‘Well, we were given orders to take you to Nick, so I guess if you're willing to come, we can let her go.' The other man gestured to the one holding Sophie.
Sophie shook her head. She was trying to get me to look at her. I avoided eye contact. I didn't want to cause her anymore stress.
‘Go on, then,' I called when he paused.
He nodded once and let go of her. She stood motionless for a moment before she stepped past him and went to move away. The other man closed the distance between us and took hold of my arm. I let him.
‘Sophie!' I shouted when the other man lunged after her.
I ripped away from my captor, but he stayed with me, dragging me to the ground. The people around us scattered away from the scuffle.
‘Sophie, run!'
I couldn't get free from the man that was determined to take me to Nick. He had his arms locked around my waist. We wrestled on the concrete. The surface made it hard for me to get any grip. There was no earth around for me to try and manipulate.
The scream was hers. It vibrated around me and filtered into my ears. I gave up the struggle to look over to where she was. The man had one arm around her neck. He lifted the other. The glint of the silver blade made my eyes widen as his hand plunged down. I opened my mouth and screamed when the knife entered her chest.
Sophie mouthed my name as the man released her. Blood seeped through her cream jumper. She crumpled to the ground, her gaze not leaving mine as she fell.
My vision blurred as I focused on the red of her blood. I pushed myself up from the ground, dragging Nick's man with me. I got to her as a siren sounded in the distance. My captor had his arms wrapped around me, trying to pull me away, but I wouldn't go with him.
‘Taurus,' Sophie whispered.
It was too late. The light faded from her eyes as my shaking arms cradled her against me. My heart exploded as I was lifted from the ground. All I could see was her open eyes as they stared up at me.
‘Sorry,' Nick's man whispered as he wrenched my arms away from Sophie.
I let her fall to the ground. I let him drag me away from the scene. A car screeched up. I let him push me inside. Nick would pay. Everyone would pay.
Chapter Twelve
‘Put this blindfold on,' the man spat.
The piece of material hit me on the head.
The muscles in my hands wouldn't stay still. It wasn't caused by the lack of drugs anymore. The car sped through London as quickly as it could, squeezing through the traffic. The beeping horns went ignored.
‘Why did he kill her?' The words were pushed through my teeth. I was barely holding onto my temper.
‘Put the blindfold on.' The man wasn't going to talk to me. The driver of the vehicle had been one of the men on guard the day before. The man who had murdered Sophie had disappeared. It was a good job, too.
///
The blindfold blocked out the light as I tied it around my head. My compliance surprised me. I would play along if it meant I would see Nick.
‘I'm going to kill you all,' I muttered.
The men laughed. It didn't affect me. I had gone cold. My slow deep breathing kept me calm. The need for drugs was making my stomach churn, but the desire to kill the person responsible for Sophie's …
I couldn't think of the word. Sophie had been killed because of me. Her blank blue eyes flashed into my mind behind the darkness of the material over my eyes.
‘You can laugh now. However, I will make you pay.'
They went quiet. They must have heard the truth in my statement. I had never felt the need to protect my family. My siblings were strong and independent. I was the weak link. However, Sophie had been mine. If she hadn't got involved with me, she would still be alive. Probably driving another man insane. But now, her body lay on the ground in a street in London.
‘We're here,' the driver announced as the car came to a stop.
We hadn't driven far since I had put the blindfold on. We were still in London. The street was quiet. Did Nick have houses everywhere? What type of operation were the Dysfunctionals running?
‘Move!'
Someone grabbed my arm and hauled me out of the vehicle. The air was warm as a slight breeze brushed against my bare skin. My sleeveless shirt was twisted. I tried to move my body to straighten it, but I was pushed from behind.
‘Just walk.'
I tripped when my foot connected with a step going down. I only stayed on my feet because one of the men held my arm. The air changed when I was thrust through a door and into a dank smelling house.
‘Taurus! It's good to see you again.'
Nick's voice wound its way into my ear and punched my brain. I ripped away from my captor and off took my blindfold.
We were in a hallway.
‘Welcome. Follow me.' Nick walked through a door, leaving me with one of his men.
Glancing down, I noticed that the cream carpet was pristine. The house had obviously been shut up for a long time. Cracking my knuckles with my fingers, I followed him through the wooden door and into the kitchen area.
‘I would offer you a cup of tea, but it looks like you could use something stronger,' he said, pouring a full glass of vodka.
My hands itched to reach out and gulp the liquid down. I paused when he offered it to me. The brown skin on his hands was wrinkled. The short strands of hair on his head started to match the grey of his eyes.
‘I've seen you before,' I said, grabbing the glass when he went to pull it away.
The need to down my drink went ignored as Nick pushed up the sleeves of his jumper and sat at the small plastic table.
‘Only briefly. You spied on your mother when she was with me, but you've only seen me once. In our past lifetimes, however, you've seen me a lot.'
I sat opposite him and took a gulp of vodka. It warmed my throat as it travelled down.
‘Lifetime? Not you as well.'
The corner of his lip lifted into his cheek. The glint of his grey eyes reflected in the light from the dim bulb overhead. The windows were below ground level, so it was a dingy atmosphere.
‘Taurus. You're the seeker of truth. The one that questions everything but lives in the past.'
His words struck a chord. I clenched the glass in my hand, drinking back the whole lot when he tried to look into my eyes.
‘What do you want from me?'
‘I believe it's you that wants something from me. I've been informed that my own issue with you has been resolved. Sophie-'
My fist connected with his jaw before I was even aware that it had moved. I flew over the table. My body slammed into him, rocking him back off his chair. The image of Sophie bleeding in my arms drove me to punch him over and over.
Arms restrained me. They wrapped around me from behind and trapped my arms against my sides.
Nick's laughter echoed around the room as I fought against the person holding me.
The click of metal made me freeze. The barrel of a gun pressed into the side of my head. My breath hissed out as I thrust against my captors one last time.
‘Okay, let me go.' I grunted.
Nick clicked his fingers. I was released.
‘I'm sorry about that. This is the game we play.' Nick spat blood as he climbed to his feet.
He righted his chair and sat back down. His man handed him a tissue to mop his split lip. My whole body shook. I needed to release the thunderous rage that threatened to crawl all over me. I was going to explode.
‘You … son … of … a-'
‘Sit down,' he ordered, pointing at the chair that lay on the floor where I had knocked it.
///
Rolling my shoulders, I did as I was told. I wanted answers. I wanted a solution. There was a solution to everything.
‘Why do you hunt us down?' The scrape of the chair on the lino made his eyes squeeze shut.
‘You've never been in love, have you?'
A flashback of Sophie dancing around my room came to me. No. I wasn't in love with her. We didn't have long enough to fall in love. I was sure that I would have fallen for her eventually, though.
‘You know us so well, you tell me,' I replied, accepting another glass of vodka when Nick's man handed us one.
‘Your guardians have struggled with you this time round. They've only told you a bit about why you're here. It doesn't seem that they elaborated on much else. I bet you're dying to know what it's all about.' He sipped his drink, cringing when the glass knocked the wound on his lip.
He was right. I had searched the Internet looking for answers. Science captured my interest, but it didn't explain twin flames or reincarnation.
My parents had told me that I needed to be more open-minded. They said that one day I would know what they had taught me was real. When they explained I was going to meet a woman who would become my girlfriend, wife and soulmate, I raised my eyebrows and nodded at them. What was so special about that? Everyone had relationships.
‘You're not an easy person to persuade.' Nick interrupted my memories.
‘That's because I know when I'm right,' I replied, rubbing the sore spot on my knuckles.
His eyes traced the movement, but he didn't smile. He was thinking as he watched me.