CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Kyle
"Get out, Bay!" I told her, trying to keep my temper from snapping out of control. I didn't have time for this. Every moment I delayed was a moment Crystal got closer to death.
"Please don't make me," Bay begged as she began to open the back door of the car.
"You can't come with us," I said tersely. It wasn't only the anger at her deceit, but I knew what we were walking into, and Bay didn't.
"But I want to make things right," she argued. I could hear the emotion in her voice but I was too mad to care. "I didn't know that she was going to give herself to the Keepers."
There was no fixing this. I ran a hand through my hair, trying to get a handle on all the emotions I was wrestling with.
"You can't," I told her, shaking my head. "There's nothing you can do."
"But maybe I can talk to Flynn," she argued, hopeful. Her eyes pleaded with mine.
That did it. The anger I'd been trying to control bubbled over. I got out of the car, feeling my temper rise with every action.
My hand closed around her arm, making sure not to hurt her. I pulled her out of the car before slamming the door closed.
"You don't get it," I said angrily. Her eyes glistened with tears and I felt a momentary pang of guilt. "Flynn is the enemy. Given half the chance, he would probably slaughter us all." Her eyes widened with shock. "I don't know why you seem to think that he is someone you can actually approach. He would kill you in a heartbeat."
I was trying to get her to understand how dangerous he was. Seeing him under the influence of the wolfsbane had probably deceived her into thinking he wasn't as dangerous as I knew he was. Maybe if she had seen the dead corpses of the murdered rogues she would see him for who he truly was.
By protecting her from the brutality, I had inadvertently allowed her a skewed view of the enemy to mislead her into thinking she had somehow bonded with him.
Had her need to be loved made her look for the smallest gestures that she had misinterpreted for something it wasn't? Only she knew the answer to that.
"Right now Crystal is on her way to the Keepers. What do you think is going to happen when she gets there?" Bay pressed her fingers to her mouth, but I was past caring. "And you thought they would let herleave? Flynn will tell the other Keepers what she is..."
I faltered for a moment, dropping my gaze to the ground. I was already missing the touch of my mate and the peace it gave me. "They will kill her. She hasn't done anything wrong." I lifted my gaze to meet Bay's. "She hasn't hurt anyone. Just her DNA is enough for them to want to murder her."
Bay began to cry but I didn't have the capacity to care. Instead I turned away from her and got back into the car.
I started the engine but I didn't put my foot on the gas; instead, I turned to my beta and best friend.
"I can't let you do this either," I told him, feeling the responsibility of his life.
"I'm not letting you go alone," he said adamantly.
"You have your mate, and if something happens to you, Bay will have no one," I reminded him. Technically her parents were still alive but they were incapable of giving her the love she so badly needed.
"I can't let you go on your own," he argued with that determined glint in his eyes. I knew that look well. It was useless arguing.
"Okay," I finally relented. I didn't want to drag my best friend into a hopeless situation but I was running out of time. If he'd been in the same situation, I would not have allowed him to go alone either.
The sound of footsteps pulled my attention away from James and I looked to see Curtis running toward the car. Bay still stood there fighting her tears.
I opened the window and he gave me a small bottle with a nozzle.
"I haven't had time to make more," he explained apologetically.
"Thanks," I said, looking down at it. It wasn't like I was expecting to get out alive but I took the bottle anyway.
"It's not much but it might help," Curtis said, sounding out of breath.
"I appreciate it."
