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• Luna •

After connecting to Amir, Luna was puzzled by the words that came from his mouth. She couldn't have heard that, right? That he loved her? He'd never said anything before, but in her mind, she had questioned it. There were little hints she had picked up on, and how he'd say certain things to her that came off as flirtatious. 

Amir expressing that he'd fallen in love with her was something she'd never imagined hearing from his lips. He'd always been guarded and strict with whom he allowed into his life, so this unveiling of his true emotions for her had taken her for a surprise.

She wasn't quite ready to move forward with anyone after Chase. But she knew she would give Amir a chance. The timing of this was too chaotic for her, and she needed to adjust to her new living environment, a place she won't be able to leave for a long time. 

Strolling back to the table with Cami, Luna smiled at her as she remembered what she said before taking off to the restroom.

Her heart pounded for two reasons: Cami's admission to being a Tethered Soul, and the agony she sensed from Amir.

When Cami revealed to her who she was, she was curious about her. Luna didn't tell her she was a tethered soul, but maybe Cami sensed her aura like others can. 

"I thought I was in the mood for spaghetti, but I guess I wasn't," Cami said, staring down at her plate.

"It doesn't look bad."

"Oh, it's not. I guess it's because I saw some of the others with meatloaf and pizza on their plates." She stuck her fork into her salad and swallowed a bite. "The food is good. That's one of the best things about being here."

"Oh." Luna gave her a soft smile, gazing in her direction. "So, how did you know I was a tethered soul?"

"Because I saw a guy with brown skin following you earlier. I knew he wasn't admitted here. The guards weren't worried about him. Is he who you're paired with?"

"Oh. That's Faisal. He's the cousin of the man I'm tethered to. His name is Amir. They dislike I'm here and planning to get this place shut down."

"For real?"

Luna nodded. "Chase admitted me in here, probably because he knew I was going to split with him as soon as we got home on Memorial Day."

"Oh."

"He took advantage of me in my studio's bathroom and assaulted me. I pushed him back and resisted."

"Good for you, but it sucks that he did this to you. He sounds like a real asshole," Cami said, laying her fork down.

"I wish I knew that before all of this happened. I should've just grabbed my daughter and taken the first flight to London. Everything would have been fine then."

Cami pushed her plate to the side after finishing her salad and then looked back at Luna. "London isn't so bad. I've been there."

"I love the city, especially when I can see my mom." Luna guzzled her carton of milk and asked Cami another question. "Where is your companion from?"

"He is from New Zealand. His name is Darren, and he's married to his wife, Sue. He's in his early fifties and a father of two sons, who are in their early twenties. We met on the beach."

"The beach?"

"It happened eight years ago, two days after my twentieth birthday. I was vacationing in Miami. It was evening as I strolled along a beach and somehow ended up in New Zealand. I saw a sign pointing toward a public restroom. So I rushed in there. When I looked into the mirror, I saw a man I'd never seen before. I brought my hand up to the glass and realized we were the same person. When I turned around, I was back in Miami and ran straight to my car."

"Wow. What happened next?"

"He appeared right beside me out of nowhere and stared at me like I was a ghost. I was looking at him like he was one, too. He introduced himself and asked where he was. We went from there." 

"You two experienced your connection differently than others, I guess," Luna whispered.

"We did, but we later realized that no one could see the other person. So we made a time to meet up and discuss what happened. Time zones were difficult to manage at first."

"You didn't have anyone to help guide you both?" Cami shook her head. "That sucks. I bet other tethered souls go through the same thing."

"We did it the old fashion way — the internet. Everything we needed to know was online under forums, and we guided ourselves until we met an awesome woman from Brazil, who helped us navigate our abilities."

"I would love to go to Rio," Luna mentioned.

In the middle of their conversation, an argument broke out between two petite women, and the security team rushed over to pull them apart. "What's her name?"

"Her name's Angela and she guide several of us through our transition."

"She sounds like a great person. I wonder why Amir or Faisal haven't spoken of her yet."

"They probably haven't met her. Where are they from?"

"Islamabad, Pakistan," Luna replied, smiling. "I love looking at his country through his eyes. It's beautiful."

"That's so cool. And Faisal is cute. Is he single?" 

Luna chuckled. Cami couldn't possibly be serious about hitting on Amir's cousin, could she? They were all connected, so why not?

"I believe so. But I will check that out for you." 

"Cool. Would you like to go outside to the courtyard? It gets stuffy in here after a while." 

"Sure. Lead the way."

Both of them strolled outside toward a set of benches near the basketball court and took a seat. They watched as several women played a game, and also noticed the other ladies settled on benches in the fenced-in yard, chatting amongst themselves.

Luna hadn't been outside for what felt like a year. She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them up, catching Amir standing a few yards away, gazing at her. He waved with his hand and she waved back.

"That's Amir?" Cami asked, hovering next to Luna's cheek. "I think I need to visit Pakistan. Wow."

"Yep. That's my companion. I want to visit him and his country."

"I hear you. Getting out of here would be great," Cami said.

"I hope nobody saw him, though, if they were tethered," Luna said, staring at the spot Amir was at. "He was right there."

Cami shook her head and pursed her lips. "I don't believe anyone saw him. I doubt anybody else is tethered. We'd recognize them by now."

"And possibly see their partners or their partners' relatives, as you did with me."

She laughed. "True."

Luna inhaled a breath and glanced at her. "This arranged pairing the universe does for people made the right choice for us. Amir has got everything a person could want in a partner. He's my protector."

"It's a great feeling, right? To know that you'll always have that person with you until death. I never fell in love with Darren, and that's not because he's married, but my feelings never developed like that for him."

"I know what you mean. I'm still figuring out my feelings for Amir. I've never felt anything for him. When I went to the bathroom, he confessed how he felt toward me. He told me he loves me." 

"Well, if you aren't with Chase anymore, doesn't it change things for you?" 

Luna nodded, crossing her legs and wrapping her arms around her chest.  "It does change things, but I have a lot of soul-searching to do before I can move forward with someone else. My ex screwed everything for me." 

"You dodged a bullet by not marrying Chase," Cami commented, her eyes widening. "Oh, God. Luna, I'm sorry. I tend to speak my mind without thinking." 

"You're right, though. I did dodge a bullet, and maybe what happened to me happened for a reason." 

"That's the spirit! Don't let him keep you down! He'll suck the energy right out from under you!"  

Luna laughed. "I even came up with a cover story of why I was seen talking to myself."

"Let me guess. It had to do with rehearsing a conversation for an upcoming dinner? Or maybe a job interview?"

Luna shook her head, chuckling. "That's a good one, but no. I said I signed up for acting classes, which wasn't exactly a lie. I have connections in the entertainment business, being a photographer and all."

Cami pursed her lips. "That wasn't going to work. Not here, anyway."

"I thought, maybe, Dr. Kim would believe that excuse, only because of my work. But I can see now how it wouldn't have worked."

"Yeah, the staff hears a lot of excuses and reasons from people in this joint. The best thing to do is play nice and comply. There's no way to get released from this facility until he sees progress from you."

"He told me I'm Yellow Security now. That's good, right?"

Cami shrugged a shoulder. "It's better than Red. I'm on Red, but only for one more day, and then I'll be back on Yellow. I will do everything in my power to get back on Green. I miss receiving gifts from Darren."

"Oh, we can receive gifts?" Luna asked as Amir popped up right next to her on the bench. 

Faisal sat on the other end of Cami, gazing at them.

"Did I hear something about gifts?" Amir asked.

Cami turned back to him and nodded.  "When Luna reaches Green status, she can receive gifts. But it's hard to get on Green," she explained. "You have to do extra stuff and go through dreadful sessions with Dr. Kim." She glanced between both guys and flushed. "Hi. I'm Cami, Luna's advisor."

"I'm Amir. I guess we'll have to share our time with her," he said, curtly.

Cami chuckled at him, nudging Luna's elbow.

"And I am Faisal, his cousin," he told her in a husky tone. "You're Luna's new friend?"

"Yep! I love her already!" Cami said, beaming.  

"That's very sweet of you. We like it when everyone is sweet around our Luna," Faisal said, not taking his eyes off Cami.

"She hasn't gotten on my bad side, so that's good," she remarked, earning a snicker from the guys.

"What are you about to do?" Luna asked Amir. 

She knew he was going out to exercise since he was wearing a white tee shirt and jogging pants. But she wanted to hear it from him. She loved it when he talked about going jogging around the majestic mountains he lived near.

"I don't have to go to work for a couple more hours, so I thought I'd go for a run. Get my mind off doing something crazy." He reached for her hand and squeezed it tightly. "I hate you being in here. I could hardly sleep because of what you're going through."

"Luckily, Luna has met me," Cami replied, smiling at the guys. "I can tell her everything she needs to know about this facility."

"This place feels like a prison," said Faisal as he looked around. "We'll have Dr. Kim's notes once we get into the computers. Uncover his secrets."

"That would be awesome," Cami remarked with a smile.

"Dr. Kim locked up his notes about Luna the other day," Faisal added. "I couldn't see them. No one knows what goes on here behind the scenes."

"You're right. They're probably about to send us back in," Cami advised the group. "Visitors are coming."

"Well, I say I came by just in time to visit my partner-in-crime," Amir said, keeping his eyes on Luna. "Faisal and I are going to go. Connect to me later when you're in your room."

"And I will see you later when you're in yours, Cami," Faisal said, giving her a shy grin.

Luna chuckled. But then frowned. "The cameras . . . They could be recording us."

"Don't worry about that," Amir said. "I'll just talk to you. You don't have to say anything."

"That's no fun," Luna murmured. "But it's better than them having more ammunition on me to give me more treatments."

"Exactly," Faisal said. "See you two later."

"Oh my. I like Faisal," Cami said as she scooted over once the guys left their side. "He's sweet and charming."

"He is. So now you owe me for my services," Luna uttered, raising an eyebrow.

"Services?"

"Yeah. I didn't match you two for free. A girl has gotta eat, you know?"

"Touché."

Looking around, Luna whispered, "What else can you tell me about this institution?"

"Green is good. You get almost anything you want, and with stellar behavior, you could get released early. Yellow is caution, and you have limited things that come with Green. It's best to stay on Green or Yellow. Red is terrible. That's a gruesome treatment you have to endure. Orange is the worse. I can't even connect to Darren when I'm in isolation."

"Chase and these people messed up with me," Luna whispered, staring at her. "This place is worse than any intuition I've been in. What they're doing is illegal. I'm getting myself out of here, and I'm taking them down with me."

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