“Mrs. Noir? I need you to stay with us,” a woman’s voice called to me.
My aching body refused to cooperate, and my sluggish brain honed in on one word.
“Clare. Not Noir. Just Clare,” I mumbled lazily, forging through the darkness that had constricted my thoughts.
“Okay, Clare. Stay awake, okay?”
I felt hands under my arms, lifting and jostling me, before I found myself horizontal.
What the fuck happened to me?
My mind scanned the memories, but it felt as though I were searching for a word resting on the tip of my tongue yet still completely out of reach. The thoughts floated through my mind, but I couldn’t grasp any of them.
With one sound, a lifetime of memories crashed down like a tidal wave.
“Mama!”
My entire body came alive.
I bolted upright. “Tessa!” I screamed, slapping the hands of doctors and nurses off as I scrambled toward her voice.
Chaos broke out around me. A police officer appeared, grabbing my wrists to restrain me.
“Mrs. Noir—”
“Tessa!” I rose to my knees and searched over his shoulder, but she was nowhere in sight.
“Get your fucking hands off her.”
I heard the familiar voice just as his strong, muscular back separated me from the officer.
Oh, thank God.
I lurched toward him. “Luke! I need Tessa. Please help me.”
He guided his hand back and patted my leg. “You lay a hand on her again and I’m gonna rip them off your wrists, yeah?” he told the officer.
“Light, calm down. I was just—”
His body angled forward as he growled, “Your only warning. Do. Not. Test. Me.”
Another of her cries assaulted my ears. “Tessa!” I grabbed the back of his shirt. “Luke, please. Where is she?”
He spun to face me, pure wrath filling his strong features. I jerked in surprise. Never had he appeared even remotely menacing at the gym. Sure, he was always big, but he had worn such a kind smile that I couldn’t help but be put at ease.
But, right then, with the hard set of his jaw and murder dancing in his eyes, he looked flat-out terrifying.
“Luke,” I whispered, swaying away.
His face softened and his wide shoulders curled forward as he lifted a hand to cup my jaw.
I dodged it on instinct.
Shaking his head in frustration, he lowered his hand back to his side and turned his gaze to the floor. “She’s safe. She’s with Roman.”
That wasn’t enough. If Walt wanted his daughter back, no one—not even a man like Roman Leblanc—could stand in his way.
Panic spiraled within me. “No. I need her!” I fisted the front of his tight, black T-shirt, pulling him toward me.
His gaze jumped back to mine.
“He…he’s going to come for her. She has to stay with me. Walt…. He…” My voice broke. “He’ll take her. He’ll find us, and he’ll take her. Luke. Please.”
His eyes turned dark—ominous, even—as he held my gaze so deeply that I feared he could see the holes Walt had carved into my soul.
“I’ll go get her,” he replied softly. “But call me Heath. Not Luke.”
I nodded multiple times. I’d have called him Rumpelstiltskin as long as he got me my daughter.
He pointedly looked down at my hands, which were still clutching the front of his shirt. “You gotta let me go, babe.”
But, as much as I wanted Tessa, I was terrified to let go.
I’d been alone in my fight against Walt for so long, I couldn’t bear the thought of going back to that. For seven years, he had bled me dry of my desire to live. I had nothing left to give. The tiniest taste of having someone to share that burden with made me an addict.
“You’re coming back with her?” I asked weakly.
“Yeah, Clare. I’m coming back with her.”
“You…you’ll stay with me?” I pushed in case he had misunderstood the question.
One side of his mouth lifted in a sad smile. “For as long as you want.”
I caught sight of his hand flexing at his side.
“Let go, Clare.”
I wasn’t sure I could. “I’m really scared right now,” I admitted on a whisper.
His body jolted, and he leaned against my fists, his chest pressing into my hands, but he made no further move to touch me.
“I know,” he said. “And that’s okay for you to feel. But I swear I’m not going anywhere. I just gotta get your girl. Settle down and let the doctors take a look at you while I’m gone. And I’ll be back in a flash.”
I swallowed hard, willing my hands and legs to stop shaking, but they refused to obey, and it wasn’t long before the tremor had worked its way up to my chin.
“Hey,” he soothed. “No one’s gonna hurt you ever again,” he assured as if it were an absolute fact.
I didn’t agree. Walt would never quit until he destroyed me.
“Okay,” I whimpered.
He kept his gaze locked with mine. “You’re still holding on.”
“I am,” I confirmed without releasing him.
He nodded in understanding. “Then we’ll wait until you’re ready.”