Cora's Kismet (The Twin Destinies Saga Book 1) Page 7

  “Is she gonna be alright?” Sage asked, as soon as he entered the room. Liam could hear the anxiety lacing his words.

  “I think so. She’s sleeping now,” Liam replied, and looked around. “Where are they?”

  “Contained,” Sage replied.

  “I need to know where they are Sage. There’s one of them I need to speak to,” Liam bit out.

  “No,” he said.

  “What do you mean ‘no’?” Liam bit out.

  “I mean no. The only way she could have pulled power while being bound is if she felt strong emotion against someone who’d hurt her beyond measure and then threatened her mate. You are not going near that person. We need him alive for questioning.” Sage stood his ground against his brother.

  “I will question him,” Liam said through ground teeth.

  “No. And if I have to subdue you until backup arrives, I will, even though I’d really rather not,” Sage said in a calm tone.

  “When will backup be here?”

  “Within the hour, and until they arrive, you are not allowed anywhere near any of them.”

  “Who died and made you God?”

  “Thomas did. As her father, we must follow his orders. He wants that bastard alive.” Sage shrugged his shoulders.

  Hearing that, Liam realized he was fighting a losing battle against his brother. His shoulders slumped as the adrenaline that had been building up inside of him fled with that realization.

  “I don’t blame you for wanting to get your hands on him though. He had to have hurt her pretty badly for her to have been able to do what she just did. Not to mention the fact that she used Solarian powers as a Lunarian. Never seen that one before,” Sage said, watching Liam.

  “She won’t tell me anything they did to her and Viola. I see her reactions to things that happen and can guess at some of it, but even then I’m not even sure I’m close.” Liam rubbed his hand across his forehead in worry and frustration. He slumped down onto the couch and looked up at his brother, weariness evident in his expression.

  “Let Thomas handle him. Go be with her, she’s going to need you. They lost Viola. She wasn’t where they were led to believe she was. The longer she’s gone, the harder it will be to find her,” Sage said, sorrow evident in his eyes.

  Liam said nothing as he stood, turned and walked out of the room. He had to get back to Cora because Sage was right about something. She was going to need him.

  Chapter Thirteen

  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 f
ound 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!’ her 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.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “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 m
y 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.