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

by Cheryl Davis

  Not knowing how she did it, she threw up shields against the onslaught of Anna’s torture and entered the chamber. She ran through the onslaught towards Liam, but just as she was about to reach him, she changed course toward Anna. Cora knew none of these men deserved to suffer what Anna had to dish out.

  “Ah, you came my dear, sweet girl!” Anna cackled out with a cold, hard, evil voice.

  “Yes, to watch you die, in the most painful way possible,” Cora replied, her voice just as cold.

  “By who? You? I don’t think so my dear,” Anna laughed, as if she’d heard the funniest thing in her life.

  “What’s so funny? Don’t think I can do it? Why don’t you ask Patrick what I can do? You hurt my mate, big mistake,” Cora spat, and felt the heat and ice both roll off of her at the same time. She heard Anna’s shrill screech as the attack hit her hard. Anna released her attacks on all of the men and concentrated on trying to raise her shields against Cora’s onslaught.

  Cora’s eyes squinted together as she put everything she had into her attack. There was no way she was willing to let that vile woman leave this room alive. Her head began to ache, the longer she held the attack, and she felt herself weakening. When she felt the hand on her shoulder, she stiffened and tried to strengthen her fire against Anna, but it was becoming a losing battle.

  “Cora, you need to stop.” Liam’s voice was soft and soothing in her ear. It was the greatest sound she’d ever heard in her life.

  “No. She needs to die now, before she can hurt anyone else,” Cora said, intent on her mission to end Anna.

  “Not today Cora. If you keep trying you’ll only hurt yourself. Let it go, for me. The soldiers are ready to take her into custody.” Liam tried to reassure her.

  “They can’t do it. She’ll destroy them and get away again,” Cora was adamant. She knew Anna well enough to know she had an escape for everything.

  “They will. You have weakened her more than you realize. Let her go and save yourself. Do it for me Sweetheart. I need you,” Liam said. Cora could hear the fatigue in his voice and felt how weak his grasp was on her shoulder. She let go of Anna without a second thought and turned just in time to catch Liam and go down with him in a rush. He tried to catch himself from falling on her, and missed most of her, but couldn’t avoid all of her. She winced as her ankle twisted, and she came down hard on her wrist.

  Just then the rear entrance to the torture chamber was obliterated, and Sage’s team came bursting through. Cora held Liam as tight as she could in her arms, trying not to hurt him as she rocked back and forth. She knew then and there that this man was her entire world, and she would kill anyone who got in their way. Anna would pay for her sins, even if it was the last thing she ever did in this world.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Cora and Sage locked eyes as she held Liam in a protective manner against her chest. A silent agreement passed between them that no one else saw with all of the chaos going on around them. She was relieved to see he didn’t blame her for what had happened to Liam, and he was more than willing to back her up against Anna.

  Turning her attention back to Liam, she lifted his face so she could see it better and gasped in horror at what she saw. His face was bruised, swollen and bloody from multiple hits. Fury simmered in Cora in a way she’d never experienced before at the sight of such abuse. She knew what he felt like, after having been strapped to that chair herself in the past. Anna knew how to get the most pain with the least amount of abuse.

  Liam was just barely conscious and looked up at her through half-mast eyes. She could see his mouth moving but couldn’t hear what he was trying to say so she leaned her ear down by his mouth.

  “Thank you,” he whispered, before passing out.

  Tears fell from her eyes as she pulled his face back to her chest and looked around the room. She then noticed it was just Thomas, Viola and Sage left in the room with her and Liam.

  “Where did they all go? Did they get Anna? We need to get Liam to the hospital.” Cora’s voice was dead calm, which sent shivers down Viola’s back.

  “They’re out looking for Anna right now. We have no idea how she slipped out when you dropped your attack, but we will find her. Sage and I will help to get Liam back to the vehicles, so we can get him back to the house where he can be examined by a doctor,” Thomas said, placing his hand on Cora’s shoulder. “He will be taken care of by the best.”

  “Wait, why not take him to the hospital where they have everything he’ll need?” Viola asked before Cora could.

  “Trust me, we have everything he could ever need. We don’t use human hospitals,” Thomas said, as he reached down to help lift Liam up. Sage moved to Liam’s other side, and together they lifted him and each draped one of his arms over their shoulders. Liam screamed in agony when he was moved, but otherwise didn’t regain consciousness.

  “I swear if he dies…” Cora began, but let the words die off as she took in the rest of Liam’s battered body. Anna had put her short amount of time to work for her. Viola moved over and took Cora in her arms as her sister started shaking.

  “Shhh Cora, he’s going to be fine,” Viola whispered in her ear. “Let’s go get him some help,” she said, as she moved Cora towards the front entrance to the building, following behind Sage and Thomas as they tried to carry Liam without jarring him too much.

  Cora didn’t say another word as they walked to the SUVs, parked a short distance away. She was silently vowing to do everything in her power to rip Anna limb from limb until there was nothing left of her.

  *****

  When they reached the house, the doctor was already at the front door with a stretcher. Sage and Thomas jumped out of the vehicle, laid Liam down and helped the doctor move him around the house to the medical building, which Cora had not noticed until just now. It wasn’t a huge building, more like the size of a small bungalow or pool house with living accommodations inside.

  She started to follow the men when she heard a loud commotion coming from inside of the house. She tipped her head out of curiosity, but kept walking towards the medical building.

  Angelica, having remained silent during the somber trip home laid her hand on Cora’s shoulder. “Charlie’s here and I’m guessing he’s not very happy about it.”

  “I can’t deal with him right now,” Cora said, lifting her eyes to meet her mother’s and meeting eyes filled with love and understanding.

  “You go with Liam and make sure he’s alright. I will go try to calm Charlie down until you can come and talk to him.” Angelica smiled, hoping to encourage her daughter into having hope. “Liam’s strong, he will be fine.”

  “I hope so,” was all Cora could manage, before turning and making her way to the hidden hospital at her parents’ estate.

  Angelica watched her daughters walk away, before turning toward the house and entering. From the sounds coming from inside, she had a feeling not hurting this Charlie guy was going to be a true stretch of her abilities.

  *****

  Cora watched with silent tears streaming down her cheeks as they hooked wires and machines up to Liam and cut his clothes away, after running x-rays to make sure there were no broken bones.

  The doctors and nurses were buzzing around Liam like bees swarming the hive. Cora had no idea what was happening, but she knew she was grateful they were there, taking care of him. She felt someone move up beside her and place a strong arm around her shoulders. She looked up at Sage as he pulled her into his arms for a comforting hug.

  “I’m so sorry Sage. All of this is my fault. I promise you I will make it right. He will be fine, I know that in my heart,” Cora started rambling.

  “No, none of this is your fault. Liam was going to have the leave the property at some point, I don’t know why he did it now, but he did and Anna happened to get lucky. She will pay for her sins, I have no doubt you and I will make a great team to ensure that happens. Right Little Sis?” Sage said as a joke, although she could hear the contained rage s
immering just below the surface. She knew it well, because she could feel it thrumming through her veins as if it had a life of its own.

  “I messed up so bad Sage. I hope he can forgive me. I am trying to make it right, but it seems like all I’m doing is making a bigger mess,” Cora said in a trembling voice.

  “What’s wrong Cora? I know you two were happy earlier, I saw you as I was passing through,” Sage asked with concern.

  “We had a meeting with my par-, Thomas and Angelica this afternoon, so they could start teaching us what we needed to know and, of course, Liam was there with me. Well, Viola spoke up to remind me of something important I had forgotten in front of Liam, which upset him,” Cora said and stopped, finding it almost impossible to continue. She didn’t want Sage to hate her.

  “What upset Liam?” Sage asked his voice weary.

  “There was a guy I had been dating, for a while before this entire prophecy thing fell into my lap. I swear as soon as I saw Liam, I forgot Charlie even existed, but for some reason, Liam is thinking it’s more than what it ever was. He got upset and took off from the room. I didn’t follow him right away because I wanted to cut ties with Charlie with no misunderstandings, so Liam would know he’s the only one who matters to me. So I stayed with Viola, and we made plans for me to meet with Charlie in a safe location to do just that. I planned to include Liam in the meeting because I wanted there to be no doubts from him ever again, but by the time I got everything worked out and plans set into motion, he’d already left the grounds. So you see? This is my all fault.” Cora spilled out her guilt, hating herself for what she’d done to Liam.

  She stared at the floor waiting for Sage to be angry at her and start yelling or worse, turn and walk away without ever looking back. When neither happened, Cora looked up to meet his eyes.

  “My brother is a freaking idiot, Cora. He overreacted. It’s as simple as that. He’s a man who got jealous and didn’t think straight. There is no logical reasoning as to why he reacted the way he did, but that’s a discussion for the two of you to work out. I do not believe any of this is your fault. If we must place blame, then I blame my brother for acting like a spoiled child who got his feelings hurt and threw a tantrum, not you,” Sage said, and ran his fingers over her cheek before pulling her into a tight bear hug.

  “He’s my world Sage. I love him so much,” Cora said and caught herself. ‘I love him? Where did that come from?’ she thought to herself in sheer wonder.

  “I know you do Little Sis, that’s why I know this wasn’t your fault, and that my brother’s an idiot,” Sage said and grinned down at her as they stopped talking and just stood there watching the doctors’ work on assessing and fixing Liam’s injuries.

  Chapter Thirty

  It was a long night in the medical building’s waiting room. Sage stayed by Cora’s side, and Viola appeared at regular intervals to bring them coffee, snacks or anything else they needed. Around 4am, the head doctor came out to talk to them.

  “Liam will be fine. He has a lot of cuts and bruising and there was some internal bleeding from a stab wound, but we got that stopped. There are no broken bones, and we did full body x-rays just to be sure of that. He’ll need lots of rest to let his body heal, but most of his trauma should disappear within a week,” the doctor stated in a clinical manner. Cora appreciated his candor as well as the fact that he didn’t try to sugar coat anything.

  “Thank you, Doctor. How long will he have to stay here?” she asked him, with relief in her voice.

  “I am going to keep him here for at least a week to let the internal injury heal. I don’t want him up moving around much and reopening the wound. Once he wakes from being sedated, I will examine him again,” the doctor told them. “For now, the two of you may go in and sit with him, but no more than two can be in there at a time.”

  Cora’s shoulders sagged in relief at the doctor’s words. She was exhausted but there was no way she was leaving his side until he was awake. She looked up at Sage and gave him a small, tired smile before thanking the doctor and moving towards Liam’s room. Sage nodded to the doctor and followed close behind her.

  They entered the room and took chairs on opposite sides of the bed. Cora took Liam’s hand in hers and gazed at his battered face. “I am so sorry all of this happened. I wish there was some way I could make it right. If you want me, I will be here with you, to help you through everything,” she whispered to him, tears rolling down her cheeks.

  “Cora, you have got to stop blaming yourself. It’s not going to do anyone any good here, not you or Liam,” Sage told her with compassion in his eyes.

  “I wish I could believe that Sage. Until Liam tells me he forgives me, I can’t help but blame myself for this entire mess. He’s my mate, and I put him in danger.” The tears started flowing down her cheeks faster. She’d never cried as much in her entire life, as she had since she’d met Liam.

  “How did you know how to find Liam?” Sage asked.

  “What do you mean?” Cora asked taken off guard.

  “How did you know how to find Liam?” Sage repeated.

  “He called to me in our minds, begging for help,” Cora answered confused. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “So Liam asked you to come and save him?” Sage asked, irritated.

  “Yes. Why does it matter?” Cora was lost as to where Sage was taking this conversation.

  “Well, you’re sitting there blaming yourself for putting your mate in danger, while Liam put you in even more danger by asking you to come save him. One thing I’ve noticed about you Cora is that you don’t distribute blame everywhere it belongs, you take it all on yourself, which isn’t fair to you, or anyone around you. Liam played his own part in everything that happened over the last few days. He’s a grown man who made his own decisions, whether it was over-reacting and falling into a trap or calling you to help him and putting your life in grave danger,” Sage said and sat back in his chair, waiting for her reaction.

  “I don’t care that he put me in danger by asking me to save him, I would do it again for him. His life means more to me than my own does,” Cora said meeting Sage’s eyes. Sage rolled his in response, getting more aggravated with her stubborn inability to place any blame at all on his brother.

  “You are so infuriating. I am so glad you are Liam’s mate and not mine because I am already having a hard time not strangling some sense into you,” Sage said, and broke out into a huge smile letting her know he was teasing her.

  “Yeah well, good luck buddy,” Cora teased him back.

  “Are you two quite finished?” Liam croaked out, trying his best to smile, but failing with the pain in his face, head and body.

  “Hey, you’re awake,” Cora said.

  “It’s about time you quit slacking off,” Sage teased him relieved.

  “Ha, ha, I feel like hell,” Liam said, trying to push himself up to a sitting position, giving up quickly and wincing in pain.

  “I would be more shocked if you felt like you were in a spa,” Sage teased again.

  “Let me go get the doctor and let him know you’re awake,” Cora said, releasing his hand before he could stop her and heading out of the room.

  Cora could hear Liam call her name, but let the door shut behind her as if she hadn’t heard him. She walked down the hall a little way, before stopping and leaning against the wall. She needed a few minutes alone to pull herself together. She was tired of everyone trying to make her feel better and telling her she wasn’t to blame for what happened, when she knew they were all wrong. She was to blame.

  She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, pulling herself together. She would get herself through this and, if he let her, she’d help get Liam through it too. She would also get her parents to unbind their powers and start training so Anna would pay for her crimes, Cora would make sure of it.

  Cora knew she wasn’t holding it together very well, and she needed to get some sleep soon. Pushing herself off of the wall, she headed
off to find the doctor and let him know Liam was awake, before heading back to the main house to get started on her plans.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  As the door clicked shut behind her, Liam looked up at Sage.

  “What’s going on? Why did she leave like that?” he asked, the hurt evident in his voice.

  “You are a fool little brother,” Sage said, shaking his head. As frustrated as he was with Cora, he understood her point of view because he was very much the same, but Liam’s stupidity was more than he could take. Even though he knew now was not the time to rip his brother a new one, he couldn’t hold himself back.

  “What? Why?” Liam asked confused.

  “You have a great girl for your mate, and you run out on her over a little bump in your relationship? What the hell were you thinking?” Sage lit into his brother.

  Liam scrunched his face up, the pain evident in his eyes, while he tried to remember the last few hours, but things were fuzzy for him.

  “To be honest, I couldn’t tell you Bro. Things are a bit hazy right now,” Liam told his brother with frustration. “Could you maybe help fill in the blanks, so I can remember?”

  “Are you kidding me? Of course you wouldn’t remember your own stupidity, that’d be too easy. Ok, here’s the deal, Viola spilled to you, and their parents, about a guy Cora had been dating before she’d ever met you, but forgot all about once she did meet you. Then you threw a tantrum and left her, long story short. When you left her, you got caught in one of Anna’s traps, and she whooped your behind. We had to come save your sorry butt,” Sage came close shouting at his brother.

  Liam let his breath out in a whoosh, as it all came flooding back to him in a rush. He remembered it all, the discussion with Thomas and Angelica, the revelation about Charlie, Cora pulling away from him, him walking to clear his head, but then deciding to fight for her, until he overheard her begging her parents to bring Charlie to her, and him packing his things to leave the grounds.