Nobody moved when Raziel stepped into the room.
Not because they were frozen.
Because the energy shifted so hard it felt dangerous to breathe wrong.
Rachel hated the fact that the first thing she noticed wasn't the tension.
It was him.
The black shirt with the sleeves rolled halfway up his forearms. The sharp look in his eyes. The calmness that somehow felt more threatening than anger.
He looked like a man holding violence on a leash.
And somehow… that was worse.
The automatic door slid shut behind him with a soft metallic click.
No dramatic entrance.
No raised voice.
Just presence.
Pure, controlled presence.
Raziel's gaze landed on Rachel instantly.
Not Adrian.
Not the others.
Her.
Like the rest of the room didn't matter enough to exist.
Rachel swallowed before she could stop herself.
Annoying.
Very annoying.
Because after everything she had just learned, her body still reacted to him first.
"You disappeared."
His voice was low, smooth, almost casual.
Like they were discussing weather instead of whatever this was.
Rachel folded her arms slowly.
"I was taken."
A tiny pause.
Not from her.
From him.
Barely noticeable unless someone was watching closely.
Adrian noticed.
Of course he did.
"She came willingly after she saw the footage," Adrian said.
Raziel finally looked away from Rachel.
The temperature in the room dropped immediately.
"You should be careful speaking for her," he replied.
The words weren't loud.
Which somehow made them more disrespectful.
Rachel exhaled sharply.
"Can we not do the territorial alpha male thing right now?"
That caught them both off guard.
For half a second, Adrian actually looked amused.
Raziel didn't.
His eyes returned to her.
"You're angry."
Rachel laughed softly.
"You erased my memories, apparently."
"You asked me to."
"That doesn't make it better."
"It kept you alive."
The answer came too quickly.
Too naturally.
Like he'd repeated that justification to himself a thousand times already.
Rachel stared at him.
And for a brief second, something uncomfortable flickered across his face.
Regret.
Real regret.
It vanished almost immediately.
But she saw it.
The woman behind the glass finally stepped forward into the room fully.
"You shouldn't have come here."
Raziel didn't even look at her.
"And yet I did."
Rachel nearly rolled her eyes.
Every conversation around this man sounded like a threat wrapped in flirting.
How did he manage that?
Adrian shifted beside her slightly.
Not enough to touch her.
Enough to remind Raziel he was there.
Bad idea.
Raziel's jaw flexed once.
Just once.
But Rachel caught it.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
"You're staring again," Raziel said without looking away from her.
Rachel blinked.
"What?"
"You do it when you're trying to figure me out."
Her stomach tightened slightly.
Because he was right.
Again.
Annoying.
"I already figured out you're insane," she replied.
A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"There she is."
The familiarity of it hit harder than it should have.
Rachel hated that too.
Adrian stepped closer this time, finally breaking the strange current running between them.
"She deserves the full truth."
Raziel's expression flattened instantly.
"No. She deserves time."
"She doesn't have time."
That changed something.
Rachel noticed it immediately.
Raziel's eyes sharpened slightly.
"What does that mean?"
Nobody answered fast enough.
And suddenly everyone looked suspicious again.
Rachel looked between them.
"Okay, I'm getting tired of being the only person who doesn't know what's happening."
"You're pregnant with something unstable," the woman said bluntly.
Rachel turned slowly toward her.
"…excuse me?"
The woman didn't react.
"The connection is progressing faster than expected."
"Can you stop talking about me like I'm a science project?"
"You stopped being just human a long time ago."
The room went quiet after that.
Not dramatic.
Just uncomfortable.
Rachel let out a disbelieving laugh.
"See, statements like that are exactly why I need alcohol."
Surprisingly, Adrian smiled a little.
Raziel didn't.
His attention stayed fixed on Rachel's face, watching every reaction like he was monitoring damage.
"You're scaring her," he said coldly.
"I'm informing her."
"You enjoy this too much."
"And you enjoy hiding things."
Rachel pinched the bridge of her nose.
"This is exhausting."
A strange ache twisted low in her stomach again.
Not painful enough to panic.
Just enough to make her tense slightly.
Raziel noticed immediately.
Of course he did.
His focus sharpened.
"What happened?"
Rachel hated how quickly he picked up on things.
"Nothing."
"That wasn't nothing."
"It's literally just discomfort."
The woman near the screen looked concerned now.
Actually concerned.
That was new.
"How long?" she asked.
Rachel frowned.
"How long what?"
"The sensations."
"I don't know. Since you people started emotionally torturing me?"
Nobody laughed.
Tough crowd.
Raziel moved closer before anyone could stop him.
Rachel instinctively stepped back.
Not because she was afraid.
Because being close to him right now felt dangerous in a completely different way.
His expression changed slightly when she moved away.
Small shift.
Still noticeable.
"You don't trust me anymore," he said quietly.
Rachel stared at him.
"That's your fault."
The words hit cleanly.
No anger.
No shouting.
Which somehow made them worse.
Raziel looked away first.
Interesting again.
Adrian folded his arms.
"You should tell her what happened the last time she remembered."
Rachel looked between them immediately.
"…the last time?"
Nobody liked that question.
Which meant it mattered.
Raziel's voice hardened.
"Don't."
Adrian ignored him.
"She nearly killed everyone in this facility."
Rachel blinked once.
"…what?"
"She lost control."
"I did not"
"You did."
The certainty in his voice made her chest tighten.
Adrian's gaze stayed on hers.
"Raziel was the only reason you survived after."
Rachel looked at Raziel instantly.
He didn't deny it.
That was the scary part.
The ache in her stomach pulled tighter suddenly.
Sharper this time.
Rachel inhaled softly.
Raziel stepped forward again.
"Rachel."
"I'm fine."
"You're pale."
"I said I'm fine."
The lights overhead flickered briefly.
Everybody noticed.
Rachel especially.
Because the ache stopped the exact moment Raziel touched her wrist.
The room went still.
Her breath caught slightly.
Not from fear.
From the sensation.
Warm.
Steady.
Familiar enough to make her chest hurt.
Raziel felt it too.
She saw it in his eyes immediately.
That tiny flicker of shock he tried to hide.
Too late.
"What the hell was that?" Adrian asked sharply.
Nobody answered him.
Rachel couldn't.
Because something inside her shifted again the second Raziel touched her.
Not violently.
Not painfully.
Almost…
Calm.
Raziel looked down slowly toward her stomach.
And for the first time since entering the room
He looked afraid.
Real fear.
Raw enough to strip away all that control for one second.
Rachel noticed.
So did everyone else.
The woman near the screen stepped backward suddenly.
"No…"
Rachel frowned.
"What now?"
But the woman wasn't looking at her anymore.
She was staring at the monitor behind them.
Her face had gone completely pale.
"…that's impossible."
Adrian turned sharply.
"What is?"
The woman pointed toward the screen with trembling fingers.
Rachel followed their gaze.
At first she didn't understand what she was looking at.
Just numbers.
Codes.
Activity spikes.
Until one phrase flashed red across the monitor.
BOND RECOGNITION COMPLETE
Rachel's stomach dropped.
The room became very, very quiet.
Raziel's grip on her wrist tightened slightly.
Not enough to hurt.
Enough to ground himself.
And Adrian
Adrian looked genuinely unsettled for the first time since she met him.
"…you told us that couldn't happen naturally," he said slowly.
Nobody answered him.
Because the next line appeared immediately after.
Bright red.
Impossible to ignore.
SECOND HOST DETECTED
Rachel stared at the screen.
Once.
Twice.
Like reading it again would somehow change the words.
It didn't.
SECOND HOST DETECTED
Her throat suddenly felt dry.
"…what does that mean?"
Nobody answered immediately, which was becoming a pattern she was starting to hate.
Adrian recovered first.
His attention snapped toward the woman near the monitors.
"Tell me that system is malfunctioning."
"It isn't."
The answer came too fast.
Too certain.
Raziel still hadn't let go of Rachel's wrist.
Not tightly.
But enough for her to feel his pulse against her skin.
Fast.
That alone made her look at him.
Because Raziel didn't seem like the kind of man whose heartbeat ever sped up.
Yet here they were.
"Raziel."
Her voice softened without permission.
His eyes lifted to hers instantly.
And there it was again that look.
That terrifying mix of relief and fear.
Like he'd been expecting something horrible…
but not this horrible.
"You knew," Rachel said quietly.
Not accusing.
Just realizing.
His jaw tightened slightly.
"…I suspected."
"Oh, that makes me feel so much better."
Sarcasm.
Finally something familiar.
The woman at the monitor moved quickly, pulling up new data across the screen.
Lines.
Codes.
Medical readings Rachel absolutely did not understand.
But one thing was obvious.
Everybody in the room looked nervous now.
Not cautious.
Not tense.
Actually nervous.
And somehow that was worse.
Adrian ran a hand through his hair roughly.
"This changes everything."
Rachel blinked.
"I would really love for somebody to explain why everyone keeps saying cryptic nonsense like we're in a badly written movie."
That earned the faintest exhale from Raziel.
Not quite a laugh.
Closer than she'd seen all night.
"You still joke when you're overwhelmed," he murmured.
Rachel folded her arms immediately.
"And you still avoid questions."
The brief softness disappeared from his face.
Straight back to guarded.
Interesting.
The woman finally turned away from the monitor.
Her composure had cracks in it now.
Tiny ones.
Still visible.
"There were never supposed to be two."
Rachel frowned.
"…two what?"
Nobody wanted to answer directly.
Again.
At this point she was seconds away from throwing something.
Adrian looked toward Raziel.
"This is exactly why she should've remembered earlier."
Raziel's tone sharpened instantly.
"And risk destabilizing her faster?"
"She's already destabilizing."
Rachel lifted a hand.
"Hi. Still here."
Neither man listened.
Very rude.
"You knew the bond would react eventually," Adrian continued.
Raziel stepped slightly in front of Rachel without even thinking about it.
Protective instinct.
Automatic.
"You don't know enough to talk about this."
"And you know too much."
The tension between them snapped tighter instantly.
Rachel looked between both men slowly.
"…okay, wait."
She pointed at Adrian.
"You clearly hate him."
Then at Raziel.
"And you clearly want to punch him."
A pause.
"…was this some weird love triangle situation before I lost my memory?"
Silence.
Adrian looked away first.
Interesting.
Raziel's expression became unreadable.
Even more interesting.
Rachel's eyes widened slightly.
"No way."
Nobody denied it.
Her jaw dropped.
"Oh my God."
"It wasn't like that," Raziel said flatly.
Adrian muttered, "That depends who you ask."
Rachel actually laughed this time.
Short.
Disbelieving.
"You people are insane."
The sharp ache hit again without warning.
Harder.
Rachel inhaled sharply and grabbed the edge of the table beside her.
Raziel reacted instantly.
One hand at her waist before she could steady herself properly.
"Rachel."
"I'm okay."
"You're shaking."
She was.
Slightly.
And annoyingly, his hand on her waist made it worse.
Or better.
Honestly she couldn't tell anymore.
The monitors behind them suddenly beeped louder.
Rapid.
Aggressive.
The woman's face drained of color again as she looked at the screen.
"No… no, it's accelerating."
Adrian turned sharply.
"How fast?"
She didn't answer right away.
Which meant the answer was bad.
Rachel looked over her shoulder toward the screen.
The readings had spiked violently.
Numbers climbing too fast to follow.
But one section stayed highlighted.
SYNCHRONIZATION IN PROGRESS
Her stomach twisted.
"…I don't like that word."
Raziel's grip tightened slightly at her waist.
Neither do I, his expression practically said.
Adrian stepped closer to the monitor.
"That's not possible unless"
The woman cut him off immediately.
"Don't."
Too late.
Rachel caught it.
"Unless what?"
Nobody spoke.
Rachel's patience officially died.
"Either somebody starts explaining things to me right now," she snapped, "or I swear I'm leaving this room and setting something on fire on the way out."
The room went quiet for half a second.
Then surprisingly
Raziel looked at her with the faintest trace of approval.
"…there she is," he murmured again.
Rachel pointed at him immediately.
"Don't do that mysterious soft voice thing right now. I'm still mad at you."
A tiny smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth despite everything happening around them.
And Rachel hated that her heart reacted to it.
Absolutely hated it.
Adrian noticed.
Of course he did.
His expression darkened slightly.
Not jealousy exactly.
Something more complicated.
Regret maybe.
"You really don't remember loving him," Adrian said quietly.
The room shifted instantly.
Rachel froze.
Raziel's expression hardened.
"Enough."
But Adrian kept going anyway.
"You chose him even after knowing what he was capable of."
Rachel looked between them slowly.
"…what is that supposed to mean?"
Adrian's eyes stayed on hers.
"It means you were terrified of him."
A pause.
"…and you loved him anyway."
That landed somewhere deep.
Too deep.
Because for one horrible second
Rachel could almost feel it.
Not the memory.
The emotion.
Raw.
Intense.
Consuming.
Raziel stepped forward.
"Stop talking."
"No," Adrian shot back. "She deserves honesty for once."
"And you think using half-truths helps?"
"At least I'm not lying to her face."
That one hit.
Rachel saw it immediately in the way Raziel went still.
Not angry.
Worse.
Guilty.
Before anyone could say another word
The lights cut out completely.
Darkness swallowed the room.
A sharp alarm exploded overhead instantly.
Rachel flinched.
"What now?!"
Emergency red lights flickered on seconds later, washing the room in dim crimson.
The atmosphere changed immediately.
Dangerous.
Real dangerous.
The woman near the monitor looked terrified now.
Not tense.
Terrified.
"They found us."
Adrian's head snapped up.
"That's impossible."
"No," Raziel said quietly.
His eyes had already gone cold.
Lethal cold.
"They didn't."
Rachel looked at him.
"…what does that mean?"
Raziel's jaw tightened.
And when he answered
His voice dropped into something deadly calm.
"They were already inside."
Right as he said it
A body crashed through the glass wall behind them.
Rachel screamed instinctively, stumbling backward as shattered glass exploded across the floor.
The man who landed didn't move.
Blood spread beneath him almost instantly.
Dead.
Very dead.
Rachel's breathing turned uneven.
Because standing on the other side of the broken glass
Was someone smiling.
Watching her.
Not Raziel.
Not Adrian.
Someone else.
Tall.
Dressed entirely in black.
And the worst part?
He looked directly at Rachel…
like he knew her.