Eli was thankful Lizzie and Jackson had got him to the couch when they did. If he was standing when Nora told him he was her Destined, he would have collapsed completely.

The first emotion that hit him was overwhelmingly bright—so much so it stole the very breath from his lungs. He had a Destined. Someone crafted specifically for him. The person designed by fate to be his lifelong best friend, his lover, his light. And it wasn't just a random soul.

It was Nora.

He basked in the joy, trying to hold onto it, but part of it slipped through his fingers like water. Nora was his Destined... and she was in trouble. As his throat tightened, he leaned forward on the couch, rested his elbows on his knees, and put both hands to his face.

"Eli?"

It was then that the tightness in his throat turned to a solid ache. Nora, he called for her in his mind. Are you safe?

When she didn't answer, he sat up straight, frowning. Nora?

Eli...can you send someone...to get me out?

Get her out?

"Eli?" Lizzie brushed aside some of his hair at his temple, worry thinning her lips.

He put a hand calmly on his sister's arm and shook his head, then held up a finger. I'm coming, Nora.

Her reply, when it came, sounded more muted than before, as if it traveled down a long tunnel. Thank y...

"Nora is my mate," Eli muttered to his siblings.

Lizzie's sucked in a breath that caught in her throat. "How—?"

Eli only tapped his temple. Jackson's lips moved, asking something, but Eli was already back with Nora. I need you to tell me where you're at, Nora. Are you at home?

Yes, I...

He almost hadn't caught that one. Was she falling asleep? Nora? What's going on? Are you safe?

Nora?

NORA?

He did not like how dim her voice was when she finally responded. Hungry...room four days. Please, Eli.

Eli swore, low and long. He shot to his feet and took a step—

—only to collide with Jackson's chest.

Jackson's grip found his bicep. "Explain. Now."

Eli stumbled his way through his explanation the same way he'd bumbled through his presentation on mitosis in his freshman year biology class at Jostlin. The more he described Nora finding him singing in the studio and about what he'd found out about Felicity, the more severe the expression on Jackson's face grew.

By the time he was done, Jackson had his arms crossed and his jaw tight. At some point, Lizzie'd stood and rubbed circles into his back – a silent encouragement as he revealed every little detail he knew.

Only once he'd told them everything did Jackson nod and stalk over to his desk. His brother hit a button on his desk phone and brought it to his ear. "Avery. Patch me through to the 2nd sector police station."

There was a brief pause, then Jackson said, "Captain. I need a set of units..." he rattled off Nora's address and then said, "I will meet you there," before hanging up.

Jackson snatched his jacket off the back of his chair and stormed to the exit.

Eli was already there next to him, Lizzie at his heels. "I'm coming with you," Eli said.

"Me too," Lizzie chirped.

Jackson spun on his heel. "Neither of you are going anywhere. We don't know the details of what we're walking into."

Eli met his brother's gaze head-on, then said. "I'm. Coming. With. You." He would not be left behind. Not when it involved his mate.

His mate.

At some point, not now, he'd be able to sit down and think about the glory of those two words. Right now, he had to make sure she was safe.

"I can talk to her," Eli said, "you need me. And I'm not letting you leave without me."

Jackson's tone was carefully controlled as he said, "Fine. But you do as I say when I say. No exceptions."

Eli nodded.

Lizzie barely opened her mouth when Jackson pointed at her. "You're still staying here."

Her brow wrinkled, eyes narrowed as if she were considering fighting Jackson to go with, but her expression cleared. She squeezed Eli's elbow in support and said, "I'll stay here and ready a room for when you get back."

The two men left.

"Please, be careful," Lizzie called out after them.

❆❆❆

Another round of dizziness swept through Nora. She'd laid on her bed all day, with nothing more than her own mind as company. It'd been 3...4? days since Mallory had locked her in her room. Maybe 5? Her sense of time had begun to blur. She'd slept through a lot of the days, her body trying to conserve energy.

The hunger pain had stopped a while ago, but she was so tired. Despite telling Eli she was his mate, although she'd expected joy to flood in at his response, she'd been too tired to do much more than lay on the bed.

How long would Mallory keep her locked in this box? Was she waiting for Nora to waste away? If that happened, then she wouldn't have any source for new material for Felicity.

No, Nora knew that this was deliberate. Mallory was waiting for Nora to get desperate enough that she would do anything Mallory asked.

And Nora...well, if Mallory opened the door right now, Nora wasn't sure she'd tell Mallory no.

Although she didn't feel hungry anymore – she'd gotten past that stage – she'd begun thinking about the room and felt as if the walls were now closing in on her. She'd loved her room, but now she'd do anything to escape it.

Even jump out her very tall two-story window.

Eli? she called out the same way she did before. There was no answer.

Eli? she tried again. Creator, she was so tired.

How did I get here? she asked herself. It astounded her – having to make a decision between literally jumping out of a window or being a slave to her stepmother for something as simple as food.

When she was younger, she remembered being at the park with her parents and having a disheveled, greasy-haired man come up to their small family unit to beg for money. Although her father had pulled out his wallet and gave the man some money, they'd found him later on the other side of the park during their walk talking to another man. One who'd swapped the money with a small paper bag. When she'd asked her father about it, her father had turned to her and, instead of explaining the situation, said, "there is no one more cunning or dangerous than a desperate man."

She'd never imagined Mallory would ever go to the lengths to trap her in her own room for days. Perhaps that was what Mallory was now.

Desperate.

But for something as little as a few songs?

Nora would give it another hour. She would nap here, and if Mallory didn't let her out...well, then she would start thinking about the best way to get out that window. Broken leg or not, she would find her way out. And she would do whatever it took.

Because Mallory was desperate...but now, so was Nora.

❆❆❆

Tight, white knuckles pressed against the handle on the door, Eli sucked in a breath through his nose and slowly let it out. Jackson was pushing a hundred miles an hour on the highway, red and blue lights flashing as he weaved through the cars that didn't react in time to pull out of his way.

He'd been on the phone the entire time with different members of his task force.

"...five different large deposits in her bank account over the last two years," a woman said over the car's speaker system. "Three in the amount of ten thousand, and two others in the amount of fourteen thousand – ranging from the beginning of last year to another just last month."

"Where are the deposits coming from?" Jackson asked as he did a swift check over his shoulder before switching lanes.

"One is traced back from an account registered in Aerianna. The other two are from charity foundations."

Eli's breath stuttered in his lungs.

Jackson started to break as they neared the exit. "Were they reported on her previous taxes?"

"They were not."

"Good," Jackson said as he took the exit that spit them out on the streets. They were but a few minutes from Nora's house. And with the way Jackson was driving, it would take them hardly any time at all. "I can work with that. We will have 48 hours to get more evidence together. Grab Tony if you have to. I want all the details on my desk by tomorrow at noon. Everything. I want to know where she eats, where she sleeps, and what these charges are for. Have Avery call Judge Peters back – we may have our warrant for Matthews, but I want another for that company, Dreame. Let's see how far her damage has gone."

"Sir, what about the lawyer?"

"Lawyer?" Jackson did a quick speed past a breaking sedan and pushed them through a red traffic light.

"Yedid found documentation indicating that Matthews was speaking with a lawyer and had paperwork on the wayside regarding the inheritance for Nora Davis."

The hand Eli had in his lap tightened into a fist.

"Send me all of it, Raine," Jackson ordered. "All of it. Avery will sort through it – have it to her as you uncover it. She can start arranging."

As Jackson's black sedan hit the curb outside Nora's house, Eli flipped up the locks and ducked out.

"Eli!" Jackson barked.

He'd barely gotten two steps before two officers in long black coats open over navy Sarian uniforms blocked his way. "Hang on, kid," one of them said.

Jackson's door slammed. Instead of snapping at Eli about his quick exit, he simply shot Eli a warning look before turning to the officers. "Matthews home?"

The officers glanced at each other. "Not sure," the dark-skinned officer on the right said. His aura was an odd mesh of red, orange, and grey though the red took up most of it. When this was over, Eli would have to find someone who could tell him what these colors meant. "House lights are on, landscaping lights are on, but with timers, you're never sure."

"Anyone drive by since you arrived?"

"No, Sir," the younger officer on the left said. He had a bright purple behind him, one that oddly comforted Eli. "We arrived only a few minutes ago ourselves."

"Warrant?"

The officer on the right held up a folded document.

As they spoke, two other police cars pulled up along the curb.

Jackson nodded. "Alright. Let's find out if Matthews is home."

Hang on, Nora.