He chuckled and pulled me in for a hug. “Anything for you.” He planted a kiss on my forehead and left the room, closing the door behind him.
I sighed and looked around for somewhere to sit. Chairs lined the walls and two more faced each other over the table in the middle of the room. I walked to one of the chairs and paused when I spotted a flower on the seat. I picked it up and sat down, inspecting it. It was a black rose. This is an odd place to store a flower, I thought as I placed it on the table in front of me.
I stared down at the cuffs connected to the table, trying to understand why the cloaked man was after me.
Dmitri said I wouldn’t be safe anywhere without him, or whatever he said, but I didn’t think he was serious. I’d put many criminals away, but I didn’t think any of them would get out of prison just to try to get revenge. I tried thinking of anyone that would come after me for payback for any reason at all, but I couldn’t think of anyone.
The only person who knew what the cloaked man looked like was Dmitri. I scoffed. I couldn’t go back to him, he disrespected Caspian and me. I would have to find out the identity of the cloaked man on my own. Sinking into the chair, I waited for Caspian to come back from his saving spree. There were no clocks in here. I didn’t have a watch, and my phone was still in my office, so I had no sense of passing time.
Waiting for what seemed like twenty to thirty minutes made me antsy. Caspian told me to stay in the room, but I couldn’t sit around any longer. It was too creepy in here, and I wanted my phone so I could see if I had any messages from Duke about the whole situation. Walking up to the door, I pulled at the handle, but the door didn’t budge. What the…? I turned the handle again, but it still didn’t move. I kept jiggling the handle and started banging on the door.
“Caspian!” I yelled, trying to get his attention if he was close. Or anyone’s attention. I wasn’t sure if he purposely locked me in here to make sure I stayed or not, but I was definitely not happy either way. I kept banging and yelling, trying to catch anyone’s attention, but no one came to the door. I kicked the door and shouted in frustration. I walked around and tried to look for a communication device, but I couldn’t find anything.
“Ugh! Where is it?” There was usually a radio or walkie in places like this, but for some reason, nothing was in here. I gave up looking for a device and made my way back to the interrogation table to wait on Caspian. Suddenly, the lights went out, and I froze, my breathing slowing. I ran to the wall and flipped the switch up and down, hoping the lights would turn back on. As I tried to get the lights back on, I started hearing a weird sound, and an odd smell hit my nose.
I inhaled to get a better smell and choked out a cough. It was gas. The scent definitely wasn’t fake.
I stumbled through the darkness to the closest chair, grabbed it, and hurried to the door, chucking it as hard as I could. From what I could feel, the chair didn’t even dent the door. I kicked the door repeatedly, yelling.
How dare Caspian lock me in this room. Once I got out of here, I was going to give him a piece of my mind.
I wasn’t terrified of the dark, but with no way out and the smell of gas, my heart rate was out of the roof. As I tried to calm myself down, something blew in the room, like a gust of wind. I plastered myself against the wall, listening. Once I didn’t hear anything else, I slowly got off the wall.
I held my hands out and tried to walk back to the table in the middle of the room. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. A hand grabbed my wrist, and I screamed. The person caught my other wrist and shoved me against the wall. My breath rushed from my lungs.
“Hush. Whoever put the gas in here is close and wants you dead.” Dmitri’s voice flowed in my ear, and even though I was upset with him, having a slightly familiar person in here with me calmed me down a little bit, and I pulled him close, crushing him with a grateful hug.
“Please get me out of here,” I whispered in his chest, not wanting to let him go. He rubbed my back, and I felt the wind around us go wild, getting louder the more I concentrated on it. Then it stopped.
“Open your eyes, Meadow.”
I opened one eye and peered around him, seeing the sky and trees. We were outside. I looked up at him slowly, eyes wide. “What is going on here? I don’t understand anything.” I spoke, breathing heavily.
He looked down at me, his face serious. “We don’t have time right now. Follow me.”
I huffed, looking up at the sky for a second before following him. He walked to a black, sleek sports car. I made it to the car and placed my hand on it, sliding it up toward the roof. “Can you unlock—”
An explosion filled the air, and I screamed, ducking down beside the car. I looked up in horror to see the headquarters in flames.
“Caspian!” I screamed toward the building. Dmitri yanked me up by the arm from the ground and pulled me away from the car.
“Let’s go, let’s go!” he shouted, opening the passenger door and shoving me inside. Dmitri got in the driver’s seat and started the car, the roar of the engine snapping me out of my shocked state.
“Wait! I need to see if Caspian is okay! Stop the car!” I yelled as Dmitri weaved between cars, the jerking motion causing me to fly against the passenger window. I hurried and strapped myself in with the seatbelt. “Did you hear me? Dmitri!” I snapped my fingers in his face, trying to catch his attention.
“Caspian is fine.” He glanced at me with a severe look on his face.
My brow furrowed in confusion. “How do you know if he’s okay or not? The cloaked figure was in the building looking for me, and he went back to help other people get to safety!” I didn’t understand why he was acting so nonchalant. He swerved again, and I grabbed on to the dashboard to steady myself. “Dude, can you please slow down? We are far enough away from the explosion and the cloaked man,” I informed him, gripping the sides of my seat, trying not to imagine the damage that would happen if we got into an accident at this speed.
“I always drive this fast. You will be okay. Also, I know Caspian is okay because he’s the one who created the explosion.”
I curled my hands into fists. “How dare you accuse him of trying to kill me!” I moved to shove his arm, but my hand was stuck hovering in the air like something was keeping it suspended. My eyes widened, and I stared at Dmitri, my heartbeat speeding up from … I didn’t even know what to call it. I had been trying not to think about all of this weird stuff that had happened since I met Dmitri, but I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I had to know the truth. “Dmitri.”
He stared me down. He glanced at my arm, and it fell.
“What…are you?” I whispered, my voice almost nonexistent. I wanted to know, but at the same time, I hesitated.
The corners of his mouth lifted, and he gave me a large smile with his teeth. “I was wondering when you would finally ask that question. Especially after everything that has happened.” He stopped the car, and I looked out the window. We were at his safe house. “Come on. I’ll explain everything to you.” He got out of the car and walked over to the passenger side as I unbuckled. He opened my door and offered his hand, and I grabbed it, pulling myself out of the car. We walked to the house, and he opened the door.
“Why don’t you lock your doors? Even though it’s a safe house, people can still come in. Especially if it’s unlocked,” I commented as we walked inside.
“Actually, no one can walk in here unless I want them to.” He shrugged off his black biker jacket and threw it on the living room couch.
“How not?” I asked and sat down on the couch next to his jacket.
He sat down on the opposite couch, crossing his legs. “Because to the human and non-human eye, this house isn’t even here. It’s just a plot of land.”
“Non-human.” I tried to comprehend what he was saying.
“Back to Caspian. You have some questions about him, I presume, based on your reaction to my statement about him.” His voice got deeper as he finished his statement.
“Yes, I might have a few questions for you. How did you know Caspian was safe?”
He sighed and folded his hands together. “I told you, he was the reason there was an explosion. He caused it.”
I sighed, and Dmitri stared at me, his gray eyes guarded. He continued.
“Did you not find it odd that you were in a room that no one else knew about, in a secluded area, and it was locked?” he questioned.
I shifted uncomfortably. “Of course not. Caspian just wanted to make sure that I stayed safe, as always.” I defended him, trying my best to stay calm.
Dmitri leaned forward on his elbows and stared me down, the corners of his mouth lifting. I wanted to smack that smirk across the room.
“Meadow, you do realize that the exact place you were in started filling up with gas, and that side of the building exploded. Right?” He quirked his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side, watching my face as it dawned on me what he was trying to say.
I stood abruptly, clenching my fists to my sides. “No. Why would he do that to me?”
Dmitri inhaled and exhaled slowly. He ran his hand through his inky black locks, looking at me through narrowed eyes. “Because he’s been trying to kill you for a thousand years.”
11
I stared at him for long seconds, probably even a minute after his statement. A smile formed on my face, and it evolved into me giggling, which morphed into a full-blown laugh. I was laughing so hard, I had to clutch my belly and gasp so I wouldn’t pass out.
“Wait a minute, Dmitri,” I emphasized his name, slightly mocking him. “You expect me to accept that ludicrous answer and run with it? Me, my twenty-three-year-old self, by the way, in case you confused your math somehow.” I kept laughing, and he just sat there with an irritated look on his face.
“Are you done?” He rolled his eyes when I chuckled at his question. That answered it for him.
“I hate to break it to you, but Caspian has not been trying to kill me, and I am not a thousand years old. I’ve known Caspian for five years. If he was trying to kill me, wouldn’t he have killed me already?”
Dmitri shook his head, sighing. “There’s a plan for everything, Meadow. You have to time everything perfectly, and that’s what he did. Everything was perfect for him until I got involved. Trust me, he’s a patient man.”
I rolled my eyes at him, barely listening to the nonsense. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, man. Do you have an explanation that actually makes sense or not?”
His response never came. His attention was elsewhere, facing in the direction of his kitchen. His eyebrows dipped and his body tensed, hands clenching into fists. I froze as his demeanor changed and glanced in the direction he was looking. A wall blocked my view. He stood up.
“Do you hear something?” I whispered and inched closer to him, just in case anything happened.
He held his hand up, and I shut my mouth, trying to listen. I didn’t hear anything. He tilted his head to the side as if he heard something else, and then he disappeared. I gasped and whirled around in a circle, looking for him. There was a crash and someone cursed, so I crept toward the kitchen, trying to make my steps as quiet as possible.
“How did you get in here?” I heard Dmitri demand, and I finally made it to the kitchen entrance, taking in the scene in front of me. Dmitri was standing in the middle of the kitchen by the island, and in front of him was a shorter guy around my height, maybe an inch or two taller than me. He had pretty, copper colored skin and dark curly hair, with a half-eaten sandwich in his hand. His cheeks were stuffed, and I glanced at the ground where a jar of jam lay broken in pieces. So that’s what I heard.
His eyes widened, and he held his hands up in the air, clutching the sandwich. “Rita phased me through, man. Take it up with her.” His words came out muffled from his stuffed face.
Dmitri growled and muttered something under his breath.
Phased? What did he mean?
The guy’s eyes turned to me and lit up. “Meadow! Hey, long time no see!” He greeted me with his mouth full, smiling a goofy smile, his cheeks extra large from the sandwich.
I squinted at him in confusion and glanced up at Dmitri. How did this guy know me? I’d never seen him before in my life.
His smile faltered when he saw the look on my face, and his eyes flitted back over to Dmitri, confusion written all over his face. “What’s wrong with her?” he whispered to Dmitri as if I wasn’t in the same room as them.
Dmitri sighed and glanced back at me, his eyes guarded. “She doesn’t have her memories from her actual life. Somehow, they’re being suppressed and replaced with a false life, but I haven’t found out how yet.” He answered softly, trying to speak so I didn’t hear, I assumed.
I didn’t know what memories he was talking about. He literally made no sense at all. I made a face and was about to speak, but the other guy beat me to it.
“But how? There’s no way that could happen unless…” He trailed off, and his eyes widened, looking at me quickly and back at Dmitri.
Dmitri nodded slightly, so subtle that if I’d blinked, I would’ve missed it.
The guy gasped, his hands flying to his mouth, sandwich still in hand. “No way! That means Caspian succeeded! That brute!”
I was taken aback by his outburst and even more shocked that he mentioned Caspian. I was tired of them talking about me like I wasn’t in the room, so I stormed fully into the kitchen, standing between both of them.
“Okay, enough! I am right here, you know. If you have anything to ask me or tell me, just speak to me.” I huffed, exasperated.
“She has a point you know, especially since she can’t remember everything. All of this probably sounds crazy since she thinks she’s human,” the strange guy said.
Dmitri glared at him, obviously disgruntled.
I turned and faced the guy, almost eye level. “What do you mean since I think I’m human?” I asked. “I am human.”
He looked over my head when a low growl filled the kitchen, then quickly looked back at me. “Uh, well first off, hi. I’m Dax, since you can’t remember. One of Dmitri’s so-called friends. I use the term friend loosely because he doesn’t like anyone, but I consider myself his friend. Right, bud?” He smiled largely, looking at Dmitri.
I didn’t turn around, but he was probably frowning at Dax like he did with everyone. I heard a grunt, and Dax chuckled nervously, turning his attention back to me.
“Now, as for the human comment. You aren’t human in any way, shape, or form, despite what you believe. And I’m going to stop talking now because Dmitri looks like he’s going to rip my head off.” He rushed through the rest of his thoughts and disappeared.
I jerked backward and gasped, turning to Dmitri with wide eyes. “Why does everyone keep disappearing! How is that happening?”
Dmitri’s hard features softened, and a small smile formed on his face. “We’re not disappearing. We’re just moving so fast your temporary human eyes can’t register the movements,” he explained and studied my face.
My shoulders drooped. I was done trying to block everything he was telling me. That required too much energy, and at this point, I was curious about his explanation. “All right. So I’m guessing you’re not human either?” I hesitated as I asked, unsure of what to expect. He nodded, and I shook my head slowly, trying to process this.
“Can we go back to the living room and sit? I need to be able to pass out on something that can catch me if needed,” I half-joked, and he chuckled, shaking his head at me.
“Of course. Let me grab something quickly, and I’ll meet you there.”
I nodded and left the kitchen. I looked around on my way to the living room to see if Dax was still here, but I didn’t see him. I frowned a little. He seemed really cool and super goofy. He appeared to irritate Dmitri a lot, maybe because he was always running his mouth. I liked it.
I made it to the living room and screamed. A strong breeze hit me and an arm wrapped around my middle protectively.
> Dmitri.
He blocked part of my view, but I peered around him at the intruders.
A tall, very pale, blond-haired man with a gun in each hand and a small woman with two blue-bladed daggers stood in the middle of the living room. Their eyes glowed a violet color, and they looked like they were seconds away from killing each other, their growls filling the air.
“Axel, Rita! Put your weapons down!” Dmitri barked. Neither of them moved, their growls getting louder. “Now!” The authority in Dmitri’s tone filled the open space, and I shrank behind him, trying to make myself invisible.
Axel and Rita slowly put their weapons down on the table, still staring each other down and very tense, as if they were waiting for the other to make a last-minute move. Once they were both empty handed, Dmitri let me go.
“Whoa, guys, what was that all about?” A voice to my right asked. It was Dax, with another sandwich in his hand.
“Axel here didn’t want to come and warn Dmitri about Caspian, so I forced him to come. He got a little pissy,” Rita answered, her voice on the deeper side. It contrasted with what I thought her voice would be like. Her slick black hair was in a high ponytail, and she wore a gray jumpsuit with black boots.
Axel scoffed and sat on the couch, a bored look on his face. “I just don’t like wasting my time, and warning Dmitri about potential danger was not in my job description.” He rolled his forest green eyes.
Dax raised his sandwich to his mouth, covering his smile.
“So why the knives and guns if you guys are here already?” I asked, and all eyes turned to me.
Rita narrowed her eyes at me and hissed angrily, making me take a step back. What was her deal? “Axel was trying to leave, so I was prepared to stop him.” Her words came out like hot venom.
“So you were going to stab him with Jestraetrium? Possibly killing him? That’s cold, Rita.” Dax gasped, feigning shock as he put a hand on his chest, shaking his head.
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