Darkness Falls

Chapter thirty

Kenny sat with me whilst I absorbed what I had done. The idea that I had left him was still sinking in and a part of me was anxiously waiting for the consequences to catch up with me. Papá didn't let people go that easily. But his words seemed so...so final.

You'll be back. So confident. So assured. Like he knew better than I did what my next move was.

Maybe he did.

It couldn't possibly be this easy, could it? He had to have another method up his sleeve. There was only one person I could talk to about this.

"Are you okay?" Kenny asked.

I nodded, gathering my thoughts. With a final decisive nod, I stood up.

"I need to talk to someone, will you come with me?"

"You want me to come with you?" She asked. "Well that's a first."

I held out my hand and pulled her to her feet. Kissing her cheek, I led the way to the only person, or at least, the only alive person, who knew what leaving Papá felt like.

~*~

"Jake? Back so soon?" Will said, opening the door. "And who's this lovely lady?"

She chuckled.

"This is Kennedy. Kenny, this is Will. We used to work together." I prattled through the introductions quickly as Will shut the door.

"So what do you need?" Will said as he led us to the living room.

"Help."

He gave me a look, probably taking in my desperate expression.

"What have you done?" He sighed.

I cast a glance at Kenny. Who waited expectantly, her head tilted in anticipation.

"I'm not going to tell anyone, Jay. You can trust me." She spoke softly, urging me to continue.

I sighed. Well there was no getting around this. I'd already endangered her, she may as well know what happens next.

"I left. I couldn't handle it anymore."

Will gave me a look and rubbed his eyes tiredly as if that would change what I said.

"Coffee?" He offered.

I frowned.

"Huh?"

"To keep hold of my temper, I'm going to need coffee for this. Do you want any?"

We declined and he stood up to go to the kitchen. I heard him mutter something unintelligible. Probably about me. Possibly not.

Once he was seated again with a cup of coffee, he took a deep gulp and sighed before speaking again.

"Why?" He massaged the cup in his hands, studying me intently.

I blinked. I was expecting a reprimand first. Possibly an insult. But no.

"I can't do this anymore. He hired Alex to replace you. He's changing."

"And why did you think it was best to leave?" He asked, coaxing the answer out of me bit by bit.

"Because I have too many people I want to protect. And I can't fight from the inside anymore."

"What did he say?" He asked.

"You'll be back." I said, repeating the same tone as Papá had used on me. Self-assured and confident, with just the slightest hint of arrogance thrown in.