I don’t answer.
He turns, heading back toward the door. The light cuts in again as it lifts, then disappears just as quickly when it slams shut behind him.
Darkness settles back in.
I let my head tip back against the wall, closing my eyes.
Then I inhale.
Exhale.
Surely, it won’t be long now.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Finn
I can’t breathe right.
It’s not panic the way people think it is. No shaking hands, no dramatic collapse. It’s quieter than that. Worse, maybe. My lungs forgot how to finish the job. Every inhale cuts off too soon. Every exhale leaves something behind.
So I keep moving, because if I stop, I’m going to feel all of it.
The Hollow is too small for this version of me. Too contained. Too full of everything I can’t fix by pacing holes into the floor.
Zane’s at the table, working through angles, routes, maps so we can get to that place without another ambush. He was built for this kind of focus.
Ryder’s on his phone, calling in people we walked away from when we decided this town was going to be different.
Funny how fast that line disappeared.
And me?
I move.
Back and forth.
Every time I slow down, my brain tries to fill the space.
Aurora laughing at something stupid I said.
Aurora in the alley.
Aurora…
No.
I shove it down and keep going.
“Finn.”
Zane’s voice.
I don’t stop.
“Finn.”
I turn on him this time, sharper than I mean to be. “What?”
