Forbidden (Blood Ties #7)

ONE

Helene

Blindingbeams from the oncoming traffic bounced off the heavy downpour, making the headlights a piercing kaleidoscope. I winced and looked away, shaking the rain from my eyes as I stood on the side of the street.

Red, blue, and white sedans were blurs as the traffic flew past. A black sports car splashed through a puddle the downpour had left behind, the deluge instantly soaking my heels. But none were the car I waited for. Not…yet.

Still, he was coming.

Themonstermy sisters were afraid of.

A cold wash of rage ripped through me. Flickers of torture surfaced. Memories of when London St. James had held The Priest captive, beating him bloody to find the Devil himself, Haelstrom Hale.

But The Priest had given us nothing, nor did his brother, the bastard my sisters called The Teacher, Kane Cruz. It was The Principal we needed. The ruthless sonofabitch who did Hale’s sick bidding. He was the one who’d lead us to Hale.

Tonight, he would know who I was.

Because I’d introduce myself in a way he’d remember.

Thunder snarled overhead, pulling my focus back to the plan. I searched the line of traffic. It hadn’t been meant to rain tonight…yet, here it was. Almost like fate deemed this would happen, whether I was ready or not.

But what if I couldn’t do this?

What if I…failed?

Panic rose.Think of who this is for.

Think of Vivienne and Ryth.

Their faces stayed with me. Wide brown eyes that were quick to show anger; blue-green ones, etched deep with fear. I clung to the memories. Real ones this time, not from photos I’d hoarded over the years. But from days ago when my two sisters stood in front of me and I’d told them the truth. A truth I’d waited my entire life to tell them. A truth they’d both taken hard.

I steeled my spine and lifted my hand to stare at my cell.

Even if they hated me right now, they were worth fighting for.

A tiny red marker flickered along the street where I stood. I watched that marker inch toward me until it grew close. Ending that view was more terrifying than what I was about to do. Still, I pressed the button and turned my focus to the dazzling lights. Sparks danced in my eyes as I searched for the steel gray Audi I was here for. The sleek, dark blur hurtled toward me, almost prowling between the lanes of traffic to merge back into the lane closest to the curb.

There. There he is.

My dress flapped as I took a step, fixing my gaze on the street ahead. I knew what I had to do. Rain fell into my eyes, blurring my view. Only I hadn’t planned for rain. My heels hit the asphalt and my feet slipped in the sodden shoes. There was no terror now, just a numbness that plunged deep as I tried to resurrect my plan and lunged.

It all felt sodistant.

The rain.

The traffic.

None of it was real.

Until I fell sideways instead of forward and that hulking blur of steel bore down on me

I turned my head to the dark outline behind the wheel, to the white flash of bared teeth and the wide, unflinching eyes. Tires skidded as the driver hit the brakes, swerving to head straight for me.

But it was too late. Too late to get out of the car’s way, too late to stop what was about to happen. I was in fate’s hands now…and a monster’s.

THUMP!

The impact was brutal.