Cora's Kismet (The Twin Destinies Saga Book 1) (9 page)

After describing everything Viola communicated to her and
telling them where she was being held, Cora leaned back against the seat and
closed her eyes again. It had been just over 24 hours since her life had
changed in such a drastic manner and she needed a few minutes to try to sort
everything out in her head with more desperation than she’d ever felt before.
There was something bothering her, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was.

She recapped everything that had happened in her mind. None
of it was sinking in. ‘
It’s going to take forever to even begin to believe
all of this. Nothing is as I believed,’
she thought to herself. She felt a
gentle touch on her knee and opened her eyes.

Angelica was leaning toward her, with a concerned look in
her eyes. “Are you alright?”

“Yes... No... I don’t know. I’m just so confused right now,”
Cora responded, with complete honesty. There was no sense in lying to her.

“I’m sure you are with everything that’s happened. We’ll get
Viola back and then focus on getting everything settled in your lives again. I
have the utmost faith that you both will find your way again. I am so proud of
you, and Viola, I want you to know that,” Angelica told her with love filling
her voice.

“Settled? That’s not one of the words I would have ever used
to describe my life,” Cora responded with a sarcastic snort. She saw Angelica’s
body flinch at her cold words and watched as sadness filled her eyes with tears
that went unshed.

“Well, it should have been. Those who have mistreated you
will pay. You will not be mistreated again, I can promise you that,” Thomas
said with a simmering rage. Cora didn’t understand why he was so furious. It
wasn’t like he was the one who’d had to go through what she and Viola had. She
brushed it off, thinking maybe she’d understand later. She wasn’t going to
worry about it now.

“That’s life,” Cora said with a shrug.

“That’s not how
your
life was supposed to be,”
Angelica responded.

“Why? Because you said so? Because of some prophecy? Life is
hard, period. You face what it throws at you and you either survive or you
don’t. We happened to have survived,” Cora said without emotion, her voice
sounding hard even to her own ears. She was so overwhelmed by everything that
was happening, she was starting to feel numb inside. She missed Viola and Liam
with such a vengeance, and feeling like she was being pulled in two different
directions was not doing much to improve her mood.

“No. Your life was supposed to be comfortable, stable and
full of love and support. Both you, and Viola, deserved that,” Angelica said
with feeling. Cora could see tears start to build in her eyes again, for the
pain and suffering they’d endured and had no concept of. She felt no need to
enlighten them to any of it either. She’d meant what she’d said about the past
being the past and moving forward.

“If you say so,” Cora replied with a blank tone, and shrugged
her shoulders. She caught Sage giving her a sympathetic look out of the corner
of her eye and looked away.

She was starting to feel claustrophobic being trapped in the
SUV with so many people, many of whom seemed to be picking her apart from
different angles, and for different reasons. It was like she was under some
giant microscope and all she wanted to do was crawl out from under it. She
didn’t think she would ever be out from under that microscope again. That was
the most unpleasant thought she’d had all day. In some ways, she’d almost
rather deal with Patrick and Anna, and their endless depravity, than be under
this type of scrutiny.

When the SUVs began to slow down, Cora was almost crawling
out of her skin to get out of the vehicle. She knew they were out in the middle
of the woods and they had to be very careful of any security measures their
enemy may have put in place. Knowing Anna as she did, there were bound to be
quite a few. No one seemed to be in a hurry to get out, but her.

“Sage, I want you to keep her here, in the car. The rest of
us will search the facility and extricate Viola. If anything goes wrong, get
her back to Liam and get them both as far away to safety as you can,” Thomas
instructed Sage in a firm voice. Sage nodded his head at the orders and Cora
had no doubt he’d follow them, no matter how hard she fought against him.

“But…” Cora started but never got the chance to finish.

“You are not going in there. If you do, and something goes
wrong, we’ve just given them what they’ve been trying so very hard to get back,
both of you. We cannot let that happen, under any circumstances. You will be
left with four guards. Am I understood?” Thomas said, with authority in his
voice that showed he expected to not be questioned. Everyone surrounding her
nodded their heads and murmured their “yes, sirs” as her eyes opened wide in
disbelief.

“Do you understand Cora?” Thomas said in a commanding voice.

“No. That’s
my
sister in there. We’ve always been
responsible for each other and I’m not going to just hand that over and sit
here, twiddling my thumbs, just because you said so. I really don’t know you
and you just expect me to trust her life, both of our lives, to you. That’s not
gonna happen so you might as well revise that plan of yours to include me,
because I’m coming with you, whether you want me to or not,” Cora rushed out,
furious that he was being so high handed and domineering.

“No. You will stay here with Sage, restrained if need be. I
will not put your life in danger because you are being stubborn. You do not
have the training to enter that building and do what has to be done. If you go
in there, the only thing that you will succeed in is getting yourself caught,
and the rest of us killed. Is that what you want the outcome of this mission to
be? You came this far because you were the only way we could find Viola before
something fatal happens to her,” Thomas bit out. It was obvious she was trying
his patience, but she didn’t care.

“I am going with you,” was her stubborn response. She met
his eyes, hers flashing in defiance, his flashing authority.

“Cora, your father is right. You and I need to stay here to
keep you safe,” Sage said, in a soothing voice, trying to calm her down before
he was forced to restrain her physically. He was pretty sure if he had to
resort to that, Liam would have his head on a stake.

“I am not some pampered little princess. I can help,” Cora
responded through clenched teeth.

“We all know that, Cora, but we’re trying to be smart about
this. We don’t want to hand you to them on a silver platter. I’m sure they’re
expecting you to come charging in to save her, because that’s what you’ve done
your entire life for each other. It would be foolish to allow you to fall right
into their hands,” Sage said, trying to be the voice of reason. Something told
him Thomas’ commanding orders were not the way to get her to stay with him. He
understood her frustration because he’d love nothing more than to go in there
and be a part of the action. Instead he was babysitting his brother’s mate and
keeping her out of trouble. He’d given his word though, and refused to break
it, therefore, babysitting duty it would be.

He could feel when she started to relent and nodded for the
team to start exiting the vehicle. She threw up her hands, and growled in
frustration, as she flung herself back against the seat. He almost laughed
because, in that moment, she reminded him of a toddler throwing a tantrum.

‘
Boy was Liam going to have his hands full with this one!’
he thought to himself with a silent chuckle. It was becoming harder and harder
not to laugh out loud so he cut off his thoughts and focused on making sure she
didn’t catch him by surprise. That seemed like it was going to be a full-time
job in itself, so he settled back and monitored her jumbled emotions for any
sense of calmness that would indicate she’d devised a plan. He would put
nothing past her at this point.

Sitting in that car, while everyone else was risking their
lives for Viola, was sheer torture. She ran through various scenarios in her
mind on how to get past Sage and the four remaining guards. Nothing she came up
with seemed to play out with the outcome she desired. She didn’t know how, but
she felt Sage probing against her turbulent emotions. She wasn’t sure what he
was searching for, but it was getting pretty annoying.

As she began running another scenario through her mind, her
thoughts were broken by the sounds of Liam’s voice in her mind telling her,
“Be
safe my love. Don’t do anything stupid. Come back to me unharmed.”

She was so shocked that her eyes flew open as she gasped.

“What? Did something happen to Viola?” Sage said as he
jumped to full alert reaching for his gun.

“No, no I don’t know what’s going on inside of that
facility,” Cora gasped out, shaking her head, feeling like she was losing her
mind.

“Then what is it?” Sage said relaxing a bit, but still
remaining on edge and alert.

“Liam. I heard his voice in my head,” she said stunned.

“What did he say?” Sage asked out of curiosity. He’d heard
of mates being able to communicate like that with each other, even from long
distances, but he’d never experienced it because he hadn’t found his mate, not
that he was searching too hard for her. He was going to enjoy the single life
for as long as he could.

“He said, ‘Be safe my love. Don’t do anything stupid. Come
back to me unharmed.’” She repeated Liam’s words to Sage.

“You should follow his advice,” Sage said, nodding in
agreement with his brother’s words. He also sent a silent thank you to his
brother, because he had been wondering if they’d been getting close to the
physical restraint part of their wait. He could tell every time she’d been
close to coming up with a plan she’d thought would work.

“Of course you’d say that. Aren’t you tired of sitting here
not doing anything? You seem like you’re more of a man of action, a guy who
gets in there and gets his hands dirty to get the job done. Not one who sits
here babysitting the damsel in distress while others go to work,” Cora said
trying to bait him. He chuckled at her effort of trying to get him on her side.

“Any other day, I am. Today I’m not,” he said with a shrug,
folding his arms over his chest feigning nonchalance.

“Just today huh?” Cora asked, sarcasm edging her words.

“Yep,” he responded, displaying a coolness he did not feel.
He was edgy, wanting to be inside helping, not here babysitting. Cora was
hitting closer to home than he felt comfortable with, but he kept all of that
locked behind a façade of disinterest.

“Why just today?” she asked, true curiosity in her voice.

“Because family is very important to me. You are now family
and my brother’s soul would be destroyed if anything happened to you. Once you
find your mate, if you are separated, in any way that is permanent, it will
drive the surviving mate insane or to death. I am not willing to let that
happen to Liam if there’s something I can do to stop it. If being your
babysitter through this is what protects both of you, then today, I’m not,” he
told her, his voice heavy with the truth of his words.

“Oh,” she said, not knowing what else to say. Her mind was
swirling like a tornado battering against her skull. Liam had said family and
friends meant a lot to Sage. “Do you think of me as family?”

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I?” he responded confused.

“You don’t know me at all,” she replied.

“I don’t need to. I know Liam.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

“I don’t know how you can just accept me, just like that. I
just met my parents, yet I still can’t accept them.” She spoke almost in a
whisper, thankful the other four guards were posted outside of the vehicle.

“That’s different. I can’t explain it, but I know it is.
Even though you’re having problems accepting them, you accepted Liam.”

“Yeah, I guess I did.”

Sage opened his mouth to say something when they heard
gunfire in the distance. The door closest to Sage opened and one of the guards
appeared.

“We’re leaving. They’re on their way back out now. They’ll
take the other car and we’ll meet up with them in 30 minutes.” The guard barked
the information at them. Cora’s eyes were wide with fear.

Sage reached over and buckled her seatbelt for her as the
guard slammed the door shut and climbed into the passenger seat. He buckled his
own as the driver started the vehicle and squealed the tires while taking off.

“Viola?” Cora choked out the question around the knot in her
throat.

The guard paid her no attention as he watched the road, and
the mirrors, at the same time.

“I’m sure they got her out,” Sage said with confidence while
watching the outside, searching for any threats. He was ready to take action if
necessary.

It felt like forever before they pulled into the parking lot
of what looked like an abandoned hotel. The guard shut off the motor and exited
the car, with nothing more than a “stay here.”

Cora kept twisting and turning in her seat, trying to look
out of every window at once. She wished someone would tell her what was going
on and if her sister was safe. It seemed as though everyone enjoyed keeping her
in the dark and she was past tired of it.

Just as she was reaching to unbuckle her seatbelt she saw
the other SUV pull into the lot. She unsnapped her belt and was reaching for
the door handle when Sage grabbed her wrist in his tight grip. She looked over
at him with a dark look and tried to pull her wrist free.

“Let me go first and make sure everything’s okay. If it is,
I will come back and get you,” Sage said in a soft, understanding tone.

“I wish everyone would stop treating me like a baby!” she
shouted in the small interior.

“Sorry, but it’s for your safety,” Sage said, as he exited
the car before she could try to stop him. She heard him as he ordered the
guards surrounding the vehicle to guard every door and not let her out, until
he said it was clear, and then turned to walk to the other vehicle.

“This is just freaking ridiculous. Even Patrick and Anna
gave us more freedom than I’ve had in the last day and a half,” she grumbled to
herself, as she watched through the window. She saw Sage reach the other
vehicle with his gun in his hand, prepared for the occupants to not be who they
were supposed to be. The driver rolled down his window and exchanged a few
words with Sage.

She glanced at each of the guards surrounding the SUV she
was in and saw they had each drawn their weapons and were standing at the
ready. She looked back at Sage moving towards the rear door of the SUV, and
bracing himself, as he opened it and leaned inside.

Cora didn’t realize she was holding her breath until she saw
Sage relax and begin to help someone out of the SUV. She then released the
breath in a rush.

She saw Viola unfold from the vehicle, with Sage’s
assistance, and fought to open the door so she could run to her sister, but the
guard in front of it would not move out of her way. Glancing over, she saw Sage
rushing Viola to their vehicle while trying to shield her with his body. The
guard moved out of the way and swung the door open for Sage and Viola to climb
in. While the door was open, Cora threw the guard a look, she was sure could
kill him, for not letting her out.

The guard paid her no mind, and she dismissed him, as she
reached out and gathered her twin into her arms.

“Are you ok? Did they hurt you?” Cora starting asking a
million questions, while skimming her hands over her sister’s face and body
looking for injuries.

“Cora, Cora, chill! I’m fine,” she exclaimed and started
shoving Cora’s hands away. “Thanks for finding me though. I really missed you.”

“I missed you too. I’m so glad you’re safe,” Cora said as
they hugged each other as if they’d never let go again.

“Who’s the hottie?” Viola whispered against Cora’s ear. Cora
saw Viola wiggle her eyebrows up and down out of the corner of her eye and
rolled her own eyes. That was so like her sister, to focus on the hot guy in
the room, rather than the matter at hand.

She pulled back from her sister’s embrace and made
introductions, “Sage, this is my twin sister Viola. Viola, this is my, I guess,
soon-to-be brother-in-law, Sage.”

Cora watched her sister close for her reaction. It took a
moment for the comment to sink in.

“Soon-to-be-what?” she screeched, so loud Cora and Sage had
to cover their ears to avoid permanent damage.

“We’ll catch up later. Believe me, you’ve missed
a lot
,”
Cora said, with emphasis on the last two words.

“Yeah I guess so. I’ve been kidnapped, and held hostage
while you’re busy getting hooked up. Love you too Sis,” Viola said in a huff.
One thing her sister hated was being out of the loop.

“I promise, I will tell you everything,” Cora said with a
laugh. She was so happy her sister was back with her safe and sound, that
nothing else mattered at the moment, other than getting back to Liam.

“That’s a promise I’m holding you to!” Viola declared, with
a punch to her shoulder and a laugh. Sage just watched with a grin on his face.