Hidden Fates (Hidden Heroes #4)

Chapter 1

“Are you really going to run another marathon, Aunt April?”

“Yes,” April said, tentatively, as if her running a marathon was news to either of them. She had been running marathons since her first year in college, and had only skipped one year in the last decade when her entire life fell apart.

Violet held her hand as they walked around the one-mile track outside the Integrative Training building on the expansive DynaTech Corporation Campus. It was something they did almost every morning before going inside for Violet’s daily training exercises.

“I wish I could go with you,” Violet said with a little sigh.

April forced a smile. “One day.” Nothing would make April happier than to run beside her sweet niece. But other than being too young, Violet wasn’t allowed to take one step off the property thanks to her step father, Ned Dynam, the billionaire CEO of DynaTech Corporation.

“It’s almost time to head inside, isn't it?” Violet asked with a hint of trepidation.

April’s stomach clenched at her niece’s words, but she steadied her breathing and gave a slight nod. “We have a few more minutes. Do you want to talk about last night?”

Violet shook her head, and April already felt her retreating into herself like she did every morning. April was well aware of how much her niece hated these morning exercises that Ned called ‘games,’ but there was nothing she could do to stop them. It was one of the non-negotiable conditions of her coming to work at DynaTech as Violet’s teacher and nanny. “Let’s just go in and get this over with,” Violet said with a resigned tone to her sweet little voice. “Then I want to go back to my room and finish reading the book we started. Okay?”

“Sure.” April had planned to teach a math and science lesson today, but Violet was already months ahead of where she needed to be for this school year. If she wanted to take a day off for some pleasure reading, April was more than happy to give her that time.

Just as they turned off the track and started making their way toward the imposing steel building, April caught sight of a large, familiar man wearing dark sunglasses and a bullet proof vest coming toward them. She cocked her head, not sure what was going on, then she heard the unmistakable sound of a muffled gunshot. “Violet!” April screamed, trying to push the girl out of the way as she threw herself to the ground. But Violet’s body stiffened and she held her position.

April watched in horror as the bullet slowed and came to a stop just inches away from Violet, then dropped at her feet. Violet’s little face hardened in concentration as another bullet came at them. Once again, Violet dropped it at her feet. Three more bullets came at them, all from different directions, and Violet never failed to stop and drop them before they ever made contact.

“Enough!” April called out, shaking from the unexpected attack. The man in the bullet proof vest closed the distance between them and came to stand beside Violet. He raised a hand and the shooting stopped. “How could you do that to her, Echo? We weren’t even inside yet? She wasn’t prepared for this onslaught!”

“I do what the boss tells me,” he answered flatly. “Let’s go.” He picked Violet up and proceeded to carry her into the building, not giving April a second glance as she got to her feet and ran to catch up to the man who was always present during Violet’s attacks.

Entering the building, they passed all four shooters, each one wearing special goggles that concealed Violet’s identity. These men were trained soldiers, and even Ned knew that no man in his right mind would attack or shoot at a six-year-old girl. The only way for these exercises to proceed was to hide her identity, and make them think they were training with a computer-generated image. Or in some cases, several images that were armed and ready for battle. The men also wore soundproof headphones to keep them from hearing Violet’s voice, and they were never allowed to touch the subject. For them, it was a tactical high tech training exercise, but for Violet, it was the difference between life and death. Because Ned never allowed her to wear any protective gear. He wanted these “games” to be as high stakes as possible, so she’d take them seriously.

April followed Echo to a locked door where he swiped his badge. The door buzzed and he opened it, setting Violet down inside the room. She used to put up a fight, try to get out of it, but lately Violet wasn’t bothering to do that anymore. April wasn’t sure if it was because Violet had given up, or if she’d learned to save her energy for what was coming. Either way, April hated it. She tried to follow Violet inside, but Echo blocked her passage with his massive body, effectively reminding her that she wasn’t welcome in the room known as “the gym.”

Fuming, but careful not to let the full force of anger show, mostly in fear that she would somehow be even further removed from Violet, April took a step back and marched to the next door. She pushed it open and stepped inside a smaller room that had a large, bullet proof glass window overlooking the gym.

She came right up to the glass, pressing her hands against it. She wanted to knock, to gesture, to let Violet know she was here. But it was useless. The glass wasn’t just bulletproof, it was sound proof, and one way. While April could clearly see Violet, all Violet saw from her side was a mirror.

Echo stepped inside the gym, and stood off to the side. At his readiness, April felt the muscles between her shoulder blades tense. Echo had never hurt Violet, never so much as laid a hand on her except to carry her or guide her from one place to another, but his presence signaled the beginning of another exercise.

She watched with fury in her eyes as two grown men, trained soldiers, advanced on Violet. The six-year-old stood still, her bright violet eyes after which she was named growing wider the closer they got. The door behind April opened and Ned walked in. “It’s about time you got here,” April seethed. “You know she won’t defend herself in there until you give her instructions.” She hated how Ned was so cavalier when it came to his stepdaughter’s safety.

Ned smirked in April’s direction, then turned his attention to the one-way glass. His eyes focused on Violet and the two men who were now less than ten feet away from her. April was about to scream at the man standing next to her to do something when he finally flicked the switch on the microphone.

Ned’s voice filled the gym, instructing Violet on how to defend herself from the coming attacks, The soldiers threw knives, axes, and daggers at Violet, and each time she could only defend herself using the exact method Ned instructed her to. “To the target on the right.” “Over his head.” “Double spin into the far wall.” If Violet veered from his instructions in any way, she would have to perform the exercise all over again.

Thirty minutes later, Ned told the soldiers to stand down. Violet was drenched in sweat, her blonde curls sticking to her forehead and the nape of her neck. Her eyes were sullen, and her hands were clenched into tight little fists even as her body seemingly gave out, and she collapsed to a sitting position on the mat she’d been standing on.

April wished she could be the one to go in there, but she knew the rules. Echo walked over to her completely drained niece, lifted her into his arms, and carried her out of the room. April rushed to follow him to Violet’s quarters where he deposited the nearly unconscious little girl on a chaise lounge in the large bathroom next to an oversized jacuzzi tub.

As soon as Echo left, April was at Violet’s side. She brushed all the wet, stray hairs out of Violet’s face and pressed a soft kiss to her moist forehead. “Bubbles or extra bubbles?” She asked, trying to keep her tone light.

“Extra bubbles,” Violet whispered.

April nodded. Bubbles meant just bubble bath bubbles. Extra bubbles meant bubble bath bubbles and jacuzzi jet bubbles. Violet had so little control over her life that April tried to give her as much control over the little things as possible, including how she wanted to take her bath.

As the tub filled with warm water and lots of bubbles, April kept an eye on Violet who was slowly coming out of her dazed exhaustion. “How are you doing, Sweetie?” She asked.

Violet shrugged. “I was just thinking, one day when I can run a marathon with you, maybe I won’t have to do these stupid exercises anymore.”

The knot in April’s stomach twisted to an almost unbearable pain. April would do anything to get her niece away from the clutches of Ned Dynam. But he had adopted Violet when she was just two years old, giving him full parental rights after her mother’s passing.

Everyday April considered going to the police, but Ned had warned her about exactly what would happen if she did that. He’d insist April was lying, invite them into Violet’s lavish room that would undoubtedly convince everyone that his stepdaughter lived the life of a pampered little princess, and then he’d make sure April was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for crimes she did and did not commit.

It was a terrifying notion, but the more time that passed, the less April seemed to care about what happened to her. The only thing she wanted was to save Violet from the tyrant that was her stepfather. And as much as she wasn’t a fan of her best friend, Zara’s idea, maybe going on a date with Tanner Rhodes was exactly what April needed to do.

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