Why the name and nothing else?
Evelyn froze, Rae and Emily turning at the sound of my raspy, unfamiliar voice.
My voice was low now. Husky, raspy, unused. I hated the sound of it. There was no emotion in it anymore, no life. No anything.
Evelyn’s dropped jaw worked as she glanced back at the others, my eyes still locked on the window. “Uh…” She shook her head. “Your old last name,” she corrected, pulling the sweater carefully over my head.
Pine and rain accosted me from all sides, filling my soul, my chest. Everett.
She hadn’t brought me my own clothes, she had brought me Everett’s.“Okay, I got her favorites,”she had said. My favorites. Not my favorite style. My favorite person. My favorite scent.
I swallowed, but the burning of the tears never came. I didn’t think I had the ability to cry anymore, but I felt as if this was a moment I would have done it if I had the ability.
Rose. Emily had left roses around my house.
I hoped they were red.
Evelyn put a pair of Evertt’s black sweats on me, and finally some slides before stepping back and smiling. “Perfect. Okay, did you want to walk out of here or roll out? Either option is fine with me.”
I finally looked down to my feet. Normal, regular feet, unpainted nails. My toes were pale, but no longer purple.
I could walk out, I was at least strong enough for that.
I slid forward, my feet flattening on the ground. I gently eased more weight down onto my legs only to glance back at Lucy.
She met my eyes for half a second before jumping down beside me.
I grabbed onto her back and used her to ease myself to a stand. It wasn’t like I didn’t trust them. I exercised every single day in that room after they took me off the hook, but I was worried that spending so much time in bed would do some damage.
However, they took the weight just fine. I thrummed my toes a few times before releasing Lucy and turning to Merlin. I held out a hand, the sleeves covering most of them, and whistled his little tune, watching as he walked right into the little cave the sweater and my palm created.
I pulled him close to my chest and turned towards the three women and Lus, giving them a nod.“Let’s go.”
We slowly made our way out of the room, Lucy leaning into me, Evelyn leading, the other two behind us.
Jack looked up from the computers, his eyes immediately finding Rae’s before they found mine. He offered a soft nod before turning back to his wife. “I found the last time the camera caught him.”
Rae appeared at my side. “I’ll come to visit, okay? Good luck.”
I watched as she walked over to join Jack. God, they were so beautiful together. Gorgeous. As if they had been made for the other.
“They’re searching for the man who was going to take you,” Evelyn explained as we continued for the warehouse doors. “We don’t have a name. Everett thinks Phil knew his name, but he won’t say. We’re not sure why.”
It was because of Azrael I was sure of it. I remembered telling him the name, and I knew Phil knew. Azrael must have already put that together; I just couldn’t guess why. Why keep thatinformation from them? Why wouldn’t he want that man found?
“Nobody wants to extract it out of him because of you,” she went on. “He protected you, so while that doesn’t make him apart of The Family, it does make him an ally.”
I wanted to ask about his son, about his wife. Were they happy? Did they move? Would I ever see them again?
But the words died on my tongue. Why wasn’t that important enough to say?
Maybe it didn’t have to do with importance. Maybe it was something deeper. Something so deep, I couldn’t find it within me. Something that was living in the darkest corner of my mind side by side with that black fog I never wanted to reveal again.
I prayed it would never come back, and if the only way to keep it down was to limit my words, then fine, so be it, so long as I never felt it again.
We walked outside, the breeze warm as it drifted across my skin.
An old black Chevelle was waiting for us on the curb. Evelyn opened my door for me, letting Emily and Lucy jump into the back before I slid into the passenger seat.
