“I’m sorry I had to break protocol,” the kid’s voice was tight.
“What are you doing here?” Eve, Lila, and Brian said almost in unison, recognition clear in their voices that they knew the driver.
David barely heard them.
His heart was pounding too loudly in his ears.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
He took a step forward, then another, moving closer to the car. Trying to see past the glare of the headlights.
Eve moved up beside him, Lila right behind her with Brian tagging along. Dan and Milly flanked them.
The passenger door opened.
A figure stepped out.
“What is going on?” A soft voice echoed across the space between them. “Is this where I’m supposed to be safe?” Her voice…
David’s breath caught in his throat as his heart seemed to stop. In fact, it felt as if the entire world suddenly stopped spinning. The figure moved forward, stepping out of the headlights’ direct glare.
David’s chest heaved, and then he felt like it had caved in. Like someone had reached inside and squeezed until he couldn’t breathe.
No. It couldn’t be!
He took another step forward without realizing it. Had to see. Had to?—
She stepped fully into the softer light spilling from the cabin windows.
Their eyes met.
The world disappeared.
Those eyes. Green-gold. Framed by dark lashes. Wide with confusion and something else. Something that mirrored what was tearing through him.
That face. The curve of her cheek. The set of her jaw. The way her lips parted slightly as she stared back at him.
David suddenly couldn’t move. He couldn’t do anything but stare as twenty-eight years collapsed into nothing.
He was drowning. Drowning in recognition and disbelief, and something so huge and overwhelming he couldn’t name it.
His fingers went numb, and the item he was holding tumbled unnoticed from his hand.
Mia
Mia stepped out of the car, her legs shaky, her mind reeling from everything Nolan had said. He was taking her to a safe place. Not a cabin in the woods. Mia had seen movies that started like this. This felt more like a horror movie than a safe house, and who were all those people?
The headlights behind her were too bright, making it hard to see. She could make out figures ahead. Several people. Hear voices, overlapping, confused.
She moved forward, away from the blinding glare, squinting.
“What is going on?” Her own voice sounded strange in her ears. “Is this where I’m supposed to be safe?”
A man stepped forward out of the group of people. Two more steps. Then stopped.
Something slammed into Mia’s chest. Hard and sudden.
Her breath caught.
