William steps over her. “You really are Damien’s girlfriend. No one would have the audacity to say what the Merjyet line would or wouldn’t do.”
“He loves me and would do anything to have me back,” Kayla snarls. “Which means he’ll kill you in the end, and he’ll probably make it quite painful.”
“You think I am afraid of Damien? I’m not, not even close.”
Kayla moves and is unable to hold back a scream as pain shoots through her.
“Hold still, Miss,” Trin urges.
“Shut up, you witch.”
“Just shift,” William sighs. “Enough of the Kiej is out of you. I can’t give you anymore right this moment. Just know that we can shoot you faster than you can get to me.”
Kayla moves her leg. “I thought that was just if you got hurt while shifting.”
“No, for a laceration like that, shifting will help you heal.”
“Laceration? You left a gaping hole in my leg!”
“Technicalities,” William waves her comment aside. “Just shift.” With a groan, Kayla closes her eyes and changes. She shakes her head as she sits up on her haunches. The security guard and William both hold up guns against her. “A lioness! That is what you chose? I will shoot you where you stand.”
Kayla quickly shifts back. “I just pick random things. I don’t give it much thought.”
“Look at your leg,” William instructs.
She stands up and looks down. “It’s healed,” she confirms. Crossing her arms, Kayla asks, “Can I have some clothes, or is this a free underwear modeling show for everyone?”
“We didn’t have time to grab you clothes,” William retorts sharply. “You can wear a dress shirt that I have in here.”
“Ewww, gross, I don’t want to touch anything of yours.”
“I bet you like wearing Damien’s things.”
Kayla laughs. “Yeah, because it’s been on his killer body. I don’t want anything to do with your body.”
“Then deal with being nearly naked.”
“Whatever, give me a dress shirt.”
William smirks and walks over to a closet. “We will be landing in about ten minutes, so you can sit in a chair until then.” He tosses her a shirt and she puts it on.
“I liked it better when she was in her underwear,” Alexander whispers.
William decks him in the face. “You don’t say a word about her.”
Alexander rubs his chin. “Yes, sir.”
“He can admire me in my underwear if he wants. I’d rather him gawk than you.”
“No man will see my wife naked,” William growls.
“So I can’t post naughty pictures of myself on the Internet?”
He points his finger at her. “Stop it.”
“Whatever,” Kayla sighs as she sits down. William sits opposite her. “How long have we been flying?”
“I’m not going to tell you,” William declares. “I don’t need you to know where you are, and there’ll never be a message sent to your family again.”
Getting up, Kayla yells, “I didn’t say anything. Jackson did. My parents need to know that I’m okay.”
“You should have thought of that before you activated your tracking device.”
She flops back down in her chair. “You’re a piece of work. What happened to not hurting me, anyway? You sure hit me like you mean it.”
“I’m sorry for that, but you deserved it. You should’ve known there would be a punishment for your behavior.”
“Did your dad hit your mom? Is that where you got it from?”
William narrows his eyes. “My father would never strike my mother. He loved her too much.”
“So you’re just sadistic on your own then.”
“I am not sadistic. I’m just determined to get what I want.”
“I get to look forward to a life of being beaten. Wonderful,” Kayla mutters.
William leans forward. “You won’t have to worry about that again because you don’t have anymore tricks up your sleeve.”
“I’ll kill you if given the chance,” Kayla states with a huge smile.
“Good thing you won’t get a chance then. You will be a good little wife.”
Kayla raises an eyebrow. “I don’t cook or bake, and you can pick up after yourself, because I won’t do it. Plus, I will never sleep with you, so again, have fun with your hand.”
He taps his fingers together. “I would love to be able to court you appropriately. I think you would like me more.”
“You aren’t even my type,” Kayla yells. “Damien. Jackson. They are the type of guys I go for—super-hot, super intelligent.”
“I am intelligent,” William counters. “Obviously I am, if I’m pulling this off.”
Kayla glares at him. “You’ll fail. I promise you that.”
A smirk passes over William’s face. “You silly girl, you have no idea what you’re in for.”
“Yeah I do, a loveless, unhappy life.”
“Mmmm,” William hums. “You’ll see the light.”
“Whatever,” Kayla says, staring out the window. “There isn’t going to be any light. I can guarantee that.”
William rolls his eyes, but doesn’t say anything else. The pilot announces their descent a minute later. “I’m going to blindfold you.”
“Why? I’m not going to be communicating with anyone. You’ll shoot me and knock me out if I try to run. Blindfolding me is pointless.”
“I thought maybe you would like to be blindfolded,” William purrs, coming over to her. “One day you’ll let me do this for fun.” He takes a cloth and ties it over her eyes. “There you go, my dear.”
Kayla gives him the finger. “Don’t call me dear. You can only call me Kayla.”
“I’ll come up with some little pet name for you one of these days.” William sighs. “And you’ll like it.”
Annoyed, Kayla just shakes her head. “I’ll cringe every time you say it.” The pressure in the cabin changes and her ears pop.
“We’ll be on the ground momentarily. I’ll have Patrick carry you.”
“Take the blindfold off and I can walk.”
“Nope, sorry.”
From the overhead speaker they hear, “Master William, we have an aircraft approaching to the right of us.”
“What?” William’s face fills with rage as he pulls his arm back and slaps Kayla across the face. “This is your fault. People will die now, and I can guarantee it won’t be my crew.”
“No, please. Don’t hurt anyone!”
“Too late, darling.” William laughs. “I will show you how far I’ll go to make you my wife.”
Kayla reaches out blindly, her fingers clutching at him, her family’s safety her only concern. “I will marry you! I swear I’ll marry you.”
“You’re just saying that,” William growls. “Nothing you do will stop me from taking down the guards.”
Kayla whips off the blindfold. She leans over to William. “I’m telling you the truth. I will marry you. Just don’t hurt anyone.”
William narrows his eyes. “I don’t believe you.”
Even though it makes her want to vomit, she leans forward and kisses him. William freezes for a minute and then kisses her back. “I will marry you and have your children, but only if you don’t harm anyone. Knock them out with the tranquilizers and then we can leave,” Kayla whispers.
“Deal,” William counters. “Now come here.” He pulls her down for another kiss.
“No,” Kayla states strongly. “I’ll only do it after I know you don’t hurt anyone. It’s my security.”
William runs his thumb over her lips. All that does is remind her of Damien and Jackson. Her chest tightens and it makes her want to cry. William eventually agrees. “Fine, deal.”
With a heavy heart, Kayla nods and sits down. “I’ll put this back on,” she murmurs, tying the scarf around her eyes.
“That won’t be necessary,” William smugly says. “Since you’ll be mine, I’ll let y
ou see where we’re going. You were right in what you said, you won’t be able to communicate with anyone. Well, maybe in a few years. Once I know you are truly my wife.”
“Yeah,” Kayla exhales.
A little while later, the plane hits the runway. William stands up. “We need to make this fast. The pilot is going to park us in a building. I need you to run. There are underground tunnels that we’re going to use to get to a car.”
“Okay,” Kayla mutters as she stands up.
The plane comes to a stop. Alexander is quick to open the door. “Come on,” William instructs. “Run.”
They sprint down the steps of the plane and across the tarmac. When they get into the building, Kayla notices it’s an airport hanger. “It’s this way,” William states. He starts to pull her to the opposite wall.
“Sir, there are guards coming out of the aircraft,” Alexander shouts.
Throwing Kayla behind the plane, William pulls out a gun. “Get down,” he growls.
Kayla ducks down just as the first shot fires. Balls of light hit the plane and William darts out of the way. More gunshots explode around them. William dodges between the plane and the wall, looking for a clear shot. Kayla covers her head, hoping she stays out of the line of fire.
“Give her to us, William,” a voice commands.
Her heart drops. She darts out from her hiding space behind the plane, her feet guiding her toward the voice. She sees seven people. Five are on the ground, unconscious. One of them is Jackson. “Jackson!” she yells.
The next voice she hears is Damien’s. “Kayla, are you okay?”
Her eyes flicker to his. “Yes.”
Damien starts to walk toward her, holding some type of weapon. William points his gun at Damien. “Move again, and I will shoot you.”
“I’ll shoot you first,” Damien retorts. “I’ll kill you where you stand.”
Alexander appears behind Damien. “I don’t think so,” he says as he shoots Damien in the neck.
Screaming, Kayla starts to run over to him. She only gets a few feet when she feels a sharp pinch in her neck. Instantly, she falls to the ground.
When Kayla comes to, she is tied to a chair. Her eyes frantically look around. Five security men are gagged and tied up in the corner. They have IV drips in their arms. Tears swell in Kayla’s eyes when she sees Jackson and Damien tied up in chairs. They, too, have IVs in their arms. “Damien! Jackson!” she yells.
Damien groggily looks over at her. “Are…are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Kayla exclaims. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”
“Only a little bit,” William says from behind her. “I did have to find their tracking chips and take them out. We put them all on a plane to a far-off place. It will take the remainder of the guard a while to get here because they’re going to be chasing the chips.”
“Let them go,” Kayla growls in anger. “You said you weren’t going to hurt anyone. That was our deal!”
Waving his hand at Jackson and Damien, William says, “I have done nothing else to them.”
“What’s in our arms?” Damien asks.
“A special serum,” William replies.
From beside Damien, Jackson shakes his head and opens his eyes. It takes him only a second to find Kayla. “Kayla! You’re alive! Are you hurt?”
“No,” she cries. “Are you?”
“I said they were fine,” William snaps. “They only have the incisions where I took the chips out.”
“Why aren’t we leaving?” Kayla spits out. “Just take me and leave them be.”
Damien struggles against his restraints. “No! Kayla, you can’t go with him.”
“Oh, but Damien, she’s going to my wife, you pathetic boy. She even agreed to it. Right, my dear?” William asks, trailing a finger down her cheek.
“As long as no one gets hurt,” Kayla agrees, forcing herself not to flinch away from him. “We can leave right now.”
William taps his chin. “No, I was trying to think of something sinister to do to the Merjyet line.”
“Why? It’s the Caster family that you have a problem with. Leave Damien alone.”
“He threatened to kill me. I don’t take kindly to that.”
“And I will kill you one way or another,” Damien declares. “Why don’t you untie me and we can go about this like real men?”
Snorting, William says, “I know how good of a fighter you are, and I will not fall for that act. I can’t let you out of your restraints, sorry.”
“Let me out of mine,” Kayla pleads. “I’m not going to do anything.”
“So you can run to the man you love? I don’t think so. I have a better idea. We’ll make them pay for screwing up my plans.” He walks over to the plane and climbs inside.
Kayla pulls on her straps, trying to free her hands. “I can’t get out of them,” she yells.
“Stop, Kayla,” Jackson demands. “We’ll get out of here. Don’t hurt yourself.” She looks at him and starts to cry. “Babe, don’t cry,” he says softly. “This will turn out all right, I promise.”
“It will certainly turn out all right for my dear fiancée and me,” William declares as he comes back out of the plane. Kayla’s heart drops when she sees what’s in his hand—a long sword.
“What are you doing with that?” Kayla shouts.
“Has no one gone over with you how to kill one of our kind?”
Kayla shakes her head. “No.”
“There are a few points on the body that will do it, but the major one that you can’t recover from is beheading,” William states matter-of-factly. He saunters over to his hostages. “Let’s see…who shall I start with?”
“Kill me,” Jackson snarls.
Kayla jerks up straight in her chair. “Shut up, Jackson!”
Damien interjects, “No, kill me. Then you will cement your own death, because everyone of our kind will be looking for you.”
“How about no killing.” William takes the sword tip and runs it across Damien’s chest. “Maiming would work too.”
“No, please stop!” Kayla cries out. “I’ll do whatever you want. We can leave right now, and I will never contact them again. Please, just don’t hurt them.”
William chuckles. “I’m not stupid enough to actually hurt Damien.” He turns to Jackson. “But I will hurt you. You’re the one who sent her the hidden message. You messed up everything.”
“I don’t care,” Jackson spits out. “I’ll do whatever it takes to get her home. If you have to kill me, so be it, but Kayla won’t be leaving with you.”
“You really don’t have a choice in the matter, though killing you does seem like a stellar idea.”
“Leave him alone,” Kayla shouts. “I swear to God, I will destroy you if you do anything!”
With an evil smirk, William walks over next to Jackson. “She seems to care about what happens to you. I’m a jealous kind of guy and don’t like that very much. Kayla, my dear, say good-bye to your friend. Hopefully this will teach you a lesson.”
“No, please, no!”
William swings the sword back. “She wishes you well in the afterlife, Jackson.”
“NO! WILLIAM, STOP! PLEASE!” Kayla screams. “I LOVE HIM. PLEASE, DON’T HURT HIM!”
Everyone turns and looks at her. “What did you just say?” William asks.
The strong realization runs through Kayla. “Please, don’t hurt him,” she whispers.
“No, not that part, the part where you said you love him,” William retorts. “Like, friend love?”
She meets Jackson’s eyes. “Yeah, friend love.”
“Not a good enough reason,” William snickers. He brings the sword up again.
“No!” Kayla shouts. “No, I love him. I am…in love…with him. Please, don’t! I will do whatever you want. I’ll have your baby right now.”
William sighs heavily and sets the sword down. “Kayla, Kayla, Kayla, you just secured his death.”
“No, please, don’t,” Kayla plead
s.
Walking over to Damien, William says, “If you love Jackson then it’s all right for me to kill Damien.”
“No! You can’t hurt either of them. I’ll leave with you. We can go anywhere. I’ll have as many babies as you want and do whatever you want. Just leave them alone!”
“Do you love Damien?” William inquires with a grin.
“Yes,” Kayla answers. “Just leave them be.”
Stepping between the two guys, William turns from one to another. “She loves both of you. Aren’t you lucky? One of you has to die, so how do I choose?” After a second of silence, William looks at Kayla. “Whom do you love more?”
“What?” Kayla breathes out.
“Simple question. Whom do you love more? Are you in love with both of them? Answer the question honestly, or I will kill them right here, right now.”
“I can’t do that,” Kayla cries. “Don’t make me answer that.”
William looks off to the side. “No, you must choose, my dear. You answer and I kill one, or you don’t answer, and both die.”
“Kayla, just tell the truth,” Damien whispers, looking down. “We know what the answer is.”
“Damien,” she whimpers back.
He looks up at William. “She’s in love with Jackson, not me.”
“Is that true?” William asks, looking back at Kayla. “Are you in love with Jackson?”
Kayla looks at Damien. He just nods his head slightly and then looks away. Jackson matches her gaze. With tears running down her face, Kayla says, “Yes, I love Jackson.”
“Good to know,” William says, pulling back the sword.
“NO!” Kayla screams. “I’ll never forgive you!”
William groans. “Enough of the screaming. I have to think of something horrible to do to the both of them.”
“No killing. There has to be something other than physical harm,” Kayla pleads.
William looks at her and then down at Jackson. “Do you love her?”
“Don’t answer that,” Kayla snaps. “It doesn’t matter how he feels. I know that I love him and that’s all that matters.”
“I think it matters,” William retorts. “So, Jackson, do you love Kayla?”
Fire ignites in Jackson’s eyes as he looks at her. “Yes. I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe from you.”