UNSPOKEN TRUTH

Samantha's POV Low and cold, Jared's laughter resonated down the alley. His words filled with poison, his eyes wild with a perverse feeling of victory never left mine as he talked. "You consider yourself to have won, Samantha? Do you believe yourself to be safe? He snorted, straying from Alex's hold. You barely know half of it. His words carried terrible weight that seeped right down into me and froze my breath in my lungs. Jared had behaved like this before; he was corned but never vanquished. His conceit made my back hurt. He still carried something over us even now, his empire falling around him. Something we had omitted from consideration. "What are you referring to?"? I insisted, my voice more steady than I could have imagined. Alex grabbed Jared more tightly and slammed him harder against the brick wall. Enough with the entertainment value of the games. You lost. That ends. Jared's smile just grew more like a creature backed into a corner but still lethal. "Oh, that is not quite finished. You have been blind while playing this game. And you also... His eyes turned back to me, hateful. "You have been running from shadows without even knowing who is dragging the strings." My heart hammered, every pulse more forceful than the next. "What are you referring to??" Dark satisfaction glowed in Jared's eyes. "There is another person here. One you have never seen arriving. Someone who has seen all of this start from the beginning. You believe that I am your sole adversary? My throat constricted, terror slinking into my mental corners. But I forbade his view of it. "You are lying. Is it me? Jared laughed with a cutting edge clarity. Ask Alex here. My stomach turned at the expression of uncertainty over Alex's face as I whirled my head toward him. His will wavered for the shortest of times, and I watched the flutter of uncertainty in his eyes. He had knowledge. Something he had omitted to tell me. "Alex?" My voice was only a whisper, a confused blend of betrayal. His jaw tightened as he pushed Jared further into the wall, silencing his arrogant laugh for a brief instant. He did not catch my eye right away. He could not, however, evade my inquiry. Alex continued, his voice low and tight with tension: "I was going to tell you. Still, this is not the moment. Tell me what you mean. My tolerance was breaking down, the anxiety boiling up into rage. "What have you not told me?" Once more, Jared laughed, and this time the sound was triumphant. Oh, this is very rich. You have secrets from your hero in shining armor. And right now everything is breaking apart. Alex muttered, his voice heavy with irritation, but the harm was already done. "Shut down." My pulse increasing, I moved forward. Alex, what is he referring to? Not what are you not telling me? The strain in the air seemed to smother us all for a minute. Alex glanced at me and his face grew stern, his expression incomprehensible. It is not what you believe. "Then what is it?" I insisted, my voice cracking under doubt. " Right now, I feel as though I have been pulled into an illogical dream. I have to know the truth. Alex's gaze softened, and for the first time I watched the conflict ripping him apart. Though whatever he had been hiding was more than I could have imagined, he did not want to lie to me. His stillness was louder than any response he could produce. Alex said at last, his voice low and weighty: "There's someone else." " Someone who has been behind-the-scenes controlling things. someone Jared worries about as well. The weight of his words slammed into me like a tidal wave as I felt the ground change underfoot. "Who?." Once more, Jared's laughter sliced through the air, but this time it was more precisely keen. "Do you truly believe I am the worst of your problems? Relative to him, I am nothing. "Him?," I asked as I kept repeating, the word tumbling from my mouth as icy anxiety crept into my chest. "Who is he?"? Though it was Alex who responded, Jared grinned. Alex responded, his voice tight with control: "It's someone strong." "Someone with their own agenda—one that excludes you or me making it out of this alive." My head racing, I fixed my eyes on Alex. Weeks, months even, I had believed Jared was the one pulling all the strings, arranging this dream. But I knew I had been mistaken now as the reality gradually came apart before me. terrible mistake. "There's someone else after us," I murmured, more to myself than everyone else. The weight of that insight was oppressive. Then Jared said, his voice a mocking whisper: "And they're closer than you think." Though I fought it down, the need to shout, fight, and scratch my way out of this deepening pit of hopelessness surged in me. Not now, I afford to let go of control. Not when everything seemed to be on a thread. "What length of time have you known?" My voice faltering with the treachery I was so desperately attempting to control, I begged Alex. His eyes twitched with remorse. Long enough here. Until now, though, I was unsure just how far it descended. I shook my head and backed off from him, the distance separating us widening in more than one direction. You ought to have mentioned this. Alex continued, his voice breaking just enough for me to sense the vulnerability in it: "I wanted to protect you." "Guard me?" I grabbed, my terror exploding into rage. "How would you say maintaining secrets shields me? You have been dragging me into the dark while I have been battling for my life! Before Alex could reply, Jared said once more, his voice laden with evil. "Oh, this tastes really good. Seeing you two untangle as intended. My hands closed at my sides, I turned on Jared. "Who is he?" What is his wish? Jared's smile never changed even as Alex's hold on him tightened. "He seeks authority. And once he has it, all you have battled will be lost. You will have nothing. Though my mind flew, the answers seemed just out of reach no matter how hard I tried to put it together. Desperate for some sort of clarification, I looked to Alex; but, the shame in his eyes told me all I needed to know. Although he had been trying to shield me, his efforts had made everything far worse. Jared laughed, his obvious pleasure evident. Samantha, the time is running on the clock. You will soon enough run across him personally. You will also wish I was still your main concern when you do. I found it intolerable at last. The mental games and the manipulation—it was excessive. I needed to know the truth today as well as now. "Where is him?" I demanded, approaching closely, my voice trembling with barely controlled anger. "Where is this individual you mention? Jared's smile veered toward something darker and more malevolent. "Closer than you could possibly imagine." Jared shoved against Alex's hold before I could probe farther, but it was useless. Alex had him pinned, but his expression started to show increasing irritation. We were sliding exactly into Jared's trap as he was tempting us. "Let him go," I murmured abruptly—the words startling even to me. Alex looked at me, perplexity wrinkled on his brow. "What?" "Let him go," I said, voice firm now. "We are not going to get much more from him than this. He's like this much too much. I momentarily imagined Alex would say no. Then, with a hesitant nod, he let Jared go flinging him away with a force that drove him staggering. Jared straightened himself, that same intolerable smile still etched on his face. "Smart move, Samantha," Jared replied, shoving aside his jacket. But you are too late. You cannot stop what is coming regardless of what you do. Every fiber of my being wanted to shut him down, to make him pay for everything he had done. I sneered at him. Though I really wanted to fight him, I realized it was not the solution. Not nowadays. We'll see about that, I murmured softly, my eyes never leaving his. Jared moved back, his troops still hanging in the darkness. "Good luck, Samantha. You will be needing it. He turned then turned away, vanishing into the night, leaving me standing there with just more questions and a biting sense of fear. My heart weighty with what I knew, I looked to Alex as Jared's silhouette disappeared into the darkness. "Who is Alex?" Actually behind all of this is who? Alex's face became white, and I watched actual terror in his eyes for the first time. His name is Marcus... and he is already on our side.