A/N: Okay, the delay wasn't my fault this time (that's a first)! My
computer has been in pieces on the office floor for a month now. SO until
my dad fixes it, or lets someone else fix it, I won't be able to update.
I'm writing ten on my friend's computer (thank you Katy!). So this will
have to suffice for a while. Again, sorry but I couldn't help it. Plus, I'm
all gradgeated now so I have free time in the summer! Woo free time outside
of work! Don't worry, this chapter is nice and long.angst ahoy!
Chapter 10
Piper shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Her breathing was getting shaky. She glanced sideways at Ash. He was sitting in the plush, pink chair on her left. His vibrant eyes a deep brown. He nodded slightly, Piper thought as a sign of encouragement. She turned her gaze back to the man sitting in front of her. Four hours ago this so-called Lord of the Night World had been a complete stranger to her, everyone here had. Now she was going to relive a hell that she had been trying desperately to forget.
Thierry was waiting patiently for Piper to proceed. He knew that she would only continue when she was ready.
Piper's spine visibly stiffened with resolve. She sat up stick straight in her seat and put her arms firmly on the pink fabric. Her tongue swept nervously over her upper lip before she began to speak again.
"I spent days inside of the bedchambers just thinking. I only left when Adrian called me down for dinner. I didn't want to risk making him angry again. I knew what I had to do, but --" she paused for just a second before continuing, "I remember it clearly." Piper's eyes seemed to stare past Thierry, past the wallpaper of Hannah's study. She was looking inside herself.
"I had been tearing myself up inside for days over what to do, when I finally reached a decision. I was sitting out on the balcony from the bedroom. The sun had set only a few minutes before, and I was curled up on a reclining lawn chair. Suddenly, I sat up and threw my feet over the edge of the chair. I couldn't stand to be without Connor, but I couldn't endanger his life by sneaking out to see him. I had to tell him that we couldn't see each other again.ever." Piper's lower lip started to tremble.
"I didn't want to do that to Connor, to myself. I realized that if I couldn't live with Connor I didn't want to live at all. I refused to spend forever in Adrian's prison. I went over to my vanity on the wall adjacent to the master closet. In the bottom drawer underneath hairbrushes, nail polish, and other frustratingly mundane beauty products was a stake. I had gotten hold of it the first few weeks after Adrian changed me. I had wanted to kill myself then, but was too scared to do it. I wasn't afraid anymore. I shoved the stake into my left boot, and grabbed my black jacket from the closet. I had to see Connor right away. I didn't want to chance getting stopped downstairs, so I dropped down from the second-story balcony onto the soft grass outside the window to the kitchens. I doubted Adrian would be near there. I hurried around to the side of the house and jumped the fence before Adrian's beloved Dobermans could come around to investigate.
'Obviously I couldn't take any of the cars from the garage. I just ran the whole way into the city, or as much as you can run in downtown Manhattan. I stopped outside his apartment building to steel my nerves. I knew that if I stopped to second-guess myself, I'd never go up. I didn't have to worry about him not being home, either. I could feel him. He was upstairs writing a paper. I buzzed his name on the intercom and waited with my heart in my throat. I can still remember how happy he was to see me.."
* * * Connor's grin greeted her at his scuffed apartment door. He had on a Yankees shirt and faded jeans. "Hey, I'm so glad that you stopped by! I made you something and I really want you to tell me what you think. I worked on it all night, hence the rushed ethics paper." He gestured towards his laptop on the coffee table and went into his bedroom.
Piper wrapped her arms around herself and stood in the middle of the messy living room. She ran her tongue over her upper lip, gearing herself up to crush the only person she loved.
Connor came back into the living room holding some sort of notebook in his hand. Piper could feel his boyish enthusiasm overwhelming her. He handed her the book, a sketchbook, and she relaxed a little.
It was her.naked. Well, not entirely naked. She was lying on her back underneath some sheets, his sheets. They covered her while she slept and one hand was twisted up onto the pillow next to her face. Piper felt tears come to her eyes. "Connor, you.you sketched this?"
He reached out a hand and pushed a strand of her hair behind her left ear. "I used to sketch a lot in high school. In fact, I was going to be an art major for a while. What do you think?" He moved to stand right by her side, judging her face for an answer.
Piper's eyes ran over the gentle details of the picture. Her eyelashes were dark crescents on her cheeks. Her lips were slightly parted, and her hair was fanned out on the pillow behind her. Her wrist was smooth and slightly bent towards her face. Piper frowned at looked up at Connor.
"Where's my tattoo?" She asked softly.
"Oh, well.." His eyes dropped from hers to the sketch and came back up. "I didn't draw your tattoo. I could feel how you felt about it the other night. It makes you ashamed and unhappy. So I didn't put it in the picture."
"Connor, the tattoo is part of who I am. I'm a vampire. You can't just choose to ignore that." Piper's eyes stared into his face. "That's why you didn't draw it. You can't accept it." Piper handed him back the sketchbook.
"No, Piper, why are you overreacting like this? It's a stupid rose. It doesn't matter."
"Yes it does! That stupid rose means that I'm an undead, unholy, blood- sucking monster! That's why we can't be together! Connor, we can't see each other. Not ever. We just---can't." Piper finished lamely as her anger dissipated.
Connor frowned and his eyebrows narrowed. "Because of the stupid sketch? Is that it?" He tossed the sketchbook onto the loveseat. He went over to Piper and wrapped his arms around her. "I don't care about the tattoo, or the fact that you are a little bit undead. You know what they say about every rose having it's thorn" He said softly into her hair.
Piper pushed away from him and stepped back. "Yes, but this rose has fangs. I mean it, not ever again. It's dangerous. We, I -- I don't want to hurt you." Her voice broke. He reached out to touch her face but she flinched back.
"Why are you doing this? You won't hurt me. Piper, I know what you are and I don't care. I love you and I want to be with you." His voice softened dramatically and his heart filled his eyes. "You know I can't be without you."
Piper's breathing quickened and her eyes became blinded by tears. She pushed the heels of her palms against them in a futile attempt to stop the burning tears on her cheeks. "Connor, we can't. We have to stop. I don't want him to hurt you. You're all that matters to me. I'll die if he finds you." Her sentences were broken by sobs.
Connor frowned fiercely and put his hands on her quivering shoulders. "He who? Has someone been threatening you? Sweetheart, just tell me what's wrong and we'll fix it together."
Piper's spine straightened into a lance and she desperately clutched at Connor. Oh, how beautiful he smelled. How good it felt to touch him. All she needed was to be held and this would all go away.
Except that it wouldn't. Adrian would still be there when she pulled back. She'd still be wanted by the Night World Council for telling a human everything. Connor would still be in danger. Nothing could make this go away. The only thing she could do was to walk away. If she went back to the way everything was before, then all of this would go away.
*I don't want it to go away.* Piper thought fiercely. *I don't want to go back to being trapped in Adrian's private hell. I want to be here, with him. This boy who I barely know, but love more than anything or anyone I've ever known. My soulmate.*
Piper turned her face up to Connor's for a sweet, deep kiss. His emotions were rushing through her - protectiveness, concern, worry, and above all love. He slowly moved his sculpted lips over her tear-stained cheeks to kiss away her sorrow.
"I love you, Connor. Remember that, even if you can't stand to look at me for leaving you. I love you.so much." Piper kissed him quickly on the lips for the last time. She turned and headed for his apartment door.
"Piper." Connor's voice broke, and she could hear his suppressed tears. "Wait-"
But Piper couldn't wait. She couldn't stop. She had to keep going and never look back. She briskly walked to the stairwell at the end of the hall. She flew down the steps and out the side door of the building. As she walked her pace quickened, and before long she was running and crying at the same time. She stumbled once or twice and bumped into an elderly couple on the sidewalk, but she just kept running. She had to get back to Adrian's, and away from Connor's haunted expression. After miles of perpetual sprinting, she slowed and collapsed against the stone wall at the edge of Adrian's property. She pressed her face into the dirty bricks and wept. Piper's knees folded underneath her and she slid down onto the damp ground. She couldn't take this. She was dying instead without Connor already. Piper felt inside her boot for the stake. Yes, it was still there. She should just do it now. The midnight patrol 'wolf would find her body and tell Adrian. Piper grimaced at the look that would be on his face. He wouldn't care that she'd done it. He'd probably be upset about the blood stain she'd leave on his pavement. She could just picture him saying "she had been such a good girl all these months. What a pity. We'll have to go into Manhattan tomorrow night and get me a new one".
Loud, insistent barking erupted from inside the wall. Shit. They had found her.
Connor was hyperventilating. He was running faster than he thought possible, but his breathing was suffering. Oh, why had he quit the track team in ninth grade? His leg muscles burned and his lungs screamed for more oxygen, but he couldn't' stop. He couldn't even slow down. He had to catch Piper. He knew as soon as she had walked out his door that he couldn't just let her go. No matter what she said. He'd rather die than be without her.
He had been following her for some time now. He couldn't see her up ahead anymore -- her vampire speed had carried her out of his sight - but he could feel her. Her turbulent emotions were crashing over him through their soulmate connection. He could feel her torment and it bruised his heart. Why had she done this? He knew that there had to be a reason. It had to do with that man. He had gotten flashes inside of Piper's mind when they had slept together the other night. Her thoughts were so guarded that it was only a glimpse, but Connor had seen a man with dark hair. He also felt her feelings toward him. Hatred. Unabashed disgust and loathing for this person, whoever he was. Connor had a feeling that this all involved that man somehow. Did he not want Connor and Piper together? Piper had mentioned someone wanting to hurt the both of them. Like hell he would. Not while Connor was around to protect her. He wouldn't let anything happen to Piper.
He slowed and put his hands on his knees. There was a long driveway up ahead. It came up to iron gates in a high, brick wall. Connor could see the top of a huge house behind it. Did Piper live here? He could feel her inside, except that she was full of fear now. Connor tried to catch his breath and creep down to the bushes and trees near the gates. He could see a group of people standing in the yard, one of them Piper. He wished he could hear what was being said.
Piper scrambled to her feet, but it was too late. Two 'wolves and a 'shifter, Adrian's hired muscle, were opening up the gates about a hundred feet down the wall. When they saw that it was Piper, they smirked.
"Well, what do we have here?" the dark-skinned 'shifter asked to no one in particular. Piper recognized him as one of the nightshift guards that Adrian had just hired a few weeks ago. Added protection for Hunter's visit, he'd said.
"What's a pretty little thing like you doing out here so late? Adrian isn't going to be very happy." He grabbed Piper's upper arm and squeezed painfully.
"I don't give a fuck about Adrian's happiness. He never did about mine." Her chin rose defiantly and she smacked his hand away. The dogs continued barking from the gates.
"Hey, now, watch your mouth, Baby. We'll just have to drag you inside and let Adrian decide what to do with you." He jerked his head towards the two werewolf guys and they stepped up to surround Piper.
"Oh, quit with the pathetic intimidation tactics. I'm going on my own." She strode forward and through the gates, wiping at her tears as she went. She didn't want to show weakness in front of Adrian. One of the 'wolves shouted at the Dobermans to shut up. He muttered about how they shouldn't be freaking out over Piper.
Piper couldn't' stand the triumphant look one of the 'wolves was giving her. "Don't look so pleased with yourself, Rover. Adrian might praise you for bringing me in, but he'll beat the hell out of you for letting me escape in the first place."
The arrogance quickly flew off of his face and he scowled at Piper the rest of the way to the front doors.
Surprisingly enough, Adrian met them at the entrance. One look at his face and Piper paled. This was going to be very bad.
"We found her outside the main gate, sitting on the edge of the drive." The shapeshifter shoved her forward and onto the front steps.
Adrian towered over her from the landing. His eyes were burning pools of black silk. Piper's chin trembled, but she held her ground.
"I've done as you told. It's over." She looked him straight in the eyes.
He showed no reaction to her announcement. He did come down the steps toward her, however. Very slowly, never breaking eye contact.
Without saying a word, Adrian slapped Piper so hard across the face that she fell to the ground.
The boys snickered. Piper pressed a hand to her throbbing face. Adrian wasn't finished yet.
"Piper, I really don't understand you." He stood directly in front of her, waiting for her to stand.
She slowly accommodated him.
"Haven't I given you everything? You have the finest clothes, the fastest cars, people to wait on your every call." He grabbed her right wrist and twisted it behind her back until her back was against his chest. "I have provided everything you could ever want, and this is what you do to me. You humiliate me in front of my elder, lie to me, defy explicit orders, and insult me by having an affair with vermin. I'm just not sure what to do with you. You've become more of a nuisance than anything else, and you know what I do with nuisances, Piper?" He leaned in next to her ear and spoke in a whisper. "I get rid of them."
Piper's wrist snapped and she cried out in pain. Adrian shoved her forward and onto the pavement. She cradled her broken wrist and glared at him through a curtain of her hair.
"Get your fucking hands off of my soulmate!!" Connor's shout rang through the entire yard. He had run through the gates that had been left open and now stood just inside the wall. His face was flushed beet red and his breathing was labored.
Adrian's left eyebrow shot up in reaction to this declaration. The two werewolves and shapeshifter were on Connor in a split second. They had his arms behind his back and were dragging him forward to speak to Adrian.
Piper quickly stood up and called out to him. "Connor, no.". Despair was written all over her face.
"Well, well, well. What a happy little gathering this is. We were having fun on our own, Connor, but the more the merrier." Adrian spat out the human's name as if it were a foul taste in his mouth.
Adrian circled Connor, looking him up and down. "This is what you left me for, Piper? A pathetic little human boy?"
"We're soulmates, Adrian. It was beyond both of our control. We're meant to be together." Piper said firmly.
"Is that so?" Adrian's eyes flashed.
"Just let him go. I'll stay and I'll do anything you ask, Adrian. I promise I'll be a perfect angel and do everything you want. Please, just let him go." Piper had turned to her captor to plead for Connor's life.
Adrian's indifferent expression turned to fury. "An unfaithful bitch is no angel, but I can fix this soulmate dilemma. And you will do everything I ask, Piper. You will obey my every wish and you'll adore me. As for Connor, well, he won't be here to witness your submission." Adrian snapped his fingers and the three Night World thugs began beating Connor.
At first they just punched him. That was enough to drive Connor to his knees. A werewolf's fist was worse than any brass knuckles could be. They were hitting him repeatedly now. Kicking blows to his stomach and kidneys. Trying to do as much internal damage as possible.
And Piper was screaming. Ear-splitting screams that rang through the night like a banshee's call. Adrian had grabbed both of her wrists to keep her from running to Connor. She was struggling against Adrian with all her might, but he was too strong. She kicked him over and over, but she couldn't break free.
Connor was on all fours on the pavement now. The black shapeshifter drove a hard kick right into his sternum. Piper heard bones splitting. Connor was spitting mouthfuls of blood onto the cement. He raised his eyes and met Piper's frantic gaze. That look said everything. They held each other's stare until one of the werewolves kicked Connor hard in his right temple. Piper's soulmate fell face first into a pool of his own blood.
Piper sank to her knees, as if following her soulmate's descent into death. Adrian released her wrists, but Piper didn't go to him. She covered her face with her hands instead. She couldn't feel the pain in her wrist anymore. She was numb. Numb to everything. Her broken joint continued to cover her face, as she slid her left hand down her leg.and into her boot. Her hand clutched the stake and slowly pulled it from it's make-shift sheath. In one fluent motion Piper whirled up and around, facing Adrian. Without a second of hesitation, she drove the wooden spike into his undead heart. Shock rendered Adrian's handsome face as his hands flew up to his chest. He closed his hands around the wooden shaft protruding from his ribs and fell to the ground. His eyes glazed over and his chest stopped rising. His skin began to rapidly decay and mummify his appearance.
Piper turned away in disgust. She had to go to Connor. She ran over to her now motionless soulmate. The three guards backed away from her in surprise and fear. She had just killed their employer.
"Connor?" Piper whispered on a sob. There was no response. Piper turned him over. His face was covered in blood and his eyes were closed. "Connor, no. No, no, no." Piper kept repeating herself like a broken record. She cradled him in her arms and pressed his face to her chest.
There was a sudden wrenching in Piper's chest, as if her soul were being ripped apart. She cried out in pain and buried her face in his shoulder. When the pain subsided a moment later, Piper slowly raised her head. There was nothing. That space where she could feel his feelings, listen to his thoughts was gone. As if it was never there, as if he was never there. Piper had a void in her soul.
She knew what she had to do. She softly kissed Connor's forehead and laid him back onto the pavement. She had to get out of here before more guards came and made her stay.
*I wish I could take you with me* she thought to the cold body on the ground. *You don't deserve to lie here like this*
But she had very little time, and no where to put the body if she did take it with her. She couldn't give him a proper funeral or notify his family. No, the Council would take care of it. Besides, Connor was gone. That lifeless body in the driveway was just a corpse now.
Piper ran upstairs to the bedchamber that she and Adrian shared. Grabbing a duffle bag from the top shelf in the closet, she began stuffing random clothing into it. Breathing deeply to stay calm, Piper ran over to her vanity. She pulled out the back, left leg and a roll of cash fell out of the hollow. Emergency money. Piper threw that into the duffle, too. She took one quick look around the bedroom. Finally, she was leaving this place for good. She slammed the bedroom door behind her and ran down the staircase. The guards were gathered around Adrian's body talking to themselves about what to do when she flew past them and into the garage. They were still staring when she peeled out of the drive in her Jaguar and never looked back.
Chapter 10
Piper shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Her breathing was getting shaky. She glanced sideways at Ash. He was sitting in the plush, pink chair on her left. His vibrant eyes a deep brown. He nodded slightly, Piper thought as a sign of encouragement. She turned her gaze back to the man sitting in front of her. Four hours ago this so-called Lord of the Night World had been a complete stranger to her, everyone here had. Now she was going to relive a hell that she had been trying desperately to forget.
Thierry was waiting patiently for Piper to proceed. He knew that she would only continue when she was ready.
Piper's spine visibly stiffened with resolve. She sat up stick straight in her seat and put her arms firmly on the pink fabric. Her tongue swept nervously over her upper lip before she began to speak again.
"I spent days inside of the bedchambers just thinking. I only left when Adrian called me down for dinner. I didn't want to risk making him angry again. I knew what I had to do, but --" she paused for just a second before continuing, "I remember it clearly." Piper's eyes seemed to stare past Thierry, past the wallpaper of Hannah's study. She was looking inside herself.
"I had been tearing myself up inside for days over what to do, when I finally reached a decision. I was sitting out on the balcony from the bedroom. The sun had set only a few minutes before, and I was curled up on a reclining lawn chair. Suddenly, I sat up and threw my feet over the edge of the chair. I couldn't stand to be without Connor, but I couldn't endanger his life by sneaking out to see him. I had to tell him that we couldn't see each other again.ever." Piper's lower lip started to tremble.
"I didn't want to do that to Connor, to myself. I realized that if I couldn't live with Connor I didn't want to live at all. I refused to spend forever in Adrian's prison. I went over to my vanity on the wall adjacent to the master closet. In the bottom drawer underneath hairbrushes, nail polish, and other frustratingly mundane beauty products was a stake. I had gotten hold of it the first few weeks after Adrian changed me. I had wanted to kill myself then, but was too scared to do it. I wasn't afraid anymore. I shoved the stake into my left boot, and grabbed my black jacket from the closet. I had to see Connor right away. I didn't want to chance getting stopped downstairs, so I dropped down from the second-story balcony onto the soft grass outside the window to the kitchens. I doubted Adrian would be near there. I hurried around to the side of the house and jumped the fence before Adrian's beloved Dobermans could come around to investigate.
'Obviously I couldn't take any of the cars from the garage. I just ran the whole way into the city, or as much as you can run in downtown Manhattan. I stopped outside his apartment building to steel my nerves. I knew that if I stopped to second-guess myself, I'd never go up. I didn't have to worry about him not being home, either. I could feel him. He was upstairs writing a paper. I buzzed his name on the intercom and waited with my heart in my throat. I can still remember how happy he was to see me.."
* * * Connor's grin greeted her at his scuffed apartment door. He had on a Yankees shirt and faded jeans. "Hey, I'm so glad that you stopped by! I made you something and I really want you to tell me what you think. I worked on it all night, hence the rushed ethics paper." He gestured towards his laptop on the coffee table and went into his bedroom.
Piper wrapped her arms around herself and stood in the middle of the messy living room. She ran her tongue over her upper lip, gearing herself up to crush the only person she loved.
Connor came back into the living room holding some sort of notebook in his hand. Piper could feel his boyish enthusiasm overwhelming her. He handed her the book, a sketchbook, and she relaxed a little.
It was her.naked. Well, not entirely naked. She was lying on her back underneath some sheets, his sheets. They covered her while she slept and one hand was twisted up onto the pillow next to her face. Piper felt tears come to her eyes. "Connor, you.you sketched this?"
He reached out a hand and pushed a strand of her hair behind her left ear. "I used to sketch a lot in high school. In fact, I was going to be an art major for a while. What do you think?" He moved to stand right by her side, judging her face for an answer.
Piper's eyes ran over the gentle details of the picture. Her eyelashes were dark crescents on her cheeks. Her lips were slightly parted, and her hair was fanned out on the pillow behind her. Her wrist was smooth and slightly bent towards her face. Piper frowned at looked up at Connor.
"Where's my tattoo?" She asked softly.
"Oh, well.." His eyes dropped from hers to the sketch and came back up. "I didn't draw your tattoo. I could feel how you felt about it the other night. It makes you ashamed and unhappy. So I didn't put it in the picture."
"Connor, the tattoo is part of who I am. I'm a vampire. You can't just choose to ignore that." Piper's eyes stared into his face. "That's why you didn't draw it. You can't accept it." Piper handed him back the sketchbook.
"No, Piper, why are you overreacting like this? It's a stupid rose. It doesn't matter."
"Yes it does! That stupid rose means that I'm an undead, unholy, blood- sucking monster! That's why we can't be together! Connor, we can't see each other. Not ever. We just---can't." Piper finished lamely as her anger dissipated.
Connor frowned and his eyebrows narrowed. "Because of the stupid sketch? Is that it?" He tossed the sketchbook onto the loveseat. He went over to Piper and wrapped his arms around her. "I don't care about the tattoo, or the fact that you are a little bit undead. You know what they say about every rose having it's thorn" He said softly into her hair.
Piper pushed away from him and stepped back. "Yes, but this rose has fangs. I mean it, not ever again. It's dangerous. We, I -- I don't want to hurt you." Her voice broke. He reached out to touch her face but she flinched back.
"Why are you doing this? You won't hurt me. Piper, I know what you are and I don't care. I love you and I want to be with you." His voice softened dramatically and his heart filled his eyes. "You know I can't be without you."
Piper's breathing quickened and her eyes became blinded by tears. She pushed the heels of her palms against them in a futile attempt to stop the burning tears on her cheeks. "Connor, we can't. We have to stop. I don't want him to hurt you. You're all that matters to me. I'll die if he finds you." Her sentences were broken by sobs.
Connor frowned fiercely and put his hands on her quivering shoulders. "He who? Has someone been threatening you? Sweetheart, just tell me what's wrong and we'll fix it together."
Piper's spine straightened into a lance and she desperately clutched at Connor. Oh, how beautiful he smelled. How good it felt to touch him. All she needed was to be held and this would all go away.
Except that it wouldn't. Adrian would still be there when she pulled back. She'd still be wanted by the Night World Council for telling a human everything. Connor would still be in danger. Nothing could make this go away. The only thing she could do was to walk away. If she went back to the way everything was before, then all of this would go away.
*I don't want it to go away.* Piper thought fiercely. *I don't want to go back to being trapped in Adrian's private hell. I want to be here, with him. This boy who I barely know, but love more than anything or anyone I've ever known. My soulmate.*
Piper turned her face up to Connor's for a sweet, deep kiss. His emotions were rushing through her - protectiveness, concern, worry, and above all love. He slowly moved his sculpted lips over her tear-stained cheeks to kiss away her sorrow.
"I love you, Connor. Remember that, even if you can't stand to look at me for leaving you. I love you.so much." Piper kissed him quickly on the lips for the last time. She turned and headed for his apartment door.
"Piper." Connor's voice broke, and she could hear his suppressed tears. "Wait-"
But Piper couldn't wait. She couldn't stop. She had to keep going and never look back. She briskly walked to the stairwell at the end of the hall. She flew down the steps and out the side door of the building. As she walked her pace quickened, and before long she was running and crying at the same time. She stumbled once or twice and bumped into an elderly couple on the sidewalk, but she just kept running. She had to get back to Adrian's, and away from Connor's haunted expression. After miles of perpetual sprinting, she slowed and collapsed against the stone wall at the edge of Adrian's property. She pressed her face into the dirty bricks and wept. Piper's knees folded underneath her and she slid down onto the damp ground. She couldn't take this. She was dying instead without Connor already. Piper felt inside her boot for the stake. Yes, it was still there. She should just do it now. The midnight patrol 'wolf would find her body and tell Adrian. Piper grimaced at the look that would be on his face. He wouldn't care that she'd done it. He'd probably be upset about the blood stain she'd leave on his pavement. She could just picture him saying "she had been such a good girl all these months. What a pity. We'll have to go into Manhattan tomorrow night and get me a new one".
Loud, insistent barking erupted from inside the wall. Shit. They had found her.
Connor was hyperventilating. He was running faster than he thought possible, but his breathing was suffering. Oh, why had he quit the track team in ninth grade? His leg muscles burned and his lungs screamed for more oxygen, but he couldn't' stop. He couldn't even slow down. He had to catch Piper. He knew as soon as she had walked out his door that he couldn't just let her go. No matter what she said. He'd rather die than be without her.
He had been following her for some time now. He couldn't see her up ahead anymore -- her vampire speed had carried her out of his sight - but he could feel her. Her turbulent emotions were crashing over him through their soulmate connection. He could feel her torment and it bruised his heart. Why had she done this? He knew that there had to be a reason. It had to do with that man. He had gotten flashes inside of Piper's mind when they had slept together the other night. Her thoughts were so guarded that it was only a glimpse, but Connor had seen a man with dark hair. He also felt her feelings toward him. Hatred. Unabashed disgust and loathing for this person, whoever he was. Connor had a feeling that this all involved that man somehow. Did he not want Connor and Piper together? Piper had mentioned someone wanting to hurt the both of them. Like hell he would. Not while Connor was around to protect her. He wouldn't let anything happen to Piper.
He slowed and put his hands on his knees. There was a long driveway up ahead. It came up to iron gates in a high, brick wall. Connor could see the top of a huge house behind it. Did Piper live here? He could feel her inside, except that she was full of fear now. Connor tried to catch his breath and creep down to the bushes and trees near the gates. He could see a group of people standing in the yard, one of them Piper. He wished he could hear what was being said.
Piper scrambled to her feet, but it was too late. Two 'wolves and a 'shifter, Adrian's hired muscle, were opening up the gates about a hundred feet down the wall. When they saw that it was Piper, they smirked.
"Well, what do we have here?" the dark-skinned 'shifter asked to no one in particular. Piper recognized him as one of the nightshift guards that Adrian had just hired a few weeks ago. Added protection for Hunter's visit, he'd said.
"What's a pretty little thing like you doing out here so late? Adrian isn't going to be very happy." He grabbed Piper's upper arm and squeezed painfully.
"I don't give a fuck about Adrian's happiness. He never did about mine." Her chin rose defiantly and she smacked his hand away. The dogs continued barking from the gates.
"Hey, now, watch your mouth, Baby. We'll just have to drag you inside and let Adrian decide what to do with you." He jerked his head towards the two werewolf guys and they stepped up to surround Piper.
"Oh, quit with the pathetic intimidation tactics. I'm going on my own." She strode forward and through the gates, wiping at her tears as she went. She didn't want to show weakness in front of Adrian. One of the 'wolves shouted at the Dobermans to shut up. He muttered about how they shouldn't be freaking out over Piper.
Piper couldn't' stand the triumphant look one of the 'wolves was giving her. "Don't look so pleased with yourself, Rover. Adrian might praise you for bringing me in, but he'll beat the hell out of you for letting me escape in the first place."
The arrogance quickly flew off of his face and he scowled at Piper the rest of the way to the front doors.
Surprisingly enough, Adrian met them at the entrance. One look at his face and Piper paled. This was going to be very bad.
"We found her outside the main gate, sitting on the edge of the drive." The shapeshifter shoved her forward and onto the front steps.
Adrian towered over her from the landing. His eyes were burning pools of black silk. Piper's chin trembled, but she held her ground.
"I've done as you told. It's over." She looked him straight in the eyes.
He showed no reaction to her announcement. He did come down the steps toward her, however. Very slowly, never breaking eye contact.
Without saying a word, Adrian slapped Piper so hard across the face that she fell to the ground.
The boys snickered. Piper pressed a hand to her throbbing face. Adrian wasn't finished yet.
"Piper, I really don't understand you." He stood directly in front of her, waiting for her to stand.
She slowly accommodated him.
"Haven't I given you everything? You have the finest clothes, the fastest cars, people to wait on your every call." He grabbed her right wrist and twisted it behind her back until her back was against his chest. "I have provided everything you could ever want, and this is what you do to me. You humiliate me in front of my elder, lie to me, defy explicit orders, and insult me by having an affair with vermin. I'm just not sure what to do with you. You've become more of a nuisance than anything else, and you know what I do with nuisances, Piper?" He leaned in next to her ear and spoke in a whisper. "I get rid of them."
Piper's wrist snapped and she cried out in pain. Adrian shoved her forward and onto the pavement. She cradled her broken wrist and glared at him through a curtain of her hair.
"Get your fucking hands off of my soulmate!!" Connor's shout rang through the entire yard. He had run through the gates that had been left open and now stood just inside the wall. His face was flushed beet red and his breathing was labored.
Adrian's left eyebrow shot up in reaction to this declaration. The two werewolves and shapeshifter were on Connor in a split second. They had his arms behind his back and were dragging him forward to speak to Adrian.
Piper quickly stood up and called out to him. "Connor, no.". Despair was written all over her face.
"Well, well, well. What a happy little gathering this is. We were having fun on our own, Connor, but the more the merrier." Adrian spat out the human's name as if it were a foul taste in his mouth.
Adrian circled Connor, looking him up and down. "This is what you left me for, Piper? A pathetic little human boy?"
"We're soulmates, Adrian. It was beyond both of our control. We're meant to be together." Piper said firmly.
"Is that so?" Adrian's eyes flashed.
"Just let him go. I'll stay and I'll do anything you ask, Adrian. I promise I'll be a perfect angel and do everything you want. Please, just let him go." Piper had turned to her captor to plead for Connor's life.
Adrian's indifferent expression turned to fury. "An unfaithful bitch is no angel, but I can fix this soulmate dilemma. And you will do everything I ask, Piper. You will obey my every wish and you'll adore me. As for Connor, well, he won't be here to witness your submission." Adrian snapped his fingers and the three Night World thugs began beating Connor.
At first they just punched him. That was enough to drive Connor to his knees. A werewolf's fist was worse than any brass knuckles could be. They were hitting him repeatedly now. Kicking blows to his stomach and kidneys. Trying to do as much internal damage as possible.
And Piper was screaming. Ear-splitting screams that rang through the night like a banshee's call. Adrian had grabbed both of her wrists to keep her from running to Connor. She was struggling against Adrian with all her might, but he was too strong. She kicked him over and over, but she couldn't break free.
Connor was on all fours on the pavement now. The black shapeshifter drove a hard kick right into his sternum. Piper heard bones splitting. Connor was spitting mouthfuls of blood onto the cement. He raised his eyes and met Piper's frantic gaze. That look said everything. They held each other's stare until one of the werewolves kicked Connor hard in his right temple. Piper's soulmate fell face first into a pool of his own blood.
Piper sank to her knees, as if following her soulmate's descent into death. Adrian released her wrists, but Piper didn't go to him. She covered her face with her hands instead. She couldn't feel the pain in her wrist anymore. She was numb. Numb to everything. Her broken joint continued to cover her face, as she slid her left hand down her leg.and into her boot. Her hand clutched the stake and slowly pulled it from it's make-shift sheath. In one fluent motion Piper whirled up and around, facing Adrian. Without a second of hesitation, she drove the wooden spike into his undead heart. Shock rendered Adrian's handsome face as his hands flew up to his chest. He closed his hands around the wooden shaft protruding from his ribs and fell to the ground. His eyes glazed over and his chest stopped rising. His skin began to rapidly decay and mummify his appearance.
Piper turned away in disgust. She had to go to Connor. She ran over to her now motionless soulmate. The three guards backed away from her in surprise and fear. She had just killed their employer.
"Connor?" Piper whispered on a sob. There was no response. Piper turned him over. His face was covered in blood and his eyes were closed. "Connor, no. No, no, no." Piper kept repeating herself like a broken record. She cradled him in her arms and pressed his face to her chest.
There was a sudden wrenching in Piper's chest, as if her soul were being ripped apart. She cried out in pain and buried her face in his shoulder. When the pain subsided a moment later, Piper slowly raised her head. There was nothing. That space where she could feel his feelings, listen to his thoughts was gone. As if it was never there, as if he was never there. Piper had a void in her soul.
She knew what she had to do. She softly kissed Connor's forehead and laid him back onto the pavement. She had to get out of here before more guards came and made her stay.
*I wish I could take you with me* she thought to the cold body on the ground. *You don't deserve to lie here like this*
But she had very little time, and no where to put the body if she did take it with her. She couldn't give him a proper funeral or notify his family. No, the Council would take care of it. Besides, Connor was gone. That lifeless body in the driveway was just a corpse now.
Piper ran upstairs to the bedchamber that she and Adrian shared. Grabbing a duffle bag from the top shelf in the closet, she began stuffing random clothing into it. Breathing deeply to stay calm, Piper ran over to her vanity. She pulled out the back, left leg and a roll of cash fell out of the hollow. Emergency money. Piper threw that into the duffle, too. She took one quick look around the bedroom. Finally, she was leaving this place for good. She slammed the bedroom door behind her and ran down the staircase. The guards were gathered around Adrian's body talking to themselves about what to do when she flew past them and into the garage. They were still staring when she peeled out of the drive in her Jaguar and never looked back.