“Do I? Enlighten me.”
She was silent for a long time. I began to give up. If she didn’t want to talk, there wasn’t much I could do. I started to turn away.
“You left,” she said, suddenly standing by the bars. “You left me behind, and you never even thought twice.”
I inhaled a sharp breath, feeling stung by the accusation. “I joined the military. I didn’t exactly leave you behind, and you told me not to come back anyways.”
“It certainly felt like you left me behind. You didn’t even tell me before you did it. You just showed up with the papers and said you had to report to basic in two days. I told you everything.” Her voice was tight with emotion. “You knew about my mom, my family issues. I shared every dark secret with you. Yet, you shared so very little.”
Her words felt like little shards of ice. I had never thought she cared, let alone would notice my absence. She never asked me about my life. I was always the tag along. She was always the brains. The brain doesn’t ask what the arms and legs want, it just expects them to comply.
“You were so driven. You knew exactly where you were going and how you were going to get there,” I told her. “I felt lost and thought joining would help me find my way.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that?” she asked.
I lifted one shoulder. “I didn’t want you to think less of me.”
“Well, I did anyway.” She folded her arms and looked away.
That was the truth.
“Then, you came back, but you didn’t. Not really. You had this secret—one you kept for years.” She met my eyes with angry ones of her own. “How would you feel if our situations were reversed, and I had frozen you out while keeping this massive secret that could change everything?”
Furious. Hurt. Everything in between.
“I did it to protect you,” I said.
“Look how that ended.” She looked sad as she stared back at me.
There weren’t words to defend myself with. She was right, but so was I.
We were quiet for a long moment. I didn’t know how to fix what was broken, or even if I should. Still, I wanted our friendship back.
"I didn’t mean you harm,” I told her. “Is there any way you can forgive me?”
Her face crumpled. “We’re friends—even when we hate each other.”
My laugh was a little watery.
“What if I made you a deal?" I asked, clearing my throat and bringing us back to the matter at hand. "I'll be more open to establishing a relationship with the vampires if you learn what you need to know from the wolves."
Her head snapped back to me, her eyes surprised. My mouth was turned down as I stared back at her with a grumpy frown. Yeah, I'd said it. It was a major concession, something I wasn't really known for.
"It's still not fair," she said, looking like she was considering it. "My life is entirely controlled by them."
"I'm not joining a clan," I said in a flat voice.
She lifted her chin. "You have to receive training from them like I do the wolves."
I took a deep breath and blew it out with a disgusted sigh. "Fine."
"Every day."
"No. Once a week."
"Twice a week." Her expression let me know she meant it, that that was as far as she'd compromise.
"Fine." Her lips twitched, and then stilled at my next words. "You have to stay part of the pack, and you can't run again."
"Aileen, they want me to quit my job." Her expression was slightly shamed as her eyes fell from mine. "You know what that means to me."
I did know. Sondra had informed me before bringing me down here. They didn't think she was stable enough to be around humans, especially ones on the brink of adulthood with all the hormonal behavior that brought. Caroline defined herself by her work. She'd come so far in life that giving up her goals would feel like a major blow.
"If it makes you feel better, I got fired because of all this," I said with a sly grin when she gave me an exasperated look and rolled her eyes. There really was no comparison between the two, since my job was one I'd fallen into while hers was a career. "It's not forever, you know. Prove you can control yourself, and I'm sure they'll lift the restriction."
"And if they don't?"
"Then we fuck their shit up." I arched an eyebrow, feeling relief when she nodded. I grinned before standing. "I'll tell them you're ready for food."
I turned toward the steps.
"You'll be back, right?" Caroline's voice was insecure.
I looked over my shoulder and gave her my best daredevil grin. "Try to stop me. We'll both make this work. Together."
She nodded. Her eyes were still sad, but she didn't look like she was beaten. It was something. More than when I'd walked down here.
I paused before I headed up the stairs, turning to Sondra. “What will happen to Lisa?”
She looked at the other wolf with distaste. Lisa lifted her chin and gave us a snooty look. “That hasn’t been decided yet. She did kill two people, plotted against a fellow pack member, and conspired with an enemy.”
I hesitated, not sure it was my place to say anything, let alone whether it was wise of me to. Lisa had been painted with the same brush as her brother. While I got the sense that the woman had wanted to get away from him and his schemes, she had waited until the last possible moment.
“If it helps, she did try to free me,” I said, my conscious getting the better of me. “Even knowing it would have repercussions for her. I got the sense from Theo that the companions weren’t entirely her fault.”
Sondra considered that. “I will let Brax know, and he will factor that into his decision.”
I nodded then walked up the steps with grim purpose. That was all I could do for now—all I was willing to do. Everything else regarding Lisa was in Brax’s hands.
Liam leaned against the wall in the hall next to the basement, his arms folded over his chest as he watched me with an appreciative gaze. My steps faltered as I noticed him.
There were a lot of questions I had for him. This wasn’t the best place to ask them with prying ears all around, but I needed to know.
“Why do you keep helping me?” I asked. He’d had plenty of opportunity to wipe his hands of me and my problems. “Sondra told me you’re the reason they were finally able to track us down.”
The waking dream I’d had of him by the beach and ocean had been real—the mark he’d forced on me creating a link he could follow. I may have done most of the heavy lifting in saving myself, but he and the wolves’ timely arrival had gone a long way to helping the situation.
He studied me with hooded eyes, his head tilting in consideration. “You fascinate me.”
I blinked at him, nonplussed. “I fascinate you.”
Not the answer I had been expecting.
He gave me a wicked smile. “In so many ways.”
“Does that have anything to do with this?” I tapped the skin under my magic-seeing eye.