“And when you woke? What happened then?”
I blinked several times in silence as his face dissolved in my vision, giving way to things I’d suppressed far back in the nether regions of my mind.
“Don’t worry. You’ll like this.”
“Doesn’t that feel good?”
“Sophia?” came the faraway voice.
I couldn’t breathe.
“What happened when you woke?”
Stars winked into view, and I lurched from the seat, upending the chair. “Where is he?”
I was already stumbling toward the door. I fumbled with the knob, trying and failing to draw air. When the door finally wrenched open, I called Lucas’s name, begging for help from the only person I trusted to give it. He appeared at once, reverent, reminding me how to breathe. I locked into his aquamarine.
“That’s it,” he said. “Breathe.”
I nodded. The world came back into focus by degrees, ebbing and flowing like a tide.
“You want to keep going?” he asked once my breathing calmed.
“No.”
“You don’t have to do this. I’ll take you away right now. I’ll take you anywhere.”
I managed a small smile as the fantasy of us in some cozy cabin far away from here bloomed in my mind. But it was just that…
A fantasy.
“It’s almost finished,” I said.
He dipped closer. “I’m right outside, okay?”
My fist clenched on his shirt. “You’ll stay with me?”
He pressed a kiss to my temple and whispered in my ear, “Until I die.”
Nodding, I took a breath and turned back toward the interview room only to find Logan and the cameraman watching us. Blood rushed to my face, but their expressions were grim.
Logan’s brow wrinkled. “Can you continue?” His curious eyes landed on Lucas, who hardened into the killer as their gazes clashed. Lucas said nothing, but the cold-blooded hatred went unmasked.
Logan paled.
“Let’s just keep going,” I said, pushing Lucas away.
Logan dipped his chin.
I left Lucas in the hallway and shut the door behind me. We re-situated ourselves so Logan could continue with his line of questioning.
“You ready?” he asked, straightening the cards in his hand.
I nodded.
“So what happened when you woke?”
I took a breath. “I don’t remember a lot of it. I try not to think about it.”
