I had no idea where I was or what time it was when I woke again. Disoriented, I glanced around
the barren room, looking for a clock and suddenly remembered. Disarrayed images of what had
happened started filtering through in pieces—gunfire, a wicker chest, the guard’s dead eyes,
Rocco … I gulped to force back down the knot that was growing in my throat and got up.
From the small, downstairs windows, I could see that the sun was up and that Cameron was gone. I
climbed down the creaky stairs just as he was walking through the door, grocery bags in hand.
“The corner store didn’t have much, but it’ll do us for a while,” he announced, breathless.
He placed the bags on the table and rushed to meet me at the stairs.
He cradled my face in his hands and surveyed it with worry, passing his thumbs over my puffy and
scratched cheeks. I forced a cheering smile.
“Mornin’,” he whispered, kissing me on the forehead without reserve.
He went to put the groceries away while I worked to get my bearings back. I made my way to the
table, tightly holding onto the falling waistline of his pants and almost tripping on the hems
that were dragging on the floor. Cameron chuckled at the sight of me and nodded his head toward
the bathroom door. “I brought your bag in if you want to change,” he said, simultaneously
glancing at me with questioning eyes.
We sat over breakfast. Even after Cameron’s insistence, I couldn’t eat anything, but I did
manage to guzzle down a glass of milk, which soothed my raw throat. The stillness at the table
was making me self-conscious, particularly when Cameron kept intently staring at me the whole
time. I could tell that something was bothering him—with my damaged face, my untamed hair, I
must have looked like I had walked off a safari. I swallowed the rest of my milk and went to
shower. When I strolled out of the washroom, Cameron was sitting on the stairs, waiting for me.
Whatever was bothering him hadn’t been satiated with my slightly improved appearance.
I took a seat a few stairs below him and struggled to get my wet locks into a ponytail. Cameron
didn’t wait another second before scuttling down to the stair behind me, his legs to my side,
wrapping his arms around my shoulders and pulling me in. Something had changed. His emotions had
become … unrestrained. I couldn’t explain it. Whatever the reason for the change, the new,
uninhibited Cameron disarmed me. The ache in my heart still throbbing, I found it to be what I
needed most.
I closed my eyes and let my head fall back.
“Emmy,” he murmured into my ear.
“Hmmm …”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Uh, huh …”
“Yesterday, when we went back into the house to pack your stuff and leave, how come you had a
bag already packed?”
My eyes shot open. With everything that had happened, I had completely forgotten about the
eavesdropped conversation between Cameron, Carly, and Spider.
“What is it?” he asked when I wasn’t answering. “Your body just went stiff.”
I’d forgotten who I was talking to. “I don’t want you to be mad.”
“Why would I get angry?” His body had stiffened too. I hesitated saying anything else.
“I promise I won’t get mad,” he told me finally. “Can you please tell me what’s going on?”
While I was playing with my hands, trying to find a way to not ruin the moment or the change in
him, he was growing impatient.
“Emmy, you’re making me nervous—”
“I know you were going to let Spider kill me,” I blurted under his pressure.
“What?” He jumped so high that he almost sent both of us tumbling down the stairs. “… What
are you talking about?”
Cameron looked at me in disbelief, like he genuinely didn’t know what I was talking about. It
was easy for me to forget all the bad stuff when I was cocooned in his arms—perhaps it had the
same effect on him?
Turning my face to his and taking one immense inhalation, I told Cameron everything I had
overheard, word for word, without emotion. All of it seemed like a dream now. While the story
progressed, I watched his facial expressions change from confused to incredulous to deeply
disturbed.
“I can’t believe that you actually think I’m capable of doing that,” Cameron said, shaking
his head in amazement. He moved me to the side so that he could see me clearly. “Emmy, no
matter what you did or said, no matter how bad things get, that would never happen. No one would
ever be able to convince me that getting rid of you is the solution. Not Carly or Spider. Not
even you.”
“I didn’t imagine it,” I quickly defended, heat building behind my ears.
“What you overheard had nothing to do with you.”
“I snuck around … I talked to the guards … I didn’t follow orders …” I wasn’t exactly
sure why I kept arguing with him. Was I trying actually trying to convince him that getting rid
of me was a good plan?