Page 58 of Change

Yes, there was. He’d been possessive over that land—what if he was watching?

He would know if I helped. They would know.

“Eric Richardscannothurt you.” Maria shook my hands, her steady voice an anchor for my drifting emotions. “And, if you don’t want to do that, you don’t even need totalk. You can just walk around and point out anything that we could use. Something we might not notice.”

Maybe, maybe.

That wasn’t so bad. Finally, I might be able to contribute something.

So long as I didn’t say anything, I really wasn’t telling, was I?

“It’s… burned?” I whispered through dry lips.

“Mostly,” she answered with a nod. “Other parts of the building have aged badly due to exposure. We can’t even get to some places without the risk that the entire place will collapse. And—” She gave me a steady look as she squeezed my hands, her confidence steadying me. “—the scents are old and mostly faded. We’re the only ones who’ve been there. He’s not watching you.”

I felt dizzy with relief. How did she know what I was thinking?

“Okay.”

I didn’t even realize I’d agreed until her face lit up and her mouth widened into a bright smile. “That’s great,” she said, sounding genuinely pleased. “That’s really brave. You’ve come a long way.”

Really? Because I felt like throwing up.

I was not very brave at all.

“Let me tell Titus.” I bit my lip, looking at our joined fingers. If I was going to work on being brave, I should probably start with this.

And if he hadn’t come to me himself, it meant that he was probably against it.

“Of course,” she said, placing my hands back into my lap. She gave them a comforting pet, then pulled back on the road. “Do you want to keep talking?”

No, although I hoped it wouldn’t offend her. We probablyshouldtalk, even if not about this. We still had to come up with a believable cover-story for our absence all day.

However, I wasn’t sure I could handle any manner of conversation. “Not right now.”

“Okay. I’ll be here if you want to, though.” She didn’t argue or try to make me feel bad about it. Instead, she switched the radio on and we drove the rest of the way to Titus’s office in silence.