Page 183 of Without a Trace
My hair twisted into a knot with hands that didn’t quite stop shaking as I grabbed the lighter. Then I slipped out into the night.
Not to my kitchen. Not to Trace or Alden or Kane.
To Zeke.
The path twisted beneath the trees. Familiar now. Every branch and flicker of moonlight etched into memory.
Zeke’s villa sat tucked beneath the trees, set slightly apart from the others—as if even the architecture knew he didn’t belong with the rest.
The door creaked open with the weight of a decision already made.
And there she was.
Brielle.
Cross-legged on Zeke’s couch, wearing one of his shirts, sleeves swallowed by her wrists. Her dark hair tumbled loose over one shoulder, and she looked up without surprise—as if she’d been expecting me.
Her gaze was unreadable. Casual. Sharp.
She looked… at home.
Zeke stood nearby, shirtless, hand resting on the back of the couch. A file folder sat open on the table between them, pages curled at the edges. He froze when he saw me—but it wasn’t alarm in his eyes. Just wariness. Like he knew this moment had been coming.
My feet didn’t move.
The floor might as well have turned to stone beneath me.
Brielle blinked slowly, then let out the softest breath. “I wondered how long it would take you to come.”
Her voice was silk over steel. She wasn’t flustered, wasn’t scrambling to explain.
They weren’t caught. Just seen. Like this was the part I hadn’t been invited to—only allowed to discover.
“I didn’t know she was here,” I said to Zeke, my voice quieter than I meant.
His throat bobbed, but he said nothing.
Brielle’s eyes dropped to the lighter still clutched in my hand. “You saw him.”
It wasn’t a question.
I gave the smallest nod.
“In the dream,” I murmured.
Silence stretched, but it wasn’t empty. It was heavy. Like the room itself was holding its breath.
“Your blood’s waking up,” Brielle said gently. “The bond fractured what was left of the wall. It was only a matter of time.”
I took a step forward. Then another.
Brielle exhaled slowly, as if something inevitable had finally arrived.
I looked between them, then settled on her.
“I need to talk to you. Alone.”
Zeke didn’t argue. Just glanced once at Brielle, then slipped past me and out the door, grabbing the coffee mug off the table on his way out.
