"Ella, let me explain."
Cain took a step towards me and I took two steps backwards.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Jai reach out to place his hand on my shoulder.
"Don't touch me!" I said, backing away from them both.
I looked at Jai.
"Are you one too?" I asked him.
"One what?" He asked.
I scoffed in disbelief.
"Don't play me like an idiot," I told him firmly.
I looked to Cain, who had slowly been moving towards me.
I backed away and went around the couch, putting more space between myself and the two men, if one could even call them that.
"I heard what your dad said," I told Cain.
Leaning down, I picked the book up off the couch and held it in one hand.
"You're a Lycanthrope," I said.
Saying it out loud made it all click inside my head.
The whole bit about Cain telling me they were their own undercover organization; that had to be what the book referenced when it said that Lycans all lived together in secret.
And the sub-human strength the book talked about would explain why Cain was able to kill that man with one punch.
But there was one thing that didn't add up...
"Your dad said something about you not being able to go very long without blood," I said slowly, directing my words at Cain. "What does that mean? Lycanthropes don't need to drink blood to survive."
"How do you know that?" He asked.
"I read the damn book!" I said, waving it in his face. "Answer the question."
"I'm a hybrid," he said slowly.
"Your mom said that," I pointed out. "What does that mean?"
"It means I am a mix of both."
"Both of what? Lycanthrope and what else? Human?"
"Vampire."
I closed my eyes and shook my head. Taking a few moments to compose myself and my thoughts.
"You're all insane," I said, opening my eyes. "There is no such thing as Lycanthropes and there definitely isn't such a thing as Vampires."
"You're looking at someone who is both, I can assure you they exist," Cain said.
I shook my head.
"I refuse to believe it. This is all ridiculous and I can't deal with it right now."
I began to hyperventilate as I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening.
"I'm... I'm going home," I said finally.
Both men were silent as I said this.
"What about your grandfather?" Cain asked.
"I don't care anymore.".
"You can't just leave," he said.
"I can and I will."
I walked around the couch and pulled my suitcase out from under the bed.
Both men watched as I went over the the drawers I had unpacked all of my things in and began to throw them into the suitcase.
"Ella..."
"Don't 'Ella' me!" I said to Cain.
Jai stepped in front of Cain, who had begun to approach me.
"Let me talk to her," he said.
Cain looked at me one more time before he turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. I felt the floor shake as he did so.
"You're not going to talk me out of it," I said.
"I'm not going to try to," Jai said calmly. "I'm only going to tell you that you should wait until the morning."
I shook my head.
I wanted out of that castle immediately.
"How do you plan on getting to an airport?" Jai asked.
"I'll walk," I said stubbornly.
He sighed before walking around the bed and cutting in front of me and my suitcase.
"Be realistic for a moment," he said. "It's thirty miles to the nearest airport and it's also below freezing outside."
"I can't believe you just told me to be realistic," I said incredulously. "Especially since Cain just tried to convince me he was, not one, but two mythical creatures."
"He was telling the truth. But, whether you believe him or not is entirely up to you," Jai said.
I shook my head.
"Wait until morning," Jai said again. "Daniel and I are driving to Frankfurt. We'll drop you off at the airport."
I bit the inside of my lip, feeling helpless.
"Get some sleep," he said, walking around the bed to the bedroom door.
"Tell him not to come back in here," I said firmly. "I don't want to see him again."
I saw Jai's jaw clench as he turned around, but he nodded nonetheless.
When he left the room, I stared at my disheveled suitcase for a moment before I laid down on the bed.
There's just no way he was telling the truth...
- - -
Narrative P.O.V.
A crystal glass flew across the room and shattered against the wall beside Daniel's face as he entered the room.
"I take it she found out," Daniel said, looking nervously at Jai.
Jai nodded, his arms crossed.
Cain stormed across his office and grabbed Daniel by the shirt collar. Picking him up, he slammed him against the wall.
Daniel's feet dangled as he made direct eye contact with Cain.
"You told her about the tunnels, didn't you?" Cain asked, his eyes darkening.
"She was bound to find out about you sooner or later," Daniel said slowly. "You can't blame me for this."
"I was the one who was supposed to tell her," Cain growled, squeezing Daniel's neck tighter.
"When did you plan on doing that?" Daniel breathed out, struggling for air.
"Cain, you're going to kill him," Jai said.
Cain let go of Daniel's neck and watched him slide down the wall onto the floor, coughing and gasping for air.
"You can't take it back," Jai said to Cain. "What's done is done. We're taking her to the airport tomorrow morning."
Cain turned away and walked back to his desk.
"Both of you get out, now."
Jai walked over and helped Daniel up before the two of them made their way down the stairs.
Cain sat down in his chair and let out a shaky breath. Reaching out, he turned the lamp off, engulfing the room into darkness.
Sitting there, he realized then that his worst nightmare was playing out right before his eyes.
Ella was leaving and there was nothing he could do to stop her that wouldn't make her hate him for the rest of her life.
Her reaction to finding out the truth confirmed everything Cain felt about himself.
He was a monster who didn't deserve a mate.
Cain closed his eyes and let go of the control he held over his own thoughts. He felt himself spiraling, but there was no need to stop it.
For the first time in seventeen years, Cain slept.
- - -
Ella's P.O.V.
I was awake all night.
As soon as the sun shone through the windows, I was out of the bed and pulling my suitcase through the hallways.
Jai and I ran into each other as I was rounding a corner.
"I was just coming to get you," he said. "Are you ready to go?"
I nodded. I was more than ready to go.
We walked down a few flights of stairs before we came to a large garage filled with nearly twenty different cars.
Jai walked me over to a large, black SUV that resembled the one he had picked me up from my grandfather's house in.
As he helped me put my things in the trunk, Daniel bounded into the garage carrying four duffle bags.
"What are those for?" I asked him.
"You're leaving so you don't get to know," he said sassily.
I rolled my eyes and he laughed.
"All set?" Jai asked.
"I think so," Daniel replied, closing the trunk.
As he did so, I looked to my right and saw Cain walking over to us.
I quickly walked around the car and got into the backseat.
I wasn't stupid enough to believe that Cain didn't see me, but I also wasn't stupid enough to stick around and hear what he had to say.
He, Jai, and Daniel talked for a few moments before Jai and Daniel got into the SUV.
A garage door opened behind us and Jai backed the SUV out into a long underground tunnel before he turned around and drove down it.
I watched Cain standing by the door as we drove away and I shook my head.
Forget him, I told myself.
We drove for a minute or so before we emerged from the tunnel into the foggy morning air.
A thin layer of snow coated the ground as we drove along a gravel path into the forest.
The hour-long car ride was completely silent.
I tried not to let it get to my head. I knew Jai and Daniel had to understand why I was leaving.
We arrived at the Frankfurt airport and I sat in the car as Jai parked it.
"What time does your plane leave?" He asked.
"Noon," I replied shortly.
I opened the car door and stepped out into the cold air.
Daniel helped me retrieve my luggage from the trunk and I was on my way.
I turned just before I walked inside and I waved at them both.
Daniel was the only one who returned it.
I walked inside the terminal and I sighed.
Forget him, I told myself for the hundredth time that hour.
The truth was, I couldn't.
Cain had been on my mind since we had left the castle and he was the only thing I could concentrate on.
So many questions filled my head.
What if he was telling the truth?
Why was he so hurt that I didn't believe him?
There were so many things I wanted to ask him and get clarity on.
But, in that airport, I was walking further and further away from any answers that I wanted.
I stopped just before I got to the line to check in.
What am I doing?
I turned around quickly and dashed back through the airport.
My suitcase trailed along behind me as I ran back outside.
I was met by Daniel and Jai, sitting in the drop off lane in front of me. They both stood there with their arms crossed.
"You owe me twenty bucks," Daniel said to Jai.
"No," Jai protested. "You said it would take her ten minutes, it's only been five."
He turned to me.
"I was betting you would've at least made it to security."
"You knew I would come back?" I asked.
"I had a hunch," Daniel said, winking.
A car horn sounded off and Daniel scoffed and waved the driver off.
"We're leaving, man," he said, irritated.
He opened the car door for me and I got back in.
Suddenly, I didn't feel so sick to my stomach. I knew I was doing the right thing, however illogical it was.
As we drove away, Jai and Daniel discussed the best way to get to the hospital.
"Wait," I said. "You guys are going to get the doctor's records now, right?"
Jai shook his head.
"We're waiting until the clinic closes."
"You're breaking in?" I asked him.
"You think they'd just hand us the dead doctor's entire medical history?" Daniel asked incredulously.
"Can I come?" I asked.
"No, you're going to stay in the car," Jai said firmly, looking at me in the rearview mirror. "This isn't exactly legal, so I want to involve you as little as possible. Besides, Daniel and I are trained in this stuff."
We drove up to the clinic and parked in the hotel parking lot next to it.
Sitting in that parking lot until the clinic closed wasn't fun. Jai refused to answer any questions I had about whether they themselves were Lycanthropes or about their pack.
Even Daniel had managed to find restraint within himself not to speak.
The only response I would get was: "Ask Cain."
When it was dark outside and the clinic had finally closed, Jai and Daniel got out of the SUV and went around to the trunk. They began to get assorted kinds of gear out of the duffel bags that Daniel had packed.
"Stay here," Daniel said to me quietly, after he'd finished stuffing guns of different sizes in his clothes.
"Whatever you say, Double O Seven," I said, turning around in my seat as Daniel closed the trunk.
"I mean it," he said, pointing at me through the car window as they walked towards the clinic.
I gave him a thumbs up and watched the two of them walk around the back of the clinic and disappear.
I waited nervously for nearly twenty minutes, chewing my fingernails and popping my knee.
What could be taking so long?
I heard something that sounded like a fire alarm begin to ring and my heart dropped into my stomach as all the emergency lights on the outside of the building began to turn on.
Suddenly, I saw Daniel and Jai pushing each other out of a second-story window of the clinic.
I leaned forward and started the car's engine as the two of them ran up.
Daniel wasn't even in the door yet before Jai had begun to speed off.
"What the hell happened?" I asked quickly.
Daniel threw me a bag and I opened it to see numerous files and papers shoved inside.
"Is this all of it?" I asked.
"And more," Daniel answered, out of breath.
A handful of police cars drove past us, sirens blaring and lights flashing.
"Congratulations," I said. "You're fugitives."
Jai waved a dismissing hand.
"Not the first time and won't be the last."
"When you're older, I'll tell you about what happened in Moscow," Daniel said to me, laughing. "This was a cake walk."
"If it was so easy, why did you set off the alarm?" I asked.
"Accidents happen," He said.
The car grew quiet before Jai spoke up.
"Someone else was in that clinic," he said.
"No, it was closed," Daniel assured him.
Jai shook his head.
"Someone pulled that fire alarm. I didn't set it off and neither did you."
The two of them were silent for the rest of the car ride home.
Who else could have been inside the clinic?
- - -
We arrived back at the castle very late into the night.
Daniel took the bag of folders and assured me he would leave it on Cain's desk for me to look over in the morning.
As someone who hadn't slept the night before, I was grateful for the opportunity to rest before digging into the mess I was sure to uncover.
I walked slowly back up all those flights of stairs, lugging my suitcase with me.
By the time I reached my room, I was more than exhausted.
I opened the door to see the fireplace lit and the bathroom door open with the light on inside.
Shit, I thought. I forgot this was Cain's room.
He walked out of the bathroom, a towel hanging low on his hips.
Clearly, he'd just gotten out of the shower.
"Sorry," I said quickly. "I'll go find somewhere else to sleep."
"I didn't expect to see you again," he said, stopping me as I turned to leave.
I turned back around slowly, looking for a way to explain why I'd stayed.
I was silent. No words would come to me.
I couldn't tell if this was because I couldn't think of anything to say or because I was too distracted by his naked, muscular chest.
"You owe me a plane ticket," was all I could muster up.
Suddenly, Cain went from being twenty feet away at the bathroom door to being less than a few inches away, standing right in front of me.
His hand went around the back of my neck and he pulled me into him.
The next thing I knew, Cain kissed me.
- - -