Kait let go of my hand to rub my back. He leaned in to whisper in my ear. “I am yours, and yours only. They cannot take me from you. When we get home, I will show you how much you mean to me.”
A different kind of heat flashed through me, and I forgot all about the girls. My desk thawed. Kait smiled and pecked me on the cheek before leaning back in his seat. He still rubbed my back, drawing circles and other patterns. It was a good thing this was English, and I didn’t really need to pay much attention, or I would have been in trouble.
Once class was done, we headed to the car. We were about half way there when someone called my name. I turned to find Hunter hurrying toward me. Kait quickly stepped between us.
“What do you want, Hunter?” Kait’s voice was like ice. I guess he figured out who our source was, then.
“I wanted to make sure you are heeding the warning I gave the other day. The Svikari are mobilizing for your meeting, and I would hate to see anything happen to Evalia.”
“Why do you care?” Kait’s arm was out, blocking me from moving in front of him while he controlled the conversation with Hunter.
“Travis is the happiest I have ever seen, and it’s because of Evalia, so I don’t want anything to happen to her.”
“We are making plans so the meeting on Friday cannot be ambushed. We will be fine.”
Hunters mouth dropped open. “Friday? No, the meeting they are planning to crash is tonight.”
“Thank you for the information, Hunter.” Kait’s voice made it clear the discussion was over.
Hunter stared for a minute, then nodded and walked away quickly.
Chapter 10
Kait took my arm and quickly guided me to the car. I had to practically run to keep up with him.
“Slow down, Kait. Why are you in such a hurry now?”
“We need to get everyone together so we can evaluate the threat for tonight. We may need to cancel the meeting with Alarr. I think he may have fooled me, and is actually working with the Svikari.”
“We were going to move the meeting.”
“I don’t think that is enough.”
I rolled my eyes. “What, now that you met Hunter yourself, you are going to take his warning seriously? You didn’t trust what Travis and I told you?”
He stopped abruptly and spun on me. In a fierce whisper he said, “You and Travis do not have the advantages I do. His mind was open to me, and I saw exactly what he knows. They are not planning on abducting you this time. They are planning to kill you. For some reason, they don’t need you anymore, and they don’t want you alive.”
I stared at him with my mouth hanging open. He started walking again, still pulling me behind him. I was too stunned to argue. What had changed?
When we got into the car, Kait pulled out his phone. “I’m texting David and Travis to meet us at the safe house as soon as possible.”
He pulled out of the parking spot like a bat out of hell. It took us quite a bit longer to get to the safe house than normal, even though he was speeding. I wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention, but I think he backtracked several times.
We pulled into the driveway, and Kait parked the car right next to the door. He ran around the car, pulled me out, and practically shoved me through the door of the safe house. He slammed the door in my face when I stopped to wait for him. I could hear him outside, yelling for Cassy.
A few minutes later, he shut the door hard behind himself as he ran to the security controls. I was still standing in the hallway, one arm wrapped around myself while the other hand twirled my braid. Once he finished with the controls, he gently guided me to the dining room, which was toward the middle of the house.
“Kait, I understand what you said before, but why all the precautions?” My voice was barely above a whisper. He was scaring me.
He pulled a chair over so he could sit right in front of me. “From what I could see in his mind, they are above prepared. I know you don’t want to, but you may need to go into hiding again. They want you dead at all costs.”
“But, why?”
He sighed and ran a hand down his face. “I don’t know. But I don’t want to have the meeting with Alarr. I think we should do a video call with him instead. Then, we can be sure to keep you safe. We know they know where we are, but this house should be secure enough. We just need a few hours to prepare. There is a safe room, and we can always open a gateway to Shadoewynne if need be.” He pulled me into a hug. “We will get through this, Princess.”
I was having a hard time breathing through my panic. It had never occurred to me that they would escalate again after Stefa had been arrested. I had naively thought that they would leave me alone. Black spots started dancing in my vision, so Kait sat me down on a nearby chair and shoved my head down between my knees. I focused on taking deep breaths. The Svikari wouldn’t leave me alone, ever. What was I going to do? I couldn’t live the rest of my life in hiding.
I spoke into my knees, since Kait hadn’t let me sit back up yet. “Kait, we have to crush them. We have to. Or they will never let us live in peace. How are we going to do that? It’s just the
