Page 44 of Fated to Her

I can hear all the chaos in the street as it zips by in a blur of colors. Cyrus halts when he gets to the end of the street, and at first, I’m confused before I notice the power to the entire city is going out, block by block.

“What is it?” I ask Cyrus.

He peers around, and people are coming onto the streets. Even the streetlight has gone out, leaving the entire city in inky darkness.

“Found you,” Eli says, catching up to us. He holds his arms out to Cyrus, wanting to take me, and Cyrus hands me to him.

“Get her to your sister’s. Something isn’t right,” Cyrus says, his gaze darting around nervously.

Eli goes to turn and head down across the street when the first bomb goes off, the blast knocking us backward. I land heavily on top of Eli, knocking the wind out of him, my ears ringing loudly as I squint through the smoke and screams of panic. Eli groans, and I climb off him and stare in the direction of the explosion only to find it was a car. Moments later, more sirens sound off in the streets surrounding the apartment block.

Cyrus grabs Eli’s arm, pulling him to his feet. People in the streets are in full panic, worried we may be under attack by terrorists. Only, we know it’s Sam; this is his doing.

“We need to get her out of here,” Eli says pointing to a nearby alleyway.

“Probably not the safest. We need to stick to the main roads. He would be expecting us to use the alleyways to escape and remain out of sight of the public,” Cyrus says, peering down the street just as another one goes off, the blast causing the ground to rumble and vibrate beneath my cold feet.

“Stay away from the cars,” Cyrus says, grabbing my arm and yanking me over to him.

“Easier said than done. We are in the city. Cars are everywhere,” Eli says.

He’s right; cars line every street.

“Stick to the center of the road,” Cyrus says, and then he takes off running. Every street seems to have something going on, until we come to a dark street that, for the most part, seems untouched. There is no power, like the rest of the city, but it is eerily quiet considering the chaos a few streets over.

Cyrus pauses and peers around just as vampires come out of the shadows and from behind houses. The fluorescent blood-red eyes are all I can see in the darkness, accompanied by their low growls as they close in. Cyrus pushes me behind him as three men come out from behind a house and step onto the road. I can’t understand what is going on at first until I recognize one of them; I’ve seen him before, yet I can’t place him. One thing I know, though, is that he used to be a hunter like Sam.

“Hand her over,” a voice comes clearly to my ears.

A shiver runs up my spine at the coldness and lack of emotion in his voice as if he’s bored.

“Not happening,” says Eli, his back pressed to my side while Cyrus stands in front of me.

But all I keep thinking about is how many people may have died in the explosions; my life is not worth theirs, but at the same time, I know handing myself over would get me killed and possibly my mates. So instead, I remain rooted to the spot, unmoving, praying we’ll find a way out of this. Eli and Cyrus are severely outnumbered; though, these are all hunters and newly changed, which gives me hope that Cyrus and Eli have the advantage. But then again, they are also well trained.

“Suit yourself, then,” the voice says again.

Even this voice sounds familiar, older; then I realize who he is.

“My son won’t stop till he gets her. She is, after all, carrying his child.”

My head whips to the side, trying to see the man behind the blood-red eyes peering back at me. It is Sam’s father; there is no doubt in my mind about who he is, and the resemblance is uncanny. He should be dead.

“He can’t father our child. He isn’t her mate. You should know this.”

“Regardless, I owe my son my life. A debt for what he did for me, and now he wants to claim it. If he says he wants her and the child, I plan on giving him that. Sam doesn’t care about paternity. He just wants his family back.”

“Your son is sick. He needs help. How can you even go along with this? And now you are the very thing you spent years hunting, the very thing you hunters despise,” Cyrus spits at him.

“I personally think it is an improvement, and I have my own score to settle with Adeline Paisley. Her father almost ruined me, almost ruined everything I built,” he says before stepping out of the shadows and taking a step toward us in the center of the road.

His gray hair looks silver under the moon, his fangs glinting from under his top lip. He’s wearing a suit, as though heading to the office, rather than kidnapping somebody.

“Now, Adeline, be a dear and come here. I would hate to see something happen to your family. Sam is done waiting, and I can’t say I would be upset if I were to snuff out your entire bloodline, especially after what your father tried to do to me and what your mother cost me,” he says.

Eli quickly shifts. His bones snap and rearrange, and I feel fur brush my legs, his tail hitting me as he growls at them closing in around us.

My heart rate spikes, thumping loudly in my ears as I see the first one attack. Eli steps forward and meets the man head-on, ripping into his arm. I feel Cyrus move, a rush of air blowing my hair into my face while all hell breaks loose as they try to snatch me away. Cyrus and Eli are the only people standing in their way, but then I hear a car in the distance traveling alarmingly fast. The screeching momentarily distracts everyone before they begin their brawling again. Arms grab me momentarily before one falls at my feet, making me scream. Eli tears it from the man’s body, blood spraying onto my face, then the entire street is lit up by lights coming from each end.