No one tried to help me up. Someone bound my hands, though.
"Wyatt is at home, with his mother and father. He's learned the error of his ways and wants everything to go back to normal. I'm just doing what he wants," Delia said.
I didn't believe her, not for a second. But, I also hadn't, in my wildest dreams, imagined my uncle coming here. He didn't exist in this world. Maybe he could've existed in Walkerton, where the regular people lived, but here, his existence felt like a dream… or a nightmare.
"My men will drive you out to the ferry. It's up to you to get him off the island," Delia said.
"And when I do?" my uncle asked.
"I'll wire you the rest of your money, of course."
Whatever I had left inside me, that tiny shred of hope I had that told me my uncle wouldn't do this, that he was overbearing and not evil, died with those ten words. Did it make it worse that he hadn't even come here on his own? That he'd been sought out and brought here as part of a deal? No. But it didn't make it better.
Without my sight, I couldn't focus my ability, but I pulled energy from the closest body anyway. Whoever it was landed hard against the wood while bursts of color exploded behind my eyelids. There we go. That was me, overloading.
I tried to hold onto my stomach, forgetting my hands were bound. I felt more fragile, all of a sudden, like I'd grown so large my baby was now too far away from my body. I wanted to push him back, tuck him safe next to my heart, behind my ribs.
I couldn't do that any more than I could fight the hands that reached to bring me to my feet. I tried to tell myself that Paul was here. He knew what was going on. I would be saved.
Except they'd already saved me, by sending me with the nomads. I'd unsaved myself, and now I would pay for that choice.
"Send me visual proof the moment you are off the island," Delia said.
I assumed she spoke to my uncle, who grunted. "What sort of situation did my nephew fall into here?"
"A situation that is no longer your concern," Delia snapped.
Cool wind brushed over my arms, and I was led forward. My body shook, both from nerves and because of how tightly I danced the line of consciousness. If I succumbed to it now, who knew where I would be when I woke up?
I swallowed the feeling down along with my fear and concentrated on walking without falling. I knew when we were outside because the ground changed under my feet. The representatives were arguing, deciding which of them would drive my uncle and me back to the ferry, when a familiar voice chimed in.
"I'll take them." That was Tyrone. After that first day, Wyatt and I hadn't worked together with him again. I'd thought we'd made progress—if not him and Wyatt, at least me and him—but he sounded eager to be the one to drive me away.
The representatives didn't sound so sure.
"I don't know. Isn't he close with that one we just threw out? Where'd that little guy go? The one Jeb was after."
"Probably ran to go get him. Just like a tease. Doesn't want anything to do with him when he doesn't want anything."
I didn't recognize the voices of those speaking.
"You're talking about Paul?" Tyrone asked, his voice deep. "I'm over that. Tried. Too much drama. Plus, he's got his nose shoved so far up the Walkers' asses. He's a waste of my talents."
The other two chuckled, and even my uncle attempted to laugh along, even though he couldn't have any idea exactly what that meant. I tugged at my restraints; my arms were yanked back immediately after.
"Give up, Kansas. You're done running," my uncle said.
A car door opened nearby.
My uncle's hand landed heavy on my shoulder as he pushed me down into the car. More than anything else, this made the moment feel real. My uncle was taking me. He'd found me, and he was taking me from Wyatt.
I panicked, sucking power from anyone in my vicinity. My uncle's hand fell from my shoulder, but not before he shoved me forward. I twisted, hitting the seat with my shoulder. The side of my face slapped against the cushion, but my head already pounded.
"If you help me get him still," my uncle grunted.
On my side in the back seat, I kicked blindly, hitting the seat, the car door, bodies.
"I need to dose him now so he's ready at the ferry."
So that was how he planned on transporting me: hopped up on drugs. It wasn't the first time he'd tried this tactic, but it was the first time he tried while I was pregnant. "Please, don't, my baby!" I cried out, hoping one of them had a heart large enough to listen.
"Move out of the way," Tyrone snarled. Moments later, strong hands gripped me. My struggling was no use. Tyrone adjusted me as he would a piece of luggage that he was moving to make more space. I continued to fight, but he acted as if he couldn't feel my strikes. He leaned over me, his face closest to mine when he whispered, "Just chill."
Chill? He wanted me to make this easier for him? If I didn't have the hood over my face still, I would've spit.
I couldn't spit, just like I couldn't see, and now, I couldn't move either.
"Just drive," my uncle told him. He slid into the backseat next to me.
Another door shut before Tyrone started the car and drove us forward. Maybe Delia had been telling the truth, and Wyatt wasn't really behind us in the Alpha's mansion. I didn't think he could be. He wouldn't know what happened to me, not unless Paul was able to get him a message.
"The other guy took a left here," my uncle said.
"Shortcut," Tyrone replied. "The fast I get you two out of my pack, the faster we can go back to normal."
"You all keep using that word, pack. Is this some kind of cult?" my uncle asked.
Tyrone didn't answer.
"Is there a lot of money in it?"
I rolled my eyes, not that anyone could see it. If anyone ever wondered why I'd lived the way I'd lived, preying on the type of men I had, my uncle was why. He was that type of man, and with every mark, I felt like I was getting back at him.
But I wasn't. I hadn't. My situation only proved that. I was as helpless as he told the courts I was.
"You're a piece of shit, aren't you?" Tyrone asked.
My uncle sputtered. "What are you…? Excuse me?"
The car slowed to a stop. "You are an actual piece of shit."
Several things happened at once. The car stopped fully, but before that could happen all the way, the passenger door next to my uncle opened. He screamed, and I pictured Tyrone yanking him from his seat. A bright light made me squeeze my eyes closed as cool, clean air filled my lungs.
I blinked. "Paul?"
"Hey." He winked. "Sorry about that. We needed to get you out of there."
My mouth opened and closed without sound. Finally, I swallowed and made a concentrated effort to speak. "Was this your plan all along?"
"Hell no. You were supposed to go where you were safe, but if anyone knows how crazy Wyatt makes a person, it's me. I knew you wouldn't leave."
I turned to the side where Tyrone had my uncle in a headlock. He looked good like that.
"Tyrone was lying to get them to believe him," I said.
Paul frowned. "Probably. Why, what did he say?" Paul looked behind himself to Tyrone.