Atonement (Master's Protege 2)

Armand picks up his phone, taps a button, and the car I’m in with Joe explodes.

Chapter Sixteen

Violet

I’m still reeling from processing all of this, but my senses are on alert, waiting for the attack from Armand’s family. If Skylar, Cain, and I are right, then he’s planned to manipulate me with this knowledge.

Or did he just come here to tattle on Cain? He did it like he’s feigning guilt…

I walk away, imagining I’m walking away from… everything. Everyone.

For months, he had me watch you. Stalk you. He has days and weeks’ worth of footage just watching you sleep. I had to monitor where you were, every time, and he never planned on telling you. Armand had a look of triumph in his eyes when he told me this, like he’d been holding the trump card and now is throwing it down on the table with a flourish. Ta-da!

Cain didn’t plan on telling me? No. No, that isn’t true, because Cain told me himself. Just because it wasn’t when I wanted him to…

He didn’t lie to me. He hid the truth from me, and one could argue that is the same as lying, but when I ask for the truth, he’s given me nothing but truth.

I had to learn to trust.

Would I have run if he’d told me the truth sooner? Hell yes.

Then as soon as I start mentally going there, I force myself to remember my anger, my frustration and outrage at him.

No. I can’t just forgive him for this.

What he did was wrong, so fucking wrong.

But isn’t that what it means to forgive someone?

I shake my head because I can’t think about this right now. I have to stay focused right here and now on what I’m doing and where I am. I look around me but pretend to be distraught. I go to wipe fake tears from my eyes when I realize they aren’t fake at all.

It takes courage to tell the truth when you fear the outcome.

It takes courage to forgive someone and stay despite wanting to leave.

Cain is courageous.

And so am I.

I take one more step toward the tall willows that line the walkways when I hear a boom that rattles my teeth. I turn around sharply to see what caused the noise.

Cain’s car.

People around us scream, running past the fire that erupts like the fire of a dragon. I push through the people swarming past me and run straight toward the fire.

“Cain!” I scream, my voice drowning in the sounds of screams around us and the blast of fire and broken glass. “Cain!”

I see him, slumped over in the passenger seat, Joe sprawled out on the pavement.

It would take two of me to drag a man the size of Cain away from anything. It looks like Joe is semi-awake, as he stumbles away from the billowing flames. I tug uselessly on one of Cain’s arms, but I can’t move him an inch.

“Wake up,” I sob, yanking on him with all my might. “I can’t carry you, Cain. Wake up!”

Even with the thrill of fear and adrenaline consuming me, I can’t move him at all. I sob freely, yanking at him. It’s then that I realize he isn’t going to wake up.

I have to get him out, or he doesn’t survive.

A huge, hulking, beast of a man watches in the shadow of the video arcade, screaming into his cell phone. “Salem Willows! Come quick, it’s gonna fucking blow!”

“Get over here and help me!” I scream. The guy stares at me, petrified. Why the fuck do people freeze in emergencies? Instinctively, I grab my gun from its holster and cock it and I am fully prepared to shoot. “Get the fuck over here and help or I’ll shoot you!” I scream.

He runs to me and grabs Cain by the arm, just as Skylar reaches us. I’m shoving my gun back in the holster when strong arms grab me from behind. I half-expect police to apprehend me and react by instinct when I see it’s someone I’ve never seen before. I deck his jaw, and his head snaps back.

The second he releases me, I grab my gun again. I have to help Cain, but this guy’s fucking attacking me. He lunges for me. I duck and slide my fingers in place around my gun, satisfied by the heft of it in my palm. “Get anywhere near me again, and I’ll fucking shoot you.”

“Not if I kill you first,” he growls. He spits on the ground beside me, his face contorted with fury, then throws himself bodily at me. I pull the trigger.

I never miss.

He falls to the ground with a thud. I don’t take time to check him. I don’t bother.

The shot I took is deadly…just like every. other. damn. time.

His body lays still in my peripheral vision as I turn back to Cain. He’s been pulled to the curb. I sag in relief.