I stared into Harry's dark eyes, my mind working a mile a minute as I processed his words. I couldn't make sense of them really, and nothing matched up. His eyes were dark, his lips set into a thin line. But his words had been soft and quiet, not at all going with his expression as he watched me.
"What does that mean?" I breathed.
"It means you're not going anywhere, princess," he replied, a slight edge to his tone.
I knew that there was no point in arguing with him. Either way, he would win, and there were many reasons for that. First of all he knew what he was doing, and I didn't. I was sure that if I so much as came within ten feet of the front door he might tackle me into the wall. Secondly, he was right. Even if Harry did happen to be dangerous, I didn't believe that he was an immediate threat to me. The threat was back at my work, firing off a gun. The thought made me shudder.
I felt unsteady as the idea of someone shooting up my workplace crossed my mind. Olivia would be in the middle of that, and despite her weird behavior lately, I wouldn't be able to cope with it if anything happened to her. Even the idea of something happening to Heidi made my stomach curl uneasily. She may be the strictest boss on the planet, but that didn't mean I wanted her to die. This had all happened so quickly.
I couldn't take the weight that was on my shoulders. I was fairly sure that the shooter was coming for me. And I had a decent idea of who it might be.
And with that I felt a whoosh of air around me and the wooden floor was swirling towards my face.
---
My eyes blinked open and I sat up immediately, uncertainty clouding my senses. I wasn't sure where I was or what I was doing there, but I knew for a fact that I wasn't in my flat. The only good thing, I could figure, was the fact that I had slept with no nightmares. It was oddly refreshing, not experiencing my past over and over again in my sleep.
I looked around the room. It seemed oddly familiar.
There were random clothes strewn about the room: male clothes. I could see the closed door to a bathroom and what looked like a walk-in closet. Parts of the wall were covered in pictures but the faces were discernible from my place in the queen size bed, covered in blood red sheets and a matching duvet.
It was only when I saw a familiar leather jacket tossed carelessly across the edge of the bed that I remembered where I was. It had seemed dreamlike almost, but it all came rushing back to me in one long burst--one horribly frightening burst.
I wondered why and how I had fallen asleep. I didn't remember that part. I just knew that I couldn't leave this place. Harry had said so.
As if on cue, the bathroom door swung open, casting a large path of artificial light across the ground. I snuggled deeper into the soft pillows and blankets, watching curiously as Harry walked out, and immediately I felt embarrassed. The only thing he wore was a low-slung white towel that was only being held up by a simple knot in the side. I looked away quickly, my cheeks heating up.
"Morning, princess." I jumped when he spoke, his voice low and husky. I didn't realize that he knew I was awake.
"M-morning," I stumbled over the words in my embarrassment.
"What's wrong?" Immediately his voice was no longer relaxed, but alert. I looked up to see him flipping his dark curls away from his face and looking around the room attentively.
"Oh, nothing!" I replied. And it sounded almost real. I had said that so much in the past--to Seth, to Shane, to Elijah--that I could almost force the lie out of my mouth without my voice breaking. Almost. Harry noticed.
