to know that I meant what I said. Maya had come to mean everything to me, and there was nothing I wouldn’t do for her at this point. If only she’d open up to me.
“No,” she finally said, her voice strained. She still wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I don’t need your help. It’s my fight, Soren. My sister. I have to do this alone because I owe it to June—and to Dylan—to bring them back together.”
“What?” I gasped, barely able to believe what I was hearing. “Your sister is alive? How?” I was at a complete loss. June was alive, and Maya hadn’t told me?
Finally, Maya shifted her gaze to mine, and the pain and sorrow there had my heart clenching tightly.
“She is,” Maya whispered.
I was floored. “How long have you known this?”
Maya pressed her lips into a thin line, and I knew I wasn’t going to like the answer. “Just over two weeks. The morning after I stayed with you in the palace.”
I stared at her, not knowing what to say. I remembered that morning well. How something had definitely been off, how I’d asked her about it. But she’d pushed me away, brushed off my concerns.
The weeks since then played out in my mind—Maya pulling away steadily, my worries that something had changed in our relationship, that she no longer cared for me the way I thought she did. But all this time, she’d been so distant because she was carrying this secret on her own.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked once more, swallowing against the lump in my throat. The fact she hadn’t felt she could trust me with this hurt beyond measure. “Don’t you know that I’ll stand by you and support you and help in whatever way you need, no matter what?”
“I can’t let you get involved, Soren. I just can’t.” She was on the verge of tears, her lip quivering and eyes glistening.
“Why the hell not?” I demanded. “I mean it, Maya—I would do anything for you.”
She shook her head, turning away now, and I fought the frustration at being shut out like this. I loved this woman with all my heart—and she was still pushing me away. I wouldn’t give up so easily, though.
“Maya,” I said, turning her around once more, gripping her arms. “I don’t know the whole story here, but there’s one thing I know with every fiber of my being—I love you. More than I’ve ever loved anyone in my entire life. We’re meant to be together. I’m all in with you, no matter what. And whatever is going on here, I’ll stand by your side and help you through it. We’re stronger together.”
Now the tears that had gleamed in her eyes spilled down her cheeks, a sob breaking free. I wrapped my arms around her, breathing a sigh of relief when she allowed me to pull her in close and tuck her against my chest. Finally, we were getting somewhere.
My relief was short-lived, though.
“I can’t let you get involved in this mess, Soren. I’m sorry.”
“What?” I asked, pulling back and looking down at her, searching her face. “Why the hell not?” Had she not heard a thing I said?
“It’s too dangerous.”
“All the more reason why I should help you with this. You can’t go to Tracorox, Maya. It’s far too dangerous. Let me step in here. I have connections. We can figure this out.”
“I have to go,” she insisted, and I knew then that there was more she wasn’t telling me. “I have to do this on my own.”
I wanted to press the issue, to demand that she stay here, but I was certain it wouldn’t change her position. For whatever reason, she was adamant about doing this alone.
“What about Dylan?” I asked, a last-ditch effort to get her to change her mind. “Surely you can’t be thinking of taking him with you. Not after everything he’s been through.”
“No. My co-teacher, Lareis, has already agreed to take care of him while I’m gone.”
“Does Dylan know about any of this?”
Maya shook her head. “I don’t want to get his hopes up about June until I know more.”
“But you’ll risk yourself by going to Tracorox alone? It’s a fool’s mission, Maya. You have to see that.”
“Be that as it may, I have to do it. If there’s a chance I can save my sister, I’m going to take it. Even if it means giving up my life here.”
I felt like I couldn’t breathe. “What are you saying?”
“We have to call