towards me.
Our bodies collided seconds later, making me slip slightly.
My arm instantly shot out to wrap around her waist and my hand tightened on the branch above us as I tried to steady us.
The fact that Eva had completely wrapped herself around me wasn’t helping much with the balancing.
My heart was beating a mile a minute and my stomach twisted in fear which made me feel like puking. If I had slipped. . .
“It’s okay,” I breathed for both our sakes.
Eva’s arms and legs tightened around me. She pressed her face to the crook of my neck and let out another low whimper when I started moving.
“You’re going to have to let me go,” I whispered in her ear. “I can’t climb down with you wrapped around me.”
“C-can’t.” She hooked her legs higher up my hips. “I hate h-heights.”
“We’re not that high up.”
“W-we are.”
I turned my head and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Eva sucked in a sharp breath but remained silent.
“Now I know what I need to do in order for you to hold me.”
She scoffed. “This is t-the first and the l-last time you’ll find me in your arms.”
“Well then”—I slowly lowered myself to sit on the branch—“I guess I need to enjoy it as much as I can.”
I moved slowly and as carefully as I could. It wasn’t easy and beyond fucking scary but I managed. Keeping Eva talking stopped her from freaking out but it made me consider the possibilities of having this kind of teasing relationship in the future.
The moment my feet touched the ground, I wrapped both arms around Eva and took off in the direction where Ethan had parked his truck.
***
“Ari’s awake.”
I glanced at her. “Can you feel it through the bond you have?”
She didn’t answer me immediately. Letting out a sigh, Eva shocked me when she scooted across the seat and curled into my side as much as she could while I was driving.
“She’s worried because she felt my pain.”
“I hope she doesn’t do anything stupid.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Who’s with her if your father and grandfather are at the park?”
“How did they find out?” Eva asked.
“I’m not sure.”
I glanced in the rear-view mirror once again to make sure that we weren’t being followed. My eyes dropped to Eva for a second before darting back to focus on the road.
Ethan had stopped the bleeding. It was a clean shot though—through and through—even though Oliver had moved at the last minutes. Eva was already healing so the need to search for a doctor to have a look wasn’t necessary.
“I could feel it,” she muttered.
I glanced at her. “Feel what?”
She slipped an arm underneath mine and rested her hand on my forearm. Swallowing loudly, she hesitated a moment before she answered my question.
“Feel it when you’re having sex.”
I blushed. Clearing my throat, I gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.
“How does it work?” I asked to change the topic. “Can you read each other’s minds?”
“No.” Eva pulled her arm away and slid down the seat to lay down with her head on my thigh. “W-we can feel each other’s emotions and. . .communicate it that way, but only when our walls are down. It’s hard to explain.”
I tensed when Eva placed her hand a few inches above my knee before she slowly slid it down to rest on the inside of my thigh.
“It’s kind of cool.”
“Mates share something similar. Only true mates, though. Family members don’t share something like it unless the bond is specifically created by a witch.” She yawned. “When we’re emotional or in pain our walls slip. It was like when Oliver had kidnapped Ariana.”
“You felt her pain, I remember.”
“Yes and apparently I can feel her pleasure too. She feels so much that she can’t keep her wall up.” Her lips parted with another yawn. “All the times I’ve had sex I never once experienced the feeling she does when she’s with you. I have never felt like that and I guess I never will.”
I licked my lips, feeling nervous all of a sudden.
Eva continued before I could utter a word. “You’re just like Conner—a traitor. I’m going to expose you, Lucas. I have proof to show them.”