The weapon was a small one that would fit in a handbag or glove box. Garrett held it straight out from his arm and toward Kael.

"Garrett what are you doing!" I shrieked.

Kael moved forward. On impulse, I stepped between him and Garrett's outstretched hand. Even while moving, my intentions weren't clear, but Garrett wouldn't shoot me.

Kael lunged, knocking me to the ground. In the same moment, the weapon discharged. A burning sensation tore the top of my arm, and all air was forced from my lungs when Kael landed on me.

After Kael's crushing weight lifted, I found myself shaking on the rotten wooden porch, staring at a spot on my shoulder as it slowly spread to soak my shirt with red.

Shouts between the two men distracted me from my injury. It should be painful, but my only sensation was fear. Kael approached Garrett who waved his weapon at him.

"Get back!" Garrett sounded manic, nothing like the man who'd been my best friend. He swung the weapon madly as he spoke. "I swear, man, if you take one more step..."

"Give me the gun Garrett," Kael ordered, without backing away. If anything he was sliding forward, closer to my armed and unpredictable friend.

"No. You stay away from me, from both of us."

"Look what you did to her!" Kael roared.

Instinctively Garrett looked to me, as if noticing for the first time what he had done. Eyes wide, his jaw slid open. A moment of distraction was the window Kael needed. With a few fluid motions he retrieved the gun and aimed it back toward Garrett.

Garrett's first instinct was wrong, to lunge at Kael as if he were a novice that wouldn't defend himself. The moment his shoulder hit Kael's wounded side Kael doubled over in agony. Too confident from his win, Garrett reached down to retrieve the weapon. But Kael rose the gun above Garrett's stooped form and pressed it to his temple.

At last Garrett seemed to appreciate his own vulnerability. Halting his advance, Garrett's arms rose slowly, shaking. With one hand on Garrett's shoulder and the other pressing the weapon to his head, Kael forced Garrett to the ground. The gun never moved from its target. Kael's free hand swiped over the cotton shirt and khakis, searching for another weapon.

Garrett was hyperventilating and saying something to me that I could hardly understand between hysterical cries. "Oh no, no! I never would have... Harper please!"

Sitting up, I stuttered, "I'm... it's only a graze," and held my arm.

Garrett's hands held either side of his face. Slowly his head fell to the ground with a thud, and his cries became muffled. This wasn't Garrett. Capable but not dangerous, Garrett had never done something like this before. Was he trying to be a hero and it went terribly wrong? Confused, I was staring at my friend when Kael pulled me up by my uninjured arm and ushered me inside with a firm hand on my back.

Garrett shouldn't be alone, but no choice was offered. I was led into the bedroom, out of view of the open front door. Out front, Garrett still moaned but his words were lost on me inside. I stood in the middle of the room, holding my bleeding arm. The impulse to leave was strong. I shouldn't be in here. Garrett was having a psychological break on the front porch and I was here to tend a graze. This was beyond angst about my capability to leave the country. Garrett had reacted like Kael was a trigger to pent up insanity. He'd told me of his captivity with Madeline, but he had offered very little about Kael until now.

A loud crash brought me back to the room. Kael had displaced the duffel bag onto the candle on the floor. Shards of wax and glass from the candle holder shot across the wood planks. A roll of gauze slid in a long white line toward me, stopping just short of my shoe.

Kael tore through the bag, removing what he wanted before coming back to me. Despite his swollen features, rage was recognizable having seen his temper many times before.

My sleeve was slid down from my shoulder without preamble. Though he couldn't have missed my surprise, he didn't acknowledge it. Wads of gauze were pressed against the long wound.

Madeline's jagged creation was only a few centimeters from my new injury. That cut had been worse, but the bullet's graze was larger than expected. Blood trailed down my arm and dripped from my middle finger onto the knotty wood under my feet. In the silence, I could hear the small splat of its landing.

I had to speak. Judging by his expression, he was only growing angrier. "He didn't mean to hurt me. Something's wrong with him," I said cautiously.

If Kael lost his temper, he would make the situation worse. Garrett called to me from the front but my gaze never shifted. Without looking up, Kael placed my free hand on the gauze and walked away, presumably to find something else.

Wrap in hand, he resumed work on my shoulder. I held the end when he started, but after that I only watched. His movements were quick and precise. The gauze was pulled tight, wrapped, and the actions repeated. Shocks of hair fell across his creased brow as he worked, seemly oblivious to Garrett's cries and my scrutiny. When he'd finished, he pushed my sleeve back into place. Finally he looked at me, but I couldn't read him well. Agitation had brought on his quick breathing.

"What's wrong with him?" I tried. A single tear escaped my eye and fell onto his hand on my shoulder. "I've never seen him like this."

"Harper!" Garrett's gasping voice at the door validated my words and made me jump. "I'm so so sorry, Harper! Let me talk to her!" My heart seized at his concern.

"This is my fault," Kael said softly, shifting my focus from Garrett.

What are you talking about? My eyes searched his for an answer.

He sighed and dropped his hand from my shoulder. "I almost didn't bring him back to you, but the risk seemed small. We were never supposed to see each other again."

I bit the inside of my lip to keep my emotions at bay. Another breakdown like I'd had last night would cause a delay in us talking, something we desperately needed to do. But remembering Arthur made my inner strength weaken even more. My hair fell across my profile when my head dipped to the side, obscuring him from view.

Garrett's voice rose in some incoherent cry. I heard Kael's foot slide forward, closer to me. Kael's voice was quiet, audible over Garrett due to proximity alone. "Harper you remember what Garrett looked like? And he was held twice as long."

"What does that mean?" I looked back at him through watery eyes, confused. It was true, Kael was torn and beaten, but Garrett had looked well, shaken psychologically, but physically he'd been fine.

Kael winced, the empathy I saw in him likely a reflection of the pain on my face. "It means he broke. Drugs, starvation, sleep deprivation - Madeline didn't relent and it worked."

My hand found it's way to my mouth. So this is what Garrett had forgotten to tell me about his capture. The story had been so short and full of holes, but he'd said that was all he remembered. Now it seemed obvious, but I'd been so happy to have Garrett back, I'd never considered anything like this.

"You need to know." Kael's voice was low, tense. "The drugs work to decrease impulse control, ideal for mental conditioning."

My head was spinning. I felt sick. Cold sweat stuck to my clothes and hair. Garrett was supposed to be traumatized but not broken. Not like this.

Kael backed away, still whispering. "Madeline romanticized it, but ultimately, he thinks I'm going to hurt you. That he's the only one that sees and can stop it."

Old springs squealed when Kael leaned on the bed. His jaw tightened as he pressed on. "Twenty four hours after I found him, he put a knife in my back, Harper."

Shocked, I staggered away, shaking my head. This couldn't be true, but Kael's expression was grave.

"And you brought him home to me?"

"I wasn't going to. You don't know how close I came to finishing him." His eyes begged me to understand even as I tried not to imagine Kael contemplating killing Garrett. "He was evaluated by three different psychiatrists. Without me, he's safe. He's Garrett." Kael's open lid closed slowly as he released a held breath. "But that was my mistake. I'm sorry."

"It just seems so..." My voice faded. Impossible and awful were the words that came to mind, but Kael wouldn't appreciate them. I sunk my fingers into the hair at the back of my neck as I tried to process. The silence lingered. When Kael never filled it, I did with, "So what should we do?"

Head tilted sideways, Kael watched me a moment before responding. "I'll go." I started to shake my head but he stood, reaching down to retrieve the duffel bag. "Ava's on her way if not here already."

Garrett betraying us had never occurred to me. After what I'd been told, it made sense though. "I'll go with you," I said. The words spilled out before I could think.

Kael stopped rifling through the bag. He closed the zipper and slung it onto his back. With a slight wince in pain, he moved it to his shoulder. "That is my preference but you'd want to see to Garrett." There was a question in his words though they were said as fact.

I reached up to twist a lock of hair. With the movement, pain shot through my shoulder. Kael continued to speak quickly, as I remember him doing at a debrief last year. "You tell Ava that I blackmailed you into helping me." I shook my head, but he was not discouraged. "I threatened Garrett or Maria and Arthur. Pick someone, and do it before you see her."

He stepped toward the foot of the bed, taking a tight grasp on the strap of the bag. "You brought me here, knowing Garrett would find you. It is very important that she knows about Garrett's mental state and gets him home." He nodded toward my wrapped shoulder. "And tell her that was me."

I nodded because I didn't know what else to do. The plan was devised and I had to stick to it. Pounding started in the back of my head. He was right; Garrett needed me. But I wanted him to stay or let me come. Was I supposed to face Arthur alone? If I did, I'd say something terrible. There was no way I could pretend ignorance.

"So I'll go," Kael said pointedly, though he made no immediate move.

Tense, I gave another curt nod. After disappearing for a year, I would see him for a brief forty eight hours and he would vanish from my life forever. I didn't like it, but I didn't have an alternate plan to offer. I pulled the car keys from my pocket and handed them to him. He'd never make it far on foot, and I had a feeling I would be leaving here with Ava anyway.

"Where will you go?" I asked.

Kael's voice softened. "It's better you don't know."

His brow furrowed in thought. "In our escape from Madeline's, do you know if my cover was blown? Did Ava mention it?"

I shook my head.

"Good."

Unable to stay my primary concern any longer, I said simply, "Arthur." We needed to talk for hours to understand this topic, but Kael could be recaptured in minutes.

"Mmm," Kael frowned, no doubt sensing the myriad of questions I was holding at bay. "I can't see to your security detail. So for now, we'll have to use Ava." Anger smoldered in the depths of his eyes at the mention of her.

"It's not necessary," I spoke low and with finality. "Arthur wouldn't hurt me. We've talked about this, Kael. You don't have to keep this up. Gideon's been gone for..."

"I do," Kael interrupted. "Especially now that some recognize you as my weakness."

I swallowed hard, focusing on the piercing gaze that looked through me to my soul. Kael clarified, "Despite Garrett's claims, I'm not some obsessive Romeo. But I'll be honest Harper. Besides Agitha, you're the closest thing to family I've got."

I looked down, feeling a strange warmth spread through me. When I raised my  head, he was staring at Kiley's necklace. It had come untucked to lie against my throat. The impulse to reach up and hide it was strong, but it was too late. The action would only add attention to the piece. I wasn't sure why I wore it so often. Now I feared what he would think. Possible notions filled my mind and none were good.

Outside, tires screeched on the street and came to a halt outside the home. My attention shifted to the window. If there had been neighbors they would have called the police after the gunshot, but the chances were slim. On this deserted street, the newcomer had to be Ava. Car doors slammed. Garrett was silent. Worried, I looked back to Kael. He was gone.  

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Poor Garrett :( What do you think of Kael's plan? Will Harper have to face Arthur alone? It won't be easy, but she might not have a choice. Let me know what you thought of the chapter. More coming soon!

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