Noah had a lot of questions in mind. But Aria had shushed him and had asked Ronnie to accompany them as they drove towards Joshua's house. He was confused beyond words, and nothing the girl had said or was saying made sense to him. It was as though she had thrown a puzzle to him, asking him to solve it on his own without giving away any significant details.
Aria was busy staring at her phone to notice Noah's confused gaze. She had still not received any response from Maggie and this making her apprehensive. She was worried for Maggie, for she knew what their enemy was capable of if she was caught while escaping.
"Please, reply to me. Please." She mumbled to herself, completely ignoring the questionable looks of the two men. Her worry had gotten the best of her, and she was worried more about Maggie than herself.
In no time, they reached Joshua's house, courtesy of Ronnie speeding on the roads after Aria's orders. "Ronnie, you too come inside," Aria ordered, and she bolted out of the car even before Noah could come to her side to open the door. Her strange behavior appalled the two men. However, Aria had vanished inside the house, the doors to which opened the moment the car had driven inside the premises.
Noah hurriedly followed behind her, perturbed by his beloved's weird actions. She seemed to be in some sort of trouble, he had deduced it long back, precisely the moment she had cried in his arms. But he could not make out what was bothering her. Aria had been mum amount it the entire time, not once sparing a glance at him, confirming his suspicions.
Aria dashed inside the mansion frantically, and she sighed in relief on seeing Joshua and Ivy waiting for her.
"Wow, wow, Aria slow down. We do not want an accident happening in my house. Otherwise, your over-possessive boyfriend will tear down my house, blaming it for your carelessness." Joshua joked. However, Aria was in no mood to smile at him. She stopped before him and panted heavily, taking in large chunks of air.
"I..help... track..friend." She breathed swallowing words in between and Joshua had a hard time making out what the girl wanted to say. He poured her a glass of water and handed it to her, which Aria finished at one go. She wiped her lips and stared at her sister, who handed her another glass. Aria shook her head and she turned to face Joshua once again.
"Aria, what is happening? Ivy told me that your friend is in danger and you needed help. What is the matter?" He asked, turning solemn after reading the seriousness of the situation. He raised his eyebrows at Noah, who had walked in by then only to see him shrugging his shoulders.
"I need your help," Aria repeated her words, this time a lot calmer than the previous time.
"Sure Aria. What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to track someone. She is in danger, and she is not telling us where she is right now." Aria explained and Joshua nodded at her, understanding what the matter was.
"I can do that."
"Here, this is her number." Aria handed her phone and Joshua stared at it for a long time before he looked at her skeptically.
"Sure, let's go to my laboratory. Follow me."
The five people went to Joshua's laboratory, his high-tech gadgets welcoming them warmly. However, neither among them was in the mood to appreciate the sophistication and advanced technology the lab held. Everybody was lost in different thoughts to care about anything else around them.
As Joshua got to work, Noah held Aria by her shoulders and made her face him. He lifted her chin and stared at her, concern and worry evident in his eyes. "Aria, now will you tell us what is happening? You are scaring us."
"I-I.." She stuttered, not knowing how to start the conversation.
"Let me tell you." Ivy interrupted her and shook her head when Aria sent her a silent warning. "Noah, our friend is in some danger, and we want your help to save her."
"I see. Don't worry. We will save her." Noah assured the two girls, thinking their friend's problem to be minor. Ronnie alone would suffice to take care of the matter. There was no need for him or Joshua to get involved in the matter. He trusted his man to do the job perfectly well.
Ivy read what was running in Noah's mind and she shook her head. "It is not as easy it seems, Noah. We need you men's help." She stated, confusing Noah. Even Joshua's head snapped to her, wondering what she was even speaking.
"What do you mean, Ivy? I am not able to comprehend what you are saying." Noah blinked at them, looked back and forth between the twins.
"Let me explain. My friend is undercover in a gang and she might be in danger. We need to help her escape from the hellhole and I need you and your men to help us." Aria took over and explained the matter clearly. "To be specific, I need your men from the Underworld to help us."
Her words stupefied the two men, except Noah. Ian gaped at her in disbelief while Joshua looked as though he had eaten a fly. As far as he remembered, he had never mentioned the Underworld to Aria or even to Ivy. His head snapped to Ian, who too shook his head before it fell on Noah, who seemed to be staring at Aria calmly. Joshua could more or less tell what might have happened and how the two sisters might have found out about them.
"Did Noah tell you, Aria?" Joshua queried and darted a look filled with guilt towards Ivy. Noah had already come clean in front of his girlfriend while he hadn't. And suddenly this thought did not settle well in his mind. The guilt kept gnawing his heart and Joshua did not know what to do now.
"That is not important. I'll tell you everything later. Ask your men to be ready. We need to save Maggie."
"Maggie?" Joshua intervened suddenly on hearing the familiar name. He frowned, not liking the way things were going. He was having a bad premonition, and he was convinced Maggie was the same person he was thinking her to be noticing Ivy's uneasy gaze.
"Yes, Maggie. You are thinking about the right person. She is your childhood friend, Margaret." Ivy cleared his confusion and Joshua stood up at once, mortified by the sudden turn of events. He had been searching for the girl for a long time. But he could not, even though he had tried everything he could. It was as though the girl had vanished from the surface of the earth.
"What happened to Margaret? Why is she in danger?" Joshua held Ivy and fired his questions at her. "How did she land in danger?"
Noah too frowned at the unexpected news. He knew who Maggie was. Although he was not close to her, he knew about her and her close friendship with Joshua. Like Joshua, he too was astounded to find out that the twins knew Maggie.
"She was undercover in a dangerous gang and now, she wants to leave to the gang because she is done with her work. However, as difficult it is to enter the gang, it is more difficult to leave it. She is risking her life and we are worried about her." Ivy did not mind Joshua's fingers digging into her biceps. She perceived that the man to be worried for his friend.
"What gang? Ivy, tell me everything clearly." Joshua was losing his mind at the information. His heart was beating erratically. He remembered the promise he had made to Maggie's father before the man had passed away two years ago. He had promised to keep Maggie safe and now that her life was in danger, he could control his anger and anxiety.
"Maggie is an officer at the Intelligence." Ivy started, and Joshua nodded immediately. He knew where Maggie worked. He had kept an eye on her until a few months ago when she disappeared without a trace.
"She then joined Jared's gang to uncover his crimes and collect all evidence against him."
"Jared?" This time, Noah interrupted her. "As in Jared Augustus." Ivy nodded at him and Noah's eyes were now as wide as saucers.
"Ivy," Joshua's voice was deadly low, and Ivy shivered at his serious expression. "Are you talking about the Vipers?"
"Yes," Ivy breathed, and that was all it took for Joshua to lose his cool. He released her and kicked the chair he had been sitting on previously.
"What the fuck!!!" He seethed and glared at Ivy, an expression so alien to her, especially from Joshua. She had always seen him with an affectionate and loving gaze. Never had she seen him this infuriated, especially with her. He was about to unleash his fury on her when his laptop beeped. "Ivy, we will talk about this later."
That was it. His anger-filled promise was enough for Ivy to see what would happen once they finished dealing with the problem at hand. And just the realization was enough to send her mind on overdrive. She was now frightened, petrified even thinking what might happen to her and Joshua and what would Joshua do. Would he leave her forever or would he forgive her? Only the future would give her the answer.