CHAPTER 29
ADELINE
AFTER A FEW days of following the instructions from Dr. Benson, the doctor who lives down the street, my ankle is feeling good enough to walk on with only a slight limp.
Over dinner that night, Barbara asks, "You told me you want to disappear so that your father doesn't find you?" When I nod, she continues. "My son, James, and his family live in a small farming town in Pennsylvania. He owns some rental properties and a small convenience store." She sets her fork down. "I mentioned to him that I might have a friend down on her luck that needs a place to stay and a job."
I wait with baited breath for her to continue. The longer I stay here with Barbara the more I feel like I'm putting her in danger. This woman saved me. And if anything happened to her because of me, I would be devastated.
I'm too close tohomeright now. Pennsylvania isn't that far away, but it should be a hell of a lot easier to disappear in a small town. Maybe if I keep moving around…not staying in one place for too long…
My hand creeps over my belly. Eventually, however, I'll need to settle down somewhere and make a life for our baby. I can't keep running forever.
"James told me he has a small house that they just renovated, and he's been looking for a cashier to work part time at his store," Barbara says, snapping me out of my frantic, jumbled thoughts.
I haven't been able to think straight ever since I left the island. The worst time is at night when the nightmares come. My mind won't stop replaying Lucien's death while I sleep, and I wake up crying and sometimes screaming for a phantom that is never there.
A thankful smile appears on my face. The sooner I can put some distance between my father and me, the better. "That sounds great, Barbara. I can pay rent -" I start, but she doesn't let me finish.
"He said not to worry about rent, dear. Knowing James, he wouldn't accept a dime from someone in need anyway. That boy has a heart of gold and gets more satisfaction of just helping people get on their feet than filling his pockets."
I smile, blinking back tears. Her son definitely inherited his mother's kind soul.
"There's just one catch," Barbara says. When I look up at her, she tells me, "You have to stay in touch and come to visit me now and then. You're like the daughter I never had," she says with a smile, her hazel eyes warm and happy.
I can't stop my own tears from falling, and I give her a few small nods. "I will visit every chance I get," I tell her honestly.
Barbara helped me more than she will ever know. She saved me.
But more importantly, she saved my baby.
CHAPTER 30
LUCIEN
I'M DRIFTING IN a foggy abyss with no end in sight…
"Lucien, can you hear me? Luc?"
Someone is calling my name, but I can't seem to open my eyes.
"You would think he would want to wake up after sleeping for so long," the voice says, and I know that it's Jax.
"Maybe he's not ready to wake up," whispers a feminine voice.
My heart beats a little faster, thinking that Adeline is here with me in this dark world. I struggle to open my eyes. I need to see her. I need to make sure she's okay.
"He'll wake up when he's ready," she says again, but this time I can tell it's not my girl. This woman has a Russian accent, and not the melodic voice I have grown accustomed to.
I shake my head, wanting to know where Adeline is. "Ad…" I try to talk, but my tongue feels swollen, and my jaw feels like it's made of cement.
"Wait. He's trying to say something," Jax says. I feel his strong grip on my weightless hand. "Luc, you need to wake up. Do you hear me? Adeline needs you."
Adeline needs me. Adeline needs me. Adeline needs me.
My mind is nothing but a dark fog, and I can't remember anything of what happened before I fell asleep. I don't understand why I can't wake up. Did I drink too much last night?
"Do you think he can hear you?" says a deep voice I recognize as Wraith's.
