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If this evenwasa government agency. They seemed to have done too much illegal shit to be one of those. But what did I know?

“I’m tired,” I croaked.

“I know, honey. I know.” The hand on my forehead smoothed my hair back. “It’s been a long day.”

I tried to nod in agreement, but I still couldn’t move.

“I can’t move,” I said.

“You mustn’t move,” Locke ground out. “Not until I’ve regained control of the situation.”

“I think that might be now,” the mysterious female voice said.

“No.” Locke disagreed. “Sylvia is still squealing in the corner, and the alarm hasn’t stopped yet.”

As he mentioned Sylvia, her noises became apparent once more, accompanying the sound of the alarm but at a more hysterical pitch, like her life had just gone disastrously wrong… Or was about to head that way.

“Sylvia.” Locke spoke her name then louder when she didn’t respond. “Sylvia! For God’s sake, woman. I can’t think. I’ve got Meira over here. She won’t hurt you. She can’t. She can’t see.”

Gradually, Sylvia’s noises quieted. “She’s under control?” She half-shouted her question, trying to be heard over the alarm, but she sounded calmer now.

The fingers stroking through my hair calmed me, too, and every so often cool metal brushed my cheek with the movement of her hand. Who was in here with us?

“What’s going on?” I seemed to keep asking the same questions, but none of this made any sense at all.

“Shh,” the woman soothed me. “It’s all right. It’ll be all right, I promise. Locke.” She addressed the man who was both my guard and captor. “It’s time to release her.”

eleven

Iwaited a long time before it seemed like Locke finally made his decision. He moved in tiny increments, like he still wasn’t quite sure I wasn’t about to explode. First the pressure released on my hands, and my fingers tingled as blood raced back into them.

I released a sigh as I wriggled them, leaning into the pins and needles sensation once more.

“Get the lights,” Locke ground out. “The situation is now under control.” As if his proclaiming it made it so.

The lights in the room flickered to life, and I blinked in the sudden bright light cast by the utilitarian fluorescent light in the middle of the stark white ceiling.

But the alarm noise was still screeching, and nothing at all sounded under control. It was quieter now, though, like I’d gotten used to it.

“And can someone shut off that goddamn alarm,” he barked. “I can’t even think straight anymore.”

He lifted himself off me, pushing into a sitting position at my side, but I only glanced at him. He held out a pair of sunglasses, but a different hand reached for them, and I looked away.

The hand had been delicate and female, the wrist encircled with a metal band. The person who’d been in here with us was the same lady from last night, the one from the waiting room.

“You.” I breathed the word as I closed my eyes and attempted to ignore the room.

She stroked my forehead again. “It’s okay, Meira,” she said. “I know this is very strange, but it’s all going to be okay.”

She took my hands then moved her grip down my arms, and surprise resonated through me at her strength as she lifted me against her, folding me into a hug. For the first time all day, I relaxed, almost like she was familiar.

Maybe it was just the sense of caring she projected. She rocked slightly, like I needed soothing, and she hummed, and the vibration of the sound seemed to pass into my body.

“There you go,” she murmured. “Easy. I got you.”

I just nodded, safe as she held me. Who let a stranger comfort them like this? I laid my head on her shoulder. Me. That’s who. After a long damn day of strangeness, a hug was about the most normal thing I could do.

She tucked some loose hair behind my ear. “My name’s Lexi. I’m going to look out for you. I’ll make sure you’re okay.”