“It’s worth a try.” More silence. “I have Michael’s number on my phone. I could call and ask him to come over.”
Talking to Lily would have been spectacular—I’d only been able to make contact to tell her I wouldn’t be at work—but talking to Michael would be heaven.
Thomas and Dru hadn’t allowed me to see or talk to him since the day he’d picked up his stuff from the loft and returned his key to Dru. Even then I’d gotten only a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead, and enough conversation to learn that all interested parties were now back at the Hourglass, trying to figure out how to start over.
Even Ava.
My heart leapt at the thought of seeing him now. So did my feet. Thomas entered the living room to find me curled up in a blanket and absently singing the ABCs.
I’d do whatever it took to talk to Michael. If that included serving up some extra crazy with a side of sauce, so be it.
“Babe?” he called over his shoulder to Dru, watching me with wide eyes as I kept singing, twirling my hair around my finger. “You might want to hurry.”
The nanosecond Michael’s black convertible turned the corner, I launched myself off the front steps. Before he had it in park, I’d opened the door and jumped across the seat into his arms.
I never thought I could be reassured by someone’s presence, simply by knowing and being known. When I looked into Michael’s eyes, I centered. He cupped my face in his hands and lifted my mouth to meet his. The kiss consumed every breath, every thought, burning my raging fear down to a smoldering ember.
He moved his lips to the space just under my ear, and his mouth formed the shape of a smile against my skin. “I missed you.”
I almost laughed when I realized the needle for the parking meter at the curb was spinning around like a rotary fan set on high. “I missed you, too. But my reprieve is only for two hours.”
“I’ll take every second of it I can get.” He sat up and wrapped me in his arms, cradling my head against his shoulder. “I broke at least ten traffic laws on the way over.”
“I can’t stop worrying about what’s going on, how everyone is dealing with the fallout. Any word on Cat or Jack?” Saying his name made my chest hurt.
“No. Dune hacked into their e-mails and bank statements. Jack made a huge cash withdrawal in New York City. He purchased two plane tickets to Heathrow with a credit card, but the trail went cold after that. Liam has feelers out, but they haven’t been seen.”
Jack and Cat, somewhere in the wind. The knowledge hit my subconscious and started brewing up new nightmares.
“What about the Ballards?”
“Liam only comes out of his office to spend time with Kaleb. And to sit with Grace.” A wrinkle formed between his eyebrows.
I reached up to smooth it away. “No change?”
He shook his head. “We all hoped bringing her home—letting her hear Liam’s voice—would change things. I don’t know how he’s doing it. I can’t imagine how I would deal if it was you. If that isn’t enough for him to worry about, it seems the Hourglass is going to be held responsible for Jack and Cat’s actions.”
“By who?”
“The infamous powers that be.”
“Cat mentioned those.” I put my arms on top of his and tucked them more firmly around me. “But why? None of that was Liam’s fault. He wasn’t even alive.”
“I don’t know all the details, but things are pretty bad.” Michael held me tighter. “Liam looks like he hasn’t slept since the night we rescued him, and Kaleb is actually behaving.”
“How is Kaleb?” It felt strange to ask, but I wanted to know. Needed to know.
“He’s having a hard time. Doesn’t understand why he couldn’t feel what Cat and Jack were up to.”
I tilted my chin to look up at him. “How’s Ava?”
“Managing. Dune found e-mails and texts between Jack and Cat that confirmed what Liam suspected. They used Ava, in terrible ways, the worst of which was forcing her to do things against her will with lies and threats, and then taking the memory of them.” Michael’s mouth straightened into a thin, angry line. “She had no idea she was the one who blew up the lab.”
My stomach turned. I wondered what Ava’s dreams looked like.
“What about you, Em?” he asked, reaching up to stroke my cheek with the back of his hand. “We didn’t get a two-hour pass to talk about everyone else. Dru told me you aren’t sleeping. Why?”
“Well.” I stared at the dashboard and reminded myself that I wanted to talk to him about what was happening. “When I sleep, I dream.”