Page 17 of Last Hope
Victoria slapped her hand against her forehead suddenly at the realization that hit her. She ignored Terrance and Teddy’s looks of concern and directed her orders to Savvy.
“Look up the files for Esmeralda Ortiz’s case two years ago!” Savvy gave her a curious stare before he again started clicking away at the keyboard, pulling up the files she requested. “Look up Esmeralda’s statement about what happened with Damien Santiago.” Savvy clicked a few buttons and it popped up on the screen. Victoria skimmed it. “Esmeralda said Damien tried changing her with a needle. He told her that he’d gotten the venom from someone who will, and I quote, ‘make a new and improve injection that won’t require an exchange of blood at all, which means no more biting.’”
Damien Santiago had worked with Caesareon, he’d been given a needle and syringe to change Esmeralda. Santiago Enterprises had worked with the scientists that now worked at V.S.L. Caesareon may have been in charge of V.S.L.
It was all connected.
“It appears to have a larger purpose than we think,” Terrance said, stroking his chin with his thumb and forefinger.
“But the question is,” Savvy whispered, staring at the screen of his computer at the pictures of fangs. “What purpose?”
10
It was like swimming through a storm in the darkness without a lifeline, without anyone there to save you; all the while, kicking your feet in a desperate attempt to move forward, arms lashing out, fingers searching for something lost and needed.
Isis felt her chest would burst outwards in an explosion of pain and rage. Of course, she understood, but she couldn’tbelieveand she couldn’t shake off that feeling of betrayal, deep in her bones.
“We’re leaving,” Esmeralda had told her.
At first, she thought she had misunderstood, misinterpreted what her best friend was saying. She had prepared the ‘see you later’ on her lips but when she looked into those blue eyes and then into Antonio’s black one’s, she knew they didn’t just mean they were leaving the hospital and they’d be back later. No, they wereleaving.
“We’re going to Spain, to visit my grandmother.” There was tightness in Esmeralda’s voice, the kind she only got when she was trying hard not to cry, not to let the tears show. Regardless, Isis heard the pain in her voice and for a shameful moment, it made her glad. “I’ve never met her before, but Antonio tells me she’s still alive and I want to go visit her.”
There was a real reason they were going to Spain, Isis saw it in her eyes, but she hadn’t said it yet.
“We can’t stay here, Isis,” Esmeralda whispered after an awkward moment of silence, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. “It’s too dangerous to be around you. It’s dangerous for me and for Viktor, so we’re leaving.”
Isis’s mind tried to form a single coherent thought. The logical part in her mind was screaming at her to say ‘Yes, I understand. Have fun in Spain.’ But there was so much emotion in her chest, like a cup overflowing with water that she couldn’t seem to form those words on her tongue.
“But I need you.” Her voice sounded whiney, almost desperate. Friends were supposed to support each other during tough times, they were supposed to lend a hand and be there for her, but they were leaving…abandoning her in a time when she needed them the most.
“You have to understand,” Antonio said, his voice was firm, unwavering, as if he were trying to make her see reason. “People are still trying to kill you and what if they try to get to you by getting to us? I know you need us, but I can’t put my family in danger like that. I need to take them away, just until this whole thing blows over.”
Isis stared at him with a blank expression on her face. She was in shock; never before had she thought that her most treasured friends, Hell, heronlyfriends would leave her in her time of need. Yes, she did understand his reasoning, but that didn’t mean her heart accepted it.
“You’re abandoning me,” Isis echoed blankly then stared at her hands and blinked rapidly when she felt the tears begin to form behind her eyelids. She wouldn’t cry…she wouldn’t…
“If it weren’t for Viktor you know we wouldn’t go anywhere.” Esmeralda reached out and gripped her hands, giving them a small squeeze. “Please understand it’s too dangerous for us to stay here with our son.”
“You’re leaving…” Isis still couldn’t believe it.
“Oh, for Christ’s sakes, Isis!” Antonio nudged Esmeralda aside and gripped Isis by her upper arms and shook her. “Listen to us! We aren’t abandoning you, even though it may seem that way! Our son’s life could be endangered and it’s a risk we don’t want to take so that’s why we’re leaving! Get it through your thick skull!”
The initial shock wore away as he shook her, causing her brain to rattle against her skull. The feeling of betrayal was replaced with anger and she glared up at Antonio before shaking off his hold on her. “Don’t talk to me like that,” she demanded in a freezing tone. “I understand perfectly why you have to leave, but I can’t believe you’d do this to me, in a time when I need you most.”
“So if you understand, then why are you mad?” Esmeralda whispered with a look of fear in her eyes.
“Because you’re my friends! Because you are what matters most to me in this world and you’re leaving me here,alone,well, what the hell am I supposed to do? I have no one to turn to, no one else to trust! What if this never ends? What if Caesareon follows me wherever I go?” The words poured from her mouth without her meaning them to. She was just so frustrated, at her wits end. She just wanted to wake up, as if everything that had happened were a nightmare.
Antonio made a growling noise in the back of his throat and, without warning, grabbed her by the back of the head and pulled her into his chest. And, just like that, the tears sprung from her eyes and onto the material of his shirt. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him closer, inhaling the scent that she never bothered to appreciate before. He smelt like soap and motor oil and his body was hard and firm against hers and it made her never want to let him go again.
“It will end,” Antonio whispered into her hair. “It has to.”
“But what if it doesn’t?” Isis cried into his shirt. “What if this never ends and our lives are stuck like this forever? What if I put everyone I love at risk and everyone around me dies?”
Antonio wrapped his arms around her tighter. “It won’t happen, because we’ll do everything in our power to help you, understand?”
Isis was spared the chance to comment on how it would be difficult for him to help her if he was all the way in Spain because a voice sounded from behind her. “I know the perfect way to help her.” Isis turned and saw Anya sit up from the hospital bed, cracking her neck sideways. “And I hope you do not disagree because it is the only plan that I have.”
