Chapter 68: The Truth...

Raven's POV

“You want answers?”

“Fine. I would give them to you,” Dael said before grabbing my hand and leading me out of the room.

But instead of taking me in the direction of the room where Drew and Blade were being held, he took me through a hallway instead.

Fear immediately gripped me.

“Dael, where are you taking me? This isn't the way to Drew's room,” I said, my voice filled with fear.

Dael said nothing as he continued pulling me along.

At this point, I was cautious and utterly terrified.

I immediately started fighting against him, trying to pull my hand out of his grip.

“Dael, let me go,” I demanded, struggling against him.

“Relax,” he spoke softly. “I'm not going to hurt you.”

I didn't believe a word he said, but I knew there was no way I was getting out of his tight grip.

All I could do was prepare myself for flight or fight if things went sideways.

We finally arrived at a door, and Dael knocked twice before opening it.

Inside the room were Drew and several other men. The room was scattered with weapons, and they seemed to be deep in conversation.

I couldn't help it as my mouth fell open in surprise.

Dael wasn't confined or anything. In fact, he seemed to be perfectly fine.

Was that capture just a ruse or what?

“Drew?” I whispered, staring at him in shock.

“Goddamn it, Dael. Why would you bring her in here?” one of the men complained.

This caught Drew's attention, and he turned around quickly.

His eyes widened when he saw me, but only for a moment before they returned to their original expression.

I watched his fists tighten as he glared at Dael.

“What is this?” he asked, his deep voice booming across the room.

Dael rushed to stand in front of me, puffing his chest out to look more intimidating.

“She wanted to get some answers, and sincerely, I think she deserves to know.”

Drew stared Dael down, but he didn't budge.

Feeling the tension between them, I slowly pushed my head out from behind Dael.

“Drew?” I called softly. “What's going on?”

Drew slowly averted his eyes from Dael to me.

The moment our eyes met, he sighed.

“Fine. You wanted her to know, then I will tell her. But everyone needs to leave,” Drew stated.

Dael signaled his men to go, and though reluctantly, they slowly filed out of the room.

Once they were all gone, it was just me, Drew, and Dael.

“Leave,” Drew sneered.

But Dael didn't budge.

“I'm going nowhere. Say whatever you want to say in front of me.”

I could tell that Drew was slowly losing his patience, so I placed a hand on Dael's chest.

“Dael, please. I trust him. I would be fine.”

Dael shook his head.

I grabbed his jaw and pulled his head down so he was looking directly into my eyes.

There was one thing I would give him. He was just as stubborn as Adrian was.

“I promise, Dael. If I notice anything off, I will call for you immediately. Please leave.”

Dael clenched his jaw, his eyes never leaving mine.

I watched as his eyes trailed down my face to my lips, then back to my eyes.

My breath hitched.

Was he going to kiss me?

Please don't kiss me.

Then he nodded.

I sighed internally.

He glared at Drew one last time before storming out of the room.

Once he was gone, I turned to Drew.

“What do you want to know?” Drew asked.

“What happened with me, Adrian, and Dael? Why did our parents give us up for that experiment, and where is my mother?”

Drew moved to one of the seats around the large table before flopping down into it.

“First of all, yes, Dael is Adrian's twin, as you must have guessed from their resemblance. Dael was cut out of the experiment because they noticed his DNA wasn't a good match with yours.”

“Wasn't a good match how?” I asked, sitting on one of the chairs.

“Aster was working on a project that could bind two people's minds together, thereby creating a perfect pair. They would be able to hear each other's thoughts, know when the other was in danger, and experience other things like that.”

“But why?”

“Because they believed it would reduce the high rate of divorce in the country,” he stated.

“And did it work?”

Drew shook his head.

“We never found out. All the adults it was tried on reacted violently to it. Some even died, so the funders of Aster wanted to stop investing. The scientists got desperate and decided to experiment on children.”

He paused, swallowing like it was getting hard to continue.

“Then what?” I snapped at him.

“They began to watch you three very carefully, observing your closeness with each of the twins. When they were sure you three had gotten attached to each other, they asked for custody of you three for their experiments. They promised your parents that you were only going to be observed and that no experiments would be done on you. Your parents, on the other hand, had no choice but to agree, as they were bound by contract.”

I didn't know what to say.

I needed him to tell me the whole story.

I needed to hear it.

“When it was discovered what they were doing, your mother took you and ran after making sure your memories had been erased. The plan was to give both you and Adrian a normal life. They didn't mean any of you harm.”

He leaned on the table as he spoke softly.

“Whoa.”

“That's... a lot,” I muttered.

Drew nodded.

“I know, but that isn't all, Raven. There is still so much you don't know, but it's not my place to tell you.”

“Why? Is it about my mother? Is she actually alive?” I asked quickly, standing from my chair and moving to sit next to him. “Please, Drew, tell me. Is my mother still alive?”

Drew looked at me for a while before nodding.

“Yes, she is alive, Raven.”

My heart skipped with both excitement and confusion.

“But if she's alive, then why did she fake her death? Why did she make me believe she was dead?”

Drew closed his eyes, letting out a quiet sigh.

“Your mother had no choice, Raven. She had to fake her death. Remember what I said about Aster?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Aster wasn't a standalone facility. It was run by something or someone bigger. A name I'm sure you must be familiar with.”

“Noctrix.”

I arched a brow as I moved back from him.

“So, my mother was an employee of Noctrix?”

I mean, it would explain why she was hiding from them.

Drew snorted and shook his head.

“Your mother wasn't merely an employee. She was one of the most important people in the organization, and she turned her back on them, taking something that was extremely priceless in the process.”

My mind suddenly went to the file Dael had given me.

That's what he was trying to tell me.