Page 49 of Trapping His Angel

I wasn’t supposed to be here today; Benedikt wanted me to keep to the gardens and stay away from the captives, but I couldn’t help it. Because of her exotic looks, Kaida was forced to do heinous acts at the hands of some teachers. Ridiculed for her stutter, she was trying to speak more clearly, and was usually embarrassed when she stumbled on her words.

“How are you feeling?”

She had gotten injured during the rescue, and lost part of her hearing in the wreckage. “The doctor said my hearing is going to remain at a 30% function,” she said a bit loudly.

I understood though. She couldn’t hear accurately. It made communicating much harder for her.

“I know Roman uses sign language. Maybe we can pick it up too, and then we can learn what the men are saying to each other.” I grinned.

“G-good idea.” Kaida flushed.

I didn’t point out that her stutter was adorable. She probably wouldn’t appreciate it. We both snuck into Tiffany’s room. She was in the gardens around this time. We grabbed her phone and searched for sign language books.

I ordered a few, and we raced out after putting the phone back. It would be awful to be caught by the Pakhan’s wife. That would end in disaster. Once that was done, we headed back to the East Wing and hung out.

Kaida was a cool person to be around.

I hoped her family didn’t have to do too much to buy back her freedom. I told her I was going to run to the kitchen and grab us some water. We’d been talking for so long that my throat was parched.

Kaida stayed behind as I headed downstairs.

I wasn’t gone too long, but by the time I rushed back up the stairs with our bottles of water, Kaida was gone. I checked the common areas and lastly her room. There wasn’t a sign of her anywhere.

I was going to tell my husband about this.

Someone may have hurt my friend and, until I solved it, I was on a no-sleeping time frame. I headed straight back to Kaida’s room, but couldn’t find a trace of where she’d gone. Nothing was out of place and there didn’t seem to have been a struggle at all. Something was wrong. This was too clean.

I didn’t understand where she’d disappeared to, but I knew it likely wasn’t safe. I couldn’t find any clues, so I was disheartened.

I foundBenedikt in the study and he was with someone I hadn’t met yet. They were looking at a computer screen between them, but the room was filled with all kinds of gadgets and computer stuff.

“Isadora, what brings you here?” Benedikt asked. He walked over to me and gave me a gentle forehead kiss.

“I wanted to speak with you,” I said in a hushed voice. I didn’t want his friend to overhear, because I didn’t know him.

“Oh, that’s Makari. He’s family, and works within the Brotherhood. Anything you need to say, you can address it in front of him. It’s safe, I promise,” Benedikt assured me.

I still didn’t trust the guy, but I heard what my husband said.

“One of my sisters is missing.” Once I said it out loud, I could feel my lip trembling.

Benedikt pulled me closer to his body. “Tell me everything.”

I told him everything I’d seen and heard, leading up to her going missing.

“What did you say her name was?” The stranger interrupted.

“Oh, I don’t know her last name, but her first name is Kaida. She speaks Japanese fluently.”

I thought back. She was supposed to teach me some phrases as well because I’d always loved the language.

The air grew tense, as both men stiffened at her name.

I peeked up at each of them, but focused more on Benedikt. “Do you know her?”

He thought for a second, and something flashed in his eyes. I blinked, but it was gone in the next moment.

“Can’t say that I’ve heard her name, but what I can do is put together some men and get searching for her.” Benedikt came up with a solution.