“I’m sorry, Kayla.”
Her heart stopped. The way her twin looked at her, as if someone had died, made everything inside of her body freeze. She feared what he would say, feared he would tell her Adrik was dead.
“Oh God, Kaleb. Please don’t tell me he’s gone.” Tears flowed freely from her eyes as she stared at her brother.
He shook his head. “No, he’s alive.”
A gush of air left her, and she found herself laughing. It wasn’t funny, but the relief she felt was so monumental she couldn’t help her reaction.
“Then what is it?”
He let go of her hand, and she saw a strange emotion flicker across his face. When she stood, a moment of dizziness washed through her, but she closed her eyes and waited for it to pass. Maybe it would have been smarter to stay in bed and heal, but she could rest when she was dead.
“I can’t let you leave.”
She smiled at her brother’s concern. “I’m fine, Kaleb, really. I appreciate everything you and the others have done for me, but I have to go. I need to see Adrik and make sure I still have a job.”
“You don’t understand.”
There was something in his voice that made her stop what she was doing and turn to look at him. “What is it?”
“You can’t see him because he doesn’t want to see you.”
As she stared at him, she waited for him to crack a smile and tell her he was joking. He didn’t do either, though.
She didn’t believe him. Brother or not, there was no way Adrik would stop loving her. Kaleb was just trying to control her, trying to keep her at the compound and make her not be with the man she loved, who just happened to be a vampire and a sworn enemy of the Lykens.
“You can’t keep me here, Kaleb.”
He stood and paced the length of the room. “Maybe I can’t, but you have to see it from my point of view. I’ve already lost both of my parents, and I’m not going to lose you, too.” He ran a hand through his hair. “The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but you have to know the truth.”
“Adrik loves me. He wouldn’t want to be separated from me.”
“Maybe he loves you too much to really protect you.”
Confusion swirled in her mind. She didn’t know what to think. All she knew was that she wanted to be with Adrik. She wore sweats and a tee, and it looked as though that was what she’d be wearing since she couldn’t find her clothes. A pair of slippers sat on the floor, and she put them on. Her head still ached, but she pushed the pain aside. This wasn’t her home, and aside from Kaleb, the people in the compound weren’t her family. In Adrik’s arms is where she belonged.
“Where are all my things?” Kaleb didn’t answer her, and her irritation grew. “Fine.” She didn’t need any of it. When she walked by Kaleb, he gripped her wrist, stopping her.
“You can’t leave.”
She looked down at where he held her wrist and then back at him. “You can either take me to where I need to go, or I’ll fucking walk there. You aren’t Dad, and I’m not a damn prisoner, Kaleb.”
Their eyes stayed locked for several tense seconds, and then he finally let go of her wrist and breathed out.
“I don’t want you getting hurt, and I know you will once you see him.”
“You’ll see how wrong you really are.” Kaleb was delusional to think Adrik wouldn’t want her.
“Come on. If you really want to go, I’ll take you, but you’ll see how right I am when he breaks your heart.”
He led them out of the room and out the front door. When she was in his truck and buckled in, she closed her eyes and breathed out a sigh. It felt so right leaving the compound, but there was a feeling inside of her that made her feel uneasy. It had to be the events of the past week rearing their ugly heads. She was going to see the man she loved, and that was all that mattered.
Chapter 33
Kayla knew where Adrik would be, knew that at this time he would be at the club working. When they pulled to a stop in front of the entrance, she could feel her heart accelerate. She needed to know he was okay and that Kaleb was wrong. She knew Adrik loved her, but a small voice inside of her cautioned her. What if her brother was right? Would she be able to withstand the rejection? She had done it once all those years ago, but could she survive that again?
Neither of them exited the vehicle for several long moments. Just as Kayla finally pushed her door open, the entrance to the club opened as well. She felt like crying when she saw Adrik step through those double doors. Several men stood beside him, and it wasn’t until she shut her door that he finally looked up and saw her. His mouth became slightly lax as he stared at her. She sensed Kaleb right behind her, and it just gave her more strength to prove to him that he was wrong.
She stood before Adrik and looked into his eyes. It felt so right being this close to him. “I’m so glad you’re all right.” Without waiting any longer, she wrapped her good arm around his waist and rested her head on his chest. “Where have you been? Why didn’t you come see me at the compound?”
She hadn’t really thought of asking him that before, but as she listened to his heart beat beneath her ear, the questions arose.
He was silent for far too long, and she pulled away to look into his face. “Adrik?” Emotions so strong they resonated from him caused her to take a step back. This was definitely not the reaction she had expected from him.
“What are you doing here?” Adrik was looking over her shoulder at her brother.
“She wanted to see for herself.”
Kayla kept her gaze on Adrik and saw a muscle tic in his jaw.
What the hell is going on here?
“Adrik? Please tell me Kaleb wasn’t right.” He turned his icy stare at her, and she saw all the love he had felt for her had vanished. He seemed harder, so icy toward her that she got chills.
“You need to leave and never come back.”
The pain she felt in her chest was like nothing she had ever experienced before. “I don’t understand.” She took a step toward him and held out her hand. “Why are you acting like this?”
“I can’t watch over you. I can’t protect you any longer.” He straightened, and his face became even colder, if that was even possible. “Your brother was right when he said we don’t belong together.”
Kayla shook with anger. This wasn’t right, none of it. “You don’t mean what you’re saying, Adrik.” She felt Kaleb step closer to her and prayed he didn’t try to pull her away. All the emotions she felt at that moment were liable to backfire on him if he even tried to stop her.
“Come on, Kayla.” Kaleb sounded right behind her.
As she stared into Adrik’s eyes, she prayed she saw a crack in his steely composure. It didn’t happen.
“I want you to look me in the eye and tell me you don’t love me anymore. Tell me that you really don’t want to be with me.” Maybe she was a glutton for pain, but she needed to hear him say the words.
He glanced over her shoulder again at Kaleb.
“Don’t fucking look at him. This is between you and me.” Her voice cracked as tears tracked down her cheeks. None of this felt right.
“I do love you, but not enough to be with you.” He broke their eye contact and stared at the ground for several long moments. “We just can’t be together. The incident in the meadow proved how very different our lives are.” He met her eyes again. “Our worlds are far too different.”
She didn’t know how to respond. Her throat felt dry, and her chest hurt. “That is a shitty way to look at it, Adrik. Look at Lana and Aleksei. Look at everything they went through.”
He was shaking his head before she even finished. “Your brother is right to keep you at the compound. You will be protected by your own kind there.”
He turned to go back into the club. He ended it just like that, as if what they had shared meant nothing.
“What about all that shit about me being your Chosen?”
He stopped right before he entered the club. His body was tense, and when he turned around and looked her in the eye, she actually took a step back for how cold he appeared.
“I was wrong, Kayla.” With that being said, he left her on the steps of the Night Phlox.
When the door shut behind Adrik, he slammed his fist into the wall. Plaster and stone crumbled beneath the impact. The pain felt good. It didn’t mask the pain he felt in his heart, but it was a good start.
The three Blood Breeds beside him took several steps away. It was smart on their part, because he was on a razor’s edge and itched for a good fight. What he had just done was something he would regret for the rest of his existence, but if his unhappiness meant Kayla’s safety, he would do it all over again. He had smelled her pain like acid in his nose. It was a scent he would never be able to forget. It was a scent he would never be able to forgive himself for.
When he had called Kaleb after Kayla was injured, the Lyken hadn’t been at all pleased. Understandable, indeed, but everything Kaleb had said to him made sense. Adrik hadn’t been there to protect her. Because of him, she had been targeted. He didn’t even want to think about what would have happened if he hadn’t shown up when he did.
Emmitt was dead, but there were others like him out there. They may have found Kayla even if she hadn’t been involved with him, but because she was his Chosen, it had been like a giant target sign painted on her. Maybe Emmitt hadn’t relayed that bit of information to other hunters, and maybe he had. Adrik just had to pray that they didn’t know and she was safe.
How could he guarantee she wouldn’t be targeted again? He had let her down once, but he wasn’t going to do it again. He promised Kaleb that he wouldn’t see her again, that he would let the Lykens protect her. That had been the hardest thing he ever had to do. The very thought of never seeing her again, of never touching her, smelling her, or hearing her voice made him feel as though his heart had been ripped right from his chest. He would never be with another female. Now that he had promised to stay away from her, she would find another. She was his Chosen, and although he would forever be alone without her, she would be able to love again. That very thought had his fangs lengthening and has claws curling. He just prayed he never saw her with another male, because if he did, he wouldn’t be able to stop the animal inside of him from escaping.
Chapter 34
It had been hard to leave the club that night. On top of Kayla being heartbroken, she also had been humiliated. There had been a nice audience who had seen and heard everything. That night played in her mind over and over again like a broken movie reel. With each passing day, she racked her brain trying to figure out why Adrik would act the way he had. The only thing that made sense was that Kaleb had been involved in the decision. Adrik was an honorable man, and she knew the guilt he must be feeling over the fact she had been injured. No doubt he blamed himself for it.
She hadn’t given up that easily, but she had tried to contact him numerous times and had failed. Now she just sat around and felt sorry for herself. The most recent attempt to talk to him had resulted in her getting a recording that his cell phone had been disconnected. It was clear he was taking this seriously and truly had no intention of seeing her again. It broke her heart and made her sick to her stomach.
Maybe she should have just thrown in the towel, but how could she do that when she had loved him since she was a teenager? Kayla would never be able to forget about him, not when their history went deeper than anything else.
The compound had been her home for the past several weeks. She had taken a leave of absence from work because she knew she couldn’t face anyone right now. Lana had tried to talk to her about what happened, but even with the miniscule information Kayla had told her, she knew she couldn’t burden her friend with how she was feeling.
The compound wasn’t an ideal home for her, but she wasn’t stupid enough to go back to her house, not after her life had almost been snuffed out. How was she to know one of Emmitt’s goons wasn’t waiting for her to finish what had been started?
Everyone had been so nice during her stay, but she felt empty. With Adrik no longer in her life, she just didn’t feel the same. She found herself venturing into the woods that surrounded the compound on a daily basis. The serenity and peacefulness of the wilderness helped her feel more at ease, but it couldn’t erase the loneliness she felt.
With her shoes tied and her hiking clothes on, Kayla decided she would once again try to find some kind of solace in the forest. Earlier that week she had found a massive library that housed so many books it made her dizzy. With her backpack filled with water, a few snacks, and a thick and ancient-looking book, she ventured into the thick brush.
It wasn’t that the people in the compound weren’t friendly or didn’t try to make her stay as comfortable as possible. Kayla just didn’t feel any kind of connection with them. As she passed person after person on her way outside, she felt herself grow more distant. Kaleb was around as much as he could be, but it seemed he was always training for some unknown mission.
The monstrous rocks that sprung from the ground made the trek through the woods tiring, but when she finally reached the top of the hill that overlooked the entire property, it left her breathless. It truly was serene, and with a small brook running right beside her, and a large boulder to rest her weary body, Kayla finally let herself close her eyes and relax.
A few minutes later, she opened her eyes and pulled the book she got from the compound’s library out of her backpack and opened it. It was a massive, old leather-bound book, with ancient-looking pages that were so thick they felt like cardboard between her fingers. With the sound of the running water right beside her and the heavy weight of the book resting on her thighs, Kayla let herself fall into the magical world of the Lykens.
The book she was currently reading was the history of her kind. Stories of war, famine, love, and hate filled the pages and transported her into her real-life history. It all seemed so unbelievable, and she was thankful that she was able to get an inside look at how her kind came to be and lived so many years ago.