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Chapter Forty-Nine - Adam Vaziri

Present day

Outskirts of Albemarle, NC

She was never going to forgive him.

That's what played around and around in Adam's mind as he sat on the floor of the basement, his back against the freezer chest, his knees propping up his crossed arms. He hadn't even been able to bring himself to close the lid yet---not with her inside it---but it needed to be done soon. Raid could come down any second and he hadn't yet sent the message he needed to send.

He wondered if Raid would notice that the dust sheet was missing. At this point, he didn't care. He'd rested Zara as comfortably as he could inside the empty freezer---the one that had been thankfully switched off---and folded the dust sheet beneath her head. Still, he couldn't close her in. Not yet. He hated trapping her in the darkness until she woke up.

Why the hell couldn't Zara have just fought back? That's exactly why he'd uncuffed her. She'd had an easy second, from the moment he told her he'd betrayed them, to the moment he'd snapped her neck. For a vampire, that should have been enough. Had he been anyone else, it would have been enough. But the shock had been too much. She'd waited too long. Waited to hear that it wasn't true. And that moment never came. He would never forget the look in her eyes. Maybe that was for the best, since he was sure that was the last time she would ever hold any love for him. She would never trust him again.

Adam rotated Zara's phone around in his palm. Both a piece of her and a piece of the plan. He loved one and hated the other. But he didn't have long. He needed to see this through. He needed to close that lid and put Zara out of his mind for the moment. She would eventually wake up, find her phone---which Adam had stolen but intended to return back down to the basement as soon as he was done with it---and she would be okay. Possibly the only one who would be okay. The order hadn't been to kill her, so at least for that he could be thankful.

He stood. Took a moment. Then turned and looked at Zara. Reaching down, he took her hand---the last time he would ever touch her and she didn't even know it---and used her fingerprint to unlock her phone. Not a single part of him wanted to let her hand go, but he wouldn't allow himself that pleasure. He didn't deserve it. So he quickly returned her hand to her lap, raising his head and diverting his eyes as he lowered the lid over her.

He didn't waste another moment as he darted up the stone steps towards the entrance hall. Timing was everything. He'd had only a minute or two to grab the crossbow from the weapons' room, position it, take the photo, and message it to Cristian after sending Stef downstairs to deal with Lorraine. But at least he'd known where everyone was. Now he had no idea.

Peaking his head around the basement door cautiously, grateful that the coast was clear, Adam sped towards the front door and opened it. Zara's car was outside, unmissable on the large, gritted driveway. Did he have time to move it? Not a chance. He'd have to word his message realistically---a meeting point that Zara could have run to instead of driven. Considering all the nearby landmarks, Adam then typed out the message from Zara's phone. It wouldn't take Raid long to respond, so he quickly switched off the device and pocketed it.

Seconds later, Raid came running towards the front door where Adam was still standing. "I just got a message from Zara. Where is she?"

"She's gone," Adam said solemnly, turning towards him. "You were right. I fucked up, Raid, she's gone."

Raid froze. He didn't ask how. He didn't even want to know. Then he suddenly sped towards the basement door and down the steps. He needed to see it for himself.

Adam followed him, if for no other reason than to make sure that Raid didn't discover where Zara was hidden. His heart rate increased watching Raid head over to the freezer chest, but let out a quiet breath in relief when he only inspected the handcuffs still attached to it. Perhaps he should have tried to damage them a little to make it more convincing, except he already knew he didn't have the strength for that. They were solid, designed to restrain those far stronger than humans, and the noise it would have taken would have been too big of a risk. It was just as easy to pretend that she hadn't secured them properly.