Carnal

Chapter Twenty-Two - Living a Lie

My grip on Cain's hand loosened as I fought for oxygen.

The weight of shock in seeing my grandfather made me feel like I had an elephant on my chest.

I felt like I was seeing a ghost. 

Do I run to him? Do I run away?

My grandfather was supposed to be dead, but there he was. 

After nearly two months of searching, my answers were only about a hundred feet away.

I began to take a step in his direction, but Cain tugged me back with the hand that still held mine.

"Don't," he said as I turned to look at him.

"But Cain..." I said softly, still somewhat dazed.

He shook his head slowly, his sharp eyes still trained on my grandfather.

"Something isn't right," he said. "You're not staying here."

Cain began to pull me away and I tried to resist, turning to look at my grandfather.

He was gone. 

"Where did he go?" 

My voice was drowned in the sea of conversations that were going on in multiple dialects around us.

An overwhelming sense of dread began to wash over me as I frantically scanned the crowd for my grandfather, who had completely disappeared.

Cain tugged me through the door we had entered into.

The SUV we had arrived in was still parked on the curb as Cain opened the car door and all but pushed me inside.

"Cain!" I shouted in surprise, landing on the seat sideways.

"Stay here," he said. 

He walked around the car and opened the driver's door. I hopped over the center console as he pulled the keys from the ignition. He turned to leave as I pressed my foot against the inside of the door to keep it from closing. 

This caught his attention.

"You're not locking me in a hot car," I told him, making a move to try and get out of the SUV.

"It's not hot out here," he said, blocking my escape. "You'll be fine."

I pushed against the door with my foot again as he tried to close it for a second time.

"I'm not staying here," I reiterated.

Cain turned to look at me, leveling his eyes with mine. 

"Do not get out of this car," he said firmly. "Get into the backseat where the windows are tinted and no one can see you."

He closed the door and I sat there in shock as I heard the doors lock, an action no doubt triggered by the remote that was now in his possession.

I felt my blood begin to boil as my hands started to shake.

The nerve he has to lock me inside a car.

I saw him speaking to the valet before he handed him the car keys. The valet looked at me suspiciously and I decided it was probably best to get into the backseat as Cain had forcefully suggested.

I climbed over the console again and landed in the center seat with an annoyed sigh.

Sitting there with my arms crossed like a pouting four-year-old, I filtered the wondering thoughts of my grandfather through the anger that Cain had stirred in me.