The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (72 page)

Thankfu
lly autopilot had gotten us this far
and it was only when we started to bump along the dirt gravel road that I realised we were home. I glanced towards Justin from the corner of my eye to find him still fixated on the side window. I cut the engine and sat for a minute before turning to say something.

“Justin
,
look I…” I stopped mid-sentence and
my eyes fixated on what Justin had been looking at all this time.
As soon as my brain registered what I was seeing my vision started to go foggy. Tears welled up until they became too heavy and overflowed down my cold cheeks.

“Who would do this?” Justin’s voic
e cut through the nightmare,
pulling me out of a frozen lake I was drowning in. I couldn’t speak. I just kept repeating the words that were crudely plastered on my side window over and over.

I
FOUND YOU

YOU CAN’T HIDE FROM ME

I’
M COMING TO GET YOU

SEE YOU SOON
MY KEIRA X

It looked like it had been
written
on with red paint
for effect. I still hadn’t answered Justin. Instead I just got out of the car and started to walk away. I couldn’t
handle it anymore.
I
had hit my limit and found
my breaking
point.

I didn’t know where I was going but I soon found myself running. I just needed to get away from it all…Demons…Angels and especially Stalkers! The price I was paying for Draven was turning into something far too deep for me to handle. I wanted to run to him and tell him everything
,
but every time the thought entered my head
it was
as
though something else was pushing it back out again. Excuses that weren’t my own kept clouding my resolution.

I got as far as the forest wall when Justin caught up with me, forcing me to stop and turn
to look at him. Under the moonlight he bared
a startling resemblance to an Angel, with his long dreads looking like roped gold and eyes pure of heart. He held me still but
when
I didn’t respond to his words
,
he gave me a little shake.

“Keira! Listen to me!” The panic in his voice
mirrored the panic in my mind that felt like it would soon burst fr
om me. I didn’t know what to do!
I couldn’t tell him the truth…how could I? Who could I tell…Sophia…Vincent? NO
! T
hey would tell Draven and for these reasons my thoughts quickly shifted without result. What was wrong with m
e, why couldn’t I just tell him?

“Who did that? Was it him?
”  Justin looked furious now
but I was in shock. Did he know about Lucius?

“Who?” I asked in a shaky voice that crept up a notch.

“Who? That crazy arse bo
yfriend of yours that’s who! I
t
’s
because he’s jealous of us, isn’t it? He’s trying
to frighten you, can’t you see?
” I was stunned. He thought Draven would do this…was he nuts!

“NO
,
OF COURSE NOT! “ I yelled at him for just thinking it, let alone confessing it.

“He’s brainwashed you.”

“Justin please
,
you don’t know him. He would never do this
.
” I was pleading with him to believe me but I knew his prejudice towards Draven wouldn’t let himself trust
in
what I was saying.

“Then who did?
”

“I
don’t know…maybe some sicko who
knows about my past and gets his kicks scaring young girls
.
” It was a long shot but it was all I had to go with. I didn’t really want to bring up my past for the second time tonight but I was running out of options.

“And that’s what you believe it is, because if you d
o then we should call the cops
.
” Oh no
,
this was bad. What was I supposed to do now, call them and say what
?
…Umm I think the Vampire K
ing called Lucius is trying to kidnap me to get back at
a Demon/
Angel half breed sent from heaven and hell…Oh and it just so happens he’s my boyfriend!
...
Mmm I don’t think so somehow.

“Look Justin
,
you will just have to trust me here. I don’t want to involve the
police
or anyone else for that matter. If it gets worse then I will do something about it but for now
please
,
just be my friend
.
” At this he finally subsided his anger and I could just make out his eyes soften at my
request
.
He still hadn’t released me from his hold and after moments of pr
a
ying
for his trust in me,
he finally gave me his answer.

“Come here
.
” He said before pulling me in for an embrace. He wrapped his arms securely round me and I let my head rest on his shoulder. I was tired of fighting and being brave. I just wanted to feel another human emotion that was as weak and fragile as I was. I loved Draven with every breath in my body but right now…at this moment
,
I
just needed to feel equal. So I shamefully allowed myself to be held and buried the immense guilt that was mounting up, deep and far away from this moment. I moved my arms and rest
ed
them on the lower part of his back while his were doing the same.

Then I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing once the first drop left my tired eyes. Soon I was sobbing. I was gasping for breath as I cried my heart out all on Justin’s shirt. He
moved one hand to the back of
my head and stroked my hair giving me the much needed comfort that I craved.

“Sssh
h, you’re alright.
I’ve
got you
.
” It was these words that brought me back.
He didn’t have me, Draven did. I pulled back but Justin automatically tightened his grip around my waist. I didn’t want to make it look obvious that I felt uncomfortable. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings but on
the other hand I didn’t want
h
im getting the wrong idea
.

But it was too late. He raised his hand to wipe my salty cheeks dry but in doing so he brushed my lips with his thumb. I held my breath thinking of
ways
to stop this from happening. Sentences were spilling out of my mind but
only one word
made it passed my lips.

“Please…” H
e took my plea for something else
and moved his face closer to mine before I could stop
what came next. The lips that met my own were soft but urgent. I tried to pull away but his softness soon turned to hard pressure on my mouth. He held my neck with one hand and his other hand gripped at the material of my top
,
near my side. He was surprisingly strong but my will was stronger. At the moment that he tried to force my mouth open I pushed all my weight forward like I was doing a rugby tackle but it was only enough to move him enough to free my lips.

“NO!” I shouted making him frown
in the dark and this quickly gave him a new edge as the bad boy act didn’t seem too much like an act anymore. He tried again taking on a new rough approach but at this I saw red and pulled my arm back as far as it would go
,
before clenching my fingers into a fist and let
ting
it fly.

“ARGGGHHH!”
  I knew I
’d
hit my mark even before I heard Justin wallow in pain. It had felt like my knuckles had crumbled like cookie crumbs. They started to throb instantly but my anger was still keeping my adrenaline levels up for the real hurt to sink in fully.

“What did you do that fo
r?
” He was angry but no way as near as
angry as I was.

“Are you an idiot?
I said NO, which guess what, in the world of crossing lines you just crossed a big one!” He was still nursing his jaw and a spilt lip that I
had amazingly given him, when he decided to play the fool.

“I knew you wanted me to, you’re just scared of being caught
,
but I am not afraid of your rich, pompous arse boyfriend…Not by a long shot!”

“Then you’re a bigger fool that I took you for! You think I’m angry, just thank yourself bloody lucky you only ended up with a spilt lip because I can guarantee you
,
if Draven had been here
,
you would have earned yourself a lot more than a bruised ego!” I raised my arms up in the air and turned my back on him
walking away
to think. I couldn’t bear to think
of
what Draven would have done, but I know one thing, I don’t think all the will in the world would have stopped him from
committing
murder.

Justin just shook his head like he was looking for the right words to say and I knew the argument was far from over. Or was it?

“I…I…” Justin spluttered out the words
like he had them stuck in the back of his throat.

“What?
” I said with my hands on my hips
,
but then it didn’t take me long to realise something was wrong…very wrong.

“I…I…I’m going be sick!” He said before bending over double and dropping to the floor.

“Justin!” I shouted before rushing back to his side.

It was as if
his limbs had turned to mush but it didn’t stop him from shaking. He was red hot to touch and I tried to sooth his back while he vomited into the undergrowth. His back would arch every time his body wanted to bring some more up
but his
stomach was quickly emptied
, leaving him with nothing but bile to excrete. Finally he stopped long enough to look at me but it was like he couldn’t find me there in his sight. That’s when I noticed the black clouds that had covered his entire eyes. He put his hands out
,
like searching for something in the dark
,
but there was e
nough light from the porch lamp
and moon to see clearly.

“Keira…Keira where are you?”
That’s when
my heart froze.

He was now blind.
 

Chapter 32

Heavy in M
y A
rms

I was trying not to panic but every time I looked down and saw the picture of Justin shaking and grasping out at a world he could no longer see, then it was hard not to start screaming. I wanted to call out for help but what good would that do? This wasn’t something doctors could help with and I was too ashamed to call for Frank. Justin had been my responsibility and I had let my PIG HEADED boyfriend do this to him! And speaking of Demons
,
where was Ragnar all of a sudden? He hadn’t left my side once since being “assigned” to me but now he was nowhere to be seen.

That’s when other worries entered my head and the memory of the blood red words started to burn back from my subconscious. What if we were both in greater danger? What if Draven hadn’t done this to Justin? That is when I knew I had to move.
I
h
ad to get us bot
h inside as quickly as I could.

I grabbed Justin under his arm and tried to pull him up but it was like dragging a sack of manikins around.

“Co
me on Justin, we have to get
inside
.
” He groaned but
my words must have taken some e
ffect because he started to support himself to a degree. I hooked his arm around my neck to hold most of his weight but my legs must have started to buckle because it gave him the extra strength to hold himsel
f upright. I held onto his waist
band for extra grip, which couldn’t have been very comfortable for him but considering the circumstances, I think that having a wedgie was the least of his problems.