All the Little Pieces

6. THE BEGINNING OF THE END

CHAPTER 6. THE BEGINNING OF THE END

The next few hours passed by uneventfully; waiters wandered around with food and champagne, whilst the beautiful people stood around gossiping. I spoke to Zach's mom a few times, smiling politely as she introduced me to her friends whose names I forgot straight away. All in all, it was a pretty nice party. 

After eating a few too many hors d'oeuvres and speaking to a few too many people, I was ready to go home and crawl into bed. I managed to detach myself from an elderly couple that were telling me about their grandchildren who lived in Brisbane, when I noticed Zach and his mother having an intense conversation with their butler. After some hurried words and worried expressions, they quickly darted off into the house. 

That was the time when I should have remembered the saying of curiosity killing the cat. 

Glancing around to make sure that no one was watching, I slowly made my way up the stairs into the house. I couldn't see Zach or Olivia when I walked through the doors, and for a few moments I stood there wondering what to do until I heard voices coming from a nearby room. As quietly as I could in high heels, I moved over towards the slightly open door, calling upon all of my non-existent ninja skills. 

"This is a complete disaster! How could the council do this without telling me?" Olivia's voice echoed off the high ceiling. My curiosity peaked; what had the Inner Council done to make Olivia so mad, and why had they gone behind her back. She was one of the members of the Council, so I had always assumed that she would know everything that went on. After all, the only reason I knew about my possible assassination, had I chosen not to become a shifter, was because of Zach and his mother.

"Mum, just calm down, we can figure something out. As long as- "

"No! Do not tell me to calm down Zachary. I am a member of the Inner Council. Do you know what that means? It means that anything of importance or relevance to our people is discussed by me and my fellow members first before the news reaches the public. But I didn't know! They didn't tell me!" I leant in closer to the door, eager to here more. I am so going to hell for this. 

'"Have they interrogated him yet?" Zach asked, his voice low and surprisingly filled with fear.

"No, not yet. At least that’s what I've heard. Let's pray that it's true. If the Council has interrogated him already, it won't be long until they find out the truth."

My face was now pressed up against the wall as I desperately tried to catch every word. Straining to absorb every morsel of what I was sure was forbidden information, I didn’t notice the shadow behind me, nor did I hear the faint footsteps. But I sure as hell noticed it when the person was slowly breathing down my neck.

My scream never had a chance to be heard, as a strong hard was placed firmly over my mouth whilst another hand wrapped around my waist, pulling me back into a hard chest. I began to struggle, panic rising in my chest like a poisonous bubble, simply waiting to erupt. Tears sprang into my eyes as my mind raced with memories of an underground room that had been my prison a few short months ago. All I could think of was that I didn’t want to die.

“Naya, its Luke. Calm down, I’m not going to hurt you.” Luke’s whispers pierced my terror-filled mind, as I slowly began to relax into his arms. I could feel my heart rate steadily pumping away, the adrenaline still lingering in my now limp body.

I turned to face him, my eyes silently conveying the question that I didn’t dare to ask aloud for the fear of being caught. Why are you here? Luke caught on quickly, and soon enough we were conversing quietly through mimed words and hand gestures.