I'm too close. Came up behind her without thinking, without announcing myself, and now her body doesn't see me—it seesthem. The men who found her. The hands that hurt her. Whatever happened in that safe house in Atlanta that she can't outrun no matter how far she goes.
She doesn't scream. Doesn't run.
She freezes.
Every muscle locks. Her breath stops mid-inhale. Her eyes fix on a point past my shoulder—on nothing. On whatever's playing behind her eyes.
Fuck.
I step back slowly, hands up where she can see them.
"Eden." I keep my voice low. Calm. "You're in Shadow Ridge. You're in the cottage. You're safe."
Nothing. She's not hearing me. She's gone.
"Eden. I need you to breathe."
Her chest isn't moving.
"In through your nose. Can you do that for me? Just one breath."
Nothing. Her whole body trembles, fine shakes she can't control.
I want to touch her. Want to grab her shoulders and shake her back to the present, back to me. But touch is the last thing she needs right now. Touch is what put her here.
"I'm going to step back," I say. "I'm going to move to the other side of the room. I'm not going to touch you. I'm not going to come any closer."
I take another step back. Then another. Put the whole kitchen between us.
"There's no one here but us. The doors are locked. The windows are locked. I checked them an hour ago."
Her eyes find mine. The first sign she's hearing me.
"You're safe. I know it doesn't feel like it, but you are. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."
Her chest moves. Not much, but it moves.
"That's good. Keep breathing."
Another breath. Deeper. Her hands unclench—I hadn't noticed she'd made fists—and I watch her come back to herself in pieces. The breathing first. Then her eyes finding mine. Then the awful, crushing awareness of what just happened.
Her face crumples.
"I'm fine." Her voice breaks on it. "I'm sorry, I'm fine, I just—"
"You don't have to explain."
"I don't usually—" She presses her palms to her eyes. "God. I'm sorry."
"Stop apologizing."
She takes another breath. Drops her hands. When she looks at me, her eyes are dry but devastated.
"I'm fine. Really. It was nothing."
"Okay."
"Okay?"
