by T. S. Ryder
The twins were back, but they weren't safe. Grayson wasn't safe, either.
The organization had what they wanted. As long as he didn't try to get involved in politics again, they would leave him alone. They might even pull away entirely if they could cast the blame for Senator White's actions on Kennedy. She did make a convenient scapegoat.
But Kennedy was still out there. She had already eluded the organization this long, who knew how much longer she'd be able to do so? As long as she was at large, the Alexander family could never be safe. There was only so much security Grayson could have.
Not to mention that Arabella herself would be considered rogue by the organization at this point. They'd be sending agents after her. The fact was that the family she had come to love so much would never be safe as long as she was with them.
So she would find Kennedy and kill her, and then she would go after the organization. Take out as many heads as she could. Maybe gather enough information to release to the public so that they could no longer operate in the shadows. It was the only way to ensure they never came after Grayson again.
No matter what she did, Arabella doubted that she'd be alive by the end of the year. Her chest ached as she dressed, a physical pain that she hadn’t thought was possible. Knowing she would never have a moment like this again almost left her breathless. For the first time in her life, she could remember feeling loved, and now she was going to have to give it all up.
But they would be safe once she was gone, and that was all that mattered.
Arabella paused to load up on weapons, then enabled the elevator again and headed down to the forest floor. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths as the elevator moved her swiftly away from the family she thought of as hers. She would never have this again, but at least she had been able to learn what love really was. Grayson, Olivia, and Hudson had given her something to fight for besides herself, and for that she would be eternally grateful.
And if there was something that came after death, then maybe one day they would all be together again. Hopefully Christine wasn't the jealous type. Arabella had seen the way Grayson spoke of his late wife and the love he had for her was clearly evident. She wouldn't mind sharing him with someone he loved that much as long as Christine loved him an equal amount. Maybe the other woman would be willing to share as well . . . assuming something came after this life.
Henry waited for her at the base of the tree, eyes narrowed, hands clenched.
"Where do you think you're going?" he snapped. "I just started to trust you."
"Kennedy wants me dead," Arabella replied. She wasn't going to lie to Henry, not when stakes were so high. "Grayson and the twins won't ever be safe until her threat is eliminated. I'm not going to sit around waiting for her to come for me."
Surprise flitted across Henry's face followed by suspicion and then weariness. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. After a moment, he sighed. "So you're going to let her kill you?"
"I'm not going to let her. But it might happen." She started walking away, then stopped and turned back. "There's more. Kennedy isn't the only threat. They'll never be safe as long as I'm with them. Please tell Grayson I'm sorry."
Henry kept his gaze on her for a long moment before nodding once. Arabella let out a breath of relief and turned her back. It was time to protect the ones she loved. By any means necessary.
***
The bomb strapped to her chest was well hidden by the loose shirt she'd chosen to wear. She had spent a long time agonizing about the best way to take down Kennedy, and in the end, she realized that she had to make sure that if Kennedy killed her, Kennedy would go too. And so she had crafted up a bomb and wired it to a device measuring her heartbeat. If her heart stopped, the bomb went off. Kennedy would die one way or another.
Arabella followed the coordinates Kennedy had texted to her to meet after they got the twins back. It was odd that her colleague hadn't set a trap in with them. The bear would have been the perfect place to hide a bomb, but it was empty.
Whatever. It didn't matter. They would end this now.
The coordinates led her to a rest stop off the highway that was hidden by trees. Good. Less chance of casualties and witnesses. She stepped out of the car and scanned the area quickly, keeping herself down to avoid any sniper fire. There was no sign of Kennedy, though.
Pulling a gun from her holster, Arabella crossed the open area to the outhouse. The forest was silent and still; no sign of Kennedy anywhere. Arabella tried the door. It was unlocked. She kicked it open – and gasped, her heart jumping to her throat.
Kennedy hung from the ceiling rafters. Her body was limp, a rope around her neck. It was thrown over the rafter and tied to the sink where it looked like she had jumped from. But she would never take her own life – not like this, at least.
The organization had caught up with her at last.
Arabella turned to run, and a man stepped out from around the outhouse. She raised her gun, but it was too late. The man plunged a needle into her neck. Instantly, everything went black.
Chapter Sixteen – Grayson
An annoying buzzing noise drew him out of bed. Grayson had spent so many sleepless nights that waking up after being so relaxed was a difficult task. He stumbled around the room, searching for his pants and the source of the buzzing. He finally found his phone and sat on the edge of his bed, yawning. It was just getting light outside. Was this Henry asking him why he hadn't relieved him at midnight?
Grayson suppressed another yawn. "Hello?"
"May I talk to Grayson Alexander, please?" a cool, controlled feminine voice said.
"Speaking."
"Ah, good. I do hate wasting time." The woman sounded pleased. "Mr. Alexander, I'm afraid I have bad news. I regret to inform you that Arabella Grant will no longer be living with you."
Ice flooded his veins. He turned to see, for the first time, that Arabella wasn't in the bed next to him. The sleep vanished from his eyes and adrenaline spiked in his blood. He had secured the house. They couldn’t have come in and snatched her while he was sleeping.
"You are to step down from your political aspirations at once and instead turn your attentions to striking down the legislation you have tried to pass. If you do not do as we say, then she will be killed."
Grayson ran to the twin's room. They were still inside, sleeping peacefully. No sign of Arabella. A quick search of the house showed she wasn't there. The woman on the phone hummed pleasantly while he searched, as though waiting.
"Where is she?" he demanded.
"She will be released as soon as you have done us this little favor," she said, then hung up.
Grayson was left frozen. He thought this was over. He thought they could live happily together now, only for this to happen. He had to do what they said or else Arabella would die . . .
But he knew that even if he did give into their demands, they wouldn't release Arabella. Their demands might never be met. He couldn't stop the legislation. What then? His mind flashed to a dozen possibilities. She might already be dead. But how had they gotten her?
He strode out to the flight deck. "Henry!"
A dark shadow leaped from a nearby tree and floated down towards him. Henry shifted as he landed. His expression was grim and he held up his hands in self-defense.
"She said the only way for you and the twins to be safe was if she left. I couldn't have stopped her even if I tried."
"What?"
Henry flinched and shook his head. "Hey, it was her choice. If she loves you that much, I—"
"They have her!"
Grayson resisted the urge to grab his friend and shake him. Helpless rage swept through him. Arabella had left of her own volition – had she been threatened to do so? Or was it because she thought she wasn't worthy enough for him, or because she was afraid the organization and Kennedy would continue to come after her?
"Who has her?"
"The organization that kidnapped her when she was sixteen and forced her
into this life. They have her and they're going to kill her unless I undo everything I've done."
"Gray—"
"They'll probably kill her anyway." He paced around the room, eyes wild.
Henry grabbed Grayson's shoulders, stopping him. "What happened?"
Grayson told him about the phone call he had just received. He started pacing again, digging his hands into his hair. His thoughts continually danced everywhere. If he did as he was told, Arabella might be safe. Or it might kill her. He had no leverage. Nothing he could use against them. From everything she had told him about this organization, it wasn't like they were just going to let her go on with her life . . .
"What about the senator?" Henry asked. "He might know something. He hired them in the first place, didn't he?"
Senator White. Of course. Grayson turned back to Henry, face set in determination. "Watch the twins. I'm going to have a word with him."
Henry nodded. Grayson climbed over the patio railing and let his wings burst from his body as a rush of air filled his ears. Maybe he did have a little leverage after all.
***
White couldn't tell him anything, but Grayson hadn't expected him to. On his flight to the jailhouse, he had come up with another plan, and as soon as it became clear that the senator knew nothing about the organization, he set up a computer to live stream across various social media outlets and told the senator to confess to all his illegal dealings with the mining companies.
Maybe he couldn't go after the organization, but he could go after their mysterious client.
It wasn't more than five minutes into the broadcast when Grayson got a call. It was the same feminine voice to threaten Arabella, but this time she wasn't calm and collected. Rage boiled in her voice.
"Stop the senator this instant or Arabella dies," she hissed. "Do you really care for her so little that you'd flaunt our demands this way?"
Grayson hit a button on the computer, ending the broadcast. White looked up at him with a sickly sheen on his face. The dragon ignored him, grinning to himself. It had worked – at least, he had their attention now.
"I had to have some way to contact you," he said, keeping his tone low and even. "You didn't leave a number."
"I don't think you quite understand how this works. You do as we want, Arabella lives. You try something like this again, she dies."
"Oh, I think I know just fine how this works. I do as you say, you kill her anyway. But you don't care about my politics, do you? It's your clients. All those mining corporations stand to lose a lot of money if I continue. Which one hired you to go after my children?"
The woman growled. "Don't play games. Arabella's life means nothing to us. Does it mean nothing to you?"
"How do I know she's still alive?"
There was a brief pause, and then Arabella's voice came over the line. "Grayson. I'm here."
Relief washed over him and he clutched his phone to his ear. "Arabella! Are you alright? Have they hurt you?"
"No, I'm fine. Just do as they say. Please. They'll go after the twins again if this doesn't work. You have to look after yourself and the children. Just forget about me. Forget you ever met me."
She let out a brief cry, and then the first voice was back. "Proof enough for you, Mr. Alexander? She is alive. But she will only stay that way if you do as we want. Understood?"
"If you harm her, I will burn you all," he hissed, fire leaping and writhing in his gut. "I will find you and—"
"You will only do that if you want to die. Cross us and you will die. Your children will die. All your friends will die," the woman interrupted. "We have said all we're going to say on the matter. Do as we say or—"
"I can pay you," he interrupted. "Whatever you've been paid to do this, I'll double it. I will give you everything I have if you call off this hunt on me and release Arabella. Everything. I won't be able to lobby the government without my money. You'll have satisfied your clients' wants and you'll have more money than you would have otherwise had."
The woman sighed. "Please, Mr. Alexander. You are becoming quite pathetic. Our organization does not work that way. Arabella betrayed the code and—"
"So you'll kill her no matter what I do?"
Silence.
Grayson took it as all the confirmation he needed. He drew in a deep breath and released it slowly. "If we don't come to some sort of other understanding, I am putting the senator back on to broadcast all his sins, and that of every mining corporation he's associated with. You're going to kill Arabella no matter what I do, so I will be damn sure to make sure that you fail in your mission unless I get her back safe."
Another prolonged silence. When the woman spoke again, her voice was once calmer. "Very well. It seems we need to speak in person. Meet me at noon tomorrow and we'll discuss the terms of Arabella's release. Come alone or she dies in front of you."
***
Grayson held his children tightly, burying his face in their black hair. Olivia clung to him while Hudson was content being held loosely, playing with the blocks he had been given. Grayson couldn’t help but wonder if he was making the right choice or if it would be better if he just meekly did as he was told and hope that it would work out for the best.
Or if he should sacrifice Arabella for the sake of his children. Forget about her, just as she asked him to do, to keep them safe and alive. The thought made him sick to his stomach and hate himself.
"I love you," he said, kissing Olivia's head and then Hudson’s. "I love you both."
"Dada?" Hudson looked up at him with big, trusting eyes. "Bella-Bella?"
He kissed them again. "I'm going to get her back. Right now, Uncle Henry is going to stay with you, okay?"
Olivia kicked up a fuss, but let him hand her to Henry soon enough. Hudson was more silent in his protest, clinging to his father tightly. It broke Grayson's heart to have to pry his children off of him. Tears burned his eyes and he hated the doubt that continually swept through him. But if he didn't do this, what sort of future was he giving them?
"I don't think you should do this," Henry said, worry tingeing his voice. "She didn't want—"
"I'm not losing my mate again," Grayson interrupted. Determination replaced his doubt and he took a deep breath. He had lost Christine because he wasn't there when she needed him. He wasn't making that mistake again. "Never again."
Chapter Seventeen – Arabella
Her hands were numb and her knees ached from kneeling on the cement floor, but Arabella didn't care about that. She struggled against the cuffs holding her hands behind her back, bile rising in her throat.
Four senior members of the organization milled about her, weapons carefully out of sight but in easy reach. They'd been planning how to kill Grayson for the last hour and had decided that a direct bullet to the head was the best way to go. Arabella fought against her tears, trying to plan how to protect him. So far nothing had come to mind except sheer terror.
"If he's not here in twenty minutes, we'll just have to leave you here dead for him – or whatever police force he's arranging – to find." The woman who had taken the mission, Leslie, sounded bored as her fingers tapped against her arms. "You'd better pray he comes, Arabella."
She prayed for the exact opposite. Her life didn't matter in comparison to his.
Her hopes were dashed seconds later when Grayson's footsteps echoed through the giant warehouse. Her struggles intensified, a cry breaking from her throat. She regretted it as soon as the noise left her. Grayson's steps quickened. Arabella's mind whirled. She couldn’t let him die trying to save her. A glance behind her showed that Leslie wasn't paying attention to her – too focused on the approaching dragon. The men she had with her drew their weapons. One of them winked at Arabella.
"Quiet, sweetheart," he said. "Or you'll be put down with the beast."
And her other choice? Watch the man she loved die, and then go through 'reprogramming' again until she was a mindless drone or died from the trauma?
No.
>
"Get out of here," she shouted. "It's a trap!"
Grayson rounded the corner, revealing himself to the group even as she spoke. Leslie smiled and the men around her raised their weapons. Arabella screamed, every inch of her straining against her bonds. She knew this ploy – distract the target with visible weapons so they don't avoid the shot from the weapon they can't see. Her heart slammed against her ribs, adrenaline flooding her system. She leaped to her feet and threw herself in front of Leslie as the small gun in the woman's hand went off.
A bullet seared through her belly. Arabella's scream cut off as white-hot pain shot through her, burrowing towards her spine. The breath left her lungs. Time seemed to slow down, though she knew that it was just shock. The faces of Leslie and her men blurred. Their expressions were meaningless, anyways. She turned, her eyes seeking out Grayson.
He shouted and ran forward. She wanted to tell him not to come, to turn around and leave, but for some reason, her throat wouldn't work. Several more shots rang out. The pain was so overwhelming already she didn't know if they hit her or not. Grayson spun. Blood burst from his shoulder.
"No," Arabella whispered, then dropped.
A rush of wind filled the warehouse. Weakly, she looked up to Grayson charging forward again. Flames billowed from his mouth and smoke shrouded his form. The guns kept firing. These were highly trained members. Every bullet struck where they wanted it to . . .
But the organization had never dealt with Dragons before. The bullets bounced off his skin as scales spread over his chest. His teeth grew long and jagged.
His wings snapped out to either side of his body and he let out a roar that reminded Arabella of the fairy tales she had been told as a child – about deadly dragons taking down entire armies.
Grayson knocked the gunmen aside with a single sweep of his tail. They flew back, crumpling when they hit walls. Three scrambled back to their feet and aimed their weapons at Grayson, but the fourth stayed down. The dragon stood protectively over Arabella as she inched towards a fallen gun, desperate to help. A streak of blood followed her in a trail. Once she reached it, her cuffed hands reminded her she wouldn't be able to use it anyway.