Chapter 90: Chapter 90

“Please, explain it to me again.” I kept my face impassive, although the tears burning in my eyes seemed to have turned into acid.

“It’s exactly what it sounds like.” Aly took a sip of water from her second glass, her expression serious. Despite the severe dehydration and low b***d sugar, Aly had come out virtually unscathed. The worst injury she had was a bump on her forehead from her fall when the gas invaded the room.

Her luck had been incredible, especially amidst the sudden wave of white wolf kidnappings in the past fifteen years. The High Council had kept this hidden for quite some time, but it was astonishing what Ethan had managed to uncover when motivated by his twin’s a*******n.

Although I was overjoyed beyond words that she was alive, there were some things that I struggled to accept. I had no information about where she and Liam had been taken. Both had lost consciousness from the gas, and when Aly woke up, Liam was no longer there.

A wave of disappointment engulfed me, so strong that it felt like the ground was shifting beneath my feet. I tried, unsuccessfully, to hide my emotions from Ethan, and I welcomed him gratefully as he came to stand behind me. His arms wrapped around my waist, anchoring me here and preventing me from floating to where Liam might be.

According to Aly, they had been in a room with rough walls and dirty floors, constantly imbued with a smell of mold and dampness. Although Aly had deduced they were in a basement, it hadn’t provided her with much help. The room was fortified with silver, embedded in the walls and floor, designed to inflict maximum pain. The only thing that gave her some relief was a rickety cot, situated just inches above the ground.

Before she could gather more information, Nicolas Zoe appeared and rescued her.

“Believe me, he didn’t intend to be there,” Aly scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Her wrinkled expression clearly indicated that Nicolas Zoe wasn’t on her favorites list. “The arrogant i***t made that very clear. He let me go because he knew Liam would be enough incentive for you to follow. Speaking of which, he wants a meeting with both of you.”

“A meeting with us?” I whispered, my eyes flashing murderously at the thought of having him in the same room as Ethan.

“Don’t even consider it. He was very specific about his conditions,” Aly growled, rolling her eyes. Though she still blushed, this kind of response was more common when she was facing someone she utterly despised, and despising Nicolas Zoe wasn’t difficult. “He made sure to make it clear that he had the assistance of some white wolves, who would know if we shared information with others or if we came with backup.”

“Wonderful,” Ethan muttered irritably. The tension in his jaw and shoulders reached me as if they were my own, which in a way, they were. “He probably wants to set conditions for Liam. Those conditions might involve you, sweetheart. Which means the war could break out sooner rather than later.”

I ran my fingertips along the underside of his wrist, feeling his body tense. It comforted me to know that my touch at least softened his anger and released some of that tension in his bones.

Despite the fear I still felt, that fear reminded me of what was at stake. I hadn’t had this strange family for long, but I’d grown more attached than I ever would have imagined possible, and I had no intention of giving up without a fight.

“I know, and I’m prepared for whatever comes,” I told him, allowing him to feel the sincerity behind my words and the determination rising as I faced our enemies.

“I don’t want to ruin this moment, but there’s something else,” Aly interjected after a while, her voice tense and her eyes flicking to a speck of dust on the wall. She finally looked up to meet both of our gazes. Through the fog of emotions I was feeling at that moment, I couldn’t discern anything amiss in her account of what had happened. “I want to be in that meeting. The i***t thinks he can’t trust me because I’m not close enough to you two. I want to prove him wrong.”

“Who was I to question Aly’s resentment towards Nicolas Zoe when I was accumulating an equally unhealthy amount towards her father?

Nearly an hour later, the three of us were dressed and walking in silence down the hallway, heading towards the place where we planned to meet Nicolas Zoe. It was incredibly risky and could be considered a rather foolish move. We were meeting on foreign territory, completely at his mercy and under his terms. We were walking blindly, having no idea what awaited us. However, Ethan was confident that Nicolas wouldn’t try anything.

“Her father isn’t problematic, at least not with certain people,” explained Ethan. “He would be furious if Nicolas messed with any of us, especially in such a serious situation. It’s clear he doesn’t want his father to find out about this meeting, so he’ll want to keep it off the radar.”

I had decided to stick with my slate gray dress, despite the attendants’ suggestions that I change into something more comfortable. Ethan was wearing black pants and a matching shirt. Under any other circumstances, I would be completely enamored with his outfit. He looked absolutely stunning, with the shirt sleeves rolled up, revealing his muscular arms and a slight amount of hair on his forehead. Aly had also showered and changed, and she looked a million times better.

As we walked down the corridor, I kept Aly between Ethan and me. As much as I needed the comfort of my partner, Aly needed it even more. Her rescue had been almost accidental, and she was very lucky to be standing here right now. I briefly wondered if she had had a chance to talk to her parents, but I decided not to mention it.

Nicolas had given Aly a floor, a room, and a specific time frame. Eluding the guards in charge of us wasn’t too complicated. Most of them were Liam’s and Ethan’s men, which meant they wouldn’t disobey an order from one of their Alphas. Ethan simply asked them politely to give us some privacy for half an hour. Most would assume that Ethan and I wanted some time alone amidst the stressful moments we had faced, and that’s exactly what we wanted.

Most of the hustle and bustle in the hotel was concentrated on the lower floors. The three of us noticed little to no activity on the upper floors of the hotel, which only served to increase the eerie feeling of the situation. We turned corners and passed by side tables adorned with vases full of fresh flowers before finding the room we were looking for.

We could hear each other’s individual breaths as Ethan knocked on the door. The sound was almost imperceptible, but someone on the other side of the door must have heard it. We stepped back slightly as the door opened and Nicolas Zoe appeared in the doorway.

“Well, are you satisfied with the view, or do you need a little more time to gawk? I’d appreciate it if you’d come in after you’re done ogling,” he said with a soft yet venomous tone, a blend that matched perfectly with his expensive attire and impeccable hairstyle.

Aly snorted at his comment, and Ethan visibly tensed. Despite my intense desire to rip his head off, I entered the room with my sanity still intact. The hotel room was similar to the others, though it had a completely different design. The furnishings remained luxurious and modern, but there were comforting touches in the decor.

Nicolas moved gracefully around the room in his gray suit. The white tie he wore around his neck seemed to reflect his cold and calculating personality. He looked like a magazine model showcasing a suit, all perfectly arranged and neat. The only unpleasant part was the bitter look etched on his face, something that seemed out of place for someone with his appearance.

Aly went on the defensive. “It shouldn’t surprise you to see me here,” she scoffed, dismissing Nicolas with a wave of her hand. Though she radiated pure hostility towards him, she refused to meet his eyes. If Ethan noticed this, he showed no reaction.

“You’re just a puppet of your ruthless father. Go ahead and say what you need to so we can be done with this.”

“Since you’re so sure you know it all, I’m determined to prove you wrong,” Nicolas sneered, his attractive appearance masking an ignorant attitude.

“Oh, so you think I know it all?” Aly growled, placing her hands on her h**s as she glared at Nicolas Zoe.

Nicolas’s crystalline eyes darkened, and his elegant demeanor became slightly more threatening. Aly matched his anger, and a threatening growl rumbled in her chest. It seemed she had won that round.

“Enough!” I interjected, feeling my patience wearing thin. “We’re wasting time if you called us here for this. My partner is missing, and you had a hand in it.”

Nicolas’s attention shifted from Aly, and I was surprised to see that some of his anger seemed to dissipate. It was replaced by unwavering suspicion. I almost wanted to laugh at that moment. He acted as if we were the villains.

“I suppose she’s told you what I said,” Nicolas spoke softly but firmly, seemingly satisfied with completely ignoring Aly. He appeared content to do the same.

“I didn’t trust her, so I gave her what I thought she’d want to hear.”

“Did you lie?” Aly snorted, breaking their silent battle in record time. Her voice turned sweetly sarcastic, “Well, Zoe, are you telling me you let me go because I was useless? Liam was all you needed, so why would you need a friend tagging along?” “I lied, but not entirely,” Nicolas shrugged, not turning to meet her gaze. This caused Aly to burn even hotter, her pale skin seeming to flush. She was holding back, I could feel it in how she struggled to control her emotions. “Letting Liam go would have drawn too much attention. You were the less obvious choice.” “Less obvious…”

“And what was your role in Liam’s k********g?” Ethan’s cutting voice sliced through Aly’s soprano tone as if it were tissue paper. Nicolas held his gaze on Ethan’s eyes without blinking, but his assessing gaze settled on me, making me feel utterly exposed.

“It wasn’t as pivotal a role as some others,” Nicolas replied calmly, his face a mask of impenetrability as he uttered the words that would leave me stunned in the future. “It doesn’t matter at this moment, because you’re going to help me. In return, I’ll give you back your mate.”