Chapter 10

Tara’s mind was abuzz from the kiss she and Aeden shared as she walked to the hotel. It made her toes tingle and felt right on so many levels she couldn’t believe it.

“If it’s true what Rgal said about him, he’s mine! I’ll make him dump Pavlina or I’ll eliminate her. Anya will know the best way.” Tara said to herself.

She slowly turned and entered the hotel lobby. Turning left, she took a few steps until she was out of sight and then stopped. She looked outside the window to see if anyone had been following her. That was one of the things Rgal repeatedly reinforced, not allowing herself to be followed.

This trip wasn’t what she expected or had bargained for. Her gut feeling was telling her to go somewhere she and Aeden could be together safely. What had she gotten herself into?

She turned to go to her room and ran right into a dark figure. His gruff voice spoke in a low tone “You deliver the message?”

“Yes,” she replied softly.

“Good, your life depends on his cooperation. I’ll be by your room in an hour and I want you to wear something ... pleasing to the eyes.”

She quickly sidestepped him and hurried into the elevator. He laughed silently to himself and mumbled: “You can run, but you can’t hide.”

Veronika woke from her involuntary slumber to see a familiar face pick up the thug she had just kicked. The last thing she remembered was being on the phone with her brother, feeling a stinging sensation in her torso and then waking up on the ground. Her extremities had a tingling sensation and combined with the fog in her brain, everything had a surreal feel to it.

The familiar face said a few words in a language she had never before heard and then saw something so horrific that she would never forget. In slow motion, his right hand went into the guy’s stomach, under his ribs and pulled out his heart. It happened so fast, the dying thug was able to witness the last few beats of his heart before his world faded into blackness. Effortlessly, the body was tossed aside and he turned to the leader. Despite the carnage Veronika just witnessed, the thing that stood out the most to her was the thug’s heart wasn’t in the right place.

Rgal knew he was outmatched so he kept his distance. Despite the low odds of success, he shot Veronika’s rescuer with his taser, but as expected; there was no effect. They began to converse with each other in the same unknown language that she heard earlier. Circling each other slowly as they looked for an opening, Rgal knew it would be fruitless to attack by himself and knowing there was little chance he would be pursued, he turned and ran down the empty street.

Lying on the ground, Veronika witnessed the entire thing, but wasn’t sure it was all real. “Uncle E, what are you doing here?” she asked as she struggled to her feet. It surprised her that she wasn’t surprised he was there. There had always been something different about him. He wasn’t like the foster parents who acted as her’s and Aeden’s caretakers while growing up. He was distant, emotionless but always showed up at just the right moment to save the day. She never really thought about it in those terms ... until now.

Why was he halfway around the world in the same city and same street at just the right time? Not to mention his extraordinary strength, speed and apparent skill in stange tongues. Extor walked over to Veronika to steady her until she had her balance. “We need to get your friends to a medical facility to make sure they are OK. You and I are going to head to Prague on the way home to get you checked out.”

Veronika had questions about the Prague detour, but couldn’t get what she saw out of her mind. “Uncle E, I saw everything.” She was still surprised how well she was handling this. She also wanted to have a longer conversation with Pavlina and her premonition.

“Well, it wasn’t going to be a secret for much longer, anyways, we can talk on the flight, but I’d rather you get your information from Aeden. The private jet is at the airport so we can leave anytime, I’ll clear it with your coaches. I’ll tell them I want you checked out at the same clinic as Aeden.”

“Not without saying goodbye to my friends...” said Veronika as she paused while trying to fight the unsteadiness in her legs. Remembering Lena and Heather, she turned around and wobbled to her friends who were still crumpled on the pavement. She went to her knees and quickly checked for a pulse.

Extor approached her. “They’ll be fine. I can hear their heartbeats.”

Veronika’s head shot up, “You can WHAT?”

Extor helped Veronika carry her friends around to the front of the building where first responders were performing a triage on the wounded. Babette came running up. “Heys. De rest of da girlz is over datta way” she said while pointing to a group of people.

None of them were as bad as Lena and Heather and after a visual inspection of the crowd, it appeared most people had sprains, bumps and bruises from being pushed aside or run over.

When the medics saw Lena and Heather, they were immediately put into ambulances and taken away. Veronika rode with Lena and Babette went with Heather. Once all of the teammates had been accounted for, the rest of the girls headed back to the hotel.

On the ride to the airport, Veronika had time to think and began to put things into perspective. Her two friends had the worst injuries, which were from the explosions and not the stampede afterwards. This made her think the attack was directed at her. Her next thought was if being friends with her would put others in danger in the future. That was an impossible question to answer until she had more information.

Aeden was beside himself with worry and anxiety while pacing back and forth. Both girls tried to calm him down, but they couldn’t keep him still long enough for him to listen. He wanted to fly to Helsinki the moment he heard Rgal’s voice, but they eventually talked him out of it.

Pavlina’s phone rang, breaking the silence. “What? That’s great! OK, I’ll tell him. She’s coming here??? He’ll love that! Heck, we’ll love that!” She hung up the phone.

“Extor arrived just in time to rescue Veronika and her friends. She’s at the hospital with her injured friends. When they’re done there, he’ll fly her here for a checkup and you two can head back to the States together.”

Aeden collapsed into the nearest chair and started crying tears of relief, which brought a girl onto each of his knees. She was all he had in the way of family and the thought of losing her was almost more than he could bear. It also briefly brought back the dark thoughts he had when he lost Gwen, which scared him in its own right. Who would comfort him if he lost Veronika? He knew Pavlina and Marketa would do their best, but would it be enough?

The dark figure grunted as he repeatedly slammed into Tara from behind. The headboard banged into the hotel wall, but he didn’t care. “Damn, humans aren’t nearly anywhere near this good. You hybrids were built with some mighty fine upgrades. I may have to see if Rgal will let me keep you for myself when this is all over.” Tara just hung her head in anger and shame as he made his final plunge, grunted and collapsed on her back.

‘Maybe he’s right. Maybe that’s all I’m good for. It’s the only thing people ever compliment me on,’ she thought to herself.

The man finally rolled off her back and was on the phone when he came back from the bathroom. “Yes. Everything is set for tomorrow night.”

Rgal responded, “We had a few setbacks tonight in Helsinki so we’ll need more men for tomorrow night. In addition to Ivan, I’ve called up a few more of the reserves. We have to be ready for trouble.”

“You got it, boss. We’ll nab that Smith kid. He’s really the only one we need. Although; I wouldn’t mind trying some of those other hybrids just to see if it’s them or just Tara herself.”

“Remember to stay focused or you will pay the price of failure!”

A knock at the door ended the conversation. Ivan walked into the room and stopped to stare at a completely naked Tara lying on the bed. Even though it was his half-sister, he stopped to gawk at her long lean lines and perfect proportions. Tara blushed and covered herself with the bedsheet before turning away in humiliation.