Todos os capítulos de Bound By His Protection : Capítulo 31 - Capítulo 40

The darkness swallowed us whole. For several seconds, I could hear nothing except my own breathing and the hard beat of my heart beneath Kaelen's fingers. His hand was still wrapped around mine, warm and firm, while his other hand moved somewhere near his waist. I heard the faint metallic click of a weapon being released from its holster. My stomach twisted. Kaelen leaned closer until his chest brushed my shoulder. “Stay behind me.” His voice was barely more than a breath. “Someone is here.” I wanted to ask how he knew, but then I heard it too. A soft movement somewhere down the corridor. Not footsteps exactly. More like someone shifting their weight against the wall. I held my breath. Kaelen slowly pulled me backward. One step. Then another. His body remained between me and the darkness ahead. I could barely see the outline of his shoulders, but I knew every part of him was tense. “Kaelen,” I whispered. “Quiet.” There was something different in his voice now. Not anger. Not even

The locked door behind us gave a heavy mechanical click, and I stared at Kaelen instead of the dead monitors. The photograph was still burned into my mind, the younger version of me standing beside Arthur, smiling for some event I barely remembered, while a stranger stood behind me with the casual posture of someone who had never needed permission to be there. Kaelen had recognized him. That was the part I could not ignore. He had looked at that photograph as though someone had reached through years of buried memories and wrapped a hand around his throat. “Who is he?” I asked. Kaelen didn't answer. I stepped closer. “You said you thought he was dead.” His jaw tightened. “I did.” “That isn't an answer.” “It's the only one I have right now.” I gave a bitter laugh. “You're locked in a security room with me, surrounded by evidence that someone has been stalking us, and you're still deciding what I deserve to know.” His eyes snapped toward mine. “Because knowing everything doesn't make you

For several seconds, I couldn't move. The man's final words remained inside my head, repeating themselves with a cruelty that made my skin feel too tight. **He made sure you forgot it.** I looked at Kaelen, but his face had become unreadable. The black drive rested in his palm between us, so small it was almost insulting. Something that tiny was apparently capable of tearing apart everything I thought I knew about my own life. “What does that mean?” I asked. Kaelen didn't answer. “Kaelen.” His fingers closed around the drive. “It means we need to leave this corridor.” “No.” My voice came out sharper than I expected. “It means you know something.” “Julian.” “Don't.” I stepped closer. “Not this time. You don't get to tell me that I'm safer without the truth. I have spent my entire life being told what I am allowed to know about myself. My father did it. You did it. I'm done.” Something flickered in his eyes. He looked as though I had struck him. “I never wanted to become another person

The first thing I noticed was the sound. A low electrical hum crept through the security room, rising from somewhere beneath the floor until the vibration settled behind my teeth. The monitor flashed white, and a sharp pressure bloomed behind my eyes. I gripped the edge of the desk, struggling to keep my balance as the words *RECOVERY BEGINS NOW* flickered across the screen. Beside me, Kaelen moved so quickly that his shoulder struck mine. His arm came around my waist, holding me upright while his other hand reached for the keyboard. The warmth of his palm seeped through my shirt, but I barely registered it. Something was happening inside my head. Not a thought. Not a memory. A sensation, sudden and brutal, like fingers pressing against a locked door from the other side.“Turn it off,” I whispered.Kaelen pulled the power cable from the terminal.The screen stayed on.He tried the switch beneath the desk, then tore open the equipment panel with a force that sent a screw skittering acr

I watched the screen until the message disappeared completely, waiting for another line to appear, another clue that might explain why someone had spent ten years turning my life into a locked room. Nothing came. The monitor returned to its dark reflection, showing my pale face and Kaelen standing behind me, his expression unreadable. *Do not trust the man who promised to come back.* The words had been meant for me, not for him, yet they had settled between us with the weight of an accusation. I could still feel the memory in my bones, the small hand gripping mine, the desperate certainty of a voice promising to return. I didn't know whether the person in that corridor had been Kaelen. I didn't know whether the promise belonged to a stranger or someone I had loved enough to remember even after my mind had been altered. But I knew one thing. Someone wanted me to believe Kaelen had abandoned me, and they had chosen this moment to make sure I never looked at him the same way again.“Copy