Cora's Kismet (The Twin Destinies Saga Book 1) (8 page)

Cora awoke to the sounds of scuffling, and angry voices,
coming from the living room. She scrambled out of bed, though her body
protested even sitting up, and raced out of the room. She came to a dead stop
in the doorway to the living room.

“I said tell me where my daughter is Patrick, or you will
rue the day you ever laid eyes on either of them,” Thomas growled. He raised
his hand and swung toward Patrick’s face, the resounding crack left Cora’s
cheek throbbing.

“I’m not telling you anything,” Patrick said, and spit out
blood all over Thomas’ expensive looking shoes.

“You’d better…”

“Or what? You’ll sick your other daughter on me? She’s stronger
than you. She used her powers while she’s bound. This is why we can’t allow
them to live. They’re too powerful. They’ll kill us all!” Patrick was screaming
by the time he was done. Cora gasped in shock.

“No, I’ll just kill you. You and Anna are the only ones I
want to see rot,” Cora said, stepping through the doorway. Every head in the
room jerked in her direction. “Where is my sister you lousy piece of crap?”
There was venom dripping from her words as she stepped closer and closer. Anger
overrode her fear as she approached the man who’d terrorized her and her sister
all of their lives.

Liam rushed over to Cora’s side and tried to nudge her back
toward the doorway. “You shouldn’t be out of bed yet. You need rest.”

“I’m fine,” she told him, and stroked his cheek. “I need to
do this. I’m tired of being afraid of him, of both of them. I’ve never been
that girl and I really don’t wanna start now. Judging by the interrogation
that’s going on here, you were unable to get to Viola?” Cora asked looking up
at her father, concern for Viola making her eyes grow darker.

“They got her moved minutes before we arrived. Now we need
him to talk so we can find her again. Please go back to bed Cora and let us
handle this,” Thomas said in a gentle voice.

“No, I meant it, I’m fine,” she said with more confidence
than she felt on the inside. Her aching muscles were protesting her words even
though no one else could hear them. She turned and faced Patrick again, “Please
do not make me ask you again.”

Patrick stared up at her and, as she watched him back, she
saw fear flooding his eyes. He shook his head and refused to speak.

Cora took a step toward him and felt her father’s
restraining hand on her shoulder. She reached up and patted it before removing
it. She faced Patrick and glared at him through slitted eyes, “I guess it’s the
hard way then huh?”

Patrick’s eyes grew wide with fear as he slumped in the
chair. She was sure if his arms weren’t restrained, he’d be wrapping them
around himself. She knew he felt like he was burning from the inside out. She
could hear his silent screams in her head. Cora didn’t know how she was doing
it, but she would worry about that later. Now she needed to find her sister.
After a minute, she pulled back. “Now, care to tell me where my sister is?”

“Can’t,” Patrick managed to grunt out, past the lingering
pain that had his insides tied into knots.

“Can’t? Or won’t?” she asked, not bothering to glance at any
of the other people in the room. She knew if she did, she wouldn’t be strong
enough to finish this, and Viola was counting on her. She reached out with her
mind again, this time inflicting a different type of torture on him, she caused
his limbs to feel as if they were being chewed off. She watched him jerk
against his restraints.

“Ok!” he screamed. “Ok, I’ll tell you, just please stop!”

Cora pulled back her mind again. She could feel the open
stares in her direction, but didn’t care at the moment. There wasn’t anything
she wouldn’t do for Viola and it felt good to stand up to the filth tied up
before her.

Patrick was panting for breath, but didn’t speak. “Well? You
were going to tell me where my sister is?” Cora said, as she crossed her arms
over her chest. She hated being anywhere near this slime ball, but for the
moment, she didn’t feel as if she had a choice. Judging by what she’d walked in
on, the others had not been making any progress

“Yes, I’ll tell you, just give me a minute please,” Patrick
begged. Cora felt miserable inside her heart for what she was doing, but
reminded herself there weren’t any other options at the moment.

“No. Your time is up.” Thomas stepped in. He glanced over at
Cora and nodded his head in respect for her. She pinched out a small smile in
return and hugged herself tighter. She felt Liam’s arms slide around her waist,
pulling her back against his chest, and felt relieved. He wasn’t afraid of her,
even though she was afraid of herself at the moment.

“Cora already knows where she is,” Patrick spat out at
Thomas. “She’s always known. We could never separate those two brats from each
other. We never knew how, but they always found each other. If you want to find
Viola, follow
her.
” Cora didn’t miss the venom in his voice when he
referred to either her, or her sister.

“What do you mean? You tried to separate them? You had very specific
instructions to keep them together. You disobeyed direct orders.” Thomas could
barely contain the rage flowing through him. Angelica stepped forward and
rested her hand on his arm. Like Liam’s arms wrapped around her waist, this
seemed to provide a calming effect on the man. Cora was starting to understand
the balance thing in being with your mate.

“Yes we tried to separate them. Killing them was a last
resort if nothing else worked. We cannot let them rise to power. They’re too
strong. It didn’t matter though, no matter how far apart we managed to take
them from each other, they found their way back together again,” Patrick
informed them. His breath was still labored but settling down.

Thomas turned to his guards in the room. “Take him, secure
him in a prison cell and wait for my orders. He will pay for his crimes, once
we discover all of them, which I am sure my daughters have not revealed to us
yet.” He tossed a look over his shoulder at Cora and she squared her shoulders
in response. ‘
No more!’ h
er mind screamed. ‘
I will not be intimidated
and afraid any longer.’

The guards moved to surround Patrick. They removed his
restraints, stood him up and placed him in wrist and foot shackles.

Once he was removed from the room, all eyes turned to Cora.
She felt the weight of every pair on her as she lifted her eyes to meet each
gaze head on, before moving on to the next. Inside she was shaken to her core,
but reminded herself that she was done being the victim. She was sure Liam’s
strength was helping feed this mantra in her, and was thankful for it.

Angelica moved over to Cora and wrapped her arms around her
in a tight embrace. “Thank God you are safe. I’ve been so worried.” She pulled
back and stroked her hand over Cora’s sleep matted hair. Liam never moved to
let go of her and neither woman asked him to.

Thomas stepped forward and raised his hand to touch her
cheek. “You will tell us everything, won’t you? We need to know so they can be
punished in the proper manner. They cannot be allowed to get away with their
crimes. I am thankful you are alright. It seems Liam has taken good care of
you.” He looked at Liam’s arms wrapped tight around her waist. Liam didn’t move
to release her, even though she was sure that was what Thomas’ look was
intended for.

“I don’t want to talk about the past. What’s done is done. I
want to find my sister and look toward the future,” Cora told him. She watched
Thomas continue to make pointed looks at Liam, and his arms, as if trying to
convey without words that his arms did not belong around his daughter. Inside,
she was laughing, on the outside she reached up and placed her hands over
Liam’s to hold him there. Thomas’ eyes widened and then a small smile played
across his lips as he nodded toward them.

“I understand my dear, but unless you tell us what happened,
we cannot punish them, and that is unacceptable,” Thomas pushed.

“Can we focus on finding Viola for now? All of this can
wait, but Viola can’t. She’s in danger. They want to kill her. If we don’t save
her, no one will.” No one mistook the urgency in her voice.

“Ok, how do we find her?” Liam asked in her ear. “Patrick
said you’re the key to finding her, but how?”

“I’m not exactly sure how it works. I just know whenever we
were separated we could find each other again. It felt similar to the pull of
magnets to each other. I haven’t felt that pull since she was taken though, and
it has me very worried,” Cora said, her voice dipping lower at the end.

“Liam, you need to let go of Cora now,” Angelica instructed.
She laid one hand on Liam’s arm and one on Cora’s to soothe them both, but put
pressure to indicate they should move away from each other. Cora shook her head
at her mother.

“Liam, you are blocking whatever it is that pulls them
together. When you are near her, she is pulled to you, her mate, and we need
her to be pulled to Viola right now.” Angelica grew more insistent as she
spoke. When Liam dropped his arms from her, she felt lost and alone.

“I need you to go back to base, Liam. There are some things
there that need to be taken care of,” Thomas ordered. “You need to find out
what happened to your team from the twins’ extraction. We still haven’t heard
back from them.”

“Sir, I…” Liam started, but was interrupted before he even
got started.

“We will keep her safe and bring her back to you.” Sage
stepped forward and rested his hand on Liam’s shoulder. “I will go with them,
as a personal bodyguard for her, if that will make you feel better. Your team
also needs you.”

Liam shook his head again. He’d just found her and now they
wanted to separate them. He felt like he was being shredded from the inside
out. He looked over at Cora and saw in her eyes she felt the exact same way.

“Isn’t there another way?” Cora asked. “I want him to go
with me.” She reached her hand out toward Liam and was soothed when he reached
out and placed his hand in hers.

“I know dear. It will be very difficult to be away from each
other. You both will have to find a way to get through it, for Viola’s sake.”
Angelica’s words were softly spoken, but firm. She placed her hands over Cora
and Liam’s joined hands as she spoke, gave them a gentle squeeze and then
pulled them apart.

Cora felt the loss and the pull drawing her back to him. She
wracked her brain for any way they could find Viola and still keep Liam near
her. She had to admit her mother was right. She couldn’t feel Viola if she was
feeling the pull toward Liam. With quiet resolve, she stepped around her mother
and up to Liam. She wrapped her arms tight around him as a tear slipped from
her eye.

“Go and find your team. Bring them home safe, and I will do
my very best to find her as quickly as I can so I can return to you. I don’t
want this anymore than you do, but we can’t just leave Viola without help. She
needs me,” Cora told him in a low torn voice.

He held her as tightly as he could for a long moment before
dropping his arms to his sides and nodded.

“You’re right, she needs you. Just remember I need you too,
so please be safe and make sure you come back to me,” Liam said, looking deep
into her eyes.

“I will, I promise,” she said and nodded her head. She
reached up and touched his face before turning away from him and toward her
parents. “Let’s go.”

They nodded at her, gave a sympathetic look at Liam, then
turned and led the way out of the cabin. Cora followed, her body stiff as a
board. As Sage moved to follow, Liam grabbed his arm.

“Keep her safe for me brother,” Liam said, feeling as though
his insides were being ripped in two, half going with Cora and the other half
staying with him. His lungs felt deflated, like he’d never be able to take a
deep breath again, if she didn’t return to him.

Sage looked his brother in the eye and nodded. “You have my
word.”

Liam dropped his hand and Sage gave him an understanding
look before he turned and followed the rest of the group out of the cabin and
into the waiting helicopter.

“Where do you want to start?” Thomas asked Cora, shouting
through the headsets they all wore. It seemed to her he was all business and no
heart. She felt like he didn’t care at all that she felt ripped in two at the
moment.

“Back to the house she was taken from. That would be the
best place. I need to connect with her again. If that doesn’t work, then we’ll
need to go back to Patrick and Anna’s,” Cora said and then turned her attention
out of the window, shutting him out.

Thomas nodded with a concerned look in his eyes, though Cora
didn’t see it, and turned back toward the front. He didn’t say anything else to
her, as if sensing her foul mood and edgy temper.

Angelica held Cora’s hand tight in hers, as if trying to
transfer some of her strength and love. It wasn’t working, but Cora didn’t feel
the need to tell her that. If it made Angelica feel better, then she didn’t
think she should say anything. At least her mother was being more heartfelt and
sincere than her father at the moment and she felt she should give her, at
least, credit for trying to reach out to her.

After being in the air for about 45 minutes, the chopper
landed on a helipad right on the grounds to her parents’ estate, not far from
the main house. It shouldn’t have surprised her, but it did. She dismissed the
thoughts and got down to the business at hand. Her sister was far more
important than her pain from being separated from a guy she didn’t know very
well or some stupid shock over where their helicopter landed.

They made their way from the pad, into the house and up the
stairs in a matter of minutes. As the group moved to follow her, she held her
hand up to stop the procession.

“I need to be alone for a moment. I need to gather my
thoughts to be able to do this,” she said. ‘
I need a private moment to fall
apart,’
is what she said to herself.

“That’s fine, but Sage stays with you at all times,” her
father ordered.

Cora opened her mouth to argue, but thought better of it and
nodded. She remembered the promise he’d made to Liam and wouldn’t force him to
break it, unless she had no other choice. She turned the knob in her hand and
stepped into the room. She was assaulted by memories as soon as she opened the
door, but not of Viola. She started remembering how it felt to be curled up in
Liam’s arms while sitting on his lap in the plush chair. She remembered how
safe, warm and loved she’d felt.

As Sage closed the door behind them with a soft click, she
began to walk around the room and touch the things in it. Tears were making
their way down her cheeks as she thought of the two people closest to her in
the world, but were the furthest from her in distance. There wasn’t much Viola
had touched, but she could feel a faint vibration from her sister. It wasn’t
quite as strong as the vibration she felt from Liam though.

“You’re going to have to focus on Viola. Quit dividing your
energies between her and Liam, because Liam’s pull will be stronger for you
now,” Sage said in a soft voice from the door. She turned toward him and tilted
her head in curiosity.

“How did you know?” she asked.

“I can sense people’s emotions. It sucks most of the time,
but right now it’ll allow me to help you through this and get you back to Liam
that much faster. I can steer you back on track if you veer off course,” Sage
admitted. She could tell it was something he did not like to reveal and felt
honored he’d trusted her with the knowledge.

“Thanks,” she said, then dropped the subject. She turned and
walked over to the bed, laid down where Viola had slept and closed her eyes.
She focused on the small amount of Viola’s energy that had been left behind and
felt a tug in her gut, but nothing else. Nothing that would help lead her to
her sister.

Frustrated, she stood up. “We’ll get nothing here, she has
no tie here, nothing for me to grab onto. We need to go to the Kilpatrick’s
house.” She shuddered at the thought, but knew there was no other way to find
her sister, so she straightened her spine and sucked up the panic she felt at
going back to the place where they’d spent years in the hands of their
tormentors.

Sage nodded, moved over to the door and opened it for her.
He stood aside to let her pass before he stepped out and closed the door behind
them. She moved straight over to the staircase and, from out of nowhere, she
was surrounded by people. The group consisted of her parents and a contingency
of guards. She was thankful that Sage stayed right beside her, and even reached
out and placed a reassuring hand at the small of her back, which made her feel
not quite as alone as she was feeling.

They walked out of the house and loaded into three brand
new, shiny black SUVs that were waiting for them. Cora instructed the driver on
where to go, but said nothing else. She leaned back into the seat and closed
her eyes, attempting to block everyone out as best she could. As soon as they
were closed Liam’s face appeared behind her lids. In her mind, she traced the
lines of his face. She saw the beauty of his deep, soulful eyes, and longed for
him in a way that she’d never longed for anyone before.

“Cora focus,” Sage said, low in her ear. Her eyes flew open
and she stared at him. It took her a minute to pull herself together and then
she nodded in his direction. Within minutes, they were parked outside of the
place she’d called prison for so many years.

“This dump is where they had my daughters living?” Thomas
roared, making Cora flinch in response. Angelica laid her hand on his arm and
spoke in his ear. Cora could tell her mother was no happier about this than her
father was, but she also knew now was not the time to show their displeasure on
the subject. Besides, Cora knew the outside was the best looking part of the
whole place. If they were this outraged about the outside, she didn’t want to
see their reactions to the inside, but knew she really had no choice. She was
sure if she asked them to remain outside they’d refuse.

Taking a deep breath, she followed Sage out of the vehicle
and strode fast up the front walk to the porch. She pulled the hidden key from
its location and let all of them inside the house. She watched as her parents
took in the interior. Their eyes widened and filled with horror, which turned
to a rage that Cora wasn’t sure she’d ever felt in her life, as they took in
the dilapidated furniture, stained walls full of holes from Patrick’s abuse,
and trash that littered, well, everywhere. She knew they would list this as one
of Anna and Patrick’s many crimes. Shrugging it off, she headed toward the
stairs.

With Sage close on her heels, she ran up the stairs, taking
them two at a time. She didn’t know when, but at some point he’d pulled out a
handgun and was holding it at the ready. When she reached the room she and
Viola had called theirs, she stopped and placed her hand on the closed door.
The vibration she felt from her sister was stronger here without a doubt. With
a small smile and no hesitation she reached down and threw the door open.

She felt tears pool in her eyes as she looked around the
small room and took in everything she thought she’d never see again. She
stepped through the door and over to Viola’s twin bed, ignoring her own side of
the room. Sitting down on it, she cleared her mind and focused on her sister.
It took a minute, but then a picture started forming in her mind.

She saw Viola trapped in a room. The windows were painted
dark so she couldn’t see outside. Viola paced like a wild animal around the
room covering her ears from some recording that was playing in a continuous
loop.

Cora reached out to her sister with her mind.
“Where are
you?”
she asked.

In an instant, she felt Viola flooding her mind. She showed
Cora everything that had happened to her from the time she’d been abducted in
her sleep. Cora gasped out loud and her eyes flew open wide at the images that
were seared into her mind and replaying themselves, as if on an automatic loop.
Sage knelt down in front of her, but she could not see him at all, only sense
his presence.

Through the flood of images, Cora picked out a location.
“Thank
you Sis. We’ll be there as soon as we can. Hang tight,”
she sent back,
breaking the connection. Before she lost her sanity, and any hope they had of
getting to Viola, she stood and grabbed her duffle bag. She walked around the
room filling it with clothes, shoes, and personal items that were hers.

“What are you doing?” Sage asked, confused at her sudden
actions.

“I’m getting my stuff. I never want to come back to this
place,” Cora replied, as she continued to fill the bag. When that bag was full,
she grabbed Viola’s bag and repeated the process with everything she knew was
important to her sister.

Sage backed off, seeming to realize nothing he said was
going to stop her. When she was finished, he bent and picked up both bags and
slung them over his shoulder, before opening her door for them to exit. She
left the room without looking back. There was nothing left for her here.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she called out,
“I know where she is. Let’s go.”

“What is that?” Thomas asked Sage, as he reached the bottom
landing of the stairs carrying both duffels.

“Cora insisted on packing up their stuff while we’re here.
This is everything she wanted to take,” Sage replied with a shrug.

“We could have had someone come and do that, honey,”
Angelica said. “We still can if there’s more that you need, or want.”

“I didn’t want someone I don’t know going through my things
and I know that Viola would feel the same way. This is everything we have of
value and it only took a couple of minutes. So no, there’s no need to send
anyone here to get anything for us, but thank you for the offer. She’s waiting,
can we go?” Cora said, impatience making her temper shorter than usual. Now
that she had the connection they needed, she wanted to get to her sister,
before the pull of Liam set back in and eclipsed everything else again.

Thomas and Angelica nodded their heads and moved to the
door. Cora took one last look around and walked through the front door, without
ever looking back. This was the past she had every intention of leaving behind.
The only thing that could have made her any happier to be leaving this place
behind was if they were torching it behind them.