To an outsider, it’s completely unremarkable. Solid metal with a number screwed to it. No windows, no slats, nothing.
To me, it’s everything.
The place where Alaric’s secrets live.
A quick look around the corridor sends another wave of relief through me. There are no cameras down here either.
My heart still races a thousand miles a minute as I edge closer, press my ear to the door, and listen.
The first thing I catch is the extremely faint sound of something heavy scraping across the floor.
“Mmm. Mmm.” This sound, too, is barely audible.
Someone else could mistake it for a generator or something.
Still, it doesn’t sound good.
At all.
Could it be Alaric? Did the man wake up and hurt him?
Cold sweat races down my spine before I steel myself against the panic.
My hand flies to the two extra bobby pins in my jeans pocket, the ones I bring to work in case Hope or I lose ours.
I’m about to pick the lock when I take a good look at it.
Ugh, it’s one of those high-end ones. My bobby pins are useless against it.
Fine, I’ll just have to save Alaric by banging loudly on the door. That might startle the asshole long enough for Alaric to turn the situation in his favor.
My hand is already balled into a fist when I hear Alaric’s voice, authoritative and in control.
The words themselves don’t make it through the door. They come out more as a low hum, and barely that. The room must be almost completely soundproof.
Even so, it’s enough.
Alaric is unharmed.
Good.
I can return to eavesdropping while my thoughts run rampant.
Though I can’t place the man he dragged down here, one thing is certain. If Alaric is a good person, this guy must be a bad one.
Which leaves me with one question: where would Alaric meet someone like that? He spends most of his time in the hospital.
With his patients.
Some of whom are victims.
The kind of people who need saving.
My teeth sink into my lip to silence an excited yelp as I put two and two together.
He could be an avenging angel.
“No one’s coming anywhere near you. You’re safe here.”