Cora's Kismet (The Twin Destinies Saga Book 1) Read online

  Holding her breath, she heard the door ease open and saw fragments of light make its way to her through gaps in the towels and sheets. She didn’t know if they could see her, or how many of them were standing there, so she stayed curled up, as still as she could, holding her breath. She sent up a silent prayer that she had not been found, but with as hard and fast as her heart was beating, she was positive they would hear it and know that was where she was hiding. If that happened there would be no escape.

  When the door to the closet closed with a soft click, Cora gasped in shock. She’d been so sure they’d found her. She listened close as footsteps faded away from the closet door.

  Not daring to move, she waited. She didn’t know how long she’d have to stay there before it would be safe, which worried her, because she knew she had to be gone before Patrick & Anna came home.

  It must have been at least twenty minutes of lying, curled up in the closet before she dared to move and try to sneak her way out into the hallway, though it felt like forever. She quietly shifted the towels and sheets off of her body and bit back a cry of pain as she stretched out her knotted limbs. As she tried to stand up without making a sound, she ended up falling against the door with a thud as her legs refused to hold her weight, because they’d fallen asleep.

  Terrified, Cora leaned against the door, trying not to move another muscle, until she knew whether anyone had heard her hit the door or not. After a couple of minutes passed with no one yanking open the door and hauling her out, she breathed a sigh of relief. She knew they could still be in the house hiding out, waiting for her to show herself, so she eased the door open as quiet as the old hinges would allow.

  She peeked out and eyed the hallway, making sure none of the strangers were hanging around, waiting for her. Seeing no one, she moved out of the closet. Before she could ease the door shut, a shadow moved from the area behind the door, which she’d missed when she looked, and pressed her into the corner with a hand clamped over her mouth, effectively cutting off any noise she could make. Upon being touched, she felt a jolt of electricity shoot through her body, freaking her out even more.

  “Shhh. I’m not here to hurt you, or your sister. I know you’re scared, but we have to get you out of here now. I need your cooperation; otherwise, both of us will be dead within the next few minutes. Patrick and Anna are almost here, ahead of schedule, so we have to be even more careful than before.” Cora heard the whispered voice of Mr. In-Charge say close to her ear, in a not-so-bored tone. She didn’t know what was going on. She was terrified and started struggling against the man’s grip.

  Hearing the garage door humming as it started to rise, the man pressed her tighter against the wall, which Cora had not believed possible. He leaned closer to her ear and whispered, “You have gotta stop fighting me! Patrick and Anna are pulling into the garage right now. We need to get you out of here before they come in here. This IS life or death. YOUR life or death! If you are not going to cooperate, I will tranq you, but I’d rather not. Will you help me, or not?”

  Cora felt chilled to the bone as she turned her head and stared into the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. She knew Patrick and Anna hated both her and Viola, but she had never understood why. She didn’t remember ever doing anything to deserve their hostility. Realizing she hadn’t answered yet, she stared into those angelic eyes and wondered if she should take a chance and try to trust this stranger, who’d broken into the only home she’d ever known and claimed to be trying to save her, and her sister’s lives, or not. Somehow she felt connected to him, which confused her even more. Knowing she had to make a decision, she nodded her head before she could change her mind. She wondered if she’d just made the best decision or worst mistake of her life.

  Chapter Three

  Liam eased his hand back from Cora’s mouth, slow and steady, while staring into her eyes. The shock he’d felt run through his system when he’d touched her confused and exhilarated him. He couldn’t believe how gorgeous she was. He knew now was not the time to be checking out a girl, considering the situation they were in, but couldn’t help himself, there was a pull between them he just couldn’t explain. With the way she stared, wide-eyed, straight into his eyes, he felt hypnotized. He knew they had to hurry because he heard the garage door now closing.

  “Follow me and stay as quiet as you can. We’re going to go out through your bedroom window,” Liam said as he reached for her hand. Odd that he found he needed the connection to her, and he couldn’t explain to himself why.

  Cora nodded, staying mute, and allowed him to take her hand as they made their way back into the bedroom she shared with Viola. In the back of her mind, she hoped that no matter what happened from this point on, they’d never share this room again as she looked around.

  As they entered her room, he noticed she was looking around frantic, as terror poured from every pore in her body. He felt a strange need to comfort her, knowing she was looking for her sister, but knew they had to keep moving. He pulled her along as gently as he could, but the urgency was still apparent. It was only a matter of time before Patrick and/or Anna came up looking for the girls, since their piece of junk car was still in the garage.

  When they reached the window, he helped to ease her through it, then leaned close inhaling her soft, floral scent as he whispered in her ear, “She’s fine. The sooner we get out of here, the sooner I’ll get you to her.”

  Cora nodded then slipped through the window and down the rope ladder hanging there with ease. Liam followed close behind. When his feet touched the ground, he removed the ladder, folded it and attached it to a clasp on his pack before turning back to her. He prayed she could hold it together long enough for him to get them out of there and to safety. Drugging her was the last thing he wanted to do, but he would if it became necessary.

  Grabbing her hand, he leaned out and peeked around the tall bushes lining this side of the house. He searched everywhere and didn’t see anyone, so he tugged her hand and led the way out of the bushes, toward the yard next door. He knew they had to stay off the street now that the Kilpatricks were home, so he stayed close to the houses that lined the street.

  On his orders, his team had moved several blocks over to a nearby strip mall, where their vans wouldn’t be noticed.

  They’d only made it one block before the alarm was raised. He heard Anna yelling to Patrick that the girls weren’t inside, but their car was still there. He knew it was only a matter of time before they went out searching.

  He turned to Cora and ordered her, “We have to run now! We’ve still got a couple of blocks to go, and if we don’t run, they’re going to catch us. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, let’s go. I want to get to Viola now!” Cora replied, picking up her pace.

  Nodding he took off, making sure he still had a firm grasp on her hand. He shouldn’t have been surprised at how fast she was, unnaturally fast, like him, and the rest of their kind. He knew that getting her to safety, like he’d been ordered to do, was his utmost priority, so he redirected his focus away from her as much as he could and back to making sure they weren't caught.

  They made it to the strip mall and ducked into one of his teams’ vans just as Patrick turned into the parking lot, swiveling his head left and right, searching for the girls.

  Cora gasped when she saw her sister lying across the back row of seats, still unconscious.

  “What did you do to her?!” she screeched, frantic.

  “She’ll be fine. We had to tranq her because she wouldn’t cooperate with us, and we needed to move fast. She’ll wake up in a couple of hours, with no side effects. Please calm down and buckle your seatbelt. I’d hate to have gone through all of this, only to lose you because of a stupid car accident,” Liam told her in as calm of a voice as he could, as he buckled his own safety belt.

  “You tranq’d my sister?! Are you freaking kidding me? Why? What’s going on?” Cora demanded, letting her fury replace her fear and ignoring his request for her to buckle up.
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  “We had to, we tried talking to her like I did with you, but she wouldn’t calm down and listen. We had to get the two of you out of there now, before the moon rises tonight. Then there would be no saving either of you from them,” Liam responded, as he fired up the van. “We will explain everything to you later, but right now, I need you to buckle up so we can get out of here.”

  He could tell by the look on her face she wanted to argue some more, but then she looked out of the window and saw Patrick’s car still cruising the parking lot at 10 MPH, searching for them. Without stalling anymore, she reached over and brought the seat belt across her ample chest and clicked the lock into place. She crossed her arms and pressed them close to her chest as Liam slowly slid the van out of the parking space and headed out of the lot.

  After being on the road for several minutes, Cora asked, “What happens when the moon rises tonight?”

  Liam took a deep breath and released it in a low whistle. “I can’t answer that right now. Trust me, you will get the answers you need, but I need you to be patient because I am not authorized to give them to you.”

  He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and saw the firm press of her lips showing her frustration with his answer. He was thankful when she didn’t pursue it further. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he noticed Patrick’s car tailing them a few cars back. “Hold on,” he told her, as he pressed the gas pedal down further and the van lurched forward.

  Taking several turns too fast for Cora’s comfort, he pulled out his radio and called the rest of his team, “I’ve got a tail.”

  “We’re on it,” came a quick reply.

  Cora’s head was whipping around, left and right, as she gripped the handle on the door so tight her knuckles turned white. She didn’t say a word. He didn’t know if that relieved him, or worried him more.

  Liam returned his full attention to the road and their pursuer, who didn’t seem to be losing any ground, no matter how many turns he made or how far in front he was. It didn’t matter what he did, he just couldn’t shake Patrick, and then it hit him like a ton of bricks.

  “Do you and Viola have cell phones?” he asked Cora, his voice terse.

  “Of course! Who doesn’t?” she asked in return.

  “Take yours out, take the back off and remove the battery, then throw it out the window,” Liam instructed, keeping his voice calm and steady so he didn’t alarm her more than he could see she already was.

  Cora stared at him with huge, disbelieving eyes. “Why?”

  “Because it is being used to track us. We’ll never lose Patrick if we don’t lose the phones,” he replied back lightning fast.

  She seemed to think about it for a moment and then reached into her pocket, yanked out her phone and did as he instructed.

  “Does your sister have her phone on her too?” he asked as soon as she was finished getting rid of her own phone.

  “I don’t know. She went back into the room to get her purse. We were leaving,” she replied.

  “Ok, I need you to unbuckle, climb back there and check to see if she has it,” Liam instructed Cora.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me, right?” Cora responded surprised.

  “No. I had the rest of my team travel in the other van so your sister could sleep off the tranq without being crowded by them. You’re the only one who can do it, unless you want me to pull over and let him catch up to us?” Liam asked in a clipped tone.

  Without saying another word, Cora unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed into the back of the van. She got jerked around as the van swerved and hit bumps in the road. Already feeling sore, she knew it would be worse by morning, but none of that mattered if they didn’t live until morning. Instinct told her if Patrick caught them, they’d all be dead.

  When she reached Viola, she searched her twin’s pockets, finding her phone tucked into the front, right pocket. Cora swore under her breath several times as she tried to wiggle the phone loose. After several minutes, a lot of being jerked around, and her head hitting the roof of the van several times, she managed to get her sister shifted enough to remove the phone from her pocket.

  Chapter Four

  As Viola’s phone went sailing out of the rear window in pieces, Patrick clipped the rear end of the van causing it to fish-tail a little. Cora went falling to the side and hit her head, rather hard, against the door.

  “Damn!” Liam swore. “Are you ok back there?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Cora replied, while rubbing her head where it’d hit the door. “How did he catch up to us so fast?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s time to lose him. Get up here and buckle back up, quickly. Where the hell is my team?” Liam bit out in a harsh voice, as he pressed down on the accelerator.

  Cora climbed up to the passenger seat as fast as she could, buckled up and watched in the mirrors as Liam swerved in and out of traffic, taking crazy turns, while trying to elude their tail. For some reason, Patrick still kept up no matter how far back he’d fallen.

  Frustrated, he picked up the radio and called to his team, “Where are you guys?”

  All he got in return was static. “Hello? I need some help here.”

  Nothing. Liam threw the radio onto the dashboard with so much force Cora jumped in her seat.

  “What’s going on? Why aren’t they answering?” Cora asked with fear lacing her voice. Her hands were starting to shake.

  “I don’t know but it looks like we’re on our own. Something must have happened to them, and I don’t like it,” Liam said, with a deep scowl marring his beautiful face. He took another sudden sharp turn, then another and then another, before pulling into a car port, that didn’t have any cars occupying it, and shut off the engine as soon as the van was stopped.

  “What are you doing?” Cora asked confused.

  “I’m hoping if he did manage to follow us through that, he’ll drive right past us, and we can leave going the other direction,” Liam replied, not taking his eyes off the mirror.

  “Who are you?” Cora asked after they’d been sitting there for a few minutes.

  “My name is Liam Anderson,” he replied.

  “Liam, I’m Cora Daniels, and that’s my sister, Viola.”

  “I know,” Liam told her.

  “How do you know who we are and where we live?” Cora asked. She knew she should have known he would know who they were, since he’d been in their room looking for them, and had known who Patrick and Anna were, but adrenaline was making her thoughts scattered.

  “You will get answers to your questions Cora, just not now. Right now we have to focus on getting where we’re going, without Patrick catching us. I need you to trust me for now, so I can concentrate on protecting you and Viola,” Liam bit out, a little impatient. He wanted to explain things, but knew if he did, he’d be in deep trouble. It was not his place. He had his orders. Oh, but for her, he wanted to defy his orders and answer her questions. He wanted to soothe away the stress lines that had formed on her beautiful face.

  “You keep saying that. It’s getting on my nerves. I have no reason to trust or believe you. Why should I?” Cora responded. Her nerves were wound tight and it was evident in her voice.

  “I know you don’t, yet, but you’re going to have to,” Liam responded, with a calmness he wasn’t feeling. She was beginning to irritate him and the urge to tranq her, like they’d done with Viola, was getting stronger by the minute, but the attraction he felt for her kept him from harming her in any way.

  “Don’t even think about it!” Cora exclaimed a bit louder than she’d wanted to.

  Liam’s head snapped around to look at her. His eyes narrowed while he studied her. There was no way she was in his head. “Think about what?”

  “Doing to me what you did to Viola,” Cora responded with an angry glare in his direction. “I could see it written all over your face that you were considering it and I won’t let you.”

  “Care to tell me how you are going to stop me if I decide I’
m going to?” Liam asked with slight amusement, that he didn’t feel, lacing his voice. How did she know what he’d been thinking? He knew he’d kept his face blank.

  “Trust me, you don’t want to know. Now, since there’s no sign of Patrick, can we go?” Cora asked getting impatient. All of a sudden she felt the need to move before something bad happened.

  “Not yet,” Liam replied. “Soon.”

  “No. I think we need to go now,” Cora said becoming more urgent.

  “What do you mean?” Liam asked surprised at the change in her.

  “Now. We have to go now, or something bad is going to happen.” Cora looked at him as she spoke and Liam saw how turbulent her eyes had become. He fired up the engine and backed out of the driveway. Then took off down the road, going the opposite direction from the one they’d come from before.

  They traveled in silence for a while, each trapped in their own thoughts, before Liam turned off into an area full of warehouses. Cora looked around feeling desperate for familiar surroundings and not finding any.

  “Where are we?” she asked.

  “The place where you will get the answers you need to survive,” Liam responded in a distracted voice. He wondered what had happened to the rest of his team as he pulled the van up to a warehouse and pushed a button for the garage door to open. Once it was open, he pulled through the door, closing it behind them. After putting the van into park, he turned it off and shoved his door open. He had to put as much space between the two of them as he could.

  Cora looked around, her eyes wild. She remained in the passenger seat, making no move to get out of the van. When she heard the back door slide open, she whipped around in her seat to see Liam and two other men, reaching for her sister.