Page 46 of Hidden Fate

“Listen. This is one big misunderstanding,” Chandra said.

Then the driver cut in, “We’re here because we need your help.”

There was no doubt that the driver and front passenger were warriors. The guy had a square-cut jaw and muscular arms, and the way his charcoal eyes scanned the area for more of us screamed experience. His confident stance, despite having a gun pointed at him, sealed the deal.

The female warrior had the same sort of composure. Her long, straight, dark brown hair was pulled into a low ponytail, and her dark chocolate eyes looked flat and emotionless, like she was assessing every possible scenario.

Behind me, Tyson snarled, but I wasn’t sure if it was from curiosity or a threat.

Uther rounded the edge of the woods on the road that led into the parking lot. Vlad and Errol were on his tail as they reached us.

Smoke trickling from her nostrils, Saphira prepared for a fight.

“Oh, gods,” Chandra groaned, pulling my attention back to her. I caught a flash of long golden hair in the back seat of the car. A child called out, “Are they going to hurt us?”

A lump formed in my throat, and suddenly, I was looking into cobalt irises surrounded by thick black eyelashes. A girl no older than six stared right back at me from behind Chandra. I lowered my weapon. I couldn’t put a child through this.

Cassidy gasped. “Why do you have a little girl back there?” She swung her gun toward the warrior woman sitting in the front passenger seat.

“Wait.Please.” Uther’s face twisted in agony. Errol and Vlad now had his arms restrained.

The little girl’s eyes stayed locked on me. She scooted forward as a middle-aged woman in the middle row on the passenger side grabbed her hand. This woman also had long, straight, dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. She was almost an exact replica of the woman in the front passenger seat, like they were twins, but her features weren’t as harsh as those of her clone.

“Are you Everly?” the child asked, and tried to wiggle out of the middle-aged woman’s arms to reach me. “You have to help my daddy. Listen to him,please.”

I forgot how to breathe. “Are you Uther’s daughter?”

She nodded, and when I glanced at Uther, a tear trickled down her face. “Yes, I’m Reece. He said we needed to come here and meet you. That you reminded him of my momma and that you would protect me.”

My heart broke, and Thorn’s tumult of emotions swirled between us.

“What is she talking about?” Thorn asked while he kept his gun trained on the driver.

Uther dropped to his knees. “We aren’t here to attack you. I should have known you guys would be wary, but I wanted to make sure you were willing to listen to me before I brought up the others.”

Thorn lowered his gun a few inches but not enough that if they made a move, he couldn’t still shoot. “Yeah, you should’ve. This could be a trap.”

“It’s not.” Uther hung his head. “I wouldn’t risk my daughter’s life like that.”

Saphira turned and hissed in Uther’s face.

She didn’t trust him, that much was clear. Even Thorn’s distrust floated into me, but Uther’s words tugged at me, making me hesitate.

I’d heard how much he loved his kid. “You might not have a choice. This might be the only way you can save her—by turning us in.”

“Uther isn’t the only one Drake has leverage over. He’s threatening all of us with people we love,” the woman in the front seat said as she lifted her hands, too.

They were making sure we knew they weren’t armed…that they weren’t a threat. Something inside me already trusted them, but the others weren’t convinced yet.

I took a step toward the vehicle, and Tyson edged a wing in front of me.

“I handled this poorly. I see that now.” Uther’s remorse sounded sincere. “I should’ve been forthright when we got to Target, but I didn’t see you, Everly. You’re the only one I know I can trust, and I didn’t want to risk Reece. So…I asked where you were, and when Vlad and Errol insisted I come here, I assumed it was because you and Thorn were waiting to talk with me. I…I knew you would have people watching us, but I thought you’d be part of the party we were meeting with here. Now we look like we can’t be trusted, but I did this because our time here is very limited. Our vehicles are being tracked.”

I clenched my teeth so hard, my jaw ached. His story made sense, and it wasn’t like he could’ve told me this over the phone since we’d used Errol’s contact to send him the location.

“Why should we believe a word you say?” Thorn growled. “Talk to me, not my mate. You’re pulling on her heartstrings, and it doesn’t take more than a minute in her presence to realize what a kind, sympathetic woman she is.”

“Fine.” Uther straightened his shoulders as if he weren’t being gripped on both sides. “I protected your mate more than you realize when she was captured. Drake put the fear of the gods into us, saying that if we treated Everly with too much kindness—or evenlookedat her kindly—and if any of us showed her any warmth, there would be hell to pay. But even with those threats, I protected her the best I could by deflecting Falkor and Ladon when they wanted to harass her through Eva or enter the room while they were sleeping. I did all I could while keeping my daughter safe, but I want to do more. That’s why Jerry, Gemma, and I brought our family here. Drake is trying to use them against us.”

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