After her father's tragic passing, Nora Davis is forced behind the scenes, nothing more than a stepping stone for others in their journey to stardom. When an opportunity presents itself, Nora, trapped under her stepmother's heel, takes it as her cha...
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Eli was thankful Lizzie and Jackson had got him to the couch when they did. If he was standing when Nora told him he was her Destined, he would have collapsed completely.
The first emotion that hit him was overwhelmingly bright—so much so it stole the very breath from his lungs. He had a Destined. Someone crafted specifically for him. The person designed by fate to be his lifelong best friend, his lover, his light. And it wasn't just a random soul.
It was Nora.
He basked in the joy, trying to hold onto it, but part of it slipped through his fingers like water. Nora was his Destined... and she was in trouble. As his throat tightened, he leaned forward on the couch, rested his elbows on his knees, and put both hands to his face.
"Eli?"
It was then that the tightness in his throat turned to a solid ache. Nora, he called for her in his mind. Are you safe?
When she didn't answer, he sat up straight, frowning. Nora?
Eli...can you send someone...to get me out?
Get her out?
"Eli?" Lizzie brushed aside some of his hair at his temple, worry thinning her lips.
He put a hand calmly on his sister's arm and shook his head, then held up a finger. I'm coming, Nora.
Her reply, when it came, sounded more muted than before, as if it traveled down a long tunnel. Thank y...
"Nora is my mate," Eli muttered to his siblings.
Lizzie's sucked in a breath that caught in her throat. "How—?"
Eli only tapped his temple. Jackson's lips moved, asking something, but Eli was already back with Nora. I need you to tell me where you're at, Nora. Are you at home?
Yes, I...
He almost hadn't caught that one. Was she falling asleep? Nora? What's going on? Are you safe?
Nora?
NORA?
He did not like how dim her voice was when she finally responded. Hungry...room four days. Please, Eli.
Eli swore, low and long. He shot to his feet and took a step—
—only to collide with Jackson's chest.
Jackson's grip found his bicep. "Explain. Now."
Eli stumbled his way through his explanation the same way he'd bumbled through his presentation on mitosis in his freshman year biology class at Jostlin. The more he described Nora finding him singing in the studio and about what he'd found out about Felicity, the more severe the expression on Jackson's face grew.
