But it was getting harder by the second.
Images kept flashing through his mind—Hadley’s tired smile, the way she’d looked when he found her curled up on that blanket in Juno’s pen, the quiet strength in her voice.
And then . . . Sarah’s image filled his mind again.
Crumpled at the bottom of the stairs.
He’d been too late.
He was always too late.
Max’s hands curled into fists at his sides.
But not this time, he told himself. He would find Hadley if it was the last thing he did.
Caleb paused and turned toward him, something thoughtful but uneasy crossing his expression. “You know . . . Kendra used to be a nurse.”
Max blinked, unsure if he’d heard correctly. “What?”
Caleb shrugged. “Before she came here. She changed professions. Said she wanted something different.”
Max stared at him. “She never told me that.”
“It was on her résumé, but the clinic where she worked shut down. We couldn’t call for a reference.” Caleb’s mouth tightened.
“There seems to be a lot about Kendra that doesn’t quite add up,” Max murmured.
The words hung in the air, heavy and unwelcome.
He shoved the thoughts aside.
They didn’t have time for that. They didn’t have time for anything except one thing.
“We’ve got to find Hadley.” Max’s gaze flicked toward the door, toward the darkness beyond it—toward whoever had taken her. “Before it’s too late.”
A deep, pulsing ache throbbed through Hadley’s skull.
Darkness surrounded her, heavy and absolute.
She forced her eyes open.
Nothing changed.
Her lashes fluttered as she tried again, slower this time. She willed her vision to adjust.
There was no dim outline, no hint of light. Everything was black—thick, suffocating black.
A groan slipped from her before she could stop it. As she shifted, the movement sent a sharp spike of pain through her temples. Nausea rolled through her stomach, and she swallowed hard against it as her thoughts struggled to catch up.
Everything felt delayed, like her mind was wading through something thick and slow.
She lifted a hand toward her head. When her fingers brushed the back of her skull, she sucked in a breath. “Ouch . . .”
A large, tender knot swelled beneath her skin.
She held her fingers there for a second, trying to make sense of it. The grogginess. The heaviness in her limbs. The lag in her thoughts.
She’d been drugged, she realized. Had she been injected with something?
