Page 75 of Heart of the Rebel Mate

Cassian steps closer, his body coiled tight with barely restrained aggression. "I should be putting a bullet in your head."

Elara stiffens beside me, but she doesn't intervene. I don't blame her. Cassian has every right to be furious. Isla worked for the Council. She was one of their best before she vanished off the radar. And now she's here, standing in the heart of the rebellion like she belongs.

I sigh, rubbing a hand down my face. "Look, I don't trust her either, but she got us out of there alive. We were compromised. We wouldn't have made it without her."

Cassian isn't convinced. His gaze flickers toward Isla again, calculating. "Convenient, don't you think? She shows up, just in time to help. Just in time to play hero."

Isla smirks. "If I wanted to turn you in, you'd already be dead. The Council doesn't take half measures."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Cassian snaps.

The cave goes silent, the weight of the moment pressing down on all of us. I glance at Elara, but she doesn't look at me. She's watching Isla, expression unreadable.

Cassian exhales sharply. "This is a mistake," he mutters. Then he turns and walks off, shoulders rigid with tension.

I don't try to stop him.

The others break away slowly, murmuring among themselves, distrust thick in the air. Zara watches Isla for a long moment before following Cassian. Ethan lingers but eventually disappears into the shadows of the cave.

That leaves me, Isla, and Elara.

I exhale and turn to Isla. "Start talking."

She tilts her head. "About what?"

"You know damn well about what."

She sighs, stretching her arms like this is nothing more than a casual conversation. "I've been working against the Council for a while now. You just never noticed."

"That's not an answer," Elara says.

Isla shrugs. "The Council has a project in the works. Something big. I don't have all the details, but I know it's tied to the research you stole. The mate bond manipulation? It's only the surface. There's something worse beneath it."

Elara's eyes narrow. "What is it?"

Isla hesitates, just for a second, but I catch it. It's the first crack in her carefully composed expression.

"I don't know," she admits. "Not yet. But I know someone who might."

Elara and I exchange a glance. She doesn't trust Isla. I can see it in the way her fingers twitch, like she's resisting the urge to reach for a weapon.

I don't trust Isla either. I worked with her once at a secret execution case on a council officer years ago. She was in command of the assassin, and I was in charge of paperwork. Her cunning left a great impression when she wanted me to "beautify" a wrong move of her man that nearly ruined the assignment. The next time I heard of her, she had become a traitor.

But I trust that she wants something. And that's enough for now.

I nod. "Fine. You stay under watch. You don't go anywhere without someone tracking your every move. You so much as breathe wrong, and you're out."

Isla grins. "Understood, Captain."

Elara bristles beside me, but she doesn't say anything.

As Isla walks past, she brushes too close, her fingers ghosting over my wrist for a fraction of a second. A touch that's almost nothing but still manages to set Elara's jaw tight.

I pretend not to notice.

But later, when the caves quiet and the whispers fade, Elara finds me alone.

"You know her," she says. Not a question. A statement.

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