All Chapters of TEMPORARY MATES, PERMANENT CRAVINGS : Chapter 251 - Chapter 260

Evangeline POV "Are you at least going to give me an inkling of what is going on?" Kade said after settling into the passenger seat. He waited for me to speak. "What has she dragged you into?"My stomach tightened. I kept my eyes on the windshield."Do you need my help?" he asked. "Do you need saving?"A laugh almost slipped out.If only it were that simple.I looked at him and shook my head."Well, I don't believe you."I shrugged."Whether you like it or not, I'm helping you. This isn't you."I looked away.The last thing I wanted was for my brother to get involved. We weren't particularly close, but I'd rather die than watch him cross paths with the people who had used me and thrown me away."I'll be fine," I said. "Don't worry about me.""That's not how siblings work."Silence filled the car. My fingers traced the steering wheel."Is this about Cameron? Or politics?"I said nothing."Fine. Give me something. Is there anyone hurting you? Is there something I should be looking for?

Cameron POVThe house had gone quiet after Evangeline stopped filling the empty spaces. She hardly came downstairs anymore, and at mealtimes she barely touched her food before pushing the plate away. Before finding out who she really was, I would've thought she was sick again. Now I didn't know what I was looking at.Sometimes I'd find her staring through the sitting room window. A maid would call her name, and she'd flinch before turning, like she'd forgotten where she was. Dark circles settled beneath her eyes. She drifted through the upstairs hallway without speaking, then wandered into the garden with nowhere to go. I watched it happen and couldn't make sense of any of it."Is she losing her mind?" Nadia asked as we stood behind a pillar, watching Evangeline disappear into her room."I almost feel sorry for her," she muttered, then snorted. "She should at least tell us what she did before she completely loses her mind.""That's unlikely," I said."Why?""She could be trying to

Evangeline POV Kade's words, Trust us, kept echoing in my head.Trusting them would mean killing them. If all of this were over, and the Meridian finally got what they wanted from me, Kade would be glad he hadn't tangled himself in something that would ruin his life forever. His bravery would get him killed within hours if I didn't keep my mouth shut.Cameron had looked at me, searching my face for signs of the cult's conditioning, as if he himself wasn't already a Meridian target. I was heading to the bathroom to empty my bladder when I spotted a midnight-black ribbon tied around the doorknob. The fabric carried the choking smell of grave dirt. I leaned closer, and the metallic stench of rotting blood filled my nose. It was the psychic calling card of a cult execution, not my panties, or whatever I'd left hanging there carelessly.My teeth chattered as I tried to untie the knot with shaking fingers. But the ribbon felt unnaturally heavy, sticking to my skin like wet tar until I g

Evangeline POV The immediate aftermath of the blade pulling out was silence, except for my mother's gasping as she tried to draw a breath through the wound.Her eyes locked onto mine. Confusion crossed her face. She looked down at the knife buried in her chest. Blood welled around the silver blade, soaking through the white fabric of her robe. Blood spilled from her nose and mouth, dripping onto the forest floor.Her lips parted."Eva..."The word came out like a wet bubble.She looked at the knife again, then back at me."What have you..."More blood spilled from her mouth and streaked down her chin. Her knees buckled. She reached toward me, expecting me to catch her.I didn't move.She collapsed onto the forest floor.I looked at the women surrounding us. They stood frozen.Then I looked back at my mother."What have you done?" one of the women screamed."Oh my God! She killed her mother."The screams crashed over one another. They pointed at me. One woman clamped both hands over h

Cameron POVThe urge to turn and look at Catherine's body stretched across the backseat kept pulling at me, but I refused. I'd already looked. Her pupils had swallowed her eyes, and blood had spread beneath her.A ringing filled my ears. Sweat gathered along my hairline, but the panic never came. I knew what I'd seen, yet everything inside me stayed numb.Kade knelt beside Evangeline, splashing water across her face and calling her name. He checked her pulse, then wiped another handful of water over her forehead as though refusing to believe she wouldn't wake."We should leave," a woman seated in the passenger seat said."They'll come for her."She looked to be in her forties. Dirt streaked her clothes, rope burns marked her wrists, and dried blood clung to the corner of her mouth. Yet there wasn't a trace of panic on her face.She wasn't the hag who had come to my office the previous month, but that didn't make me trust her any more.Kade looked up sharply."You."He pointed at her w