Chapter 60

Chapter 60

The flight was silent, not a single sound could be heard except for the soft breathing shared between the three of us. Even Kiara seemed to notice that all was far from well because despite being awake the entire flight, she stayed completely silent and did not fidget in her seat.

We were served by the kind flight attendant from earlier and a new girl. Both of them were extremely polite and did not speak more than they needed to. They mainly stayed away from us and only interacted long enough to serve our drinks. 1 kept dreading the exact moment the jet would land because it would mean facing reality.

When we landed, Aiden was waiting for us in front of the jet. He was wearing a button up shirt with jeans and shades over his eyes. When he took off the shades, I knew that something was terribly wrong. He looked bothered and disturbed and there was something else in his eyes, I knew there was going to be more bad news and I wasn’t sure that Jaxon could take any more

of that.

“We might need to take a pit stop first,” Aiden began as soon as we got within earshot. “On your way here, something else happened. I don’t know if you’ll want Kiara around there but I don’t think we have time to make it to the palace first?

Jaxon turned to me and I knew he was going to say something about me going home with Kiara so I immediately shook my head. I was not going to be kept out of the loop of the things going on especially not when most of them were happening because of me. Everything that was currently happening was happening because Noxian wanted me

Jaxon looked frustrated as he tried to think of another solution. The last thing I wanted was to add to his troubles but I was willing to do it in this case. I glanced over at Aiden and he looked equally as tired. We had barely been gone for two days and within those two days all hell had broken loose.

Immense guilt wracked through me and I couldn’t help but wish things were

different.

“I can have trusted men take Kiara home,” Aiden began and Jaxon was about to refuse but he quickly cut in. “I know you don’t like the idea but these are men that I trust with my life. They will not let any harm come to her as long as they live.”

Jaxon thought about it for a minute before nodding. Kiara was holding my hand and she didn’t seem to understand what. was going on. I bent down on my knees in front of her and pushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. Her eyes bounced between Jaxon and I as if unsure of who she should concentrate on. Jaxon joined me in front of her and smoothed his hand. over her hair.

“Mummy and daddy have to do something very important,” Jaxon began. “You’re going home with some of Aiden’s friends. We will be there in a few minutes.”

“Do you promise?” she asked in a soft voice and Jaxon hesitated before nodding.

“I promise that we will be home as soon as possible.”

Kiara held out her pinky finger and Jaxon glanced at it for a second before joining his own with hers.

He let it linger for at second before kissing her forehead and reluctantly releasing her He nodded to Aiden who led Kiara away and towards a black tinted SUV. He delivered a stern warning to the men that had them nodding before he finally returned to us.

“If anything happens to my daughter,” Jaxon began and Aiden cut him off.

“If anything happens to her then I can be the one you kill first. She is safe, you can rest assured in that fact.”

Jaxon glanced at the retreating car once more and I knew he was debating whether or not it was a good idea to leave her.

“Don’t make me regret the choice, where are we going?”

We got into another black tinted SUV. Aiden and Jaxon rode in front while I stayed quietly in the back. I was unsure of what

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Chapter 60

we were going to see and while we drove, my mind conjured up the worst case scenarios. I tapped my feet anxiously. throughout the entire ride and only stopped briefly when I caught Aiden’s eyes through the mirror.

He drove us towards a part of the pack I had never been to. The first thing I noticed was the smoke in the air. I knew that it had to be a fire of great magnitude to cause that amount of smoke, Jaxon helped me out of the car and he stuck close to my side. He had his hand on the small of my back and refused to let go. I tried to see if I could smell something but all I Inhaled was a lungful of smoke.

As we got closer towards the source of the fire. I saw a bunch of people in tears. They were gathered around what seemed to be the remains of a building. There were some soldiers and the fire department in front of the house but the air was thick with despair and sadness. As soon as they saw us, the whispers started and I felt my guilt and shame wrap around my neck. like a chord and threaten to choke me.

1 glanced at Jaxon who slipped his fingers into mine and squeezed in silent reassurance. We got closer and from what I could see, it used to be a block of apartments. There had to be at least twenty people who lived there before it burned down. I wondered how many were able to get out and how many may have perished inside. I could not bear to look at the faces of the grieving people for fear that they would realize I was responsible for their plight.

“It caught fire an hour after I called you,” Aiden said in a low whisper so no one else would hear.

“We were barely able to put it out and so far there have been no bodies but some people are still unaccounted for.”

“How many do you estimate?” Jaxon asked and Aiden hesitated before responding.

“Dead? Maybe five, those are the people we can’t account for. We are trying to find out information from the families on whether or not they went out.”

A sob threatened to break from me when I heard some commotion at the back. An older lady pushed through holding a boy who looked no older than seven. He had unruly black hair and he was very scrawny. He looked confused as he glanced around the number of people gathered in front of what I assumed used to be his house. It wasn’t until they got closer that I heard what the elderly woman was shouting

“Where is my daughter?” she yelled. “My daughter was in there, where is she? Liana can you hear me?”

Jaxon stepped forward prepared to handle the situation but I put out a hand to stop him. I asked to be here so the best 1 could do was be useful. He had to speak with Aiden and the fire department to figure out what was going on. I didn’t have the stomach for it.

“I can handle it,” I assured him and he shot me a look as if he didn’t believe me but I gave him a small smile. “Just trust me.”

I made my way over to the older woman. She looked nothing like the young boy she was holding but they shared the same nose. When she saw me approaching, she held the boy’s hand tighter and analyzed me like I was an intruder.

“Who are you?” she asked slowly. “Are you here to help me find my daughter? If that isn’t what you’re here for then you can go ahead and fu*k right off.”

“I’m Freya,” I began and awareness filled her features. Immediately she tried to fall to her knees but I grabbed her upper arm to stop her. “There’s no need for all that. In a way, I guess I am here to help you find your daughter. Can you tell me what you know?”

“She dropped Kieran off with me this morning saying she needed some time to herself. She was supposed to come and pick him up three hours ago but I told her that I wanted to take him out for ice cream and she should stay back. She was not happy with it but I pulled the ‘I’m your mother’

card. I called her when we were done and she didn’t pick up so I thought she was just pissed and I forgot about it but now-”

She cast a wary glance at Kieran and turned back to me. I knew she didn’t want to say more in front of the boy and I couldn’t blame her. She wiped a stray tear from her face but they just seemed to keep coming and she turned away so he wouldn’t KIPS VIRTUAL

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Chapter 60

see her. I could tell he was confused and I wanted to distract him so I went on my knees in front of him.

“Hey, I’m Freya and you must be Kieran,” I began and he nodded. He seemed shy because he retreated into himself. “How old are you?”

He held up seven fingers and I made a show of wide eyes and placing my hand over my mouth.

“You are so big for seven,” I mused and he cracked a smile. “I have a daughter who is turning four.

It must have been so long ago since you turned four. Well, Kieran, I want to help you find your mum but can you tell me what she was wearing?”

“She had a black robe she liked with fluffy pink slippers,” he began unsure. “She wore her pink dress under the robe. She liked color pink. Do you like color pink?”

“I do, thank you so much for telling me. I’m sure we will find your mother soon.”

“Do you promise?”

I didn’t want to make a promise I couldn’t keep and the innocent plea in his voice had me threatening to break down. “I promise that I will do everything that I can.”

I gave him a small smile and looked up at his grandmother then made my way back towards Jaxon.

He reached out for me instantly but his eyes had a faraway look in them. He was staring at the fire fighters who were giving a breakdown of all the people that they had found. So far, there were just two but they were still searching.

I prayed with everything in me that Kieran’s mother was not part of them. They described the two people they found but one was an old man and the other a teenager. I couldn’t help the relief that wracked through me when he said that. I knew it was wrong but I didn’t seem to care.

“There’s one more,” I heard the fire fighter shout. “She is a middle aged woman.”

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