Thane glared at me with hatred before he turned and stormed out of the room abruptly.

I whimpered with relief only for a few moments before the guards entered and pick me up off the floor. Jostling my injures and I closed my eyes to fight through the pain.

They carried me downstairs back for the basement and dropped me on the mattress. I landed hard on my injuries and gritted my teeth to stop myself from crying out.

I cried softly as the door slammed shut behind them. I felt safer in the prison cell than the bedroom.

Everything hurt. I didn’t believe for a second that Thane was done with me. But for the moment, even though I was injured, bloodied and in pain at least I was safe. For the moment.

I lay on the mattress as my blood dried up and my wounds began to heal slowly trying to prepare myself for my next run in with Thane.

Maybe he was right. Maybe it was crazy to believe I could keep fighting against him. But even knowing I couldn’t win, I could not give in.

I was in there for a while, left only with my thoughts, the pain and the knowledge that Thane would return.

It was the sound of some approaching the door that made me cower away, hoping that it would t be Thane. I was ready yet. I was still too weak.

The door opened. I held myself as still as possible as the person stepped inside.

Was I seeing things? It wasn’t a guard, Thane or Talon. I convinced I was seeing things.

It was Silas’ friend. The one who had told me to stay out of trouble. His eyes widened when he saw me.

Had I been so injured that I was seeing things.

“Avery?” he asked, sounding surprised to see me.

He hurried over to me and bent down to check me over. He swore under his breath.

“We need to get you out of here. Can you stand?” he asked.

I nodded. I would have walked on coals to get out of there.

“Please,” I said.

He put his arm around my waist and anchored me to him as he slowly helped me out of the cell. Two other vampires I didn’t recognize flanked him as we escaped.

I didn’t ask how he knew I was there. All the answers to my questions could come later when I felt safe, far away from this place.

Outside it was dark and a car pulled up in front of us. One of the vampires opened up the door as Silas’ friend helped me into the car. I breathed through the pain as I lowered myself onto the seat. The door closed behind me. Moments later the passenger door opened and Silas’s friend got in.

“Get us out of here,” Silas’ friend said to the driver, who immediately sped away from the house. My prison.

I stared at him, unable to put into words what was swirling inside of me.

“What’s your name?” I found myself asking. Up to this point I still didn’t know his name. This was the second time he had saved me from a dire situation. The first time was when I had faced the vampire council.

“Jude.”

It was like I had finally earned the right to hear his name. There was no judgment or anger in his expression. There was only concern.

“I couldn’t keep myself out of trouble,” I said. Finding it easier to remind him of what he had told me to do before to keep from coming before the Vampire council.

“This wasn’t your fault,” he murmured.

I released a shaky breath and winced when it hurt.

It felt good for someone to say that. I was so tired of being blamed for the actions of others.

I felt so tired. As the car raced along the high way I stared out of the window. I don’t know if it was because I felt safe or if it was the motion of the car but my eyelids grew heavier and I drifted off to sleep.

**********

When I woke up I was hooked up to a drip. It contained blood. I didn’t recognize the room and I had no idea where I was.

The last thing I remembered was the car ride with Jude. He had saved me.

I felt tired but better than before. I couldn’t spend another moment in bed, I pulled the drip from my arm and stood.

The door opened and Jude entered.

“You’re awake.” He stopped as I faced him.

“Yeah.” My voice was husky.

I felt shaky on my feet so I sat down on the bed.

“The doctor says you’re on the mend,” he said moving closer.

I nodded. I never believed I had a hope of making it out of that ordeal alive so to be sitting where I was, it was a miracle.

“You had a lot of injuries.”

I continued to nod. What else was there to say?

“How…” I could feel the emotions I had been fighting to survive bubble to the surface. I released an emotional breath before I looked up to face his concerned expression. “How did you find me?”

“I didn’t even know you were missing to be honest.”

I frowned. “How is that even possible?”

He wasn’t making much sense.

“I thought you were dead. We all thought you were dead.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You died during childbirth.”

“But I’m here. I didn’t. I don’t understand.”

“After I found you I did some investigating and discovered the doctor who oversaw your care was paid by Talon to give you a drug after the twins were born to mimic death. It slows your heartbeat down as well as your breathing for a short time. Long enough for everyone to believe you hadn’t made it.”

It was mind blowing the lengths Talon had gone to. Who did that? They had believed I was dead. It was the perfect plan.

“But I don’t understand. How did you find me if you weren’t looking for me?”

I was so confused.

“Talon is just like her brother and I didn’t trust that she wouldn’t try and cause more trouble for Silas and the twins. It’s my job to head off problems before they happen. From the time the twins were born I had her watched.”

I listened intently still remembering how much she had tortured me.

“She was ordering extra blood. That alone was highly suspicious. But when she successfully got her brother released I knew I had to get into the house to figure out what was going on.”

“Maybe she ordered the extra blood because she knew Thane would be returning.”

He shook his head. “It was too far in advance to be for Thane. She was hiding someone else and I had to figure out who.”

“How did you get into the house without them even knowing?”

He shrugged. “I have a lot of contacts who are distrustful of Thane and Talon. All it took was getting them out of the house long enough to have a good snoop around.”

It was crazy to think he had no idea he had even been looking for me when he had entered the cell.

“The twins?” I asked, feeling my heart ache that I had not even been able to see or hold them.

“They are fine Avery.”

I felt so relieved. And I began to tear up.

Jude did something so out of character. He moved forward to place his hand over mine and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Silas has put their welfare above everything else.”

Silas. Just the mention of his name was enough to shake me to my core. And then I remembered the photo Talon had shown me. It turned my insides raw.

“I’m sure,” I said.

Was that why he wasn’t here? Because he was too busy with his future wife? The word wife cut right through my heart. I had been stupid enough to believe I had meant more, or had I just hope?

Like Silas had said before, there was no hope.

“Why do I feel that response is loaded?” He studied me.

I shrugged. “I know about his fiancé.”

Maybe there was a part of me that hoped Talon had been lying to hurt me.

Jude crossed his arms. “It is expected of him to marry now that he has children.”