Thorns of Fate: Serendipity Saga Book One

Chapter Thirty-Two

The building shuddered around me and I drew to a halt where I had stopped in the foyer. The doors behind me were swinging closed but I caught just a glimpse of the chaos inside.

Fire rained down from the ceiling, large portions of plaster crashing down on the floor and its residents. People screamed from every direction and I could see figures sliding down ropes from the roof.

What the hell was going on?

I ran back towards the room, my anxiety and overwhelming emotions lost in the shuffle. Everyone I loved was in that room. Everyone but Will anyway.

I lurched toward the doors, about to swing them wide when they opened before me. I caught sight of a golden mop of hair as Liam darted out and grabbed my wrist, pulling me toward the door.

"What's happening?" I shrieked, pulled against his hold. He didn't relent and had a stony expression on his face.

"The ballroom was bombed. I have orders to get you out of here," he replied, hard, tugging me toward the front door. I pulled against him again but he was stronger than me an didn't let go.

My heart was hammering in my chest. I didn't like this. I could help. I could do something. But Liam didn't release me, yanking the front doors open and dragging me through them.

The building shook with yet another impact and I wanted nothing more than to run screaming back into the ballroom. I needed to get people out. I needed to get to my parents and my aunt and Kellic and Anton. And Carson.

The ground shook beneath me as I stumbled over the front steps, torn from the foyer by Liam's intense grip. He was hurting me but it didn't seem to matter right now. His fingertips and nails dug into the skin of my wrist.

"Come on," he urged, pulling more fervently. He stepped behind me, placing his palm against my back and forcing me farther forward.

"I can't leave them to die, Liam!" I exclaimed, pulling again at him, trying to dig my fingers under his hand on my wrist to no avail.

He whirled on me suddenly, his blue eyes glowing. "Running back in there only means you die too." He turned and yanked hard, sending me tumbling down the steps.

I lashed out against him. "I can help!" I cried.

"I was told to get you to safety. We're leaving," he replied, uncaring.

There was a big black SUV at the bottom of the steps, waiting with open doors. I tried one last jerk against him but he still clung to me.

"Alright," he said and for a moment I thought he was going to release me. "I tried being nice." Then he reeled back with his arm and cracked his fist into my mouth.

My world exploded into agonizing colors before fading to black.

I awoke in a dark room, some sort of gag strapped across my aching face, my hands bound behind my back. I couldn't move and blinked hard, trying to force the starbursts of black light out of my eyes. The more I forced my eyes open and closed, the clearer the room around me became.

I sat in some sort of basement or cellar and it reminded me of the room outside of where we had found my mother and Gabrielle. Across the floor, dark spiraling designs had been sketched with paint around a large circle.

"I told my son to leave well enough alone," came a deep voice from the darkness. The figure shifted forward, exposing himself to whatever little light seeped into the room. Henrick stepped closer to me, lifting my chin with one finger. "I told him to force an imprint with you but I didn't realize how it would end up affecting him."