Viola's Risk (The Twin Destinies Saga Book 2) (22 page)

Thomas and Angelica were the only ones in the dining room
when Cora entered alone and took her seat at the table.

“Where’s Liam dear?” Angelica asked, a bit surprised.

“The last time I saw him, he was in Viola’s room where I
left him,” Cora snapped and began loading her plate up with food, not bothering
to wait for anyone else.

“What was he doing in your sister’s room?” Thomas asked in
an odd tone.

“He came to talk to me because that’s where I slept last
night,” Cora said before taking a bite of the biscuit she’d smeared butter and
honey on.

“Why did you sleep in Viola’s room last night?” Angelica
asked, her eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

“What’s with the twenty questions? Aren’t we here for
breakfast before we start training again?” Cora asked after she swallowed. She
poured herself a cup of coffee and took a sip of it before continuing to eat
her food. She didn’t miss the worried look between her parents at her rude
dismissal of their questions, but she didn’t much care at the moment.

Viola came in a few minutes later with Liam following close
behind her. She took her seat and loaded her plate up without saying a word to
anyone. Liam sat down, but only poured himself a cup of coffee and sipped at
it. The dining room was quiet except for the sounds of the two girls eating
when forks or knives scraped plates.

It wasn’t until they’d finished eating that Viola finally
commented on the lack of Dominic and Sage at the dining table.

“Where are they?” she asked, placing her fork and knife down
on her plate and looking at Thomas.

“They had something to do, they’ll be back around lunch
time,” Thomas stated with a hard look at both girls.

“What did they have to do?” Cora asked, still not caring if
she was being rude or pushing anyone’s buttons. Hers had been pushed way too
much at this point and it was time that she started pushing back.

“That is none of your concern,” Thomas told them, crossing
his arms over his chest.

“It is my concern since it is my mate we’re discussing.
Where is he and what did he have to do with Sage that they couldn’t be here for
breakfast?” Viola demanded, placing both hands on the table with a thud that
rattled all of the plates, silverware and glasses.

“What missions I send them on are not your concern and I
don’t have to check in with you before issuing orders young lady,” Thomas
declared, narrowing his eyes at his daughter in warning.

“You know what, tell me, don’t tell me, I could really care
less at this point. I’ll find him on my own,” Viola responded and pushed her
chair back from the table, standing and exiting the room without looking back
at anyone. Cora followed without hesitation. She had a sinking feeling Sage and
Dominic had gone off to stop Anna without them and if that was the case, she’d
wring both of their necks with her bare hands.

“Both of you get back here right now!” Thomas roared in
anger.

Neither girl responded as they left the house. Viola headed
straight for the gazebo she liked to clear her mind and think in. Cora walked
beside her, knowing where her twin was headed without having to ask.

“We need to work fast because they’re going to try to stop
us,” Cora warned Viola who already knew this as she paced back and forth in the
gazebo.

“I know, I need to figure out how to locate Dominic through
our connection,” Viola gritted out through her teeth in frustration.

Cora explained what Angelica had taught her when she’d had
to find Liam. Viola followed her sister’s instructions without hesitation. It
took only a couple of minutes before Viola’s eyes flew open with fear and
horror in them.

“What?” Cora demanded.

“Oh no,” Viola breathed out.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on? Where are they?”
Cora persisted when Viola didn’t offer up any information.

“We can’t do this on our own. We’re going to need their help,”
Viola said, looking straight into Cora’s eyes.

“Do what?” Cora asked again, fear and frustration building
in her at Viola’s lack of information.

“Save them from Anna. She’s got them both,” Viola whispered,
tears building in her eyes.

“I thought she was still in the prison?” Cora asked
confused.

“I did too, but she’s not anymore,” Viola said and began
running for the house.

“Vi, wait,” Cora called out as she chased after her sister.

“There’s no time. She’s got them in that machine Dominic was
telling us about right now. We’ve got to hurry.” Viola yelled back over her
shoulder as she leaped up the stairs to the porch and threw the front door open
with a loud bang.

“What is the meaning of this?” Thomas demanded, furious.
“Don’t you ever walk out…”

Viola cut him off before he could get very far into his
tirade.

“Anna has both Dominic and Sage and they’re being tortured
right now as we speak. After she’s done with that, she plans on putting them in
the maze Dominic designed to drive them insane like she had planned for both of
us and Liam. We’ve got to go help them and there’s no time to waste,” Viola
declared out of breath. By the time she was done, she was gasping for air.

Thomas and Angelica looked at each other with worried faces.
They knew without a doubt the girls had listened to the recording even though
they didn’t know how they’d gotten their hands on it.

“Dominic and Sage are fine. They are well trained in what
they do…” Thomas began trying to reassure the girls, sure their imaginations
were just overreacting to what they’d heard on the recording.

“Really? You need to stop treating us like we’re little
children. Never mind, we’ll go save them ourselves. This is a waste of time,”
Cora said as she turned back toward the door. Viola was moving with her, years
of practice putting them in sync with each other without hesitation.

“I’m coming with you,” Liam declared from the dining room
doorway. “You’ll need the help.”

Neither Cora nor Viola paused as they walked through the
front door to acknowledge Liam’s statement, but they didn’t close the door
behind them which was their way to telling him they weren’t refusing his help.
He rushed through the door with a glare at Thomas and Angelica, who stood there
stunned.

As they got into the SUV, Viola gave Liam directions. Before
they were even out of the drive, three more shiny black SUVs joined them, which
told the girls that their parents were at least sending backup with them, if
they weren’t in one of the SUVs themselves.

Cora smiled a grim smile at the sight and turned back around
to face forward.

“The three of us have to be extra careful going in there.
She wants us specifically. She also knows we’ll come after them,” Viola warned
Liam and Cora even though both had already thought the same thing in their
heads.

“Stupid men. They wouldn’t be in this position if they had
just met with us after breakfast like we’d planned, to map out a plan, instead
of trying to handle her on their own. I know neither of them are weak, but
she’s powerful and has no conscience, which makes it worse. What were they
thinking?” Cora ranted, angry at the two men who tried to play heroes for them.

“What I want to know is how she got out of the prison and
managed to trap them?” Liam asked in confusion and worry.

“Oh, well, that’s easy enough to answer. Idiot, Dominic went
in and got her out. From what I got from our connection, they helped her escape
with the plan of Dominic killing her at the first opportunity, but she managed
to trick them and then overpower them when they weren’t expecting it. Just
because she was tied up, they let down their guards, which gave her the
opportunity. Fools,” Viola grumbled in response to Liam’s inquiry.

“It’s hard for me to believe that Sage or Dominic let down
their guards around Anna. Neither of them are that cocky, especially around
someone as dangerous as she is,” Liam responded with a worried look in the
rearview mirror at the girls.

“Anna seems to have a way of convincing people to do things
she wants them to do even if it’s against their nature to do such things,” Cora
commented thoughtfully.

“I’ve noticed that too which is why they should have waited
for all of us before going in there with a half-cocked plan, which backfired on
them.” Viola said through gritted teeth. She was terrified for them both.

For the rest of the ride, they worked through their plans to
infiltrate Anna’s torture chamber, hoping to reach Sage and Dominic before she
set each one loose in the maze of insanity, as Viola was beginning to think of
it from the pictures she was glimpsing in Dominic’s mind.

“Can you drive any faster?” Viola asked with impatience.

“Not unless you want to get pulled over and detained by
human police Vi,” Liam said with understanding. He wished the ride would go
faster too. His brother was in severe danger. Their parents would kill him
themselves if he didn’t save Sage. If he didn’t take care of it himself before
they could get to him.

Cora caught onto Liam’s dark thoughts and put a reassuring
hand on his shoulder. When he glanced over at her for just a moment, she gave
him a sympathetic smile. She’d gone through the same thing when Viola had been
kidnapped by Dominic and taken to Anna, so she knew how he was feeling.

Viola sat back and closed her eyes. She was trying to
monitor the situation Dominic and Sage were in through the agony Dominic was
projecting in waves. It was difficult and she now truly understood why Dominic
felt the way he did about himself. She didn’t feel the same way about him, but
she didn’t have to live with herself for creating something that caused such excruciating
pain. She also didn’t have to live with the fact that she created a maze
designed to break someone’s mind to the point where they’d never regain their
sanity ever again.

She tried to communicate through their connection that they
were on their way to save them and that she forgave him for what he felt was
unforgivable and loved him anyway. Viola sent as many soothing and loving
thoughts and feelings to Dominic that she had in her heart to send him to help
him endure Anna’s cruelty.

When they finally reached their destination, they unloaded
from the SUV and filled in Thomas, Angelica, and the rest of the guard that had
been brought with them on what they had planned. For once, Thomas kept his
mouth shut and deferred to the girls and Liam.

After receiving their instructions, the men and women of
Thomas’ guard fell into their positions, deactivating the booby traps Anna was
quite fond of and taking up positions around the perimeter.  Cora, Viola, Angelica
and Liam stayed in their SUV while the guard did what they had to do, lead by
Thomas.

Every second that passed put Viola on edge more and more
causing her to fight against her powers taking over. She figured, if anything,
this was a great training exercise on controlling her emotions and her powers,
instead of letting her powers control her. Taking deep breaths in and out, she
steadied her inner turmoil and gained the control she was seeking.

Smiling a little at her victory, a wave of agony from
Dominic wiped that triumph away. She did maintain a small bit of pride when she
didn’t lose the control she’d gained though.

A knock on the driver’s side window alerted them that it was
time to join the rest of the team. Without wasting a second, Liam, Cora and Viola
jumped from the vehicle, prepared to do what they had to do to save Sage and
Dominic from Anna. Angelica was the last one to emerge from the vehicle.

“Based on the number of traps around this place, I’d have to
say you were correct when you said this is one of Anna’s places. How she got
out of our prison, I don’t know, but I will make sure to find out so it doesn’t
happen again,” Thomas admitted, surprising the girls that he would admit he
might be wrong.

“Let’s go bring our boys home safe and sound,” Angelica
said, resting her hand on Thomas’ arm. “Everyone be careful. Anna will take
every opportunity she can get to prevent you from fulfilling your prophecy no
matter what. Be on guard at all times.”

“We will,” Cora and Viola promised as they all took their
positions.

Even though the mission had been planned en route, everyone
moved as a cohesive unit. They infiltrated with very little problems, subduing
anyone who stood in their way. When they reached the torture chamber was when
things got tricky. Sage was not there anymore even though Dominic was.

As planned, even though Viola wanted to run over and release
Dominic from the machine herself, she and Cora stood guard, because they were
the strongest and the most likely to be able to handle Anna if she showed up in
person, while Liam and Thomas released Dominic from the machine.

It took everything Viola had in her to keep her focus away
from Dominic’s condition and on her task at hand. She was equally worried that
Sage was no longer in the machine. When Liam and Thomas carried Dominic over by
where Viola was standing guard she turned to look at him. What she saw ripped
her heart into pieces, but she had no time for that at the moment.

“Where’s Sage?” she asked frantic. They were not leaving
there without him, in her mind that was not an option.

“Too late. Maze,” was all Dominic could manage to get out
before he lost consciousness.

“We’ve got to get him medical help. Don’t go in there,”
Thomas ordered as he and Liam took off with Dominic.

After the three men had left the room, Viola and Cora looked
at each other. Neither had to say a word to know what the other was thinking.
They were not leaving Sage behind under any circumstances, so that left them
with only one option, to enter the maze themselves and get him out against
their father’s orders.