This Is Where I Want To Be

88. Relationship Tested

Charlene

Driving up to the compound gates was mind-blowing. It was the size of a small city. The word Compound didn't do it justice. Just because it was walled and secured, hidden away so cleverly, no one could really see all there was to it.

They stopped us at the gate, Kubra rolled down the window. He received a firm salute from the soldier recognizing him. The gates opened. "What's going on?" Kubra asked. The soldier's eyes flickered over to the guard tower. When we saw Louis standing and sorting out issues... We both kinda just took a moment to take in the scene. We had heard that Qadir was in custody again. We hadn't seen Marcus on the TV either. Louis said significant developments, but Kubra couldn't reach Marcus.

One man with Louis came running out down the few steps. Kubra opened the door and greeted the guy with a shake. They had to be the same rank. The other guy went back to Louis, whose head came up from reading some papers. Louis had seen me and came hopping down with a big smile on his face. He pulled me into an embrace, hugging me tightly. Glad that he was there and happy. It meant that Juliet was fine. He let me go and checked into the back to see Miné. "She seems well. Is she well?"

"Yeah, she's great and healthy. I can't say that it's been easy."

"I can imagine, Charlene." He bent down and whispered into my ear. "Marcus killed Kubra's father. Marcus is back on En-gannim. Carl is in Washington."

I didn't know what it was... But I was sad as Kubra glanced over. He had said that he was in love with me. It was going to hurt to see him in pain. We had bonded the last few weeks. He wasn't a stranger anymore. Or a watcher or a vampire. He was part of the family. He loved Marcus.

"I'll tell him on our way." I patted Louis's shoulder.

"Okay...?" Louis seemed doubtful. "Are you sure?" He seemed confused but read my mind. His eyebrows raised. "Did not see that one coming...."

I shrugged. "Neither did I."

My head gestured towards the car for Kubra to get in.

"Did Louis tell you Marcus took over the Compound?" I nodded. "What is it? You have that face only when you have something serious to say." He already knew me.

"I do.... I think you should stop the car." He was surprised but stopped next to the road, nonetheless.

"Kubra... Your father died." His brow furrowed. He turned back in his seat away from me, peering sightlessly out the window. Quiet.

"How?"

"This is the difficult part... It was Marcus." Kubra's head snapped around to me. His teeth gritted together.

"Where is Marcus?"

I did that nervous to tell you shoulder shrug. "Another big news... Back on... En-gannim... With his grandfather."

Kubra put the car in gear and drove on as if nothing had happened. Like Marcus, Kubra was different than Qadir and probably the people that grew up on En-Gannim. They grew up on Earth. Even if Qadir tried to instill the En-gannim way in them. The influences of Earth had been too great. The mistake Qadir made was making Kubra watch all of Marcus's suffering. Watch him come back to life after centuries and smile for the first time. Laugh.

Kubra pointed to the gate coming up. "That's the estate."

"We have been driving next to the same wall for a while."

He nodded. "Yeah, it's that big." Kubra stopped abruptly. My hand had to stretch out to prevent me from hitting the dash. My eyes followed his gaze. There was a vampire mounted on the pillar. Fully manifested. His face was contorting. Groaning. No eyes. Arms hung by his sides. Kubra had told me some stories of how Qadir dealt with people. But that was out in the open.