Page 34 of Fallen Empire (The Fallen Trilogy #2)

Millie

Savannah Sinclair was unlike any other.

It takes a special kind of human to fight the way she did.

To claw her way back from death and still have enough stubborn fire left to keep pushing forward.

I wasn’t sure if it was her will to live, her need to prove she could, or the looming shadow Alex—whatever his real name was—that kept her going.

Maybe it was all three.

All I knew was this—two days ago, she could barely sit up. And today? She was being discharged.

Her physical therapy had been brutal. I watched her tremble through every rep, fight through every step, her body trying to collapse while her spirit refused to. The doctors said it would take a week, maybe more, for someone with her injuries to walk out of here.

She did it in half that.

And somehow, she still smiled.

“When Jaxson takes you home, I’ll catch an Uber and go get some things from my place.” I said, asking her to stay wasn’t an option. I wasn’t giving her the opportunity to tell me no.

“You don’t have to do that.” Typical response from someone that was so independent and stubborn.

“I know I don’t, but I want to.”

“She’s staying with me.” Jaxson said.

“Perfect. I like your beds anyways.” There was no point in arguing. I saw the look of determination, and he meant what he said.

“Ummm,” Savannah mummered. “Don’t I get to decide where I stay?”

“No.” we both said in response. She’d been kidnapped from her own home, right in front of their eyes. Her safety wasn’t up for discussion, and for once, Jax and I didn’t disagree.

She just tilted her head back against the pillow and rolled her eyes.

“I can take you to get some things.” Ben said, but I didn’t look at him. I was still pissed at all the things he left out. The things he failed to tell me. Not because he was worried about what I’d do or how I’d respond, but because he thought he knew more about what was best for me that I did.

“No thanks.”

Savannah’s face softened. She was trying to play peacemaker—whatever makeshift sibling bond they’d formed shining through in the worst possible moment.

But guilt doesn’t earn trust back.

And I wasn’t in the mood to pretend otherwise.

I shook my head at her, saying everything I needed without words.

“Millie, you’re not staying.” Jax said.

“Then we’re staying at her place. Up to you.” I shrugged. “We can stay at your place, or we can stay at hers. I’ll let you decide. But me not staying with her? That’s not an option.”

“Fine. I’ll stop on the way and you can get some things from your place. You don’t need to be away from us right now.”

The smile plastered across my face said enough. It was like I’d been sent back to childhood, the one time my dad told me I could pick out a toy from the store.

I never got to have sleepovers when I was younger.

I had to protect secrets.

While other girls played with Barbie dolls, I played guess the liquor my dad downed. It would let me know whether he’d wake up mad, crying, or pretending nothing ever happened.

Jax knew what this meant to me. He just shook his head with a smile, accepting defeat.

And Ben? I was sure he was uncomfortably staring at the back of my head. I hadn’t spoken to him since Jax dropped the bomb about Aleksei.

He’d tried to follow me out of the room yesterday, but with one glare, he knew it wasn’t the time or place to have the fallout that was bound to happen.

And despite how pissed off I was, a part of me still wanted him to take the pain away.

It was a feeling I’d never had before—that someone else might be capable of cleaning up a mess I was used to taking care of. A mess I hadn’t caused.

There was a light rap on the door before it opened. Nurse Ruth stood in the entrance with a wheelchair, wearing the biggest smile I’d ever seen from her. Something I wasn’t sure she was even capable of.

“Is my favorite patient ready to go home?”

“Yes ma’am” Savannah responded. And for once, I didn’t want to roll my eyes at how soft Ruth was being with her. She’d fought for it. And something told me Ruth was about to give us her final bow.

“Alright, sweetheart,” she continued, rolling the chair toward the bed. “One last walk before we send you on your way.”

“I think this will be a cakewalk compared to the laps you made me take around the floor yesterday.”

“But look at you, getting to leave early because of all your hard work.” She handed Jax some papers. “These are her discharge orders. But before you go, I need to make one thing clear to all of you.”

Her voice didn’t waver, not even once.

“She is not to be left alone. She’s progressing fast, but I don’t want to see her back here. Take care of her. And don’t do anything to upset her. Be patient, but you still have to push her. Even when she looks like her body can’t take another step, make her keep going.”

I nodded. “We will,” was all I could say, my voice catching as emotion clawed its way up my throat.

Jaxson nodded as well. “Thank you, Ruth. It means a lot that you’ve loved her through this like we do.”

“Son, she’s a hard one not to love. She’s got a fight in her that most people write stories about.” She walked to Savannah’s side and gently patted her shoulder. “Let’s get you on your way.”

Savannah stood slowly, but without any sign of her body giving way. Because it had already endured the impossible.

From here, it was simply about taking care of herself.

She moved to the chair and plopped down, adjusting her feet on the pedals as Jaxson reached out to flip them out for her.

He turned to start pushing, but Nurse Ruth waved her hand through the air with a firm ‘shoo’ motion. “Young man, just go get the car and meet us downstairs.”

He chuckled before leaning down to press a kiss against Savannah’s forehead.

“On it,” he said, before glancing back. “Let’s go, brother.”

Ben took one last glance in my direction, but I didn’t meet his eyes. Then he walked out the door.

The hallway was quiet as Ruth wheeled Savannah toward the elevator. I followed a few steps behind, feeling the weight of everything we’d just walked through pressing against my chest.

It wasn’t just about getting her out of the hospital.

It was about everything that came after.

The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. We stepped inside, and I found myself watching Savannah’s reflection in the mirrored panel. She looked pale, and exhausted, but there was something different in her eyes now. A kind of still-burning defiance that hadn’t been there before.

And damn, if it didn’t make me love her even more.

I leaned back against the cold metal wall and crossed my arms.

I used to think strength looked like never breaking.

Now I knew better.

Strength looked like Savannah Sinclair.

The ride was short, but it felt like a lifetime. I could feel my nerves beginning to buzz again. I wasn’t sure if it was from seeing Ben, from the threat still hanging in the air, or from the fact that I was about to go back to the very place that started this all.

But one thing was certain—I wasn’t letting her out of my sight.

Not again.

The doors slid open with a soft whoosh, and Ruth rolled her forward past the lobby doors outside, where Jaxson and Ben were already waiting.

Jaxson opened the car door while Ben popped the trunk for our bags.

Ruth parked the wheelchair next to the passenger side, and Savannah gripped the frame of the car as Jax moved to help her in.

I stayed quiet, standing off to the side. Watching. Thinking.

This wasn’t over.

But we were still standing.

The drive was quiet at first. Savannah rested her head against the window, her hand loosely curled around the seatbelt. Every now and then, I caught her wince out of the corner of my eye, but she didn’t say a word. Not even when Jaxson reached over to adjust the blanket across her lap.

We turned off Third Avenue, cruising through a quieter stretch of Midtown. A part of the city where the buildings turned more industrial and the sidewalks began to empty out. The kind of street people didn’t linger on.

As we approached the intersection before my parking garage, the car slowed to a stop at a red light. And that’s when I saw it happen.

Savannah’s posture shifted. Just enough for me to take note.

Her head tilted slightly, eyes narrowing on the building across the street—half-decayed, blackened bricks, windows shattered like broken promises. It stood like a ghost on the corner. Forgotten. Empty. Except… it didn’t feel empty.

“What’s that place?” she asked quietly, her voice low but clear. “The building across the street.”

“45 Park Place,” Jax replied. “Abandoned. Has been for a while.”

Savannah didn’t answer right away. Just stared. Like it meant something. Like it was waking something up. Maybe a memory she’d just come across.

“You’ve been there before?” she asked after a beat.

Jax nodded, his eyes still fixed ahead. “The developer ran into financial trouble before it was finished. I looked into buying it—thought I could renovate and flip it. But the ownership was... messy. Red tape. No clear signatures. It just disappeared into the system.”

I stayed quiet and so did she. The light turned green, and Jaxson eased the car forward, pulling into the underground garage.

But Savannah kept her eyes on the mirror. Staring at the building. Long after it was gone.

And I couldn’t help but wonder what it was calling to. What she remembered. What she felt.

But whatever was happening inside her mind…

She wasn’t ready to say.

As the car came to a stop, I hesitated. Part of me wanted to confront her on why she asked about the building, the other part sensing she’d tell me if she knew I needed to know.

I grabbed the handle to the door. “I’ll be back in ten.”

“Take your time.” Jax said.

I had enough clothes for a week packed by the time I was finished. I grabbed my laptop, extra chargers, and my makeup bag, stuffing them all into my carry-on. I looked like I was moving in. Truth was, I’d do it in a heartbeat if she’d let me.