Chapter Fifty-One: Adam Vaziri

Present day

An hour from Wickery Bridge, VA

While Lorraine was right that Raid would regain consciousness after twenty minutes, that consciousness didn't last for long, and he was in and out of his heavily sedated state for a further hour. The heat of the car and its lack of air conditioning likely contributed to that. Considering how old Phoenix's car was, Adam was surprised Lorraine had ordered him to take it over Zara's much newer model, but it did mean he was able to leave Zara's keys down in the basement next to her phone. It was a small gesture, but also the final thing he was able to do for her before leaving. Adam had then strapped Raid into the passenger side of Phoenix's car – his ankles tied to a bracket beneath the seat, his hands cuffed behind his back – and started to drive to the intended destination.

Wickery Bridge.

For the past hour, Adam had to listen to the vibration of Raid's phone going off, over and over again. Occasionally, his own phone rang and it was getting harder and harder to ignore.

Adam was plagued by another call just as he overtook a car with a sharpness that slammed Raid's temple against the passenger seat window, waking him up with a sudden clarity that Adam really didn't need right now. Unlike Lorraine, he couldn't compel himself out of being pulled over for speeding, so he'd been commanded to stick to the maximum speed limit. That was proving to be difficult when other cars kept getting in his damn way.

"Adam?" Raid extended in his seat, shooting his head around in all directions, trying to get his bearings. "What's happened? Where are we?"

"Route 29," he replied, eyes remaining on the road. "Heading to Wickery Bridge."

With a firm tug, Raid quickly discovered that he couldn't move his hands or legs. "Where's Stef?"

"Lorraine's taking her to Cristian in Mystic Falls." Not getting a response like he expected, Adam then turned his head, noticing the forward focus, the inward determination on Raid's face. Adam sighed. "Don't bother trying to use your magic. Those cuffs nullify it. Lorraine told me they were created by Stef months ago. One of a kind apparently."

Adam's phone continued to ring.

"Answer it," Raid demanded.

Adam shook his head lightly. What good could come from others getting involved? All he would end up hearing is a bunch of shit about how stupid he was for getting himself compelled.

"ANSWER IT!" Raid shouted.

Adam gritted his teeth, dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He prepared himself for the insults he was about to receive. It would be nothing he didn't think of himself already. He answered and put the phone to his ear. "What?" he snapped.

"Tell me you're all safe," Gabe demanded.

"Not for long, Gabe, I'm sorry," Adam replied sharply.

Raid leaned as close as he could to the phone, shouting loudly so Gabe could hear. "Cristian has Stef! Adam's compelled! He's on Route 29, driving towards Wickery Bridge!" He spurted out as much information as he could, as quickly as possible, in case Adam ended the call.

Adam didn't end the call. He listened to Gabe pull the phone away from his ear, shouting expletives and relaying the information to others nearby. There was nothing he could do to stop this. Nothing anyone could do. There was only one thing Adam needed to say. "Please tell Zara to forgive me."

Gabe issued a command in the background and then returned to his call with Adam. "Phoenix is going to try her cell again. What happened? Where's Zara?"

Adam felt a pain hit him between his eyes at the memory. "I was told to take her out. I snapped her neck. She's still at the house. I tried to fight it, Gabe. I set her free so she could fight back, but she didn't. I never wanted to hurt her."

"Put me on speakerphone, now," he ordered. He waited for Adam to confirm he had, then Gabe took a deep breath, trying to be as calm as possible. "I'm with Gideon. As soon as I heard there was trouble, we went straight to the Halfway House to get my section of the talisman. I'm going to give it to Cristian. He has broken the truce, but if both of you die, Stef will become a vampire permanently. He can't possibly want that. Elena's parents died in an accident on Wickery Bridge, you know that right? That's why you've been compelled to go there."

"I know," Adam muttered solemnly.

Gabe continued. "You have to go over that bridge, Adam; it's the only way to beat the compulsion. But the protection spell has worn off and you need us there to save you. We can catch up to you, but I'm going to need you to decrease your speed."

Adam's muscles tightened. Does Gabe not think he'd already tried that? He gripped the steering wheel firmly as he tried once again to ease his foot from the accelerator. As soon as he did, it went straight back down again. It was hopeless. "I can't," he cried. "There's nothing you can do to stop me."

Gabe looked briefly towards Phoenix, who was giving him a nod as he held his own phone to his ear. Gabe nodded back and returned to his call with Adam. "You're right. There's nothing I can do. I'm leaving right now. Do me a favor... I'm going to hang up and when you hear your phone ring in a short while, you answer it, okay?"

Adam agreed and then hung up the phone, placing it in his lap, ready for the next call.

"You can beat this, Adam," Raid asserted. "Just do what Gabe said."

"I can't!" Adam snapped. He was struggling. He was struggling so fucking much and this wasn't helping. "What are you not understanding?! There's nothing anyone can say to stop me!"

The next call came through sooner than he thought, but he was still glaring at Raid when he quickly answered. It was not the voice he was expecting.

"Habibi?"

Adam. Fucking. Melted.

It was Zara... and she'd called him Habibi.

"Habibti..." he breathed. He never thought he'd hear her voice again. That one word was all that was needed to bring tears to his eyes. "Please forgive me. Are you okay?"

Zara tried to keep her voice calm and reassuring as she got into her car. The terror she'd felt when she woke up in cramped darkness had only lasted a second before discovering she could easily get out. Adam hadn't tried to lock the freezer chest he'd put her in. He'd positioned her phone and keys on the chest alongside it, easy for her to spot. She knew it was a cry for help, even before she'd switched on her phone and Phoenix had explained everything. "I'm okay," she said comfortingly. "Habibi, I'm coming for you, but you need to do what Gabe said. You need to decrease your speed." Zara was already on the move. Gabe would reach them first, but she would be right behind them.

Adam ached to do what she asked. "My love, I can't, please understand –"

"You can," she insisted. "You have to. You told me you loved me. You promised to marry me –"

"I know," he admitted. "Shit, Zara, I wish my feelings for you were enough to stop this –"

"Then what about my feelings?" she cried. "Adam, I fucking love you!"

Pain and happiness collided. Zara loved him?

"Say that again," Adam begged. Her words had surged through him like a jolt of electricity. One more jolt and he felt he would be brought back to life. "Say that again... this time without the swearing."

She heard the smile in his voice and, despite all the fear and panic within her, Zara smiled too. It was true. She didn't know how it had happened, or when it had happened, but that's how she felt. "I love you," she repeated. "I love your ridiculous obsession with garlic pepper, your stupid manicured nails, your inability to sing, your promise to fuck –"

Adam chuckled sadly. Why did this have to happen now when he would never see her again? "Without swearing, Zara," he reminded her.

Zara continued, "Your promise to fuck me until I scream with pleasure once we're married."

Adam bit his lip at the reminder. "Okay," he conceded. "I'll allow that one." This was unreal. It was everything he wanted and everything he was going to lose. He couldn't lose this. He was not going to let fucking Cristian and fucking Lorraine take this away from him. He had to fight this. He eased his foot from the accelerator, a pain shooting through his leg, getting worse and worse the slower he brought the car. He pressed down again, relieving himself of the pain.

"Whatever you said, it almost worked, Zara!" Raid shouted.

"Please," Zara begged. "Please, habibi, decrease your speed. Let Gabe catch up to you. Let me catch up to you."

Adam watched the speed dial as he tried again. There had to be a level of pain he could tolerate, but he could only find it to the sound of her voice. "I'm really trying, habibti, it hurts so fucking much," he panted. "Keep talking to me."

"About our wedding night? Because I've thought about that a lot."

"Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea how much I want to hear you talk dirty to me, but not with Raid in the car –"

"If I see you get a hard-on in front of me, I'll drown you even if we get out of this!" Raid hissed at him.

Adam side-eyed him. "Talk to me about our wedding day," he suggested to her.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "What I've got planned is going to be really expensive."

"Sounds perfect," Adam grimaced, reducing the speed of the car by a third, other vehicles now overtaking as he hit his maximum pain tolerance level. He began talking through his teeth; it was all he could manage. "Then I won't have to go through this same pain again when I get the bill. Tell me everything."

Adam had chosen the right subject for her to talk about. The description was detailed, long, and – as she warned – extremely expensive. But it also sounded extremely beautiful and he smiled with every word, even as the pain ricocheted through him repeatedly. She only steered from the topic occasionally to ask for a sign or a landmark that she could shoot in a message to Gabe so he knew where they were. She, in turn, updated Adam on Gabe's location. He was getting closer, but not close enough since Adam was now pulling off the highway. It wouldn't be long until he reached the bridge.

Adam was trying to still bask in the incredible fantasy Zara had painted in his head when he realized he had to break out of that fantasy. "Gabe's not going to get to us on time," he warned her mournfully. "Habibti, I need you to know how sorry I am, how much I love you –"

"No!" she snapped, interrupting him, increasing the speed of her own car. "You're not going to say goodbye. You're going to do exactly as I say. The compulsion is going to end the moment you go over that bridge, so you're going to be fucking prepared for it. Now wind down your windows. You need an exit."

Adam's window was already open. It took him a few attempts to lean over Raid and wind down his. It wasn't easy to control the car's speed as he did this, but they were going over that bridge either way and there was still no sight of Gabe, so he prioritized following Zara's instructions.

"Done," he declared, finally straightening in his seat. "Raid's tied to the chair. I don't think I can untie it in time. I'm not going to leave him."

Zara was prepared for this. "Glove compartment," she stressed. "Phoenix keeps all kinds of utility tools in there. Find any kind of blade."

The glove compartment was an absolute mess, but Adam rummaged through it frantically, eventually coming across a box cutter.

"Found one." Adam was starting to feel hope again. He had one hell of a fiancée.

"We're coming up to the bridge," Raid warned.

"I know," Adam replied to him. "We're going to get through this, don't worry."

Zara had one last instruction. "Adam, keep me on the line, but put your phone away; I don't want it to break. Keep your hands on the wheel and brace yourselves." She pinched her lips together, trying not to let her voice crack with worry. She had to be strong for him. "And remember I love you."

"I love you, habibti," he said. "As soon as we get out of this, we're booking that wedding venue, okay? I can see the bridge, I'm putting the phone away now, but don't listen, I don't want you to hear it. I already had one miracle with you coming into my life, and I'm about to pull off another one. I love you, Zara."

The speaker was already muffled before Zara could repeat her love for him. They had to make it. She had to believe they would make it. Despite being told not to listen, she couldn't pull the phone away from her ear. Her breath held at the screech of tires as Adam redirected the car towards the side of the bridge. Her tears flowed at the crashing thud that launched them off the edge. She heard yells as they fell and hit the water, and she gripped hard on the steering wheel, shaking it furiously through the resulting silence, waiting to hear Adam's voice again. Come on, come on, come on! All she could hear was the sound of water filling the car. If they were unconscious, the car would fill quicker with the windows open. She hit the steering wheel with impatient fury. COME ON!

Frantic muffled voices began. They became clearer.

"Zara, we're okay!"

Zara threw her head back in relief at Adam's voice, letting out a loud breath.

"The compulsion's ended. The car's filling up. I need to get Raid out."

Adam released both seatbelts quickly, slid open the box cutter, leaned down towards Raid's legs and started cutting away at the rope. With Raid's legs submerged in murky river water, he couldn't see what he was doing, but he relied on the texture of the rope to feel his way through the procedure. The water was up to Raid's knees and barely below Adam's lowered head by the time the ropes cut free.

Raid turned his back towards him. "Uncuff me."

But as Adam reached down into his pocket for the keys, a mechanical whirring made him lift his head up. His hope was sinking along with the car as he watched the windows gradually drawing upwards. He dropped the keys as he launched his hands over a window, throwing all his weight downwards, desperately trying to stop it from closing. He removed his fingers a second before it sealed closed.

"What the hell is happening?!" Raid shouted.

Adam tried every button, every handle, trying to get something open, but the car was locked down tight. He heard Zara screaming through his phone and he held it to his ear. "Sweetheart, something's wrong."

Suddenly, the radio came to life, loud but hissing as the speakers submerged gradually in water. Only two of the Nina Simone lyrics made it through before the music died completely. It was enough to understand what was going on.

I put a spell on you.

Because you're mine.

Adam shot a panicked look towards Raid, who matched his gaze, wide-eyed and tense. He'd been ordered to take this car for a reason. When Lorraine had compelled him to trick Raid into thinking there had been a spell put on Phoenix's car, it wasn't a trick. It was real.

They were trapped.

There was no way out.