Viola's Risk (The Twin Destinies Saga Book 2) (5 page)

Cora’s heart was breaking as she watched the scene play out
before her. She now understood that Dominic was Viola’s mate and she had to
accept him as such. The last thing she ever wanted to do was push her sister
away because she couldn’t and wouldn’t accept her mate. Her twin’s happiness
meant as much to her as Liam’s did. She had to figure out something to help
keep them together.

Wracking her brain, she tried to figure out another possible
plan that would work, because she knew if Dominic left, Viola would follow him
and that would be a complete disaster for them all.

She looked at both Liam and Sage for help but neither would
meet her eyes. Angelica was watching Viola and Dominic with tears streaming
down her own face and Thomas was watching with painful sympathy. It was obvious
they were not going to aid her in figuring out a plan B.

“If Dominic goes back in, I refuse to train,” Cora told
everyone in the room before turning and marching out. She wasn’t waiting around
for anyone to try to change her mind.

She didn’t head to the room she shared with Liam or the room
she’d once shared with Viola. She didn’t go to the spot where Liam had taken
her for a picnic either. As she fled the house, the only place she could think
of to go, that might take them a while to find her while she tried to devise
another plan, was the amphitheater where their powers had been unbound.

Cora ran as fast as she could and prayed Liam respected her
enough to not lead them all straight to her. With that thought in her mind, she
began building a wall between the two of them so he could not find her as fast.

‘Forgive me. I love you,’
she sent to him through
their telepathic link before putting the final mental bricks into place to
block him out.

*****

Liam felt as if the whole world collapsed on him as he heard
Cora’s words in his head and felt their connection broken by the mental wall
she’d built. Everyone was looking at him and waiting for him to tell them where
she’d gone, but he couldn’t tell them.

Viola smiled at him and nodded her head in understanding.

“It’s okay Liam. She’ll be fine,” she told him as she
reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“What is going on? Where is she Liam?” Thomas demanded.

“She blocked our mental link so I can’t lead you to her.
She’s working on coming up with another way so Dominic doesn’t have to go back
in,” Liam informed him, feeling lost without his connection to Cora.

“Break through the wall,” Thomas ordered.

“Excuse me?” Viola said as she rounded on their father.

“You heard me. We do not have time for this. Dominic has to
be back by the morning and the two of you have to get started on your training,”
Thomas insisted.

“Liam, I swear to you if you disrespect my sister by
breaking through that wall, I will be worse than your best memory of Anna,”
Viola threatened her brother-in-law and smirked when she saw him shudder at the
memories. Even Dominic shuddered, which infuriated her more than she’d ever
thought possible.

“You do not override me young lady,” Thomas threatened her.
She could feel the fury radiating from him and found she didn’t care at all.
Even though Cora had started to forge a connection with their newfound parents,
she hadn’t yet.

She faced him fully and squared her shoulders, ready to do
battle. “Or what?” she said in typical teenage fashion.

“Honey, don’t do this,” Angelica pleaded. In one day it
seemed like the family she was trying to pull together was crumbling at her
feet and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

“Beautiful One, stop this. You can find your sister and we
can settle this. Do not start a war amongst your own family,” Dominic pleaded
with her but it fell on deaf ears.

“I asked you a question
Dad
,” Viola demanded.

“You do not want to know the answer to that question Viola,”
Thomas gritted out.

“I’m pretty sure I do, because the way I see it, you need us
too much to harm us or throw us out. You won’t harm Liam or Dominic in any way
because they are our mates and we need them to succeed if what you’ve told us
is the truth. Sage has nothing to do with this at all so you can’t do anything
to him. What’s left?” Viola said, crossing her arms across her chest in
defiance. She prayed she was buying Cora enough time to devise another plan.

Thomas started toward Viola as Angelica jumped to block his
path. “Leave us. Now,” she ordered as she did her best to stop Thomas’ angry advance.
Viola tried to stand her ground until Dominic picked her up and carried her out
of the room, despite her telling him not to.

Sage and Liam stayed close to them as Dominic carried her
away from the house toward what looked like a gazebo.

“Are you stupid?” he asked her as he set her down on one of
the cement benches that lined the interior.

“She must be to have just pulled that stunt,” Sage said in
disbelief.

“Either that or she’s got more backbone than the three of us
put together,” Liam said in amazement.

Viola just sat there with her arms crossed, refusing to
speak to any of them. All three of them were willing to just allow Dominic to
walk back into Anna’s web of deceit and torture without trying to come up with
another plan.

“Where’s Cora?” Liam asked her with such worry in his voice
she couldn’t stop herself from looking up at him.

“I’m not sure. I think I now understand why it took her so
long to find me after I’d been taken,” Viola admitted.

“The bond between mates is powerful Viola, but it can be
overcome if you can focus,” Sage told her.

“And what if I want to respect her wishes?” Viola persisted
in denying them.

“I just need to know she’s alright Vi,” Liam pleaded.

“Oh, I can tell you that with no problem. She’s worried but
other than that, she’s fine. Don’t worry Liam, Cora’s tough,” Viola did her
best to reassure him.

“If you can sense that much, then you can find her,” Sage
told her. It was like he was a dog with a bone.

“Not gonna happen Sage. Give it a rest,” she told him.

“You are stubborn. I can see why they were never able to
break you, no matter how hard they tried,” Dominic said with awe in his voice.

“It will take a lot more than that,” Viola said, her voice
filled with pride.

“Do you know the things Anna and Patrick did to them growing
up?” Liam demanded, his rage uncontainable.

“No, I don’t, but if you’re reacting like this, it had to
have been pretty awful. Also, knowing Anna like I do, they’re the strongest two
women I’ve ever met in my life to have come through it, not only alive, but as
undamaged as they are,” Dominic said facing Liam down.

“We’re stronger than that. Everything they did, made us even
stronger. We refused then to give in and we refuse now to let her beat us,”
Viola told them.

“Then tell us where Cora is so we can settle all of this and
get your training started,” Sage persisted like an annoying fly, that she’d
love nothing more than to squish at the moment.

“I’m right here, and I’ve got a plan,” Cora said as she
entered the gazebo with a wide devious grin plastered all over her face.
“Anyone want to hear it?”

“What are you talking about Cora?” Liam asked as he rushed
over to her side and wrapped his arms around her. He was so relieved to have
her back safe and sound.

“I have a way to keep Dominic from going back undercover
with Anna,” Cora informed them with pride. “I think it’ll work too.”

Dominic and Viola exchanged a look before turning their full
attention on Cora. Sage just sat back with his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“What do you have in mind Cora?” Sage asked her, worried
she’d get everyone’s hopes up with a plan that wouldn’t work.

“First, Dominic, do you have a way to contact Anna without
having to communicate face to face?” she asked him, becoming serious.

“Yeah, why?” he answered her, wary of where she was heading.
The last thing he wanted to do was hope for something that wouldn’t happen.

“I’m thinking, why should we wait around for Anna to attack
and have Dominic in constant danger of being discovered? Why don’t we set up
the ideal setting for Anna to attack, spur of the moment. Having almost no time
to prepare, she’s going to make mistakes and that will give us the advantage.
If we can stop Anna now, or at least cripple her enough to give us the time we
need to prepare for our birthday. What do you guys think?” Cora said with
pride. She knew there would be objections, but if they planned it out well
enough, they could extract Dominic and give themselves the time they needed.

“Anna is prepared for everything Cora,” Dominic told her
with doubt in his voice. “You can’t catch her unprepared.”

“You’d be surprised,” Viola chimed in, thinking. “We’re
pretty good at catching her off-guard. We’ve been practicing it our entire
lives.”

Cora’s grin grew as Viola backed her up. She didn’t trust
Dominic yet, but knowing Viola the way that she did, if they didn’t find a way
to keep him here, Viola would be in grave danger. Besides, giving her twin the
chance at the same happiness she and Liam shared made it all worth it.

“You are not putting yourselves in danger,” Liam said
through gritted teeth. He hated the direction Cora’s idea was taking them in.

“We would have plenty of protection. Besides, we’re both
pretty powerful,” Cora said without a doubt in her mind.

“You have no training in how to use those powers. You could
be putting others at risk,” Sage spoke up.

Cora rolled her eyes. Their objections were so predictable,
they were boring. It was quite obvious none of them knew the twins very well.

“I think this idea deserves a lot more discussion,” Viola
said as she squeezed Dominic’s hand in her own. The hope building in her was
shining bright in her eyes.

“No. I can’t agree to this,” Liam told them. “I can’t
support anything that puts the two of you in danger.”

Cora could feel the fear and worry oozing from every pore in
Liam’s skin. She could understand, but it was not something she could let get
in their way.

“I’m sorry Liam. This is something we’re going to have to
do. I would rather have you on our side, but whether you are, or you aren’t,
we’re going to do this. It’s more dangerous for Dominic to go back inside than
what we will be doing,” Cora told him, being strong, but feeling a stab in her
heart that they were divided in this.

“Don’t you think you should be running this idea by us
before you go deciding what you will or will not be doing?” Thomas asked as he
and Angelica joined the group.

The girls looked at their parents and the frowns on their
faces did not give them hope.

“We had every intention of letting you know what we’re planning,”
Viola said, standing up and moving to Cora’s side. They needed a strong unified
front to succeed in passing this idea through their parents.

“If that’s really the case then we’re listening,” Angelica
said, placing her hand on Thomas’ arm to keep him from flying off the handle
with the anger he was feeling. Their twin daughters frustrated him to no end.

“Here?” Viola asked, surprised. “You don’t want to go back
to your study so we can have more privacy?”

“What does privacy matter? It seems you’ve already been
discussing this idea out in the open,” Thomas asked them, angry.

“It needs a lot more refining and the details should be
discussed in private,” Cora said, confidence vibrating from every fiber of her
being. She was relieved that their father no longer intimidated her.

“Very well, we shall move to the study to discuss this, but
we want full disclosure. Do you both understand?” Angelica asked in a firm
motherly tone.

Both girls nodded and agreed before the entire group moved
inside the house and into the study to resume their previous conversation.

After everyone was settled, Cora stood and faced the group
as a whole.

“First, I stand by my original statement. If Dominic goes
back in, I refuse to train. That being said, everyone needs to hear my idea out
with more of an open mind than I know any of you, besides Viola and maybe
Dominic, are ready to give it,” Cora began, looking at Viola, Dominic, both of
their parents, Sage and Liam last. She knew that she had to be firm if any of
them were going to not just dismiss her and her plans.

“What are you thinking Cora?” Angelica asked with extreme
caution.

“Before she starts, I want to say that I will not train
either if Dominic goes back in there. I will follow him, because I know what
Anna’s capable of if she finds out she’s been betrayed,” Viola said, standing
and looking at each person in the room.

“That’s what I’m afraid of Vi. That’s why I came up with the
other way.” Cora said, looking at Viola with an understanding in her eyes that
nobody else in the room showed.

“You will not follow me Viola,” Dominic said, standing and
commanding her attention.

“Do you think you can stop me?” Viola demanded with her
hands on her hips. “Besides, I don’t take orders from you. You may be my mate,
but that doesn’t mean I’m going to lie down and let you control me. If that’s
what you think is going to happen, we’re going to have some major problems.”

Cora chuckled behind her hand at the surprise that lit up
Dominic’s face at her sister’s words.

“Don’t push me Viola. That is no place for you. The next
time she gets her hands on you, I guarantee you won’t be treated as well as you
were the last time,” Dominic warned in a low growl. “I am trying to protect
you.”

“You’ve got the wrong girl for that buddy,” Viola said, the
simmering anger in her building.

“Enough!” Thomas shouted in frustration. “You are all
behaving like small children. First we will listen to Cora’s idea. If it has
merit then we will fine tune it and put it into action. If it doesn’t, then
Dominic will go back undercover and you both will train. Is that understood?”

Both Cora and Viola looked at each other at Thomas’
statement and rolled their eyes with a small secret smile passing between the
two. Their father had another thing coming if he thought he could force them to
train if he sent Dominic back inside that demented woman’s organization.
Neither felt the major need to disabuse him of the idea that he could control
them just yet. Not before they had his cooperation.

“Dominic can contact Anna and tell her he’s spotted and is
tracking us. That will explain his absence and let her think she can capture us
while we’re setting up a trap for her. I see no reason to let her do her
plotting and planning when we can be proactive and set her up. At the very
least, we do enough damage to cripple her for a while and give us the time to
train with Dominic safely here with us. Best case scenario, we stop her now.
We’ll still have to deal with Camilla but something tells me they are not
working together,
so Dominic being on the inside
helps us none when it comes to her,” Cora said, sticking with just the facts as
she saw them. She watched Thomas closely for his reaction but he was giving
nothing away.

When she finished, everyone was quiet while they waited for
Thomas to speak. She was surprised when Sage and Liam didn’t speak up right
away to voice their arguments like they had out in the gazebo. The only thing
she could figure is they both expected Thomas to voice the same arguments and
shut her idea down, so what Thomas said next shocked them all.

“I think the idea has merit. It needs a lot of work and
planning though. Cora, Viola and Dominic will all be vital with their personal
experiences with Anna in planning and pulling this off. We need to get to work
immediately so we can put this behind us and get you trained,” Thomas spoke,
still deep in thought.

“Sir, I don’t think this is a good idea. The girls will be
exposed and in danger. Our job is to keep them safe and protected while they
train, until they’re ready.” Sage spoke up, seeing the fear and pain on his
brother’s face and feeling the same from everyone in the room, except for the
girls.

“I thought about that, but how much training are we going to
accomplish if they’re resisting us? How safe are they going to be if Dominic’s
on the inside, but can’t warn us in time before Anna attacks and gets her hands
on the girls? Cora’s right, if we’re proactive, we can focus more on their
safety and training.” It was obvious he was not happy with the situation as he
responded to Sage’s dispute, but nobody else spoke up to contradict Thomas’
decision after that.

Liam stood and stalked out of the room without saying
anything as the discussion began on how to best implement their plan.

Cora and Viola exchanged another silent look before Cora
turned and exited the room after her mate.