My stomach growled loudly, and I joined her.
“That’d be a short conversation,” I said with a sigh, and sank into a chair beside her.
The hotel suite had a real-life dining room area. There were three bedrooms and two bathrooms in the place. It felt like an apartment. The quiet luxury felt entirely foreign to me.
The food tasted better than anything I could remember having eaten before. The texture of the pasta and simple, strong flavor of garlic and basil was so good it brought tears to my eyes.
“Are you okay?” Lucy asked, quietly watching me as I struggled through my fifth mental breakdown of the day.
I shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not entirely sure.”
She nodded. “What are you going to do after this?”
I swallowed a lump in my throat. “I need to go and see my mom, but I can’t yet. I need to lie low until my head clears.”
She didn’t ask why my head would be so confused, which was good, because I had no idea how to explain it. My thoughts were slippery, falling through my fingers like water. I couldn’t seem to keep things straight, and everything felt like it was held back, just out of reach. It was frustrating, and at the same time, I knew I’d felt like this before.
“Well, I’m here for a few more days. Stay as long as you need to.”
I studied her. She was small, with red gold hair and big hazel eyes. Despite her coloring, she didn’t seem to be Italian, not to mention her American accent.
“Why are you helping me?” I asked. “Are you some kind of saint, or are you—do you want something from me?” It came out rude as hell, but I had a deep-down certainty that no one helped me without wanting something from me. I knew in my gut that I’d learned that the hard way.
She set down her fork and took a moment to think of her reply.
“If you see someone who needs help, you help. My sister taught me that. She’s the best person I’ve ever met.”
I smiled at Lucy. There was such honesty in her words, I didn’t doubt their sincerity. A soft smile touched her lips as she spoke, and I envied her that beautiful sisterly bond.
I was all alone except for my mom. I missed her so much at that moment I could hardly breathe. All I’d ever wanted was a family to fall back on. A place to belong, to be protected, to be whole. I let out a held breath, urging the damn tears back that seemed to hover, never far from falling.
“So, stay here, let Nina protect both of us for a bit. We’ll work out what to do. Maybe after a good meal and a good sleep, your head will be clearer.”
I nodded and reached out to grab Lucy’s hand when she went to stand.
“Thank you,” I murmured. “Seriously, thank you. I think you might be saving my life.”
It was a dream.I knew that it was a dream. It had to be.
In it, I ran down a white hallway, and everything burned around me.
I reached a door at the end and nudged it open. It stuck on something. I shoved harder. The obstacle gave way, and the doorswung in. This room wasn’t white. It was red. Bloodred. Blood dripped off every surface, pooling on the floor. There wasn’t a single inch of white left. Blood as far as the eye could see.
“Kat!” A kid’s voice broke through my horror.
I spun around to find her.Tatiana.
A person strode down the hallway, fire trailing in his wake, licking up around his ankles, touching his priest’s robes.
His eyes stared into my soul.
Massimo.
I woke with a cry, a hand touching my shoulder.
“Wake up! You’re having a nightmare!” Lucy’s worried voice broke through my swimming thoughts.
Right. Lucy, the girl from the train station. The hotel. Dr. Blackwood.