Page 76 of Bound By Blood and Lies

She’s broken. She’s not the person I knew before she was taken. Fae… Fae feels like she came back to me. Not untouched or unchanged, but still herself beneath it all. Robyn isn’t. There’s something off in the way she moves and holds herself. Every time we speak to her, her blue eyes widen just a fraction too much and her voice catches like she doesn’t quite trust it to come out.

“Yeah, Robyn… are you okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” she nods too quickly. “I’m just getting ready to go.”

My head tilts. “To go where?”

“Home,” she says with a quiet exhale. “I need my own space. It’s been months.”

Their flat isn’t far from here, but the thought of either of them stepping outside this building makes my stomach turn.

“No.” The word comes out flat and final as Felix rounds on me immediately.

“What do you mean no?” he barks.

“My dad is MIA, Robyn,” I say, ignoring him. I don’t miss the hitch in her breath when I mention him, or the quick nervous glance she throws toward my mum. I exhale slowly. “Look… we just got both of you back.”

“And I’m not a prisoner,” she shoots back, her grip tightening around her coat.

My shoulders drop. Of course she feels like that. After months of being locked up, I’m not surprised. It doesn’t change anything.

“Robyn—” Fae starts, but I cut her off, earning a sharp look.

“You’re not a prisoner,” I nod, glancing briefly at Felix, who’s watching with wide eyes. “You’re right. But my dad…None of us can lose you again.”

“I need my own space,” she whispers as her fingers fidget with the fabric of her coat.

“You can have my room,” Felix says, and I’m grateful he finally sees what I’m saying.

“That’s not the same thing.”

Felix steps forward, “you’re safe here, Nix. Just… a while longer. It’s all we have right now.”

“I just need to have some control again.”

“Then take control when he’s not out there,” I say, pointing toward the door.

“Roman—” Felix shifts beside her.

“I’m not arguing about this,” I cut in before taking a step back. “You don’t leave. None of you do. Not until this is done.”

“That’s not your call,” she snaps.

“Yes,” I say, steady and final as my eyes lock with hers. “It is.”

I hold her gaze before I turn and walk out. I don’t want to say something I can’t take back. The noise behind me dulls as I push into the kitchen. I brace my hands against the counter and drop my head as I drag in a breath that does nothing to take the edge off.

“You don’t get to decide what’s right for her, Roman,” her voice follows me in, and I don’t need to turn to know who it is.

“I’m not deciding anything.”

“Then what was that?”

I let the air out slowly through my nose before pushing off the counter and turning to look at her.

“We have no idea where he is,” I say. “And she somehow thinks going home is safe? That it will what? Fix what he put her through?”

“No, sweet boy,” Mum replies calmly. “She thinks going home will give her her old life back.”