Chapter 123

Mira

The gravel road crunched under the tires as I pulled up to the Brooks compound.

I wanted to stop and see Rae before I went, the guilt of using her as an excuse before I had won over. She also deserved to know the truth about my mission, and in all truth I could use her help.

The guard at the gate recognized me, which was helpful to keep a lower profile than having to wait and seek approval for entry. I had calculated this into the plan, knowing I could be on camera here, but I was willing to take the risk. It wasn’t strange to be here, regardless of what my next steps might be.

Lucian stayed with the car, opting to stretch his legs outside rather than intrude on Rae’s family. Her parents were surprised but delighted to see me, and it wasn’t long before I heard the teenager’s footsteps racing down the stairs.

“Mira!”

Rae threw her arms around me and I caught her into mine. Her body felt like it was vibrating, but we hugged. I felt her relax and her heartbeat slowed to a steadier rhythm. I wondered if this was just a part of Rae, or if that anxiety was connected to her experience in captivity.

“I missed you, kid,” I said, tucking my shin over her shoulder. I squeezed her a little tighter before we let go. “I’m sorry to have surprised you all.”

“Don’t even think of it,” Rae’s father said, an arm around his wife. “You know you are welcome here anytime.”

“What can I get you— coffee, tea?”

“We made lemon cake last night.”

“I’ll get it all!”

Rae smiled sweetly as her parents disappeared into the kitchen, then she looked back at me.

“Come upstairs first?”

I followed her to her room, knowing she liked privacy when we had our heart-to-hearts. We were both the only children in our families, so we met the sisterly bond by sitting cross-legged on her bed as we gossiped and cried and supported each other.

“I’ve been trying to reach Julian,” she told me as we settled.

I breathed out a heavy breath, choosing my words carefully before speaking.

“It’s like he’s closed off, in a cocoon or something,” she went on, urged to share her experience with someone who might understand. So few couples were true Fated Mates, a rarity that bonded me and Rae ever tighter.

“He doesn’t respond? Like the door is closed?” I asked, trying to clarify from my own experience. “It feels like slamming into a wall when they ignore you.”

“No, it’s not quite that,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s like, he’s there and he knows I’m there. He can hear me. But he won’t talk to me, or he can’t…”

“I see, that’s… how does he seem to you? Have they changed him, harmed him?”

My brain ran through a few quick scenarios of what a man like Malachi could do with the tools at his disposal. I tried to suppress the imaginary catastrophes and focus on the present.

“He seems… healthy, I guess, not weak or sick or anything,” Rae turned her head upwards slightly, like she was seeing him on the ceiling in order to describe him. “He feels solid, or stiff like a soldier. But, Mira, I can feel it— he’s so scared.”

I saw her breath tighten in her throat, her chest responding as she tried to get more oxygen. I reached out to take her hands, trying to stop the panic attack from seizing her. My thumbs made circles on the backs of her hands as I took slow breaths right along with her, encouraging her to come back from the edge.

“It’s okay, Rae, it’s okay, just breathe with me,” I said rhythmically, calming her with the hum in my voice. Her eyelids fluttered as inhaled deeply and brought herself back to a steady place. I smiled at her. “I’m going to find him.”

Her eyes widened at my words.

“What do you mean? How?”

My mouth twisted with a touch of shame. “I don’t know exactly, but that’s why I stopped by,” I told her, instinctively lowering my voice even though her parents were far out of ear shot. “I’ve been in touch with the doctor.”

Horror struck Rae’s face and she pulled her hands away from mine.

“You what?”

I couldn't see how much of this shock would turn to anger, and I tried to quell her outrage quickly.

“He’s been trying to reach me, ever since I got you out,” I explained, choosing to focus on surface-level details. “He sent me a note, he has my phone number somehow— I finally went to meet with him—“

“You met with him?” Rae’s voice was peaking, her cheeks turning pink. “Julian is trapped in some creepy medical lair, and you went to meet with the monster who took him?”

“It’s part of my plan!” I hissed out the words so as not to yell, and Rae shrunk back from me a bit. I sighed, resetting my tone. “Rae, he wants me to work for him. If I can convince him to let me in, I might be able to get Julian out.”

She was quiet then, thinking. Her eyes were darting side to side as she looked at me, reading the sincerity of my statements.

“What if it’s a trap?”

“I’ve thought of that,” I said, nodding somberly. “Lucian is coming with me, and will check in on me sporadically. He’ll be ready to call in the big guns if anything starts to go south.”

“And you trust him?”

“I do, he’s been a good friend to me,” I said honestly, “and I don’t know what he would gain by putting me in harm’s way. He’s helping me because he knows he can’t stop me.”

“Okay,” Rae said, reluctantly accepting as a skeptical teenager does.

“And I have you,” I added. “I need you to keep this a secret, and I know you will. And I need you to keep reaching out to Julian, let him know I’m coming for him.”

She was nodding seriously, taking in her orders.

“You’ll have my new number, and we’ll keep each other updated,” I said. “I don’t want to disappear on you.”

“And Dominic?”

My heart stopped. A breath started it again.

“What about him?”

“Are you disappearing on him?”

The corners of my mouth turned downwards.

“I had to,” I confessed. “He would want to storm the place, use force. I need to submit in order to infiltrate. Malachi needs to trust me, not knowing I plan to betray him.”

“Mira…”

“What?”

Rae bit her lip. “Nothing,” she said, looking down. “You don’t need relationship advice from a teenager.”

The two of us went downstairs, enjoying a few moments to catch up with her parents. I made my polite excuses to get back on the road, taking some extra cake for Lucian who had wandered somewhere down their block.

“Do give our best to your husband,” Rae’s mother said to me at the door, “we are still so grateful to you both for bringing our daughter back to us. He really exceeds all expectations, quite the Alpha.”

I nodded, forcing a smile even though my heart was tight as a fist in my chest.

Lucian was on the sidewalk, facing away from me as he spoke fervently into the phone. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but his body language told me he was wishing for the conversation to end.

As I got closer, the words caught my ears as he said goodbye.

“I will call you later Celeste.”