Kate Evangelista - Til Death

Realizing his mistake, he got out of the car and headed for the bookstore. He wasn’t sure when Selena’s shift ended. He just hoped she was still there. But about halfway across the road, Sebastian’s voice rang inside his head.

Dillan!

“Whoa!” He froze in the middle of the street. A headache came to life, forcing him to rub at his pounding temples. “Take it easy. My head’s about to explode.”

A car honked and screeched to a halt. He jumped back then slapped the hood. Thank God for Illumenari reflexes. He gave the man driving the finger before backtracking to the GT.

Dillan, drive to Valley View, now!

“What’s with the panic?” He got into the car and started the engine.

Ormand is the Maestro. He took the girl named Penny hostage.

His heart bounced around in his chest. “Selena?”

I got her out in time.

Enough said. He shifted the GT into gear and drove like the devil out of downtown.

Selena

Guarded Indecisions and Mocking Concerns

Like a projector running out of film, the vision ended with nothing but white. The kind of white that felt hot behind the eyelids. I groaned, fluttering my eyes open. I lay below a large chandelier. Vision doubling, I rubbed my eyes with heavy hands. What the hell did Sebastian do to me? Everything about my body felt heavy, especially my stomach. Last thing I remembered was him rescuing me, then nothing.

Staring up at the impressive crown molding on the ceiling until my vision cleared, I took a couple of deep breaths. Then I closed my eyes and counted to ten. When I opened my eyes again, I turned to the right. Chocolate upholstery. Turning to my left, a low coffee table with several coffee-table books about flowers and a crystal vase with white lilies, orchids, and roses sat in silence. The hellhound brought me to Valley View and somehow I ended up in the living room. Then purring: a deep rumbling that could only come from one source.

I looked straight down my body. Constantinople lay curled up on my stomach. His tail flicked impatiently while he watched me with his lime-green eyes. That explained the heaviness.

“You’re getting fat,” I said groggily and reached for the cat, giving him a friendly scratch on the forehead. He closed his eyes in appreciation, like he allowed me to touch him and not the other way around. Arrogant cat. Very like a blue-eyed boy I knew. “Remind me to smack Sebastian with a rolled up newspaper for knocking me out. Bad, hellhound.”

I sat up when I heard murmuring coming from the far side of the room. Constantinople gave me an annoyed meow for being moved off his perch. He leapt to the floor and slinked his way toward the voices. I followed the cat with my eyes and watched him rub against Dillan’s jean-covered legs. He looked down at him, and then, moved his eyes to me. My lungs squeezed. I flicked my gaze to Kyle, who stood with him and turned to look at me, too. In my periphery, I saw Riona enter the living room. I turned my head and gawked at her.

“You’re finally awake,” she said.

“I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen you in leather pants and a T-shirt,” I managed to say.

She handed me the glass of water she brought. “Just prepared for a fight, that’s all.”

I accepted it and drank deeply then put the half empty glass on the coffee table. “Riona?”

“Yes, sweet?” She took a seat on one of the armchairs adjacent to the couch I was on and crossed her legs. I had a hard time fully believing the gorgeous woman was a mercenary. Whatever that meant.

“Did you lie to me, too?” I traced the patterns on the upholstery, afraid of what I might see on her face if I stared at it too long.

Soft lips brushed my forehead. I looked up.

“I’m sorry.” She touched my cheek before she sat back down.

The sincerity in her eyes almost broke me. I sighed and looked around the room for a clock. “How long was I out?”

Both Dillan and Kyle looked in our direction. They finished their conversation and joined us. About time.

“Only a few hours. It’s about eleven now.” Riona let Constantinople jump up on her lap. She waited for the cat to get settled before gliding her fingers over its silky gray fur.

“ Et tu Brutus? Et tu? ” Dillan said when he reached us.

“My sentiments exactly. That cat has no sense of loyalty,” added Kyle as he sat beside me. I forced myself not to move away. He took my hand in both of his, a gentleness in his steely eyes. “Feeling okay?”

I wanted to pull away, but didn’t. We still hadn’t aired things out, and the contact felt awkward. So, instead of confronting Kyle, I jumped to what needed to be done.

“Penny,” I said before I stood up and started pacing. “We need to get her back. Who knows what that thing is doing to her right now?”

Dillan came to my side and grabbed my arms before I walked into a side table. “No point in working yourself up. If you sit down—”

“How can all of you be okay with this?” I interrupted him.

He ran his hands up and down my arms before he continued with the patience of a monk, “As I was saying, if you sit down, Kyle will fill you in on the plan we’ve come up with to save her.”

The honesty and something else—worry maybe—in his clear-blue eyes soothed some of my panic. Ugh! What I would have given for a snarky Dillan Sloan right now. When he nodded, I deflated and sank back down on the couch. I drank the rest of the water Riona had brought in one gulp.

“What’s the plan?” I asked.

Kyle faced me. “We’ll storm Greenwood.”

“Who are we ?”

“Garret, Dillan, Sebastian, and me,” he said.

I looked at Riona. She smiled and said, “Oh, I’ll be there.”

“But Ormand is after me ,” I insisted. “I need to be there with you.”

“No, you don’t,” Dillan commanded.

“Yes, I do.” I stood up and moved toward him. “There’s something you should know.”

He waited, staring straight at me.

Kyle pushed off the couch. “Selena, don’t do this!”

“I’m done lying.” I shook my head at my best friend.

“Selena, please.”

“I’m sorry, Kyle. He has to know.”

My best friend turned his back on me, his hands in tight, trembling fists.

“Dillan, remember when we were trying to figure out why they were after me?” I paused, choosing my words carefully. “I didn’t want to believe that I was a target because of what I can do.”

“What can you do?” he asked in a voice so quiet it frightened me.

“I…” I gulped. “I have visions of the future.”

At first, my words didn’t seem to register. His face stayed expressionless until what I said finally sank in. First he covered his mouth then rubbed his hand up until it reached his hair, tangling his fingers there.

“You’re like Katarina,” he whispered. Pain and confusion entered his eyes. He stared at his hand. “A Seer. No wonder Ormand wants you.”

I came forward, wanting to touch him. To soothe him. Something.

“Don’t!” He jerked away. “Don’t come near me.”

I stopped. “I didn’t mean to lie to you.”

“Who else knows?”

“Does it matter?”

“Who!”

I flinched. “My grandparents, Kyle, Penny…Sebastian.” I glared at Kyle. “And apparently Garret and Riona, too.”

Kyle didn’t even have the decency to look repentant. I would have hit him if Dillan hadn’t distracted me.

“Sebastian knows, too?” he staggered, clutching his forehead. “Of course. Damn you, mutt.” He barked a bleak laugh before his features hardened. The infamous Dillan mood shift. It still gave me whiplash. To Kyle, he said, “We’ll stick to the plan.”