Andi squeezes my hand. “You don’t have to talk about it right now. When you’re ready, any of us are here.”
I grip her fingers back and squeeze.
My gaze wanders around the room, noting the three missing persons—one who I want to see more than anything.
“Mads okay?” I ask Andi.
“Yeah, he just…” She sighs heavily. “I think everything just got to him. He had to take a walk.”
I nod, completely understanding. “Where is—”
The door opens, revealing Mads, who appears pissed as hell when he pulls his mask down. Our eyes meet, and we nod at each other, no words needing to be spoken.
Andi kisses my cheek and gets up to talk to him.
“I’m sorry,” Zeb says beside me.
I turn into him, and his expression prompts an ache in my chest.
“I… I mean, you listen and watch all this stuff, right? And then, when it happens in front of you…” He sighs heavily. “I shouldn’t have left you. And I didn't mean to interrogate you.”
“Zeb, I wouldn’t expect any less. I know you mean well, but Wren is right. It isn’t that easy. Right now, I hardly know what’s real and what’s made up by fear or even as a protective mechanism in my head. Just… give me time.”
His jaw tightens again, and he leans over to kiss my forehead. “Okay.”
I sigh and glance around the room again, noting that Liam and Gemma still aren’t there.
“So… is everyone okay? Where is Gemma?” I ask.
“I’m right here.”
Gemma and Kade walk in, and my entire body weakens at the sight of her. I wish I had the strength to jump in her arms. I wish I even had the strength to stand.
Her face softens when our eyes meet, and as she sinks onto the coffee table in front of me, I hear Reed clear his throat.
“We should…” Reed jerks his head toward the door. “Come on.”
A few of them squeeze my shoulder as they pass by, yet each one feels more and more distant as Gemma’s eyes search my face, her thumb pushing some of my hair out of my eyes. I lean into that safe touch, my heart seeming to thaw with her in front of me.
And I wonder if this is what falling for someone feels like. I’ve blocked every memory of falling in love in the past so that I don’t have a baseline. All I feel when I think about it is pain. Still, this… this feels like the kind of hope that I haven’t felt in a really long time.
“You still have mirror in your hair,” she says, picking out a piece.
“I’ll be finding it for weeks,” I say. “Did you… did you find him?”
Her jaw tenses as she shakes her head. “No. Not yet. I have people looking… I’m so sorry, Bonnie,” she whispers. “I should have been here. I should have kept you with Zeb. This is my fault.”
“It’s no one’s fault except the asshole who attacked me,” I argue. “How could you have known? You were dealing with something bigger. Is everyone okay? Was anyone hurt?”
“Liam has a graze on his arm,” she answers, picking out another piece of glass. “We took the guy down before anyone was hurt—I thought the medic said they cleaned you up,” she adds, a twinge of annoyance in her voice.
I almost smile. “I don’t even remember a medic,” I admit.
Gemma’s eyes meet mine. “No, you passed out. God, you… you passed out right when I came in. I thought you were dying with all the blood.”
“I feel like it’s clinging to me,” I say, looking at my fingers.
She pulls a particularly large piece out of my hair and sighs again. “The venue was asking what happened. But out of fear that one of them might report it to the press, Stella is spinningit. The room was like this when you came in, and you fell on the glass. A few people saw you and Zeb stumble down the platform, and the fact that you were running from a gunman helps the case… Unless you want something different.”
