Emerge: The Captive: (Book 3)(104)

“So … loving two people at the same time is inevitable?” Quinn asked.

“Aye.” Gregg nodded. “And you’ve no need to beat yourself up about it.”

“I will do my best not to come between you and Santi,” Sasha said softly. “But it won’t be easy.” Her eyes clouded with tears. She didn’t want to share him. Not now that she finally had him back. But at the same time she could understand how torn Quinn was feeling. In a sense, she felt like she’d finally gotten her heart back, but there was a little piece of her that was with Jayesh. She had no idea what her future would hold with him, but she owed it to him to find out.

“And I will do my best to explain to her how much you mean to me,” Quinn said.

“We will spend a great deal of time over the coming weeks discussing the Syntrophos bond. We will bring Santi into those lessons if you’d like,” Gregg said.

“Thank you.” Quinn nodded.

“Wait,” Sasha said. “Allie and Darius?”

“Aye.” Gregg smiled. “Allie and Darius too.”

“That’s … unexpected.” Sasha giggled. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh.” But she suddenly found the thought of Allie at the center of so much boy drama absolutely hilarious.

“Poor Aidan.” Quinn laughed, slipping his hand around hers.

“Poor Darius.” Gregg grinned.

“She’s going to drown them both in the lake.” Sasha threw her head back and laughed. It felt good to laugh. It felt good to finally understand her feelings for Quinn and how he would always be one of the most important people in her life. Knowing that would never change made it easier to think of him with someone else—easier to think of herself with someone else.

Jayesh.

~~~





EPILOGUE





Livia: Fall—The New Moon


Kelleys Island, Ohio


“Oh good, you brought the brat.” Livia paced the length of her cell. It was the only way she could mask the panic she was feeling.

How did I get myself into this? Marcus is going to slaughter these people. And it’s all my fault.

Livia turned, setting her eyes on the girl who was the source of all her trouble. Allie met her gaze with defiance. This was not the same girl Livia had met eight months ago. That girl had been a shadow. A child who hadn’t yet come into her own. She’s found her footing since then.

“Do you know why you’re looking for me?” Allie asked, her voice clear as a bell.

“Of course. But I won’t be telling any of you that.” Livia looked Allie up and down, scouring her face for clues. What is it about this girl? What am I missing? She was certainly powerful, and if Livia’s suspicions were correct, Allie was also very important. But there was something more—something Livia hadn’t figured out yet.

“Not the reason your boss wants me. Do you know why you are so intrigued by me? Why time and again you come looking for me?”

“What do you know?” Livia paced as close to the magnetic bars as she dared.

“You’re my sister.”

Of all the things the girl could have said, this was not what Livia expected.

“Not possible.” Livia reached for the necklace at her throat. The memories that had plagued her for years came back to her now. Memories of another life. Another family. Livia had a life once. A life before Marcus.

“Of course … Alivia,” Gregg whispered. “I haven’t thought of her in more than a century.” He stared at Livia like she was a missing piece of his family. “Do you remember when you were taken?” he asked. “You were so young. I can’t imagine you could remember much of your natural mother and father.”

“I was adopted. I’m no natural born.” But the vague memories and dreams that tormented her sleep were proof that what he said was true. What had Marcus robbed her of? What might her life have been like if he’d never taken her from her … family?

“You remember a woman with hair like mine, don’t you? You said it the moment you laid eyes on me in that warehouse last year when I was the one behind bars. I remember her too, just vaguely.”

“The necklace … let me see it,” Livia demanded.

Allie tugged a chain from under her coat and held it in the light.

Livia did the same, removing a long chain tucked under her jacket. The pendants were nearly identical. The serpentine figure around Livia’s necklace was more clearly an ouroboros than Allie’s, but the pendants were eerily similar. And eerily like the Soma brand, except the serpent curved into a figure eight rather than a circle.

Allie’s mortal mother, Lily, had given Livia the necklace when she’d visited her in New Zealand more than eighteen months ago. Along with a story that didn’t seem quite right. That trip was the catalyst that started all of this—Livia’s obsession with Allie.

Livia hadn’t discovered the answers she sought that day, only more questions. Questions that led her back to Allie again a year later.

“It makes no difference.” Livia lifted her chin. She couldn’t let these people see how shaken she was. “I was raised by the man I call father. That is all that matters.” Livia turned her back to them. She couldn’t look into Allie’s eyes for another second. She was too ashamed of all she had done. There was no way this girl could ever understand that Livia did it all to keep her mother safe.