“So, the damage to the apartment is pretty extensive. And River and I were talking.”
“River?”
“Echo’s brother.” She says quickly, weirdly averting her gaze. “Anyway, we were talking, and he thinks it’s best if we stay here for a while, and I agree.”
“At the hospital?”
Her brows pull together, and she shakes her head. “This isn’t a hospital, babe. We’re at their estate. This is just their medical room. After the medics cleared you, Echo insisted on bringing you back here so his own doctor could check on you.”
“Oh…” I say, still trying to wrap my head around everything. “So wait. You want to stay here? With them.”
“Well, want is a strong word. And I’ve had more time to sit with it than you have. But yeah, until we figure out who started that fire, it makes the most sense.”
A cold feeling slithers down my back. “How do weknow someone did? Couldn’t it have just been faulty wiring or a bad outlet?”
“The fire marshal is investigating it. Because of the damage, it’ll be a few weeks before they have anything definitive.”
“But they think it was intentional?”
She exhales. “Our unit was the only one that burned. And with Christian out there, I just don’t want to take any chances.”
Christian.
I hadn’t even let my brain go there yet. I’d been so focused on Echo that I hadn’t even stopped to think about who might have actually started the fire. But now that Fallon says his name out loud, I can’t stop thinking about it.
“You think this was him?”
“I don't know.” She says, honestly. “Maybe. Or maybe it was just bad wiring and we’re worrying over nothing. Either way, I’d rather err on the side of caution in a gated mansion than at some shitty motel we can barely afford.”
Christian burned my life down once. I wouldn’t put it past him to break out of prison just to do it again.
“Okay.” I say, tilting my chin up.
“Okay?”
“Yeah.” I say, pulling the thin blanket tighter across my lap. “We’ll stay here for now. At least until they figure out how the fire started.”
She reaches out to squeeze my hand. “I’ll go find River and let him know you agreed.”
She slips out, and for the first time since I woke up, I get time alone to process.
Christian is out there somewhere, and after what justhappened, there’s a good chance he’s found me. Echo saved my life tonight, but then said he didn’t deserve my gratitude. What the hell did he even mean by that? And why was he looking at me so strangely?
The door opens again, and Echo quietly steps in. He heads for the chair by the window and sits down, careful not to let his back touch the seat this time.
“Did you have the doctor look at it?” I ask, fidgeting with my hands under the blanket. “Your back, I mean.”
“He doesn’t need to.” He says quietly. “I’m fine.”
I swallow. “Echo, I don’t think you are.”
“I said I’m fine, Dahlia.”
I give him a nod and try not to be bothered by the fact that he didn’t call me Bambi.
The room goes quiet again, amplifying every single sound in the distance. I can hear the wind outside, moving through the trees, and somewhere in the distance I hear laughing. I think it’s Fallon’s, which is odd, but it’s so far away that I can’t be sure.
I stare at Echo’s hands. At the thick layers of bandages wrapped around his palms and fingers. At the way his fingers twitch, like they hurt even now, when he’s sitting perfectly still.
