Viola's Risk (The Twin Destinies Saga Book 2) (9 page)

Sage’s eyes grew wide in horror as Viola and then Cora
appeared into the doorway. The bodies of the rest of his team members were
scattered throughout the room, where Anna had dropped them without any trouble
at all.

“Party? What party? All I see is your evil destruction
everywhere. How about we put that to an end now?” Viola said, her voice so low
and full of rage that Sage was even more worried. He’d felt her reaction when
he’d shot Dominic, but didn’t have time to stop and explain to her what was
going on.

“Do you really think you’re strong enough to defeat me
without any training? You are a stupid, stupid girl,” Anna laughed again.

Viola didn’t say anything else and as Cora moved from being
slightly behind her to standing right by her side, the two of them together
unleashed their powers on Anna without warning.

Agonized screams filled the room as the attack hit Anna so
hard it slammed her against the wall and put a large crack in the drywall.
Anna’s body was frozen in pain from the torment the girls were inflicting upon
her.

“Don’t kill her!” Sage yelled to the girls. “We need to
interrogate her to find out what Camilla’s planning.”

Cora pulled back at Sage’s words but Viola continued her
barrage. She didn’t know why Sage would think she had any reason left to trust
him after what he’d done to her mate. In fact, when she was done with Anna, he
was next on her list.

“Listen to me Viola. I know what you think you saw,” Sage
said, but was interrupted by Viola.

“Think? I know what I saw Sage. I saw you shoot my mate. You
will pay for that,” Viola sneered.

“Dominic is not hurt or dead Viola. It was a part of the
plan. We had to make her believe he was dead as a part of the extraction,” Sage
told her, fighting to keep himself calm as she came closer and closer to
killing Anna.

“I just saw him Sage,” Viola ground out. “Do you think I’m
blind?”

“We had to make it look realistic. You have to back off and
let us take Anna in for interrogation,” Sage said, trying to reason with her.

“He’s right Vi. That’s why Mom couldn’t turn the SUV around
to bring us back here. You weren’t supposed to see that part of the plan,” Cora
told Viola and put her hand on her sister’s shoulder that was shaking from the
amount of power she was using.

“You knew about this?” Viola asked, turning her head to look
at her twin.

“Yes, as much as I didn’t want to, Dad made me swear I would
not tell you about it, even though I told them that not telling you was a
mistake,” Cora admitted. Viola could see how angry and upset her sister was
about being forced to keep secrets from her, but it didn’t make her feel any
better.

Viola dropped her attack on Anna and watched the woman slide
to the ground unconscious. After watching and making sure Anna wasn’t getting
up and sneaking out for the moment, she turned on her heel and left the room,
without saying a word to, or looking at, either Sage or Cora.

Sage went immediately over to Anna and began securing her
wrists and ankles and then threw her up and over his shoulder to carry her
outside.

“What about them?” Cora asked and swept her hand around to
indicate the fallen team members.

“We’ll send guys up here to help them,” Sage said as he
moved toward the door. “They’ll be fine.”

“They’re not dead?” she asked in astonishment.

“No, just unconscious, like Anna. Although, they’re in a lot
better shape than Anna is at the moment. We need to get her medical attention
before it’s too late. Let’s go,” Sage said and moved Cora out of his way with a
gentle nudge.

She followed him, worried about Viola and the members of the
team that were lying in that room. This ended up turning into a huge mess, even
though they’d achieved their goal of capturing Anna and extracting Dominic.

As they exited the building, several guards came up to Sage
and Cora and he instructed them to go collect their wounded and meet them back
at her parents’ compound.

When she saw Liam standing off to the side where Viola was
sitting on the ground holding Dominic across her lap with his head against her
chest, she took off at a dead run into his arms. She’d been so scared he’d be
hurt during this mission and seeing him unharmed was such a relief.

Thomas came stalking up, his fury washing over all of them.

“Get her to a prisoner medical suite and have her attended
to,” he ordered Sage before turning to the twins and their mates.

Viola didn’t even bother to look up at their father. Sage
could feel the low boil of fury simmering inside of her as he headed away from
the group and wished he had time to warn them all, she was a ticking time bomb.

“What happened here?” Thomas demanded.

When none of them spoke up to answer his question, Thomas
walked over and stood in front of Cora and Liam.

“I asked a question and I expect to be answered,” he said
through gritted teeth.

“What happened is what I told you would happen if you didn’t
tell Viola the entire plan. She sensed something was wrong and acted on it,”
Cora said, lifting her chin in defiance. “Maybe you should listen to someone
who knows her better than you do before you go putting plans into action that
affect her.”

“You do not talk to me like that young lady,” Thomas’ voice
boomed.

“Excuse me? You do not talk to us that way. You need us, not
the other way around. We could walk away from here with our mates and you would
be screwed, so I suggest you stop acting all high and mighty and show us some
respect. We’ve done nothing but suffer since you sent us to live with Patrick
and Anna. We’ve done our best to do everything you’ve asked of us, and all you
do is treat us like children. I’m sick of it,” Viola said, lying Dominic down
on the ground as gently as she could and standing to square off with their
father.

“You are children,” he bit out in response.

“No, we are the ones expected to save the world, so give us
credit for having the intelligence to do so.” Viola responded. “If you can’t do
that, then I’m leaving. I’m tired of being in the dark when everyone else gets
to know what’s going on. I am not stupid, and I can handle a lot more than you
give me credit for.”

“You are not going anywhere but back home to rest and then
begin your training,” Thomas said, pointing his finger at Viola.

Viola laughed at him as she glanced over at Liam and Cora.
“Hey Sis, what do you think? Have you had enough yet?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty old,” Cora responded with a smirk. She
knew her sister was bluffing, but agreed that the way they were being treated
had to change.

“Liam, take Dominic and get him to his room at the house
until he wakes up. Cora and Viola, you will come with your mother and I to the
house where we will have a discussion about all of this,” Thomas ordered.

“Nope. Not gonna happen,” Viola said and moved to block Liam
from getting to Dominic.

“That is exactly what is going to happen, Viola. Do not push
me,” Thomas ground out.

“Do not push you? Whatever. Don’t push me. When I said I’ve
had enough, I meant it. You may be the one in charge of this side of the war,
but you do not control me. I am not one of your soldiers whose strings you get
to pull. If you want my help, then I suggest you start treating me with the
respect that I deserve. You treat Cora a hell of a lot better than you treat me,”
Viola said, staring their father down.

Angelica walked up and stood beside Thomas. She looked
around at the tense faces and when she opened her mouth to ask what was going
on, Cora shook her head at her.

“You do not tell me what to do. I am your father and you
will show me that respect,” Thomas demanded, not giving an inch.

“Some father! You sent your twin daughters to live with a
couple that did nothing but abuse them their entire lives, and not once have
you apologized or tried to get to know us. The only thing you’ve focused on is
our training and winning this stupid war. We didn’t ask for this. You dumped
this in our laps. As far as I’m concerned, you can take it and shove it,
because unless you start treating us better, I’m done,” Viola yelled at him,
her anger getting the best of her.

“We should move this discussion back to the house,” Angelica
said in a gentle voice trying to defuse the situation. “That will give you both
the chance to calm down and talk more rationally rather than with your
emotions.”

“No. I am not going anywhere with you people, and neither is
Dominic, until I am promised things will change. I am sick of having things
dictated to me. First Patrick and Anna, and now the two of you. No more,” Viola
shouted.

Thomas opened his mouth to respond when Angelica put her
hand up to silence him. “I agree with our daughters. You have been a dictator
to them instead of a father. I’ve told you this in private, and now I’m telling
you in front of them. It has to stop. You are asking them to sacrifice
everything and put their lives on the line for us, without treating them the
way they deserve. If you cannot do that, I will take them somewhere safe until
you can get your head on straight to do what must be done for your family first,”
Angelica said and moved to stand between their daughters.

Thomas’ jaw dropped in shock. Never had Angelica threatened
to leave him during any disagreement they’d had in the past. He watched as she
stared him down along with the girls and Liam, not knowing what to do next.

As the stand-off between Angelica, Cora, Liam, Viola and
Thomas continued, Dominic groaned, waking up.

When Viola heard that noise, she moved onto her knees by his
side and helped him to sit upright.

“Are you alright? You scared the crap out of me,” she
worried over him.

He turned his head to look at her.

“You are a sight for sore eyes Beautiful One,” he said as he
rubbed his temples.

“What’s wrong? Dominic, are you alright? We need to get you
to medical,” Viola asked as she ran her hands over his face, shoulders, arms
and chest, checking for injuries that weren’t obvious before.

“Calm down, I’m fine. I just have a mild headache from the
tranq I took to make it appear I was dead to Anna. That will go away soon. Stop
worrying, please,” Dominic said as he caught her hands in his and held them
tight.

“Glad to see you’re okay,” Cora said and brought his
attention to her and the rest of the group standing above them.

“Thanks Cora. Where’s Sage?” he asked, noting that the one
person he’d expected to see waiting for him to wake up wasn’t there.

“He took Anna back to a prisoner medical room,” Liam replied
to his question.

“Medical? Did it get that bad?” Dominic asked, turning
worried eyes on Viola. “Please tell me you were not involved.”

“Oh, she was involved all right,” Thomas growled.

That was when he noticed the undercurrent of anger,
resentment and hurt making the air thick with tension.

“Okay, what’s going on Beautiful One?” Dominic asked with
true confusion. He didn’t understand why, if their mission was completed
successfully, nobody was celebrating. Taking Anna alive was a huge
accomplishment.

“Just a family disagreement,” Viola said and shot a dirty
look in Thomas’ direction.

Dominic pushed himself up to where she was standing and
wrapped his arm securely around Viola’s shoulders.

Viola helped to steady him as he wavered a bit due to the
lingering effects of the tranquilizer.

Angelica cleared her throat and turned an expectant look on
her mate.

“We’re still waiting on your response,” she told him,
irritation written all over her face.

“Angie, this is foolish,” Thomas said, throwing his hands in
the air in frustration.

“So it’s foolish for your,
our
, daughters to demand
the same respect you demand from them and everyone else?” Angelica asked,
disappointment evident in her voice.

Dominic looked around at each person in the group and
finally noticed the divide. Thomas was standing by himself while the rest of
them were clustered together as a unit.

What surprised him was seeing Angelica standing with the
group instead of at Thomas’ side.

“I guess we know what his decision is,” Cora said, a tear
slipping from her eye.

“I don’t believe this. I can’t believe you won’t meet them
half-way. You are a better man than this,” Angelica told him with a choked sob.

“I have no problem believing it Mom,” Viola said with a
sneer.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Liam said, placing the arm
that wasn’t around Cora, across Angelica’s shuddering shoulders and steered her
toward the waiting SUV.

“Stop this nonsense right now!” Thomas yelled at them.

Not one of them bothered to respond to Thomas acting like a
spoiled child as they walked over and loaded up into the SUV that had been
driven by Sage. They left him behind to stew in his own mistakes.

As they pulled away, Dominic really wanted to know what was
going on. He’d gotten the gist of it from what Angelica had said to her husband,
but if it was affecting Viola the way it was, he wanted to know for sure so he
could try to protect her.

Angelica lost it as they rounded the corner and she lost
sight of Thomas. Cora wrapped her arms around their mother and tried to soothe
her as best she could. Dominic could tell Viola felt horrible that her mother
was in such pain.

“I’m sorry Mom,” Viola said in a very sad voice.

“It’s not your fault darling. You did nothing wrong,”
Angelica choked out.

“If I hadn’t lost my temper the way that I had…” Viola
started but Angelica reached up and placed a finger over her lips to silence
her.

“You had every right to be angry my dear. I’m surprised it
took this long. Thomas can be a very infuriating man, but I love him. I did
warn him if he didn’t change how he was treating you that this would happen. It
won’t take him long before he contacts me. I will be fine, so please do not
worry about me,” Angelica said in a much stronger voice.

“Of course we’ll worry about you. You’re our mother even if
we’ve only known you for a short time,” Cora said, rubbing Angelica’s back.

Liam concentrated on driving as Dominic looked out of the
window, trying to give the three women as much privacy as they could in the
enclosed space of the SUV.

“I told him to tell you the whole plan Viola,” Angelica said
and her eyes pleaded with Viola to believe her. “I am so sorry my beautiful
daughter.”

“Please don’t apologize for a decision made by him. I know
you wouldn’t have kept it from me if it were up to you. I just can’t deal with
him ordering us around the way he does without any thought to how we feel about
anything,” Viola said and took their mother’s hands in her own.

“You are both such amazing girls. We both are truly proud of
the young women you’ve become despite the horrors you’ve had to endure in your
lives. That is true strength. I know you will succeed in fulfilling the
prophecy, just because you don’t know how to be defeated,” Angelica’s words
could not have been more heartfelt if she’d tried.

“Thank you Mom,” Cora said and hugged her again. “That means
more than you know to both of us.”

“Yeah, it does. Aw man, can we change the subject, I don’t
feel like crying right now,” Viola said as she brushed a tear from the corner
of one eye and then the other.

Both Angelica and Cora laughed and nodded.

Viola looked around at the scenery as it passed as Liam
finished driving them to whatever location they were going to. It was obvious
it wasn’t back to the house they’d been in the night before.