Page 6 of He is… Creed: Part Two

“We have friends in the White House.”

He has an answer to everything, and far too easily. “You said my connection to you puts me in danger, so why are you here and not Caleb?”

“That danger I spoke of,” he says, “it is me, Addie. Julian sent me here to seduce you into helping him. And if I don’t convince him I’ve done my job, he’ll send someone else for you. And their method of persuasion will not be seduction.”

I gasp with his confession at the same moment that my father’s voice fills the air. “Addie!”

Creed reaches for me, pulling me tight against his body, one powerful arm anchoring our hips together and rendering me immobile. “There will be a package at your hotel desk tonight,” he declares. “A phone you can use to contact Caleb without being traced. He’ll confirm I’m telling the truth.”

“Addie!”

My father’s voice is closer now, and my heart kicks into double-time. “If my father finds you, he’ll order the guards to kill you.”

“We both know they would not succeed.” His gaze drops to my mouth and then lifts, sensual hunger charging the air as if he’s more concerned with kissing me than he is with his own life.

“You might be willing to take a chance with the guards, but I’m not.” I shove at his arm. “Go now, Creed.”

A hint of satisfaction flares in his gaze at my obvious concern for his safety, which I wish I could deny, but I cannot. He tangles his fingers in my hair, his lips inches from mine, his breath warm and tempting. He is sin and satisfaction, and damn him, I’m not sure I can ever escape him. I’m not even sure I want to anymore.

“Don’t go trying to save the world without me,” he warns. “Trust no one, Addie. Especially those closest to your father.”

“I’ve learned not to trust,” I bite back, feeling exposed and vulnerable. “Thanks to you.”

His eyes darken, his mood shifting with the stir of the wind. “I know all too well what you think of me,” he says as he abruptly releases me. “A little too easily. I’ll return for you soon.” The wind gusts in a powerful surge, as if he wants to taunt me further with his presence. A second later, Creed is gone.

The absence of his touch and the promise of his return flow through me as a deep ache. No matter how I’ve tried to deny him and the truth, I’d wished for the day he would come for me, the day all of this would make sense to me. But I think—I think he didn’t come for me. I think he came for Red Dart.

“Addie!” My father’s voice forces me to pull myself together, or at least try. My world feels as if it’s crumbling around me, and yet somehow, I paint on a calm expression and rotate to find my father at the edge of the gazebo. “You shouldn’t be out here alone,” he reprimands the instant his eyes land on me, his face etched with apprehension. If he had his way, I’d have guards by my side 24/7. He has always believed that one day Creed would contact me and try to use me again. And tonight, he had.

“I needed air, Father.” I’m shaking inside, and yet somehow, I manage to deliver my excuse with a nonchalant shrug to my tone.

“The wind—you shouldn’t be out in the wind.”

I step to his side and latch my arms with his. “The wind, Father, has been gusting all night, and I refuse to cower to Mother Nature. I’m a general’s daughter, remember?”

His gaze skims the gazebo and then the surrounding area as the wind fades. “You’re sure?”

Of course, he’s not talking about me being his daughter, but I laugh as if he is. “Quite. I’ve been a general’s daughter since I was about seven, when you made rank. And as for the windy night, I find it far more appealing than the stuffy cigar smoke that drove me outside in the first place.”

Slowly, he relaxes and smiles. “General Roberts?”

“Isn’t it always General Roberts? He’s a chimney.” I smile up at him, but my mind races with the implications of all Creed has claimed this night. I squeeze my father’s arm, more tightly conflicted inside. I don’t want Creed to be right about him, but I also don’t want Creed to be lying. And even if Caleb backed Creed’s story, it still didn’t mean they were right about Red Dart, I remind myself. It simply meant I had to prove them wrong.

“They are about to cut the cake,” my father informs me, pulling me back into the moment. “I know how you love your sweets.”

I offer my Julian agreement, somehow making small talk as we travel down the path, but in the back of my mind, I know there is nothing small in the air at all. There’s a storm coming. And that storm had a name: Creed.

Chapter Five

Creed

With the taste of Addie still lingering on my lips, I step onto the elevator leading to the underground world of what was once Area 51 but now is known as “Zodius City,” the first of its kind in Lucian’s planned Zodius Nation. I’m shaking inside, and I don’t shake. It’s a sign of weakness. It shows weakness, and weakness will get me and Addie both in the dirt.

It's illogical.

I’ve lived the façade of being the second in charge to the most evil monster on this planet for far too long; I even managed to earn the reputation as the “Punisher” for my torture of any Zodius soldier who dared cross Julian. I’ve excelled at the role because none of them had righteous intentions.

And yet, I’m not just shaking; I’m shaken to the core. Because no matter how hard I try to find that empty, dark spot inside me that allows me to feel nothing, it’s nowhere to be found.

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