Page 67 of Mystic's Sunrise

As he moved past me, his fingers brushed against mine. Barely a touch. A whisper of skin against skin. But it stole the breath from my lungs all the same. That tiny touch said more than any words could. It saiddon’t give up on me.

Warmth curled through my chest, burning away some of the fear trying to sink its claws in.

When Mystic disappeared from sight, I pressed my hand lightly against my heart, and felt it beating.

The words rose to my lips, trembling there like a breath I couldn’t quite let go, "Allahim, onu benden alma."

God, don’t take him from me.

But I swallowed them back down, locking the prayer inside where it was safer. Safer not to say it. Safer to believe. Because whatever Mystic was hiding, whatever storm he was fighting, it wasn’t meant to hurt me.

He would never hurt me.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

“HOLD ON TIGHT.”

Zeynep’s arms wrapped around my waist, her grip firm as she pressed herself against my back. I didn’t need to tell her twice. The second the bike rumbled to life beneath us, I felt the way she clung to me—not out of fear, but trust.

I hadn’t planned on taking her out tonight. Hell, I didn’t even know where we were going. But I could feel the sadness she was carrying and knew this would help.

Before we left, I’d stripped off my cut, folding it carefully and tucking it away in my saddlebags. No colors tonight. No club. Just me and her, nothing to tie us back to The Devil’s House.

Devil had given me a hard look before I left. “No stops. No main roads. You bring her back the second you think eyes are on you.”

I had agreed.

That was the only reason we were out here now, sticking to the backroads, keeping her hidden in my hoodie, her hair tucked beneath the hood. No one could recognize her in the dark, not from a distance, and I sure as hell wasn’t stopping long enough to let them get close.

She tucked her head against my shoulder, and something settled deep inside me.

She wasn’t running from me.

Not yet.

The town lights faded in the distance as I opened up the throttle, taking us down an empty stretch of highway. I felt her relax against me, the tension in her small frame easing the longer we rode. She needed this. I needed this.

After a while, I pulled off onto a dirt road leading to an open field just off the highway. The kind of place no one came to at this hour. Above us, the sky stretched wide, stars bright against the darkness. Devil wouldn’t like it but it was safe.

I killed the engine, the silence settling around us like a blanket.

Zeynep slid off first, stretching her legs, her gaze drifting across the field. “Where are we?”

I shrugged, kicking down the stand and climbing off. “Nowhere important. Just quiet.”

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she smiled—really smiled.

“I missed this,” she admitted softly. “This feeling of being out in the world, free not a prisoner.”

Something in my chest tightened. “Do you miss your country? Ever think of goin’ back?”

She sighed and stared into the night sky as she thought about my question. “Sometimes I long to go back, but there is nothing there for me now. Lucy found out my parents no longer live and I’m not the same girl who was taken that night,” she replied sadly.

“I’m sorry about your parents,” I said, taking her hand in mine.

“It was my father’s best friend who stole me,” she whispered the confession. “They trusted him and he turned out to be so evil.”

“He still alive?”