Just An Empty Voice Screaming Out For Help -Closed:Ash-

[Kaydence Morgan]

As Mikkhal paused for the second time, Kaydence noticed the excruciating amount of pain her right hand was feeling. Looking to the side, she noticed she had once again grasped her wand. This time, however, the grip was so tight that her knuckles were white. Had completely forgotten she had that wound from earlier. How she had hit their rented bedroom wall with such furor that she had left an imprint. Yet again more damage caused by Mikkhal. She had always had her suspicions about the prick. Could never trust him as far as she could throw him. He had never been overly rude to her. Petty, perhaps, but never acted in a manner towards her that Noah has chastised him for. Never could quite understand Noah’s confidence in him. Granted, the man had never strayed from his loyalty to her fiancé. Well, before today anyway. Although hearing every word Mikkhal was saying, Kaydence’s brain was having a hard time fathoming this abundance of new information. How could he have sat on this for so long without saying anything to her? To Noah? It was evident that there was a method for his madness. Although she was angry, and Merlin was she angry, there was also the growing, undeniable feeling of pure fear. What did he want? She knew there was absolutely nothing good that was going to come from this.

She watched intently as Mikkhal turned to Ashton. Could feel the grip somehow tightening even more he questioned him about his own involvement with her. Made sure to bring up the last ball Kaydence had ever attended. A decision that had been a very poor one. One that had done nothing more than jeopardize her safety in the country even more. The beginning of the night had started off well. Shockingly. For once in her life, she had been so fucking nervous to attend a public spectacle. While she wasn’t public enemy number one for the time being, Ashton had worked extensively to clear her name and spring her from Azkaban. She had still been talked about in the papers fairly often. She couldn’t help but to pay attention to the stares she received as her and Ashton had walked into the convention center. Kaydence had hated feeling the way she did. She loved attention, but this kind, where the judgment wasn’t about women being envious of her and men watching the way she walked very carefully, it was unsettling. She remembered briefly pulling Ash to the side at one point and confessing that she wasn’t sure she handle being there. That it was probably best for them to go home where she could continue wallowing in self-pity but be safe while she was at it. She remembered the look he gave her. The soft chuckle he gave her as he rolled his eyes before telling her to simmer down with a wink. A short phrase that would have normally irritated her but she found oddly comforting at the time.

It sickened her hearing Mikkhal try and raise doubt about Ashton’s agenda the night of the ball. She knew this tactic. Try to get him to say something that she could misconstrue into something else that actually wasn’t. Kaydence was already an unwilling member of whatever game he was playing. She didn’t need to give him anymore fuel to add to the fire. Merlin she could feel that anger bubbling. That prick was just so fucking pleased with himself. It was surprising that he was still acting as tough as he was in front of Ashton. If he knew so much about the pair of them then surely he had read about Ashton at the Battle of Gringotts. He and Tristan had been cover-boys for at least a month on the Timestopper. All the eyewitness accounts about the pair of them taking down that bitch Isis Moswen. The lives they had saved. While Kaydence truly didn’t know the extent of what Ashton has been up to in her time away, she had no doubt that he done more admirable work that warranted him a little more infamy. He had a fucking wizarding card after all. Who would have thought?

”Are you coming up on a point here? Just wanting to put salt on old wounds? What’s your purpose here?” Salt in old wounds? Well that was an interesting choice of words. Not that Kaydence didn’t expect him to not harbor any old feelings of resent. He had made that abundantly clear in their past few encounters. Verbally acknowledging it though to a stranger? That was unexpected. She watched as he turned to the clock on the wall, not at all denying how handsome the side profile of his face was still. That chiseled jawline…had always been convinced he could cut through paper with that thing if he tried. ”By my estimation, you’re almost out of time too.” She really needed him to cool it on these threats. Needed him to grasp how serious this situation was for her. ”My ‘downfall’ as you put it clearly didn’t have anything to do with my business dealings as your master clearly understands or I wouldn’t be here as well. For all of your sleuthing I don’t think that he’s going to take very kindly to you not only threatening his money, but his wife as well, or perhaps you’re willing to pay Noah the same fortune that I’m spending on him? That’s gonna come from your little sidekick salary is it? Hm?” Small fortune? Ashton was going to be the one paying Noah the money that was going to buy this private island of theirs? Kaydence wanted to throw up.

Mikkhal had yet to show any change of emotion until Ashton had finished speaking. ”You are not the one to be making threats here Mr. Wentworth.” His tone grew more stern. ”I don’t feel it necessary to keep reminding you of the impact of Mr. Eklund finding out about the both of yours prior relationship. Mr. Eklund is a proud man. I couldn’t imagine him having second thoughts of a business transaction with you should he find out you brought his fiancée home at a completely unreasonable hour the night he left. Whether it was of his making or not.” Giving one last stare to Ashton, Mikkhal turned back to face her. ”Now, back to you Kaydence. While I didn’t find it necessary to tell Noah at the time my findings, I did make it a point to add extra security detail on your family outings. As we all know, all it takes is that one person to know your existence right?” He smirked. ”Even on your solo outings to the town…anytime you left the property I had someone tail you. Just to ensure that you weren’t doing anything to place my boss and his son in harms way. And I admit, you had been such a good girl. Even with that attitude of yours, you never deliberately placed yourself in harm’s way or had an unexpected meeting with someone.” For years Kaydence had always had that feeling of being watched but always chalked it up to that residual paranoia. It sickened her knowing that she had been feeling that way for a reason.

Closing her eyes, she lowered her head for a brief moment while she forced herself to take a deep breath. A very familiar sensation, one that had laid dormant for a very, very long time. One that Kaydence had last experienced a few hours before she was taken to Azkaban for the first, and hopefully last, time in her life. When Ashton had infiltrated her condo for one of the last times, choosing to personally take her to the Ministry for questioning about her involvement with the Battle of Gringotts. There had been so much pent up frustration and anger. From the battle itself to not knowing about Ashton being an Auror, to all the drama with her brother. There was only so much a woman could take before she reached her breaking point. And that afternoon, she had. She practically killed Ashton. So much adrenaline coursing through her veins she couldn’t stop herself from casting spell after spell and attacking him. Kaydence remembered hovering above him on the ground, he had just passed out a few seconds earlier, and she was close to ending it when she finally came to. Had only experienced that once earlier during the first time she had ever battled at Hogwarts when she was a teenager. It was dangerous.

”Kaydence, shall we continue? I’m almost to my point I swear.” Taking another deep breath, Kaydence opened her eyes and glared at Mikkhal. ”Perfect. As I was saying, you were most well-behaved until Noah decided he wanted to bring you and young Lukas with him to Austria. I’ll have you know, I did advise him not to bring the two of you. Although his meetings would come nowhere close to where you two were staying, it typically isn’t the smartest idea to bring the family along on business. Yet the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if that may actually not be a bad thing. You see Kaydence, bringing you back to a place where you had a lot of history…surely some things were bound to come out that a girl of your mysterious stature wouldn’t be able to help.” Mikkhal paused again to look at Ashton. ”Point proven. I had discovered the relationship that you and Mr. Wentworth had and was simply stunned of the coincidence that your former lover would be seeking out your new lover to do business. Naturally, I grew suspicious. Had you two kept in contact this whole time?” Mikkhal feigned a look of confusion as he looked back and forth between the two. ”Ashton, had you found out about Mr. Eklund earlier then you let on? Had you convinced Kaydence to go run off to Sweden, track him down and infiltrate him and his business? Pass off the child as his to get at him at an even deeper level? You know a man can do crazy things when emotions are involved. Were you both planning on double-crossing Noah and running off with his money to continue whatever train wreck of a life you two had? I couldn’t figure it out for the life of me.”

At the mention of Lukas, Kaydence’s blood instantly turned cold. Pass off the child? What could he mean by that? She did nothing to hide the dumbfounded look on her face. “Mikkhal, what the fuck are you talking about passing off Lukas as Noah’s? Don’t you dare try to insinuate something that couldn’t be further from the truth.” At this, Mikkhal rolled his eyes and held up a hand. ”Kaydence, I wouldn’t even try to start that. Don’t try to deny to me that Lukas looks nothing like this brute next to me. The eyes, the facial structure…even his bloody nose resembles Mr. Wentworth’s.” He laughed. ”As young Lukas has gotten older, its been no secret he looks nothing like his father. His height perhaps. I attributed the face and eyes to you but upon seeing him and Mr. Wentworth together. It’s evident.” Kaydence’s heart had stopped. Everything Mikkhal said, as much as she couldn’t deny it, had merit. The minute she had seen Lukas and Ashton together at the Waterfront earlier, there had been a very unsettling feeling deep in her gut. Their shared mannerisms, Lukas’ unruly hair so reminiscent of Ashton at a younger age. The fucking obsession with strawberries. Her hands moved to the side of her head. Couldn’t look at Ashton. Couldn’t look at Mikkhal. ”As long as Mr. Eklund doesn’t see the pair together, your secret will still probably be safe.”

So many emotions coursing through her head. The paternity of her child had always been a given. Lukas was Noah’s. She had gotten pregnant after the one night stand. The timing was strange but purely coincidental. It had to be. ”So cruel of you to do to a man who has shown you nothing but love and adoration. So unbelievably cruel to do to an innocent child…forcing him to grow up thinking one man was his father when the actual one is deadbeat alcoholic.” Balling her hands into fists, she once again slammed them on the table and stood up. “Shut the fuck up!” She screamed, pointing a finger at Mikkhal. “Mikkhal you’re stepping in dangerous fucking territory and I’m warning you to keep my son’s name out of your mouth. You are forcing us to sit through this narcissistic power trip bullshit but I won’t fucking tolerate your feeble attempt at lying.” The man rolled his eyes. ”You could win an award for that performance Kaydence, but you can’t deny what is so clearly presented in front of you. Or is it just that rich girl delusion coming through?” The light around her was beginning to fade. Nothing but pure rage. ”Enough of the tantrum Kaydence. Lucky for you, I’m growing tiresome of your bullshit and am ready to propose the deal I have for you and Mr. Wentworth.. Will you take a seat?

Kaydence didn’t respond. Chest heaving, temper flared, things were starting to blur together. ”No? Very well then. Kaydence, Ashton, I propose this to you. I will keep your little secret just that…a secret. I won’t reveal any of your past. I won’t reveal this diabolical plan that I have exposed. I will leave you two be for just a few more days of your time.” Again, she said nothing. She could hear the words that were coming from his mouth but was unable to process the sentences as they were. ”Kaydence, I want you to summon your brother for me.” Now that she heard. Eyes squinting, Kaydence laughed. ”Are you fucking mental?” Mikkhal shook his head. ”Not at all. In fact, I am merely doing my part as a good employee. Looking out for his employer’s best interests.” She laughed again. “By what, bringing an inadequate Dark Lord out of hiding?” Mikkhal shrugged. ”Perhaps in his past but I think the three of us know by now that Darren Morgan has certainly put that title behind him. How many times has your brother been publicly humiliated and deemed unworthy by his followers? I could care less about what he once was. I’m interested in what he has to offer me and Mr. Eklund.” Kaydence looked all around the dining room, though careful not to look at Ashton, whom she had no idea how he was processing the blasphemy that Mikkhal was spouting earlier. At least that’s what she was adamantly telling herself.

”There’s really not a lot involved in your part Kaydence. I simply need you to go out, expose yourself in the public. Not announcing to the world who you are, but just being out and about. No sunglasses, no disguise. Just wander aimlessly among all the public and wait. You and I both know he’ll come. There’s too much bad blood between the two of you for him to sit by idly. He still has connections here. All it takes is that one person.” He held up one finger and smirked. ”And when he does…you, and Mr. Wentworth here, are free to go. Mr. Wentworth will proceed with payment upon Mr. Eklund’s arrival, I will provide the both of you with safe passage out of Austria and you two can run off, hiding forever and happily ever after. It’s that simple. The only thing is, Kaydence, I will allow you to leave with nothing but your current belongings. You will not take anymore of Mr. Eklund’s money and you certainly will not leave with his son. He will already be devastated knowing that his fiancée has disappeared into the night never to be seen or heard from again. I simply couldn’t allow his heartbreak to double having a boy he raised to be his son leave him as well.” Kaydence was sure she must have looked crazy at this point. She laughed again, this time so deeply it almost brought tears to her eyes. He was absolutely insane. No questions about it. Telling her she was going to bring Darren out of hiding? Let her run away with Ashton? Take her son away from her? Who the fuck was she really dealing with?

“You’re fucking mental!” She yelled, beginning to pace back and forth while she continued to laugh. “You really think that bringing Darren back is that simple? That he’s gonna reappear and you’re gonna be able to get him to talk to you? Just like that? You clearly don’t know my brother Mikkhal because Darren has never been the talking type. If he’s anything like my father, he’s only gotten crazier as he’s gotten older! Just like you apparently! And you think, I’m just going to be okay with this plan? Like Ashton and I are really going tp be able to just run away and nothing suffer any repercussions? You really think we’ve been plotting against Noah this whole time?” She was losing it. “You are FUCKING MENTAL Mikkhal.” Yet another smirk from him. ”Well you either do it my way or I summon Darren myself and I make sure he kills Lukas while you watch, then kills Mr. Wentworth while you watch and then finally, you yourself.” Kaydence stopped dead in her tracks. “You what?” Mikkhal rested his arms to the side of him. ”You heard me. I will make sure you watch everyone you’ve ever loved die a horrendous death at the hands of the person you hate the most. I apologize for having to resort to drastic measures but I need Darren and I know I can’t get him without you. Your fiancé is a smart man Kaydence. A man who truly doesn’t know his potential in the dark wizarding world and its about due time for him to see it. You would be doing him a great travesty not allowing him to explore that side and see just what he’s capable of with the contacts I know Darren Morgan has. Rest assure when I have no more use for him, I will personally see to your brother’s death. And your son will be in the utmost safest of hands, which is what you owe him after keeping his entire life and family hidden from him. I promise you that. You do nothing but bring misery and pain to the people closest to you. This is your chance to finally do right by them. They’ll be upset in the beginning, but will be nothing but a mere memory sooner rather than later.”

Somewhere throughout his speech, Kaydence had stopped walking back and forth. Finally able to take in everything Mikkhal was saying to her. When he had finished, she remained silent. The three could hear a pin drop in the room. Unaware tears had been welling up in her eyes, she felt a single drop roll down her cheek. This was it. This was the moment she had been dreading. Praying it wouldn’t happen. Without a second glance, Kaydence stormed past the table, past Mikkhal whose chair was in front of the dining room door and shoved it open. ”Guess she needs a moment to think about it.” She heard Mikkhal say as she left.

[Ashton Wentworth]

Ashton couldn’t even fathom just how confusing this whole thing must have been to Kaydence. Not only was the rug being ripped out from underneath her but her whole world was being flipped directly upside down. Perhaps Ashton should have been more compassionate on the subject or the words that he was choosing to use but in honesty, she had a lot more to lose in this arrangement than he did. He wasn’t the one whose child was in danger. He wasn’t the one about to lose his way of life. If worst comes to worse in this room, Ashton either leaves here breathing or he doesn’t. He knows that his affairs are in order. He and Stavros had come to an agreement a long, long time ago that if one of them were to die the other would become financially responsible to the other. At the time Ashton had made jokes about how he was getting the shit end of the deal because Ashton had one less child than Stavros did and therefore one less mouth to feed. Not that Stavros’ wife tended to take too kindly to that. Ashton knew that in the line of work that they all lived in, it was really only the smart thing to do to make sure that one’s will was constantly updated. They weren’t in their young twenties anymore, they had a lot more to worry about. Somehow, Ashton didn’t think that Kaydence had quite the same assurances in her life. She had been cut off from her personal fortune for a long, long time now. This must have been rather terrifying for her. Among other concerns. Ashton had been trying to keep this from her. To deny his involvement, to let her guess as to his own intentions as to what he was doing with Noah or how he happened to be back in her life when the answer was as simple as it was wholly unbelievable. It was fate, nothing more and nothing less on either one of their parts. She probably hadn’t given him a second thought over the years since she had constructed her new life. Put him in her past and locked away with all the rest of her bad memories. All of those locks she no doubt had in place, this asshole was taking a crowbar to one right after the other.

Mikkhal was taking something that was private between himself and Kaydence and turning it into something twisted. He was making light of something serious and shitting all over memories that shouldn’t be shit on. He had no idea what happened at that ball because nobody other than himself and Kaydence were in those alcoves. They were the only ones who knew what had really happened and that was the way that it was going to stay. Every minute tick of Kaydence’s face was causing the prick’s smug expression to widen and Ashton could hardly take his eyes off of him. He felt like if he moved, if Ashton were to breathe wrong that he would snap. If he loosened his vice grip on the back of this chair that he was going to splinter it into pieces and stab Mikkhal through the eye with it. He didn’t even think that he was going to feel very poorly about it either. ”You are not the one to be making threats here Mr. Wentworth.” Ashton’s lip curled again as Mikkhal’s tone grew darker. He had just as much right as any to be making those same threats. ”I don’t feel it necessary to keep reminding you of the impact of Mr. Eklund finding out about the both of yours prior relationship. Mr. Eklund is a proud man. I couldn’t imagine him having second thoughts of a business transaction with you should he find out you brought his fiancée home at a completely unreasonable hour the night he left. Whether it was of his making or not.” On the one hand, he might have a point. There was that possibility that Noah would be insecure enough in order to think that there was something nefarious going on. Sure he could put two and two together and kick himself in the ass for being stupid enough to trust either one of them but really that was Noah’s own problem. Ashton didn’t trust people for a damned reason. So that things like this wouldn’t be possible. Perhaps Noah would have second thoughts but Ashton was also willing to bet that he wasn’t willing to give up that payday over some doubts.

”Now, back to you Kaydence.” Ashton wanted to interject again. He wanted to keep the focus on himself so that Kaydence could get that wand out of her pocket and lobotomize this asshole. It was looking more and more likely because Ashton wasn’t going to allow himself to be blackmailed by anybody much less a flunkie. ” While I didn’t find it necessary to tell Noah at the time my findings, I did make it a point to add extra security detail on your family outings. As we all know, all it takes is that one person to know your existence right?” He smirked. ”Even on your solo outings to the town…anytime you left the property I had someone tail you. Just to ensure that you weren’t doing anything to place my boss and his son in harms way. And I admit, you had been such a good girl. Even with that attitude of yours, you never deliberately placed yourself in harm’s way or had an unexpected meeting with someone.” Ashton’s eyes flicked in the direction of Kaydence, wondering for himself if that meant that their interaction inside of that alley had been watched as well. He was trained to be careful. Ashton had to watch his own back and for the first time in years, he wonders if perhaps he has missed something. ”Kaydence, shall we continue? I’m almost to my point I swear.” Finally. ”Perfect. As I was saying, you were most well-behaved until Noah decided he wanted to bring you and young Lukas with him to Austria. I’ll have you know, I did advise him not to bring the two of you. Although his meetings would come nowhere close to where you two were staying, it typically isn’t the smartest idea to bring the family along on business. Yet the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if that may actually not be a bad thing. You see Kaydence, bringing you back to a place where you had a lot of history…surely some things were bound to come out that a girl of your mysterious stature wouldn’t be able to help. Point proven.” Ashton’s eyes rolled before he could stop himself. He could hardly attempt to take credit for something that nobody could have seen coming. ” I had discovered the relationship that you and Mr. Wentworth had and was simply stunned of the coincidence that your former lover would be seeking out your new lover to do business. Naturally, I grew suspicious. Had you two kept in contact this whole time?” Ashton had wondered the same thing whenever he had seen Kaydence he wasn’t going to lie. It was an idea that was so insane that it wouldn’t have been possible to entertain beyond that. Simply because Kaydence hadn’t wanted anything to do with him and she hadn’t faked that look on her face whenever she had seen him at the restaurant that night any more than he had. Ashton hadn’t known anything about her involvement until he had seen her getting off of that train.

”Ashton, had you found out about Mr. Eklund earlier then you let on?” What a stupid thing to say. Honestly if he and Kaydence had been in secret communication wouldn’t this super sleuth found that out as well? Ashton had known about Noah for a couple of years now. This interaction had been very carefully planned of course by the ministry but that wasn’t what Mikkhal was referring to, because he couldn’t know about that. ”Had you convinced Kaydence to go run off to Sweden, track him down and infiltrate him and his business? Pass off the child as his to get at him at an even deeper level? You know a man can do crazy things when emotions are involved. Were you both planning on double-crossing Noah and running off with his money to continue whatever train wreck of a life you two had? I couldn’t figure it out for the life of me.” It was Ashton’s money. They didn’t need anything from Noah because Ashton was the one that was paying Noah that was insane. What could he possibly mean by pass off the child? Ashton’s brow lifted in confusion, suddenly hyper focused on what Mikkhal was insinuating. He couldn’t even hide the shock that something like that could even be possible. “Mikkhal, what the fuck are you talking about passing off Lukas as Noah’s? Don’t you dare try to insinuate something that couldn’t be further from the truth.” Ashton’s blood started to run cold. He was losing feeling in his fingertips as his wild gaze shifted to his fingers. That wasn’t even something that was possible. One….two...three….Ashton counted off the years on the tips of his fingers and his brow furrowed together tighter. ”Kaydence, I wouldn’t even try to start that. Don’t try to deny to me that Lukas looks nothing like this brute next to me. The eyes, the facial structure…even his bloody nose resembles Mr. Wentworth’s.” One….two three….four six....no it wasn’t possible. He kept counting over and over again. Ashton’s head whipped to the entrance to the dining room staring off in the direction where Lukas had walked off whenever Kaydence had taken him to his room. Three four….five...seven….it wasn’t possible. His heart was hammering in his chest. ”As young Lukas has gotten older, its been no secret he looks nothing like his father. His height perhaps. I attributed the face and eyes to you but upon seeing him and Mr. Wentworth together. It’s evident.” This was what a panic attack felt like. That was what this was. This was what a panic attack felt like. His breathing was coming too steady in his chest like he couldn’t fill his lungs deeply enough. Was this true? Could this possibly be true? Had she known this whole fucking time? Ashton rose too quickly from his chair and took two steps backward as he counted a finger time on his fingertips to cement the idea as something at all possible even to himself. ”As long as Mr. Eklund doesn’t see the pair together, your secret will still probably be safe.” Safe was the very last thing on Ashton’s mind in this moment.

Could Kaydence have known? Was this why she had left? Was this the real reason that she had needed to leave so suddenly and without a single word? Was this her plan from the start? To find somebody with more money….somebody that she found more worthy than himself. She hadn’t hidden the betrayal that she had felt whenever she had found out who he worked for...was this all part of it? Was there a Wentworth Morgan baby that nobody had known about? That poor bastard child would be the target of way, way too many people.”So cruel of you to do to a man who has shown you nothing but love and adoration. So unbelievably cruel to do to an innocent child…forcing him to grow up thinking one man was his father when the actual one is a deadbeat alcoholic.” Ashton couldn’t even hear him. Hazel eyes finally lifting up to Kaydence to see her reaction. He wanted her to laugh. He wanted her to roll her eyes and state loudly that it wasn’t at all possible. Ashton had always wanted a family. Despite his better judgement. Despite all of the miscarriages with his first wife. Despite the fact that every person Ashton tried to make his family over the years always left him. Nevermind all of that he had wanted it to his core. He had tried to make Kaydence his family once, in his own way. He wanted her to laugh in his face and call him an idiot...but she wasn’t She wasn’t laughing. She wasn’t mocking or insulting and that meant that it could be true. That meant that even in her mind...having been the one to birth Lukas...that it might be true.

“Shut the fuck up!” The screaming came seconds too late. Too little too late. It was done. He had seen her face. Was that an admission of guilt? It felt like he was being stabbed all over again. If she had known...if she had done this on purpose he didn’t think he was ever going to be able to look at her again. She had almost killed him once. Had cursed him to the brink of death and this hurt so much worse than that. “Mikkhal you’re stepping in dangerous fucking territory and I’m warning you to keep my son’s name out of your mouth. You are forcing us to sit through this narcissistic power trip bullshit but I won’t fucking tolerate your feeble attempt at lying.” Lying. The man had to be lying. Ashton’s arms wrapped around his person, thankful that in this moment he was the forgotten party in this room. ”You could win an award for that performance Kaydence, but you can’t deny what is so clearly presented in front of you. Or is it just that rich girl delusion coming through? Enough of the tantrum Kaydence. Lucky for you, I’m growing tiresome of your bullshit and am ready to propose the deal I have for you and Mr. Wentworth.. Will you take a seat?” If they told him to take a seat he wasn’t going to be able to. His legs weren’t going to move him again and the way that he was leaning against the minibar was all that he could do. His personal rage has escalated to the point that his vision was starting to blur. The room was pinpricking and he almost felt like he was twitching with the sheer number of impossible to entertain ideas shuffling through his head all at once. ”No? Very well then. Kaydence, Ashton, I propose this to you. I will keep your little secret just that…a secret. I won’t reveal any of your past. I won’t reveal this diabolical plan that I have exposed. I will leave you two be for just a few more days of your time.” Ashton could say nothing. Words wouldn’t have formed even if he had wanted for them to. ”Kaydence, I want you to summon your brother for me.” All at once the room snapped back into focus as a familiar dread settled in his stomach. “What?” Ashton blurted. He couldn’t possibly be that fucking stupid. Ashton needed to see Darren again like he needed a wand shoved through his own ear. Kaydence wouldn’t know where to find him even if she wanted to. Ashton has been searching for that asshole since the last time that he saw him four years ago. ”Are you fucking mental?” That was a pure understatement. Clearly Mikkhal was more fucking dumb than he looked. That was a power play request made from a man who clearly doesn’t know the actual force that he’s up against.

”Not at all. In fact, I am merely doing my part as a good employee. Looking out for his employer’s best interests.” The man that he was wanting to talk to would have nothing to do with his best interests. Darren only cared about one thing and one thing only, that was his own blood. He only cared for the power residing inside of his own body and nothing else. . “By what, bringing an inadequate Dark Lord out of hiding?” Ashton’s gaze cut quickly to Kaydence. Hiding? She thought that her brother was just in hiding? It was so much more than that. She really hadn’t checked up on anything since she had left just like she said. There was no other reason that she wouldn’t know about what Darren did to her poor mother...her baby sister. There was so much more to this story. Last he had heard Darren was still ‘missing’ and nobody had heard from Kaydence’s father. Her father had been stupid enough to try to go looking for Kaydence once. He knew that much because well, he had been spying. Things had gone rather south for her family. In ways that Ashton didn’t at all want to be the one to have to break that news to her. Ashton didn’t want to tell her what had happened to Darren or the lengths that he had gone through before his downfall. Ashton didn’t want to be the one to tell her about his personal involvement in it either. Mikkhal knew nothing. Marlon had done his best to take over the Ministry controlled papers. He had worked with that friend of his to try to stem things as much as they could, Ashton just hadn’t thought that they were as successful as they apparently were. For a year and a half after Kaydence had left...things had gotten bad….and then they had gotten worse. Marlon had put the entire country on a lockdown for seven months before Ashton and Darren finally had their falling out. It was part of the reason why Ashton made as much money now as he did. Working his his partner...that was why Tristan had left the country for as long after as he had. Things were bad. Marlon had been overthrown in spite of it all before he was allowed to find the footholds to make his comeback and even then...things had been tense. Mikkhal has no idea the can of worms that he’s wanting to open. At this moment, Ashton didn’t care at all what Kaydence’s personal opinion on that request were...he wasn’t going to let her do that.

”Perhaps in his past but I think the three of us know by now that Darren Morgan has certainly put that title behind him. How many times has your brother been publicly humiliated and deemed unworthy by his followers? I could care less about what he once was. I’m interested in what he has to offer me and Mr. Eklund.” Death. All that Darren would want from them was their lives and their power. He would consume them if he thought that it was going to give him access to Kaydence once again. ”There’s really not a lot involved in your part Kaydence. I simply need you to go out, expose yourself in the public. Not announcing to the world who you are, but just being out and about. No sunglasses, no disguise. Just wander aimlessly among all the public and wait. You and I both know he’ll come. There’s too much bad blood between the two of you for him to sit by idly. He still has connections here. All it takes is that one person. And when he does…you, and Mr. Wentworth here, are free to go. Mr. Wentworth will proceed with payment upon Mr. Eklund’s arrival, I will provide the both of you with safe passage out of Austria and you two can run off, hiding forever and happily ever after. It’s that simple. The only thing is, Kaydence, I will allow you to leave with nothing but your current belongings. You will not take anymore of Mr. Eklund’s money and you certainly will not leave with his son. He will already be devastated knowing that his fiancée has disappeared into the night never to be seen or heard from again. I simply couldn’t allow his heartbreak to double having a boy he raised to be his son leave him as well.” There were so many things wrong with that statement that he was making. He was assuming that Ashton even still wanted to be with Kaydence and vice versa. He was assuming that just because they were once a thing that they were still those reckless children and now they were both just supposed to up and leave without the child who might belong to not just one but both of them to fall into Darren’s hands? He was wanting to have Kaydence murdered on the spot in broad daylight and just have Ashton run away with his tail tucked between his legs? The entire ideal was half cocked and absolutely impossible. Mikkhal seemed so fucking proud of his idiotic plan that it was the best idea he could have come up with. He felt like he had them right where he wanted both of them and it was obvious.

Kaydence’s laughter was his personal opinion on the subject as well. “You’re fucking mental!” Ashton nodded. His arms crossed in front of him and one booted foot crossed over the other ankle. For a moment he had been taken this threat seriously. The allegations that Mikkhal was placing in front of them were serious. It was leverage that Ashton was going to have to look at very seriously but his plan of action? There was a reason that Noah was the one that did all of the thinking here. “You really think that bringing Darren back is that simple? That he’s gonna reappear and you’re gonna be able to get him to talk to you? Just like that? You clearly don’t know my brother Mikkhal because Darren has never been the talking type.” That was an absolute understatement. ” If he’s anything like my father, he’s only gotten crazier as he’s gotten older! Just like you apparently! And you think, I’m just going to be okay with this plan? Like Ashton and I are really going to be able to just run away and nothing suffer any repercussions? You really think we’ve been plotting against Noah this whole time?” At least he was glad that again, they were on the same page with all of this. Kaydence was on the edge of hysteria, teetering back and forth with each lap that she paced into the carpet like she was.

“You are FUCKING MENTAL Mikkhal.” Then Mikkhal crossed a line that couldn’t be taken back and Ashton’s jaw literally fell open. ”Well you either do it my way or I summon Darren myself and I make sure he kills Lukas while you watch, then kills Mr. Wentworth while you watch and then finally, you yourself.” Ashton wanted to interject that Darren has tried, and failed, to kill him many times over now, so he would like to see him fucking try. Only Kaydence spoke first. “You what?” Still Mikkhal didn’t see the six foot deep hole that he was digging under his own feet somehow, and he just kept talking. ”You heard me. I will make sure you watch everyone you’ve ever loved die a horrendous death at the hands of the person you hate the most. I apologize for having to resort to drastic measures but I need Darren and I know I can’t get him without you. Your fiancé is a smart man Kaydence. A man who truly doesn’t know his potential in the dark wizarding world and its about due time for him to see it. You would be doing him a great travesty not allowing him to explore that side and see just what he’s capable of with the contacts I know Darren Morgan has. Rest assured when I have no more use for him, I will personally see to your brother’s death.” Now it was Ashton’s time to laugh. It spat out of his mouth before he could stop it with a force that nearly doubled him in half. Not that Mikkhal seemed to care. Mikkhal was going to be the one to kill Darren? Mikkhal? Ashton would have paid every single coin that he had ever owned in his life to watch that fight right now and see Darren bitch slap Mikkhal like a wingless fly in half a second. ” And your son will be in the utmost safest of hands, which is what you owe him after keeping his entire life and family hidden from him. I promise you that. You do nothing but bring misery and pain to the people closest to you. This is your chance to finally do right by them. They’ll be upset in the beginning, but will be nothing but a mere memory sooner rather than later.” Ashton finally got control of himself in so far as he could push the back of his hand into his mouth and shook his head.

Ashton wasn’t sure where she was going. He didn’t know what she was going to go and get. He didn’t know what was about to come out of her mouth but he didn’t move as she left the room. ”Guess she needs a moment to think about it.” Ashton watched him without fear. Regarding him for a long moment he sat there with his eyes locked clearly onto Mikkhal’s person and finally he breathed a sigh of pity. “You made very, very many mistakes tonight you poor bastard.” Ashton moved again to the chair across the table from Mikkhal because for this he was going to want to have a front row seat. He wanted to fucking film it. He wanted to watch everything that was about to come to this man because merlin knows that if he did it then he was going to be on the end of that very particular Kaydence ire. He had been in the direct line of that warpath before and he wasn’t going to do it. “You never should have played all of your cards. Anybody fucking knows that and assuming that would would be able to kill Darren fucking Morgan? Even I’m not that fucking arrogant and really asshole, I take the cake on the arrogant asshole front.” He was tempted to show him just how many scars that Ashton kept magically covered up because of that asshole. If only Kaydence knew just how quickly he had picked up on that trick because of her. Ashton grabbed the rest of Kaydence’s wine and downed it from where it had been left to sit on the table. “You think you’ve been watching Kaydence Morgan but you’re wrong. The person that you’ve been following for fuck knows how many years had been a waterered down, model fucking citizen. You wanted to pretend that you knew her? You wanted to threaten her son? Well congratulations because you’re about to see what the Morgans do to people who threaten their family.”

[Kaydence Morgan]

As soon as she entered the kitchen, she went straight for the sink. Placing her hands on either side, Kaydence gasped for air. How quickly things had fallen apart. How only mere minutes had gone by for everything she had been working to put away for eight years just crumble as if it were nothing. There was so much pressure on her chest that it was physically impossible to catch her breath. Gasps of air, each more desperate then the next. So much information had been presented to her in such a short amount of time that it would even make a sane person’s head spin. Everything was crashing around her and Kaydence had no time to process any of it. Especially not the accusation that Lukas was Ashton’s instead of Noah. No…no…it just wasn’t possible. There had been no pregnancy symptoms when she had left. No fatigue, no morning nausea, no headaches or mood swings worse then normal. She had not been pregnant when she left.

Though it had been strange how she had been experiencing symptoms so quickly after her night with Noah. It had only been two or three days before she had woken up in the middle of the night spending the next hour in front of the toilet for no reason. She and Ashton had always had undeniable sexual chemistry. For as long as they were together, most people wouldn’t have believed how frequently they had a romp in the sheets, the kitchen counters, the couch, just to name a few, just during the day alone. Their attraction to each other was something that Kaydence had never experienced with someone else. Perhaps that’s why she had found Ashton so alluring. How he could drive her crazy and insult her to no end but the minute his hands touched her skin it was all forgotten. With how often they were on each other, it probably would also be surprising to most that there had never been any accidents along the way. Until then. Why…why, of all fucking times, would they conceive Lukas right before she left. Why was she completely incapable of leaving the past in the past? Why, no matter how much she tried, was she always brought back to Ashton?

At this point, Darren was second in her mind. Lukas, the same little boy currently in his room oblivious to all that was currently transpiring in the dining room, was in danger. Her and Ashton’s maybe child had been threatened. Looking up at the ceiling, Kaydence continued to gasp. Never had Lukas’ safety ever been threatened. She never thought the day would come. ”I will make sure he kills Lukas while you watch.” That one statement kept replaying over and over in her head. Wanted to rip her scalp open, dig in her brain and pull out whatever part it was that processed memories and shove it down the disposal. The more it played, the more the rage intensified. Honestly, she wasn’t sure if she had ever been this angry before. Even when Ashton had showed up in her condo, this was nothing compared to that. Nothing compared to the thought of losing her little boy. Nothing compared to some self-righteous prick telling her he would purposely set up her child to be brutally tortured and murdered in front of her eyes, scarring her for the rest of whatever life she had and sending her so far off the fucking deep end she would lose all traces of humanity as she knew it.

There was no FUCKING way she was going to let that happen.

So much was at risk during these next few moments of Kaydence Morgan’s life. No matter what happened, things weren’t going to be the same. Whether she heeded Mikkhal’s advice…whether she didn’t. Everything was about to change. She didn’t have time to think about any of it. All she knew was that she needed to get that little boy out of this condo and get him to where he was kept safe. Righting her head to its normal position, she could feel her breathing starting to slow. The breaths in were still deep but she could feel them working tirelessly to control themselves. As if fate had once again spoken to her, the light from the corner of the counter began to flicker. Happened to hit a gleam of silver at just the right moment that caught Kaydence’s eye. Turning her head, her eyes landed on the object. A weapon. Her weapon. She stared at it for a few moments. Almost felt like it was speaking to her. She knew what needed to be done. Could have tried to spend more time standing here, weighing the pros and cons about the best approach. Would Lukas be safer with Noah if she left? Perhaps. But if Mikkhal was dead set on exposing her to summon Darren, there was no question that the minute her brother found out she had a child, regardless of whether that child was also half of Ashton’s, he would stop at nothing to get Lukas to bring her back.

There was no other option.

Though the rage had spilled over, an eerie sense of calm washed over Kaydence as she pushed herself from the sink. Noah would be devastated. There would be so many questions. Questions that he may never get the answers to. She closed the space between her and the magnetic shelf only a few feet away. He would be iconsable. He would use how ever much money to try and find them. Her arm reached out in front of her. He would never understand that he was never meant to be part of her story for longer than the time he was. Mikkhal had signed the death warrant on their relationship the minute he knew about her secret. Her fingers wove around the handle and she pulled. This would change him. Despite his business, Noah was a good man. He was a loving man whose family meant the world to him and who took care of those he deeply trusted like they were his family. This was going to break him. She turned on her heel. But Kaydence didn’t have time to think about the future. She had to think about the now. Had to focus on getting Lukas out of this death trap. Nothing else mattered right now.

She slowly stalked towards the same door she had burst through minutes ago. She could hear Ashton talking. Had no idea what he was saying but was slightly surprised he hadn’t killed Mikkhal himself. Truthfully, Kaydence probably would have killed him. He was hers. He had been an annoying thorn in her side for eight years now. He was now threatening to push that thorn even deeper. She had to dig his before he got to hers. As she got to the door, she paused. Placing her free hand on the door, she listened as Mikkhal spoke for what was likely the last time of his life. ”She will do nothing of the sort. If either of you try to leave before you’re escorted out, the guards know to disarm and where to hold you until Noah’s return. Kaydence would be putting the both of yours lives at risk if she even thought about touching me.”

Challenge accepted.

Do it. The voice in her head. Kaydence hadn’t heard that one in a very long time. Lips forming into a tight line, she could feel the color leaving her face as she slowly, very deliberately opened that dining room door. Mikkhal was still positioned conveniently in front of her with his back turned. Ashton, who had finally taken a seat, was staring intently at him. He knew she was there but he wasn’t going to make her presence known. He had her back. Once she had completely entered the room, she tiptoed quietly to the back of Mikkhal’s chair. ”I wish she would hurry and get her moping over with. She’s only delaying the inevitable.” Pressing herself up against the back of his chair, Kaydence took one more breath as she raised the knife-clad hand. “I’m here.” Before he could do anything else, she quickly grasped his head with her free hand and brought the tip of her knife to the bottom of his left ear. Then, without another word, she looked at Ashton and dug the blade into Mikkhal’s flesh, instantly feeling the warm wave of blood as it began spraying into her arm. She pulled the knife quickly down, only allowing one single carotid artery to be severed as she pulled back. She watched as blood began pouring from the wound and Mikkhal began to gasp for air. Finding someway to push himself from the table, Kaydence aided in his attempt to flee by kicking over his chair and watching as he fell to the ground.

The cut she had made would kill him. If she sliced right, she had no more than ten minutes. Kaydence watched as he struggled, keeping one hand on his throat as he tried desperately to crawl away with the other arm. She allowed him to move for a minute before she approached her prey. Kicking his free arm from out underneath him, she forced him to lay down, continuing to bleed profusely from the gaping wound in his neck. Gripping the knife again, she straddled him. “Closest you’ll ever get,” she said with a smirk as she pressed herself down on his torso and watched him cough. Wrapping her other hand around the handle, she lifted the knife to her face before she slammed down on his chest, twisting the blade as it broke the skin and penetrated his right lung. Only a few seconds now. Dropping the knife, Kaydence, who had reached blackout stage at this point, grabbed Mikkhal by the throat, covered her arms and hands in his blood and squeezed. “You did this to yourself,” she whispered to him, softly but with every ounce of malice. Could feel the muscle and tendons underneath her thumbs. She squeezed until he went limp. Even then, she continued to squeeze until she could feel Ashton’s hands around her, pulling her off.

On the floor, she sat with her legs to the side. She could hear Ashton. But she couldn’t understand what he was saying. There was a loud buzzing in her ears. Was this shock? He was touching her. Kaydence didn’t respond, staring straight ahead as her rage took control. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, covered in Mikkhal’s blood from head to toe. Eventually she got up, she could still hear Ashton, but like a zombie, she felt her body walk back towards the kitchen and head towards the sink. Her hands fumbled for the spigots, placing them under the cool stream of water as it turned on, rubbing them together as she watched the sink turn red.

[Ashton Wentworth]

It was Ashton’s job to protect and serve the wizarding community. It was an oath that he took whenever he was only seventeen years old. He had signed his contract in spite of everything that was assumed of him. Nearly everybody had assumed that he was going to be on the other end of Darren’s crew. Working for him instead of against him, they had assumed that he would end up as strung out as his brother or something worse. He had taken the only life path that had made the most sense to him and honestly he didn’t regret any of it. Somewhere along the way he had lost a part of himself. Perhaps it was because he was so dedicated to his job. Truthfully, Ashton was very thankful that he had had children with Rowan because it had given him the freedom to become something more in his career. He wasn’t the type that was cut out to sit at home and do anything. This was a better life path for him. It was who he was now and even living undercover in this way, this was where he needed to be. Perhaps it was because of those same facts that his already loose moral compass had gotten shifted. Somewhere along the way he had become more detached. He could remember the first time that he had ever been tortured. He could remember the first time that he had watched somebody else be tortured and that was the same woman in the other room. It didn’t matter anymore that people got hurt. It was just something that Ashton had always understood was going to happen. He could handle it for himself just as he could understand that bad people deserved to be hurt. It was justice on a whole other level and this asshole deserved to be hurt. Honestly, he would have done it himself. Ashton didn’t have any orders about this man whatsoever anyway. Blood didn’t phase him any more than piles of dead bodies did. Merlin knew he had to handle more than his share in his years on this planet.

”She will do nothing of the sort. If either of you try to leave before you’re escorted out, the guards know to disarm and where to hold you until Noah’s return. Kaydence would be putting the both of yours lives at risk if she even thought about touching me.” Ashton’s lip curled as he didn’t break that same eye contact. He saw the kitchen door open. The dimmed lighting from the ceiling reflected off of the knife that Kaydence had chosen and honestly he was glad that she was going to make him hurt. He had only had to deal with him for a short while and he would have had to do the same. She had been dealing with him for eight years. It was almost funny that he thought that he was going to have the two of them escorted out like he was some mastermind. No doubt in his version of how this was going to happen, he was going to leave them crying on the doorstep and under his thumb while he gets to sit playing the king of the castle with Lukas here until Noah got back. Honestly Ashton didn’t much care what happened after tonight, he would figure that out as he went. According to him, both of their lives were at risk anyway. ”I wish she would hurry and get her moping over with. She’s only delaying the inevitable.” Ashton could practically feel Kaydence scoffing as she bent to whisper something in his ear and that look of fleeting surprise on his face was so fucking satisfying. Ashton never did much care for being threatened. He was a hit first and ask questions later, sort of man, so this was exactly his ideal ending. Certain with the person that he has had to live as over the last year. The role might be becoming more of him than he would like to admit.

That knife slid across his throat like it was made of paper. Dribble of blood and then the spray halfway across the table and Ashton couldn’t do much more than watch and smirk. He certainly wasn’t going to stop her. She had a solid handle and it was even better in Ashton’s opinion that she was allowing her hands to get dirty. It was a far more attractive thing to watch than he should have been okay with. Insult to injury when he tried to stand and tripped over that same chair he had refused to move from. If only he knew how tame this was compared to the ending that he was imagining for himself. If the plan that Mikkhal had wanted would have gone that way, Darren wouldn’t have had any use for him anyway. Darren would have disposed of Mikkhal quickly anyway because he would have been in the way on his path to Noah’s powers. Darren would only need Noah for his connections and once those were shifted to himself he wouldn’t have needed Noah either. Mikkhal was signing a death warrant on his beloved master as well. Idiot was getting everything that he deserved. “Closest you’ll ever get,”/i] The sound of steel hitting bone was such a unique sound, as was the death gurgle as Mikkhal pawed uselessly at Kaydence with his one hand. All of that muscle weight that she had put on and she wasn’t even budging to his ham fisted shows before the life faded out of him.Ashton didn’t move until he was sure the life was gone from that asshole and his fat rubbery tongue was hanging cartoon like out the side of his mouth and his eyes seemed to be swelling out of his head.

This part was going to be his turn and he knew that much. Ashton crossed over to Kaydence and wrapped one arm around her waist and the other grabbed her shoulder as he pulled her to the side and into his chest for a moment. Her eyes were wide and her pupils huge. Ashton smoothed her hair from beside her face and pulled the knife from her hands. Thinking better of it, Ashton tossed it to the other side of the room. Just in case. It was hardly the first time that she had killed somebody. He was also fairly certain that it wasn’t even the first person that he had watched her kill. Ashton moved to MIkkhal’s body and grabbed him by the ankles and hauled him back the rest of the way into the dining room. He paused to check the hallway to make sure that they weren’t accidentally being watched by the next item on their list of things to address. That was the elephant in the room, and not the dead body. Kaydence rose and moved back into the kitchen and Ashton followed her. She was washing the blood off of her hands and Ashton, strangely unphased by the violence, gestured to her clothing. “Give all of that to me.” one problem at a time. One and then the other. At least this was something easy enough to handle. He had to dispose of dead bodies all of the time. “Do you need me to take it off?” Despite how suggestive it was, and despite how easily he could have shifted the conversation in that direction the clothes were damning and he needed to get rid of them.

[Kaydence Morgan]

The water was freezing but Kaydence was numb to any sort of sensation. Ashton had followed her and was standing next to her silently. Once the blood had been washed from her hands, Kaydence cupped them together and filled them with the water. Closing her eyes, she leaned forward and splashed the water up on her face. Again, nothing but the static tingling associated with numbness. She repeated the action once more before Ash finally spoke up. ”Give all of that to me.” Taking a deep breath, she didn’t quite know what he was talking about. Moving her gaze to his; he was staring at her so intently. ”Do you need me to take it off?” Her clothes. An offer that she would have once been deemed risqué had a different meaning now. Although slowly becoming more and more aware of her senses, Kaydence was still a bit of time away from regaining her composure. Needed to snap back into reality before getting Lukas out of here. She would not jeopardize his safety due to her incoherence. Didn’t need to put any added pressure on Ashton either having to help move them out of the condo to outside of the building. It wasn’t going to be easy as it was. As talented as he was with a wand, he was going to need her for back-up.

Finally, with a slow nod, she turned to face him. “Shower. It’s everywhere,” she responded, referencing the blood that had already begun to cake to her skin and pieces of hair. Knowing that he had no idea where they were going, Kaydence took it upon herself to grab his hand and walk them towards the stairway leading up to Noah’s office, her study, which was all too reminiscent of wedding planning, and their bedroom. Lukas was still safely tucked away locked in his room. He was obedient to a T. He would remain there until they came back down to retrieve him. The guards weren’t allowed to enter the premises until the head, her at this moment, allowed them entry back in. Taking the stairs one at a time, she continued leading them towards the master bedroom. Deep down, she knew time was of the essence. Even the guards would get suspicious if dinner took a long time, regardless of whether a business meeting was supposed to be taking place. Yet Ashton didn’t rush her. He was the perfect companion for the current predicament she found herself in. Quiet, allowing her to do what she needed and cleaning up her mess. Perhaps Lukas provided some motivation but that was neither here nor there. More pressing matters needed to be attended to.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, it was only a short distance to the room. Opening the door, Kaydence allowed Ashton to close it behind them before continuing the path to the bathroom. Once they had arrived, she leaned against the seat. Didn’t have to ask Ashton to take charge from here. Within seconds she heard the sound of the shower running. Wouldn’t take long to heat up. Though she still wouldn’t have felt it anyway. Feeling his hand on her waist again, her body voluntarily spun towards him. Keeping her gaze towards the floor, her arms were limp as he raised them over her head, pulling her purple top from her torso and the sports bra underneath. Her legs moved on their own as Noah’s sweatpants were next and then her panties. As he finished, Kaydence slowly moved her eyes from the floor back up to his face. Although not nearly as much as her, his clothes still had evidence of Mikkhal’s blood from when he had pulled her to his chest. A few traces on his neck from where her hair had brushed against his. Bringing her hand to his neck, she stared at it thoughtfully for a moment. “You too.” Their gazes met. Had he any sort of resistance, he made no movement to bring it to light. Undressing himself quickly, he took her hand and led them back towards the shower. Stepping in first to block her from getting sprayed.

Carefully stepping into the shower, Kaydence stood there for a moment after he carefully switched their positions to make sure they were both receiving an adequate amount of water. Showers always seemed to be their safe place. Sensations were coming back. Couldn’t deny how nice the warmth of the water felt hitting her back. Could smell that awful metallic aroma that blood gave off. She could feel Ashton watching her, waiting for the next move. Closing the few inches between them, Kaydence pressed her body against his, resting her head underneath his neck, desperately craving for a feeling of familiarity and comfort. She wrapped her arms around him as he did her and they stood in silence for what seemed like ages, allowing the jets to wash off what it could from the pair before they scrubbed off the rest. The variety of emotions had still not left her brain and the desire to have some sort of distraction was becoming overwhelming. Pulling her head from his neck, she looked up at him only briefly before grabbing his hand and placing it on her breast. Before giving him a chance to react, her hands moved to behind his head and pulled his lips down as she moved hers up towards his.

—

She had been able to get out of the shower on her own. Their quick tryst had made her feel normal again as she had hoped. The two of them shared a sickening aphrodisiac of violence. Though this was certainly the only time they had fucked after Ashton had watched Kaydence kill someone in front of him. Moving towards the towel rack, she grabbed two of the towels and tossed one towards him. The two said nothing as they proceeded to dry off, their pace quicker than before.Wrapping the fabric around her frame, she left the bathroom and moved towards her dresser. It took her only a few seconds to find her under garments, a comfortable pair of leggings and a black tank top. She could hear Ashton finishing up so she then moved to Noah’s dresser. Opting for another pair of sweatpants and a white t-shirt, she placed them on the corner. As he appeared at the door, she dropped her towel and dressed herself. “I know your options are limited, but these are the most comfortable he has.” Kaydence brought her towel to her hair and began drying it while she walked over to her closet. She slid open the door, stepping in it where her body was halfway in and out. Reaching up, she began to move boxes from the top shelf every which way. Continued to do so until she found the small black bag she had always kept away for safe keeping. Pulling it down, she settled back on her heels, tossing the bath towel over her shoulder and then turning back towards the bed. She placed the bag down.

Kaydence’s emergency bag was one she truly never intended on using. Things had been so well with Noah that she never saw any reason. However, given how quickly her past could catch up to her, it was a necessity. The contents of the bag held vital items in the end of a sudden fleeing. Coins, a burner phone, another fake ID that could get her past the border, though perhaps not any further, and a phone number. She had no idea if the contact still even had that line but she had to try. And she would, as soon as they got the fuck out of here. Once assured all of her items were in there, except her wand, she needed to go back downstairs to get that, she quickly set to placing a few more items of clothing in. Just enough to get by until they could stop. Satisfied, Kaydence put the strap over her other shoulder. She returned to the bathroom, dropping the towel on the floor and Ashton finished lacing up his boots and picking up the clothing soaked with evidence. “We need to get out of Ilfracombe,” she said, stating the obvious as she ran her brush through her hair. “I don’t know where to go right now. If you can just get us somewhere for the night, I’ll find someplace in the morning.” Asking for help was so foreign to her but necessary. Asking it from Ashton was cruel, especially given the circumstances but as of right now, he was all they had.

[Ashton Wentworth]

Ashton wasn’t above taking her clothes off for her if she wasn’t able to. Murder could take a lot out of a person. He knew that from plenty of experience. Honestly, it was whenever the murder stopped causing your limbs to stop aching that it started to actually become an issue. Whenever it no longer took a toll on your soul, that was the true problem. Things that he likely shouldn’t admit to but the fact that Mikkhal was lying dead in the other room, didn’t bother Ashton in the slightest. It was a small comfort to see that she had remorse for what she did, even knowing that there was no options. They both knew it was the absolute and only option here. He couldn’t begin to guess at what must have been going through her head. “Shower. It’s everywhere,” Ashton should have seen that coming. That was the sort of thing that needed to happen because she had the blood starting to dry to her face and to congeal in her hair. The adrenaline rush that she must have been on in order to do what she had just done was likely starting to wear off now. A shower was the best possible option for her and he would have the time to take care of what he needed to. Only she wasn’t going to give him that option. Kaydence’s fingers slipped through his and she started to gently lead him along with her. He followed behind her in silence as she lead him through the apartment and up the stairs into another man’s bedroom and something in his gut started to twist. It wasn’t just that they were running low on time. It was something more than just the fact that they weren’t alone in this condo. This felt like trespassing. Ashton is forced to remember now that this is the bed that she shares with another man. This is the room that belonged to more than just herself. Noah wasn’t going to understand why his right hand man was missing. This was going to be a bigger mess than either of them were presently ready to admit to or even think about. Ashton’s booted foot kicked the door softly shut as they stood inside of it, watching silently as she nodded him in the direction of the bathroom. As if on autopilot he moved to her bathroom and refused to look at anything lining the shelves in there whatsoever. He turned the water one and moved to the room again.

Kaydence was easily moved as he peeled off all of the blood stained items and rolled them into a tight ball with one another for easy disposal because all of them were going to have to go. At least it wasn’t yet another one of her white something or others that he had ruined this time. This one he couldn’t even be blamed for, he was only present. Ashton moved to check the water temperature, fully planning on depositing her in the shower and going about his business, but apparently she had another plan in mind. Kaydence’s hand wrapped around the back of Ashton’s neck and it caused a strange emotion within him that he couldn’t name. He hadn’t ever really felt anything quite like it before. It wasn’t guilt but it was a cousin of it. Something felt off now that the instantly pressing issue wasn’t as close as some of the others. “You too.” of course him too. He might not feel right about the whole situation but he was still a man. He met her gaze for half a second before pulling his shirt off of himself with one arm and depositing it silently to the side of them next to her clothing pile. He didn’t want to think about the fact that it meant after this he was going to have to stuff his body into another man’s clothes that weren’t going to even fit him properly. Nevermind the general reluctance to want to wear them in the first place. Ashton pulled the pair of them into the shower without a word. It was harder to meet her gaze with such a burning question right at the tip of his tongue but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. It wasn’t the moment. He wasn’t ready yet. He didn’t fight her when her soft lips met his own. It only took a small amount of insistence of her lips against his to get the reaction that she was looking for. Her warm, toned body felt inviting under his hands as Ashton’s grip on her waist tightened and he pulled her into him.

***
Ashton took the towel that she offered to him without word. Moving it over his wet hair in silence. He smelled alll wrong. Nothing about being in this room was right. Wrapping it carefully around his waist and shaking like an animal out of habit more than anything else. He didn’t have the long hair anymore but when he had this had developed into something that was just never going to leave him apparently. Reality hit him like a brick whenever she brought the clothes meant for him for him to get dressed in. “I know your options are limited, but these are the most comfortable he has.” Ashton didn’t care at all about what they felt like. “Sure, take his partner and all of his sweatpants all in one swoop. What will the headlines day?” Ashton joked mirthlessly. Ashton wasn’t going to ask her what she was fishing for. He wrapped all of their dirty clothing items up in his damp towel and pulled on the sweatpants that fit him poorly. They were just proportioned differently. Ashton said nothing and pulled the t-shirt on, letting it stick to his damn torso as he moved to make sure that he hadn’t missed anything before starting the process of wiping down her shower to make sure there was no evidence of his person in her bedroom. His feet slipped back into his unlaced boots as he slogged around the room making sure that nothing would be left that wasn’t supposed to be there. He didn’t know what sort of wizards Noah knew but Ashton knew that he was good at covering his own tracks. Finally he stopped to see Kaydence looking through a bad on the floor of her closet curiously. “We need to get out of Ilfracombe,” Ashton’s brow lifted and he shifted to lean against the doorframe. He understood the panic mode that she was in but he couldn’t exactly go anywhere. “I don’t know where to go right now. If you can just get us somewhere for the night, I’ll find someplace in the morning.” Ashton scoffed at the fact that she was brushing her hair at a time like this. “So now you’re going to let me help you?” He was referring to a previous issue they had whenever she had left the first time. “You can’t run Kaydence.” Ashton spoke softly because it wasn’t something that he was saying to be cruel. Not only was he obligated to stay here for more than one reason he had a body to get rid of and he needed to know that he was going to be able to do that for her and not have her disappear off into the night without so much as a word. “I can get you somewhere to stay but I’ve got to make Mikkhal disappear first and Lukas is sleeping anyway.” More than likely. Ashton was willing to assume that much at least. Everything inside of the house was still and silent apart from their conversation. “This needs to be a much longer conversation than we have time for and Kay….if he-” Ashton stopped, unsure of how to say what he needed to, he looked down to his feet and shifted uncomfortably. He felt so stupid for not having considered this before. “You can’t leave if he’s ah…” Why wouldn’t the words come out? Why couldn’t he say it? Ashton wasn’t the sort of man to fidget when he was uncomfortable...but he was fidgeting. “Is he mine?”

[Kaydence Morgan]

Brushing her hair at a time like this should have been the least of Kaydence’s worries. However, it was something she felt necessary. A little of her appearance she could control since the rest of her looked so unkempt. ”So now you’re going to let me help you?” She should have seen that coming. “No,” she responded sternly, “I’m going to let you help us.” Had this just been her then she would have figured out someway to get out on her own. With Lukas involved, she had to be more careful. Had to be more precise in her movements. In her current state of mind, despite mostly out of that shock-induced trance, she was simply incapable of doing this on her own. They needed Ashton. She needed Ashton. It was selfish of Kaydence to ask him for that. She knew it. But he had to understand how dire this situation was. Even though she was unfairly asking him to step into a caretaker role that she felt he was inept for. So much relied on this this next span of time.

”You can’t run Kaydence.” There was no hostility in his voice yet she so badly wished there was. Would have rather he yelled at her so this could have been made easier for her. “I have to,” she replied, briskly. Brushing the last patch of hair, she dropped the brush into her bag before reaching for her toothbrush and toothpaste alongside the sink. How could he say that? Of course she had to run. She couldn’t stay here with Lukas. It wasn’t safe. There was no telling what kind of contingency plan Mikkhal had in place should he die. It would be unlike the bastard not to have one. Noah always bragged on how his assistant always seemed to have a plan b and c. Kaydence had zero interest in finding out whatever either one of those were. ”I can get you somewhere to stay but I’ve got to make Mikkhal disappear first and Lukas is sleeping anyway.” Dropping the bathroom necessities into her bag, she nodded. “Naturally. I’ll go and get Lukas ready. He already has a bag. I just need to grab his clothes and let him pick out whatever toys he wants to bring. That should be enough time to do what you need to do. You can come and get us when you’re done and we can strategize from there.”

Kaydence moved to the shower and quickly deposited her shampoo, conditioner and body wash into the bag as well. Once those were tucked in, she tied the bag shut and turned around. Ashton was still leaning in her door way. Crossing her arms to her chest, she arched her eyebrow at him. “What? You’re wasting time.” She had an uneasy feeling that she knew why he was straggling. Didn’t want him to acknowledge it though. Not right now. ”This needs to be a much longer conversation than we have time for and Kay…if he-“ She clenched her jaw, folding her arms tighter in her chest. She could feel how uncomfortable he was. ”You can’t leave if he’s ah…” Kaydence’s eyes widened. Where was he going with this? Why wouldn’t he leave?

”Is he mine?”

It felt like her heart had dropped from her chest into her gut. Whether he was aware of it or not, Kaydence could hear the confusion in his tone. The emotion. As much as she wanted to be angry. As much as she wanted to chastise him for thinking such a thing…she couldn’t. Staring him straight in his eyes, she bit down on her lip and shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said, praying he would believe her. The fact of the matter was that she truly didn’t know. Though the nagging feeling in her gut the entire day was really trying to tell her otherwise. The timing was awful, as it always was. She simply would not, could not stop what she was doing to engage in this conversation. Give it any longer than a few seconds. He wanted to have it later? She would give it to him. Neither was in any sort of position to have a quick pow-wow about how Lukas may or may not be Ashton’s. “As you said, we don’t have time for this. Just get us out of here and get us to safety and we’ll figure it out from there.” There was no hostility in her voice, only a sense of pleading for him to accept the gravity of the situation and move on.

When he finally moved from the doorframe, Kaydence followed suit. They were at the door before she realized that she had forgotten something. Turning back to her dresser, she moved towards her jewelry box. Grabbing a single diamond stud chain, she quickly dropped it in the side of her bag before rushing through the door and meeting Ashton at the stairway to head downstairs. As they reached the bottom, the two separated. “Second door on the left. Knock twice,”she instructed, hastily walking towards Lukas’ bedroom door. Upon reaching it, Kaydence’s injured hand balled into a fist and knocked softly. “Lukas?” No response. Couldn’t deny the slight paranoia creeping in. She knocked again. “Lukas?” She repeated louder. Still nothing. The guards hadn’t come back in yet. There was no way unless Mikkhal had instructed them earlier in the night. Pure panic now. Eyes widening, her fist moved to the door when she heard the struggle of the lock. It took a few seconds but Lukas soon appeared, sleepily rubbing his eyes. ”What time is it Mom? Is Mr. Wentworth still here?” Merlin she did not need this.

Stepping through the door, Kaydence turned the light switch on next to the frame. She shut the door behind her, locking it as it had been before She then went to Lukas’ closet. “Not terribly late. And yes, he is,” she finally responded, opening the door as she set looking for his emergency bag. ”What are you doing? She shuffled through the boxes before coming across the navy blue knapsack. Pulling it down, she opened it, verified his identity essentials were in there and quickly stuffed some of the clothes hanging up into it. ”Mom what is that bag?” After grabbing a few shirts and shorts, she turned to face him. “We’ve got to go.” Lukas cocked his head to the side and looked at her confused. ”Huh?” Kaydence quickly moved past his desk to his bathroom where his dinner plate lay almost empty except for the broccoli. “Go ahead and pack a few of your toys. Whichever ones you’re going to play with the most.” Disappearing into the room, she grabbed his bathroom necessities and shoved them in the bag. Walking out, she noticed Lukas hadn’t moved and was instead staring at her. “Lukas, get your things.” He continued staring. ”Why? Where are we going? It’s late. Is Dad home? Are we going to the island now?” Yet another conversation that would need to be put on hold until the right time. “No,” she replied, moving back to the side of his closet. “Lukas, please get your toys together and get ready to go.” He groaned. ”But Mom…” Kaydence stopped what she was doing and turned to stare at him. “Lukas Gabriel, I am not asking again. Gather your toys, get your shoes on and get ready to go.” There was nothing more she hated then scolding her son but there wasn’t time for all of this back and forth.

As he finally started moving, she turned back around and picked up a pair of his shoes, shoving them into his bag before grabbing another for him to wear. She leaned into the closet once more. This time, maneuvering towards the back to a plastic container that held a few items from Lukas’ baby and toddler years. Kaydence’s hands landed on a blue and yellow blanket he had slept with as an infant until five. Her fingers dug deeper until they fell upon a small teddy bear that used to be in his crib. Could never find it in them to donate to another child. She had always wanted to keep as many memories of him as she could. Both possessions in her arms, she struggled to get back out of the closet. Groaning as she got her footing, she stepped out and placed his baby items in the bag. Almost done. Walking over to his bed, Kaydence sat on the side of it and put his shoes next to her. “Pick up the pace Lukas. You’ve got one, now find a few more.”

[Ashton Wentworth]

. “No,I’m going to let you help us.” Stubborn as ever even with the situation that they currently found themselves in. It tracked though, because no matter what he had tried in the past to help her she had never allowed it. She had fought him every step of the way. It was more than just thinking that she was right about the whole thing, it was some need to be able to do it herself. At least he thought that it was. Really, he didn’t know. Perhaps she just had never felt that he was good enough to help her before. He would have done it even if she hadn’t asked because he still felt that need to protect her whenever she didn’t actually need protecting. “I have to,” She didn’t have to. That was just her fight or flight reflex but the fact of the matter was it was too late. She was here. Noah was here and that was something that she was going to have to deal with. She couldn’t just up and leave in the middle of the night like she had done before. She couldn’t just put this behind her because it wasn’t just her life anymore. If this was any possibility of having merritt, the accusations from earlier, then she didn’t just get to make that choice on her own anymore. “Naturally. I’ll go and get Lukas ready. He already has a bag. I just need to grab his clothes and let him pick out whatever toys he wants to bring. That should be enough time to do what you need to do. You can come and get us when you’re done and we can strategize from there.” Ashton refrained from commenting on the fact that she already had bags made and ready to go for the both of him. He wouldn’t allow himself to get angry over the fact that they existed because he was certain now that she had had one of those same bags tucked away in his own closet where he hadn’t known it was there. He was refusing to think about the fact that more than likely, she had pulled this exact same thing all of those years ago for him. Had she grabbed that same bag from his closet while he had been passed out on the couch? Had she brushed her hair like this in his bathroom and snuck out the back door? She must have. Had she known that she was pregnant and left with the test in her purse? Had she done it to try to keep this child from him because she didn’t think that he was going to be a good father? He didn’t have time to explore those options either.

“What? You’re wasting time.”’ Unlike Kaydence, Ashton wasn’t afraid of whatever contingency plans that Mikkhal had in place. Perhaps he should have been, but he wasn’t. Ashton wasn’t afraid of Noah or the connections that he had. Perhaps he should have been, but Ashton never was one to back down from a fight. The only thing about this situation that scared the shit out of him was that there was a very real possibility that just a floor below his feet was a tiny boy who shared his genes. That there was a boy that had been kept away from him for eight years that Ashton was never going to get to see. Those formative years were important and he didn’t know if that was something that he was going to be able to forgive. Even less if she had done it on purpose. There was a very real possibility that this whole situation was about to get very, very ugly very quickly. “I don’t know,” Was that the truth or was it a lie? Was she saying what she thought would get him off of her back the quickest to get what she wanted? Was she just pushing this conversation off because she didn’t feel like answering? He knew that Kaydence could be very spiteful whenever she wasn’t getting her way and Ashton didn’t know how he was going to handle that side of her if there was a child involved as well. Ashton’s tongue ran over his teeth and he studied the tile between his feet with a nod as she continued speaking. “As you said, we don’t have time for this. Just get us out of here and get us to safety and we’ll figure it out from there.” Mentally, he put a pin in it, because there were ways to test who Lukas belonged to and that would be another conversation to have at another time. Ashton pushed away from the doorframe and scooped up the blood covered clothing and tucked it under his arm. He didn’t say another word to her as he left the room and went back downstairs to the dining room.

Ashton could hear Kaydence coming down the stairs not long after him and heading in the direction of Lukas’ room so Ashton closed the door to the dining room and then to the kitchen. Ashton dropped the bloody clothes off on Mikkhal’s open chest, smirking to himself. It took more effort than he was proud of to keep from kicking the assholes corpse. Squatting beside the body he plucked a few hairs from his head and pulled out his wand from the inside of his boot and took a handful of blood and tissue samples for later use before moving back to the kitchen and finding a spare tablecloth and coming back to begin the process of transferring Mikkhal’s body onto the cloth. It would have been better if he wasn’t wearing clean clothes. Well, it would have been faster at the very least. He wasn’t even certain exactly where it was that he was going to be taking the two of them but he figured that he would have to figure that out as he went. His hotel room was out. There was simply too much information that nobody needed to be seeing in there and it wasn’t like Ashton could take them back to his actual house. For half a second he considered Stavros’ house but in the end, that wasn’t going to work either. There were only a handful of people left in this country that Ashton actually trusted with secrets and even less that he knew could be discreet without any sorts of questions. A small part of him hated to bring Kay back into his life without knowing where the two of them stood on anything. There just wasn’t many options at this time. Anna had a kid, and she would keep Kaydence and Lukas in a private space without saying anything and he would have somebody to play with at least in the meantime. Granted, Lettie was a couple years younger than Lukas but they would make do. That was where he was going to take them.

Ashton secured the cloth around MIkkhal and sealed it magically, he had only just started working on getting that blood stain out of the carpet whenever he heard a door shut. He assumed that meant that she was ready to go. Checking himself over once to make sure that there was no blood showing Ashton stepped back out into the hallway and shut the dining room doors behind him. “Ready?” Was all he could manage. It was almost impossible to look at Lukas now. He knew that if he looked too closely then he was going to get too distracted to leave. Now they just had to get past the security and out of the building. Ashton of course wouldn’t be much of an issue it was the other two. Well. It wasn’t like Ashton had any love lost for them anyway.

[Kaydence Morgan]

Kaydence couldn’t fault Lukas for the rate he was moving. She had woken him up without any prior notice. His stomach was full, only adding to the fatigue. She desperately wished he would pick up the pace though. Staring at him, she found herself growing impatient as it had taken him another two minutes to find the second toy. As much as she wanted to get up, shove whatever toys she came across in his bag while he put his shoes on…she just couldn’t do that. She could at very least let him have these final moments of obliviousness, where the hardest decision he was going to have to make would be whether he wanted his blue truck or the orange one. Truthfully, Kaydence knew she needed to value this time away from Ashton. He needed to ensure the dining room would be kept as clean as it had been when they had entered it for dinner and proper disposal of incriminating items had taken place. Lukas could not see any evidence of the murderous scene of destruction the two had been part of only a half an hour ago. That and she didn’t want to deal with the elephant in the room. Didn’t want him to take in Lukas anymore than he had to. To wonder if had any connection to the little boy, causing unnecessary distraction in the as-safe-as-possible passage to whatever location he was taking them to.

In the back of her mind, Kaydence wondered where it would be. Did he still have the Manor? She wasn’t sure she could handle being back there. Very few of the memories there were good. In addition, she had left his home in the middle of the night. She’d prefer to not relieve that moment over and over. A hotel perhaps though that would still be too public for her liking. She and Lukas needed to be hid somewhere least expected. Merlin this was such a nightmare. Over and over she could curse herself for agreeing to come back here with Noah. And she probably would for a very long time. Had she just been honest from the beginning…had she just told Noah the truth about who she was and given him the opportunity to decide for himself whether he wanted to be part of the train-wreck that was her life. Everything could have been so different. Surely Noah could have protected her. He sure as hell always had the money for it. She knew he could never spend enough to keep her and their son safe…what she thought was their son. Needed to get these thoughts out of her head. Closing her eyes, Kaydence bit down on her lip and shook her head. Needed to save all this for later. Had…had to think about nothing but how the fuck to get Lukas out of here safe.

”Alright Mom. I’m done.” Kaydence opened her eyes to see Lukas with his arms full. Pushing up from the bed, she opened his bag and waited for him to drop them all in. “Put your shoes on now darling,” she commanded softly, tying up the bag as her son took the seat she vacated and proceeded to slip his footwear on. Putting the strap of his bag on the same shoulder hers rested, she pulled her hair out from underneath. Once Lukas had finished, before he could stand up, she placed her hand on the top of his knee. “Lukas,” she started, kneeling down so her eyes were straight with his, “the next couple of minutes might be a little frightening for you.” Her son arched his brow. “I know you’re going to have questions. And I know you might be a little scared, but I need you to stay silent and listen to exactly what me and Mr. Wentworth tell you to do. Alright?” Lukas’ eyes lit up at the mention of Ashton’s name. ”Mr. Wentworth is coming too?!” Kaydence took a very deep breath. “Yes, he is. So no matter what happens, you promise me you’re going to trust me and him to take care of you, alright? Once we go to him, I need you to promise me that you’re going to keep quiet and do exactly what we say. I need you to promise me, Lukas.” Although young, Lukas was a smart boy. She could see the wheels spinning in his head but he slowly nodded. ”I promise Mom.”

Leaning forward, Kaydence grabbed the back of his head and placed a kiss right in the middle of his forehead. “Good boy,” she said, straightening herself. “Come on, let’s go.” Once Lukas slid off the bed, she moved towards the door, placing her ear against the wood for a few seconds to ensure silence. Hand on the knob, her fingers swiftly moved the lock to the left, opening the door quietly as she did. Turning back to face the boy, she put a finger to her mouth and motioned for him to be quiet. Lukas nodded. Extending her hand, she grabbed Lukas’ and pulled them through the door. The hallway was silent yet she was unsure of whether or not that was a good thing. Walking quietly, she maneuvered them down towards the kitchen. Still nothing. Tightening her hold on Lukas’ hand, Kaydence breathed a silent sigh of relief when she saw Ashton step out of the dining room. He didn’t look panicked. Must have gotten everything handled with ease. As they approached, that same nagging sensation reappeared in her gut. Ashton looked just as anxious and uncomfortable as she did. ”Ready? Looking down to Lukas, her chest grew heavy as he excitedly waved to Ashton. “Yes,” she said quickly, tugging on Lukas’ hand, “did you grab my wand?” She had left it in the dining room when she had exited after Mikkhal’s speech. Ashton nodded, revealing her wand from his pocket so she could promptly take it.

Placing the wand at Lukas’ ear, she quickly muttered a temporary deafening charm. “What’s the plan?” Kaydence asked, looking back to Ashton. “How are we going to get him out of here without them noticing Mikkhal’s not here?”

[Ashton Wentworth]

Ashton couldn’t look at Lukas. Which, he knew wasn’t going to help things given how strange their dinner had just been. The boy had been so excited just to have Ashton here and if he was being totally honest, it had been nice hanging out with the kid. It wasn’t anything that he had against him and honestly, it wasn’t even fair of Ashton to be treating him like this. He was sure that it was a very confusing time for Lukas to be woken up in the middle of the night like this and it would have been kinder, easier on all of them he was certain to just give him a reassuring smile or something of the sort but he couldn’t. Not until he knew. He didn't want to be looking at him and then questioning things. He didn’t want to look at him and make this any more complicated than it already was. He didn’t want to corrupt what was happening even more than it was. They had a job to do, and he was going to have to turn off the rest of his brain until this job was done and both Lukas and Kaydence were squared away. End of story. He couldn’t wave back at the boy who despite how sleepy he was, was still excited to see him and it hurt Ashton somewhere deep in his chest. All he could manage was half a smile but Lukas didn’t seem to think that it was really any different than the rest of the terse way that Ashton spoke to him before now anyway. “Yes, did you grab my wand?” Ashton’s hand lifted to scrub the front of his face and nodded. Fishing into the deep pocket of his borrowed sweatpants and produced her wand. He twirled the wood over in his fingers and offered it back to her handle first. They were both very likely going to need it very soon. The trick was going to be making sure that Lukas didn’t see anything at all. “What are you…” Ashton watched as she pointed the want at Lukas’ head and his brow rose “What are you doing?” Lukas didn’t make any movement whatsoever, this must not have been the first time that she has done something like this.

“What’s the plan?” Ashton’s plan was going to be get them to safety and then come back for the body. That was the whole entirety of his plan. After that, the rest of the issues were going to start but he couldn’t deal with that now. “How are we going to get him out of here without them noticing Mikkhal’s not here?” Ashton looked at Kaydence very seriously and shrugged “I can kill them?” The doorman might be an issue but he was certain that he could handle them. It probably sounded like a joke with the way that he had said it, but it wasn’t a joke at all. Ashton would have no issue whatsoever with killing those people. They were hired guards and while they were just doing their job, Ashton didn’t really want to have tonight end up any more fucked than it already was. “Short plan is we get out of this building. Are there any back ways or apparition weak spots? Lukas snuck out of here himself earlier we just need to find out how he did it, and then we do the same thing. Then,” Ashton held up a hand because Lukas knew how to get out of there and he didn’t care at all if Kaydence was going to have an issue with asking him how to do it it was either to kill the guards or it was to ask Lukas the way out of there. There was no alternative. “Then I’ll take you somewhere safe for the night, and you’ll be alright to wait there until morning, try to sleep a little bit, eat something if you feel like it. I’ll be back there by morning and we will figure out the next step. Together Kaydence.” It was important for him to hear her say it. He knew that she wasn’t going to want to, but she was going to have to. “Now, give him his ears so he can tell us the way out of here?”

[Kaydence Morgan]

There was not a single person in this world that Kaydence trusted right now more than Ashton. Truthfully, probably no one at any point in time more than him. As much shit as he gave her, there wasn’t a single time in which he had purposely steered her wrong. When she was still in Austria, she knew he had her best interests at heart. He just always had funny ways of showing them. A man who whole-heartedly seemed incapable of emotions simply had to have something there fo her to go to the lengths he did and still did. It had just always been hard for Kaydence to remember that. Too often did she let her impatienc and temper get in the way of being rational. She realized that as she had gotten older. Honestly, she had calmed down a bit, which she attributed solely to Lukas. She didn’t want to be the type of mother who was on edge all the time and yelled at her son for even the tiniest of inconveniences. Even now, as much as she wanted to go out there guns blazing, she wanted to at least make sure that they had a strategy. ”I can kill them?” Well she supposed that was as good as any.

”Short plan is we get out of this building. Are there any back ways or weak apparition spots? Lukas snuck out of here himself earlier we just need to find out how he did it and then just do the same thing. Then.” On cue, Ashton held up a hand. He knew damn well she was about to mention her dissatisfaction with involving Lukas in the escape plan. ”Then I’ll take you somewhere safe for the night, and you’ll be alright there to wait until morning, try to sleep a little bit, eat something if you feel like it.” Kaydence wanted to ask if he would be staying there as well but he made sure to answer that too. ”I’ll be back there by morning and we will figure out the next step. Together Kaydence.” The impact that last sentence has was instantaneous. She knew he was right. As much as she wanted to flee, they couldn’t. There was too much at stake to be so careless. And if, if, by some chance Ashton was Lukas’ father, he had a say in what happened to his s…Merlin she couldn’t even think about that. ”Now give him his ears so he can tell us the way out of here.”

Leaning over, Kaydence placed the tip of her wand near his ear and murmured the counter-charm. The spell was similar enough. It was the same her parents did to her and Alana when they were younger to make sure they weren’t snooping when they were discussing Dark matters with the eldest Morgan sibling. “Lukas?” He looked up at her with those bright blue eyes of his. ”Yeah mom?” She smiled. “I know I told you to stay quiet, but before you do that I need you to tell me and Mr. Wentworth how you got out of here earlier.” Those bright blue eyes instantly widened. “No, no, you’re not in trouble for that anymore. We need to know so that way we can try to go the same way.” He looked confused. ”Why not just take the elevator?” Kaydence briefly looked to Ashton. “No questions Lukas. Just an answer please darling.” Lukas wiggled his lips for a moment before responding. ”Mikkhal and dad’s guards had their afternoon meeting. I just snuck out the front door and saw the sign that said stairs. I was gonna use the elevator but I don’t know how to. I don’t remember what the button looked like.” He had only been out of the condo once or twice prior to play in the park set up for the children of the area next door. It was a smart decision on his part. ”Once I got to the bottom, I just took the door that led outside. I tried to get back in after but I couldn’t so then I just did like Mikkhal said and went in the direction of the water.”

Squeezing his hand, Kaydence straightened herself back up. “Just too easy,” she murmured. She turned her gaze to Ashton. “Mikkhal is going to have two guards outside of the door, one by the elevator, one on the other side of the stairwell door and one at the bottom of the stairwell. I’m sure he’ll probably have one or two guarding outside and then there’s gonna be one on the roof. The apparition restriction goes to the end of the driveway. It would probably be better going back into the woods. That’s where we apparated from but he also might have guards there.”

[Ashton Wentworth]

Honestly, Ashton thought that he was going to fight him further on this. He had assumed that she would have snapped off at least a comment or two. He had thought that she was going to say something along the lines of watch what he said or to keep Lukas as innocent in this as possible. He was glad that she finally seemed to realize that he wasn’t on that level of stupid as to not already know those things. Ashton stayed silent as she took that charm off of his ears and his bright still slightly blurry eyes turned up to his mother. Fuck he needed to not look at his face too intently. “Lukas?” Ashton wanted so badly to walk away. It was messed up that he didn’t want to listen to her being a mother because that was going to take him down an entirely different mental rabbit hole that he absolutely didn’t have any time for whatsoever. ”Yeah mom?” It hurt somewhere in his stomach and he knew that it was needed. He knew that they were needing his help to get out of here. Not that Ashton particularly cared if he had to kill them or not. It was just going to be difficult to keep Lukas from seeing anything now that he was awake. “ I know I told you to stay quiet, but before you do that I need you to tell me and Mr. Wentworth how you got out of here earlier.” The poor kid probably thought that was a trap. He probably thought that it was something meant to trick him into getting himself in trouble from the way his eyes widened. “No, no, you’re not in trouble for that anymore. We need to know so that way we can try to go the same way.” She was going about this the whole wrong way. Not that he was going to stick his nose into that before he absolutely needed to. ”Why not just take the elevator?” No no. Don’t look at him. She looked at him and he was going to say something and interfere into something that he shouldn’t be. Not yet. Not until everything was handled. “No questions Lukas. Just an answer please darling.” ”Mikkhal and dad’s guards had their afternoon meeting. I just snuck out the front door and saw the sign that said stairs. I was gonna use the elevator but I don’t know how to. I don’t remember what the button looked like.” It was that simple? Ashton could have laughed. Of course he had just walked right down the stairs. Any child with half a brain would have thought to do so. Why wasn’t he as smart as an eight year old?

”Once I got to the bottom, I just took the door that led outside. I tried to get back in after but I couldn’t so then I just did like Mikkhal said and went in the direction of the water.” Ashton’s jaw tensed because it was just further proof that he hadn’t been out there on his own. That he had been out there because he had been acting on orders given to him by somebody else. It was infuriating that he had not only been so trusting but that he had been betrayed by somebody that he had trusted. Ashton almost wanted to laugh in triumph because at least that asshole had gotten what he had coming to him. Kaydence burying that knife into his chest played again on the inside of his eyes. “Just too easy,” Ashton moved to grab Lukas’ bag off of Kaydence’s shoulders and onto his own body because they would move a lot faster if he was the one carrying them. Not only that but he would be able to move more quickly and quietly should she need to scoop up Lukas. Sure, it could have been reversed and should there be a need for him to carry off of it, he could for a little while but he knew that the bulky items would be easier on his own person. “Mikkhal is going to have two guards outside of the door, one by the elevator, one on the other side of the stairwell door and one at the bottom of the stairwell. I’m sure he’ll probably have one or two guarding outside and then there’s gonna be one on the roof. The apparition restriction goes to the end of the driveway. It would probably be better going back into the woods. That’s where we apparated from but he also might have guards there.” Well hell. Then he might need to go to the roof first. They might be able to make it down the walkway without being noticed overly much. Even then that was still a lot of guards. Ashton wanted to question the obvious as to why they wouldn’t just obey her commands over somebody else. Given that she was who she was, really she ought to be in a position within her own household to have some sort of control over her own security. That was neither here nor there.

“Could take the ones on the roof first and come back, meet you in the lobby? “ Ashton spoke quickly and in a tone intended for only Kaydence to hear. It would take too long to reverse the apparation restrictions. Given the number of people that liked to frequent these condos he would have to pull some pretty hefty strings to make that happen quickly and he didn’t have that availability at this time. “Wait here for three minutes and I’ll clear the way to the stairs?” Didn’t see another option for that either. Ashton put that bag back down beside the front door again and turned to Lukas. “So I’m pretty sure that I’m better at sneaking than you are.” Lukas looked at him funny. “I’ve been trained. You know that.” Ashton faked a smile and ruffled his hair. “So we’re going to play a game. You’re going to count to sixty three times, and then you’re going to try to sneak out with your mom before I can find you. We’ll see who wins. Ready?” Ashton’s hand closed around the door handle and waited for Lukas to nod before slipping outside. Three guards, and then he needed to be on that roof just long enough to handle business and then have his match with Lukas.

[Kaydence Morgan]

After she had listed off the watch points for the guards, Kaydence felt her anxiety grow. There were so many guards. So many opportunities for disaster. So many chances for Lukas to be scarred by the possibility of things not going the way they should. Instinctively, her hand squeezed Lukas’ tighter. He was too young to be exposed to this life. She never thought he would have to be. Things had always been so safe and secure. The mansion in Sweden by the lake was on hundreds of acres of property that Noah personally owned. He had always been about their safety as much as Kaydence had been. Though now with the confirmation that her fiancé, former at this point she supposed, was involved in black market dealings it made a hell of a lot more sense to her now. She had certainly gotten lucky in that aspect of security stumbling upon him. Though she probably should have really paid more attention to that with the bouncers around his table the night she first met him. Merlin there had been so many warning signs. However, now was not the time to dwell on Noah and his career. Her blessing was now unfortunately her curse for the time being. Kaydence couldn’t imagine these guards simply just letting her leave with Lukas this late at night. If Mikkhal really was serious about that plan and her involvement in it, then there was no reason why the guards wouldn’t have been made aware to keep the two in their line of sight constantly.

She felt relieved when Ashton took Lukas’ bag from her shoulder. It was a sweet gesture as it was. ”Could take the ones off the roof first and come back, meet you in the lobby?” Kaydence’s blue eyes pierced into his full of concern. Although she knew he could take care of himself, it made her uneasy at the thought of him going out there by himself. What if she had underestimated the number of guards? What if Mikkhal had beefed up security just for this reason alone? For a brief moment she was more concerned for his well-being then just the idea of him leaving them alone for a few minutes. ”Wait here for three minutes and I’ll clear the way to the stairs.” Her lips formed into a straight line and she quietly nodded. He then looked at Lukas. ”So I’m pretty sure that I’m better at sneaking than you are.” Kaydence’s brow raised, forcing herself to keep looking at Ashton as opposed to the two of them together. ”I’ve been trained. You know that.” When he moved his hand towards Lukas’ head though her eyes naturally followed. There was no denying how similar their side profiles were. Little by little details were becoming more apparent. ”So we’re going to play a game. You’re going to count to sixty three times, and then you’re going to try to sneak out with your mom before I can find you. We’ll see who wins. Ready?” This interaction between the two was really doing something to her. Ashton was so…so kind to Lukas. Even before he realized the significance the little boy may or may not have had in his life. Maybe she needed to give him a little more credit than what she had.

The idea of counting was brilliant on Ashton’s part. Lukas had such an affinity for numbers. Having to count something got him excited as much as the sparks that came out of his little toy wand. Actually, her son probably got more of a thrill out of numbers then the toy. Kaydence never understood it. Once he responded with his nod, Ashton was gone within seconds. ”Mom.” His tiny voice sounded from next to her. She looked down to him. “Hmm?” He grinned. ”Can I really count?” She chuckled. “I told you to do whatever we asked you to. Have at it my love.” Dropping his hand to let him do his thing, she leaned up against the wall and closed her eyes. ”1..2..3…4..” Time was of the essence but she couldn’t deny how grateful she was for these few moments of peace. There was so much uncertainty behind that door. Not just the adventure to get completely out of the building but just what lay next period. Kaydence wondered how far Ashton would be taking them away from here. They’d likely be staying in the country still for the night. They just couldn’t apparate to another country. The magic for it didn’t work like that. ”15…16…17…” She at least hoped they’d have some sort of scenery. An opportunity where she could sit outside and stare at nothingness while Lukas rested. He was going to be exhausted whenever they got to where they were going. It was already past his bedtime anyway. With any luck that would just mean he’d sleep in instead of getting up right after the crack of dawn and halfway through her morning cup of coffee.

”45…46…47…48…49…50…”

Almost done with the first set of numbers. It was oddly comforting hearing his little voice rambling off the numbers like they were nothing. He had so much fun in something so simple. Moments like this had always put Kaydence at ease. Anything that made him happy put her at ease. Lukas was the sweetest little boy she had ever met in her life. That wasn’t being biased. He was so kind and thoughtful. So patient and respectful. Completely unlike her as a child. Probably unlike Ashton as well. She frowned to herself. She really needed to quit thinking like that. ”6…7…8…9…” Second set of numbers. She hoped Ashton was alright. Really hoped he hadn’t come across any unexpected surprises. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to handle something happening at her expense. Already had somewhat of an idea of how Noah was going to react whenever got back. His right-hand man down. His child and fiancée missing. Naturally, Ashton was going to get all of the blame. ”30…31…32..33…” Merlin Noah was probably going to think he kidnapped them. Why was she so good at getting Ashton into messes at her expense? Kaydence didn’t go out of the way to make it happen. Would have never expected to see him that day in Ilfracombe. That seemed like forever ago now. ”44…45..46…47…48..” Was he counting faster now? Surely it couldn’t have been almost two minutes already.

Opening her eyes, Kaydence looked up at the ceiling and sighed. Needed to get herself back in attack mode. Not the attack mode that was currently still somewhere in the condo but the one that required her to move quickly. Didn’t need to put more stress on Ashton’s plate by not being in the lobby at the time he asked. ”Almost there Mom.” She looked down to Lukas who instantly resumed counting. She was surprised he had stopped to tell her that. ”2…3…4…5…” Kaydence began rubbing her hands nervously. It was almost go time. Just had to leave the condo, creep down the hallway, go down the stairs, get to the very bottom of the stairwell and go into the lobby. It was that simple. She prayed it was that simple. Sliding her hand into her pocket, she retrieved her wand and began twirling it between her fingers. ”21…22…23…24..” Various hexes and curses were coming to her so fast. She was so thankful she had been using all of her downtime to practice dueling. Kaydence had always been fairly proficient at it but she had never been so sure of her ability to cast a spell then she did now. The downed trees at the estate we more than enough proof of that. ”36..37..38..” She pushed herself from the wall and took another deep breath. She would be ready to move them the minute he stopped counting. Pushing the wand between her right ring finger and pinky, she placed her hand on the door handle. ”51…52..53..54… Kaydence slowly began pushing it down. ”57…58..59…60.”

“Hand,” she said instantly as soon as he finished counting. Once his hand was in hers, Kaydence closed her fingers around his and pulled open the rest of the door. Sticking her head out only enough to ensure the coast was clear, she tugged slightly at Lukas’ arm to indicate for him to start moving once it was. As the little boy slipped through, she quietly closed the door behind him. She put her finger up to her lips, yet again indicating for him to stay silent.” With that, she slowly began the trek down the hall with her little boy in tow.

[Ashton Wentworth]

Just go through the door. No big deal. Ashton had dealt with quite a few more than this at once. Ashton had been trained for years for this exact situation. Well, perhaps not exactly this situation but those where he was outnumbered. This wasn’t going to be a big deal. The biggest concern of this was that he was going to get blood somewhere that it shouldn’t be and it getting seen. Perhaps it was going to end up on his face or his lip would get busted, how was he supposed to explain that? If he got blood all over the walls that wouldn’t be ideal either. Therefore Ashton was going to have to move very quickly and as silently as possible. Three minutes. That was all that he allowed himself. Ashton’s eyes lifted to Kaydence’s and locked onto hers for half a moment before his hand twisted the door handle and his body disappeared to the sound of Lukas’ whispered ‘one’. The door clicked behind him and the man standing directly beside him turned instantly. ”Mr. Wentworth?” He exchanged glances with the other one and Ashton took half a second to size up the fact that neither one of them had their wands in their hands. There was always a sort of calm that washed over him whenever he was in a fight. It was the sort of bliss that made the rest of the world just melt away. Ashton was a brawler, there was no way around that. He absolutely liked to fight. He liked the feeling of his knuckles bruising against the faces of other people. He liked the burn that came to his muscles in a fight when it was right. He liked when his veins turned to battery acid. Today wasn’t going to be that for him, he simply didn’t have the time. For somebody who had been trained so extensively in magic that he hated to use his wand unless he absolutely had to. Ashton’s hand jabbed to wrap around the first guards neck. Cupping his head closer and then pulling with his weight to send that man crashing into the one beside him. Their heads collided with a strange thunk. It wasn’t enough to knock them out but it was enough to get the attention of the guard near the elevator. It was also enough pause for Ashton to grab the wand from his boot and send both of them blasting backward into the elevator doors, taking the third with them. Surprise was on his side. The elevator doors dented from the pressure but opened anyway and Ashton sent the three unconscious bodies into the waiting elevator. Another spell to make sure that they were going to remain out until he came back for them, and then a third to make sure that the elevator wasn’t going to be opening for anybody until he took that spell off. Two minutes left. Ashton took off in the direction of the roof, and another minute spent sprinting his ass up those stairs as best as he could. Fully intent on body bashing that poor asshole straight off the edge of the roof….and that was exactly what he did.

No elevator meant that anybody who heard the body crashing to the ground from however many stories this was...meant that they were going to be coming up the stairs but hopefully they would spend a few precious moments waiting for the elevator to come to check on it, or even going outside to see what the noise was. There were going to be more of MIkkhal’s men doesn there by Kaydence’s count...so his ass was hauling itself down the stairs. Hopefully they would be sneaking well and nobody would hear them. Hopefully they would slip right past whatever Ashton was about to be doing without another notice. Hopefully Kaydence would be aware of any sounds of struggle and shield him. He might not be able to be kept from this lifestyle forever, he was bound to know who his mother actually was some day but today didn’t have to be that day. They could keep him from this for just tonight. Ashton hadn’t even considered what he was going to do with the security that was employed by the building just regularly. Ashton slowed his pace down to a jog as he reached the bottom of the landing, opening the door as casually as possible to see who was around them. ”Mr. Wentworth! I trust dinner was to your liking?” Ashton couldn’t tell by the look on the man’s face alone if he knew something that he shouldn’t or not. Ashton had no way of knowing whether he was just being casual and thinking that everything was going as planned, Ashton just leaving on his own as he should have been, or if he really was out of the loop. Irregardless, Ashton couldn’t let anybody who might even possibly know something that Mikkhal knew live. He almost felt guilty, for just a moment. Kaydence wouldn’t have anything on his body count after he left here. Ashton took a moment to look the man once over, the man had a neutral face. Which was good, if he was being nice he didn’t think that he was going to be able to handle it. “Yeah.” Ashton could feel the man’s eyes trail down from Ashton’s face to the hand still held in his one hand and the whole atmosphere of the room shifted. The man behind the desk ducked and covered his head behind the desk and the guard fired off his first shot at Ashton, knocking him backward. Ashton had to dive after him to keep him from opening the door or attempting to gain access to the stairs. Suffering an elbow to the face, Ashton managed to haul him backward. The scuffle outcome was tied for half a moment before Ashton could get his wand up under the man’s jaw. His poor head was forced backward at a strange angle and in a pink flash of light all sense of self flashed from the guards eyes as his slackened body collapsed to the ground as if it didn’t have bones.

Ashton had miscounted. He had missed the fact that there was supposed to have been a body in the stairwell itself and nothing had been there. The man came in through the front double doors now. Hopefully this would be one of the last ones but the spell that Ashton caught in the spine knocked all of the air out of his body. It made moving difficult as he gasped to suck oxygen into his lungs. He wasn’t doing well but he was able to move as he gasped. Floundering fists until the spell wore off, dodging blows and keeping the edge of that wand from pointing at his person again. He just needed to get it out of his hand. Thought to do that, he needed to breathe enough to mutter spells. Really it was a great idea on his part, one that Ashton was going to steal in his next fight that he didn’t actually want to do. Honestly at this point Ashton was just thankful that after all of his years of smoking, he was used to functioning on compromised lung function, and he fucking loved punching people. He just couldn't help himself from the way his body felt at it’s best swinging. The poor fool was going to get the shit kicked out of him the normal way, and Ashton was going to enjoy every second of it. By the end of it, Ashton’s knuckles were bruised and his cheek was swelling too quickly to be ignored. He was going to be sore as fuck come tomorrow morning but he couldn’t stop moving. The man behind the desk wasn’t going to be moving any time soon but Ashton was still going to have to knock him out until such a time as his memory could be wiped. There was no way around that. They were going to be down here at any moment. He knew this. He knew they were going to be coming through that door at any moment and Ashton still wasn’t done with this big bastard and he needed to get the two of them out into the woods like Kaydence said so that he could get them to safety. He had nowhere else to put the bodies but behind the desk, so he did that. He was just going to have to hope that nobody woke up in the time that it took for himself to get back here after dropping them off. He couldn’t get the bruises covered, he couldn’t get his lip to look normal he didn’t have time. His shirt all stretched to shit just as that door was opening. “Come on.” Ashton stuffed his wand back into his boot and pulled the pants over it, leading them out of the building in a way that hugged the wall until they could get a clear shot toward the forest.

[Kaydence Morgan]

As they continued down the hall. Kaydence was suspicious of everything. It didn’t matter that Noah had rented out the entire floor for the duration of their stay. Had completely forgotten somehow that the other rooms were occupied by some of the members of his security. The ones who didn’t have families to go home to. The ones who probably had a lot more to lose then them. Merlin how could she have been so stupid? Her hand squeezed Lukas’ a little tighter. Had to pray that whoever was here was already on guard. Kaydence was fairly certain that Noah gave the guards who had families the early morning and afternoon shifts. If that were the case it was going to make her feel considerably less guilty. She was notorious for being heartless, but upon having Lukas he had instilled in her a love that she had never known. She had thought she known it. Had a nice upbringing, parents who got her whatever she wanted and always told her they were proud of her. Yet as she had gotten older and looked back on her interactions with her parents; she realized that she often saw things behind a screen. Adrian and Isabelle had only ever provided their children just what was required. It was always about appearances with them. Their priorities were always elsewhere. Had they not been, perhaps Kaydence would have never been exiled when she had made the mistake of a stupid teenager.

It was when Lukas was placed in her arms for the first time and he gawked up at her with those effulgent blue eyes that she knew instantly. A real mother, or father for that matter, would do anything for their child. They would love them unconditionally no matter the mistakes they made. They would be there. They would support them. They would cradle them in their arms when their child got hurt instead of making the nanny tend to the wound. They would be there for award ceremonies and talent shows. They would scold when necessary, but only when a lesson needed to be taught. Kaydence had been taken aback when the realization had hit. It had likely been the reasoning behind the month or two of postpartum that she had suffered. All the childhood misunderstandings and the teenage drama. It had all come full circle. She had never been properly able to deal with the shortcomings. Had never been able to look at the bigger picture and truly realize wrong from right. She was so fortunate to have Noah there at the time. He had been so incredibly patient with her. Letting her work through whatever she needed to and providing whatever help he could while still giving her the space she needed. Kaydence had felt so guilty afterwards. Often remembered the times when Lukas would be sleeping soundly in his crib and she’d be sobbing in Noah’s arms in his study. ”My kärlak.” He would always say. ”You have nothing to apologize for. We are a family. You will never suffer on your own. Lukas and I are always going to love you no matter what.”

Her vision began to blur. Sniffling, Kaydence squeezed Lukas’ hand as they got closer to the elevator. She needed to keep it together. At least until Lukas was tucked away into bed wherever they were going. Only then when she was alone could she properly start to deal with the repercussions of her actions from the night. She simply would not allow anything to jeopardize protecting her son. As they reached the doors, she noticed a huge dent in the steel. Standing in front of Lukas, her brow arched as she extended her wand hand and took a look around. Nothing. Her eyes moved up to the lit display of floor numbers. 10. The elevator was seemingly stuck on their floor. Looking at the doors gave Kaydence a very uneasy feeling. Though she wasn’t sure if the damage was more unsettling or what could possibly be behind those doors. The elevator had never been an option and it most certainly was not about to change. She hadn’t heard any signs of a struggle outside of the condo door but her mind could only imagine the things Ashton had to do to ensure it be kept that way. They needed to limit Lukas’ exposure to violence as long as they could.

But all that threatened to change the moment she heard a door open. Panicking, Kaydence moved the pair towards the door that led to the stairs. She pushed Lukas behind a statue and whispered, “Stay here and close your eyes!” Throwing herself on the ground, she muttered the deafening incantation to Lukas’ ears before quickly mussing up her hair. “Ah!” She sobbed, beginning to slowly crawl back in sight. She could hear the footsteps racing towards her. ”Miss. Nash!” Kaydence kept her right hand hidden from sight. “Please help!” The guard, who she could only assume had come from one of those rooms, stopped and kneeled in front of her. ”Miss. Nash. What happened?” A small yell left her lips as the adrenaline kicked in. Lunging towards the guard, Kaydence caught him by the element of surprise. Her body fell upon his, hitting him at just the right angle to knock the wind from him. Placing the tip of her wand underneath his jaw, she quickly cast the killing curse on him. Not at all reacting as the bright green light nearly blinded her from being in such close proximity to it. As it faded, she smirked to herself. The guard’s eyes were wide, mouth open in surprise. She knew this one. Morris was his last name she believed. Always gave her such creepy stares.

Pushing herself off of him, Kaydence knew she probably should have concealed the body but didn’t have time. Nor the assurance that Lukas was going to keep his eyes closed. Ashton would yell at her later but hopefully he’d be back in enough time to take yet another body away of hers. As she stood up, she quickly rushed back to her son who had fortunately listened. Taking the charm off of his ears, she rubbed his shoulder and his eyes darted open. They were wide, fearful. She needed to get him out of here. Pulling him from behind the statue, she ushered them to the stairwell door and opened it. She moved in front of Lukas again, peering it to confirm the coast was clear before pulling in the little boy behind her. Kaydence continued leading the way as they took the steps in half the time they normally would. Ashton would surely be in the lobby by now. Hopefully the little hiccup with the guard upstairs hadn’t put too much dent in their time. Regardless, it could be assured that he had won the little game he had made for himself and Lukas. Hopefully the loss would be the distraction the boy needed to ease whatever fear he felt. As they reached the final floor above the last, she looked over the side to ensure there was nothing waiting for them. Moved them down once assured there weren’t. Approaching the door that led to the lobby, Kaydence took another deep breath. Wasn’t sure what would be waiting for them behind it but at this point she had no choice but to enter the unknown. Grasping the door knob, she put herself in front of Lukas and opened it.

The sight her eyes fell on, although safe, was unexpected. As promised, Ashton was there yet his face was riddled with bruises. His lip was swollen. Noah’s shirt hanging way looser off his body then it had previously. Kaydence stared at him, fully prepared to question if he was alright or not before he cut her off. ”Come on.” That’s right. No time to lose. She pulled Lukas and followed after him. The trio moved quickly out of the hotel though changed the pace when pressed against the side of the building. She hoped Lukas would think of this as an adventure game. Looking down to him, she smiled and made a face as they continued sliding down. Hopefully he would some reassurance in that. Once they reached the end, she waited for Ashton to clear the perimeter. He soon gave the okay and the group hastily went towards the trees. Kaydence fell back alongside Lukas, ensuring that should anyone attempt to invade the group that he would remain blocked. Eventually, they reached the trees. They followed Ashton into the thicket, not stopping until he was assured that they were out of sight. When they finally stopped, she turned to her son and gave him a hug. “Darling, are you alright?” Lukas looked between her and Ashton. Could tell his eyes were full of questions, especially the longer he stared at Ashton. ”Yeah.” He finally said. ”What happened to you Mr. Wentworth? Did you fall?” Chuckling, she spoke up before he could answer. “I think he was just trying really hard to beat you Lukas.”