20

avid! Evonne’s mind screamed.
She took him like a worthless trinket plucked from a trunk of odds and ends. The insult wasn’t directed at Evonne, but rather her father. Yet she felt as though Saros had physically slapped her across the face.
Placing all thoughts for her safety aside, Evonne tore herself from the stairs and ran outside. Keelan ran after her.
Alex stared blankly at the front door, still in shock at what just happened. His eyes were fooling him, that was his only explanation. This wasn’t real. He looked up as Pax helped him to his feet.
“I have to get you out of here,” the hunter informed. Pax slipped away with Alex and made their way toward the office, barricading themselves inside.
The stalemate in the foyer lasted for a moment until the hunters took the initiative and continued to beat back the enemy. The vampires began to flee, but found the exits blocked by the hunters. They didn’t retreat in fear of the hunters; it was the fear Saros placed within them. Disobeying one of the Originals was a certain plea for death.

Running along the driveway, Evonne searched for David. Her legs seemed light and rubbery as she pushed them further, fueled by adrenaline and desperate gasps of air. It was David she was running for, needlessly punishing her body until her lungs and throat began to burn. She had to push herself, she had to find him.
The darkened gate appeared like a quiet sentinel, sealing her exit to paradise. David was beyond this steel structure. She could feel it. Grabbing onto the bars, her emotions caught up with her, thrashing relentlessly in the midst of her defeat. David was gone.
Evonne pulled on the bars, shaking them without any result.
The rain started the fall.
“Bring him back to me! You can’t have him!” Evonne yelled. “Bring him back,” she choked out, the force behind her words lifting. David… not David. She can’t have him. She doesn’t deserve him! Tears formed in her eyes, mixing with the rain.
Keelan stood behind her and waited.
Evonne gave the gate a few more violent shakes before giving up.
“Angering her solves nothing,” he finally said.
She turned around, the anguish visible on her face. “He was like a brother to me. Someone who was always there looking out for me. And she took him away!” Evonne returned to the gate and furiously struck the bars.
Keelan grabbed onto her shoulders and eased her away. She fell to her knees, defeated once more. The tears flowed easier now as he held her in his arms.
The rain became steady, pouring through the trees, and finally striking the ground and driveway. A few more flashes of lightning and thunder rolled overhead.
Evonne looked at remaining blood on her hands. “Oh God,” she whispered. “His really gone.”
“Don’t cry for him,” he said.
With a mind numb to all thought, Evonne could form only one sentence. “I don’t want to go back.”
Keelan glanced in the direction of the house. He could hear the fighting pick up once again. Soon the hunters would take control of the house and turn their efforts toward securing the grounds. It was apparent that they should leave before anyone realized Evonne was missing.
He helped her to her feet. “We have to get out of here,” he said, looking around. Several guards lay throughout the area, their bodies gutted by the werewolves’ claws and teeth. He then spotted two vehicles near the guardhouse, both dark grey Chevy Trailblazers. Keelan guided Evonne to the vehicles.
“Wait,” she said, pulling away from him. “We have to get the gate open first.” She headed into the guardhouse and began to search. “There should be some type release, some type of fail-safe.” Evonne’s frantic searching led her to a metal box near the floor. She opened it and found a red coated lever. With a quick tug she heard a pop below the guardhouse and a loud clank from the gate.
Keelan rushed over to the gate and rolled the heavy structure open. He then headed for the nearest vehicle, checking to see if it were unlocked.
There came a light jingling sound as Evonne ran up to him, carrying a set of keys. She handed them to him.
Shuffling through the keys, Keelan found that none of them worked. He then went over to the second vehicle and tried the keys once more. The door opened. Climbing in, he unlocked the passenger side door.
After Evonne pulled herself into the Trailblazer and closed the door, the vehicle moved onto the driveway and away from the estate. Looking back, she felt her heart being torn. She would miss her father and the security the house gave her, yet she yearned for something more, something her father nor the house could never give her.
Evonne settled into her seat and tried not to shiver. Her clothes had become soaked by the storm, dampening her skin beneath. She reached for the controls and fiddled with the heat. It helped some, but as she shifted in her seat, the irritating cold returned to her clothing.
Thoughts of David returned to the forefront. Could she have done something different? If she had helped him into another room, then perhaps Saros would have found someone else. But no amount of thoughts and replaying of the scene could change what had happened. David was now lost to her.
Keelan drove west. For someone who had lived in one place her whole life, everything was unfamiliar to Evonne. Where was he taking her?
When the glowing, golden dome of the Capitol Building came into view, she easily figured out where they were. Charleston. The Capitol dome was a welcoming sight, appearing ominous yet inviting among the surrounding buildings. It had been years since she was last in this city. She was a child then, and was accompanied by her father and bodyguards.
As Keelan drove through the city’s many streets, Evonne wondered what he was searching for. He finally parked behind a black Jeep Commander.
“Wait here and lock the doors,” he said.
Evonne nodded.
Keelan left her alone as he walked down the sidewalk. The storm had already swept through the area, leaving the streets to glisten under the city lights. A few cars passed, their loud music booming even within the Trailblazer. Evonne knew that she’d be facing a culture shock, but she didn’t know on how many different levels it would reach.
After ten minutes of waiting, she saw Keelan walking back with someone. Evonne narrowed her eyes. She had seen him before. Gabriel. He headed for the Jeep and got in. Keelan returned to the Trailblazer.
Evonne held her tongue as he pulled back out onto the streets with the Jeep following close behind.
The next part of the drive wasn’t as long as the first. Keelan drove along a winding road that was covered in old, embedded gravel. He then headed off the road and into the woods until he was certain that the vehicle wouldn’t be spotted.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“We have to ditch the car,” he said, turning off the engine. “Your father might have some way to track it.”
She silently agreed.
Abandoning the Trailblazer, they walked back to the Jeep waiting for them on the road. Evonne opened the back, passenger side door. The only two seats in the vehicle were for the passenger and driver, the others were stripped out and replaced with a custom floorboard. She quickly closed the door and sat down next to a couple of large duffel bags. She remember what David said about Gabriel and how he hunted werewolves. The bags undoubtedly carried guns or other weapons of silver.
Evonne felt the cold return as she huddled in the back and began to shiver. Moments later, she heard the telltale sound of the heat coming on. Vampires didn’t take to temperature changes like humans or lost body heat the same way. Even in the Trailblazer, she never once saw Keelan shiver against the cold. This led her to wonder if the Jeep’s heating element had ever been used.
As the drive ended, Evonne peered outside to see a familiar Victorian style house. The Jeep pulled into the driveway and stopped to let Keelan out. He hurried to the garage and opened the large door. The Jeep rolled forward.
Evonne listened as the engine turned off and the garage door rolled shut. Her stomach knotted. This was really happening. She was really going through with it.
Exiting from the Jeep, Evonne was the last walk into the house. The place was as she remembered it, stale air and all. Keelan didn’t forget to light the oil lamp for her this time.
“You have to get out of those wet clothes,” he advised her.
Evonne agreed with a shaky nod.
He guided her to the sofa where he helped her remove the damp clothing. The time for modesty had past. She was just thankful to be warm and dry. The only thing she left on was her underwear. She was cold, but not cold enough to strip completely.
Evonne felt a comforting blanket surround her. She sat down on the sofa and pulled the blanket tight. Someone knelt before her, taking her hands into theirs. Evonne looked up to see Gabriel cleaning the dried blood from her hands with a dampened cloth.
“It’s not mine,” she said weakly. “It’s David’s.”
Gabriel said nothing as he continued to clean her hands.
Searching the room for Keelan, she found him laying her clothes over a chair to dry. He then sat her holster on the floor next to the chair.
She wanted someone to speak, to end the small bout of silence. But neither spoke. Evonne remained quiet as well. Her reasons were obvious. Within the silence she began to think of David and what was happening to him, knowing that nothing she imagined came close to the truth. She wanted to cry.
As Evonne became lost in her thoughts, she heard Keelan and Gabriel speaking in the other room. She strained her ears to listen and found Keelan explaining the events from earlier. His words became distant as she curled up for extra warmth. She closed her eyes.
Sleep came easy this night, with an hour’s time passing as quick as a minute. She then felt someone lightly urging her awake.
Evonne opened her eyes to see Keelan kneeling beside her.
“The sun is coming up,” he whispered. “If you get hungry, there may be something in the kitchen. At sunset, I want you to go with Gabriel for a couple of days. I’ll met up with you then.”
“Why can’t I stay here?” asked Evonne, her voice groggy.
“Zachary knows that you’ve been here, and he knows that you will be with me. He might tell your father where to find you.”
“But he told me to go with you.”
“To get you away from the fight, that’s all. When things start to settle down, we’ll figure out where to go from there.”
“The ocean,” Evonne remember. “I would like to see the ocean.”
Keelan gave her a small smile. “Then that’s where we’ll go.” He stood and exited the room, heading downstairs to the den.
Evonne thought about seeing the ocean and walking barefoot on the sand. The sound of the crashing waves echoed in her mind, as though she could hear them within the darkened room. It was something to look forward to. A new distraction.