“Okay. Sense of humor is intact. That’s going to help a lot.”
“So, where are we going?” he asked.
Adrian slid Gage’s hand into the crook of his elbow with practiced ease. He felt strength there, lean muscle under soft fabric.
“We’re going to test your environmental reading and reaction skills to echoes, climate, and crowd noise,” Adrian explained as they began walking. “It’ll allow me to gauge how you adapt. But I can already tell you’re far ahead of the curve.”
Gage frowned. “How do you know?”
“Because you haven’t bumped into a single corner in this wing. Not once. And you’re counting steps without realizing you’re doing it.”
Hmm.
They moved through the building, and Gage listened to everything Adrian said as though his life depended on it…because it did.
The hall changed from medical-clean to public-clean. The scent of people increased. Fabric. Perfume. Coffee. A noticeable ozone smell from all the electronics.
Adrian kept a steady pace, never yanking or rushing him, and he narrated only what mattered.
“Door on the left. Two people crossing ahead. Floor texture changing in eight steps.”
Gage’s confidence crept upward slowly.
They walked outside and the temperature drop filled his lungs with winter briskness. He realized they were in a garage by the resonance and contained smell of exhaust.
He was almost excited for his lesson until a feeling like a heavy hand pressed against the back of his neck.
Gage stopped so fast Adrian almost stumbled into him.
“What are you feeling?”
His stomach tightened like a knot being pulled tighter, until he could barely breathe around it.
“I don’t know. There’s someone else here,” he whispered. “It’s like…I feel eyes on me.”
Adrian leaned in and whispered, “Your instincts are phenomenal.”
“Am I right?”
“Yes.”
His pulse stuttered. “Who is it?”
“It’s your partner. He’s a couple of rows over, in the backseat of the Black Ravens’ SUV…and Meridian is with him.”
Gage didn’t move.
“Both of them are watching us.”
A car door opened and Adrian placed his hand at the small of his back, guided him inside, and closed the door.
The cabin sealed him away from the cold, but not from the feeling.
Adrian got into the driver’s seat and started the engine, creating a low vibration under his feet.
Gage turned his face toward the pressure, toward Scar.
It was strange the way he could feel him. Not by his scent or sound…but by the gravity of his presence.
