I blinked, feeling like I'd just risen from underwater. Silas had a hold of my arm, his grip firm and unwavering. My cheeks grew hot, then the rest of my body followed suit. My temperature kept climbing as I realised I'd been put under the spell of a Siren. I tried to pull away from Silas but he held on, forcefully guiding me back inside. He was strong. Was he Immortal?
“Come, I don't want us to be enemies, Firefly.” Warmth swept over me as Silas led me into an empty pool room, surrounded by green rimmed windows. I was starting to regret giving him my nickname. Every time someone said it, I was reminded of Jameson. He was the last person I wanted to be thinking about. Dwelling on him, meant dwelling on the living being which was currently growing in my uterus.
Silas gestured for me to sit on a sun lounger and I reluctantly complied.
“Get us some drinks,” Silas muttered to his many escorts. He dismissed most of them, but three remained by the doors, barring my way out. I vaguely considered diving through one of the glass window panes, but didn't think there was much point. I still had the issue of finding a way off of the ship.
Silas dropped onto the lounger next to mine, shedding his suit jacket and folding it neatly at the foot of the seat. “I hear you killed three of my men.”
My heart tripled in pace. Every time it did that, I felt like I was going in to cardiac arrest. I was never going to get used to the sensation.
I thrust up my chin and said, “What did you expect? You're holding me here against my will.”
“Yes, but the carnage did come as quite a shock... Though, perhaps you'll enlighten me as to why Nurse Rakefield is currently being revived and not scraped off of the floor into a body bag as well?”
Tha-thump-tha-thump-tha-thump. I rested a hand on my alien heart, trying to calm it down.
“I...” Rakefield wasn't the only to have known about my pregnancy. Silas may have already been informed. And if he hadn't, he was sure gonna find out soon enough.
“She was kind to me,” I said, feeling slightly foolish for the admission.
“I see,” Silas said simply, surveying me. His eyes were tar dripping with gold.
One of the masked men stepped into the room with two drinks in hand. The drinks were in fancy glasses with umbrellas sticking out of them.
“Seriously?” I whispered.
Silas took them both, holding one out to me. “We are on a cruise ship.” He smiled, furling a brow. “When in Rome?”
A flare of anger took hold of me. I snatched the drink and threw it in his face. “When in hell more like,” I countered, standing.
The man who'd given us the drinks held out a napkin, looking hesitant as to whether to dab his boss's face or not. Silas took it, wiping his cheeks with a casual look that would have been more appropriate if I'd just given him a relaxing facial.
“Fetch her another one,” Silas instructed. “No alcohol this time.” He fixed me in his gaze with a look that said 'I know about the baby'.
A lump rose in my throat and I sank back down to my seat, feeling disturbingly out-moved.
“I'm going to give you a choice, Firefly.” Silas kicked his legs up, leaning back and sipping his martini. “You can stay here willingly, take part in my assessments and live an easy, carefree life aboard my ship, perks included. Or you can fight me every step of the way and I'll make life much more difficult for you.”
I glared coolly at him, leaning forward. “I don't think you quite realise what I've been through in the last few weeks, Silas. I've survived two V Games, have you heard of those?”
His eyes hardened, betraying that he knew exactly what they were.
“Yeah, that's what I thought. And did you also hear about what happened at Rockley Jones's resort recently?”
His jaw ticked as he nodded.
“That was my doing, alongside my friends. I walked in there undercover and hit the Hunters where it really hurt. I got my revenge. And it was oh so sweet. So you can keep me here, push me around, I might even do it all willingly.” I leant closer so I was looking right down into his gold-flecked eyes. “But on your head be it.”
He sipped his martini, giving me an even stare. He tasted his lips then smiled, broadly and completely at ease, unnerving me. “You know Selena Grey,” he said the words slowly, like he was devouring them.
My heart squeezed. I realised my mistake and quickly tried to backpedal. “Yeah, she was there. I wouldn't say we were close.” I had to try and figure out what angle he was trying to play, but he was clearly good at this game.
“Hm,” he said thoughtfully, tapping his lips with his forefinger. “Funny, because I heard different.”
“Well if you know so much about me, I don't need to answer your questions.” I turned toward the pool, the large basin empty and thick with mould.
“Where is she?” Silas inquired and the question was like a knife to my heart. What did he want with Selena?
“What do you care?” I asked, keeping my tone light.
“She's of interest to me,” he said. “I expected her to be amongst those brought here from The Sanctuary. Her and her father. But they weren't...”
I remained silent.
“But you know where they are,” he continued.
In fact, I didn't know where they were. They'd gone off to some sunny beach in Europe. Could have been Greece, could have been Spain. They hadn't even decided before they left. But Silas wasn't going to believe that for a second.
“Even if I did know, I think we both know I wouldn't tell you,” I said.
“Well, I think we also both know that I have the resources to torture it out of you.”
Breaths fluttered past my lips and I tried not to feel the fear that was weaving through my chest.
“But I'm a reasonable man,” he continued, sipping his martini again. “I'm not like the Hunters you've had the misfortune to encounter. And I intend to prove that to you, even if only to save myself the injustice of being lumped in with them. I am a scientist, like my father is a scientist. Like his father was. And I really don't like to do things the violent way unless I can avoid it.” He leaned up, fixing me with his Brad Pitt stare. Really, he was striking. Every expression he gave me would have made a photographer's day.
“I do not play games, Firefly. I do not participate in blood sports. And I certainly do not think the life of any creature has no value.”
I had to admit, I believed him. His eyes were full of candor, but it was his morals that irked me. He wasn't so different from them, even if he didn't see it. “The problem with people like you, is you think what you're doing is right. You believe it so much, that you don't see what a monster you are, even when the facts are laid out before you.” I touched my chest where the horrid scar had been just hours ago. “You kidnapped me, ripped open my body and replaced my heart. You literally took a piece of my body away. And you think you're not like them?”
He seemed to consider my words. “Perhaps you were an unfortunate casualty in all of this. My father has hunted for Brendan's sanctuary ever since he left us. Brendan stole our work toward the Vampire cure. He destroyed years and years of studies. My father simply struck a blow in retaliation, but I'm sorry you were caught up in the crossfire.”
I scoffed a laugh. Was this guy for real? Did he really think an apology could take back what he'd done?
And he clearly wasn't so sorry that he was going to release me.
I remained silent and Silas finished his martini, placing his glass down on a little table between our loungers. “So...we need to discuss your situation.” He gestured to my stomach and I immediately placed my hand there.
“The father...what species is he?”
I choked on my own tongue. “That's none of your business.”
“I can have tests done on the embryo if you'd prefer? But that's much more invasive. I imagine you'd rather avoid that.”
I gritted my teeth, hating him for how he was manipulating me. “Werewolf,” I supplied tersely.
He grinned. �
��Perfect. That means you'll be having an expedited pregnancy. The gestation period for Werewolves is just five months. But with your Vampire qualities it could be faster or slower...”
I nodded, shock flowing through me in waves. I had a lot less time than I thought.
“So where is the father?” Silas went on. “We didn't acquire any Werewolves from The Sanctuary.”
“What does it matter?” I sighed.
“Because I'd like to meet him.”
I laughed. Not the kind of laugh when you're happy. It was a this-couldn't-get-any-weirder kind of laugh. “He's long gone.”
“You aren't together?” He arched a brow.
“No,” I snipped. I did not want to discuss mine and Jameson's non-existent relationship with this guy.
“Ah,” he said knowingly which made my blood boil irrationally. “So I imagine you're feeling a little...conflicted about this child.”
I screwed up my eyes. “Don't call it that.”
“But that's what it is,” he said simply, grating on me further.
“No. It's a cluster of cells. That's all. It hasn't even got a heartbeat.”
“Neither did you yesterday,” Silas said unhelpfully, and a wave of emotion rolled through me. Was he trying to guilt me into loving it? Why would he care? What was he getting out of this?
“I'm not going to sit here discussing whether I'm keeping this - this – embryo - with a total stranger.”
“Alright.” Silas sat up straighter. “I can see I'm upsetting you. But I imagine this has more to do with your relationship with the father than it does with the baby.”
“Stop calling it that!” I snapped. “And stop acting like you're my friend, you're my kidnapper. And it is none of your damn business what I do with my body.”
He smiled again, that all-knowing bloody smile. “Actually, it is.” He reached for my arm, pushing up the sleeve on my gown. Marked on the inside of my elbow was a circling insignia; the word 'IDAHO' was positioned between three criss-crossing lines shaped like a Y. “You're now property of IDAHO, Firefly. Which makes that baby our property, too.”
Jameson
As an act of defiance against Ulvic, I did what any self-respecting man would have done in my position: I locked myself in the only bedroom on the catamaran and played I Want To Break Free by Queen at top volume. On repeat. For four hours.
Sometimes I sang along. So long as I couldn't hear Ulvic shouting commands at me through the door.
Right at that moment, I was singing my lungs out, “I want to break free from your lies, you're so self-satisfied, I don't neeeeeed you!” I was definitely targeting this at Ulvic. Extra perk? I might lose my voice. Extra, extra perk? The song let a few of my feelings be known about Cass. “I've fallen in love...I've fallen in love for the first time, this time I know it's for reaaal.”
The CD skipped and Ulvic's voice roared through the door. “TURN THAT OFF THIS INSTANT!”
It was a command I couldn't ignore. But I was going to rebel against it, the only way I knew how. I bashed my whole head on the CD player to stop it, breaking the entire thing into pieces.
“Open this door,” Ulvic growled and I did, glaring at him.
“Oh I'm sorry, was the music too loud?” I asked innocently.
“You are getting on my last nerve, Jameson,” Ulvic ground out. A vein was popping in his forehead. Good to know how much I was annoying him.
I gave him a shit-eating grin. “Have we docked?”
“Yes, twenty minutes ago. I thought you wanted to help save our family?” he snarled.
“Why didn't you tell me?” I gasped dramatically.
Ulvic's eyes narrowed to slits.
Nadine appeared over his shoulder, suppressing a laugh. Something weird happened in my chest in response to that noise. Something caused by Ulvic's command, planted there like a filthy little seed.
“Come on then, fam, let's get going.” I dropped an arm around Nadine's shoulders, guiding her onto the deck.
Ulvic grabbed my arm, pulling me back, letting Nadine go ahead. The urge to bury my fist in his face rose inside me like a shining star. I couldn't act on it, but picturing it did me some good.
“Yes, master?” I asked, glowering.
“Jameson, I need you focused. This behaviour isn't going to help Mekiah and Reason. We have to work together. My father is not a man to be underestimated.”
My eyes travelled down him, from the sweat beading on his brow, to the nicks on his cheek from a recent shave. Aftershave wafted over me and I realised Ulvic really, really gave a shit about what his father thought of him. Enemies or not. He was trying to prove a little point to Daddy. That he was a big successful man now. I smiled, stashing that little nugget of information away for later.
I patted his shoulder. “Alright Ulvic, I'll behave.”
“You will?” he asked in surprise.
“Sure I will,” I said airily, clearly unnerving him. Which was of course my intention.
“Well....good.” Ulvic straightened his shoulders. Was that a clean shirt I saw, peeping out from beneath that god-awful trench coat? Yep.
My smile broadened and Ulvic moved around me, giving me continual glances as if he expected me to do something crazy at any moment.
Sunlight filtered down on us, but somehow the world still looked grey. We'd docked in an inlet where trees rose up from the pebbly shore. Their branches were bare, no sign of spring to grace these shores yet.
A crow cawed menacingly from within them. Ulvic disembarked, tethering the boat to the old pier and Nadine glanced back at me for reassurance. I gave her a small nod. There were no other boats around, no other people for that matter.
“We'll have to walk from here,” Ulvic called, helping Nadine jump down beside him. Mercy dropped down after her and I followed.
Ulvic led the way forward and the girls walked at my sides. Before I knew it, I was hand-in-hand with Nadine, my fingers locked around hers. Great.
This was going to be the bonding trip from hell.
*★*
We took a train several hours further inland. It was a lump of old metal which felt like it was going to come off the tracks at every turn. I sat by the window, headphones firmly in my ears, keeping my attention as far away from Nadine as I could manage. Which was pretty hard, considering she was sleeping against my shoulder.
Mercy sat opposite me, her nose buried in a poetry book she'd evidently brought with her from The Sanctuary, entitled The Ides of Summers Past.
Nadine shifted in her sleep, accidentally tugging an earbud free from my left ear. Seeing as Ulvic was off grabbing coffee, I didn't immediately jam it back in. “Didn't peg you as a poetry girl.” I nodded to Mercy's book.
“Oh...yeah. Love it. Can't get enough.” She dropped her eyes to the book and I nudged her with the toe of my boot to get her attention again. “Read me one,” I teased.
She visibly swallowed. “No.”
“Go on.” I leaned forward, trying to take it without disturbing Nadine.
She clutched the book to her chest as if I might grab it. “Fine,” she hissed.
I raised my brows, waiting.
She cleared her throat, dropping her eyes to the page. “Um...summer, summer, au contraire. Sun on water...shining...echoing, drowning...”
My brows lowered. “I could throw-up a better poem than that.”
“It's a metaphor.”
“For what? A shit poem?”
She scowled at me.
Ulvic reappeared and I scrambled for my earphone. It was caught under Nadine's arm. Dammit.
Ulvic dropped into his seat, juggling coffees, passing them out and knocking Mercy's book flying.
It hit the floor, revealing another book hidden between the pages. It had flipped shut, showing the title: It's Never Too Late To Change Who You Are.
I sucked my lower lip. “Awkward.”
“Oh shut up.” Mercy snatched up both books and stormed away.
“I reckon it might be too la
te to become a poet!” I called after her and she answered me with her middle finger, waving it above her head.
“What was that about it?” Ulvic asked, handing me my coffee. I took it. Might as well get a free coffee out of this shit-show.
“None of your business.” I sipped my drink. Extra milk, extra sugar. Just how I liked it.
Nadine stirred, taking a coffee as Ulvic handed her one. “Thanks,” she murmured. “Are we nearly there?”
“Not far now.” Ulvic's eyes trailed to the window. We were passing through a thick forest of black-looking trees, winding toward a group of mountains in the distance. Hardly anyone was on this train. Evidently, no one in Norway fancied heading off into the middle of nowhere's-ville on a Tuesday morning. Go figure.
I had to admit, I was kinda curious about where Ulvic had grown up. He never really spoke about his father, beyond the fact he'd run away from him as a teenager, defying the natural course his life would have taken as a Werewolf Hunter. I'd once thought that made him a good person. I'd also been wrong.
“We need to make a plan,” Nadine said.
“I have one,” Ulvic said, knotting his fingers together as we waited for him to go on. “My father is upset with me because I brought shame on the family name. I ran away from home and have spent my time since assisting Werewolves...building your pack. It's an insult to Hunters.”
“And?” I asked in a dry tone, not showing an ounce of sympathy.
“And he doesn't know I can command you...so I propose that you and Nadine escort Mercy and I up to my father's house under the pretence of a trade for Mekiah and Reason.”
I nodded slowly, rubbing my chin. “Then what?”
“Well, I'm hoping this will give me a chance to talk with my father. I'll convince him that I regret leaving home and try to make amends with him.”
Hope spilled through my veins. “And in the meantime, Mekiah and Reason just get to...go free? With us?”
Ulvic nodded once.
“What about Mercy?” Nadine asked in a whisper.
“My father is a recluse. There's no way he knows about her turning against her family. She'll probably be more welcome in his home than I am.”
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