Chapter 57 Fifty Seven
DANIKA
"Danika?" Isaiah says to me, and I turn to look at him, numb. His brows are creased with concern as he drives. We're currently heading to the address Vanya had sent me. But all I can think of is the way Kaziel's hands had been cold.
"You're crying," Isaiah points out, and I bring a hand to my face, wiping tears I didn't realize were there.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me," I tell him, and he sighs.
"We'll get him out. I promise."
We pull up outside a small café with the lights dimmed and the "OPEN" sign still glowing faintly in the window. It looks abandoned at this hour, but I know better. Vanya chose this place for a reason.
Parking the car, Isaiah turns to me again.
"Are you ready?"
"None of this feels real," I whisper, unbuckling my seatbelt with shaking hands. "But yeah. I'm ready."
He gives me a firm nod and steps out. I follow, the cold night breeze whipping my hair around.
"Here, attach it to somewhere hidden. It's an audio-visual recorder," Isaiah says, handing me something that looks a lot like a black button.
It's a relief I'm wearing a flannel shirt today. It easily blends with the buttons on my shirt.
As we walk towards the entrance, I quickly text Vanya.
'I'm here.'
She responds instantly. 'Come in.'
The moment I push the glass door, a soft bell rings overhead. My heartbeat spikes. The café smells like old coffee grounds and warm pastries that were probably baked hours ago. The chairs are stacked along the walls. Only a few low-hanging lights remain on.
I step further in and freeze.
Standing by one of the booths near the back is a woman who looks like she walked out of a runway show. She's tall and gorgeous. Her ash-blonde hair cascades down her shoulders in perfect waves. Even her bone structure is undeniably sharp enough to cut glass, and she's got legs for days.
Vanya.
Her beauty isn't what intimidates me... It's the sheer confidence radiating off her. Just like Eve.
I straighten my spine. I won't give her the satisfaction of seeing me cower. Vanya's lips curl into an amused smile as her eyes sweep over me.
"Well," she says, "I guess Kaziel's taste has degraded over the years."
Anger flares in my chest so quickly that it scorches away every trace of fear. I can already feel Amber, my wolf, stirring. She's alert now, watching and waiting. I can already sense a couple other people around, apart from Isaiah. This place isn't safe.
Still, I move forward, narrowing my eyes at her. "Where's Eve?"
Vanya raises a brow. "No greeting?"
How dare she look so smug? How can she do this to Kaziel?
She chuckles under her breath. "How... predictable."
"I'm not here to play games," I snap. "Where. Is. Eve?"
"Behind you," a familiar voice answers.
I whip around.
Eve steps out from the shadowed hallway leading to the restrooms. Her arms are folded over her chest, her expression smug.
"I told you she'd react like that," Eve says to her sister, smirking.
"Always so defensive. So... insecure."
I've never wanted to rip out someone's tongue so badly.
Vanya looks between us before sighing dramatically. "Honestly, Dani, relax. No one's going to hurt you. We're just here to talk."
Liar.
Now that they're standing together...their resemblance is striking. It makes me feel like I'm a cornered rat.
"Why are you doing this, Eve? Your sister is clearly alive, so why do you have to torture Kaziel?" I demand, my hands curling into fists.
"His cocky ass needs to be taught a lesson. He treated me like I'm a pile of shit under his boots," she shrugs. "Why shouldn't I let him rot in jail?"
Tears burn my eyes, a hollow pit in my belly. Suddenly, Vanya appears in front of me with a blur of movements. It happens so fast that I barely register it. And then she rips my phone right out of my hand.
"Hey—" I reach for it, but she's already tossing it across the café. It skids across the tiles and crashes against a chair. The nerve of this wench.
Anger burns in my chest as my palm collides with her face. Vanya's head jerks slightly from the impact, her cheek flushing red... And then she laughs.
"Oh, darling," she murmurs, touching her cheek where I slapped her. "You really are naïve."
Amber pushes forward, growling menacingly. And Vanya moves closer, her eyes glowing a bright red.
"You think Kaziel is some tragic hero, don't you? The truth is far uglier."
"I'm not interested in your lies," I spit back.
"Of course, I'm not lying," she deadpans. "Because I loved him too."
I freeze.
"More than life," she continues softly. "Enough to follow him anywhere. Even to the grave."
My heartbeat thunders madly against my rib cage as I watch Vanya's smile fade into something hollow.
"One night," she whispers, "while we were sleeping, he strangled me."
My throat constricts.
"No," I breathe. "No. You're lying."
"And then," she adds with a soft, detached laugh, "he ripped my heart out."
I clench my trembling hands tighter into white-knuckled fists. The hell is she trying to do?
"He killed me," Vanya says, her eyes locked on mine. "And the same thing will happen to you."
"I don't believe you," I choke out. "I will never believe you."
Vanya's eyes narrow, as though my defiance disappoints her.
"You should," she murmurs. "Because you're running out of time."
She steps back, her expression shifting from venomous to... eerily calm.
"You and I both know you don't belong out there with him," she says, waving a hand dismissively towards the world outside the windows.
"You belong with us."
I stiffen.
"With the fold," she clarifies. "With the new order."
My stomach drops.
Vanya's smile widens. "And your father is waiting for you, Danika."
Everything inside me goes ice-cold. They're talking about that old man, I realize. The one who hypnotized me. Is this some kind of cult?
"He's no father of mine," I hiss.
"Oh no," Vanya says softly, tilting her head. "He is."
My heart thunders so loudly I can barely hear her next words.
"And he wants his daughter back."
Realization slams into me. This was never about Eve's revenge or about Kaziel. This is a trap. A retrieval mission for me.
Amber snarls inside me, my claws elongating. I'd rather die than go anywhere with them.
My eyes shift between the sisters, the empty café, and the shadows beyond the counters where I can feel other presences hiding. And I actively decide that I won't go down without a fight. Not anymore.
A soft thud echoes outside the café, followed by Isaiah's grunt. Then I hear a loud crash.
"Isaiah," I whisper. And that’s when Eve lunges.
Her nails slice across my cheek. Hot pain blooms down my face, blood sliding down my jaw. My head jerks from the impact as Vanya grabs me from behind, her arm snaking around my ribcage, squeezing tight enough to crush my bones.
"Don't fight," she hisses. "It'll be easier that way."
Over my dead body.
I slam my elbow back into her stomach, hard. She grunts but doesn't let go. Eve grabs my hair, yanking my head backward, exposing my throat. My knees buckle as the two sisters press me down, suffocating and suppressing me until I can barely breathe.
A muffled roar from outside shakes the windows. It's Isaiah. He's still fighting. That's enough to snap me into action.
"LET. ME. GO!" I snarl, my voice deeper as my wolf pushes to my subconscious.
My claws slice straight through Vanya's forearm. She shrieks, and her hold loosens. I twist wildly, slamming my head backwards into her nose. She falls to the floor with a howl.
Eve screeches and charges again, but this time I'm ready. She swipes for my face, but I catch her wrist mid-air. The force of her momentum pulls her forward, and I slam my forehead into hers, hard. Her skull thuds against the tiled floor.
But she's fast. She recovers, sweeping my legs out from under me. I hit the ground, the air whooshing out of my lungs. Eve climbs onto me, pressing her forearm against my throat.
"Stay down!" she snarls, her spit hitting my cheek.
I choke, my vision blackening around the edges. Then, Amber takes over. I grab Eve's arm and hurl her off with a force that startles even me. She crashes into a table. But then, Vanya rushes at me with a shard of broken glass.
She swings, and I manage to duck, tackling her with my weight. We both hit the ground, rolling. She claws at my face, slicing another line under my eye. God, it stings. But I refuse to falter, grabbing her wrist and pinning her down with my knee on her chest.
"STOP!" she screeches.
I don't. I slam my fist into her jaw twice, and she goes limp, pain ricocheting up my arm.
Eve tries to crawl away. Not fucking happening.
I grab her by the hair, drag her across the floor, and slam her against the leg of a table with brute force. She crumbles instantly. My chest heaves as I rise, adrenaline roaring through me. My face stings, warm blood dripping down my chin.
Outside, I still hear Isaiah fighting, but the sounds are slowing. Either he's winning, or—
No, I can't focus on that.
I drag both sisters by their wrists, binding their hands together with the cable from an unplugged espresso machine. I secure their ankles with a stack of zip ties from the supply shelf. They definitely came prepared. Unfortunately for them... so did I.
My hands tremble as I take out the tiny camera from my shirt. It's still recording. That’s a relief. I proceed to grab my phone where it fell, the cracked screen glowing faintly.
Then, with shaking fingers, I turn the camera around and take photos of each of us.
It's time to go and get my man.