TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 258

Two hundred and fifty eight

Lisa POV

Staying inside the chapter house became harder every day. I needed the isolation, but being cut off from the rest of the world was starting to wear on me.

My phone had been left at home. I couldn’t hear my mother’s voice or find out whether Cameron had finally stopped calling.

The days blurred together until they all felt the same. Everything that made life feel normal had been stripped

away.

The pregnancy wasn’t helping. Midnight cravings had become their own kind of torture. I’d wake desperate for spicy grilled chicken, then remember breakfast would be another bowl of soft vegetables and herbal tea that tasted like someone had boiled all the flavor out of it.

The food was healthy, and I knew the baby needed it. My hormones didn’t care.

Some nights I buried my face in the pillow because I wanted fried chicken so badly I could cry. Other nights I missed Cameron. That annoyed me almost as much.

Of all the people I should’ve stayed away from, my own body kept reaching for him. I wanted to feel his arm around me, his lips against mine. Instead, I lay awake listening to the silence.

Victoria had become my lifeline. Even with grief hanging over her, she always found patience for me.

I tried not to snap at her, but I didn’t always manage it.

“Can’t they let me go home for just one day?” I sighed as she helped me down the stairs. My center of gravity had shifted so much that even standing up had become an awkward negotiation with my own body.

“They have reasons for being careful, Lisa dear.”

I let out a frustrated breath.

“I get that, but it’s getting on my nerves. I don’t even know where Cassidy is. Nobody tells me anything.”

“She could be out there trying to protect you.”

“I just want to know she’s alive.”

Victoria looked away.

“Who takes someone’s phone, then expects them not to lose their mind?”

“Maybe that’s exactly why. So nobody outside can reach you.”

“And nobody inside will tell me anything.”

She chuckled.

We reached the common room. The familiar mix of women greeted us. Some smiled, some barely looked up, and others quietly excused themselves whenever they noticed my stomach.

Women who had buried babies didn’t need the reminder.

Strangely, I preferred that. It reminded me the world didn’t revolve around my problems.

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“I think I’ll go see Joanna.”

“Maybe not,” Victoria said.

I frowned.

“Why?”

“I mean…” She searched for an answer. “She’s probably busy.”

“How would you know that?”

She scratched the back of her head.

“I just assumed.”

Something wasn’t right.

Every conversation with Victoria ran into the same invisible wall.

She’d told me about her husband, her sponsor, and the life she’d lived before joining the Daughters. Yesterday she’d even shown me the birthing room. I’d stood there staring at the delivery bed and the trays of forceps and clamps, imagining myself lying there while strangers worked to bring my son into the world.

We’d even joked about the strange double ceiling above us, wondering whether it hid another floor or some elaborate defense system.

But every conversation about what was happening outside these walls ended the same way.

“I’m just saying thinking too much isn’t good for you or the baby.”

“Victoria, my sponsor has been gone for days.”

“It isn’t your burden to carry. Even if you knew what was keeping her away, what would you do?”

I said nothing.

“Then all you can do is hope for the best.”

Hope.

I hated that word. People only reached for it when they had nothing else to give.

What if Cassidy had been captured?

What if she was dead?

I wrapped both hands around my belly. If anything had happened to the woman risking her life to protect me, I wasn’t sure I’d ever stop blaming myself.

The last thread holding my patience together snapped that evening when Victoria walked into my room and picked up my travel bag.

“I need to help you pack.”

“What?”

She folded one of my dresses before looking at me.

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“You’re going home. Joanna is escorting you herself.”

I’d wanted to hear those words for days.

Instead, my stomach tightened.

I pushed myself off the bed.

This didn’t feel like freedom.

It felt like I was being moved.

Joanna was already waiting downstairs. Kieran stood beside one of the vehicles with two of his guards. Another van idled nearby, its windows too dark to see inside.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“You’ll understand soon enough,” Joanna said with an encouraging smile.

I didn’t trust that smile.

Three senior Daughters joined us in the van. Their conversation had nothing to do with Meridian. One talked about repairs at another chapter house. Another complained that herbal supplies had arrived late.

It sounded too normal.

I rested a hand on my stomach.

Was Cassidy dead?

Had Meridian gone after my mother? Kieran? Cameron?

The baby shifted beneath my palm.

Don’t panic. Not until you know why.

The drive went on until the van turned. I looked out the window.

This wasn’t the road home.

Nobody acknowledged the detour.

I stopped asking questions. If they wanted me to know, they would’ve told me already.

Tall security fencing surrounded the property. It reminded me of Cameron’s safe house.

Joanna helped me climb out of the van.

“You all right?”

I nodded, though my heart hammered against my ribs.

Inside, a brown industrial building stretched ahead of us. Our footsteps echoed down a wide corridor before it opened into what looked like a reception area.

“Mom!”

Relief hit so hard my knees nearly gave out.

I hurried toward her as fast as my swollen body would allow, and she caught me in her arms.

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“Lisa, sweetheart,” she whispered, kissing my forehead.

I held on until she smiled.

“I’m happy to see you too.”

I pulled back.

“Mom. If something happened, please just tell me.”

“We will.”

Kieran stepped beside us and slipped an arm around my shoulders.

“The little guy’s getting heavy.”

Normally I would’ve smiled.

I couldn’t.

Joanna exchanged a glance with my mother before facing me.

“Lisa, we brought you here because circumstances have changed. We believe this location is safer.”

“For what reason?”

“You remember what we hoped to accomplish through Catherine.”

I nodded.

“It won’t happen now.”

She looked at my mother, then back at me.

“Catherine is dead.”

My eyes widened.

“What?”

“Who killed her?”

“Her own daughter.”

That was impossible.

Evangeline and her mother…

I looked from one face to another.

No one looked surprised.

“What happened?”

“We don’t know everything yet,” Joanna said. “Only that things happened much faster than anyone expected. Right now, Meridian has been thrown into chaos. Chaos makes people unpredictable. That’s why you’re here.”

My hand settled over my stomach.

If Evangeline could kill the one person she’d always loved, then I didn’t know who she was anymore. And if I

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hundred and fifty right

didn’t know who she was, how could I know what she’d do next?

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