Chapter 228 228
Sabine POV
It was only as I sat in the back of a large black SUV lined with fine materials and bristling with unfamiliar gadgets that the unsettling thought crept in.
This might not be a dream.
I pinched myself.
It hurt.
That realization was… disappointing. Especially since the deliciously broody man had put his clothes back on. I’d very much enjoyed the view. Dreams were supposed to be indulgent, weren’t they? If this was one, I fully intended to seduce him before finding a way to escape.
Then Aurélie placed me in the back seat and locked the doors.
Panic fluttered low in my chest.
Through the tinted rear window, I watched them gather just a small group, talking about me. Maurice yes, that was his name the one I very much wanted to lick from head to toe. His eyes never left me. Not once. When Aurélie guided me into the car, I genuinely thought he might tear her arm off for touching me.
The other one the one who looked like Father was dangerous. I didn’t know him, but I could feel it. He was the kind of man you didn’t cross.
Which, unfortunately, made me want to cross him immediately.
The same way I did Father.
Brother.
Why had Aurélie said that word?
I didn’t have siblings. Father would never have kept something like that from me… would he? This so-called dream was twisting rapidly into something far worse a living nightmare.
I tested the car door as subtly as I could.
The click echoed far louder than it should have.
Every head snapped toward me at once.
Perfect hearing. Of course.
I held Maurice’s gaze for as long as I could manage, but something deep inside urged me to look away warned me I was standing too close to something dangerous. He was clothed now, but the fabric of his shirt clung to every line of muscle beneath it.
I had to stop myself from licking my lips.
“Sorry about that,” Aurélie said as she slipped into the back seat beside me. “We can’t all mind-link one another.”
Both Damien and Maurice kept their eyes on me until the door shut.
“Where were you planning to go?” Aurélie asked, turning toward me.
For the first time, I truly took her in.
White-blonde hair cascading past her shoulders. Bright green eyes. A soft glow that made her look almost unreal. I could be forgiven for thinking she was an angel.
“I was going to hitch a ride to the port,” I said. “Get overseas.”
I wasn’t sure why I told her the truth. Something about her made lying feel unnecessary like I was safe when she was near.
“You wouldn’t have gotten far,” she replied gently. “You don’t exist in any records. You’d need a passport to leave the country. Who are you running from?”
Don’t exist?
That was absurd. Of course I existed. I remembered my childhood savings account Mum insisting I learn about money when I was eight. Teaching me not to take it, or how it was earned, for granted.
As much as I wanted to trust Aurélie, I wasn’t ready to tell her everything. Geneviève and Clémence would already be furious with whoever was supposed to be guarding me. They and Father would be looking for me.
I didn’t know if Aurélie would hand me back.
So I stayed quiet.
Her eyes suddenly unfocused. She muttered a curse and tapped on the window.
That was the signal.
Damien slid into the driver’s seat.
“Are you okay?” I asked, leaning forward. “Your eyes just… changed.”
I could’ve sworn they’d been bright green before.
Now they were darker. Like a forest just before nightfall.
“This,” she said calmly, “is why you need to let me mark you. I can’t even mind-link you.”