In the Arms of the Enemy (Raph x OC)

Chapter 20

Grayson's POV

"Thank you for informing me of the situation Grayson. I'll deal with Esme accordingly so nothing like this happens again," Shredder growled, clearly upset by the cowardice of his daughter.

"I'll take my leave then," I replied, turning to go out the pair of double doors. I smirked, relishing in the thought of that dumb girl getting what was coming to her.

It was no secret that the Shredder was incredibly brutal, rumors of his rigorous training and cruel punishments of his daughters were well known among the gangs of New York. It made him that much scarier to some. I, on the other hand, couldn't help but admire him. However, if he was a true villain like everyone made him out to be, then I couldn't understand why he would want to share power with another gang.

Personally, the urge to kill his brat of a daughter after we were married appealed a lot more to me than just ruling side by side. But doing that would definitely lead to problems, and I'd get an earful from dad about it. I almost groaned in annoyance at the thought.

Honestly, it just didn't make much sense to me. After years of fighting and going back and forth why the sudden change of heart? My dad had the same concerns and so he had asked me to keep an ear out for any word of betrayal, but so far I hadn't heard anything.

Just then, as I pushed open the doors and began to walk out, Shredder's older daughter Karai passed by me, heading in the opposite direction. She didn't even give me a sideways glance, her attention focused solely on the man sitting in the room behind me. A sudden idea came to mind as I went into the hallway, the doors shutting behind me.

I glanced around, making sure no one was there before leaning my ear against the door. It was muffled, but I managed to make out a few things. It was obvious they were talking about Esme. I heard something about Karai going to get her and then I heard the first full clear sentence.

"We can not have her ruining our plan," Shredder's booming voice was barely audible through the door, but I was sure of what I had just heard. It seemed like father and I were right after all. I heard footsteps approaching the door and took that as my cue to leave.

Karai's POV

I opened the doors, finding an empty hallway. As soon as the doors closed I took a deep breath. Esme had run off when she was supposed to be helping Grayson on an assignment. Needless to say, Shredder was angry. Fortunately I was able to convince him to let me talk to her to try to see what had happened.

I figured the fact that the wedding was so close made him not want to act too rashly, so he was giving me this chance to try to straighten her out. I was grateful for that.

I walked over to her room, gently knocking, not wanting to alarm her. Knowing Esme I knew that there was no way she had just run off without a reason. Father wouldn't give me any more details about the situation except that it had been Shark business, so I wasn't sure what exactly had happened. What I did know was that whatever it had been, couldn't have been good.

"Esme, can I come in?" I asked after a few seconds with no response. Was she still gone? I turned the handle, pushing the door in to be faced with an empty room. For a second, I began to worry, but that was when I noticed the light on in the bathroom and the sound of the shower running.

I breathed a sigh of relief, at the very least glad that she was home safe. I decided to wait until she was done and took a seat on her bed, smiling softly at the bookshelf full of her crochet creations against one wall. There were little animals, a few hats hanging on a hook that was screwed into the side of the shelf, along with a few scarfs. A few books were stacked on her nightstand, her phone on the charger next to them. I looked through the titles, noticing that the majority of them were recognizable romances. I chuckled softly as I ran my finger along the spines when her phone buzzed, the screen lighting up.

I glanced briefly down at her phone but did a double take as I noticed that the name on the screen wasn't of anybody I recognized.

"Who's Brittany?" I frowned, glancing back over to the bathroom door. I knew I had no right to snoop, but before I knew it I had clicked on the text. Maybe it would give me a little more insight as to what had happened tonight.

Her lock screen popped up and after a little thought I typed in her birth year as the code. I mentally scolded her for her easy to guess passcode as the text opened up, my heart dropping as I read through it, piecing together who exactly this was.

Raph: I talked with everyone and they're ok with you moving in with us. Meet us tomorrow night at the abandoned skatepark at midnight.

I felt the color drain from my face, leaping up from the bed as if it were burning hot. This couldn't be real. She was trying to run away? From the Shredder?

When he found her (because it wasn't if, it was when) he would kill her. There was no question in my mind that he would stop at nothing to make sure she paid for seeking shelter with his mortal enemies. I couldn't let her do this, it would be suicide.

It was obvious she had already made up her mind, and if I confronted her about it, that might push her to try to go to them tonight instead of tomorrow. If only I had been more vigilant, told her to stop hanging out with them completely then this wouldn't be happening. If I had begged and pleaded with father would he have let me be the one engaged to Grayson? The one to experience what happened tonight so she wouldn't have had to? I ran my shaking hands down my face, stopping them over my mouth. Fuck. FUCK.

I had to stop this, I had to.

If I wanted her to be safe, to not leave, I needed to make sure Father was watching her closely and she knew it. But how could I do that?

The most likely scenario is that we have a mole in our midst.'

In a second I was out the door, practically running to the throne room.

I'm sorry Esme, I know that you may never be able to forgive me for this, but I can't risk losing you. I'm so sorry.