To Trust or Not to Trust?

Merck

—Miss Kamila sent a message.

The words of the messenger running from the car towards us hit me square in the heart. —Did Kamila send a message?—we all repeated in one way or another. Our mission to storm ET1 Stephen's castle in search of her has been momentarily halted. Unless, of course, this messenger says they have her inside the castle, which I doubt at this point.

He's out of breath, and the fact that he's panting bothers us all as we wish he'd just say it once and for all, whatever it is.

“Use the mental link if necessary!” Tristan yells at him.

But by this time, it seems like he can breathe again. "They're holding her captive in ET1 Kane's castle," he finally says, still doubled over.

"Does ET1 Kane have it?" Reece presses. -You're sure?

—That's what she said.—You can straighten up a little. —That's the message her parents received.

We all look at each other. Can you trust your parents? After all, they were never nice to Kamila. We wouldn't be surprised if they teamed up with Kane to make things difficult for us.

“I don't understand why they suddenly care,” Tristan says, looking at Reece and me and then back at the messenger.

“Yeah, it just doesn't add up,” I agree. —They've never shown interest in Kamila before.

“Maybe this is just a ruse, organized by ET1 Stephen, to get us to leave his castle without looking inside it.” Reece scratches his chin thoughtfully. —Not that I necessarily think Stephen is smart enough to come up with that.

"It's true," Tristan says. —We can't even be sure that this guy is from Kamila's parents' group.— He points his thumb at the messenger.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," says the man. —I hate to interrupt, but I'm from Kamila's parents' group.— He shows us the shoulders of his uniform, which contain the emblem of the Elm group. —But, more importantly, I can as...ure you that it is real. I heard the Moon and the ET1 discussing whether to try to locate the three of you, well, the four of you. He looks around, as if confused that one of us is missing, and another knock comes to me. We miss Eli and are worried about him, although Kamila is our main concern.

“Keep going,” Tristan urges. —Did you hear him say what, exactly?

He nods, as if bringing his thoughts back. “I heard that they need the money, and they were told by whoever delivered the message on Miss Kamila's behalf that if they did not return her to King Gene's castle, they would not be eligible for the payment for her Breeder services that is due soon. So, see, it's not concern for her daughter that made them send me to find them. It's greed. Now, surely, that must make sense to all of you.

Again, we look at each other, and the messenger, who seems sincere and a little bitter, looks ready to run back to the car and get out of here. After all, he and his driver have just pas...ed through what is about to be a war zone.

"I think we should go to ET1 Kane's castle," Tristan says. —We can leave some of our warriors here to surround ET1 Stephen's castle and make sure he is not a threat, but the three of us should run towards ET1 Kane's castle and see if Kamila is really there.

“If he is, I will personally rip his head off,” Reece says, narrowing his eyes.

“I'll rip his cock off and shove it down his throat,” Tristan adds, and I'm left wondering if he'll do that before or after Reece rips his head off.

They both look at me, as if they were waiting for me to give my opinion. I can only answer, —I also want him to be dead. I don't care how it happens.

Turning to the messenger, I say, “Thank you.” You can go.—Normally, I would offer a tip to someone like this, but I don't have any money in the pockets of the sweatpants they gave me.

Tristan points to one of his men nearby, and the as...istant approaches with some bills that he hands to the messenger. That lights up his face. “Thank you very much, gentlemen,” he says before heading back to the car.

“You may not actually return to your group with that tip,” Reece notes.

Tristan shrugs. "If what he says is true, and Kamila is in ET1 Kane's castle—alive—and we can save her and her kits, then that guy deserves a lot more than that."

I totally agree with him. We hold our soldiers at bay as the car turns around and heads back in the direction it came from.

“Okay,” Tristan says as the car roars away. —We need to get to Kamila as soon as possible. Let's just leave some smaller units here to inspect the castle and prevent Stephen from leaving.

“Sounds good,” Reece and I tell him. I contact one of my commanders and give him the plan, then order the others to follow me.

Less than five minutes after the messenger from Kamila's home group drove away, the three of us have transformed and are quickly running towards ET1 Kane's castle. The battle is already underway there, as we sent many of our warriors in that direction because we thought there was a good chance that Kane had it. This is just more proof that Malena Milly is lying.

As I run through the forest, dodging bushes and fallen branches, I send a mental message to Adam. “Keep an eye on Malena Milly,” I tell her. —We're pretty sure he lied to us about ET1 Stephen having Kamila on purpose. He seems to know that Kamila is in ET1 Kane's castle. I'm sure she's still working with ET1 Kane.

He sounds exhausted as his voice fills my mind. "It's okay," she says. —I'm going to keep an eye on her. King Gene appears to be suffering from dementia. Most of the things he says now don't even make sense.

It saddens me to hear that someone is suffering from that terrible disease, but considering her mother obviously has it, I'm not too surprised. —Also keep an eye on him. I might decide to do something stupid.

Adam replies: —I'm afraid it's a little late for that. He's always doing something stupid.

I also know that to be true.

We spend a couple of hours running, and then the sounds of battle reach our ears. Ahead of us, I see the top of ET1 Kane's modest castle jutting out from the top of the mountain and know we're almost there.

Kamila is here. I can feel it.

"I'm coming for you, baby!" I tell her, not using the mental link because I haven't been able to contact her, but I tell her with my heart and soul.

I'll find her, make sure she's safe, and then I'll make Kane pay.