He sputtered. “Are you freaking serious?” He stared at me a little longer until he broke out laughing. “You really are paranoid.”
“What?”
“You heard me. Just admit it Cora, you don’t want our people to mix because you don’t want to stop fighting. Hell, you hunger for it. I can see it in your eyes.” He stepped closer. “You’re an adrenalin, fighting junky. Maybe that old lady was right, maybe we are all better off dead.” He paused and looked me over. “Well, one of us anyway.”
My eyes widened when I realized what he was getting at. “Why you little…!” I didn’t finish my sentence because I lunged at him.
Chapter 5: CORA
I punched Kevin so hard in the mouth that his head snapped back, taking the rest of his body with it and falling to the floor hard. He laid sprawled out and looked a little dazed. He slowly pushed himself up onto his elbows and looked at me. His lip was split in the middle and blood ran down his chin, dripping onto his blue t-shirt.
I stood my ground as he got to his feet. He wiped the blood off his chin and wiped the crimson smear on his pants. The only warning he gave was a smile before he came at me with his arms swinging. His fist connected with the side of my chin, snapping my head to the side, a crack echoed through the house. I didn’t know if it was my jaw that broke or if it was my neck that cracked. In all honesty, I didn’t care, the only thing that I cared about was the fact that I was finally able to fight.
Once I recovered from the hit, I kicked out with my foot and caught him in the stomach. As he doubled over, I brought my elbow down on the center of his back, causing him to fall on his stomach. I went to curb stomp him, but he grabbed my foot and yanked me down.
I fell hard on my ass and I think my tail bone cracked. Kevin crawled up the length of my body until I was flat on my back. He pressed his forearm against my throat. I brought my hands up to gouge out his eyes but he pressed his arm harder on my throat and that’s when I felt the fire.
It rushed through me so fast that the force of it threw Kevin off me. He was thrown to the other side of the room, crashing into the wall. I was on my feet heading towards him when I felt hands on my shoulders trying to hold me back. I tried to shake off the hands as Kevin came to his feet with fire pulsing around his body.
All I wanted was to wrap my hands around Kevin’s skinny neck and choke the life out of him. I tried to shake the hands off me again. This time the hands fell away, but a body stood between me and my intended target.
“Enough! Both of you, you’re going to end up killing each other.”
I halted in my attack against Kevin and turned my amber tinted gaze to Caden. I stood there staring at him, I made a move to step around him but he stepped back in my way.
“Cora?” I heard the warning in his voice. “I said enough!”
I knew that I should heed his warning, but I couldn’t make the hybrid part of me settle back down. I was ready for a fight and I didn’t care who I fought with. My lips tipped up in a twisted smile.
I struck out with my fist but didn’t make contact. Caden was no longer standing in front of me. Before I could turn around, I felt something heavy connect with the back of my head. I fell forward as darkness surrounded me.
Chapter 6: ASH
The big, white mansion loomed in front of me. Every light in the house was on. The green grass and cobble stone path was illuminated, making it easier to walk up to the door. This house was pretty much our base of operation because it was so huge. It has also been in my family for as long as I can remember. An ancestor acquired it some two hundred years ago. I mean yeah, we had to do some fixing up and repaint it, but all in all, it was a nice place.
A little over fifty people lived here. Thank god there was enough room for all of us, I wasn’t really one to turn our people away. The hard part about living in a place this size with so many people, was keeping it clean and keeping food stocked.
I stood on the path, staring up at the house with its old black shutters, floor to ceiling windows, double French doors and unique outside lighting fixtures. The house would swallow you whole if you’d let it. The front doors opened, spilling yet more light on the path. My cousin stood there, a little surprised to see me back so soon.
“Ah Ash, you’re back.”
“Yes.” I said as I walked up the gray stone steps.
“How did it go with the hybrids?”
“They agreed to talk with their people.”
“Really? Just talk?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose already annoyed of him. “That’s all anyone can really do Jon, it’s not like we or they can force them.”
“But forcing is so much more fun.”
I looked him over. “Of course you would say that or think it for that matter.”
He chuckled. “Perhaps that hybrid girl thinks the same way as me. I’ve seen her fight you know. I think we’d make a great couple…what’s say you cousin?”
I tried to keep the anger from building up and spilling out at the mention of Jon even thinking about Cora that way. He’ll die before he ever has a chance to touch her. Better yet, I could always arrange for Cora to take him out. That’s the only way he’ll ever touch her.
I smiled to myself as I walked in the house, earning myself a confused look from him. I ignored his words as I continued my way inside. I walked past the double glass doors to the ballroom that we now use for a training room, past the spacious living room with its tan carpet and white drapes.
I headed towards the second kitchen. That’s where everyone most likely was because it was the biggest kitchen that could sit everyone that lived here. As I suspected, each and every table was occupied. The conversation ceased to exist once I entered the room. I waited until the sounds of forks scraping plates stopped and waited until every pair of eyes were on me before I spoke.
“After you all are done eating, I’m calling a meeting. We will meet in the grand sitting room.”
With that, I turned on my heel and walked back the way I came. Instead of going straight for the sitting room, I made a short cut and hopped in the elevator that would take me straight to my room. Back in the day, this elevator was used for sending food up to the room. Now I just use it to make a fast retreat to my room.
Once the elevator stopped, I lifted up the door and stepped out, pushing the button for it to go back down. My room was the biggest one in the mansion.
Old trunks and dressers were shoved against the walls and creaked when you opened them. My king size bed graced the middle of the room with its diamond shaped head board and swirling wooden poles. A navy blue cloth was draped over each of the poles, which left an opening for me to crawl in my bed.
I walked over to the out dated hutch, kneeled down and opened the doors. On each of the two shelves, held my pants, shirts and boxers. I pulled out one of each of the black clothes and headed to the bathroom that was attached to my room.
A white garden tub with silver fittings was on one side of the bathroom and a stand up shower surrounded by glass was on the other side. When you turned the shower on, the water would fall from the ceiling like rain. A gray counter took up most of the wall with three sinks built into it.
I set my clothes on the counter and pulled a towel off the silver rack next to the counter. After stripping down, I stepped in the shower and the water automatically turned on. I wanted to stay in this glass case forever but knew that I couldn’t. I quickly washed up, got out and dried off.
After slipping on my boxers and boot cut, Levi jeans, I headed out of my room and down the grand staircase with its gold and silver spirals, pulling on my black, long sleeved thermal shirt.
As I suspected, everyone was sitting in the grand sitting room when I walked in. Some were sitting on sofas and chairs, while others were either standing or sitting on the floor. All eyes were on me as I made my way to the vacant chair in the center of the room. I took my seat and looked at every person in this room to make sure that I had their attention.
> Chapter 7: CORA
My head throbbed as I started to slowly open my eyes. I brought my hand up to the back of my head and winced when my fingers touched a bump damn near the size of a fucking egg. My vision was normal again with no amber tint. I slowly sat up on the couch that someone put me on and looked at Caden. He was sitting on the coffee table next to the couch with his elbows resting on his knees and his head hanging between his hands.
He’s either sleeping in an uncomfortable way, or he’s thinking, or the third option, he’s sitting like that because he feels bad about clonking me over the head. It had to have been him because Kevin was in front of me and Caden moved before I was able to hit him. Although, I can’t be too upset with him over it. He had to do what he had to do to stop me, even if it meant clonking me over the damn head.
I reached out and lightly ran my fingers down his tanned, muscular forearm. His head snapped up and his green eyes locked with mine. He gave me a light smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Usually when he smiled, the corner of his eyes crinkled and his eyes seemed to sparkle. But right now, there was none of that.
I sat up further on the couch and looked around the room. I noticed that Kevin wasn’t here. I looked back at Caden.
“Where is Kevin?”
“He needed to cool off, so I sent him out to get food before we head out.”
“Head out?”
“Yes.” He stood. “We are going back to the safe haven and talking to our people.” He looked back down at me. “Do you think you guys can get along long enough until we get there?”
I nodded my head. “Yeah.”
“Good, because I’m tired of playing referee with you two.”
I snorted. “He needs to see reason.”
“Cora!” He snapped. “This might be the only way that we can have the life we want. If we have to mix our races to have that, then so be it.” He let out a calming breath. “I want to be with you, I want our lives to be safe and I want the others to be safe as well. Just try to understand where I’m coming from. Most of us have been fighting for our lives a lot longer then you have.”
For once I was speechless, not because of what Caden said, but because he was going along with Ash. I turned my eyes away because I didn’t want him to see my confusion.
The sound of the door slamming shut knocked the confused look off my face. Kevin walked in with his arms loaded down with take-out containers and plastic bags full of water and other beverages and snack type foods. Even though I saw the food, I don’t think my stomach could handle it.
Besides having a killer headache, I felt queasy. Caden grabbed a bottle of water from one of the bags and handed it to me. Kevin was setting the containers of food on the coffee table and soon they both dug in.
I brought my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, holding the water loosely in my hands. Caden looked up when he noticed that I wasn’t making an effort to get any food. He swallowed the bite of food that he had in his mouth.
“Eat up love, you need to keep up your strength.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Since when?”
“Since I don’t feel like eating.”
“You should at least try.”
“And I said I wasn’t hungry.”
I dropped the bottle of water on the couch as I stood, I headed towards the bathroom and left the boys to stuff their faces. Once inside the small room, I closed and locked the door. Walking over to the bath tub, I sat down on the edge and rested my head on my knees.
I couldn’t shake the knot of dread that balled its self in the pit of my stomach. There was something else there too, I could feel it, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. The sound of knocking on the door made me jump and then Caden’s voice floated through the door.
“Cora? Are you alright?
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Can I come in?”
I got up from my seat and unlocked the door. Caden stood there holding a package of crackers and another bottle of water. What did he think I was, sick? I couldn’t help but to roll my eyes at him.
“I’m not sick Caden, I’m just tired.”
He eyed me for a minute. “Kevin suggested that we get a couple hours of shut eye before we head out, so it’s a good time to catch some Z’s.”
“Okay.” I mumbled.
Caden took my hand in his free hand and lead me to the room we shared down the hall and to the left. I crawled up on the twin size bed and laid down on my left side. Caden crawled in behind me and wrapped his arm around me. It was amazing that we could both fit on this bed, well barely. I snuggled in closer to him and before too long, I fell asleep.
Chapter 8: CORA
To me, it only felt like I got a few minutes of sleep before Caden was rousing me from sleep. That was twenty minutes ago. I now stood under the scalding hot water of the shower and just stood there, staring blankly at the white tiled wall. The water bounced off my skin and was beginning to get cold. That’s when I knew that I had a few minutes to wash up before the water turned completely cold.
I was just getting out to dry off when Caden’s familiar knock echoed through the bathroom. I wrapped the towel around me, went to the door and opened it a crack. It always took be aback whenever I looked at him. He was just so handsome and at other times, sexy as hell.
“I’m almost ready, just have to dress.”
“That’s not why I’m checking on you.”
“Oh.” Was my only reply.
“Cora, are you…are you feeling okay?”
“I’m hunky dory.”
“You just seem, I don’t know, off.”
Rolling my eyes. “Do you really want to have this conversation now, while I’m only in a towel?”
He smirked. “It’s the best time to have a conversation.”
What little of my exposed flesh that he could see, his eyes drank in. He had a look on his face like he was starving for breath. But I noticed the look for what it really was, a deep hungering lust. I tried to shut the door but the tip of his shoe stopped it from closing.
“Let me come in and help.”
I laughed softly. “You and I both know, that if I let you in here, there will be no getting dressed.”
He smiled. “True.”
I shook my head. “Go on, I’ll be out in a minute.”
He slowly backed up. “You still have time to change your mind.”
I giggled. “Go.”
He shrugged. “Suit it yourself.”
He gave me a teasing smile and a wink before turning around and disappearing around the corner. I couldn’t help but to laugh out loud as I closed and locked the door. I quickly dressed in faded blue jeans and a gray long sleeved thermal shirt that hugged my torso area.
Caden and Kevin were sitting on the couch, leaning over the coffee table when I came out. Caden was the only one that looked up when I came out, Kevin just sat there pretending that I didn’t exist. I guess he’s still a little butt hurt that I kicked his ass.
When I got closer to the table, I noticed that most of the take-out containers were empty. There were still some fries left and a cheese burger with bacon that was long cold by now, but that didn’t stop me from picking up the greasy goodness and taking a huge bite.
My stomach finally woke up from its slumber and was ready to be filled. I finished the left-over food in less than five minutes. Thankfully, the guys kept their mouths shut. Wiping my hands and mouth, I took a swig of water and looked at Caden.
“When do we leave?”
“Now.” It was Kevin who spoke up.
“Alright.”
I got up to grab my shoes by the end of the couch and quickly slipped them on. Kevin was already making his way out the door, not waiting for anyone. I looked at Caden over my shoulder.
“What’s his deal?”
“Besides the fact that you threw him across the room without touching him…nothing.”
I arched an eyebrow at him and he let out a deep sigh.
“I’m sorry Cora, I didn’t mean to be---.”
“Right…just forget about it.” I cut in coldly. “And yes you do.”
“Cora--?”
“Let’s just go.”
I stalked out the door with Caden right behind me and headed straight for his motorcycle. After we were seated on the bike, I barely wrapped my arms around him, so instead, I grabbed a fist full of his shirt and held on as we sped out.
I wasn’t sure what to expect once we get to the safe haven. I don’t even know who’s in charge of it, or what people will say once we’re back. I left that place almost a year ago and set out on my own. I never expected that I’d ever be going back.
Chapter 9: ASH
Jon stood by the chair next to me and looked down at me expectantly. He and everyone else wondered why I called a meeting so late at night. It’s not like I didn’t want to proceed, it’s just that I don’t know where to start.
Figures right? Give me weapons and a target to kill, I’m there and giving orders, sit me in front of a room full of people and it feels like my tongue is stuck to the roof of my mouth.
I briefly closed my eyes and slowly counted backwards from ten. Cora’s amethyst eyes flashed across my closed lids and I snapped my eyes open, ready to get down to business. I cleared my throat a couple times before I began to speak.
“Most of you may not like what I’m about to say, while others may understand.”
“Just get on with it cousin.” Came Jon’s annoyed response.
“As some of you already know, me and a few others sat down and had a chat with two hybrids and a shifter.” I ignored the surprised gasps and looks and continued. “We want to put this war behind us and have a sort of truce. They are, hopefully as we speak, on their way to their safe haven to talk to their people. Many of us are tired of fighting and want to settle down to have families.”
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