Page 62 of Mystic's Sunrise

The mission was clean. Spinner got his girl back.

But deep down, I knew this wasn’t over.

Not for Lucy.

Not for Zeynep.

And sure as hell not for me.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

LUCY WAS BACK.

The moment she stepped into my room, relief crashed over me so fast, so hard, I could barely breathe. She was here. Safe. I had feared the worst, imagined horrors too dark to speak aloud. But now she stood before me, real and whole.

My throat tightened as I sat the book I was reading down on the bed. “Lucy,” I rasped, my voice no more than a whisper.

Her lips curled into a smile, but something was off. There was stiffness in the way she held herself, in the flicker of sadness that darkened her eyes before she masked it. She came closer, sitting beside me on the edge of the bed.

“Hey,” she said lightly, but I could hear the strain beneath her words. “You look... less terrible.”

A breath of laughter escaped me, soft and shaky. It felt strange to laugh after everything. “You came back.”

“Yeah,” she murmured, her fingers brushing a stray strand of hair from my face. The touch was gentle, almost hesitant. “I couldn’t stay away. Someone’s gotta keep an eye on you.”

I studied her face, the tension in her jaw, the exhaustion shadowing her eyes. Something had happened. Something she wasn’t saying.

“You’re not okay,” I murmured.

She shook her head too quickly. “I’m fine. Just… tired.”

Lies. I knew Lucy too well. She was hiding something.

I hesitated before asking, but I had to know. “Did they find you?”

Her exhale was heavy, her shoulders sinking. “Yeah. Fang almost caught me tonight. But I got away.”

The blood in my veins turned to ice. A sharp, panicked breath rattled in my chest. I knew Fang. Knew the cruelty in his eyes, the way he smiled before hurting someone.

“Lucy, you can’t keep messing with them,” I whispered, my voice rasping with urgency. “I’ve seen what they’re capable of. And so have you.”

She didn’t flinch, didn’t back down. “I just have to be more careful.” Her voice was firm, but I heard the edge of fear beneath it. “I can’t stop, and you know that.”

I did know. But it didn’t make it any easier to hear.

I swallowed hard, forcing down my panic, and reached for something safer. “Spinner?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Her whole body stiffened. She looked toward the door as if searching for an escape. “Spinner’s not my business anymore, and I really want to keep it that way.”

I wasn’t convinced. Not for a second. But I let it go. For now.

A beat of silence stretched between us before she finally said, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too and worried for you.”

Before I could say anything else, the door swung open and Mystic walked inside.

The moment our eyes met, the rest of the room faded. His gaze locked onto mine, intense and unreadable, something passing between us. My breath caught in my throat, my heart beating too fast.

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