Viola's Risk (The Twin Destinies Saga Book 2) (18 page)

Everyone in the room waited with impatience for Thomas to
make his decision. Viola was furious that the only person on her side in this
matter was Cora. How in the world they expected her to be alright with Dominic
going into that place and trying to manipulate Anna, was what she didn’t
understand. Every one of them, except Sage, had their mates so they should all
understand.

Frustration built up inside of her to the point where she
started tapping her toe on the carpet to release some of the energy, before she
ended up losing her temper and giving them the ammunition needed to keep her
from going in as Dominic’s backup.

It seemed like forever before Thomas stopped and looked at
the room. He took a deep breath and looked at the twins.

“Although it goes against my better judgment as your father
and a leader, Viola and Cora are right. We need them along as backup because so
far, they are the only ones to have had any success in defeating Anna. Liam,
you will keep a close watch on Cora to make sure she’s alright and Sage, you
will do the same with Viola, while all four of you cover Dominic. It will be
tricky, but we need this information from her. We also need to know if Patrick’s
telling the truth about being Anna’s mate. If he’s not, he can be a valuable
tool to use in this war,” Thomas said and put his hand up to halt the arguments
coming his way from the males in the room

Viola and Cora smiled from ear to ear with their father’s
backing. They knew there were huge risks involved in doing this, especially for
them since they had very little training and experience using their powers, but
they were risks each of them were willing to take.

“I am not debating this any further. Sage, Dominic, Liam, I
know each of you have your concerns about my decision and I assure you, I share
them. I also know that if I had told them they couldn’t go and sent Dominic in
anyway, they would find a way to get down there anyway and the situation would
get out of control, which gives Anna an opportunity to try to escape. This
decision was not made lightly,” Thomas said, his voice and face grim. “That
said, I am trusting the two of you to follow your orders and not put yourselves
in unnecessary danger.”

Viola and Cora nodded their heads in agreement, it was all
they could think of to do, since they’d won this argument and it was only fair
they agree.

Everyone settled down to plan after that. Sage kept giving
the girls disapproving looks, with Dominic and Liam following suit. Angelica
looked proud and worried at the same time. Thomas had his business face on that
betrayed none of his emotions or thoughts on what they were discussing.

After mapping out the entire plan, Cora looked up and asked,
“When are we doing this?”

“We go in about an hour,” Sage replied with no further
comment.

Both girls’ eyes got huge at that statement.

“So soon?” Viola asked in shock.

“What? Are we interrupting a nail appointment or something?”
Sage snapped back. “If we are, please don’t let us stand in the way, go keep
your appointment and let the rest of us handle the mission.”

“Excuse me?” Viola snapped, standing up and glaring at Sage.

“You heard me just fine,” Sage replied, standing face to
face with Viola. He was trying to push her buttons so she’d lose control of her
powers and Thomas would be forced to keep them off the mission and safe.

“What’s the matter Sage? You didn’t win the battle to keep
us off the mission so now you’re gonna take it out on us? Think again. We’re going
and there’s nothing you can do to stop it,” Viola said and sat back down,
picking up on Sage’s plan. She gave him a smug smile as she crossed her legs
and leaned back into the couch.

Viola winked at Cora, who then relaxed back into Liam’s arms
and not giving Sage the response he wanted, which frustrated him. He needed to
keep them out of the danger zone.

“Sage, there will be no more comments like that one. That is
enough,” Thomas ordered. He was disappointed the girls did not fall for Sage’s
trick, but proud of them at the same time. They were learning how to control
their tempers and emotions so their powers did not get out of control, even
though their training had not yet begun.

“Yes, sir,” Sage replied with a bitter note in his voice.

“Very well done my dears,” Angelica said softly to the girls
with a proud smile on her face.

“Thank you,” Each of them murmured to their mother, pride
from their mother’s compliment making them beam.

“Now, each of you go get dressed and meet back here in an
hour. We will go over the plan one more time and then you will follow it to the
letter,” Thomas instructed them as they rose and left the room to change and
gather what they would need, although it wasn’t much since they weren’t even
leaving the property.

Dominic followed Viola to her room. She stopped just before
opening the door and turned to face him.

“Whatever it is you’re gonna say, don’t waste our time or
your breath. I’m going and that’s final,” Viola told him, pinning him in place
with a dead stare.

“Look, I understand why you feel the need to do this, but
you need to think of the consequences of Anna getting her hands on either you
or Cora. That could be devastating. Please don’t do this,” Dominic pleaded
anyway.

Viola’s look softened as she reached up and ran her hand
down the side of his face and then cupping his cheek.

“I have to. I am done being afraid of her. She’s used fear
to run my entire life until now. That is over. Now Cora and I are stronger than
she is and can finally stop her before she can hurt anyone else. That is bigger
than protecting you, myself or Cora. She has to be stopped and being in prison
is not enough,” Viola said, understanding for his concern and pleading for his
understanding all wrapped up in her voice.

“The two of you have stopped her. I am only going to gather
information, she can’t hurt me down there. If she could have, she would have
done it when she’d sensed me there the first time,” Dominic said, begging Viola
to reconsider.

“No she wouldn’t have. She needs you to get out of that cell
and she knows it. She will do whatever it takes to convince you to let her out
and then she will hurt you. That is how Anna works. I’ve lived with her my
entire life, believe me, I know. There is nothing you can say that will make me
change my mind on this. It will go smoother if you stop trying,” Viola said,
dropping her hand and entering her room, closing the door behind her before
Dominic could say anything else.

Dominic growled in frustration at how stubborn Viola was. He
heard Sage chuckle from the top of the stairs and turned around.

“What’s so funny?” Dominic demanded.

“I know that frustration. I’ve seen Liam battle with it
since he’s met Cora. Trust me, those two don’t get any easier to handle so you
might as well learn to deal with it,” Sage advised as he moved away from the
stairs, heading towards his own room to get ready.

“That didn’t stop you from trying at the meeting,” Dominic
argued.

“I tried to get them to lose their tempers and lose control
of their powers. There’s a difference. Once their minds are made up about
something, you’re out of luck. Especially when they agree,” Sage said, patting
Dominic on the shoulder as he walked past. “I feel for you man.”

“Yeah, fat lotta good that does me,” Dominic groaned and
headed downstairs to his own room to prepare.

When everyone was ready, they reassembled in Thomas’ study
and went over the plan one last time, which took only a few minutes.

“One last question, do either of you even know how to use a
gun?” Dominic asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“Heck yeah we do! Long story, but we figured it was better
to know to protect ourselves, before we knew about our powers, than to be
defenseless,” Cora said with a shrug as if it was nothing. Viola grinned at her
mate when she saw the surprise written all over his face at Cora’s bombshell.

“You do what you gotta do,” Viola said and shrugged, then
crossed her arms across her chest.

“You two are gonna be the death of me. I swear you are,”
Liam said, rolling his eyes and heading for the door. “Let’s get this show on
the road already.”

He headed out and everyone followed suit except for Thomas
and Angelica who remained where they were, watching the group and praying
they’d all come back unharmed. Anything that had to do with Anna, had the
potential to go horribly wrong.

Everyone was in their positions, with the twins at the most
accessible points so that if Dominic needed them, they were right there.

He took a deep breath and entered the corridor where Anna’s
and Patrick’s cells were located just a few doors apart. They were busy arguing
when he entered this time.

“You betrayed me,” Anna screamed.

“I had no reason not to,” Patrick said, cool and collected,
even though he was in the middle of an argument.

“You had every reason not to,” Anna screamed back.

“I am so sick and tired of you ordering me around. That is
all you’ve ever done since we’ve met. You ordered me to go out with you the
first time, then to pretend to be your mate, and every other miserable,
despicable, horrible thing I’ve ever done since I met you. It’s over Anna. This
isn’t even a true mating,” Patrick replied, disgust in his voice.

Dominic just stayed back and listened. They were giving him
quite a bit of information and he was recording it all. No sense in making his
presence known yet when he could possibly get everything he needed without
doing so.

“You are worthless. I should have listened to my mother when
she told me you weren’t worth the time of day,” Anna spat, fury filling her
words.

“It would have made my life a whole lot happier if you had,”
Patrick replied, earning a furious screech in response.

“I’ve given you everything,” she screeched

“You’ve given me nothing but misery and heartache. I’ve
hated myself since the day I met you. The only good thing I’ve done since I met
you is keep you from killing those girls. At least I can sleep at night because
of that,” Patrick replied with a sneer. He’d held back quite a bit from what
Dominic could tell, but Anna was pushing him to lose his cool.

“You couldn’t have protected those girls from me if you
wanted to. Your powers are weak, just like you are. I didn’t kill them because
I had plans for them and still do,” Anna replied with a haughty laugh.

“Still do huh? What are you gonna do from here, watch them
fulfill the prophecy?” Patrick replied and laughed with true amusement.

“Oh, I’ll be out of here long before that happens. Dominic
will be back to get me out of here. I have no doubt about that whatsoever,”
Anna cackled happily.

Patrick laughed even harder at her words. Dominic even had
to crack a smile at how delusional Anna truly was at this point.

“You believe he would come back for you after everything
you’ve done to him? I’m sure he’s long gone by now. If he’s not, then he’s a
bigger fool than I gave him credit for,” Patrick said, laughter still filling
his voice at Anna’s claims.

“That boy owes me for everything he’s got and he knows it.
He will be back to free me, mark my words,” Anna told Patrick with confidence.
Dominic wondered how well Anna even knew him if she believed that load of crap,
but then that might just be how he could get her to talk to him about her
plans.

As he opened his mouth to clear his throat and announce his
presence since Anna had been too busy arguing with Patrick to sense it on her
own, Patrick said something that stopped him in his tracks.

“Are you ever going to tell him that his parents, sister and
brother are still alive?” Patrick asked in a curious tone.

“Who? Dominic? Why in the world would I tell him that? He
works much better thinking they’re dead,” Anna sneered as if Patrick were the
dumbest person in the world.

Dominic’s brain stopped focusing on the plan and kept
swirling Patrick’s words about his family around in his head. He didn’t know
how they could possibly still be alive. He wondered where they’ve been all of
this time if they were alive and if they had even tried to get back to him,
regretting sacrificing him to Anna’s mercy and bidding.

“Focus Dominic! We can figure all of that out later,
right now we need to stick to the mission. I promise, I will help you find your
family.”
Viola’s voice filled his head with love, compassion and urgency.
Snapping back to the situation at hand, he was glad he was recording everything
because it was obvious he’d missed quite a bit while his mind had wandered to
his family.

Before announcing he was there, he decided to try to catch
up and learn anything else before doing so. He listened for a few minutes and
realized they must be done arguing because Patrick was now silent and Anna was
muttering to herself so low he couldn’t understand a thing she was saying. He
hoped they could amplify her words and make sense of them later when they
analyzed the recording.

He took a moment to gather his thoughts and form a plan,
before stepping forward like he was sneaking in.

“Anna,” he whispered loudly.

Both Anna and Patrick went completely still and silent, so
he called out again in a loud whisper as he got closer to their cells. “Anna,
where are you?”

“Here. I knew you’d come. Get over here and let me out now,”
Anna called out, evil happiness in her voice.

“Foolish boy. Stupid, foolish boy,” Patrick muttered.

Dominic ignored Patrick’s words
because,
unless Patrick could read minds, he knew the man had no clue he wasn’t here to
rescue Anna, but to gain information for the other side.

He pretended to rush over to Anna’s cell and try to open it.
He positioned his body so Patrick couldn’t tell he wasn’t trying at all and
made a big production of it for Anna’s sake.

“I can’t get it. I don’t have the right tools with me,”
Dominic exclaimed in a loud whisper.

“Go get them and come right back,” Anna demanded.

“I can’t just go get them and come right back. Do you know
how hard it was to get in here in the first place? It will take some planning
to get back in here.” Dominic whispered in a fake exasperated tone.

“How could you not bring the proper tools? I know you
scouted ahead, I sensed your presence yesterday even though you didn’t answer
me when I called to you,” Anna said, furious at his lack of response.

“Did you want me to give myself away? There were guards
nearby, if I had answered you, I would be in here with you right now instead of
trying to get you out,” Dominic told her.

“Hmph,” was all Anna said in reply to his statement. It was
obvious she didn’t like being told something that made her look like a fool,
which he’d done.

“Look, I can’t do anything to get this open right now. Is
there anything you need me to do before I come back to get you out?” Dominic
asked her, sounding ready to do her bidding as soon as she issued the orders.

“Get me out of here and we will put my plans into motion,”
Anna snarled.

“That will waste time. While I am planning my trip back to
get you out, I can get things started for you so they’re already in motion and
you won’t have to wait long after you get out,” Dominic said, putting away the
fake tools he’d pulled out when he’d pretended to try to unlock the cell for
her escape.

“You were so incompetent you didn’t bring the proper tools
with you to release me, what makes me think you’re competent enough to put my
plans into motion?” Anna snapped.

“I am sorry I let you down Ma’am. I promise I will never do
so again. You can trust in me to get done what you need,” Dominic said,
pretending subservience when all he wanted to do was throw up.

“Let me think. I don’t know if I trust you to handle this.
These are big plans that need to be tended to in just the right way,” Anna
said, drawing it out. He could already tell she was going to give him an
assignment. She just had to add the flare of drama to it like she always did.

He already knew how to play this role, since he’d done it
from a young age, and stepped right into the part with ease, even though it
disgusted him to do so.

“Anything. I will do anything you require of me. All I ask
is that you forgive me for messing up your rescue,” Dominic pleaded, bile
rising up in his throat.

“Then this is what I need you to do. And you’d better do it
exactly how I tell you to do it or you will suffer in more ways than you can
possibly imagine,” Anna declared, the venom in her tone making Dominic shudder
against his will. Her sheer vile hatred contaminating everything around her,
making Dominic himself feel tainted.

He nodded his head at her, “I’m listening,” he said, and
paid close attention to every horrible detail she outlined for him to do.