“What do you expect me to say to her that I haven’t already said?” Finn asked, sounding surprisingly helpless.
“So you’re saying we leave her here?” Duncan asked dubiously.
“I am right here. I don’t really appreciate the way you keep referring to me like I’m not,” I said.
“If she wants to stay here, then she’ll stay here,” Finn ignored me. Duncan shifted and glanced over at me. “We’re not going to kidnap her. That leaves little in the way of options.”
“Can’t you like…” Duncan lowered his voice and fiddled with the zipper of his jacket. “… you know, convince her somehow?”
Word of Finn’s affection for me must have spread through the compound. Aggravated, I refused to let my feelings for him be used against me.
“Nothing is going to convince me,” I snapped sourly.
“Do you see?” Finn motioned towards me. Sighing, he got to his feet. “We should be on our way then.”
“Really?” I couldn’t hide the shock in my voice
“Yeah. Really?” Duncan echoed.
“You said there was nothing I can do to convince you? Has that changed?” Finn turned to me. His voice was hopeful, but his eyes were almost taunting. I shook my head firmly. “Then there is nothing left to say.”
“Finn-” Duncan started to protest, but Finn held his hand up to him.
“It is as the Princess wishes.”
Duncan looked skeptically at Finn, probably thinking that this was some sort of trick, much as I was. There had to be something I wasn’t getting because Finn wouldn’t just leave me here. Sure, that’s exactly what he had done a few days ago, but that’s because leaving then was what he thought was best for me.
“But Finn-” Duncan tried again, but Finn waved him off.
“We must go. Her ‘brother’ will notice us soon,” Finn said.
I glanced at my closed bedroom door, as if Matt would be lurking right there. The last time Matt and Finn had a run in it had not gone well, and I was not eager to repeat the experience.
“Fine, but…” Duncan trailed off, realizing too late that he had nothing to threaten either of us with. He gave me another quick bow. “Princess. I’m sure we’ll meet again.”
“We’ll see,” I shrugged.
Duncan climbed out my bedroom window, practically falling onto the roof. Finn went behind him, helping Duncan through the window so he wouldn’t accidentally kill himself.
After Duncan was out, he half-jumped half-fell off the roof. Finn watched him apprehensively for a moment, holding my curtain open, but he didn’t follow after immediately.
Instead, he straightened up, looking over at me. My anger and resolution were fading. Part of me believed that Finn wouldn’t really leave things this way.
“Once I’m out this window, lock it behind me,” Finn commanded. “Make sure all the doors are locked, and never go anywhere alone. Never go any place at night, and if at all possible, always take Matt and Rhys with you.” He looked past me for a moment, thinking of something.
“Although neither of them are really good for much of anything…” His muttering trailed off and his dark eyes rested on mine once again. His expression was imploring, and he raised his hand as if he meant to touch my face, but he lowered it again. “You must be careful.”
“Okay,” I promised him.
With Finn standing right in front of me, I could feel the warmth of his body and smell his cologne. His eyes were locked on mine, and I remembered the way it felt when he tangled his fingers in my hair and held me so close to him, I couldn’t breathe.
He was so strong and controlled. In the brief moments he allowed himself to let go of his passion with me, it was the most wonderfully suffocating feeling I’d ever had.
I did not want him to leave, and he did not want to leave. But we had both made choices we were unwilling to change. He nodded once more, breaking eye contact, and then turned and slid out the window.
Duncan waited by the tree, and Finn dropped gracefully to the ground. Duncan still didn’t want to leave, and Finn had to convince him to move away from the house.
When they reached the hedges separating my lawn from the neighbors, Finn looked around, checking to make sure no one was there. Without even looking at me, he and Duncan turned and disappeared.
I closed the window, locking it securely the way he’d said to. I felt a terrible ache watching him go. Even though he had done this kind of thing before, I couldn’t wrap my mind around Finn really leaving and convincing Duncan to leave me too. If he was so concerned about the Vittra, why would he leave me so unprotected?
It finally dawned on me. Finn had never left me unprotected, no matter what I or anybody else wanted. As soon as he had realized I wasn’t going with him, he hadn’t wanted to waste any more time arguing. He would wait in the wings until I changed my mind or …
I shut the curtains tightly. I hated being spied on, but I also found it strangely comforting that Finn was watching over me. After having my window open for so long, my room felt chilly, so I went over to my closet and pulled on a heavy sweater.
The adrenaline rush from seeing Finn had left me wide awake, but I was looking forward to curling up in bed, even if I wouldn’t be able to sleep.
I settled into my bed, trying futilely to forget about Finn. Within minutes, I heard a loud banging downstairs. Matt let out a yelling sound, but it was cut short, leaving the house in total silence.
I jumped and ran to my bedroom door. With shaking hands, I opened it, hoping that Finn had tried to sneak back in and had a misunderstanding with Matt.
Then I heard Rhys screaming.
3. Insentient
Rhys had stopped making a sound. I had barely taken a step out of my room when I heard footsteps pounding up the stairs, and before I could react, she was there.
Kyra, a Vittra tracker I had dealt with before, appeared at the top of the landing. Her dark hair was in a pixie cut, and she wore a long black leather jacket. She hung onto the railing, crouching down. As soon as she saw me, she sneered, showing much more teeth than any human would.
I rushed towards her, hoping for the element of surprise, but I was out of luck.
She dodged before I got close and sent a swift kick flying into my abdomen. I stumbled backwards, gripping my stomach dramatically, and when she came at me again, I punched her.
Kyra didn’t even take a moment to be stunned. She returned the blow much harder, hitting me in the face. When I fell down, she stood over me, smiling, with blood dripping from her nose from where I’d punched her.
I scrambled to my feet, and she grabbed my hair, yanking me up. I kicked at her as she lifted me, and she rewarded my moxie by kicking me so hard in the side, I cried out. Kyra laughed at that and kicked me again.
This time I saw white and everything faded out for a moment. My hearing got wonky, and I barely hung on to consciousness.
“Stop!” A strong voice was shouting.
When I blinked open my swollen eyes, I saw a man running up the stairs towards Kyra. He was tall, and beneath his black sweater, he was well-muscled. Kyra dropped me to the ground when he reached the top of the stairs.
“It’s not like I can really hurt her, Loki,” Kyra said, her voice bordering on whining.