ELENA
The breeze off the lake carried the promise of rain, but I barely noticed it as I moved through the courtyard, searching for Mason.
I found him where he always went to think–on the back porch, leaning against the railing, arms crossed, gaze locked on the tree line like it might shift if he stared long enough. His face was unreadable, but I knew him well enough to see the tension in the set of his shoulders.
He didn’t turn as I approached. “Something on your mind?”
I nodded, stepping beside him. “Have you seen Erin lately?
He hesitated–just a second, just enough. “Yeah. A few days ago.”
I didn’t press. Not yet. “I’d like you to take me to see her.”
He finally looked at me, brows furrowed. “Why?”
“Because I think it’s time I stop guessing and start asking.
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He nodded slowly, understanding without needing every word spelled out. “I’ll get the car.”
**
The drive to the cottage was quiet, but not uncomfortable. Mason didn’t ask what I planned to say, and I didn’t offer it. He knew me well enough to understand that when I was ready, I’d speak. And maybe part of him didn’t want to know until he had to.
The little cottage came into view–still as quaint and tucked into the woods as it had been the last time I visited. Smoke curled lazily from the chimney, and wildflowers grew along the edge of the ‘yard‘ line, untamed and defiant. Carly was on the porch, braiding her hair in the fading light.
She stood when she saw us, eyes narrowing slightly. Erin opened the door behind her, surprise flickering across her face when she spotted me.
“Elena?” Erin asked. “Is something wrong?”
“I was hoping to talk,” I said. “Both of you, if that’s okay.”
They exchanged a glance but nodded, stepping aside to let us in. The cottage smelled like rosemary and lemon- comforting, familiar. I wondered, not for the first time, if this had been the first place I felt safe after everything fell apart.
We settled in the small living area. Carly perched on the armrest of a worn chair, Erin beside her. Mason stayed standing near the door, arms crossed again, like he needed something to brace against.
“I need to ask you both something,” I began. “About Maggie.”
Carly tensed. Erin’s lips pressed into a tight line.
“I’ve been working with a new memory specialist,” I explained. “One who’s been helping me recover things naturally. Slowly. The first real breakthrough was about the day of my attack.”
Erin’s fingers curled into the hem of her sleeve.
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“I still don’t remember everything,” I said. “But I remember seeing Maggie. She wasn’t the one who hurt me– she tried to stop him. I think it was Pierce who pushed me
The name hung in the air like smoke.
Carly looked away. Erin didn’t.
After a long silence, Erin spoke. “Maggie was there that day With the rogues.”
My heart skipped.
Mason stiffened beside me. “What?”
Erin turned slightly toward him, not defensive–just steady “She was there.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Mason’s voice cracked, caught between anger and betrayal.
“It’s not my story to tell,” Erin said quietly. “It never was.
“But Maggie…” Mason shook his head, pacing. “She lived at Moonstone. You and I–when we met, what if she-” “She wouldn’t,” Carly snapped. “Don’t do that.”
“Maggie tried to stop Pierce,” Erin said. “She saw what he was doing was wrong. She stood between him and Elena -she’s the reason Pierce didn’t kill her outright.”
I swallowed hard. “She… saved me?”
Erin nodded. “She brought you back here. She and Carly carried you, bleeding and unconscious. We nursed you back to health. Kept you hidden. Kept you away from Pierce.”
“She told us it wasn’t safe anymore,” Carly added. “That you needed time to heal and remember who you were. So we kept you here.”
“Why did she lie to me?” I asked. My voice was quiet, but the edge was there.
Neither of them answered.
Mason crossed the room, his expression dark. “She lied to all of us. She acted like she wasn’t part of what happened. She let everyone think she was just some rogue girl who came after.”
“She wasn’t lying,” Erin said sharply. “She was trying to protect you. All of us. She never once said anything bad about you. Not to me. Not to Carly. And never to Pierce.”
“But she didn’t tell me,” I said. “She didn’t tell me who she was, what happened, what she saw.”
Erin looked at me, eyes soft. “Would you have believed her? Back then?”
The question struck me harder than I expected.
“I don’t know,” I said truthfully. “Maybe not.”
Carly stood, moving toward the window. “Maggie wasn’t like the others. She didn’t follow Pierce out of loyalty- she thought maybe she could stop him.”
“She couldn’t,” Mason said flatly.
“No,” Erin agreed. “But she tried.”
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*
The room fell quiet again. Outside, the trees swayed with the wind, and the sky was growing darker by the minute.
Isfood, slowly. “Thank you,” I said. “For what you did for me. For telling me the truth.”
Erin nodded. “You deserved to know.”
I turned to Mason, who gave a small shrug. “Guess we’ve both got some thinking to do.”
Mason lingered after the conversation ended, his gaze flicking toward Erin like a moth drawn to a familiar flame. She held it, unflinching, then gave him the smallest nod.
“I’ll be just a minute,” he murmured to me before following her to the far side of the room. They stopped by the small bookshelf beneath the window, voices dropping to a fush. Erin smiled, tentative and soft. Mason brushed a hand down the side of her arm like he needed to be sure she was real.
And for the first time tonight, something in his shoulders eased.
I turned away to give them privacy. Carly was refilling her tea mug in the kitchen, but she paused as I approached, arching a brow.
“Want one?” she asked, lifting the kettle.
“Sure.” I leaned against the counter. “I meant to ask earlier Where’s Maggie now?”
Carly poured the water slowly, like she was buying herself time. “She left,” she said. “A few weeks back. After the summit attack.”
“She didn’t tell you where she was going?”
“She didn’t have to,” Carly said quietly. “But I know her. She’s not hiding. She’s watching.”
“Watching who?”
“I think,” she said, handing me the mug, “she’s watching everyone. Trying to figure out where she stands now. What kind of person she wants to be next.”
I stared into the steam curling from my tea.
“She saved me,” I said softly.
“She did,” Carly agreed.
“But she also lied.”
“She did that too.”
I didn’t ask Carly to justify it. I didn’t need her to.
Some things–some people–were built from both.
Mason and Erin were still talking, fingers intertwined now, their foreheads nearly touching. It hurt to look at. And it hurt more to look away.
When we finally stepped back out into the dusk, the trees rustling like they knew something we didn’t, I followed Mason down the path to the car, my thoughts a cyclone.
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Maggie had tried to save me.
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But she hadn’t told me the truth.
And now I couldn’t help but wonder:
If Maggie kept that from me… what else is she hiding?
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