Viola's Risk (The Twin Destinies Saga Book 2) (8 page)

When Sage lost contact with Dominic, he knew something was
seriously wrong. He put the vehicle he was driving into gear and floored it to
get to where Viola’s mate was supposed to be positioned for the mission.

Breaking away from the pack felt wrong but he wasn’t going
to let anything happen to the man his new sister was in love with.

Liam gave Sage a sharp look and opened his mouth to object
to Sage’s actions, but was cut off before he could begin.

“Something’s wrong. We need to get to Dominic and back him
up now. There is plenty of coverage on Angelica and the girls,” Sage said and
Liam knew from the tone, he was worried.

“This could be what Anna wants,” Liam pointed out to his
brother. “If we’re distracted by Dominic’s predicament, then the girls have
less backup and they’re easier targets.”

“I realize that. I also know that those are two very strong
girls who have a deep hatred for that woman, so if she does try anything,
they’ll defend themselves with everything they’ve got. Put together, they’re
stronger than everyone trying to protect them. Dominic doesn’t have that
advantage, therefore he needs our backup right now,” Sage told Liam in a tone
that should have told Liam not to argue with his brother further on the matter.

“That is my mate you are making vulnerable by doing this,”
Liam bit out, anger building inside of him for his brother’s complete disregard
of his mate’s safety.

“Your mate is stronger and more capable than you give her
credit for. She’s saved your behind more than you’ve saved and protected hers.
So sit back, shut up and think like the soldier you’re supposed to be, or I’m
going to drop you off right here and go do what I have to do. Then I’ll report
back to Thomas that you are too compromised by your feelings for Cora to do
your job properly,” Sage told his brother in a no-nonsense tone.

“You wouldn’t do that to me,” Liam said in a low shocked
voice.

“Don’t doubt me little brother. As important as Cora, Viola
and you are to the success of the prophecy, so is Dominic as Viola’s mate. We
have a duty to protect him as well. Get your head on straight right now,” Sage
ordered.

Liam sat back in the passenger seat stunned. He’d never
thought Sage would treat him this way.

Sage glanced over out of the corner of his eye and worried
he’d pushed his brother too far,
but he’d done
what he’d had to. Everything he’d told him was the truth. Since Liam had met
Cora, he’d become soft in all of his other duties, besides protecting her.
Thomas was beginning to notice and had mentioned it to him the day before.

Liam sat there stewing and looking out of the window. Sage
came to a screeching halt when a SUV pulled out in front of him and blocked his
path.

Sage, Liam and the few other guards that were in the car
pulled out their weapons and got them ready as they exited their vehicle and
began to walk over to the SUV blocking their path. They were extra cautious
since none of the doors opened at their approach.

The guards behind Sage and Liam fanned out and positioned
themselves at various points around the vehicle before the two brothers made
their final approach.

With no warning, the driver’s side door flew open and
Dominic stepped out of the SUV, a warning glint in his eyes. He wasn’t holding
a weapon but that didn’t matter since he was a part of their race.

“What are you doing Dominic? Everything alright?” Sage asked,
keeping his eyes alert and his mind focused.

“Where are the twins?” Dominic asked, but there was an edge
to his voice Sage picked up and the man’s emotions were warning him not to
answer that question with the truth.

“They’re safe.” Was all Sage said to him. Dominic’s posture
and behavior was lighting off all kinds of warning signals in both of the
brothers.

“You will bring them to me now,” Dominic told them in a
threatening voice.

“That’s not gonna happen,” Liam spoke up, fury and betrayal
in his voice.

“Why would we bring them to you?” Sage asked in a belligerent
tone.

“Trust me, you want no part of this. Just give me the girls
and we can all go about our merry ways. If you don’t, then I will have to hurt
you and go get them myself. Your choice,” Dominic said and Sage knew, without a
doubt, that Anna was lurking nearby. He tried his hardest to find her emotional
signature, but was having difficulty doing so. He knew she was blocking him,
but after their last encounter, he had a connection to her that made it so she
couldn’t completely hide herself from him.

“Do you really want to be doing the dirty work of someone
else?” Sage asked Dominic.

“I have my job the same as you have yours. It’s all about
survival,” Dominic said and moved his eyes to his left to indicate where Sage
should be searching for Anna. Liam frowned at Dominic, as he caught the eye
movement.

“If it’s all about survival, then you should consider
working for us. There’s no way Anna’s going to win this war,” Sage told him and
then smirked. “You don’t think she is gonna win, do you? If you do, you’re
dumber than I thought.”

“I don’t care who wins. I have a job to do that pays well.
Just give me the girls so I can hand them over and move on,” Dominic persisted,
even though Sage knew it was just an act. They could play out this standoff
forever or figure out a way to end it and capture Anna.

“Well, we’re not giving you the girls. You can fight against
us, or with us. It doesn’t matter to me. Either way, we’re still going to defeat
Anna and put things right,” Sage told him, shifting his stance so his team
would know they were about to move into action.

“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Dominic said and lifted
his hand to attack them. As he did so, Sage lifted his gun and shot him. The
bullet pushed Dominic back into the SUV and then he slid to the ground. His
team was already in motion to try to neutralize Anna in the direction Sage had
indicated with his body language.

As he took off after his team, Liam stayed behind to secure
Dominic.

The longer it took Thomas to get back to them, the more
upset Cora and Viola became. They’d seen Sage and Liam’s vehicle branch off
from the entourage way before the location that was set up to be the trap for
Anna.

“We need to turn around,” Viola said.

“No dear, we have to stick with the plan,” Angelica told her
daughter firmly.

“No, we’re going to the wrong place. It’s going down back
there. That’s why Sage and Liam left us,” Viola insisted.

“You don’t know why Sage and Liam broke off. Something could
have just caught their eyes and
they wanted to
check it out to make sure you were both safe,” Angelica told them and then
looked at her phone.

“Viola’s right, Mom. We need to turn around and go help
them. If Anna somehow got wind that we were setting her up for a trap, she’d
make sure she wasn’t where we’re expecting her to be. We need to go back and
help them,” Cora said, backing her sister up and worried about Liam.

“I am not taking you into the line of fire,” Angelica flat
out told them. “This is not your mission, you are simply the bait.”

“Either we turn around and go help them or I’m getting out
of this vehicle whether it’s moving or not,” Viola bit out, fury rising in her
at her mother’s stubborn resistance to anything she said.

“We are not turning around and you are not getting out of
this vehicle,” Angelica said in a stern voice.

“Watch me,” Viola said as she reached for the door handle.
Angelica reached out and grabbed Viola’s arm and yelled when she made contact,
immediately releasing her daughter.

“I am not joking. We either turn around or I am getting out
here,” Viola told their mother in a low warning growl. “We are not leaving them
behind unprotected.” Her hand was grasping the door release with a white
knuckled grip.

“We should just turn around Mom. It’s the right thing to do,”
Cora said, placing her hand on their mother’s shoulder. “Please don’t force
Viola to hurt herself to get to Dominic’s side.”

“We can’t turn around. Your father would be furious if I
took you both into the line of fire after everything we’ve done to get you away
from Anna and help you prepare for your destiny,” Angelica said, true fear
written all over her face.

“Nothing’s going to happen to us. Anna’s the one who should
be afraid,” Viola bit out. She was losing what little patience she had left.

“Neither of you have any training to protect yourselves,”
Angelica objected again.

“You know what, I’ve had enough.” Viola said and pushed the
door to the moving vehicle wide open. The guard driving the SUV slammed on the
brakes as Viola jumped out, before it was close to stopping. She heard Cora’s
terrified scream as she rolled down the embankment and came to a stop. She
jumped up onto her feet and began running back in the direction she knew
Dominic, Sage and Liam were.

As she ran, she heard footsteps chasing her and that pushed
her to run even faster. The squealing of the tires, as the SUV they’d been in
turned around, caught her attention as well. She cut through alleys and
buildings to try to lose her pursuers and reach the guys who needed her help.

The adrenaline pumping through her system prevented her from
feeling the pain she knew she’d feel later from her jump. She heard Cora
calling her name from a distance and pushed herself even harder. Glancing
around as she ran, she realized she wasn’t sure where she was at this point.

Remembering how Cora had found Liam when Anna had taken him,
she reached into her mind for the connection between her and Dominic to get
herself back on track. When she found Dominic’s vibration in her mind, she
realized she was a lot closer than she’d originally thought she was.

She rounded the corner and came to a full stop just as Sage
fired the gun and watched as Dominic fell back into the SUV and then slid to
the ground. The scream she wanted to let out got caught in her throat as Sage
and the other team members, except for Liam, all broke away and headed to the
building on her right.

“No, no, no, no, no,” Viola mumbled to herself as she stood
frozen, watching Liam lean over Dominic’s still body. “This can’t be
happening.”

She pulled herself together as she heard the SUV come to a
tire-squalling halt behind the one Sage and Liam had been in. As the doors
opened, she forced herself to move as fast as she could to Dominic’s side.

“Why Liam? Why did Sage shoot him?” Viola asked as she
dropped to her knees.

Liam looked up at her with shock, “You are not supposed to
be here.”

“Why? Because you all planned to murder my mate and you
didn’t want me around to protect him?” Viola asked, her voice rising to a
high-pitched scream.

She rose to her feet and began stalking towards the building
she’d seen Sage and the team enter. There was no way she’d let him get away with
shooting her mate.

“Viola, you need to calm down and stay out here,” Liam said,
standing and placing his hand up to try to stop her. She pushed his hand away
with an almost deadly look on her face and stepped around him.

“Stay out of my way Liam. I am trying not to hurt you
because you are Cora’s mate, but I will if you don’t back off,” Viola warned.
There was no mistaking the rage and hatred that was emanating from every pore
of her body. The sheer power behind her rage made the air around them vibrate
and pulse.

Cora came running up and blocked Viola’s path, “Don’t do
this Viola. You don’t know what happened here.”

“I saw enough,” Viola said and pushed her sister out of the
way, as well as two guards who came running up and made a grab for her. She sidestepped
their advance and searched her mind for a way to keep them from stopping her.
Without realizing it, she’d formed a shield around herself.

Two more guards stepped up and one raised a tranq gun,
“Don’t make us have to put you under to control you,” he said.

“I wish you luck with that,” she said and continued, she’d
almost reached the door to the building when the guard fired the tranq gun. She
watched in surprise as it rebounded off of the shield she’d created and landed
on the ground. The fear in the guards’ eyes, as they took a step back and out
of her path told
her just how much power she was
wielding.

She didn’t even have to open the door, it exploded as she
reached it, which she would have thought was pretty cool if she wasn’t so
pissed off.

Entering, she paused to listen to see if she could find
where they were in the building from the sounds, but she heard nothing so she
closed her eyes and used her power to search. She found other power signatures
on the upstairs level towards the back of the building.

“Viola, you need to stop now, before you do something you’ll
regret later,” Cora warned from behind her.

“You can either help me or go be with Liam, but I am not
stopping. I trusted him and look what he did,” Viola said and her rage level
went up another notch, which she hadn’t thought was possible.

“It’s not what you think Vi,” Cora pleaded with her sister.

“I know what I saw Cora. Leave me alone,” Viola said and
took off at a fast run up the stairs. She wasn’t listening to anymore of what
her sister had to say.

Viola could hear Cora running up the stairs behind her and
wished her twin would just back off. It’s not like it would be any different if
it had been Liam who’d been shot and Cora going after the shooter. She
remembered hearing about how Cora had attacked Anna single-handedly after the
evil witch had kidnapped and tortured her sister’s mate
. ‘If they thought
she’d been bad then, they had no idea what was in store now from her
,
’
Viola thought to herself with an evil smirk on her face.

She heard the all too familiar cackle of Anna’s laugh as she
approached the room she’d sensed the power signatures in.

“How nice of you to join us my dear niece,” Anna said, with
even more of her vile laughter, as Viola stepped into the doorway. “The party
was just getting started.”