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Kara, what are we going to do?I sighed at her.
Right now, we’re going to eat dinner,she instructed.And then, as much as you hate to be the damsel in distress, we’re going to wait for our mate to rescue us.
I sighed again and ate dinner. Then I did the only thing I could think to do. I slept.
In the morning, Helios came by with breakfast. As he was heading toward the door, I thought of something.
“Wait! Huitz—Helios. Can I please have a couple of books? I have nothing to do here.” I was overthinking while I was stuck in here, and it was driving me mad. He looked at me curiously again, then said, “We‘ll be leaving tomorrow. You can buy some at the airport.” He left, padlocks clicking closed behind him.
Atlas is pulling at the mate link. I’m going to try to talk to him. Maybe he’s already close by,Kara said excitedly sometime later that morning.
Hurry,I said, knowing I wouldn’t know anything until she was done.
I forced myself to eat breakfast while I waited for Kara to tell us if Markus was close.
Celeste...Kara started, and I stopped breathing.
Are they close?
I could feel a deep sadness emanating from her.
No. They almost died. The pain of us being taken… Markus’ heart almost stopped. Atlas put him in a healing sleep. They’re fine now, but he used all their energy to reach out and make sure we were okay. I told him everything we knew about leaving for Mexico, and where we were. I told him he hadn’t hurt us or the pups.My heart was breaking, and Kara kept going.
They will look for us. He said when we go to the airport, to look at as many cameras as possible. Evergreen’s software will find us and track us. If we get taken to a store, look at the camera. If we are at a stoplight, look for a traffic camera. They will find us.
I couldn’t stop the tears from falling down my eyes again. This entire time, I worried about the pups and didn’t even think about what was happening to Markus.
It’s my fault,Kara howled in the back of my head.
You did what was necessary. We will survive this. Our mates are strong,It was my turn to soothe her. –You and Atlas have a plan. It will work. We will play along with Helios and find a way to make it out of this. He doesn’t know Atlas could reach us. We have the upper hand.
Itwasdayelevenof being kidnapped, and honestly, I was so confused. Helios was a walking contradiction. I had to be the most well-cared-for kidnap victim in history. I didn’t understand him.
While Helios insisted he didn’t hurt women, he planned to kill me. Yet, anytime I’d shown discomfort because of my pregnancy, he’d practically jumped through hoops to make it better. He bought a lot of books at the airport bookstore, more than anyone could possibly read in the two weeks I had left to live. Then he upgraded us to first class when the seats were giving me back pain. He even bought me a craving I got as we made our way out of the airport food court.
Helios had yet to restrain me, hurt me, or even threaten me again since that first day. I was eating full meals, and he was indulging my constant bathroom breaks, which meant we hit about five different gas stations once we arrived in Mexico City on the way to his hideout, and I made sure to look at the camera each time we stopped.
When we finally arrived at his mansion, just on the outskirts of Mexico City near the pyramids we had seen in our vision, I was surprised he was living so close. I’d seen and felt his sorrow for the death of his mother in the vision. I knew this place held bad memories for him, and yet he chose to stay so close. It was like he chose to relive that pain every time he looked out of the window.
Helios allowed me to move about his house when we arrived. I was even allowed to go outside and spend time in the garden. I was too far along the pregnancy to shift now, and he knew it. The house was surrounded by a giant concrete fence and guards, who were surprisingly friendly and kind to me as long as I didn’t approach the exits. I had nowhere to go.
I initially spent a lot of time in my bedroom, but Kara encouraged me to go outside to fight against the depression I was trying to keep at bay, and I finally relented. I was sitting outside in the sun by the gardens when I heard him walk by.
“You’re finally out of your room,” he stated without any inflection in his voice to tell me how he was feeling about it, so I didn’t answer. He sat on the chair next to mine and looked off into the distance to the pyramids.
“Why do you do it?” I asked.
“Because they killed my mother,” he answered automatically, and I was beginning to notice that his words lacked conviction or rage.
“I meant, why do you live so close to the pyramids? That’s where it happened, isn’t it?” I asked. Helios nodded, still not looking at me.
“I made a promise to my mother to avenge her. They will all pay for killing her.” He stopped and hesitated for a moment before he decided to continue, “Sometimes I get tired. Tired of killing, tired of fighting. I bought this place to remind me of my promise. Of what they did to her.”
“I was abused, starved, beaten and mentally broken for almost twelve years by the same people that murdered my family, my pack, my friends. When I was free of them, I didn’t seek revenge. All I wanted was to free the rest of my friends.” I shook my head. “Your way sounds exhausting and heartbreaking. You said you’ve been alive for a millennia, but have you even lived?” I asked.
“That is not important. I have a promise to fulfill,” he reiterated, standing up.
“And if you don’t know the whole story? What if your siblings were right? What if your mother was being influenced by evil, and it was the only way to stop her? Would you stop?” I asked him as he walked away. He stopped, never turning around. He looked up at the sky for a moment.
