Page 29 of Rescuing Rebel

Confused.

Foreboding fills me, like the first cracks of light exposing an illusion that can’t survive the harsh glare of day. Jaw clenched; I rise to my feet.

The gray waves still crash against the rocks. The salty tang in the ocean still lingers in the air. The imprint of her body is still on the blanket beneath me.

Holding the ghost of her warmth.

But Rebel is nowhere to be found.

A hollow ache settles in my chest. I sit on a rock and stare out at the waves. Memories from last night replay in my mind.

Things that seemed passionate at the moment now feel orchestrated and coldly calculated. The way she manipulated me into dominating her? Drawing out my deepest desires and secrets in the aftermath when my guard was down?

The intimacy that felt so real and vulnerable suddenly seems like a tool to serve her ends. She made herself into my perfect fantasy—attentive, submissive, uninhibited. Catering precisely to my wants and needs.

I should have seen it but was too spellbound to see the manipulation. She played me masterfully, luring me into revealing things about myself. About work. About the innermost workings of the Guardians.

Details no outsider should know.

The growing pit in my stomach tells me I’ve been played in the worst possible way. She saw a mark, not a kindred soul. Seduced and deceived me for her own agenda.

The beauty of what we shared disappears before my eyes. She sharpened her knife under the guise of submission, and I gave her the perfect opening to slide it between my ribs.

The ultimate betrayal.

Jaw clenched; I stand abruptly. I won’t accept it until I hear the truth from her lips. I have to know if everything between us was an orchestrated lie or if some glimmer of genuine connection remains.

I scan my surroundings, thinking she might be out looking at the tide pools, but it’s high tide. The tide pools are buried beneath the surf, and there’s no sign of the fiery redhead.

Anger comes swiftly, followed by rage. Not toward her, but directed at myself. I dress in haste and scramble up the cliffside path.

That sense of wrongness within me intensifies. My gut says she won’t be found. Nevertheless, I search for her throughout The Facility.

No one has seen her since last night. A cold, leaden pit forms in my stomach. Alarm rises, then curdles to anger in my gut when I replay the events of the night.

What she shared.

What I shared…

The sensitive things I shared about the Guardians.

How could I be so stupid?

Teeth clenched, I yank out my phone and call my boss.

“What’s up?”CJ answers on the first ring.

I palm my face, embarrassed, enraged, and horrifically compromised. In one night, everything is ruined—my principles, my career, and my heart.

“I fucked up.” Those are perhaps the hardest three words I’ve ever had to say.

“Talk to me.”CJ doesn’t judge. He’s honestly interested in the next words out of my mouth.

ELEVEN

Ethan

The weightof my failure sits like a rot in my gut as I make my way to CJ’s office. Last night, I was on top of the world, drunk on passion and possibly love. Now, everything has turned to ash.

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