Jackson wanted to run. He didn't have anyone to babysit him, so he could just get away and they'd never find him. It would be so easy, a voice in his head told him, they'd never even know you were gone. It was such a tempting fantasy that he almost didn't return, then he heard another voice in his head that killed that idea in an instant.
What if you're wrong? It hit him like a ton of bricks. You've seen and heard about what they can do- what we can do, how do you know that they don't know where you are right now? How do you know that samurai jackass isn't waiting for the chance to come after you? He can run faster than you, he and the rest of them can probably do other things that you can't too.
That was how Jackson McKennon found himself back on the front steps of the place he'd been brought when the ruffians had gotten tired of him. The place where he'd met the beautiful, sinister former prince.
After another moment of hesitation, he knocked on the heavy wooden door.