Cora's Kismet (The Twin Destinies Saga Book 1) (16 page)

As much as
Thomas and Angelica tried to talk Cora and Viola into staying behind, neither
girl would have it. They would not tell them anything about the location of the
fishing shack, preferring to give out information one step at a time to ensure
their inclusion in the rescue mission.

“You are falling right into her trap, you do realize that
right?” Thomas asked for the millionth time.

“Let her try. We both, at least, have our Solarian powers,
and together we’ve got to be stronger than she is,” Cora responded, setting her
jaw and crossing her arms. There was no way on earth she wasn’t going to be
there to bring Liam home. She would kill Anna if she’d laid a finger on him.

“Cora! Please make it stop. Please no more. Please. Help.
Help me please. Help me.”
Liam’s frantic pain filled screams echoed in
Cora’s head making her eyes water.

“We’re coming Liam. I promise you we’re coming. It won’t
be long. Hold on, I’m on my way. You are my everything. Just hold on,”
Cora
begged him.

“We need to hurry. She’s already started on him.” Cora
lifted her eyes to look into Viola’s, and both shuddered.

“She’ll pay Cora, I promise you that,” Viola vowed, fury
weighing down her words and making them hang thick in the air.

“Oh, I have no doubt about that,” Cora growled out. Liam’s
screams had not subsided in her head, and she continued to plead with him to
hold on.

Cora said no more while Viola gave turn by turn directions
to make sure they couldn’t pull any stunts to keep them out of the fight.
Angelica seemed to accept how stubborn their daughters were, but Thomas kept
grumbling under his breath.

After a twenty minute drive, they arrived at their
destination. Parking the vehicles much further back, the soldiers that were
brought unloaded and began taking positions. Thomas held Cora back from leaping
blind from the vehicle.

“Let go of me,” Cora said, in a dark and dangerous voice,
she didn’t even recognize.

“They’ve got to get into position to protect our backs
before we go storming in. Use your head and stop thinking with your emotions,”
Thomas warned, danger in his tone.

“The longer he’s in there, the worse it will be,” Cora
growled. “You don’t know what she does to people in there. There is a reason
that we call it the House of Horrors, it is not an exaggeration.”

“She’s right. Anna has a talent for torturing people. She
freaking enjoys it. We need to get in there now,” Viola insisted, backing her
sister up. If anything happened to Liam, she’d never forgive herself. As it
was, she was already blaming herself for him being there in the first place. If
she hadn’t run her big mouth in front of him about Charlie, he’d still be back
at their parents’ house safe with Cora.

“Liam will be fine, he is trained for this sort of thing. If
we don’t want to join him, we need to be smart,” Thomas insisted.

“I guarantee you there is no training in the world that
could prepare you for the sickness that is in her mind,” Cora warned, trying to
loosen her father’s grip on her arm and slip out of the SUV.

“Give them two more minutes, they know what they’re doing. I
need you to trust us,” Thomas bit out, losing patience with his daughter.

“Thomas, I know you understand where she is coming from on
this, he is her mate after all. You would be the same way if it were me and
vice versa,” Angelica spoke, reading her husband loud and clear. He was close
to having Cora restrained in the vehicle.

“I can hear his screams for help and mercy in my head
non-stop. She is working on destroying everything he is. I cannot let that happen,
so please let go of me and help me get him back,” Cora said, ice dripping from
her words.

“There is no way she could do that much damage that fast.”
The driver of the SUV contradicted Cora, turning around to look at her in
disbelief.

“Want to find out for yourself? I will be happy to trade you
for Liam any day.” The coldness slipping off Cora’s tongue was freezing the air
around her. The others in the car felt the chill and shivered in response.

“Cora, you need to calm down before you hurt someone,” Angelica
said with a twinge of fear in her voice.

“Let me go and I will calm down,” she said, uncompromising.

Thomas let go of her arm, having received the signal for
them to enter via his earpiece, at the same time as her threat. He had to
admit, he was a bit unnerved at her ability to access her Lunarian powers while
bound, which should never happen.

“Let’s go, the men are in position. Stay behind me Cora.
Viola, you stay behind Sage on team two,” Thomas ordered, as they filed out of
the vehicle. Sage, who’d sat in the front passenger seat the entire drive
without saying a word, nodded his head at Thomas.

“I am so sorry Sage. I never meant to put Liam in danger,”
Cora said, warmer than she’d talked to her parents, but the stress was making
her voice heavy.

“I don’t blame you Cora. Liam is hotheaded and does things
without thinking. We will get him back, and he will be fine,” Sage said, hoping
his words were true.

She nodded without saying another word and took her position
behind Thomas, as they moved toward the shack. It was closer to the size of a
boat house with several entrances and windows Anna had blackened out so no one
could see inside. She knew from personal experience that the ragged outside did
not match the sound-proofed torture chamber that lay within those tattered
walls.

They reached
the front entrance without any mishaps, and Cora looked around worried. This
was way too easy. She watched until Sage and Viola disappeared around the side
of the house heading to the rear entrance.

“Something’s wrong,” Cora whispered to Thomas.

He turned a questioning look in her direction.

“She has traps set up all around this place. There’s no way
we haven’t set one off by now,” she continued to whisper.

“Our team deactivated fifteen traps before we got out of the
vehicle. That was what we were waiting on,” Thomas informed her on a breath.

“Still, something feels wrong,” she said with a shiver.

“It will be alright Cora. Let’s go,” Thomas said, and
motioned the rest of their team forward toward the door. Having coordinated
their attack in the SUV, their team and Sage’s team were breaking down the
doors simultaneously to prevent anyone escaping. Thomas wanted to bring Anna in
alive.

As the front and rear doors crashed down, they all heard an
agonizing scream from the center of the house. Cora didn’t wait a second longer
and took off at a flat run to get to her mate. Thomas tried to stop her, but
missed grabbing her arm by inches, swore and took off after her with his gun at
the ready.

Cora raced to the room she knew, without a doubt, Liam was
being tortured in and stopped right outside of the door. Raising her hand, she
went to place it on the door as she reached for the handle to push the door
open. She was grabbed from behind and placed behind Thomas as four guards put
themselves between them and the door.

“Don’t you ever run ahead like that again, or I will have
you locked up until your birthday,” Thomas growled in her ear. His fear for her
safety had taken him off guard, and he’d reacted to it with no regard as to who
was watching.

“Ready sir?” one of the guards asked.

“Yes, go,” he replied not waiting to coordinate. He was
having enough problems controlling his daughter as it was, he didn’t need any
delays making it harder.

They demolished the door as if it wasn’t there, and Cora
could hear their horrified yells as they entered the room and were confronted
with the horror inside. They were all being attacked with electricity, water
and Anna’s fire all at the same time.

Cora saw glimpses of Liam strapped down to a chair with
metal clamps, his head held in place by a steel band across his forehead and
mounted to the chair Cora knew with far more intimacy than she cared to
remember.

Not knowing how she did it, she threw up shields against the
onslaught of Anna’s torture and entered the chamber. She ran through the
onslaught towards Liam, but just as she was about to reach him, she changed course
toward Anna. Cora knew none of these men deserved to suffer what Anna had to
dish out.

“Ah, you came my dear, sweet girl!” Anna cackled out with a
cold, hard, evil voice.

“Yes, to watch you die, in the most painful way possible,”
Cora replied, her voice just as cold.

“By who? You? I don’t think so my dear,” Anna laughed, as if
she’d heard the funniest thing in her life.

“What’s so funny? Don’t think I can do it? Why don’t you ask
Patrick what I can do? You hurt my mate, big mistake,” Cora spat, and felt the
heat and ice both roll off of her at the same time. She heard Anna’s shrill
screech as the attack hit her hard. Anna released her attacks on all of the men
and concentrated on trying to raise her shields against Cora’s onslaught.

Cora’s eyes squinted together as she put everything she had
into her attack. There was no way she was willing to let that vile woman leave
this room alive. Her head began to ache, the longer she held the attack, and
she felt herself weakening. When she felt the hand on her shoulder, she
stiffened and tried to strengthen her fire against Anna, but it was becoming a
losing battle.

“Cora, you need to stop.” Liam’s voice was soft and soothing
in her ear. It was the greatest sound she’d ever heard in her life.

“No. She needs to die now, before she can hurt anyone else,”
Cora said, intent on her mission to end Anna.

“Not today Cora. If you keep trying you’ll only hurt
yourself. Let it go, for me. The soldiers are ready to take her into custody.”
Liam tried to reassure her.

“They can’t do it. She’ll destroy them and get away again,”
Cora was adamant. She knew Anna well enough to know she had an escape for
everything.

“They will. You have weakened her more than you realize. Let
her go and save yourself. Do it for me Sweetheart. I need you,” Liam said. Cora
could hear the fatigue in his voice and felt how weak his grasp was on her
shoulder. She let go of Anna without a second thought and turned just in time
to catch Liam and go down with him in a rush. He tried to catch himself from
falling on her, and missed most of her, but couldn’t avoid all of her. She
winced as her ankle twisted, and she came down hard on her wrist.

Just then the rear entrance to the torture chamber was
obliterated, and Sage’s team came bursting through. Cora held Liam as tight as
she could in her arms, trying not to hurt him as she rocked back and forth. She
knew then and there that this man was her entire world, and she would kill
anyone who got in their way. Anna would pay for her sins, even if it was the
last thing she ever did in this world.

Cora and Sage locked eyes as she held Liam in a protective
manner against her chest. A silent agreement passed between them that no one
else saw with all of the chaos going on around them. She was relieved to see he
didn’t blame her for what had happened to Liam, and he was more than willing to
back her up against Anna.

Turning her attention back to Liam, she lifted his face so
she could see it better and gasped in horror at what she saw. His face was
bruised, swollen and bloody from multiple hits. Fury simmered in Cora in a way she’d
never experienced before at the sight of such abuse. She knew what he felt
like, after having been strapped to that chair herself in the past. Anna knew
how to get the most pain with the least amount of abuse.

Liam was just barely conscious and looked up at her through
half-mast eyes. She could see his mouth moving but couldn’t hear what he was
trying to say so she leaned her ear down by his mouth.

“Thank you,” he whispered, before passing out.

Tears fell from her eyes as she pulled his face back to her
chest and looked around the room. She then noticed it was just Thomas, Viola
and Sage left in the room with her and Liam.

“Where did they all go? Did they get Anna? We need to get
Liam to the hospital.” Cora’s voice was dead calm, which sent shivers down
Viola’s back.

“They’re out looking for Anna right now. We have no idea how
she slipped out when you dropped your attack, but we will find her. Sage and I
will help to get Liam back to the vehicles, so we can get him back to the house
where he can be examined by a doctor,” Thomas said, placing his hand on Cora’s shoulder.
“He will be taken care of by the best.”

“Wait, why not take him to the hospital where they have
everything he’ll need?” Viola asked before Cora could.

“Trust me, we have everything he could ever need. We don’t
use human hospitals,” Thomas said, as he reached down to help lift Liam up.
Sage moved to Liam’s other side, and together they lifted him and each draped
one of his arms over their shoulders. Liam screamed in agony when he was moved,
but otherwise didn’t regain consciousness.

“I swear if he dies…” Cora began, but let the words die off
as she took in the rest of Liam’s battered body. Anna had put her short amount
of time to work for her. Viola moved over and took Cora in her arms as her
sister started shaking.

“Shhh Cora, he’s going to be fine,” Viola whispered in her
ear. “Let’s go get him some help,” she said, as she moved Cora towards the
front entrance to the building, following behind Sage and Thomas as they tried
to carry Liam without jarring him too much.

Cora didn’t say another word as they walked to the SUVs,
parked a short distance away. She was silently vowing to do everything in her
power to rip Anna limb from limb until there was nothing left of her.

*****

When they reached the house, the doctor was already at the
front door with a stretcher. Sage and Thomas jumped out of the vehicle, laid
Liam down and helped the doctor move him around the house to the medical
building, which Cora had not noticed until just now. It wasn’t a huge building,
more like the size of a small bungalow or pool house with living accommodations
inside.

She started to follow the men when she heard a loud
commotion coming from inside of the house. She tipped her head out of
curiosity, but kept walking towards the medical building.

Angelica, having remained silent during the somber trip home
laid her hand on Cora’s shoulder. “Charlie’s here and I’m guessing he’s not
very happy about it.”

“I can’t deal with him right now,” Cora said, lifting her
eyes to meet her mother’s and meeting eyes filled with love and understanding.

“You go with Liam and make sure he’s alright. I will go try
to calm Charlie down until you can come and talk to him.” Angelica smiled,
hoping to encourage her daughter into having hope. “Liam’s strong, he will be
fine.”

“I hope so,” was all Cora could manage, before turning and
making her way to the hidden hospital at her parents’ estate.

Angelica watched her daughters walk away, before turning
toward the house and entering. From the sounds coming from inside, she had a
feeling not hurting this Charlie guy was going to be a true stretch of her
abilities.

*****

Cora watched with silent tears streaming down her cheeks as
they hooked wires and machines up to Liam and cut his clothes away, after
running x-rays to make sure there were no broken bones.

The doctors and nurses were buzzing around Liam like bees
swarming the hive. Cora had no idea what was happening, but she knew she was
grateful they were there, taking care of him. She felt someone move up beside
her and place a strong arm around her shoulders. She looked up at Sage as he
pulled her into his arms for a comforting hug.

“I’m so sorry Sage. All of this is my fault. I promise you I
will make it right. He will be fine, I know that in my heart,” Cora started
rambling.

“No, none of this is your fault. Liam was going to have the
leave the property at some point, I don’t know why he did it now, but he did
and Anna happened to get lucky. She will pay for her sins, I have no doubt you
and I will make a great team to ensure that happens. Right Little Sis?” Sage
said as a joke, although she could hear the contained rage simmering just below
the surface. She knew it well, because she could feel it thrumming through her
veins as if it had a life of its own.

“I messed up so bad Sage. I hope he can forgive me. I am
trying to make it right, but it seems like all I’m doing is making a bigger
mess,” Cora said in a trembling voice.

“What’s wrong Cora? I know you two were happy earlier, I saw
you as I was passing through,” Sage asked with concern.

“We had a meeting with my par-, Thomas and Angelica this
afternoon, so they could start teaching us what we needed to know and, of
course, Liam was there with me. Well, Viola spoke up to remind me of something
important I had forgotten in front of Liam, which upset him,” Cora said and
stopped, finding it almost impossible to continue. She didn’t want Sage to hate
her.

“What upset Liam?” Sage asked his voice weary.

“There was a guy I had been dating, for a while before this
entire prophecy thing fell into my lap. I swear as soon as I saw Liam, I forgot
Charlie even existed, but for some reason, Liam is thinking it’s more than what
it ever was. He got upset and took off from the room. I didn’t follow him right
away because I wanted to cut ties with Charlie with no misunderstandings, so
Liam would know he’s the only one who matters to me. So I stayed with Viola,
and we made plans for me to meet with Charlie in a safe location to do just
that. I planned to include Liam in the meeting because I wanted there to be no
doubts from him ever again, but by the time I got everything worked out and
plans set into motion, he’d already left the grounds. So you see? This is my
all fault.” Cora spilled out her guilt, hating herself for what she’d done to
Liam.

She stared at the floor waiting for Sage to be angry at her
and start yelling or worse, turn and walk away without ever looking back. When
neither happened, Cora looked up to meet his eyes.

“My brother is a freaking idiot, Cora. He overreacted. It’s
as simple as that. He’s a man who got jealous and didn’t think straight. There
is no logical reasoning as to why he reacted the way he did, but that’s a
discussion for the two of you to work out. I do not believe any of this is your
fault. If we must place blame, then I blame my brother for acting like a
spoiled child who got his feelings hurt and threw a tantrum, not you,” Sage
said, and ran his fingers over her cheek before pulling her into a tight bear
hug.

“He’s my world Sage. I love him so much,” Cora said and
caught herself. ‘
I love him? Where did that come from?’
she thought to
herself in sheer wonder.

“I know you do Little Sis, that’s why I know this wasn’t
your fault, and that my brother’s an idiot,” Sage said and grinned down at her
as they stopped talking and just stood there watching the doctors’ work on
assessing and fixing Liam’s injuries.