*Amir*

It was now seven in the evening, and I took off from work all day. The medication from Luna's system made me weak and drowsy, and I wouldn't have been able to perform any duties today. Plus, my mind was a wreck.

Luna and I won't be able to connect to one another soon, and that was torture for me. A knock at my front door distracted me from almost going insane and I slowly opened it, staring at Faisal who came over right after work. He had a few bags with food in them and a few cans of Pepsi. After laying everything down, I sat at the end of the table and opened a drink. Not even two minutes went by and we were joined by both Darren and Cassie.

Gathering around my dining table, we faced each other and began discussing the girl's situation. I held my drink in my hand, thinking of ways that we could help them. Breaking Luna and Cami out had to be planned precisely with no room for mistakes. We had to figure out how to go in and extract them. It had to be logical and well thought-out.

I kept running down everything that had happened to Luna to lead her to this point in her life, ending with getting her out of that wretched place. No one deserved to be in there. And all I could think of to do was to throw a bomb on the facility once it was cleared out. That was still a possibility.

Hanging my head low, I felt a hand on my arm. Cassie. "Amir... how do you feel?" she asked me, a frown on her lips.

I shrugged my shoulders and tried to hold back my emotions, but it was hard. Just knowing that the love of my life was stuck in a place where she had no choice and was constantly treated horribly. I was lost and empty inside.

"Worried about Luna," I replied, meeting her gaze. Darren and Faisal were talking indistinctly where I couldn't really understand their game plan, so I just sat here and chatted with her.

Taking a sip of red wine from her house, I watched her under my long lashes. "Do you know where Luna is now?"

I rubbed the back of my neck and closed my eyes for a brief moment, tuning into Luna's whereabouts. "She's lying on her bed with Cami. They are comforting each other, but I can sense Luna is heartbroken. Cami just received transfer orders for another facility in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and she leaves before the end of the month. If Luna is released from Orange Security, Cami will be gone by then. Both of them are feeling lonely right now."

Nausea rolled inside my stomach, feeling the sadness Luna had over this. I loved being able to sense her emotions, especially the good moments, but this was really tearing the both of them up.

"Amir?" Faisal mumbled as he looked up from his plate of half-eaten Biryani.
"What do you think we should do?

"I don't know. I stood in Luna's washroom so I wouldn't bother them, but my heart felt like it was sinking." I threw my hands in the air and stood to my feet. "There is a void inside her. Okay. There is this deep void of pain and sadness along with the possibility of losing her best friend. I haven't told anyone this, and it isn't my place to say anything, but Luna doesn't need to feel this pain. She did once before, and her life almost ended. She almost ended her life. And that is what scares me the most. I'll burn that place to the ground before I let her feel that loneliness again."

"I know how you feel, but Amir-"

"Don't!" I said, urging my cousin to stand down. Cassie was right here with us and wasn't hurt at all. And the only one who could understand anything in this room was Darren, who was looking on his laptop at God knows what. "Faisal... the only thing that I live for in this world is in that building, and I will be damned if they hurt her again. No offense, but your partner is sitting right here. And truthfully, neither of you know how I feel. Understand me now? Because the love of my life is about to be taken away from me for who knows how long, and her best friend won't be there anymore either." I clasped my arms behind my head before I ended up smashing the wall to pieces. "We need to come up with a plan, and fast. If not, all hell will break loose."

"Okay, okay. Just calm down. Let's think together here." Faisal was trying to be calm, but his connection to Cami wasn't restricted like mine was to Luna. "Could Luna be transferred to another facility? Houston, maybe?"

"Or she could come to Canada. I mean, that's where I am," Cassie offered.

I shook my head. "The doctor keeps writing ridiculous remarks about her, so that's why she's there. I thought about the possibility of urging Liberty to do something on Facebook messenger. Maybe Ahmed can help, especially since he knows the truth about Luna."

Crap, I let that slip.

"How does he know about Luna?"

At the sound of my cousin's voice cracking, I turned around. I was facing my bedroom door-the same door I smashed like the Hulk a few weeks ago and finally had it repaired. My nerves shook, remembering how he tried to stop me last time. Nobody should try to stop me from rescuing my other half.

With all three of them keeping their eyes on mine, Cassie spoke up, breaking the tension in the room. "You can tell us anything. We all want to help Luna and Cami in any way we can."

"Tell us what Ahmed knows, Amir." Faisal stood to his feet and walked near me, but I threw my hand up. I didn't want to discuss Ahmed, or how he was like us. He should tell them, not me. "If he knows something, maybe he could-"

"He doesn't know anything. Forget I said that."

"No!" Faisal stepped two inches closer to me and looked me dead in the eyes. "You can't keep important things to yourself anymore. This is serious. If we need to know something, then tell us. If not to Darren and Cassie, then to me. We're family."

I stared at my couch. And like a mirage, there she was. Luna was stretched out on the flush cushions and had her head in my lap as we watched TV together. A deep pain sliced down my chest and cut me deep inside. God, I missed her and missed having her here. It nearly killed me to know what was happening to her and Cassie, and what the staff had planned for them.

I came up with a plan a few days ago, but I don't have faith that it could work. Faisal would definitely have to come with me to America. I would need his help.

"Amir?" Darren said, breaking me from my thoughts. "If Ahmed knows a way to help Luna, and possibly Cami, please talk to us. I care about Cami and what happens to her. It's not the same as you and Luna and having that deep love for each other, but I know what you're going through. I just recovered from a heart attack, and Cami has closed me out. We need to get the both of them and anyone else who is a tethered soul out of there. Please. Think about who is getting hurt because of the one they are paired for is stuck inside that place. I don't like Dr. Kim at all, and he should get his license for practicing medicine revoked. But that's not up to me. Or any of us. I don't know the next place Cami is going, but I can feel her anxiety about it, and I can feel her weariness over Luna."

After hearing his plea, I pulled out a chair and sat down. As I glanced at each of them, I opened my mouth and informed them about what I recently learned about Ahmed. Maybe this knowledge could work for everyone.

"Ahmed is a Tethered Soul." Faisal's eyes bulged out as he opened his mouth. I cleared my throat and pretended not to notice. "He saw me, and saw Faisal, as we were visiting the ladies earlier. When he turned twenty-eight, he connected to his partner, but in doing so, his partner crashed his car and died shortly afterward. Ahmed appeared into the middle of the road when Javier-the guy he was paired for-swerved to avoid hitting him. Javier and Ahmed's birthday had just passed, and Javier was twenty-one. That's when he became active and didn't know what was in his genetics. So since then, Ahmed developed a talent, I should say. He can cloak himself, and also block anyone out. Any tethered soul on the planet, he can mentally block from connecting to him or seeing him. That's actually a good thing sometimes. He can also block out someone who is sad or in pain and take those emotions away, as if they were never in that state of mind. Basically, he can help block out other people's emotions. So if Luna was undergoing a shock treatment, she wouldn't feel pain if he were there, holding her hand."

I narrowed my eyes and sniffed, knowing my eyelids were most likely red. Ahmed had a gift to block out pain from others, and that was something I would like to do for Luna. Not block out her pain, but help block out the pain she felt. He explained to me that's how it worked for him. Maybe he could do something for her, but I didn't know what.

"Amir?" I heard from behind me, and it had to be my imagination. It sounded like my girl, but I could taste and feel the medication that she just swallowed in her system. It was three pm her time-the time she took her pills. "A?"

With her calling me that, that had my attention. When I turned around slowly, she was standing in my hallway with her hair pulled back into a thin ponytail and wearing clothes she borrowed from Cami. A white top and some cute lounge shorts that have the words "Spank Me" written on the back of them. She once mentioned that Cami's style of clothing differed greatly from hers.

"Hi," Cassie said, waving to Luna. Luna waved back and walked over to me.

I jumped up from my chair and held her little body in my arms, missing her soft touch against my skin. "You can see Cassie?"

She nodded. "Yes, I can." She squeezed me gently, then gazed into my eyes. "Darren as well." Her mind and ability have expanded. This was good for her. More people she could connect to.

I clasped my hands around her cheeks with my warm palms, kissing her lips gently. "This is progress, baby." Then I took her by the hand and lead her to my room, so we could talk privately. "Guys," I said, turning back to the group. "I need to speak with Luna alone."

They all nodded. So then I hurried to my bedroom and closed the door behind me, pulling her close. This may be our last time to hold each other, and I wasn't wasting a second of being with her. Her medication prevented her from coming here, and this chance was a rare one.

Her essence was cooling my insides, and she was just what I needed right now.

***
The next chapter was originally part of this one, making it into a double POV, but I had split them. This chapter was aimed at Amir opening up to his supporting friends and seeing Luna at the end. And the next chapter scenes take off in a different aspect, in a close intimate style. Some comments in here were also about the next few scenes. Those scenes could have overshadowed what went on in this scene, if I had kept these chapters together. The revision will be written differently in regards to this part of the storyline. Many changes will be made to the whole story.