Emerge: The Captive: (Book 3)(18)
“Did you forget you have a boyfriend back home?” Aidan asked.
“Um … no,” Allie said. "And I did not forget that he is coming for a visit soon."
“This is not how this is happening, Alexis Ann.” He sounded sad.
God, he really does love her. Sasha looked down at the folio in her arms, trying to decide what her brother would do with it. He’d walk right into Sterling Tower and sacrifice himself, the same as me. Aidan wouldn’t even think twice about it and Quinn would kill her for giving him the means to do it. Aidan was too powerful and too important to risk.
And Quinn would be the first to tell all of them to give up on him and go live their lives. She couldn’t do that. She could never forgive herself for the things she’d done to cause this, but it was up to her to make the sacrifice. Quinn wouldn’t want his best friends to hit pause on their own lives for the off-chance they might be able to help him when their parents couldn't even seem to do anything.
Sasha took a sheet of paper out of the folio and wrote her goodbyes to them both.
No time to explain. I won’t be gone long. I love you both. Be happy.
Love Sasha.
She slipped the note under the door and darted down the hall to her bedroom. She quickly ditched her portfolio and notes in the back of her closet. I’ll be home soon enough. Sasha would do this thing and get it done quickly, and then she would go to Atlanta and get Quinn out of Sterling Tower, one way or another.
~~~
“Remember, you have to convince them you are good, but not good enough,” Imogen said as they headed back to Naeemah’s office.
“Right, I need them to realize Mom and Dad have trained me well, but I’m just not as talented as they expected. I’ll be intentionally mediocre at everything they’re going to teach me and hope they decide I’m not worth the trouble and the effort.”
“Mother Raghavan will see right through it, but Jayesh is the one we need to fool. It will save us from even more scrutiny from the Senate later. If they get an inkling of how talented you really are… Well, we don’t want them to see you as an asset. You know how they use me. I don’t want that for you.”
Sasha nodded. Imogen was a high-ranking “freelancer” with the Senate. She didn’t serve in an official capacity, but she was at their constant beck and call. Her shielding gift made her an important tool the Senate used freely and often. They sent her all over the world to conceal any trace of the Immortal world from prying eyes. Sasha suspected they had her do much more than just that.
If these people realized what Sasha could really do, her future would look much like her sister’s. Not that Imogen had a bad life, but she could see the loss of her freedom taking a toll on her sister. They paid her well for her services to the Senate, but she was never given a choice.
Sasha stepped back into their mother’s office, keeping her head held high. She could do this. In fact, the training might even help her in her plans to free Quinn. She would embrace the experience, learn what she could and get the hell out of there.
“All set to go, darling?” Naeemah smiled. It was her fake smile and her fake voice. Sasha realized she wasn’t going to get a private goodbye with her parents. She swallowed her fear and nodded.
“I’m ready.”
“Jayesh. Keep my daughters safe,” Naeemah said. “You owe me.”
Sasha glanced between her mother and the man in charge, wondering again what history lay between them.
“You have my word.” Jayesh gave Naeemah a formal bow.
“It’s been a long time, Jay. But I know the man you are deep down inside. Don’t disappoint me.”
Jayesh nodded and gestured for Sasha to say her goodbyes. “We must be going now. Make it quick. I have little patience for women’s sentiments.”
“Women’s sentiments?” Sasha snorted. What a douche.
Naeemah eyed her as if to say that was the type of behavior Sasha did not need to engage in. Not with this man. She needed to keep her guard up and her tongue silent.
“I love you, Mom.” Sasha whispered as she hugged her mother. “I’ll be okay, Da.” She turned to Gregg, letting the childish Scottish sentiment slip out. “I know you’re probably ready to bring the building down around your ears, but I can do this.”
“I know you can, sweetheart. You just shouldn’t have to.”
“Be careful. Both of you.” Naeemah hugged her eldest daughter and watched them leave.
Sasha knew this was killing her parents so she put on a brave face and followed her sister from the room. It was time to get her head in the game if she was going to make it through this.
~~~
CHAPTER
SEVEN
Quinn: Summer
Atlanta, Georgia
“Get out of my sight. I don’t want to see you again for the rest of the night.” Livia’s eyes smoldered with silvery-green fire as she shoved her chair back and retreated to the gym down the hall.
How could I do that to a kid? He watched in devastated horror as Santi gathered Lennox in her arms from where she lay sprawled on the floor. Foam oozed from her mouth and her breath was slow and labored.
I’m okay.
He didn’t know how she was speaking to him like that at such a young age, but she’d assured him over and over that she could handle it. For the last hour, Livia had pushed him into using his persuasive gift to torment Lennox.