Chapter 3

Scarlett lay on the ground. Heavier, Lucas pinned her, and she panted, gasping for breath. Her every instinct screamed at her to keep fighting, to push him off, but she was pinned. Her muscles burned, and her heart thumped in her chest to the primitive rhythm of anger and fear.

Lucas's face loomed inches above hers, his eyes writhing with anguish, almost guilt, that Scarlett did not want to see. "Scarlett, stop this," he implored; his voice was strained. "You don't have to do this really."

"I said, 'Get off me!' " Scarlett snapped, scrambling underneath him, but Lucas braced her body, his grip an iron chain over her face.

"Listen to me," Lucas begged, the tone of his voice pleading as tears welled in his eyes. "This isn't the way. We don't have to be enemies."

A boiling fury ate into Scarlett because of his words. "You set us against each other!" she snapped, a dangerous quiver in her voice. "You betrayed me, Lucas. Betrayed each one of us."

Lucas winced, as though she had struck him across the head with a cudgel. His dark eyes were very sad. "Scarlett, I never wanted to hurt you," he murmured slowly. "But there was no other way."

"There's always a choice," Scarlett lashed out; her voice broke under the strain of her words. "And you chose to destroy everything we had."

For one second, the pressure of Lucas's hold lessened, and Scarlett twisted herself forward, finally breaking free. She recoiled backward onto her feet, her chest heaving as she stared at him, every inch of her body rigid with tension.

"I don't understand you, Lucas," Scarlett went on heatedly. "You are my only friend, and I trusted you. And then you ruined everything."

He slowly got to his feet as if he were afraid of setting her off again. "It was for your own good," he said, half-mumbling.

It squeezed Scarlett's heart in a twist of pain, but she wouldn't allow it to soften her. "I have to protect myself?" she echoed, bitterness licking over her words. "By tearing my life apart? By betraying all I stood for?"

He took a step toward her, hands extended in a peaceful gesture. "There were things you didn't know, things—things I couldn't tell you. I made choices that—I regret every day, but I did it because I thought it was the only way to keep you safe."

Scarlett shook her head, disbelief and anger, fighting for dominance inside her. Safe? From what?

"From the truth," Lucas said, his voice fracturing. "From the darkness that surrounds us. I thought that if I kept you in the dark, you would not have to go through what I did."

Scarlett's head reeled with her efforts to rationalize. But something in his voice, his tone dipped in the same kind of pain that described her, kept Scarlett at bay.

Before she could say anything, murmurs rippled into the clearing. Scarlett's heart leaped into her throat as she spun around to see Alex and Rachel fight their way from the trees, their faces taut with concern.

"Scarlett!" Rachel's dark eyes flicked from Scarlett to Lucas, wringing his hands nervously. "Are you all right?"

Scarlett nodded, even though she wasn't sure that was the truth. "I'm fine."

As the others approached, Lucas's eyes darkened, and he took a step back. "This isn't over, Scarlett," he murmured. "But I'm not your enemy."

Before Scarlett had a chance to react, the male had sidestepped away into the forest, managing swift silent strides. Gazing after him she felt all twisted-up inside.

"What did he do? Did he hurt you?" Rachel rushed over in a flurry of concern.

Scarlett shook her head, her thoughts still tumbling. "No… he didn't."

Alex's face was unreadable as he approached. "We've got to get out of here. Lucas's pack could be back any minute."

Scarlett nodded; the severity of what she had just seen brought her into reality. "You're right. Let's move."

As they pressed through the dense foliage, Scarlett couldn't help but feel that something had shifted between her and Lucas. His words creeped along her thoughts, ruffling feathers she wasn't quite ready to step foot on.

But no matter. They had a fight to prepare for, and she couldn't afford to let her guard down.

It was already sunset when Scarlett and her group had reached their safe house. It was an inconspicuous little cabin deeply hidden in the woods, undiscovered by Lucas's pack. These incidents of the day had somewhat drained scarlet. As she stepped into the cabin, exhaustion threatened to pull her down.

Rachel lit a lantern, the warm golden light spreading out over the room. Mind still racing, Scarlett sank into a chair and Alex was already going through the supplies, moving with methodic efficiency.

"Scarlett," Rachel said softly, sitting down beside her. "What ever did Lucas say to you?"

Scarlett hesitated, her mind chasing back to Lucas the agonized expression, his desperate words. "He said I was running his life."

"Protect you? From what?" Rachel cocked her head in confusion.

"I don't know," Scarlett said, bemused as she spoke. "He was like babbling about some sort of darkness. And then there was something he couldn't tell me."

Alex put his eyes on the parchment and looked at Scarlett, giving the other assistant a rather sharp look. "Sounds like he's trying to fuck with your head. Don't let him get to you, Scarlett."

She wanted to believe that very much, yet part of her couldn't shake the feeling that he was hiding something important. Something he needed to tell her, something that might just change the world.

But she pushed all these thoughts aside and went back to the reason she had arrived in the first place. "We need to be ready. Lucas' pack will be after us, and we need to be prepared."

Rachel nodded, seriously. "We're with you, Scarlett. No matter what."

Scarlett managed a small, thankful smile. "Thanks, Rachel."

With that, Rachel moved to strategize their next steps. And Scarlett was only able to become aware of the shapes pressing on her heart, Lucas's words. Certainly, she had wanted revenge for so long, but now that it was within her grip, life was a bit more complicated than she'd imagined.

Yet there was no turning back now. The fight was coming and she would be ready.

---

That night, long after the others had turned into their beds, Scarlett slipped from the cabin; her mind would not let her rest. She wandered in the dark woods, where the night air brushed against her skin cool.

It was just Lucas, time and time again, in her mind; the look in his eyes while talking to her. A little part of her had wanted to believe him, that he was doing all of this for her own sake. The other part, a tormented part that simply couldn't forgive him, felt betrayed.

Scarlett knew it, and now she was all alone in the darkness with each one of the decisions that had been made weighing on her. She'd chosen those paths to take her revenge on the one who had meant so much to her.

Yet there she stood, on the edge of this battle for which she should have been girding herself, and was, in fact, deep in her heart, questioning her own resolution. The anger that had formed the façade for so many battles was parted by another emotion infinitely more complex, infinitely more fraught with pain.

Scarlett clenched her eyes shut for a second, trying to master the flood of thoughts racing through her brain. She couldn't make room for indecision right now. She had come this far; the cost to herself was too great.

But somehow, in all the dark, in all the loneliness, it seemed as if the greatest tragedy was going to happen, all in spite of her own feelings, and that was the most horrible thought of all.