Styx's Storm (Breeds 16)

She almost grinned at the thought. Who could have imagined that she, who had believed she hated Breeds for so long, could crave one's kiss?

But a part of her had always known it hadn't been Breeds in general she hated, but the fact that they were the reason her father had died. Protecting them had meant more to her father than protecting his daughter had. The knowledge of that had hurt.

Pulling the edges of the denim shirt closer about her, she stared out the barred window and watched as the Breed guards moved closer to position.

She bit her lip as she felt her throat tightening with emotion. Tears threatened to fill her eyes as she fought the instinctive need to stay rather than to run.

She had no business here, she told herself.

The longer she stayed, the closer she was coming to risking a part of herself she had never risked in her life. Her heart.

Styx was coming dangerously close to making her love him.

Her breath hitched as a sob caught in her chest.

She was not going to cry.

She was going to run, and she was going to hide until she could figure out what the hell she was going to do with the information her father had given her.

One thing was for damned sure, she couldn't keep it any longer. She couldn't risk her own life for something she was beginning to believe to the depths of her soul her father would have wanted the Breeds to have.

As the two Enforcers crossed the line she had marked with her line of sight over the past evenings, Storme moved.

Within seconds she was slipping out the front door and closing it silently.

The natural borders, trees and greenery that the Breeds left for privacy and seclusion worked to her advantage now.

With her gaze trained on the ground, she sidestepped the monitors built into the stone pathway that led to the narrow graveled road, and ducked beneath the motion sensor cameras.

Moving low and fast, she skirted the trees, crossed the road at a fast run then entered the forest as sirens began to sound behind her.

She must have missed a sensor or a camera, she thought. How unusual. She had always been able to detect the traps laid for her thoroughout the years.

As Styx had said before, she was growing weak, soft.

She didn't bother to look behind her, didn't bother to attempt to see if she was being followed. Her only chance lay in keeping as much distance between her and Styx and the Enforcers as possible.

The farther she ran from him, the harder it became to hold back the tears, or to keep her breathing even enough to allow her to run.

Her vision became dazed and watery, her breathing short, choppy, as she fought back a regret that threatened to overwhelm her.

She didn't want to run from him.

She didn't want to leave, and she didn't want to stay to have her heart ripped from her chest.

She didn't want to ever lose anyone else she loved.

She stumbled, almost going to her knees at the thought.

She couldn't love him. She wouldn't allow herself to love him.

She cared for him. That's what it was. She cared for him and she wasn't used to caring for anyone. Other than Gena, she'd had no friends; they made her vulnerable. They frightened her.

Bracing herself against the trunk of a tree, she wiped her face and looked up as lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the trees, and the rain began to fall in a hard, steady downpour.

How perfectly fitting, she thought as she drew in a hard, ragged breath and stared around the darkened night.

She could still hear the sirens blaring behind her and knew the Breeds already had teams scouring the forest. They were growing closer by the second and she was just standing there.