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When I felt the press of her hand against ht Cate’s face swam in and out of auzy curtains shut It helped soht on any one thing It was glancing off bright, shiny surfaces A white dresser, pale purple wallpaper, a flashing alarm clock, a mirror on the opposite wall, and our reflections there

"Is this real?" I whispered

Cate sat at the edge of my bed, the exact sa Behind her, Martin leaned against the wall in camo pants and boots He looked like a conized hilance The roundness in his face had thinned out, sinking his eyes further into his skull Soun

"We’re in a safe house outside of Maryland," she said

"Lee?"

"Safe here, too"

Not safe, I thought; never safe with you

I felt the urge to run rise up deep from my bones; it was instinct now Exhaustion and pain had stripped every other sensation away from me My eyes scanned the room--ts, the only other exit aside frolass I force Cate back with a single brush of one before anyone noticed It could work

"Don’t even try," Cate said, following my eyes She slipped a small silver object froh pattern of the speaker face up "Even if you could get pastone of these on the to be of much use to Liam when they take him out and shoot him for your insubordination"

I jerked away "They wouldn’t--" But I saw the truth of it in her eyes They would They risked everything to break et me back I had already seen in Rob’s mind that despite what they claimed theira few kids if itthe ones they wanted

"How could you even think about it?" Martin hissed "Do you knofor you?"

Cate waved hiain, I saw there were splatters of blood across the front of her shirt Dark Dried

The memory came into painfully sharp focus "Chubs--what happened to Chubs?"

Cate looked down at her hands, and so in me clenched

"Honestly," she said, "I’ents that took him, but I know they reached the hospital" Cate reached for ht turned my stomach "He’s safe They’ll make sure he’s taken care of"

"You don’t know that," I said "You said it yourself"