Chapter 249: Risk
Rebecca’s POV
My heart leaped into my throat as the door opened. I turned around instantly, my breath catching in my chest. Kane walked inside, his sharp gaze searching the shadows of the room until he finally found me.
"Rebecca?"
Relief washed over me. "Finally."
He frowned. "I got a message saying it was urgent. What happened?"
I rushed toward him. "Kaden almost remembered me."
Kane stopped dead in his tracks. "What?"
"He remembered me," I blurted out, my voice shaking. "Not everything, but he saw flashes of our past."
The color slowly drained from his face. "What exactly did he see?"
"I don’t know how much! We were in the courtyard. I tried to take the locket while he was training, but he caught me—"
Kane closed his eyes and leaned his head back. "You did what?"
"Just listen!"
His eyes snapped open, full of anger.
"The choker was reacting to the locket, Kane! It was shaking. I had to check it. I’m almost sure the pin is inside."
"And you decided to steal it while he was standing twenty feet away?" he hissed.
"I thought he wasn’t looking!"
Kane stared at me in shock.
I scowled. "That’s not the important part right now!"
"It sounds pretty important to me."
"Kane!"
He dragged a hand down his face and let out a rough breath. "Fine. Keep talking."
I took a deep breath to calm down. "When he caught me, he grabbed my wrist. Then something happened. He just froze and started seeing things."
Kane’s body went stiff. "What things?"
"Me," I whispered.
Kane went completely still.
"And then..." I swallowed hard. "He called me Rebecca."
"Fuck."
"He kept asking why he was seeing me and why he’d called me Rebecca. Then he grabbed his head, his power exploded, and he collapsed."
Kane turned away from me, walking across the room. "Fuck!"
He hit his fist against the wall. I jumped, my heart leaping into my throat.
"This is exactly what I warned you about!" he snapped, turning back to face me. "His memories aren’t gone, Rebecca! They’re buried! Every time you get close to him, you’re giving him a reason to remember!"
"I know that now!"
"You should have known it before!"
"The healer fixed it!" I argued back.
Kane stared at me, his jaw tight.
"For now," I added softly, looking down.
His face turned hard as stone. "What did she say?"
"She pushed the memories back down while he was unconscious. He shouldn’t remember what he saw when he wakes up."
"Shouldn’t?"
"She said he won’t remember clearly," I said quickly.
Kane scoffed and started pacing the floor.
"And she warned me to stay away from him," I added.
"Good. For once, somebody in this house is making sense."
I folded my arms tightly across my chest and looked away. Kane stopped pacing, watching me closely.
"Anything else?"
I paused, holding my breath.
His face tightened again. "What?"
"The locket."
"What about it?"
"I lost it."
For several seconds, Kane just stared at me. "You lost it?"
"One of Kaden’s guards took it from me after he collapsed. He practically ripped it out of my hand."
Kane clenched his teeth so hard I could hear it.
"He knew my real name, too," I added quietly. "He called me Rebecca."
"Of course he knows who you are. Most of Kaden’s personal guards do. Logan and I ordered them to play along with the Ruby story."
"He said he’s tired of lying to Kaden."
That got Kane’s full attention. "What exactly did he say?"
"He said he doesn’t know what game you, Logan, and I are playing, but he’s loyal to Kaden. He took the locket and said he was going to keep it safe until Kaden wakes up."
"Shit."
"And I don’t know where he put it."
Kane went quiet, thinking hard. Finally, he shook his head. "No."
I frowned. "No what?"
"That’s it. We’re done."
I frowned. "What?"
"We’re leaving."
My stomach dropped. "Kane—"
"Today."
"No!"
His eyes snapped toward me, cold and firm. "I’m taking you out of here before this gets any worse."
"I’m not leaving!"
"Rebecca, Kaden almost remembered you!" he yelled.
"And he didn’t!"
"Because the healer managed to stop it!"
"I know!"
"What happens next time?" Kane demanded, stepping closer. "What happens when she can’t stop it? What happens when everything comes back at once?"
I couldn’t answer.
"You know what Kaden was like when he believed you killed Helen," Kane spat, his eyes filled with fear. "You know what he did to you."
My chest tightened, and fear swept over me.
"What do you think will happen when everything comes back and he realizes what we’ve done?" Kane demanded. "That we lied to him. That his own guards lied to him. That his Beta and his brother have been standing here pretending he isn’t missing months of his own fucking life?" His voice faded.
I knew exactly what he meant. Kaden would feel completely betrayed. By his guards, by his brother... by me.
"Your freedom isn’t worth anything if he remembers and locks you up again," Kane said softly.
I stared at him, tears filling my eyes. Then, slowly, I shook my head. "I’m not leaving without the pin."
"Rebecca—"
"No!"
"Forget the pin!"
"I can’t!"
Kane went silent.
I reached up and touched the cold metal around my throat, my fingers shaking. "You don’t understand what it feels like wearing this thing every single day."
His angry look softened a bit.
"I wake up with it around my neck. I sleep with it choking me. I look in the mirror, and it’s right there. Every single day, it reminds me that I’m still his prisoner." My hand moved protectively over my stomach. "And I’m carrying a child now, Kane. I can’t keep gambling with what this thing might do to us."
"Rebecca..."
"I am this close, Kane!" I held my thumb and index finger barely an inch apart. "This close!"
My eyes burned with tears. "We finally know where the pin is. It’s inside that locket. I can feel it. My choker goes crazy whenever it gets close."
"That doesn’t mean you should risk your life for it."
"I’ve already risked my life!" I shouted.
Silence filled the room. I swallowed hard, trying to keep my voice steady. "I’ve come too far to run away now. I’m not leaving this place still wearing the collar Kaden locked around my neck."
Kane let out a loud sigh and rubbed his hands over his face.
Suddenly, he froze, his ears twitching as he looked toward the door. "Shh. Someone is coming."
He tilted his head, listening closely to the footsteps in the hallway. "It’s Logan."
Before Logan could even knock, Kane pulled the door open. Logan hurried inside, quickly closing the door behind him. His face was pale and full of stress.
"There is a problem," Logan said.