Chapter 190

When Amaris awoke, she was still in the back of the car. It was dark and she could not hear a thing. She could feel she was alone in the car. She rubbed her face and slowly sat up. The car was parked in a garage. The garage doors were closed, and the only window on the side had been boarded up. Amaris took off her seat belt, which was still on, and opened the car door. She went to get out on the passenger side and that was when she remembered that she had gotten sick on floor. She groaned and looked down, only to find that it had been cleaned up. With a sigh of relief, she stepped out of the car closing the door quietly. She walked to the side door of the garage. Listening, she could hear voices on the other side. She slowly turned the handle and openned it just a crack to see if she could see anyone. She had passed out while they were still being chased, and wanted to make sure that she had not been captured again, or hidden away and was walking into the wrong hands. Amaris pushed the door further to try and see anything in the room beyond, before she could get a look, the door was pulled out of her hands and flung open. Lyle was standing there. She looked up into his face with surprise as he reached down and grabbed her up into a bear hug. "You're finally awake!" He said. His touch along with his quiet gravelly tone set off heat waves in Amaris that she had not felt the last time that she had been with him. Amaris had to remind herself that the last time that she thought that she was with him, it was not really him, it had been Adam instead. "Is it really you?" She whispered back as he released her only enough to look at her again. His loving smile, and the heat in his eyes told her all that she needed to know. "It's me. I'm back, and I am not going anywhere." He kept his arm around her waist as he turned her to face the rest of the room. Lyle must have been feeling that pull too, because he pulled her body in a little tighter to him and planted a small kiss on the top of her head. Amaris looked around the room. Everyone was there. Taji was sitting in a chair at the table with Anna sitting on his lap. Gran was sitting in the chair next to them. Standing across from them were all of Taji's brothers and his two cousins as well. Amaris was so releaved to see them. She had thought that she had sent them to their death the last time that she saw them. Tears welled up in Amaris' eyes. She covered her mouth with her hands. "You're here. Both of you. You're alive. I thought that I had given you two a death sentence instead of saving you." Nikos stepped forward and took her free hand. "We are safe. It is thanks to you. The guards took us outside and left us there. The were all placing bets on how quickly the vampires would be on us, but once we were outside, there was no one there. The guards could not undertand it either, which was good, because it allowed us the momentary distraction for us to take them all out. The Vampire must have all left. No one knows where." He let go of her hand and ran it through his hair and then moved over to allow his brother to come forward. Michalis stepped up now. "Thank you Amaris. We left the palace grounds and were making our way down the road slowly. Our cousins caught up with us and Taji healed us. Not long after that we simply disappeared and ended up here. You got us all out and everyone is safe. Although, some heads up that you were also freeing the Menotaur and the other creatures would have been nice. They scared the hell out of everyone. They seemed to know that they had just been saved and that none of us meant them any harm, and they all turned and simply fled into the forest." He smiled. "I am sorry we gave you such a fright, but I would not be here without you." He grasped the hand that his brother held a moment before and kissed the back of it very gently. "Thank you, Oracle." He said and then let her hand go and stepped back. Anna piped up now. "I know what you are going to ask." She said raising a hand to hold off Amaris' question that had risen to her lips. "After Taji shook off that guy, the trucks seemed to back off, so we kept going taking only a few detours to make sure that we weren't followed. We stopped and checked to make sure you were ok, then we rushed here as quickly as we could. With one other stop for gas and to clean up the back seat." Anna winked at her as she filled Amaris in. Amaris was pulled in tightly by Lyle once more. She looked up at him, to find him gazing at her as if he thought that she was going to disappear any moment. She leaned her head into his shoulder, and wrapped both arms around his torso. At this moment she did not care that he had broken their mate bond, she just wanted to be with him in each others' arms.

Gran cleared her throat and got everyone's attention. She was standing now. She came around the table. "I think we need to be creating a plan to get us out of here, and figuring out how we can keep you safe until we can do something about the King. He will not stop hunting you, until he has your powers. We need to get you safe, and then these fine men here can take him out."