“Mia?” I shouted, hoping she was close, feeling alone and vulnerable.
She didn’t respond, so I kept moving forward, afraid to go back. But I came to a dead end. “Shit.”
Turning around, I made my way back the way I came, peeking around corners to make sure the mysterious man wasn’t waiting to attack. As I turned the next corner, I shouted, “Mia?” again. I paused to see if she’d answer, but got no reply. When I turned the next corner, the lights went out and I froze. I could hear other people in the maze moving around, their startled screams bouncing off the walls. My heart began to race. Was I just being paranoid or did I actually see a man watching me?
Reaching out, I put my hand to the wall and began moving forward. I took another turn and bumped into a solid wall, then backed up. “Turn the lights back on,” I shouted. Someone bumped into me and I screamed. A male voice whispered, “Sorry,” and I panicked.
“Who’s there?” I asked, putting my hands out. I found dead air. “Is someone there?” I whispered.
When I received no answer, I began moving forward again. I needed out of this place. “Mia?” I shouted for the third time.
“Sage?” she finally shouted back, and the glow of a cell phone broke the inky darkness.
“Thank God,” I mumbled and took off in the direction of the light. As I made my way closer, I was bumped from behind and knocked to my knees. I screamed out as I went down, and Mia came running toward me, shouting, “Watch it, buddy,” as a man pushed past her.
“You okay?” she asked, putting out her hand.
“Yeah. Just freaked out by the dark.”
“Me, too. Let’s get out of here.”
We clung to each other as she used her light to guide the way. When we rounded what I hoped was the last corner, we both came to a screeching halt and cried out when her phone illuminated a scowling Max and Shane.
“You okay?” Max asked, taking hold of her outstretched hand.
“The lights went out,” she replied. “And before you blame me for this, I was nowhere near the light switch, nor did I trip and bust the fuses.”
Max smirked at her defense and pulled her into his arms. “Doesn’t matter,” he answered, “the law of averages says if it can happen, you’ll be close by.”
Shane put out his hand to help me out the door and down the stairs. I took it because I wanted out of there.
“Thanks,” I said once I was breathing fresh air.
“We need to talk.”
“No, we don’t. I let you off the hook, Shane. I no longer need your help.”
Shane rolled his lip between his teeth, no doubt to control his anger, then grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side where we had privacy.
“Listen to me and listen good. I couldn’t save your sister, but I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let anything happen to you.”
“So your only interest in me is out of some duty to my sister?”
If he agreed, I knew it would crush me.
How had this man come to mean something to me in three days?
“It has to be that way. We’re only askin’ for heartache if we go down that road.”
“Because you think you’ll never be able to forgive yourself?”
“Because we’ll never be able to look at each other without seeing Emma Jane. It’ll never work.”
“Don’t you dare speak for me,” I shouted, ripping my arm from his grip. The psychotic I was afraid would rule my emotions finally made an appearance and put on her boxing gloves. “I, for one, like remembering my sister. When I look at you, I don’t feel sad, I feel grateful she had you as her friend while she was in the Army. If you can’t see past your unfounded guilt when you look at me, that’s your issue, not mine.”
“It’s not unfounded.”
“In your mind maybe, but I don’t blame you. It was a tragedy of war. You need to face that, Shane, or you won’t move past it. Talk to Max, talk to one of your former men, hell, talk to Maxine before you drown in this guilt. If you don’t, you’ll be folding it around you like a blanket to keep you warm at night,” I choked out as tears welled.
I wanted more than anything for this man to see me differently, as more than just a reminder of my sister’s death, but it was clear he was lost to his demons.
He looked stunned at my outburst and didn’t reply. They thought I was a kitten because I was soft-spoken, but when push came to shove, I was always a lioness.
When a knot started forming in my chest, I turned to walk away. But I stopped when a voice inside my head urged me to make it clear to him exactly what he’d be giving up if he rejected me. So I turned back and bared my soul.