Through the haze of worry clouding my awareness, I didn’t react right away when William started forward. I grabbed his wrist just in time. “What are you doing?” I mouthed silently, my face severe with disapproval.
He raised his eyebrows communicating his intentions without words. I tightened my fingers, refusing to let him go. What if it didn’t work? What if the Hunters could resist more than just superficial powers?
Kara, tell him it might not work
, I told her silently.
He knows, Elyse.
I shook my head wildly at him, but he only kissed my hand and released his own.
Every muscle in my body ached as I watched him approach the large, threatening man, but there was nothing I could do. When the Hunter finally laid eyes on William, he immediately drew his gun.
My insides lurched, and I felt my body propel forward. I had to do
something
, but Kara stopped me.
It’s working
, she told me.
Sure enough, the Hunter began to lower his weapon and stepped aside allowing William to open the door. There it was, our way out.
“Go,” I whispered the command.
Kara led the way as everyone crossed the grandiose room in front of us, and I followed close behind, keeping watch from the rear, aware and protective.
Escape was so close I could taste it.
“Move fast,” I said quietly as the group filed out into the night, leaving William and I to deal with the Hunter.
“I’ll keep him influenced until you’re out,” William insisted.
“No, just walk out with me,” I argued, as the rest of them made their way across the labyrinth of a front yard.
“I want you to have a head start, just in case I can’t hold him for long.”
I didn’t like it, but time was persuasive. “Okay, but I’m waiting at the front gate.”
Before he could protest, my lips were on his, stealing his ability to speak. I could have stayed in that moment forever, but he needed to concentrate, and I needed to go.
I tore down the steps, looking ahead for any sign of a threat that might get in my way, but the chilling voice that stopped me came from behind.
“Feel free to go.” His sinister tone sounded slightly amused. “Though I’m sure William would miss you if you didn’t stay.”
I wheeled around, facing the man I’d only seen in Kara’s memory, and looked him in the eyes. They were cold and calculating, a sick grin cutting into the side of his cheek. The Hunter, no longer influenced by William’s ability, held him in a chokehold that threatened to break his neck. Though I hardly gave her notice, a woman with thick brown curls stood slightly behind Christoph, watching.
“Christoph!” Mac yelled from the gate as he started to charge forward.
“Mac, don’t!” I shouted, holding up my hand for him to keep back. I needed him to stay with Anna and Chloe, to ensure they would be safe.
He obeyed, staying put, but his eyes raged with anger as he watched the situation play out.
“Take me instead,” I offered.
“Please,” Christoph scoffed. “I have him, I get you. Don’t try and act as though you won’t stay willingly.”
He had me. It was true. Unless.
“Alaximandrios.” I whispered the word like it would save me. Like it would save all of us. But he didn’t show.
I squirmed uneasily in the silence.
“What’s to stop me from killing you?” I spat with disgust as I imagined my thick dart stabbing him in the throat. “Let him go, or I’ll do it.” I never felt so sure of anything in my life. I wouldn’t hesitate.
I knew he saw the truth in my words, but he only let out a slow, breathy laugh. “That’s quite a threat, but you do realize abilities don’t work on Council members, don’t you?”
Descendants loyal to Christoph began to appear from both sides of the yard. First ten or so, then twenty. My heart started to race as the Hunter’s thick elbow squeezed tighter around William’s neck. I had no choice but to give in, and although William’s eyes were telling me to run, I stepped forward with one last request.
“If I don’t put up a fight, will you let the rest of them leave without being followed?”
William struggled in protest, but what else could I do? Christoph’s tight lips tugged at the edges, and he cocked his head to the side like a cat who had a mouse by its tail. He stood with his shoulders back, overly confident, clasping his pale hands together. “You have no chips to bargain with young lady, but simply because I have no use for them, yes. I will let them go.”
I turned back to Mac who was still watching by the distant gate, looking for a promise that he would keep them safe. “We’ll be fine,” I yelled. “Just go.”
Mac’s hands balled into fists, and I watched as he nearly exploded into a fit of anger. He only had one option. As he walked away, his enraged bellow echoed through the streets.
7.
I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT they would do with us, and I didn’t want to think about it. Until Christoph decided, William and I were locked in what seemed to be a fairly elegant guestroom. Aside from the fact that it locked from the outside, it was rather comfortable, and didn’t depart from the Victorian theme that continued throughout the house. In the silence that had started with my surrender, William sat speechless on a velvet stool near the door while I took a place on the elaborately decorated queen bed.
I wanted to console him, but I recognized the way he stared off at nothing in the distance. He was angry, and I could only assume it was at me. I had given myself up voluntarily in his eyes, I was sure. He wouldn’t accept that I didn’t have a choice, but I wasn’t going to be without him ever again. I didn’t care if he was upset.
At least Anna and Chloe were safe, and Mac and Kara got out just fine. No matter what I told myself, it didn’t change the fact that we both felt defeated, and the ominous future loomed over us with uncertainty.
“At least we have each other,” I said, finally breaking the silence.
He sighed without looking up. “No, Elyse. That’s exactly what he wants. Now he has us both and . . .”
He didn’t need to finish. We both knew what was at stake. Christoph wanted our baby. The thought was terrifying, and I clutched the bedding beneath my damp palms. Although I felt comforted that William was with me, that comfort was only a distraction. Christoph had won, and our fate was in his hands.
“Dammit!” William stood and slammed his fist against the wall. I had never seen him so full of anger, and it held me in my place. He had his back to me, resting his forehead against the closed door that kept us in.
“I’m sorry,” I let out, slightly defensive. “I couldn’t just leave you with him.”
He turned to look at me, full of regret. “It’s my fault Elyse, not yours.”
“This isn’t your fault,” I said, my brow wrinkling with confusion. How could he blame himself?
“If I would have just listened to you, walked away with you when I had the chance . . .”
He combed his fingers through his hair and closed his eyes.
“It wouldn’t have mattered,” I said, shaking my head. The timing was too precise to be coincidence. “They knew we were here. The whole thing was a setup.” I took a breath and forced myself to stop picking at my thumbs. “The woman with the curls, was that Adrianna?”
“Yes,” he answered.
“See? She had to have been affecting Kara’s ability. We had no way of knowing they were close.” Suddenly I felt anxious. They’d probably been watching us the whole time, waiting for us to fall into their trap, and the idea of us being so easily manipulated scared me. “There was nothing any of us could have done, and there’s probably nothing we can do now.”
Maybe he saw the thoughts stir behind my worried eyes, because at some point, he decided to let me back in again and came to comfort me. He knelt down on the floor at the base of the bed and took my face in his hands.
“I won’t let them hurt you.” His words were sincere, but his square jaw tensed with worry, regardless.
I wanted to tell myself the worst wouldn’t happen, but it might. I knew what Christoph wanted, and maybe he’d use any means necessary to get it. “At least we have right now.” My face lifted, and I looked into his leafy green eyes, grateful for the love in them. He pressed himself up and pushed his soft mouth into mine, his warmth spreading through me. I wanted the kiss to last forever, to carry me out of this place. My heart’s frantic beat could easily be blamed on the feel of William’s strong body pressed against me. Nothing could get to me in moments like this. Fear didn’t exist.
Just as our lips parted, the doorknob clicked and turned. The portly balding man who had been guarding Anna and Chloe emerged with a disgruntled look.
“Christoph wants you,” he said to me, his fat throat distorting his voice.
I looked at William, waiting for him to use his ability as he’d done before, but he shook his head. Christoph had stripped him of it, and I could feel the blood draining from my face. I couldn’t move.
“Why doesn’t he come himself?” William sneered.
The fat man pulled out a silver handgun from the back of his pants, and pointed it in William’s direction. “I really don’t like you.”
“I’ll go,” I said, standing immediately, eyes wide with alarm.
A smile pressed into the man’s full cheeks as he took pleasure in my reaction. “Good,” he said, and he waved me forward with the gun.
William stood to follow, but the man turned the gun on him. “Not you.”
“She’s not going alone,” he argued. A loud crack punched the air, and I jumped. I didn’t understand what had happened at first. William collapsed to the ground with a look of shock on his face before I saw the pain register, before I realized he’d been shot.
“William!” I screamed, as the man lowered the gun. William grabbed his shoulder in disbelief, and I tried to run to him, but was caught by a thick forearm. The fat man was quicker and stronger than he looked, and he dragged me out into the hall ignoring my kicking and yelling.
“Stay here,” he said with disdain, training his weapon on me, the only thing he knew would make me obey. I watched him lock the door trapping William inside the room, his gun staying pointed at me while I begged for mercy.
“Please. I can heal him,” I sobbed, shaking frantically. He pulled me onto my feet and pushed me forward down the hall. “Please, let me go back.” It was all I could do. They’d taken my weapon, my bracelet, even my shoes from me when they locked us up. I had nothing but my words, and they didn’t work.
He walked behind me, digging the gun into my back. I didn’t doubt that he would shoot me if I tried to run. The pain I could handle, but if I wanted to heal William, I needed my blood.
“If it isn’t little miss save the world,” Christoph sneered with amusement as we entered what I assumed was his office.
I didn’t respond at first. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. He wasn’t worth the breath. He wasn’t, but William was.
“William was shot,” I told him, hoping somehow he would at least allow me to heal him. “I need to go back.”
“Yes, I know,” Christoph answered, his eyes fixed on me. “I needed to make sure you knew I was serious.”
I wanted to look away, to fold under the pressure of his intimidation, but I forced myself to stare daggers back at him. I couldn’t let him beat me, couldn’t let him know how weak I felt as the love of my life slowly bled out in some room with no one to come for him. My stomach gave a heave, and I had to try something. “Well then, I guess he’ll die. So much for your precious oracle.” I felt like a serpent, spitting flames of hate.
“He’s not going to die,” Christoph scoffed, rolling his icy eyes. “It’s a shoulder wound. Besides, we have you, the benevolent healer, to save him. He’ll be fine.”
“So can I go?” I seethed through gritted teeth. He looked at me with intolerance. “Sit.”
The fat man shoved me forward, and I sat in the leather chair that faced Christoph’s desk.
“I want to get straight to the point,” he said from his presidential chair. “You have something I want. The oracle, your child.”
Who did this man think he was? I would never give up my child, not to anyone, and especially not to him. “Never,” I answered simply, working hard to contain my rage. “I will never give up my child for you.”
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desktop, smiling his crooked smile. “Elyse. I always get what I want.” His black suit and impressive looks didn’t fool me. This man was as close to the devil as any human or Descendant could be.
“Not this time.” My words were strong, as if believing them would make them true.
He sighed, frustrated by my resistance. “The child would be safe with me. We could provide protection. That’s all I want.”
“I’ll protect my own child.” It felt strange discussing a child that had yet to be conceived. She, if I were to have a she, was little more than a thought in my head, and truth be told, if I had it my way, she would never be anything more. That was how I would protect her, by never bringing her into this world.
“Please. You can’t even protect your friends.”
“They are free aren’t they?”
“Elyse. Don’t tell me you actually believe that was your doing. I had no use for them, the oracle came through with her promise, and for her, I let them go.” He laughed. “Don’t be such a fool.”
My lips parted in disbelief, too taken aback to respond. He had to be lying. “That’s not true,” I stated flatly, trying to control the tone in my voice.
“Think about it. What exactly did she tell you? That you would save your friends if you came tonight? She just left out the part about our little trade. You and William for them. She knows I get what I want. She knows that the only way you’ll conceive this child is if I . . .” he thought about the right word, “
encourage
you to do so. Don’t blame her, Elyse. She is simply ensuring the continuation of her bloodline. It’s common sense, really.”
I didn’t want to believe him, but it did make sense. Why would she tell me to come on this night when she must have known William and I would be captured? Maybe she had her own plan all along. Maybe I was never meant to bring an end to Christoph. Was it possible that part of the prophecy was never true? It would be the perfect way to build protection around her one and only heir, a lie that would keep me safe until the time came for me to birth her bloodline.
No
, I told myself
, I’m letting him manipulate me. That’s what he does
. Even if it was the truth, and she had given me up to him, there had to be an explanation. The oracle had to make hard choices. I tried to remember the sincerity in her eyes when we had met, the gentle love I saw in them when she looked at me.