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  Declan knew instantly what Lionel had done. He tried in desperation to set his barricade up again, only finding that the harder he tried, the more he felt it breaking apart. His mind was defenseless, opening up and making itself readily available to his enemy, who was ready to pluck any information he so desired from him.

  Lionel’s thoughts echoed inside his head, filled disdain and revulsion. “You thought you were so smart, Declan. So brilliant. There are people far more talented than you and your friends out there who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the Cine Tofa. The time of the Trust has come to an end. I am so tired of the golden child getting exactly what he wants, when he wants. You have never known the pain and suffering I had to endure in my youth. I always had hoped that I would be able to give you one final lesson. This is a lesson you should have learned long ago, a much needed lesson in humility.”

  Declan screamed in agony as Lionel hit every sensory system within his brain. He was completely at Lionel’s whim and there was nothing he could do about it. Without a doubt, Declan’s last moments would be one of utter suffering before he unwillingly gave every secret held about the Trust into Lionel’s deceptive hands. Once he was done extracting the information he desired, he would either kill him, or leave him a vegetable with no remnants of who he was remaining anymore.

  He willed himself to not scream, despite how excruciating the pain was. He would not give Lionel the satisfaction that he craved.

  “Open your eyes, Declan.” He barely felt the swift harsh kick in his stomach. “I said, OPEN YOUR EYES!”

  His lungs screamed as he took a shallow breath. “No.”

  “It is so going to be a pleasure killing you.”

  “Please. Like I would ever let that happen.” His body went into a blissful numbness as Lionel turned around wildly at the feminine voice that was coming from across the room. Caitlyn. “Maybe you should learn how to shield your thoughts.”

  “Declan, your little girlfriend has come to save you. How sweet.”

  “Shut it, Lionel.” Caitlyn’s eyes flashed with fury. It was a sight to behold and should have been terrifying to the person who was on the receiving end of that anger. Unfortunately for Lionel, Declan knew that he did not know the wrath her anger would bring to him. Declan thanked God that the past few months his contact with his mentor had been minimal, giving Caitlyn an edge as Lionel was only vaguely aware of her true potential.

  Lionel brushed off his pants. “While this is cute that you came to save him, I don’t have time for you.”

  Without a second thought, Lionel levitated a large old piece of machinery forgotten about in the corner, hurling it at the blonde with as much force as he could muster. Caitlyn raised her hand, stopping the ancient technology dead in its tracks. Declan was not sure that even he himself would be able to stop that with the force Lionel was able to put behind it.

  Lionel clapped his hands slowly, making his way over to the woman. “Impressive. Declan told me you were talented.”

  “Oh, trust me when I say I am more than talented.” She responded, walking towards him confidently.

  “He trained you well. You could be of service to us, you know.”

  She scoffed. “And tell me, of what benefit would that be to me exactly?”

  Declan understood what she was doing and used this opportunity to begin building up some of the defensive blocks he had back up. It was considerably harder than normal, his attack weakening him significantly.

  “We are greater than the Trust will ever be. We will save this world. Humans are destroying themselves and the Trust is just sitting idly by, letting the humans fight their wars, letting each other starve to death, and polluting the entire planet. We have the ability to do something about it, something good. We can restore order once again.”

  “By taking it all over.”

  He finally was able to put an initial barricade in place, and he knew that Lionel felt the connection between himself and Declan lost. Lionel glared between to the two of them.

  “I can see I am wasting my time with you. The both of you are disposable enough.”

  “Disposable? Afraid not, Lionel. I am your worst nightmare.”

  With a flick, Caitlyn threw objects at Lionel from every conceivable direction, Lionel able to quickly prevent the attack. She glanced over briefly at Declan. He realized that she was still distracting Lionel in order for him to get his defenses fully up.

  Caitlyn pounded him time and again, with Lionel slowly backing in retreat. Both their faces were covered in sweat, her attacks keeping him on the defensive. Finally, Lionel yelled, “Enough!”

  He turned to where Declan was standing. “I want you dead, not her.”

  He sent a blast Declan’s way. Declan braced to take the impact, knowing he would never have enough time to block. And that was when he felt Caitlyn jump in front of him, ready to take the killing blow.

  Chapter 25

  Caitlyn shoved Declan out of the way, deflecting the hit that was meant to murder Declan. The foundation of the building shook with the blast going directly through a column, weakening the structure significantly. Lionel was advancing towards her, the sneer on his face as sinister as ever. She needed to do something desperate. She needed to time everything just right, or else Declan and her would both end up dead.

  Caitlyn closed her eyes, letting the world fall away from her. There was only the sound of her breathing and the steady movement of her chest with each inhale and exhale. Her mind held the image of the bare structure that she currently laid entombed in. Beneath all the sheetrock and concrete, stood steel, large indestructible pillars of steel that held the old warehouse together. Those supports became her focus, and she just stood there imagining them bending, breaking, cracking under her will. Her eyes opened at the sound of the creaking, noticing that sheetrock was already beginning to fall around them. She knew without a doubt that the building was severely compromised and would collapse as intended. At this point, they would only have moments to leave if they were lucky.

  She looked squarely into Lionel’s eyes as it dawned on him what Caitlyn did. She jumped onto Declan, praying that she did not just make a lethal mistake and sent one final blast hurling at his old mentor before transporting Declan and herself out of the quickly weakening building. With only a millisecond to consider where to send them, she could only let her instincts take over.

  She was surprised when she found it brought them to the forest clearing, where Declan had taken her while training for teleportation.

  They hit with a hard crash, the mossy forest floor only softening the landing slightly. For a moment, Caitlyn was disorientated and wondered why she could not move. It was then, she realized that Declan was right on top of her, his weight holding her down. She rolled out from underneath him, both grunting as they moved. She examined his body, searching for any signs of serious injury.

  “Are you hurt? We should get you to a healer.”

  Declan groaned, shaking his head no, and sat up slowly. His face was grim, the seriousness of what happened obviously weighing heavily on his mind. After what seemed like an eternity, he spoke. “Physically? I will be hurting for a few days from Lionel, but overall I’ll be alright.”

  Caitlyn nodded, kneeling down beside him. Her hands shook violently as she reached out to him, the events of the afternoon obviously bothering her. He made contact with her first, stilling her hands with his own. She took a deep breath, in hopes of calming herself down. It was no use. She looked down towards the ground as a large tear ran down her cheek; the first of what she was sure would be many. Caitlyn felt ashamed that she had been so strong only moments before and now she was breaking down, the enormity of what just occurred hitting her. Her life had come crashing down around her; again.

  Declan lifted her chin and raised her face to look into his. He wiped the tear from her cheekbone with his thumb as he spoke to her reassuringly. “It’s okay. We’re alive. That is all that matters. You got us out in time.”


  Her mind raced with what she could have done differently. “I should have been quicker to return. I should have done more, I should have-”

  His finger landed on her lips, effectively silencing her. He lifted himself and her to their feet, and he stared into her eyes. The voice he used was stern but still caring. “You did everything you could do. Lionel probably did not even get out alive.”

  “We can’t be certain of that.”

  He shook his head. “No, we can’t. But nevertheless, you were amazing.”

  People were always trying to convince her of that, when she felt anything but. When her only reply was continued silence, he pressed his lips together in a thin line. His voice, that was usually so filled with confidence and intensity, took on a softness that she had never heard before. “What is it going to take to convince you of that?”

  Caitlyn did not have an answer to his question. She noticed him wince slightly. “Are you sure you are going to be okay?”

  Her eyes finally left his gaze as she did another quick assessment on Declan’s body. She had arrived just in time to see Lionel attacking Declan. Dust now marred his usually perfectly messy dark hair, and his shirt, which was now wrinkled and tattered, was ripped on the upper right arm. Her fingers traced several cuts on him that would mend easily with a healer, before her hand rested gently on his arm. She was amazed that was the only physical signs of the assault. She knew Lionel’s attack was brutal, relentless, and excruciating for Declan. She also knew it could have ended much, much worse than it did.

  “The question should be are you alright? Lionel took a direct shot at me, and you jumped in my way to save me. You’re crazy, you know that? You could have taken the brunt of the blast. I thought you were dead… I-” his voice cracked slightly. “I thought he was going to kill you and there was nothing I could do about it.” His hand reached up and tentatively caressed her cheek. “You shouldn’t have done that. Not for me.”

  She couldn’t help but lean her head into the warmth of his palm. It was comforting, but more unsettling to her was that it was wanted. She was very aware of his slight roughness of his palm against her face, the way his fingertips rested on her right temple. “Declan, of course I should have done that. I would do that again in heartbeat if it meant saving you.”

  “What? Why would you risk your life for me? I couldn’t have lived with myself if something happened to you.”

  “Because…” Her breath caught as she finally admitted what she knew all along, “I don’t know… I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t okay.”

  His eyes locked onto hers, piercing through her soul with a burning intensity that reminded her of that night when something in their relationship shifted, the comfortable friendship turning into something that she had not been able to define.

  She had ignored those developing feelings, suppressing them deep inside, pretending they did not exist. But now, as her heart pounded in her chest, those feelings came bursting to the surface refusing to be ignored. Not as long as he had his hands on her and was looking at her like this.

  His hands trailed down of their own accord to her still nervous ones, entwining his fingers with hers. She looked down for the briefest of moments at their fingers interlaced, letting the butterflies that fluttered anxiously in her stomach gain intensity before she went back to his deep gaze.

  He took a step closer. No matter how hard she tried, Caitlyn couldn’t think. In that moment, she could not deny the truth that was laid out in front of her. She felt like everything in her life had led her to this, to this moment right here with him. And then it happened.

  Declan closed the small gap remaining between them, his lips crashing to hers. She moaned at the warmth of his touch, the urgency at which he kissed her, returning the kiss with equal fervor. Her heart, her racing heart, felt as if it would explode out of her chest if she did not get closer to him. Caitlyn needed to be closer to him.

  Declan must have felt the same because he grabbed her body urging it nearer to him, pulling her hips flush to his, trying to get impossibly closer. She knew at least in this moment, that this was where she was supposed to be, in his arms, as his. She couldn’t deny the truth any longer that they had so expertly hidden from each other, from themselves, for all these months.

  Declan wrapped his hands around her waist, his hands moving underneath the hem of her shirt, his fingers barely caressing her stomach. She nearly came undone from that one touch. Her own right hand moved up to wind tightly in his hair, with her left moving one of his hands upwards, begging him to continue his exploration.

  They had fallen backwards in their display of passion, allowing a large oak tree to support them. Caitlyn’s back was against the roughness of the bark, but she barely noticed. The way his body molded to hers, it seemed as if his was made just for hers. Caitlyn knew that this must be what complete bliss feels like. It was inexplicable the feelings he was creating inside her.

  She wanted nothing than to live in this moment forever. But in a small corner of her mind, a word reverberated through her head. One word. But that one word was enough to make her stop and leave the heaven she was currently in. Garrett.

  As quickly as it started, it stopped. She forced herself to pull away, her breath coming out in ragged pants. She reached up and kissed him once more, roughly, desperately. “Declan.”

  His eyes glazed over as he touched his forehead to hers. “Caitlyn. Wow.”

  Her voice was quiet as she caressed his arms. “Yeah, wow.”

  Her mind was racing with the actions of the past twelve hours. Garrett’s past, Lionel’s betrayal, and then… this. She looked up at Declan and wondered how she did not see the longing that was reflected in his eyes for all these months or how he did not see the same reflection in hers for that matter? How were they both so ignorant to what they had been crashing towards?

  She straightened her clothes absentmindedly as she tried to process it all. She then realized that they were wasting precious time thinking about something that would need to wait, while there were other things that were so desperately more important at the moment. She grabbed his hand again. “Declan-”

  She did not even need to finish the sentence. He understood that they did not have the luxury of time at the moment to figure out exactly what had just passed between them. “I know.”

  “You do.” It wasn’t a question, just a confirmation.

  He nodded. “I need to get back to my father and you need to go see Garrett and see how he is doing.”

  “Declan, what if Lionel lived through that? What if he was going after Garrett again or your father? What if Caleb was unable to reach your father? You need to reach him and make sure he knows.”

  “I doubt he would show his face in the Trust at the moment, but still, we can’t be positive of his actions. Caitlyn-”

  She couldn’t help but run her hand through his hair gently before placing her hand back down towards her side. “We can talk about this later. Don’t feel guilty about leaving me. I think I’ve proved today that I can more than handle myself. You need to get to your dad, handle all this business. Maybe they can still catch Lionel. I… I need to be with Garrett to make sure he is okay. See if I can talk to him.”

  His eyes were unreadable at the last statement. “Are you sure?”

  She stood up straighter. “I am positive. Go. If you need me, you know where I will be.”

  He paused, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. “We will talk about all of this later.”

  And with that he was gone. And Caitlyn was left alone, in the field, with her thoughts. She shook her head, desperately trying to clear her mind, closed her eyes and transported to the hospital.

  Chapter 26

  Declan had kissed Caitlyn. It had been unequivocally the best moment of his life, wrapped inside one of the worst moments of his life. He had not wanted it to be; he could not afford to be emotionally attached; could not afford to be in love. But yet, that was exactly what he was. He was in
love with Caitlyn and there was no point fighting it.

  Caitlyn had returned his kiss with equal fervor, and he did not question her want or need of him. He did not understand how he could be so blind; so ignorant of the feelings he felt for her. When she kissed him, it was as if he was hit by a bolt of lightning; restarting his long unused heart. But it did not matter. There were too many things going on with the Trust that he needed to focus on. With the betrayal of Lionel, his father had already contacted him about damage control; it would be a very busy few months. Lionel knew all their secrets; he was his father’s closest confidant. So he would be too distracted with important items to fight for Caitlyn; at least that is what he tried to convince himself of.

  The truth was, while it was apparent Caitlyn had deep feelings for him, she cared for Garrett as well. He tried to wrap his head around that fact, accepting the truth. She was currently involved with him. He could not even attempt to be involved with her while she chose to be with him. Declan had never been one to condone cheaters; as it was, he already felt that he was the biggest hypocrite in the world with what happened with Caitlyn yesterday. Because if he knew if the chance presented itself, morals be damned, he would give in to the temptation that was Caitlyn Young. So he had decided that the easiest thing to do was to remove himself from the temptation.

  But today would not be that day. He knew that Caitlyn would be here, waiting to see his rival. Garrett was by all accounts a good man from his previous dealings with him; but the knowledge that his father was the head of the Cine Tofa made him very uneasy, more so was the three years Garrett spent under his father’s tutelage. When he came to his father with this information, frustratingly he found out that the Tribunal had always known this. Garrett had given them full disclosure, and had been more than stellar in this role as an Inquisitor, with words of praise falling from the Tribunal’s lips at the things Garrett had uncovered.