Lunar Temptations

Ch 75

My feet gave in, and I slumped onto the bed, staring at the inscribed words in my hand. There was a mole among the higher ones, and I must not trust anyone. What was happening? It had barely been a day since we arrived on the island, and there were threats already looming around.

A shaky breath escaped from my lips as I flipped the paper around, searching for more words, but there were none.

CM Samara could have told me this verbally. Why did she write it down for me? My gut was telling me that something sinister was happening inside the walls of the Hold, and I was too deep in to get out of it now. There was only one person I could hold onto, and it was Zayden. Thinking of him, urgency rushed through me.

Where was he? Why hadn't he returned yet?

I picked up my phone and was about to dial his number when I found a text from him.

"I've got an important discussion going on with CM Carlos and CM Paige."

"Be ready; I'll be there in an hour to escort you to the ball."

My eyes widened as I realized that less than 2 hours were left, and I was nowhere near ready. After taking a few breaths to calm my nerves down, I hurried into the shower, not before calling room service to have my beautician sent in.

My mind kept dozing off to today's events, and as much as I had tried to divert my head away from it, I couldn't keep it up for long. Millions of questions circulated my thoughts, each as important as the others. CM Samara might have answered a question, but in return had left me with several more.

I hadn't replied to Zayden's texts. I wasn't mad at him, but there was a lot we needed to talk about, and ever since that evening at the pond, I haven't been able to talk to him, and that was frustrating me with each second. For now, I plan to find CM Samara tonight and ask her about this, privately. I wanted to tell Zayden about today, but first, I had to confront him. I knew I would be having a busy week, but this was wild.

From having to deal with a mysterious council member while discovering something profound about my relationship with Zayden to being warned about a mole, it was all too much for my first day on Senenia Island.

My beautician arrived with her kit, and as huge as it looked, I wasn't going to let her use everything on my face. I described to her the look I wanted for the night, and like a professional, she did it exactly with minimal products, giving me almost a no-makeup look. I was truly impressed with her work by the time she was done with my hair. My raven hair was straightened and looked surreal.

"Thank you," I said to the woman as she began to leave. She passed me a small smile before bowing and leaving. I was too occupied, staring at myself to watch her leave. My reflection resembled a groomed version of myself that I had never thought I would see. My emerald dress hugged my upper body flawlessly, before falling into a soft flow giving it a beautiful gown-ish appearance. Whoever was responsible for these services, I would thank them separately. There was no way I could have been able to pull this off in less than 2 hours.

All that was left to do now was wait for Zayden. He would be here any minute, and I couldn't help but wonder what his reaction would be.

The notification tone on my phone rang, and I quickly picked it up, expecting it to be Zayden. It was a text from Holly. My brain froze, and I hurriedly opened it. It must be about the evidence and the hard drive. We might be here, but I would be returning to her soon, and I hadn't forgotten about her.

"Good news, the data is retrievable. It would take some time but it's not impossible." It said, followed by, "Will keep you updated."

A smile stretched across my face. Finally, there was something good to hear. I replied with thanks, and it wasn't long before a happy squeal ripped through me. Macy would finally get her justice, and those assholes would go down for good. Meanwhile, Esther would also be confronted. Though we still didn't have enough evidence for it, something told me that it wouldn't be long before that would happen.

"Zayden would be so happy to hear that!" I murmured.

"I am all ears." His voice came suddenly, startling me.

Fuck, he was here already, and I was too busy squealing and celebrating that I didn't sense him. I snapped around to meet his gleaming brown orbs. It had barely been a few hours, but I had been missing him, and I didn't need to acknowledge it to know. He looked every bit as fresh as he did in the morning when I had last seen him. His hair looked like they were freshly done, except I knew they weren't, and his suit was wrinkle-free. I doubted how long could he go in a single suit. It would be hard to believe that this man was weakening because of me because all he had done until now was protect me while I was the reason for his weakness.

When he didn't speak, I snapped out of my daze to watch him staring at me quietly. A touch of fire ignited in his eyes and tilted his head slightly to get a better look at me. He remained unmoved, taking in every bit of me ever so slowly until I started to think that he didn't like the look. In a matter of seconds, he took two long strides towards me until there was only a small distance left between us.

"How about you tell me whatever you were going to before I decide to punish you right here and now?" He said, finally breaking the silence and licked his lips. "Because you look absolutely ravishing."