The Serpents of Viksenti [Reverse Harem]

Chapter 2

     I packed and changed as quickly as I was able. It took mere minutes to pull on a pair of sweats and a jacket. I slipped into my room, grabbing my sparse belongings and shoving them in a suitcase and backpack. Everything else I owned was at Vik's. Gone to me forever.

     I pulled out my handgun, slipping it into my waistband, just in case. 

     My breath became tighter with every minute that went by. I thought about everything leading up to this final, pivotal moment. This thing that I told myself I would never do. Signing myself away to Zephyr Kallus and the Six might as well be a death wish, but at least I wouldn't be at the mercy of Viktor. His face popped into my head again. The violent sneer frozen on his face the last time I saw him. I shut my eyes and exhaled through the image.

     I debated leaving a note behind, or at least a text. Anything to indicate to my parents that they were not forgotten, that I was protecting them, not abandoning them. But I knew instinctively that it would only endanger them further. If any of the Lions got ahold of them, even with Zephyr's protection, my parents couldn't have a shred of information about me, about my whereabouts or affiliations, or they would die.

     I moved into the bathroom, wetting my face with cold water to wake myself up. I pulled my long blonde hair back, tucking my overgrown bangs to the side. My pointed ears stood up sharply beside my face, drawing out sharp cheekbones.

     Undernourished, I realized. I'm undernourished.

     I'd probably been a lot of things under Vik's so-called 'care.' I stared myself down in the mirror, cool blue eyes looking emptier than they have ever been. Never again, I vowed. Never again.

     I left the bathroom, unsurprised to see the four figures staring back at me in my living room in all-black. They all kept dark masks over their mouth and nose. An obvious precaution, in case my parents woke up.

     "Are you ready to go?" One of them stepped forward, a woman. I kept my voice barely above a whisper.

     "Yes," I said. I gestured to my readied bags in the kitchen.

     "Armed?" A man asked.

     I nodded, gesturing to my waistband.

     "Good." A low chuckle.

     The five of them left my parents' apartment silently, my bags in tow. I sniffed the air subtly. Two shifters, two vamps. One of the shifters was a wolf, and the other was some kind of feline. I was grateful for my fae senses. At least I knew what I was walking into.

     We made our way along the dark hallway. My parents were lucky enough to live in this building, in the heart of Starlight City. They were oblivious to the gang politics surrounding them, the violence. I had made sure that it was carefully shielded from their eyes. The only reason my parents' apartment complex had been passed over by the gangs was because I had placed several protective wards over it. I had even placed a silencing ward over the building so that gunshots couldn't be heard by anyone within the apartment complex. Even Viktor couldn't have been able to get in. But that wouldn't stop him from trying. 

     When they reached the back exit, a female feline shifter turned to me. "There's a black van in the back. You're to stop at the Serpents to fill out paperwork and talk through details of the contract with Zeph, and then you'll be shipped out. Questions?"

     I shook my head, and we left the building. Rain poured down on us, cold wetness slipping through my hair and down my empty back. I shivered, my heart pounding. I kept my eyes alert, relying on my fae senses to pick up anything in the darkness, just as I knew the shifters and vamps were also doing.