Chapter 7 - Sanctuary of Shadows
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“I’ve got you, sweetheart. I’ve got you,” I murmured, lifting her up into my arms.
She was shockingly light, her body weakened by weeks of confinement and poor nutrition, but her grip on my coat was ferocious.
Bellini rushed over, dropping a clean wool blanket over her shoulders. “The ambulance won't make it up this mountain road in the storm, Adrian! The river has flooded the main turnpike!”
“We have the secondary medical kit in the SUV,” Marco shouted, securing handcuffs around Sophia’s wrists in the corner. “And Bellini was a combat medic before he became your butler!”
I looked down at Bellini. The old man nodded gravely.
“I’ve delivered dozens of babies in worse places than this, young master,” Bellini said calmly. “Bring her to the back office. It’s dry and out of the draft.”
I carried Grace into the waterworks’ small administrative room. I cleared an old wooden desk with one sweep of my arm, laid down clean blankets from the vehicle, and gently placed Grace onto her back.
Outside, the storm raged on, thunder shaking the concrete foundations of the building. But inside the room, under the warm glow of two high-powered tactical flashlights, time seemed to stand still.
I sat beside Grace, holding her hand tightly as she squeezed my fingers so hard I felt the bones grind together.
“Look at me, Grace,” I coaxed softly, wiping the wet hair from her forehead. “Look at me. You survived two weeks in a steel cage. You survived my mother. You survived tonight. You are the strongest person I have ever known.”
Grace looked into my eyes, her breathing ragged, a tiny, exhausted smile touching her lips.
“You... you found my ring,” she whispered, touching my chest where I had tucked her wedding band into my coat pocket.
May you like
“I’m never letting you take it off again,” I promised.
“Now, Grace,” Bellini called out from the end of the table, his tone firm and reassuring. “On the next contraction... I need you to push.”
