Defenders

Defenders (23)

I nearly fell out of the RV as I practically ran down the steps, cursing my heels while I did so. I was not the type of girl that should have been wearing such high shoes, but I wasn’t about to walk outside and across the parking lot without any shoes on. I still wasn’t completely comfortable with flying yet, so that was out of the picture as well.

I rushed back into the DAU, my heels clicking against the marble floor, and then the red carpet that made its way all the way down the hallway. My hair had fallen from the curly bun it had been put in and it was now in free ringlets around my shoulders.

Hank seemed to be having difficulty keeping up with me, but we were both heading to the same place, and it didn’t matter if we got there at the same time or not.

I banged on the boys’ bedroom doors, not stopping as I continued on my way to the meeting room. I was sure Nay would be there, since she and Hank were most likely there whenever we were on missions, and I knew that she was going to have to be here for the conversation.

The boys exited out of their rooms and began to follow after me once they noticed where I was going. Aiden seemed to be beside me in a second, even though Anthony was the one with super speed.

“Where’s Kristie?” he asked urgently.

I didn’t answer. I didn’t know how I was supposed to. But I did know that right then was not the right time to tell him that I didn’t know where Kristie was, but I knew who she was with. And I couldn’t tell him that.

“Violet,” Aiden now snapped, grabbing onto my shoulder and yanking me to a stop. “Where is Kristie?”

“Aiden, if you would let Violet go, you’ll find out,” Hank informed him, giving him a look that said if he didn’t let go of me, he would never know what had happened to Kristie. He reluctantly let me go, and we continued on our way to the meeting room.

Hank used his palm to unlock the door and it slid open, revealing Nay as she sat at one of the computers, studying something. When she saw how urgent Hank and I were, she immediately stood up.

“What’s going on?” she asked, looking from me to him.

I shook my head. “Redrum is what’s going on.”

“Redrum?” Aiden cried out from behind me, but I just couldn’t look at him.”Where’s Kristie?”

Both Hank and I didn’t want to have to be the ones to tell him the truth. We didn’t know how he’d react, though we knew that it was definitely going to be negative. Neither of us wanted to have to deal with that.

“Malicius and Lynx… kind of…” was all I was able to say, at first. “Malicius and Lynx, well, kind of… took her.”

Aiden nearly fell right over, and I took a step back away from him. That probably wasn’t the best way to tell him, but I couldn’t think of any other way to do so, so I just let it out. Hank hadn’t tried to stop me, so I didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.

I then explained everything that had happened, from me leaving the club, to Malicius approaching us in the alley, to Lynx attacking Kristie, and to when they flew off. I didn’t know for sure, but it looked like Aiden was turning blue. Was he breathing?

“And you let her go?” Aiden blinked, unable to believe what I was saying to him right then. “You let her go?”

I bit the inside of my cheek, afraid to answer him. We did just let Malicius and Lynx have Kristie without a fight. I tried to go after them, but Hank knew that that would not have been a good idea.

“I tried to go after them,” I told him, hoping that this would somehow make him feel a little better. It didn’t. “But going after her by myself would not have been a good idea.”