Page 62 of Where He Ended
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I'M SWIMMING IN SYRUP, warm and drowning at the same time. Something is humming. Like wings flapping rapidly. I don't know what I'm hearing, but when I open my eyes, pain blossoms everywhere. It becomes more acute as I come fully back to consciousness.
I remember everything.
My eyes flutter as I work to force them open. I'm staring around at the inside of a helicopter. “You're awake,” Vahn says across from me.
Groaning, I sit up as all of my muscles argue with me. One side of my head feels heavier than the other, like it's stuffed with water balloons. One eyelid won't open all the way, either. I try to stretch my arms and test if anything is broken, but I can't. My wrists are bound in front of me. My feet are free, but they don't do me much good because I'm belted into the helicopter seat.
“Who's driving this thing?” I ask.
He chuckles sourly. “That's the first thing you ask about?”
My heart races faster. “Kara! What did you do to her?”
“She's fine for now. I left her tied up in her bedroom. She's a resilient one. Knowing her, she'll get free and try and chase after us. Not that it will matter.”
That sounds cryptic. Shivering, I study the rope around my wrists. He handled me so roughly that my skin is raw in places. Wiggling makes the pain sting, and it isn't doing much else, so I settle in the seat and drop my hands gently into my lap.
He watches me, his head bobbing up and down. “The look on your face says you're done fighting. Good.”
“I'm not done fighting,” I hiss. “I'll never be done fighting. I thought I was, but here you are. Why are you even doing this? I imagined Annie or Silas chasing after me, but you?”
“Fighting is what got you into this mess in the first place,” he says, sighing. “You know, when my sister asked me if we should let Franklin have his way with you, I was surprised. I didn't think she'd need my advice. She acts tough, but she has her soft spots. I thought things were all set after I chatted with her. Turns out it wasn't her that would be a problem, but god damn Dominic.”
I stiffen in place. “You were involved withthat?”
He cups his chin, resting his elbow on his knee. “You didn't know I was a shareholder in my sister's banking company? Of course I was involved with Franklin. Him and his buddies came to that little party because I pulled some strings. I wouldn't have showed up at all, but Silas made it clear everything was falling apart. I've lost so much, I wasn't ready to lose all my money and power, too.” He goes quiet, and I'm too busy digesting his words to interrupt. He glances back at me. “Lot's of things change, but men don't. Franklin wanted you. We had a vote. Mine was yes.”
I tremble, wishing I could draw myself into a tight ball in the seat. I want to shrink and vanish. I remember, now, seeing Vahn in the kitchen at the estate the night before I went to that pretend dinner. Was that what he was talking about with them? Were they discussing selling my body over wine and cheese in the kitchen?
I'm freaking out. I can't pull out of my spiral. “I hate you,” I say, lifting my head to glare at him. A flicker of amazement dances on the edge of my rage. “I don't know why I'm surprised. Of course I fucking hate you! You didn't just get involved in trying to sell my body, you hurt my sister, too. You abused her. You even cut her hair off! She's all twisted up inside and paranoid thanks to you.”
He presses his palms on his thighs. “I didn't make her paranoid. That implies she had nothing to be afraid of. All I did was make her realize that she wasn't invincible just because my son cared about her.”
I freeze, taken aback by his words.
Vahn's fingertips dig into his pants. “Oh. Did she not tell you about that? How she wrapped my son around her little finger the longer she stayed under my roof? I didn't even care that much, initially. She made him so happy. I thought, as long as he was smiling, he must be fine. I let her and Dominic surround him with their wants and desires and . . . and I wasn't paying attention.” His hands grip harder. I'm sure he's injuring himself, but his face is emotionless. “It doesn't matter now.”
As upset as I am, a tiny part of me throbs with sympathy for this broken man. “Vahn,” I say, my mouth dry, my voice a hush that the helicopter almost drowns out. “You're taking me back to Annie, aren't you?”
He stares at me. He says nothing.
“Silas agreed to let us go,” I insist, hoping to prevail to his logic. “He knows it's too dangerous to let Annie near me or my sister. You can't take me to her. She'll do something she'll regret. Something she can't take back.”
“No,” he says, glancing at his hands. He eases them off his thighs, flexing them. “She's going to thank me, I'm giving her and me a gift.”
“I'm not a fucking gift!”
“It's not all about you.”
I freeze on the seat. My eyes trail the helicopter's interior, and I understand something important—there's more than enough room for three people in here. If Vahn wanted to bring Kara with us, he could have. If he wanted to reward Annie, hewouldhave brought us both. But he didn't.
Something else is going on here.
“Who are you really going after?” I ask nervously.
He cocks his head and smiles evilly. “You'll see.”
