Page 92 of While He Breathes

Everything else we’ll work out, but as long as she’s breathing, there’s still hope.

Darius reaches for the handle. Suddenly, his opinions of my plan aren’t quite so negative.

“Don’t engage,” I tell him. “Go in, sit down, listen, but do not engage. If you get yourself hurt, Max will kill me.”

He nods, his shoulders tight with tension. “I’ve got this.”

And then he’s gone. Crossing the street to follow after Ember.

God, I hope this works, because I don’t know how much longer I can handle being away from her.

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

EMBER

Elsie grips my hand the entire drive, and I squeeze it every so often to offer her quiet comfort.

She was standoffish when we first met, but now she clings to me like I’m the only thing keeping her from falling apart.

Which might be the case.

I can’t imagine the things she’s been through over the last seven months. In fact, I’m actively trying not to let my imagination run wild because I think it will probably break me.

Maybe her surly attitude when we met was her own way of protecting herself.

Cain waves us out of the van and into the clinic without giving us time to look around and get our bearings. Honestly, I’m too struck by the sunlight to see much of anything.

It’s so bright out here compared to the cells, and I have to squint to stop my eyes from burning.

Once inside the waiting room, he gestures to a couple of seats, and we sit without argument.

There are a few people sitting around, but they don’t so much as look up at us, which is suspicious, seeing as most people are inherently nosey by nature.

I don’t know for sure, but if Lucas is bringing us here, and he’s not worried about the doctor on duty calling the cops when they inevitably figure out we’re not here of our own free will, I’d guess this place isn’t aboveboard.

Fantastic.

That’s exactly what I need to be dealing with right alongside my shattered heart and loss of freedom. A doctor who likely doesn’t have an active medical license.

Cain sits down across from us and flicks through a magazine, his gaze flicking around the room every so often.

Elsie grabs my hand again and takes deep, calming breaths. This is not the time to try to escape, that much I’m sure of.

We might be able to get out the doors, but we don’t know where we are, and realistically, we don’t know how many of the people sitting here would help Cain get us back.

Those are not odds I’m willing to play with.

The door swings open, and a man with a baseball cap walks in, his eyes focused on the reception desk as he steps forward and speaks to the middle-aged woman behind the desk in hushed whispers.

He nods a couple of times, and I find myself analyzing his every move.

Why does he feel so familiar?

It’s not until he turns toward the seating area and I meet soft green eyes that my entire world tilts on its axis.

Darius.

Oh my god.