Page 66 of Dark Reunion

“I had a twin, and we were inseparable. We were just young girls when a man broke into the house and kidnapped her. He tried to take both of us, but I managed to get free and ran to get help. But by the time I got back with the help, he was gone, and so was my sister. Just like that, they disappeared into the dark of night and he…” Yasmine cleared her throat and blinked to keep the tears from falling. “He assaulted her and killed her before dumping her like garbage. She was my best friend. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t blame myself for her death. I took too long, I shouldn’t have run, I should’ve screamed louder.”

“I’m so sorry,” Maeve said softly, and Yasmine wiped away a traitorous tear.

“The police didn’t have enough evidence to arrest anyone. I had given up hope that the man would be brought to justice. I’d told Dean that story, and he went hunting.”

“The man he was skinning?”

Yasmine nodded. “Yes, it was a gift to me. A strange gift, I know, and not one for everyone, but...for me, for us…it was the most beautiful gift he could’ve given me. That was when he opened up, telling me who he really was, that he wasn’t really a priest and was only posing as one for his role with the Righteous and how he was in hiding from his tyrant of a father. I was furious that he’d lied to me like that. It made me feel horrible for loving a man that I should never have wanted, let alone the thoughts I had.”

Maeve crossed her arms. “But you stayed. How did you forgive him?”

Yasmine stood quietly as she thought back to the weeks leading up to the moment. Thought about his childhood and his time in the military. Eventually, she could only shrug.

“He trusted me with the truth. He told me everything. The abuse he suffered here, how he ran and took you to save you. How he was a scared teen who didn’t know what else to do and joined the military. How he lost his brothers overseas and chose to join the secret government organization when he got out. I saw the man under the death, the boy who had suffered, and the man still trying to atone for his sins in the only way he knew. And…I loved him.”

Yasmine’s throat tightened, but she forced herself to meet Maeve’s stare. “It was warped, yes. But he laid his soul bare. He trusted me when he could have lied or run again. That mattered more than the blood on his hands.”

Maeve’s jaw worked as she paced, her fists curling and uncurling. “So, he stood in your town, hiding behind a collar, and you just…accepted what he said?”

“No.” Yasmine’s voice hardened. “I felt betrayed and hurt and didn’t know if I could trust him again. I had to do a lot of soul searching, and then I forgave him. Not because it was easy, certainly not because it was the right thing to do, but because…he is more than the sum of the decisions he’s made. He is a man who is always evolving, wanting to be better, and protects those he loves.”

Maeve snorted and shook her head.

Yasmine stepped into Maeve’s path and gently laid her hands on Maeve’s shoulders. “Tell me…what would you have wanted Dean to do when he took you? Set aside the pain and the fear you endured and tell me what you honestly think could have been different?”

For a long moment, Maeve said nothing, her body taut with anger and disbelief. Then a sudden tug broke the tension. Tate grabbed at her sleeve, holding up a flower plucked from the garden wall. Yellow, ordinary, and perfectly fragile.

“For you,” he said, holding it up to Maeve.

“Me?”

He nodded furiously.

Maeve tentatively took it from his fingers. With a smile, Tate ran off, and Yasmine watched as Maeve stared at the flower like it might explode in her palm. Slowly, almost unwillingly, she closed her fingers around the stem and held it up to her nose.

Maeve didn’t answer, but when Tate ran back with a second flower, she smiled. Tate slipped his tiny hand into hers once she took the flower and didn’t let go.

“You don’t have to forgive Dean today,” Yasmine said gently. “All I ask is that you watch him. Watch how he bleeds for what he loves. Try to see him without the anger, and picture yourself at eighteen, responsible for Tate, with a cartel hunting both of you. That’s the only thing that I ask.”

Maeve continued to stare at Tate as he tugged on her hand, wanting them to walk. “I will,” she finally said.

They walked in a small procession, filled with the boys’ chatter as they asked a million and two questions and told stories. Maeve listened and answered everything, making Yasmine smile. They must have looked like a pitiful version of all those that filed onto Noah’s Ark. Two women, two children, two guards, and two cats that had abandoned their sunbathing to wander with them. It was a beautiful day, yet there was a wary silence all around them. The gravel crunched beneath their steps as they lapped the entire path that wound around the hacienda, gardens, and the front entranceway.

When they reached the far side of the compound, the gardens thinned into dirt paths and wild grass that pressed up against the high perimeter wall. The late sun struck the top, throwing long shadows that striped the ground with the swirl of barbed wire.

Maeve slowed, her eyes dragging up the wall as though she could see right through it.

“You can almost taste it from here,” Maeve whispered.

Yasmine followed her gaze. Beyond the wall, a white-naped swift glided in lazy circles against the open sky, proof that freedom existed just beyond their reach.

“It’s right there,” Maeve said, her voice raw. “You can feel it…the air, the space, the… choice.” She pressed her palm flat to the stone, eyes shimmering with tears. “This is a gilded cage, nothing more. You can put silk on the bed and jewels in the dresser, but it’s still a prison.”

Yasmine swallowed. She knew that feeling all too well. The walls pressing in, the beauty curdling into cruelty and souring everything.

“You’re not wrong,” she admitted. “But cages break. I’ve seen it. And Dean…” She let her eyes flick toward Maeve. “Dean is already hammering at the cracks,” she whispered under her breath, so the two guards couldn’t hear her.

“Then he’d better chisel faster.” She turned away from the wall, her jaw set. “Because I don’t plan to stay in anyone’s cage.” Maeve looked up at the wall. “Out there, I have someone who loves me, and I don’t even know if he’s alive. If he’s…” She rolled out her shoulders, eyes hardening. “No one will keep me here, and I will do whatever I need to walk out that gate.”

Her words hung heavy between them as they headed back toward the main house. Yasmine picked up a tired Aiden, and Maeve scooped up Tate. Yasmine thought of Dean, and of the impossible tightrope he walked between showing convincing loyalty and rebellion. She could only pray that Maeve would one day see what Yasmine saw in him.

They were almost back to the main house when a shadow detached itself from the stone archway ahead. A guard stepped into their path, rifle slung across his chest, eyes darting from Yasmine to Maeve with a tension that made Yasmine’s stomach clench.

“Señor Carlos, requests your presence,” he said, voice stiff. His gaze lingered on Maeve. “Both of you. Now.”

Yasmine tightened her grip on Aiden, the weight of him suddenly heavier in her arms. Maeve’s face hardened, her hand pressing to Tate’s back with quiet defiance.

“Why?” Yasmine asked, her voice measured.

The guard hesitated just long enough to confirm this wasn’t routine. Then he shook his head. “Don’t make me repeat myself.”

The sun had dropped lower, painting the courtyard in copper light. The children were silent, sensing the shift, their wide eyes bouncing between the adults.

Maeve looked at Yasmine, jaw tight, eyes a little too manic. She didn’t have to say it. If Carlos did anything, Maeve was going to kill him and dance in his blood.

The guard gestured for them to walk ahead of him, and there was no more time for choices. They stepped forward.