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I racked my brain, but the last thing I remember was being in the water. “No. I…I can’t remember anything.”

“Wow… Well, I’m sure it’ll come back eventually. The doc said any memory loss would be temporary,” he reminded me.

At least that was good news. But it didn’t matter, really. I was alive. We were all alive, except for poor Harper. And Wes…Wes saved me. My heart suddenly ached. “I screwed it all up, didn’t I?”

“What do you mean?”

“With Wes. I screwed it all up.” Matias stayed quiet, and I knew it was silent confirmation. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Matias cleared his throat softly. “Mara, I’ll be the first to admit that you and Wes being over totally fits into my fantasy of you and I getting back together.”

I rolled my eyes, “Matias…”

He lifted a hand. “Hear me out.” He cleared his throat again. “I know this whole thing is screwed up. I don’t know all the details with President Calvernon, but if everything you told me is true, then I understand why you did what you did. But it didn’t work. It didn’t work, and now we’re here, your brother included. And I don’t see a way out of this mess without—” He hesitated, licking his lips. “Without telling him. You’ve got to tell him the truth. You’ve got to tell him everything.”

I felt heat flash throughout my body as the thought of confronting Wes sent chills down my spine. I knew Matias wasright. I had to come clean. Wes had to know the truth, but… “What if he never forgives me? What if lying to him is too big of a betrayal for him to ever love me again?” Each word felt like a stab to my heart.

Matias’s eyes shimmered, and I knew that the next words he shared came from the depths of his soul. “Mara, if Wes loves you half as much as I do, then there is nothing you could ever do or say that would take that love away.”

My lips parted, my hand coming to rest on my chest as love for this boy and sorrow for all that we had and lost filled my heart. I didn’t know what to say. How do you respond to someone who tells you that?

“Matias, I’m so sorry.” Because I was. I was sorry that things didn’t work for us. And even though that whole thing wasn’t my fault, I still felt bad.

Matias leaned in, blinking to clear the tears from his eyes, and I could smell the citrusy notes of him, reminding me of passionate moments in the dark. He smiled, but hurt played on the lines of face. “The only thing I regret is not being there for you when I should have been. Don’t apologize, okay? This was my doing, and I’m a big enough guy to admit that.” Sincerity filled his gaze for a moment before he blinked and grimaced. “Don’t let him go, Mara. Don’t make the same mistake twice. Tell Wes the truth and let him make his own decisions.”

I nodded, feeling the tears welling up again.

“And,” he started with a devious smirk. “If he’s too much of a hot-head to take you back, then maybe you and I can work something out,” he finished with a wink.

I laughed, feeling the fear and tension easing out of my system. “You’re an opportunist, you know that?”

He leaned back with a shrug. “Since when is that a bad thing?”

I sighed. It felt good to be like this with him again. “So, how’s my brother? You said he was okay, right? Did they figure out what Raúl did to him?”

Matias swallowed hard, the smile wiped clean from his face. “Uh, yeah. He’s fine.”

I cocked a brow. “What? What’s wrong? What aren’t you telling me?”

Matias turned away from me, shaking his head. “He’s fine. He regained consciousness and all that.”

“And?” I pushed, dread pooling in my abdomen.

Matias closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in slow, deep breaths before facing me. “Mara, that procedure they did on him. It’s not good. And…”

“What?” I squeaked out. “Andwhat, Matias?”

Matias sighed again. “The North detained him. Sasha’s trying everything she can to get him released, but they’re not budging. They’re going to make him stand trial.”

69: Royally Screwed

It all just sucked. None of this was fair. And the worst part was, I was stuck in the damn hospital.

Poor Matias…I interrogated him for almost half an hour trying to find out every detail. No sooner had we arrived back in the North when Jacob was detained. He was conscious by then, but battered and bruised like the rest of us. And Charles was quick to have a waiting party anxiously expecting our arrival. The second our plane landed, Northern military officers seized Jacob and took him into custody.

That was two days ago.

On the positive side, they had been treating Jacob’s wounds and were trying to figure out what Raúl had done to him with the mystery procedure he had undergone. On the bad side, Jacob was refusing to talk to anyone but me, and that was driving Charles Calvernon insane. But no matter what Charles threatened, my brother refused to speak to anyone, insisting that he would only speak to me and to me alone.