~Brielle
I’m convinced I’ve gone too far this time.
Ren would have given a tip off earlier if he has any interested in sharing information with me. He doesn’t want to be honest with me, or share anything with me, even has his mate and Luna. All these doubts flood my head at once, my heart sinking deep within my chest. I’m going to fail Chase with the one thing he trusted me with.
“I don’t have much that I keep to myself, really,” he tells me, leaning back into the grass. I’m still disappointed, despite knowing this was going to be his reaction. “But anything I would keep would be somewhere I spend a lot of time, if I were ever to need to.”
It’s subtle, and not intended as a hint, but I cling to that piece of information. It’s the first real lead I’ve received from his mouth.
I just have to find out what he means.
“Alright, your turn,” I say, forcing myself not to react too dramatically. We are playing a game still, and now that I have what I want, all I want to do is find this ‘special place’ to him. I can’t, thorough. I need to play this smart, which means gaining his trust, and letting him feel like I’m trusting in him.
“Is it hard seeing me when you know Chase is in my head?” He asks me, watching me intently. His obsession with how I see Chase only highlights his insecurities. Kaden clearly got into his head, and now he’s pretending to believe it’s not true.
Shrugging my shoulders, I pretend to think about, despite knowing the answer perfectly well. “When you love someone so much, all you see is them.”
It couldn’t be more true, in this case.
Ren smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. The way he reacts feels empty, but I dismiss it. Deep down, I know he’s struggling to accept that he doesn’t actually feel anything for me. However, he feels a spark and assumes we are true mates, and I should be his Luna. Even if he is still skeptical of me.
“My question, is will you ever introduce me, or let the Pack know I exist? As the Luna?” I ask him. It’s not something I care for, admittedly, but perhaps it’s a questions any questions girl would make in my situation.
“Of course. The sooner the better. Just once Chase is gone,” he informs me. Hopefully this event will never come, and I won’t have to worry about being “shown off” to the Pack.
A curious thought pops into my head.
“So do you truly not have any way of getting Chase out right now?” I ask coyly, coming off interested but not too involved. I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach that Ren does know how he’s getting Chase out, but refuses to tell me. He’s waiting for the best time to strike, to end it all without involving me in any way.
“I’m thinking of going back to the women in the Devotion Pack who put him in my head in the first place, and demand she takes him away, forever,” he tells me firmly. I can’t help but shiver at that admission. It feel so...cold.
I’m almost concerned with what pops into my head, and for a moment, I almost don’t ask, but of course, I do. “And if she doesn’t?”
“Threaten her life, her family. Anything really.”
I don’t let Ren see my expression, so I turn away, disgusted. Thankfully, I murmur something about how we should head back to the house. Thankfully, Ren agrees, seeing no oddness in my reaction to what he told me. We walk back up the hill while I make general conversation about how good the view is.
How did I not notice this between us earlier? Ren used to make effort to try attract me, when he trusted me, when he knew I didn’t know anything. Now, he regards me as lower than him, a woman who can’t be trusted because I might be tempted by Chase.
“Do you want to come up to my room? Maybe talk more?” He offers. His tone is deadpan, not hopeful in any manner. It makes for an easy excuse which he accepts.
I have things to do, anyway.
Tonight, I’m going to go to a place where Ren spends a lot of time, that I know of. I might not know him very well, but I do know he loves his that basement area I once thought was created by Chase, which I’ve only been in once. He kept an important diary in there, so maybe this key is in there. Then the last step will be finding the room in which this wealth is being held.
There is a good chance I could be caught, but there are plenty of excuses I can come up with. It might weaken the little trust he has, but it’s worth it. I’m almost certain, of all places, this is where the key will be located.
I didn’t wait too long. If I go out past midnight, it will be clear something is going on. So at 10:30 pm, when I’m sure Ren is going to bed, I slip out of my room.
And of course, I’m interrupted.
“What are you doing back here?” I say in surprise, as I come face to face with Mabel, who looked as though she was about to knock on my door. Mabel was meant to leave with the rest of the girls when it came down to it. Now, she’s standing here, those red braids still there, unchanging, and so is that bright smile on her face.
“Well how else am I going to make money?” She says, that smile never faltering. Releasing a sigh, I grab her arm and yank her into my room. I’m going to have to be completely honest with her. With no one else here, Mabel is going to end up hanging around me until she realises what I’m doing, regardless.
“I need you to get me back into the basement area we went into months ago. Can you do that for me?” I question, getting to the point right away.
Mabel raises a questioning eyebrow.
“Is this the greeting I receive? Missed you too girl,” Mabel comments, to which I sigh. She’s right, but I’m in such desperate need to do this right now, I need her skills at picking locks to get into that room. Otherwise, I’ll have to do it by force, and Ren will know someone broke in. Especially when he notices his special key missing.
“I know, I’m sorry. But I’m desperate, and I need to do this now. We can catch up later, but can you do this?” I ask her. I’m not sure how smart it is to get Mabel involved, but she could be the distraction that I need.
“Alright, but I’ll need all the gossip later,” Mabel tells me, before we start down the hallway together.
That’s the good thing about Mabel. She’s open to anything.
No one lurks through the hallway as we approach the room. Since everyone has left the island, this place has become awfully quiet and ghost like. It’s perfect, as Mabel wastes no time in unlocking the door, holding it open for me. I cast her a glance, and she must see the apprehension in my expression, as she frowns, but doesn’t say anything as I step inside.
Low light sets the basement area with an ominous glow. It’s frightening, but I don’t waste time on dwelling on that. At any moment, Ren could walk in, and catch us, so I start rifling through his things.
Mabel stands back, watching me. “So what exactly are you looking for? Do you have suspicions that he’s cheating on you or something? If so then I’ll help for sure.”
I shake my head. “No Mabel.”
There’s nothing on his desk aside from burning paperwork that I leave exactly where I found it as I look around for where to target next. I check the couch, the side tables and all around, but there’s no key. This entire place looks as though it was made for secrets, yet maybe it’s not close enough to him to be his place to keep this key.
“Is this about the whole demon thing? Did you guys ever find out any more about that?” Mabel asks, mindlessly wandering around the room. She’s just happy to be here, it seems, getting into trouble, not even needing a motive.
“Yes it is, and I need you to not talk about this to Ren, ever,” I tell her, to which she throws her hands up defensively, as if I just insinuated something wild.
“That’s a given,” she comments.
Maybe he was baiting me to come down here. Maybe he thought I would come down here, and he’s actually hiding it in a place much closer to him. But where would that be?
“Have you taken Ren to bed yet?” Mabel asks. Of course, she’s always seeking the gossip.
It then hits me like a slap in the face. Bed.
He spends always all his time in his own quarters. It’s an obvious place Chase has access too, but Chase would never suspect it.
But getting it from there won’t be easy.